-BOOOM!!!!!
From the perspective of everyone watching, a deafening sound of explosion echoed through miles from the island, followed by a sharp glass breaking sound as if something invisible had shattered, and then an intense Golden White Beam of light pierced the sky, parting the clouds with a force that did not fade even as it rose higher.
Enormous Ocean waves threatened to drown everyone in the surroundings, rising violently as the Ocean reacted to the force released by the Golden Beam of light, but no one was in the mood to even glance at those high rising waves, their attention completely drawn elsewhere.
They were all creatures of the Ocean and were not afraid of water, what piqued their interest was the being that was now slowly rising in the air, seated in lotus position, ascending with a steady and unnatural calm that contrasted the chaos below.
His body was covered in the brilliant color of gold, covering him from top to bottom, making it hard to discern his features, as if the light itself was concealing his true form.
But the oppressive power and pressure that was being released from the golden beam of light made the surrounding atmosphere somber, pressing down on everything present, as if the ocean itself had fallen silent in response, even the usual movement of water feeling slower than before.
The rising waves were parted as if something invisible had cut through them along the places where the powerful people were standing on the surface, leaving clear paths in the water for a few moments before they slowly began to close again.
What attracted everyone’s interest were the unknown symbols that were being released from that said person’s forehead, forming a brilliant web of brain shaped structure that pulsed faintly, expanding and shrinking in a steady motion, as if it carried some kind of pattern that was hard to understand.
For a brief moment, no one spoke, because the sight before them did not immediately make sense, and that hesitation lingered just long enough before voices finally began to rise from the gathered figures.
"Who is that?" one of the Shark Kin said, his voice carrying confusion more than fear, yet his eyes did not leave the golden figure even for a second, even though the oppressive feeling was very domineering, they could still withstand something like this, though not comfortably.
Another person from the crowd voiced his thoughts, "How would anyone know that? But I think that person there is the source for everything, Tsk!! we were hoping it to some sort of treasure, not something like this."
The Shark Kin leader did not say anything as he heard the continuous discussion that had begun all around the surrounding Island that had few cracks spread across its surface, his gaze fixed on the figure as if trying to understand something deeper.
"So, there actually was a person on the Island?? But from my observations earlier, I found nothing, not a single source of life signal, not even the faintest trace."
There was a deep seriousness in his voice, but he was also pretty excited, though he hid that well.
"Not only you, None of us observed anything wrong there, That being there has profound means to keep itself hidden, but looks like whatever he was doing has caused quite a commotion, something that could not stay hidden anymore."
The Ocean Elf Princess spoke with a slightly cold tone, her mood plummeting when she realized that there was no treasure here.
Seris remained completely still, her attention locked onto the figure with an intensity that had not been present before, her eyes faintly shifting in color once again as if trying to find something.
"Feel it carefully," she said, her voice soft, yet carrying a clear urgency that had not been there earlier, "do you feel it now, or are you still ignoring it?"
The Shark Kin leader frowned, his focus still on the figure before glancing downward, "Feel what exactly?"
"The rhythm," she replied, her tone steady, yet more insistent than before, "It is no longer faint, it is clearer now, much clearer than before, you should be able to notice it if you focus."
"You know that we can’t hear the unique rhythm that you can, and with that intense pressure being released from that golden pillar, the waters are chaotic that its hard to discern anything clearly."
The Tidal Colossus voiced out his opinion, his gaze still on the moving water below.
That only made the situation heavier.
Murmurs began to spread among the gathered races, their voices overlapping as more of them tried to make sense of what they were witnessing.
"What kind of insane pressure is this??"
"Damn it, even breathing feels harder here, how are those people able to converse so normally like it is nothing there?"
"They are stronger than you dumbass, that is why they can stand like that."
"Is that person a Ocean Race or someone else entirely, I have never seen anything like that before?"
"So, there is no treasure?"
Elder Lian observed everything in silence for a moment longer, her earlier calm not entirely gone, but no longer untouched either, as even she did not interrupt immediately, her eyes carefully taking in every detail of the rising figure.
"Enough," she said finally, her voice calm yet firm, carrying just enough weight to quiet the surrounding murmurs without needing to rise in volume.
The voices faded, though the tension did not.
Her gaze remained fixed on the rising figure, her expression thoughtful, yet more serious than before.
"The Unique Rhythm that the Seris Child is feeling.....we have no answer for that, what’s more there is no treasure here, so none of you will be fighting each other and from the looks of it, the person there is undergoing some sort of awakening or is breaking through some sort of bottle neck. So, don’t disturb that person. Everyone retreat few miles away from the island," she said, her tone leaving no room for argument as she made her decision clear.
Hearing her words, nobody raised their voices, as she was the strongest person present here, and her words were followed by everyone as they retreated, even those who were reluctant choosing not to go against her.
After all, she was representing the Alliance here.
We don’t know who that person is, but from those floating runes alone.....I can guess that this person is not normal. Either that being is insanely powerful or it has a very big background, its better to be careful and make friends than unnecessarily creating enemies.
The old and experienced mind of Elder Lian was calculating possibilities that would be beneficial for the Alliance as a whole rather than letting greed and emotions control her, her thoughts moving quickly as she weighed every outcome.
And the appearance of the web of runes was not something she could take lightly, thus secretly she sent this information back to the headquarters, ensuring that others would be aware of what was happening here. Anything related to Runes was a top class information that everyone wanted.
Even if it might be a false signal, it was necessary to alert everyone.
But as soon as she did that, she saw that web of runes contract, and another burst of energy got released from the being in front of her, causing her pupils to dilate as she sensed something that made her instincts react instantly.
Domain!???
"RETREAT AS FAR AS YOU CAN FAST!!!!!"
She shouted, her voice no longer calm as urgency filled it, breaking the earlier control she had maintained.
Hearing her echoing voice, the people that were around her became streaks of light and retreated as far as they could, without even asking why, reacting purely on instinct, but not everyone was lucky, because with an almost insane speed, the darkness began to spread through the island, dying the once deep blue waters black and the space in few thousand miles got locked, sealing everything within it.
The space was locked in a way that nobody who was left there could move, there were more than hundreds of people there that had come to see if they could find something interesting, but their luck was bad as they found themselves unable to escape.
As the darkness spread, it soon reached their place and slowly devoured them, leaving nothing behind but a black puddle that got mixed in the waters, disappearing as if they had never existed.
Leaving nothing but an eerie silence.
The darkness spread continuously as people retreated further before finally stopping, its boundary holding firm like an invisible wall.
And seeing all this, an intense chill ran down everyone who witnessed the deaths of hundreds of lower ranked Ocean species in an instant, the reality of what they had just seen settling heavily in their minds.
For a few seconds, no one spoke, not because they chose silence, but because their minds had not yet caught up with what their eyes had just witnessed.
Then the voices came, fast, overlapping, filled with panic.
"What just happened??"
"They just disappeared, there was nothing left, not even a body!!"
"Run, run further away, this is not safe, we are still too close!!"
"That was not normal darkness, that thing devoured them!!"
"Why did it stop, why did it stop right there??"
"Are we even safe here??"
The crowd of lower ranked beings continued to retreat, their movements messy now, no longer controlled like before, as fear replaced curiosity, pushing them further and further away without looking back.
Some did not even wait for others, abandoning formations, abandoning caution, choosing only to run as far as they can.
But the key figures did not move immediately.
The Ocean Elf Princess looked towards Elder Lian, her gaze seeking answers, and whether Elder Lian noticed that gaze or not, she voiced her thoughts out loud, her eyes still fixed on the darkened waters and the being floating in the sky.
"I felt a feeling of a Domain being expanded.....but this is not a domain, it is somewhat similar, but not exactly. I can’t seem to wrap my head around what is happening, this is clearly a manifestation of a phenomenon that happens when something profound is being awakened, but never before have I seen a manifestation able to harm someone, this is turning my views of everything, it does not follow any known rule."
Everyone’s expression became dark as they heard her words, the weight of uncertainty settling deeper, but there was one person who was watching with utmost attention as if she was waiting for something that only she could hear, her focus not wavering even for a moment.
Seris was watching everything without blinking her eyes.
But that was not the end of their shock, because next they saw golden lines manifesting behind that being with such insane speed that a pin drop silence filled everywhere, not only the oceans, but throughout the whole Eden due to such a large manifestation of that Golden Tree, its presence spreading far beyond what their eyes alone could measure.
The space in the surroundings started to shimmer as if it was going to break, the very fabric of the area trembling under that pressure, and hundreds of beings each radiating enormous power stepped out, as even they could not sit still and had come to witness everything with their own eyes, their arrivals causing subtle distortions in the already unstable space.
Some lower ranked Ocean Races thought that this was an opportunity and decided to stream whatever was happening there, seeing it as a rare chance that might never appear again.
And he was not the only one, many people thought of this and soon hundreds of people started to stream it online, and within just few minutes, everyone in the Eden knew of this phenomenon, their attention drawn toward this single point in the ocean.
****