Daz wheezed as he caught his breath. Wiping the blood away from his face - whether his or a monster's, he wasn't sure - he slumped down onto his rear end and laughed, resulting in several bubbles appearing from his mouth.

Reika floated down and looked at him with an anxious expression painted on her face. 'Are you okay, Insolent Fool?'

Daz smiled. He shook his head and showed the tiny spirit an 'ok' sign with his hand. 'It's sweet of her to worry, but I'm just cracking up at how I almost died.'

He leaned his head against the trench wall behind him and closed his eyes while he let his Regeneration stat slowly fix him up. He'd already long expended all of the daily Lifeforce that his halo could provide him with. Thankfully, he still had both of the halo's chances to save him from a fatal injury, so that wasn't a concern.

'System, you can show me my quest reward now as well as my status, please, ah, but omit all info on my status save for my stats and energies. I can't be bothered looking at it all right now,' Daz requested.

Just as he started engaging with the monsters, he'd received a quest to kill them all, which worked perfectly for him since he intended to do that anyway seeing as how he had very little choice in the matter.

He'd also absorbed every single soul that he was able to as he killed the monsters. Only a handful of them held higher souls, while most of them possessed lesser souls and a couple dozen had medium souls, which was an even spread that Daz could appreciate.

After confirming his request, the system did as he had asked.

Congratulations! You have successfully completed the side quest [Subjugation of Outer Atlantis]. Quest Rewards 250,000 Merit Points. +5 in all stats. +1% Pressure Resistance. The total merit balance of the host is now: 117,626,990 [+250,000]. Host's Status Energies Lifeforce: 23,212/100,000 Death Energy: 12,123/105,000 Worldforce: 1,234/17,500 Stats Strength: [LR] 1,500(2,250) Dexterity: [Limit Reached!] 2,000(3,000) [+435] | Item Boost: +50. Constitution: 2,233(3,349) [+608] Intelligence: 683(1,024) [+608] Transparency: 683(1,024) [+608] Agility: [Limit Reached!] 1,325 [+175] Charisma: 1,763 [+608] | Item Boost: +15 Defense: [LR] 2,000 | Item boost: +3,000. Immunity: 1,448 [+608] Soul Power: 16,310 [+9,800] Luck: [LR]1,250 | Item Boost: +375. Justice: 3,150 Corruption: 0 Wisdom: 1,833 [+608] | Item Boost: +250. Regeneration: 1,133 [+608] | Item boost: +100. Mana Sensitivity: 674 [+608]

Daz smirked as he lay there exhausted. 'Two more stats maxed without having to spend many merit points on them... Awesome... The numbers not being rounded kinda pisses me off, but I need to stop spending points just to fix that. System, show me my resistance sheet, would you? Please.'

He needed something to kill a bit of time before he could muster the strength to get back on his feet, and it would take his Regeneration a hot minute to fully restore his body and Lifeforce, so he felt like now was as good a time as any to see how that 1% of Pressure Resistance had been applied.

Host's Resistance Sheet Resistance Type Resistance Amount Magic 60% Physical 60% Ranged 60% Penetrative 60% Holy Magic 60% Elemental 60% Pressure 61% [+1%]

'Well, it's good to know that resistances can, in fact, break past 60% like I suspected they could... Still, only a single percent, and as a quest reward no less... Oh well, it's certainly better than nothing,' Daz thought somewhat optimistically.

He laughed, forcing a confused look from the demon princess that inhabited his shovel. Ignoring her since he couldn't talk to her underwater, he asked the system, 'Would you mind showing me some magic-based skills that're compatible with me? I'm gonna be sitting here another 5 to 10 mins anyway, so I may as well be productive while I wait.'

"Ah, Artemis, you're here too, huh?" Crusher asked as she scratched the back of her hand and stretched her back lightly.

Mu nodded in a friendly manner towards Madison while she wore a confused look on her face. "Artemis?"

"Ahaha, like it? Fitting, right? Since I gave Uriel a celestial name, I figured I'd give you a godly one. Plus, you're a warrior. It's pretty fitting," Crusher claimed confidently.

Madison cocked her head to the side. "But, sword, not, bow..."

"Don't sweat the small stuff," Crusher dismissively said as she waved her hand frivolously. "Anyhoo, we've got bigger issues to deal with, right? Hahaha."

Madison nodded as she looked at the rapidly slowing down convoy of trucks that was approaching them. "Aila, works, for, Daz's, dad. Evil, woman."

Mu held his chin in thought. "Should we kill them then?"

Crusher shook her head and laughed as she leaned against her hammer's hilt. "Didn't Uriel, like, specifically say that he didn't give a fuck if she showed up? I remember him saying that to her on stage."

"At the auction? I can't recall. I was paying attention to the fight, not the words spoken between them," Mu admitted.

Madison didn't care one way or the other. She handed Daz's doll to Vanessa, which, by the system's law, made it the girl's property for now. As a result, oddly enough, it transformed into a doll of Rose.

Not knowing that the item shapeshifted into the form of the person desired most by the owner, Vanessa just silently marvelled at how focused Rose's plushie looked. Focused and tired.

Madison unsheathed her sword, Family, and said, "I'll, get, rid, of, them."

At that exact moment, a system notification popped up in front of all four of them.

Hey. This is Rose. Don't hurt Aila or her people. Stall them for the next 2-4 hours, would you? Daz is busy taking a swim, so he won't be back for a short while. There's someone under Aila's command that he'll love to personally meet, so don't be a dick and mess that up, 'kay?

Crusher smirked. "Things suddenly got a whole lot more interesting. Stalling is definitely harder than just an outright slaughter, after all."

'...z!'

'...az!'

Stirring slightly, the young reaper sitting at the bottom of the ocean frowned.

Sulking, a certain spirit shouted his name once again. 'Daz!'

A small sigh escaped the man's lips as his eyes parted. He tried to reply as if out of habit but he immediately recalled that he was still underwater. 'I must have dozed off...'

Slowly standing up and taking note of his now fully-healed body, Daz smiled towards the demon princess and mouthed the words, 'Thank you.'

'Hmpf! You are welcome, Insolent Fool! We were scared that you had died... We do not know about you, but the idea of being left alone at the bottom of an ocean while trapped near your body simply because Hamson's seal is intact does not sound very appealing to us. Thankfully, you were just being lazy,' Reika replied as she closed her eyes, held her head back, put her hands on her hips, and then inflated her cheeks.

'Lazy, she says... Still, despite being a reaper and not needing sleep, it seems I can drift off if I'm very injured and somewhat comfortable. That's... morbid in a way. I also wasn't brought to Pala's dreamscape... I guess Cecil knew I was just napping and it'd be a waste of his time to let me in. He does control that place, right? Or does Pala?' With that question in mind, Daz stepped forward and aimed his palms in front of himself.

He almost chanted Death Beam's incantation again before he stopped himself and lowered his hands. 'Hey, system, is there, like, a helmet with a light source on it that can survive in this pressure? The light source part is important.'

Confirmed. 965,123,294,321,976,300,234 such items exist.

'Great. I figured it was a simple enough concept. Well, show me the cheapest one that matches the theme of my outfit. I want it for its utility, but if Rose is gonna laugh at me when she sees it, I'd rather she laughed because it's dumb, not because it's dumb and, let's say... bright pink, as an example,' Daz explained to the system.

Confirmed. Displaying [Shartorian Mining Helmet] to the host. Shartorian Mining Helmet [C-Rank (Middle Tier)] Description

A very hard and durable piece of headgear designed to aid workers of the underwater mining company, Shartorian, to see more clearly and avoid head injuries.

A mining helmet... Weren't you literally just poking fun less than an hour ago at the system for offering you a very thematic trident as a reward? If a mining helmet isn't thematic for 'Mr Crystal Digger', then I have honestly no idea what ever would be.

Stats Durability: 2,000 Perception: 100 Skills Greater Pressure Resistance Price 45,000 Merit Points Greater Pressure Resistance This helmet can endure upwards of 15,000 PSI.

Daz nodded. 'I'll buy it, and yes, I confirm.'

Confirmed. The total merit balance of the host is now: 117,571,990 [-45,000].

Following a very brief flash of light, what looked like your typical mining helmet appeared in Daz's hands.

Thanks to his halo, he could quite clearly see that the helmet was crimson red in colour, almost like that of dried blood. It was very similar to Hamson in that regard. On either side of the helmet were fin-like protrusions and on the front, built into the thing, was a very clear and alien-looking flashlight.

Feeling his way around the hard hat, Daz found a switch on its backside. 'I guess this toggles the flashlight on and off?'

Immediately after testing that theory, a blindingly bright yellow cone of light spilt out of the thing, blasting Daz in the face. He wasn't affected by it and just smiled before he shoved the helmet on his head and properly clipped its strap around his chin.

After getting a feel for it and wrapped his knuckles against it a few times, Daz nodded. 'Perfect. I could have used this during the fight. I'd have gotten injured far less with a bit of visibility.'

'Hey!' Reika shouted as she floated in front of Daz's face and crossed her arms over her chest in an angered fashion. 'Our bed just disappeared! Return it, Insolent Fool!'

Daz raised a curious eyebrow. in response. 'My halo disappears if I wear a hat? Wow. That's... simple. Maybe it's something special to do with this mining helmet? That's crazy if so. I can only imagine how useful that'll be for hiding my true identity if the need ever arises... Regardless, I need to test this to make sure that's truly the case. I have an inclination, but I can't really rely on these instincts of mine...'

He had never truly doubted his esper ability before, but seeing how his father had turned out after clearly relying on Survivor's Instinct heavily for so many years, as well as the fact that there were clear dangers to blindly following the power's guidance, Daz was resolute in only listening to his instincts, not worshipping them and following their every whim.

Daz smiled at the upset spirit and mouthed the words, 'Just sit on my head like you did last week.'

'Just squawk and act dumb like a parakeet?' Reika wasn't stupid enough to think that Daz had actually said that, so she just sighed and decided to float alongside the reaper instead of over top him like usual.

Shrugging, Daz thought, 'Whatever suits you. Well, anyway, I'm... sensing something. Is this from my Mana Sensitivity? It did just increase by over 600 points, after all.'

He scratched his chin and wondered, 'However, that begs the question, where is the mana coming from? Atlantis? The dungeon Rose mentioned? Or maybe something else?'

Regardless, Daz was ready to find the answer now that he had fully healed and was equipped with a flashlight. He summoned his trusty shovel, hooked one of his feet into the handle then stood on the blade with the other.

'It's a damn good thing you fused with Pala's Spade, huh? I don't know if you could have withstood the pressure otherwise,' Daz commented internally as he willed the tool to take him to the source of the mana he was detecting.

A solid hour passed before something strange happened. 'Wait,' Daz commanded as he willed Hamson to stop.

The reaper jumped off of his unconventional mode of transport and looked around with a perplexed look on his face. 'Did... we just teleport? No... A hallucination? No? Not a hallucination?... An... illusion?'

A grin spread across Daz's face. 'I see. So we've found it, huh?'

The system didn't reply, meaning that he had yet to fulfil the quest's requirements. He cracked his neck and rubbed his shoulders. 'Well, the question that needs an answer now would be, how the hell do I break the illusion masking Atlantis?'