D.I.O

Whoosh!

The sea pitched and rolled violently. Whirlpools started forming here and there, and waves crashed as they collided, spraying column-like bursts of water.

Swish!

Similar to a bullet, Merlin bounded across the topsy turvy seawater like a skipping stone. In fact, instead of leaping across the water, Merlin seemed to be flying as he used the swimming skill called Jumping. With this, he could rise 30 meters above the water’s surface before crying out.

“Wow! What is this place?’

Merlin couldn’t help but click his tongue while observing the violent sea. The seawater below him was moving at 20 kilometers- no, more like 30 kilometers an hour. It was as if the rolling waves were artificially created from the motors in a waterpark, only on a much larger scale.

Plop.

Of course, Merlin couldn’t stay in the air forever, so when he finally fell, he was swept away by the currents. However, with his water attribute affinity, Merlin could control the water around him, so he had a smooth journey along the currents. If he couldn’t do this, Merlin felt that he would’ve died by now. Although the currents were only moving at around 20 kilometers per hour, they were still strong enough to drown a dolphin.

‘The distance between the most powerful waves is around ten kilometers; it’s far enough to stop people from discovering that these waves are artificial.’

After observing from his vantage point in the sky, Merlin fell into thought. The violent sea looked foreign, and even without Enhanced Vision, anyone could tell that it didn’t seem natural. For instance, just 100 meters behind him, the sea was totally calm and tranquil. Yet, when he came here, the water’s surface was rough and choppy, and the currents were moving at 20 kilometers an hour. In addition, Merlin could see that the sea grew peaceful around ten kilometers before him.

To top it off, the wild portion of the sea wasn’t just an odd spot. It had a specific shape. This was clear in areas where the water splashed around an unseen boundary, never spilling into the calmer waters.

‘Is it a type of boundary?’

Even the way the current flowed supported this assumption, as it seemingly pushed Merlin back to dissuade him from advancing. Essentially, he was being blocked from moving forward.

“Ack, I’ve been pushed all the way back.”

As he contemplated, Merlin felt the ocean slow, and once he regained awareness, he found himself in calm waters. It was impossible for the violent sea to become serene out of nowhere, so it was clear that Merlin had been pushed back.

Merlin opened his map and located his position.

“Noisy Belt?”

This was an area 250 kilometers south of Dead Earth island. Also, there was a dark black boundary line on the map, apparently signifying that nothing should pass. When Merlin took a closer look at the map, he realized that the area with the violent sea was named Noisy Belt.

“How am I supposed to pass through?”

Of course, with Merlin’s water attribute affinity, if he deployed all of his magic power and internal energy to completely boost himself, he’d be able to power through the formidable currents. It didn’t matter if the currents were quicker than 20 kilometers per hour. Even if they were moving at 100 kilometers per hour, Merlin could control the seawater around him and push through.

“Yet, I can’t tell if the ‘peaceful waters’ on the other side are truly peaceful or not. In the worst-case scenario, that area might be an upper-level zone with high-level monsters, so I must be careful.”

The Noisy Belt was about ten kilometers long. If Merlin ran his boosters at full blast to clear this distance, he’d have no magic power, internal energy, or physical strength once he reached the other side. If he met any monsters when he got there, he’d be finished. Merlin couldn’t avoid aquatic monsters with only his natural swimming abilities.

“It would be easier if the currents and waves all moved in different directions rather than generally flowing toward the same place. Once I enter the area, I’m inevitably pushed back by the currents… hmm? Currents that push back?”

Splash!

Merlin was thrown up into the air when he crashed against an incoming wave, and he swiftly used Scanning Vision and Aura Vision to survey his surroundings. Once he examined the sea, Merlin realized something.

“All of the water here is essentially flowing backward. It’s all moving in one direction.”

There was no way that this could naturally occur. Unless there was a wave-creating machine opposing another device that sucked up water, it was impossible for the sea to move in one direction. And while it was true that DIO was a game that could defy physics, based on Merlin’s experience, DIO seemed to try and stick to the laws of physics as much as possible.

“If the water is being forcefully sent out to create these waves and currents, then there must be a place that absorbs it, right?”

Merlin smiled before submerging himself underwater. Although the surface was peaceful as it should be, when Merlin moved a bit deeper, he felt his body sinking. Actually, it was closer to the feeling of being pulled down. This sensation arose after he’d entered a current that was rushing downward!

‘I knew it!’

Any other user would have been dragged down by the unexpected current, which was far faster than 20 kilometers per hour, but Merlin used it to further accelerate his descent. Instead of being carried away, Merlin was essentially in freefall, as if he had dropped off a high cliff. In an instant, he found himself in the deep sea.

Whoosh!

The force of the current was immense. Furthermore, it wasn’t flowing evenly but at slightly differing speeds, causing a tearing sensation. If a tree trunk were placed into this raging current, the entirety of it would explode and splinter into pieces.

‘I wonder how deep this current is.’

Merlin had traveled 300 meters down in an instant, but he didn’t feel like the current was slowing at all, and as he was dragged further downward, Merlin examined his surroundings. Obviously, there weren’t any monsters or living organisms here, as this wasn’t an environment that could sustain life.

“Ah… the sea floor. I guess I’m about 800 meters deep?’

The sea floor here didn’t have the sand or pebbles that would often be found. Instead, it was made of an unknown, durable metallic material that was black and glossy. It seemed exceedingly sturdy, as if even a cannonball wouldn’t nick its surface.

‘Well, considering the high-speed current, a normal sea floor would’ve eroded a long time ago.’

Whoosh!

As Merlin was thinking, the current he was in suddenly changed directions, making a sharp turn when it reached the sea floor. Merlin could follow along without any issue, but if it were any other living being, they would have crashed into the sea floor.

‘Wow, even fish would’ve been pulverized from that.’

It had only taken a brief moment for Merlin to reach the middle of the Noisy Belt, having traveled about five kilometers. At this point, the current changed directions once more and began to charge upwards.

‘I see. The current is moving in a circular pattern.’

The rising current shot towards the surface, splitting apart as one stream moved outward and traveled for the calmer waters on the ends of the Noisy Belt. In other words, the Noisy Belt was sucking up water from the deep sea to create rough waves and currents. Unless someone could dive to the deep sea like Merlin or fly far above the surface, the Noisy Belt would be challenging to cross.

“Hahaha! I guess others will have to fly above this area if they want to cross- ack?!”

When Merlin shot up above the surface of the water, a monster passed by and nipped at his head with its large beak. The monster looked like a pterodactyl, but it was made of mysterious metallic material.

Splash!

When Merlin landed back in the water, the flying monster breathed out a wave of fire, causing a significant amount of seawater to turn to steam.

‘A Golem?!’

After recognizing the monster with his Aura Vision, Merlin scanned his surroundings. At the exact center of the Noisy Belt was an island as big as two football fields. There were a bunch of Golems packed together here, and they were similar to the one that’d just tried biting Merlin’s head. Golems were dolls or robots that were made through magic, alchemy, and doll-making.

‘Are they defending the skies?’

As he pondered, Merlin went underwater and followed the current to reach the calmer seas outside the Noisy Belt. It seemed that the currents flowed outward from the center to the tranquil waters flanking the Noisy Belt. And while it was challenging to swim against the current, it was pretty easy to go along with the flow. Also, since Merlin was returning and not passing the Noisy Belt’s imaginary center line, the flying monster didn’t attack him. It appeared as if the monster was programmed to stop intruders from passing this line, which demarcated one side from the other.

Sss.

Merlin’s body created splashes and ripples in the water as his inertia was lessened by the seawater around him. At this point, he had turned off his boosters and was simply going with the current’s flow.

‘This Noisy Belt… I can get through it since I have some special skills, but it’s probably impossible for anyone else to pass.’

More importantly, that barrier had to have been put there for a reason. The Noisy Belt was probably created to block users from entering the area beyond it.

‘At the worst, the area I’m heading for will be filled with high-level monsters.’

Merlin was incredibly confident that he’d be able to escape any attacks as long as he was in the water, but even still, if he had to fight high-level monsters, they’d probably manage to injure him.

For instance, the Orc Hero, Sungmuk, had launched an unavoidable sword qi attack while they were in the water, and the Lich Heinkel had cursed him while Merlin was touching the water.

‘No, those guys aren’t my biggest headache. Since this is the sea, the true headcase is….’

Merlin recalled the young man that had guarded the Seadragon’s Temple. The young man had a chiseled upper body and blue-tinted skin, and his lower body was in the form of a fish. He was a species that was often called a mermaid, a monster that lived within the sea.

Sss.

As Merlin reminisced, a group of young men abruptly appeared in front of him. They all had red hair and pupil-less, completely white eyes. None wore shirts, and in their right hand, they held tridents made from a metallic blue material. Their bottom halves were, of course, a fish’s tail. When he saw them, Merlin clapped loudly.

‘Ah, right. Those guys! They’re the people that I don’t want to meet in this kind of place… wait, huh?’

Merlin didn’t take any evasive action, shocked from seeing the exact beings that he’d just imagined. The approaching mermaids possessed the same water attribute affinity as he did, so they didn’t disturb the water as they moved. Additionally, for whatever reason, they didn’t exude any killing intent toward Merlin, who just stood there defenseless. In Merlin’s brief moment of inaction, five mermaids surrounded him.

‘Damn. I’m screwed.’

Nervously, Merlin surveyed his surroundings. Since he could be killed at any moment, Merlin focused his energy on maximizing his water attribute affinity. If his opponents showed an opening, Merlin was planning on operating his booster at full power to escape. Yet, the mermaids reacted in a completely unexpected manner.

[What is this thing? It doesn’t have a tail?]

[Isn’t it a human? I’ve heard that creatures who look like us but have two legs instead of tails are called humans.]

[I heard humans can’t live underwater, though. Don’t they live on land?]

Merlin was surprised as the mermaids seemed to be conversing about his identity. Since Merlin had always faced immediate aggression when encountering a monster in DIO, this bewilderment was logical. After all, generally, if Merlin entered a monster’s sphere of influence, the latter would enter battle mode and attack. Some monsters approached users carefully to gauge their strength and look for openings, but none had ever gone up to Merlin just to stand around and talk amongst themselves.

‘What the hell? Their ID is definitely in black lettering.’