Quickly swimming through the water, Cirrus arrived at the marker and dove.

‘Swimming in the sea is way easier than in the Dungeon! But wait? Where the fuck does the water go or come from?’

He thought about it until he found the ruins of a temple that resembled a Mussenden Temple, with an extreme extension to its size, with several columns broken around it.

Entering it from the bottom, Cirrus could once again breathe.

"Huff! Huff! A few more minutes and I would have been fucked. Hey Nox, I’m in."

‘Roger! Everything is good... and Poseidon just went into a bar... At least Bache, your guide, is waiting patiently for you to arrive, but… she’s now petting me.’

"Well, she probably hasn’t seen an owl as radiant as you! Nor as fluffy!"

‘Well…’ she sounded reluctant to answer.

"It's nice, isn’t it? You always pet my head when we sleep, so how is it on the receiving end?"

‘It's nice I guess.’

As Cirrus investigates the place, he can smell something very faint.

"…Disengage, (Exousía, Adorn: Cerberus)."

With the armor on, Cirrus could smell the scent even more strongly.

‘This putrid scent… It’s like the Nuckelavee’s, but weaker?’

As he walked further down, he came across a well-made wall using the material in the temple. Cirrus, however, had his sense of smell to figure it out.

As he breaks the wall and travels into the temple, the scent gets stronger and stronger to where Cirrus would rather take a bath in the Nuckelavee’s blood than smell this.

"Jesus fucking Christ! Huwah! Huwah!! Fuck this! Disengage!"

Even with the armor gone, the scent was slightly weakened, but still very pungent. He went down, holding his nose and breathing through his mouth.

"I'm so sorry, lungs."

 

Upon finally reaching the bottom, Cirrus found several pillars in a large room, all with black and green algae. The scent nearly knocked Cirrus out.

"Oh, Jesus fucking Christ!!"

It was as if this was humanity's cesspool, where every disgusting, rotting, bacteria-riddled thing was thrown under the hot sun and left to fester.

Cirrus carefully looked around, and as he touched the black algae with his boot, he could feel a breeze coming from his foot.

"!!"

Looking down, Cirrus quickly jumped back as the algae spread up on his foot.

"(Sing your Vespers.)!!"

Cirrus fired lightning at his feet, and he bore with the attack and electricity as it resulted in the algae being fried to a crisp.

"Shit! Shit! That’s too close!"

Cirrus backed up even more because his left boot and most of his pants were now burned.

Looking around, he’s surprised the temple hasn’t flooded yet by how fast the algae is growing.

"Shit... looking at this and..." Cirrus looks at the growth of the algae and sees it growing at a rate one could track. "Shit, I’d say a day or two, maybe a bit more. I need to leave quickly."

Returning to the surface as quickly as possible, Cirrus arrived to see Bache with Nox on her lap being petted.

"How was it?" Bache said.

"Bad." Cirrus then flapped his clothes to get rid of the water. "Can you lead me to Kali?"

"Hm, very well."

She got up with Nox in hand, still petting her.

Cirrus picks up his bag and puts on the charms around his neck, all the while disengaging the armor, leaving only the scarf to cover the lower portion of his face.

 

Walking to the top of the Coliseum, they found Kali watching one of her children fight a goblin.

"Did you come to watch the show?" she asked.

Cirrus looks over to see the child ripping the goblins' heads off.

"… Maybe some other time. I actually came to you to inform you that the seal is on the edge of breaking."

"Oh? So how long till you have to fight it?" She said with a smile.

"Two or more days, so I suggest having some of your children to—"

"Send them more inland, right? That’s fine; we already have some stuff prepared for our weakest children."

"Seems you wish to see me fight a sea monster, huh?"

"Of course! I want to see you fight with my own eyes!"

"… You truly live up to your title as goddess of time and destruction."

"Fufu, you seem to know a bit about me more than just being a god of destruction. If you ever wish to indulge yourself, I’m more than willing to make you my child and offer you anything to satiate you." She said in a tempting and sultry voice, or as much as one with a child’s body could.

"That is a generous offer, but I must decline." Cirrus gives a bow before leaving. "I must prepare for the battle ahead."

Nox then got out of Bache’s hands and perched herself on Cirrus’s shoulders.

"So… what are your thoughts on him, Bache?"

"He is very strong. He simply pushed Argana, and she was sent flying through buildings."

"Then are you smitten by him?"

"A bit…" she said, turning away from Kali.

 

That night, Cirrus worked on putting the finishing touches on his magic items. Bache would come by and bring food while he was working. Argana, however, was too embarrassed to come by.

Down in the sea.

"Bleatphwargh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The monster bellows a haunting sound as the temple slowly breaks away and, from the algae, a luminescent white glow emerges. From it were some gnarled black antlers. Its body was covered in thick fur, covered in the algae it spawned. How its body could move with such weight on it was beyond comprehension as the algae quickly spread, letting the ocean water fill the room.

From up above, a black sea was born.