This was the power of Dio.
Emily stood on the ground, watching the unobstructed sky—vast and azure, a beauty that couldn’t possibly be seen in a large city.
The sun peeked over the horizon, seeming to turn the surrounding seawater into gold. Before her, the clear seawater was as blue as a gemstone.
This was the Belize Blue Hole.
Just a mont ago, I was in a bar in Japan. Not even a blink of an eye—less than that—and I’m already here.
To experience such a bizarre incident firsthand was completely different from hearing others talk about it.
A strong shock surged within Emily’s petite body.
"It’s so beautiful!"
Even the usually taciturn Katerina couldn’t help but exclaim.
Contrary to her tall figure, she had changed into a light pink one-piece swimsuit. She wore a bulletproof vest over it, but the vest was quite realistic, featuring a zipper at the bottom for ease of movent, so it wasn’t very elegant to wear on its own.
Aozawa, enjoying the seamless beauty of the sea and sky, felt exceptionally relaxed. He laughed and said, "When you’re by the sea, don’t just stand on the shore like a fool. Go for a swim."
With that, he took off his tank top and pants and jumped into the sea. The cool seawater slapped against his skin, and he quickly transford himself into water, blending in and continuing to swim downward.
He wanted to see sharks, sea turtles, and coral down below.
Emily watched Dio dive and disappear beneath the surface, and she didn’t continue to stand there foolishly.
She put her hands on her hips, her light blue bikini sohow managing to look like a primary school swimsuit, did so warm-up exercises on the spot, and then dove in.
Emily was no stranger to water; she made it a point to go swimming at the sea every year. Especially when sumr approached, she liked going to places like Okinawa or Kanagawa for fun.
I never go to public swimming pools, believing that every one of them has people urinating in them and is disgustingly dirty. It’s the sa with hot springs. The sea also has similar issues, but it’s vast enough that finding a secluded spot can help avoid those ill-mannered people.
"Katerina, co on in, it’s so refreshing!"
"Okay."
Katerina plunged in. Her swimming style was the dog paddle—not aesthetic, but impressively powerful.
The two played and splashed in the water, noticing no sign of Dio surfacing.
Emily found it odd. We agreed to strengthen our friendship, so where did Dio go?
Just as Katerina was about to splash water onto her face, she sensed sothing was wrong. "Strange," she said. "Is sothing approaching from the seabed?"
"Haha, as if a re shark could be a match for you," Emily laughed, confident in Katerina’s strength.
This woman could grapple with sharks in the sea and capture bears and tigers in the mountains. It was a sha she was born in the wrong era; had she lived in ancient tis, she would surely have been a legendary, fierce general.
Katerina was about to respond.
Suddenly, the water churned violently. A sound like rolling thunder erupted as a massive head erged from the sea. Its neck was very long, resembling a Giant Dragon from the late Jurassic period.
Just the neck showing above the water was as tall as a seven- or eight-story building, indicating an even larger body beneath the surface.
"AH!"
Startled, Emily’s eyes nearly popped out. She reflexively kicked her legs but felt a sharp pain as her calf muscle cramped.
GURGLE, GURGLE. She sank, her hands stretching above the water, bubbles rising to the surface.
Katerina quickly swam over, grabbed her hand, and pulled her up.
"ROAR!"
The massive head lowered, emitting a deafening roar.
With one arm around Emily, Katerina used her other hand to frantically paddle towards the shore, hoping they would be safe if they reached it.
Questions flickered through her mind: Did such creatures exist on Earth?
The surrounding currents suddenly felt wrong. Katerina instinctively looked back. The sea surface, despite the lack of wind, began to churn, and then wisps of white, cold air erged, quickly coalescing into a human-shaped white frost.
"Ice Age."
Aozawa uttered the words, and cold air spread from his right hand, rapidly freezing the sea’s surface.
This creature, created by his Will-o’-the-wisp Ability, had a weakness: it would lose its ability to resist upon contact with cold air.
Without any resistance, the giant sea creature was easily turned into a motionless ice sculpture.
Aozawa’s body then transford into an invisible wind, and only the sound of a booming wind echoed over the sea.
In an instant, the giant, ice-bound creature shattered, its fragnts scattering like ice.
Katerina pulled Emily ashore, watching the shattered ice glisten in the sunlight and spin in the air, like the Milky Way hanging in the night sky.
But she was in no mood for poetic observations. "Was that a Monster from a Different World?" she asked, puzzled.
"That’s right."
The invisible wind quickly gathered on shore, as the ice fragnts scattered high into the sky like fireworks.
Aozawa reverted to Dio’s form. He certainly wouldn’t admit that the sea creature was a prank he’d deliberately concocted to scare Emily.
Aozawa glanced at Emily, who was in Katerina’s arms. She had clearly been badly frightened; seawater trickled from her small mouth.
It was hard to tell whether it was seawater or tears streaming down her cheeks, making Emily look like an abandoned puppy, stirring an urge in one to hug and comfort her.
"WHIMPER, WHIMPER." Emily bit her lip, trying not to cry out in pain, but the cramp in her calf was unbearable for any human. It truly was agonizing.
Seeing her miserable state, Aozawa decided to help. "Don’t worry, it’s just a minor injury," he said with a smile.
He squatted down, grasped Emily’s right calf, and used his Marvelous Resurgence to extract the cramp. Wisps of black smoke were drawn out and collected at his fingertips.
The pain vanished from Emily’s right calf, allowing her tense body to relax.
"Ah." She exhaled a sigh of relief.
Katerina couldn’t help but say, "You really need to improve your physical fitness. Your calf cramps so easily."
Emily rubbed her right calf. It is quite soft, completely lacking any muscle that symbolizes strength. Damn it, I must train tomorrow!
Aozawa smiled. "Everyone has their own talents. Warriors have the talents of warriors, and strategists have the talents of strategists. Emily isn’t the type to charge into battle, so it’s normal for her physical fitness to be a bit lacking."
"You’re an Angel Envoy, so of course, it’s easy for you to say. I’m definitely going to start training tomorrow!" Emily mumbled, resolving to make full use of her free ti to enhance her physical fitness.
Aozawa spread his hands. "Even as an Angel Envoy, my physical fitness is no different from that of ordinary humans."
"Oh, is that so?"
Emily deliberately showed a look of disbelief. She secretly lodged this piece of information in her mind: if Dio wasn’t lying, then the mont he relinquished all his Abilities would be when his body was at its most vulnerable.
"Of course."
Aozawa didn’t mind revealing such information. Because even if they knew, there was nothing they could do about it.
"My Abilities don’t affect my physical strength."
Aozawa turned, jumped into the sea, and once more transford into a rushing current, diving down to admire the scenery below.
「...」
In one breath, he reached ninety ters deep. The environnt was dim, marine life began to disappear, and a layer of hydrogen sulfide stretched across the Big Blue Hole like a floating blanket.
There was no oxygen here, no life.
At the very bottom lay proof that the Big Blue Hole was once land: bizarrely shaped stalactites.
Aozawa explored the seabed for a while and then re-erged from the water.
Emily, standing on the shore, shouted, "Do you want a drink?"
"Sure."
Aozawa ca over and took a sip of the drink she offered.
Emily hadn’t drugged the beverage. I’m worried he might be on guard the first ti, so I’ll get him used to accepting drinks from first. When Dio thinks there’s no issue, then I’ll inject a drug potent enough to make him pass out instantly. Until that day cos, I must endure! she thought cunningly.
Aozawa was currently in a Schrödinger’s state of existence, so he wasn’t worried about the drink being tampered with. Even if it were poison, he could drink tens of pounds of it.
「...」
Leisurely ti flew by.
Emily spent her ti playing on the sea surface with Katerina but rarely saw Dio. Can this truly strengthen our friendship? She suspected Dio had a different understanding of friendship, possibly because an Angel Envoy’s concept of friendship isn’t like that of humans. As she thought about it, she decided it wouldn’t be appropriate to ask directly if their friendship had grown. She’d just act as if it had and try to be more enthusiastic in the future.
As Emily pondered this, the calm sea surface suddenly rippled, and a figure erged.
Aozawa shook the water from his hair and said with a smile, "Playti is over. We should head back."
"Is that so?" Emily ca back to her senses and curiously asked, "Aren’t you going to play a bit longer?"
"I have other matters to attend to." Aozawa answered briefly, with no intention of elaborating, and started swimming to the shore.
Emily, brazenly, asked, "What matters?"
"You’ll find out later," Aozawa replied with a smile but no further explanation.
Emily felt quite frustrated. It was as if she were Dio’s pet—he’d pat her a couple of tis when he rembered her, and kick her aside when he didn’t.
She grumbled internally, but still swam to the shore and grabbed her backpack.
Aozawa rested his hands on their shoulders. His Global Travel Ability activated, and in an instant, they were back at the Big Fat Sheep Bar in Shinjuku.
The dim lighting inside made Emily feel as if she had gone blind.
After a brief mont of darkness, her eyes gradually adapted to the dimness of the bar. When she turned her head, Dio’s figure had already vanished.
"He really cos and goes like a ghost," Emily muttered. She had Katerina turn on the bar lights, then headed upstairs to shower and change.
The basent was the Big Fat Sheep Bar, but Emily had bought the three floors above it to use as living quarters.
She planned to take a shower, rest for a while, and then make a post on the forum.
Although it might be safe to communicate without a code, I invented this code, and I need to find a chance to use it. It can’t go to waste.
Emily humd a tune as she walked upstairs.
This excursion with Dio had yielded four new pieces of information.
One: Dio denied any connection to the Fla Giant and seed to dislike the entity.
Two: Dio needed to have his hands on soone to activate his ability to instantly travel anywhere in the world.
Three: Monsters from a Different World were invading this world.
Four: Dio’s physical fitness was no different from that of an ordinary person.
This was a clear weakness. As long as I can circumvent his Abilities, I can make my move against him. The future looks promising!
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