The secret tunnel was extremely long, not to mention it was only ten-meter-long in diameter, which was quite stiff for Jacob's size, but since it was underwater, he could easily swim through it.
When he reached the end of the tunnel, it opened up in another building within the Holy Polaris Region.
But Jacob exited the tunnel when he heard a static voice, "So long, you damn fishes, I had enough of you all!"
He saw a cloaked figure no far away holding a shimmering runic plate in his hand. The other party also noticed the faint ripples in the water behind him, and he quickly turned around!
Both Jacob and the cloaked figure were astounded and bewildered when they saw each other, especially Jacob, who noticed the oxygen mask probing out from the cloaked figure's head.
'He's from the surface!' Jacob instantly thought and quickly reacted by activating the slumber hex.
"Who the hell are you, and how did you know about this passage?!" The cloaked figure questioned, hiding the amiss feeling in his heart, and magic waves began to ripple around him.
'A three steps of legend expert!' Jacob mused as his eyes narrowed because his hex failed, which could only mean that this person ranked somewhere in the three steps of legend.
Jacob was even more surprised now because if this man was really from the surface and because of rank, it was extremely strange. After all, he knew how rare the three steps of legend experts were on the surface, and they all belonged to three absolute factions or equally strong organizations.
Furthermore, from the little bit of mumbling he heard, he could tell he was about to do something when Jacob suddenly appeared. Most importantly, he also wanted to know how this man discovered this hidden tunnel.
"You're far away from home, aren't you?" Jacob coldly stated while he secretly signaled Autarch to move.
The cloaked figure was slightly surprised, but when he thought about the mask he was wearing, he didn't find it strange for this 'ocean dweller' to know about his roots. After all, these masks were rare but not so rare that only his organization was able to get them.
But he still found it strange for an ocean dweller to know about these masks since only the high-ranking members of the three empires and the temple should have any information about them.
He also thought that Jacob belonged to one of these powers, and since he was also coming out of this secret tunnel, this made him even more vigilant about his identity.
After all, he only found this location through one of his secret slaves after spending decades in the Holy Polaris Region, and that slave even assured him that this tunnel was only known to three people, and two of them were no longer in the Holy Polaris Region for hundreds of years.
Furthermore, Jacob's giant anatomy clearly didn't match any species residing in the Siren Hymn Temple. Not to mention, Jacob has legs, while the only giant species that could match his height, the Whale Race, didn't have legs while they were in the water. Only when they went to surface lands will they transform their fishtails into legs. This was also the case for the Siren Race and some other high-level species.
Within the water, the fishtail gave them more agility and speed, and it was more versatile than the humanoid legs. That's why Jacob was even more suspicious. Since he was completely fine and could speak without choking on water, he still thought that Jacob was from the deep ocean and belonged to some unknown race.
Nevertheless, since Jacob had seen him and he was standing in front of his escape route, he must die!
"I should be asking you that. How do you know about this tunnel, and why are you here? Do you want to harm the Siren Hymn Temple?" He coldly questions while he secretly gathers magic power in his left hand; the runic plate has already vanished into his space ring.
He knew that if he activated the runic plate now, he would be caught in the destruction. That's why he closed his escape route, which was now blocked by Jacob.
Furthermore, he knew before getting rid of Jacob that it could be cumbersome to escape because he still didn't know his abilities. Since he was standing so calmly despite releasing his pressure of Perfect Stage Beyond Unique Rank, it was clear that Jacob was at least in the same rank as him. He couldn't fight someone of the same rank in that stiff tunnel; it was simply too dangerous for him because he wasn't an ocean race member.
"Sir, he's wearing armor around his head, so I can't affect him with magic, nor I can't break into his head. We need to create an opening in this armor." Autarch's voice rang in Jacob's head at this moment.
Jacob frowned, as this situation was a first for him, but he didn't show his frustration since he could already 'see' this guy gathering power around his hand. He was also distracting him until he was done gathering enough magic power to cast a spell.
He wouldn't give him a chance, though. After all, he knew all the corporeal magic, like earth, fire, and wind, other than water, was extremely weak in this pressure, and only the eternal magic, like lightning, light, dark, and such, was not affected much.
The casting time was also affected for someone who lived on the land, and that was the main reason the land dwellers never tried to infiltrate the deep ocean. They were too weak against the natives.
Swords appeared in Jacob's hands as he sprang into action. Using the water mana to increase his speed, he directly slashed toward the cloaked figure, who was also about to cast a spell.
He was shocked when Jacob suddenly attacked. His speed was just like the ocean race's, so he was even more sure that Jacob belonged to the ocean race.
But he quickly composed himself and uttered, "Sound Displacement!"
Powerful ripples spread around the water, and when they hit Jacob, he suddenly felt intense pain in his ears and mind.
'Sound magic!'
Jacob's expression fell since it was his first time experiencing sound magic, which was quite rare. This magic has nothing to do with water pressure, for it can directly affect someone's mind!