SSS Ranked Talent: I Can Upgrade My Skills Infinitely-Chapter 153: The District 2 - The Trenches, Red Wedding (Aquatic Ver.)
The Deep District was the antithesis of the Foundry. Where the Industrial Sector was heat, noise, and metal, the Deep District was silence, cold, and bioluminescence. It was a massive canyon carved into the side of the city’s foundation, enclosed by a dome of reinforced mana-glass to withstand the crushing pressure of the deep ocean.
Alvian materialized at the border checkpoint. Valeria was waiting for him, flanked by a squad of Vanguard knights and a contingent of the newly integrated City Watch. They looked tense.
"Situation?" Alvian asked, stepping off the pad.
"Weird," Valeria said, sheathing her sword. "We expected resistance. We expected water elementals, hydro-cannons, the works. But... nothing. The border guards just withdrew."
"Withdrew?" Alvian frowned. "Shui isn’t the type to give ground."
"She sent a message," Valeria handed him a sleek, waterproof data-slate. "It arrived five minutes ago. Addressed to the High Marshall."
Alvian took the slate. A holographic projection of Lady Shui appeared. Her form was fluid, constantly shifting water held in a humanoid shape by a corset of silver armor. Her eyes were shark-like, black and unblinking.
"High Marshall Alvian," the projection spoke, her voice like water rushing over gravel. "I see that Ignis has fallen. A pity. He was always too hot-headed for his own good."
The projection paced back and forth on the slate.
"I am not Ignis. I do not wish to burn. I wish to survive. The Deep District controls the filtration, the sewage, the very breath of this city. If we fight, the city chokes. You know this. I know this."
She stopped pacing and looked directly at the "camera."
"I propose a truce. A negotiation. Come to the Grotto of Silence, in the center of my district. Alone. Or bring your inner circle if you must. But no army. Let us discuss the terms of my integration into your... Void Sanctum."
The message ended.
"It’s a trap," Seraphina said, materializing from the shadows of a nearby building. She was wiping oil from her daggers. "Obviously."
"Obviously," Alvian agreed. "The ’Grotto of Silence’ is a natural amphitheater in the lowest point of the district. It has poor sightlines, multiple exit points for ambushers, and the water pressure there is high enough to slow down anyone without specialized gear."
"So we don’t go?" Valeria asked.
"No," Alvian said. "We go." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚
He looked at the dark canyon stretching out before them. The buildings here were carved from the rock itself, glowing with faint blue and green lights. It was beautiful, alien, and treacherous.
"Ignis tried to fight me with power," Alvian explained. "Shui is trying to fight me with leverage. She thinks she has the upper hand because she controls the life support. If I refuse the meeting, she shuts off the air scrubbers, and thousands die. If I bring the army, she shuts off the air scrubbers. She forces me to play her game."
"So we walk into the trap," Seraphina sighed. "I hate it when you do this."
"We walk in," Alvian corrected. "But we don’t play by her rules. Valeria, you’re with me. You’re the heavy support. Seraphina, you’re ghosting. I want you to sweep the perimeter of the Grotto before we arrive. If you see a sniper, kill them. If you see a mage charging a spell, kill them."
"And the army?" Valeria gestured to the Vanguard behind her.
"Keep them at the border," Alvian said. "If I give the signal—or if the air quality drops by even one percent—they breach. Full force. No mercy."
"Understood," Valeria nodded.
They moved out.
The journey through the Deep District was unnerving. The streets were empty. The civilian population—Merfolk, mostly—were hiding in their homes, peering out through shuttered windows. The water felt heavy, oppressive.
Alvian walked with a steady pace, his [Tablet of the Earth Core] sensing the vibrations in the ground.
"Thump... Thump..."
"Heartbeat?" Valeria whispered, her hand on her sword.
"Machinery," Alvian analyzed. "Pumps. Filtration systems. But the rhythm is off. It’s irregular."
"They’re messing with the flow," Seraphina’s voice came over the comms. She was already half a mile ahead, invisible. "I’m picking up Syndicate signatures. Not the local Watch. These are pros. They’re rigging the infrastructure."
"Explosives?" Alvian asked.
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"Worse. Mana-dampeners. And... void-tech," Seraphina hissed. "Alvian, they aren’t just planning to ambush you. They’re planning to crash the whole district if the negotiation fails."
Alvian’s eyes narrowed. "Scorched earth."
"We’re approaching the Grotto," Valeria said, pointing ahead.
The canyon opened up into a massive, bowl-shaped depression. In the center sat a pavilion made of white coral. The water here was crystal clear, illuminated by floating orbs of light.
Lady Shui stood in the pavilion. She was surrounded by her personal guard—ten [Tide-Shaper Elites]. But behind them, lurking in the deep shadows of the canyon walls, Alvian’s passive perception picked up other shapes. Darker shapes.
Figures that didn’t move like water. They moved like the void.
[Enemy Detected: Syndicate Void Assassin]
[Level: 48]
[Status: Stealth / Ambush Ready]
There were at least twenty of them.
"I see them," Alvian whispered. "Twenty assassins. High level."
"I have eyes on five of them," Seraphina reported. "I can take them out, but once I start, the element of surprise is gone."
"Hold," Alvian ordered.
He walked into the Grotto. Valeria walked beside him, her shield raised but not active.
Shui watched them approach. Her water-form rippled, a sign of nervousness she couldn’t completely hide.
"High Marshall," Shui bowed slightly, a mockery of respect. "You came."
"I’m here," Alvian said, stopping at the edge of the pavilion. "Let’s talk about surrender."
"Integration," Shui corrected, smiling with a mouth made of water. "I have terms. The Deep District remains autonomous. I retain my seat on the Council. And the Syndicate... receives safe passage out of the city."
Alvian looked at her. He didn’t blink.
"So that’s the price," Alvian said. "You sold your city to buy your life."
"I am a pragmatist!" Shui snapped. "The Syndicate is too powerful! You saw what they did to the Academy! You cannot win this war, Alvian. You can only survive it. I am choosing survival."
"Inefficient," Alvian said.
He reached into his inventory. He didn’t pull out a weapon. He pulled out the [Sanctified Soul Vessel].
"Do you know what this is?" Alvian asked.
Shui frowned. "A box?"
"It’s a prison," Alvian said. "For things that refuse to die."
He took a step forward.
"Negotiation over."
"Kill him!" Shui shrieked, her form losing its cohesion and turning into a swirling vortex of water.
"BOOM!"
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The Grotto erupted. The twenty Syndicate assassins dropped their stealth simultaneously. They didn’t charge. They threw shadow-bombs.
Dark, purple spheres of condensed void energy flew toward the pavilion.
"Shield!" Alvian barked.
Valeria didn’t hesitate. "[Titan’s Dome]!"
She slammed her shield into the coral floor. A massive, golden hemisphere of energy expanded outward, covering Alvian and herself.
"BLAM-BLAM-BLAM!"
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The bombs impacted the shield. The explosions were silent in the water, but the shockwaves were visible, distortions that rippled through the liquid. The golden dome shuddered, cracks appearing on its surface as the void energy ate away at the titan mana.
"They’re using anti-magic charges!" Valeria gritted her teeth, bracing the shield with her shoulder. "My mana is draining fast!"
"Hold it," Alvian said calmly. He looked through the translucent gold of the barrier.
The Tide-Shaper Elites were chanting. The water pressure inside the Grotto began to spike.
[Warning! Environmental Hazard: Crushing Depths.]
[Pressure increasing: 200%... 300%...]
Shui was manipulating the environment. She intended to crush them inside their own shield.
"Seraphina," Alvian spoke into the comms. "Now."
"With pleasure!"
From the cliffs above, chaos descended. Seraphina dropped from the shadows, landing on the back of the nearest Syndicate assassin. Her daggers, coated in the neurotoxin harvested from the Sea Snakes, found the gaps in his void-armor.
"ARGH!"
The assassin spasmed and floated limp. Seraphina leaped to the next target, a blur of motion.
Inside the dome, Alvian moved.
"System. Equip [Lance of the Void Winter]." The spear materialized.
"System. Equip [Draconic Storm Bracers]." Lightning crackled.
"Valeria, drop the shield in three, two, one... DROP!"
Valeria retracted the barrier instantly. The crushing water pressure slammed inward—exactly what Shui wanted.
But Alvian wasn’t there.
"[Void Step]."
He teleported. He didn’t move away. He moved up.
He appeared directly above Lady Shui, gravity reversed by his [Greaves]. He hung upside down in the water, looking into her watery eyes.
"You like pressure?" Alvian whispered.
He thrust the lance downward.
"[Gravity Well] + [Glacial Void Pierce]."
"VWOOOM!"
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A singularity formed on the tip of his lance. He drove it into the center of Shui’s fluid body.
The Water Elemental screamed—a sound of bubbling, boiling water. The gravity well sucked her form inward, compressing her dispersed body into a tight, dense sphere. The Glacial Void energy flash-froze the water as it compressed.
"NO! I AM THE TIDE!" Shui wailed, trying to reform, but the physics were against her.
"You are an ice cube," Alvian corrected.
"SHATTER."
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