As Kraken dove deeper, the surroundings around Ye Bai grew increasingly darker until everything was swallowed by pitch-black darkness. The magical light shield protecting an area about ten meters beneath their feet became the only source of illumination in the vicinity. The genuine terror of the deep sea was even more unsettling than the blackest night, especially when the occasional grotesque silhouette of a deep-sea fish flickered past.
Of course, every one of those fleeting deep-sea fish inevitably ended up in Kraken’s stomach.
Standing atop the colossal and terrifying ruler of the abyss, Ye Bai found himself immersed in an atmosphere that was both fear-inducing and, upon closer reflection, oddly mundane. They traversed the inky depths, heading toward an unknown realm.
In the eerie, prolonged journey, time itself seemed to stretch. There were moments when Ye Bai felt as though he had returned to the real universe—though the thought was fleeting, as the cosmos was dotted with luminous stars and would never be this dark.
Kraken’s speed was unmatched, likely unrivaled in these depths. Yet even so, it took a full in-game day before the scenery before Ye Bai finally shifted.
Light returned to his vision as the seawater transitioned from deep black to dark blue, then finally to a lighter azure.
After passing through the abyssal trench, they didn’t arrive at some bizarre subterranean world—instead, they emerged at another sea surface.
Ye Bai was briefly stunned before realization dawned on him: the deep sea had been ‘relocated,’ wedged between layers of the infernal realm. There was no seabed here—just a massive body of water floating in what could be considered a vacuum.
In this not-so-scientific magical world, the core of this aquatic domain possessed a gravitational pull that ‘anchored’ the surrounding seawater, maintaining the shape of a normal ocean and preventing the water from scattering irretrievably into the void.
Kraken surged forward, swiftly approaching the surface. Then, Ye Bai’s gaze sharpened as he fixed his eyes on a particular spot above the water.
Unlike the previously empty expanse, this sea now bore a dazzling ‘sun’ in the sky, radiating an unusual crimson glow.
Kraken’s target was that very ‘sun.’
With a splash, Ye Bai and Kraken’s head broke through the surface, revealing the source of the light—a spatial rift hovering midair, roughly four meters long and two meters wide.
Even from a distance, Ye Bai could sense the scorching aura of molten rock emanating from the other side.
Among all spatial rifts, those leading to the infernal realm were the most conspicuous and easily identifiable. Their inherent danger served as an implicit warning to players.
“Smol…”
But as Kraken stared at the rift, her lips puckered in profound disappointment. Even the massive tentacles beneath the water seemed to droop dejectedly.
Ye Bai blinked before understanding. “The rift is too small… you can’t fit through yet?”
“Hungwy!” Kraken nodded, her eyes welling up with tears.
Ye Bai couldn’t help but chuckle. He checked Kraken’s current level—74, still short of the semi-divine threshold of 80, which would grant her access to spatial magic. No wonder she couldn’t pass through.
Apart from ‘Chosen’ players, semi-divine beings above level 80, and rare creatures like devils, most entities in the myriad realms faced restrictions when traversing natural spatial rifts. Unlike summoning arrays, crossing these rifts required sufficient size and a certain expenditure of energy.
Even for infernal creatures skilled in summoning magic, these natural rifts were highly unstable. Without knowing how long they would last or what lay on the other side, most avoided crossing unless absolutely necessary.
Though Kraken had leveled up quickly, reaching 74, her size and strength still fell short of the rift’s requirements.
As for her spiritual form, Ye Bai had never seen it separate from her physical body—likely because it couldn’t stray too far, let alone cross into another dimension.
In her eagerness to fulfill her mission, Kraken had rushed here, chasing the scent of the infernal realm, only to forget her current limitations.
Ye Bai could easily imagine her frustration—like waiting in line for food while starving, only to be told it was sold out.
Though Kraken had snacked along the way, it was nothing compared to a proper hunt.
“Hungwy…”
Tears glistened at the corners of Kraken’s eyes as she scanned the surroundings, clearly considering hunting nearby. Her misery was genuine, as was her hunger.
Ye Bai reached out, wiping her face gently. “I’ll go bring ‘Fireball’ to you. Wait here for me, okay?”
“Mmm…” Kraken sniffled and nodded solemnly.
Seeing her like this, Ye Bai fed her two servings of fish stew from his inventory before adding sternly, “Even if you’re starving, don’t wander farther than the length of your longest tentacle. Wait for me to bring back something delicious, alright?”
Kraken seemed to take it seriously, patting her chest in assurance. “Mmm!”
This was the first time Ye Bai had made such a pact with her. He wasn’t sure if his authority as her ‘master’ could outweigh her hunger.
But now that they’d come this far, he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to explore.
Soon, Ye Bai and Autofis stood atop one of Kraken’s massive tentacles.
The red appendage was soft and slick, but its sheer size ensured they wouldn’t slip off.
The tentacle rose from the water like a crane, effortlessly lifting them to the edge of the spatial rift.
[You have discovered a spatial rift. The region beyond exudes an aura of molten rock. Proceed?]
This was the unique prompt for infernal rifts. Without hesitation, Ye Bai leaped in with Autofis.
A brief sensation of traversal later, the familiar scorching heat washed over him—he was back in the infernal realm.
The moment his feet touched the blackened stone, a string of unintelligible words reached his ears.
“&#%￥#…”
The voice came from a horned demon about twenty meters away.
The infernal realm teemed with diverse creatures, each race speaking its own tongue. To players, it was all gibberish unless they joined the infernal faction and learned the language from an NPC. For now, it was just noise.
Moreover, the horned demons have their own language, the imps have theirs, and the hellhounds have theirs as well—the Abyss is practically a 'collection of obscure dialects.' However, learning these languages isn’t difficult, as Abyssal creatures who don’t speak demonic are generally low in intelligence, and their languages consist of only a few basic phrases.
In contrast, demonic is a soul-linked language, akin to direct telepathic communication—any creature can understand it. At the same time, the ability to speak demonic is a mark of higher intelligence, a trait of advanced demons.
Because of the mask, the horned demon mistook Ye Bai for one of its own. But this was merely an effect of the item; if questioned directly, Ye Bai naturally wouldn’t have been able to respond.
Without answering, Ye Bai quickly scanned her surroundings.
A short distance ahead stood five or six horned demons; to the left, three or four three-headed hellhounds; to the right, Abyssal warhorses snorted softly; and further away, in a pool of lava, a few fire elementals seemed to be soaking…
For so many different Abyssal creatures to gather peacefully without fighting, there was only one explanation—they were under the command of an Abyssal Lord. Most likely, the lord’s fortress was nearby.
Only under the rule of an Abyssal Lord could the chaotic denizens of the Abyss suppress their instinct to slaughter one another.
What… incredible luck!
Instead of panicking, Ye Bai felt a surge of excitement. She took a few more steps forward, immediately drawing suspicious glances from the surrounding Abyssal creatures.
Though not highly intelligent, even they could sense something was off when a fellow Abyssal creature emerged from the spatial rift they had been ordered to guard—and remained completely silent.
The previously relaxed Abyssal creatures rose to their feet, and the nearest horned demon began advancing toward her.
In Ye Bai’s vision, health bars now appeared above these creatures.
But she wasn’t the least bit worried. In fact, her only concern was whether there were enough monsters to satisfy Kraken.
After swiftly assessing the guards, Ye Bai soon spotted a fortress rising from the lava about a hundred or two hundred meters away.
Just as expected—this decently sized rift had appeared near an Abyssal Lord’s stronghold, prompting the lord to station guards here, possibly for reconnaissance purposes.
“@#￥%!”
The next moment, the horned demon opened its maw and hurled a smoke-trailing fireball at Ye Bai.
She sidestepped but not completely, taking partial damage.
‘-247’
Thanks to her high magic resistance, the horned demon’s attack only dealt a little over two hundred damage.
At the same time, a [Hellfire Ball] was stored in Ye Bai’s [Disintegration Refund] fire spell slot.
“Boom!”
Without hesitation, Ye Bai hurled the Hellfire Ball at the three-headed hellhound still watching idly in the distance.
‘-584’
“Roar!” The Abyssal hound howled as the fireball struck, its skull partially melted by the sudden attack.
After launching her assault, Ye Bai’s disguise failed. The surrounding Abyssal creatures collectively startled, immediately recognizing her as a surface-world intruder and raising the alarm.
The highest-level monsters here were the level 55-56 fire elementals, followed by the level 45-55 horned demons. With ample experience reserves, Ye Bai didn’t even bother pulling out health potions against these third-tier or lower creatures, instead expertly ‘kiting’ them.
She absorbed all incoming ranged magic attacks and instantly retaliated, sprinting while spamming mana-efficient, instant-cast Ice Shards at every Abyssal creature in sight. Circling the spatial rift, she tagged every monster she could reach.
During this, Ye Bai even spotted piles of firethorn vines nearby, along with a half-woven ‘fishing net’ made from them.
Seemed this first-layer Abyssal Lord, much like the one where Alicio resided, had already explored the other side of the rift—knowing it led to the deep sea, they’d even tried fishing.
But now…
After a round of chaotic combat, Ye Bai—who had previously leveled up twice—deliberately held back from leveling again. With her health low, she dashed into the spatial rift. Autofis, faster than her, had already slipped through.
“@#%￥&!”
The pursuing Abyssal creatures, their bloodlust roused, barely hesitated before furiously cramming themselves into the rift after her.
Ye Bai, emerging first on the other side, was greeted by the scent of seawater before plummeting toward the azure ocean.
She prepared to cast Featherfall, but before she could—
Splash!
White waves erupted below as familiar crimson tentacles broke the surface, catching her securely.
Good girl, always reliable!
Sliding down the tentacle like a waterslide toward Kraken’s head, Ye Bai pointed at the rift and shouted, “I brought you snacks!”
“Fireballs!”
Kraken’s eyes lit up, glowing vibrant green.
The moment Ye Bai landed on her head, she was enveloped in a green protective barrier as Kraken’s massive form tilted.
Then, Ye Bai felt Kraken’s body shift horizontally in the water, her enormous tentacles encircling the spatial rift like a net.
After a dazed moment, Ye Bai realized—Kraken had pressed her mouth right up against the rift!
Just then, the first fire elemental emerged, having expended energy to chase through—
But instead of the expected ocean, it faced a dark, salty abyss.
A void?
Before it could process the thought, a terrifying suction force yanked it into the depths.
And this was only the beginning. One by one, every creature near the rift—even those still on the other side—were caught in the same irresistible pull, stuck to the rift’s surface like flies to glue, vanishing into the blackness.
[Your pet ‘Kraken’ is higher level than you. You gain 28,000 shared EXP.]
[Your pet ‘Kraken’ is higher level than you. You gain 31,000 shared EXP.]
[Your…]
Meanwhile, Ye Bai’s experience pool skyrocketed—not just from Kraken’s shared EXP, but also from the [Assist Kill] credits for having attacked these creatures earlier.
One effort, double the rewards—this was the definition of ‘win-win.’ And this was why Ye Bai had gone to such lengths to ‘pull’ the monsters.
