Chapter 126: The Blue Creatures

Both awakeners simply laid there floating on Mirage’s back until they felt physically capable of movement again. The exhaustion was absolute. Physical, mental, and spiritual depletion from the sustained terror and exertion they’d endured.

Moon was the first to raise his head and scan the surroundings with returning clarity.

"We need to move soon," Moon said, his voice a little hoarse.

"This is still a permanent death zone after all. I haven’t received any notification about changes to the death penalty system. Just because there are no beasts attacking us right now doesn’t mean there won’t be later. The golden fish’s presence kept everything away temporarily, but that protection won’t last. Let’s move, before the predators return to their habitats."

His eyes swept across the horizon, searching for any landmark or destination. Then he spotted a land. A coastline visible several kilometers away across the vast ocean.

Unfortunately, they were positioned on the opposite side of the prevailing wave pattern, which meant they’d need to swim against the current to reach shore. Thankfully, the waves were relatively small—nothing like the storm-driven swells that could capsize ships. For Mirage with his new new evolution, navigating these conditions shouldn’t pose significant difficulty.

"Come on, buddy. Let’s go," Moon said gently, stroking Mirage’s neck with genuine affection. He withdrew a stamina restoration potion from his spatial storage and carefully administered it to the exhausted horse.

Gulp! Gulp!

The white horse drank gratefully, the magical liquid immediately beginning to slowly restore his strength.

Moon and Selene consumed their own stamina potions as well, feeling the restorative effects spread through their battered bodies. The recovery wasn’t instantaneous, they’d pushed themselves far beyond normal limits, but it was enough to function and continue moving.

Selene remained extremely fatigued. She’d almost died from the pressure and oxygen deprivation. The trauma of near-permanent death wasn’t something potions could fully address.

She simply rested her head against Moon’s back as they began the journey toward shore, treating his presence as her only safe haven in a world that had tried to kill her repeatedly.

Moon guided Mirage toward the distant coastline, the evolved horse swimming with steady determination despite everything he’d been through.

During the journey across the open water, Moon couldn’t stop his thoughts from returning obsessively to the golden fish. The image of that impossibly massive creature was seared into his memory like an image that refused to leave.

He’d realized something profoundly humbling during that brief encounter. Despite all the progress humanity had made since the apocalypse, despite his own exceptional growth as an awakener with a unique class, there was simply too much hidden from them. Too many truths concealed beyond their limited understanding of this unknown world.

They were like frogs living at the bottom of a well, gazing up at the small circle of sky visible above and believing that represented the entire world. They didn’t comprehend that beyond their well existed ponds, beyond ponds existed lakes, beyond lakes existed oceans, and beyond oceans existed an entire planet filled with wonders and terrors they couldn’t imagine.

That golden beast was undoubtedly powerful enough to kill even Second Sanctuary Evolvers, perhaps effortlessly. Yet it had existed within a hidden realm located inside First Sanctuary territory, which according to all established system rules meant it should be classified as a First Order beast.

But nothing about that creature matched First Order parameters. Its size alone defied every known classification system.

’Unless...’

Moon’s thoughts turned to a disturbing possibility. What if the golden fish was an irregular existence, just like himself? An anomaly that broke the normal progression rules?

But he immediately shook his head, rejecting the theory.

"Impossible," Moon muttered aloud, though Selene was too exhausted to process his words.

’Even I can’t do that. Just because I don’t have a traditional class doesn’t mean I can access realms or zones designated for different Orders than my current level. That’s a fundamental rule—a law of existence that predates humanity’s awakening. There are no outliers to that restriction. None at all. It’s an immutable fact.’

The system enforced Order separation absolutely.

First Order awakeners and beasts existed in the First Sanctuary. Second Order Evolvers existed in the Second Sanctuary and so on.

The barriers between these sanctuaries weren’t suggestions, they were metaphysical walls that couldn’t be crossed until you achieved the appropriate evolutionary stage.

But a question begged to differ, how had a creature of that magnitude existed in a First Order realm?

’Maybe the golden fish was actually a First Order beast, and I’m underestimating how powerful peak First Order entities can become with enough age and accumulated power.’

That thought was somehow even more terrifying. If First Order beasts could reach that level of strength through natural growth and development, what horrors existed in higher Sanctuaries where the baseline power was already incomprehensibly greater?

Moon pushed the philosophical questions aside. He were exhausted, and needed to reach safety. Existential contemplation could wait until they weren’t at immediate risk of permanent death.

The coastline grew gradually closer as Mirage swam steadily through the waves. Moon could make out details now, rocky cliffs, sparse vegetation, what looked like a beach area where they could make landfall.

"Almost there," Moon said, more to himself than anyone else. "Just a little further, Mirage. You’re doing great."

The white horse snorted acknowledgment, his powerful fin-tail continuing its propulsion.

They were going to make it.

Against all odds, despite everything that had tried to kill them, they were actually going to survive this nightmare.

And Moon had the containers of golden beast blood, the attribute increases permanently enhancing his body, and knowledge of a hidden realm that no one else possessed.

If they could just reach shore safely, this catastrophic experience might actually prove to be the opportunity of a lifetime. Assuming they survived long enough to benefit from it.

When they were finally within reach of the shore, within reach of relaxation, figures began to appear from the island, figures that were blue in colour.

’Shit...’ Moon thought to himself, a grim expression on his face.

"Selene...Wake up, it seems like the fighting isn’t over just yet."