D.I.O

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

The sea floor here didnt 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 wouldnt nick its surface.

‘Well, considering the high-speed current, a normal sea floor wouldve 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 wouldve 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 thatd just tried biting Merlins 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 Belts imaginary center line, the flying monster didnt 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.

Merlins 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 currents flow.

‘This Noisy Belt… I can get through it since I have some special skills, but its 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 Im heading for will be filled with high-level monsters.

Merlin was incredibly confident that hed 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, theyd 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 arent my biggest headache. Since this is the sea, the true headcase is….

Merlin recalled the young man that had guarded the Seadragons 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 fishs tail. When he saw them, Merlin clapped loudly.

‘Ah, right. Those guys! Theyre the people that I dont want to meet in this kind of place… wait, huh?

Merlin didnt take any evasive action, shocked from seeing the exact beings that hed just imagined. The approaching mermaids possessed the same water attribute affinity as he did, so they didnt disturb the water as they moved. Additionally, for whatever reason, they didnt exude any killing intent toward Merlin, who just stood there defenseless. In Merlins brief moment of inaction, five mermaids surrounded him.

‘Damn. Im 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 doesnt have a tail?]

[Isnt it a human? Ive heard that creatures who look like us but have two legs instead of tails are called humans.]

[I heard humans cant live underwater, though. Dont 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 monsters 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.