"I can't wait any longer..." Colin thought to himself.
His time underwater was always limited; he couldn't afford to waste more time.
Gritting his teeth, he pulled out a dart and held it in his hand, his legs kicked out, and he slowly swam out of the passage.
As soon as he left the passage, he swiftly swept a glance around, focusing particularly on the spot directly below where the giant pig had dived.
With the aid of Light Brightness Skill's white light,
he saw clearly that an enormous creature was lying on the bottom of the pond below him.
Silent and lifeless.
A surge of ecstasy suddenly welled up in Colin's heart.
"The Black-Maned Giant Pig King is dead?!!"
After the ecstasy came an intense weariness that nearly caused him to faint.
It took him a good while to calm his excited joy, and then he slowly adjusted his position and headed towards the surface.
But just as he kicked out,
a sense of alarm suddenly struck!
Colin glanced instinctively below and his face changed drastically; he hurriedly turned and swam back to the dark passage.
The Black-Maned Giant Pig King at the bottom of the pond was now covered with numerous crimson veins, and as they lit up, it began to slowly regain vitality.
Thump—thump—thump—
The drum-like heartbeat echoed rapidly through the water, causing Colin's own heartbeat to involuntarily speed up.
He once again updated his understanding of the healing abilities of the Black-Maned Giant Pig King.
Swoosh!!
As he swam, he didn't remain idle, trying to shoot darts to interrupt the Black-Maned Giant Pig King.
But the lighting of the crimson veins had pushed its regenerative ability to a monstrous level. The large holes made by the darts often healed within less than a second, restoring to their original state.
At this moment, Colin also realized the limitations of his darts.
When facing such large creatures, his custom darts, only the size of a knuckle, although not lacking in penetrative power, left much to be desired in terms of killing power.
"Roar!!" A dull roar from the Black-Maned Giant Pig King resounded.
…he had no idea how it could roar under the water.
But no matter what, he didn't have time to think about this anymore!
Whoosh!!
A rush of water currents surged from below!
The dark passage was right in front of him, and Colin kicked out fiercely!
In the end, he brushed past the Black-Maned Giant Pig King and narrowly returned to the dark passage once again.
Thump~thump~thump.
Colin, touching the walls of the dark passage, felt his heart pounding violently.
He turned to glance back, and although now with only one eye, the Black-Maned Giant Pig King still seemed vigorous and alive; he sighed inwardly.
Then, without hesitation, he turned his head back and swam deeper into the passage.
The underwater passage was dark and narrow, with peculiar erosive patterns on the rock walls on both sides, and the pond water was ice-cold to the bone.
Colin paddled with his powerful arms, maintaining a steady pace as he struggled to swim forward.
Even with the illumination of the Light Brightness Skill's white light, the passage ahead was still bottomless. At the end of his vision, there was only darkness.
Colin steadied his mind, forcing himself not to overthink.
At times like this, the biggest fear is often not the external dangers but the collapse of one's own inner spirit.
In desperate situations, the hardships and dangers encountered are not what's most frightening; losing hope is…
His Magic Power was running low, and there was no way to replenish it in the water.
Colin lowered the intensity of his Steel Armor and the Hope Defense Field slightly.
Since descending into the pond, he hadn't encountered any living creatures other than the Black-Maned Giant Pig.
But no one could be certain there wasn't danger ahead.
While maintaining basic defense, it was still necessary to reserve some Magic Power for unexpected crises.
As he was thinking this, the passage ahead suddenly began to narrow.
From an original diameter of over a meter, it suddenly shrank to about seventy centimeters.
Colin's heart sank, and with reluctance, he continued to swim forward.
The cramped space prevented him from extending his arms; he could only progress with the kicking of his legs.
After a while, Colin gradually came to a stop.
It was not that he lacked the strength, but that there was no way forward.
Illuminated by the Light Brightness Skill's white light, the wall at the end of the passage was clearly in sight, solid and impenetrable.
A sense of despair rose in Colin's heart.
But quickly, he gritted his teeth, the clear contours of his jaw muscle emerged, and a mysterious anger surged up within him!
It wasn't over yet; he wouldn't give up first.
He continued to swim forward, coming close to the wall.
At that moment,
Whoosh!!
A sound of water abruptly surged from behind.
Something was swimming towards him in this deep, narrow passage!
Colin's expression tensed, and he quickly turned around, clenching the dart in his hand, bracing himself for the encounter.
Moments later,
Bathed in the white light of the Light Brightness Skill, Colin discerned the form of the attacking creature.
In the wider passage behind him, there emerged a smooth, white creature that resembled both fish and serpent, with a head featuring a single ring-shaped gaping mouth.
Its body was roughly one meter thick, clearly too large to squeeze into the narrower passage on his side.
As he had anticipated, the creature got stuck at the point where the passage narrowed.
"Hiss!!"
It opened its layered ring-shaped mouth and released a silent shriek.
Swoosh!!
Colin seized the opportunity, launching several darts violently towards it.
Pfft!
"Hiss!!"
The metal darts hit their mark, and the creature let out a soundless cry of pain.
Immediately after,
Swoosh!
A mass of yellow-green gel filled the entire passage and suddenly shot towards him!
With no room to dodge in the narrow passage, Colin's gaze sharpened as he increased the output of his defensive witchcraft.
The yellow-green gel quickly engulfed him, causing the Spiritual Light of his defensive witchcraft to flicker and waver.
Then, propelled by momentum, it continued to move and came into contact with the stone wall behind him.
As soon as it touched,
Hiss!
A violent corrosive noise abruptly arose.
The stone wall behind him and the passage walls that came into contact with the gel were rapidly dissolving.
Seeing this, Colin involuntarily increased the output of his defensive witchcraft and shifted position slightly to move out of the range of the yellow-green gel.
Thanks to the Hope Defense Field, he did not come into direct contact with the gel, but its astonishing corrosive power still gave him a start.
As he moved, he turned his head slightly to survey the tunnel, noting the strange erosion patterns on it.
'Perhaps this passage was carved out by the creature itself.'
He speculated silently but did not stop; reaching for more darts, he hurled them at the creature once more.
"Hiss!"
The creature's shriek resounded again, but confined by the width of the passage, it could not reach Colin directly.
Swoosh!
A larger mass of yellow-green gel gushed from its mouth!
Like a sharp file, it expanded the passage wherever it passed.
Colin's face changed as he raised the darts to continue shooting at the creature.
Just then,
Crack!
The sound of collapsing stonework came from behind.
Followed by the surge and flow of water, as if something had been unblocked.
'Could it be?'
Colin's eyes brightened as he hastily looked back.
The dead-end passage had now eroded a large hole at its terminus under the influence of the yellow-green gel.
Seeing this, Colin's face couldn't help but light up with wild joy.
But he didn't rush to leave.
Turning around, he faced the white creature, continuously oozing fresh blood from its body.
The current position was advantageous—a narrow passage that the white creature could not pass through.
If he did not take the opportunity to kill it now, once the creature widened the passage with its corrosion and could move freely, he would no longer have the luxury of such a comfortable vantage point for attack.
Colin pulled out several darts, focusing intently as he prepared.
Moments later,
Swoosh!!
The Arrow Shooting Skill at maximum power propelled several metal darts to shoot out, speeding through the water!
Pfft!
"Hiss!"
The white creature emitted a painful shriek, its blood diffusing and spreading in the water.
Then it gradually fell silent.
Under the illumination of the Light Brightness Skill, the white creature floated motionlessly in the water, its head shattered by the darts into pieces.
It appeared to be dead.
But just to be sure,
Colin fired several more darts at the fish-creature, not stopping until he had broken its corpse into several pieces.
After doing all this, he turned and quickly dove into the eroded large hole in the stone wall.
The soft white light from the Light Brightness Skill lit up his surroundings.
He passed through the hole that had been eroded.
The next moment,
His face lit up with wild joy!