Gacha System: Reborn In The Hardest World
Chapter 67: The City Beneath The Waves

Chapter 67: The City Beneath The Waves

Gael gathered his bearings, looking up at the primordial mammal as he addressed it, "You want my assistance?"

It was hard to imagine what a creature of such scale could want with him, seeing as he was no bigger than a plankton to it.

"That is correct..." The whale answered. "I am Narwhi, Sage of The Depths...It has been my duty for centuries...to oversee Atlantis."

Each time the colossal mammal spoke, the wind hummed, tickling the fingertips of the young man. Its mighty breath carried a scent of salt, potent enough to make his nose scrunch with every syllable.

"The humans of Mastorn seek Marinus, treasured guardian of Atlantis...They only seek...ruin in their efforts," Narwhi spoke through rumbling words.

Matteo stepped forward, raising his arm as the air shook from the whale’s speech, "—Atlantis isn’t a myth, then? Is this it?!"

Narwhi was silent for a moment before speaking again, addressing the minuscule humans, "Where you stand...is not Atlantis. We’re outside its bounds...For it is too dangerous..."

"Dangerous? You’re the Sage or whatever, right?!" Gael asked, having to yell for his voice to be carried to the whale’s high ears.

As the vibrant coral swayed between the traveling schools of exotic fish, some of tiger stripes and translucent bodies, the ancient whale spoke—

"Atlantis is all but fallen...What remains inside of the kingdom is..death and those that reject it," Narwhi explained.

Florentine shouted, "Sorry, but can you be a little less vague here?! Don’t get what the hell you’re talking about?!"

The warrior’s impatience seemed to finally get through to the barnacle-clad whale as its maw opened with thundering words—

"Undead have ravaged Atlantis...They feast on the flesh of their own, spreading infection, denying death itself...Accursed banished," Narwhi explained with dire booms.

The picture implanted into Gael’s mind led him to an immediate understanding, "—Zombies."

"Zombies?" Matteo repeated, looking at him.

"Y’know, brain-craving, mindless—actually, you probably don’t. That’s just a concept from my world," Gael said, brushing off the topic. "Anyways...If it’s anything like that, it sounds bad."

Narwhi responded, parting its maw again, "Those from Mastorn...have already entered Atlantis. They seek...the Cerulean Crown."

"The Cerulean Crown?" Gael questioned.

"It is...the artifact that grants the wearer the ability to command Marinus..." Narwhi explained. "However...If they activate it...all that’s left of Atlantis may well perish."

The dire words echoing from the whale’s mouth only cemented what was felt by the Outlander. Still, he was left perplexed as to why he was the one brought down by the whirlpool, hardly finding his place directly in this mess.

"You’re asking for us to stop them, I take it? We were already planning on doing that–that’s why we’re here," Gael spoke loudly.

Narwhi continued, "I already understand your mission...However, if you simply barged into Atlantis ignorantly...You wouldn’t last mere minutes. That is why...I will grant you a secret passage into the city."

"You will?" Gael asked.

He felt uncertain about it all, though it was the mission he came here for, even if separated from the others.

"I ask...destroy the Crown, make sure it cannot be used..." Narwhi called. "You will find it in the King’s Keep, hidden beneath the throne...The Mastorn invaders do not know this..."

"Beneath the throne...Got it," Gael nodded.

As the circumstances were understood, the colossal whale shifted its body, causing the dormant sands to move.

"The city of Atlantis is hidden to the eyes of outsiders...It can only be found through means of magic, or special passage..." Narwhi explained before planting its bottom jaw beneath the sand, opening wide.

A clear view was found of the whale’s entire mouth, as unasked for a sighting was for the old, gray flesh.

"Hold on," Gael asked in slight disgust. "You want me to go in there—?"

"Enter...you will find a doorway inside...It will led you to a safe place within Atlantis," Narwhi explained.

There wasn’t much time to relay his disgust for the idea as he climbed into the open mouth, standing on the vast tongue of the creature.

As his boots touched the slimy organ, he shuddered, looking deeper into the maw. The stench was like that of a fish market bordering the ocean, though somehow more intense.

"Reminds me of the time I was inside a land dragon’s belly! I had to tear my way out," Florentine recalled, stomping over the tongue.

Gael looked around for whatever doorway could be inside the colossal mouth, brushing off the warrior’s words, "I don’t even want to know hope that happened."

It almost felt like his leg was being pulled, looking for a "door" where one simply wouldn’t be. Low calls vibrated through the interior of the whale’s mouth, bringing another wave of the stench.

Gael walked forward while covering his nose with his arm, having to summit the tongue before finding an unusual sight—

There it was; a simple, wooden door embedded into the back right side of its mouth. It looked strange, though it was undeniably what he was looking for as he hurried over.

"This way," he said, guiding his familiars as the capybara stayed on his shoulder.

"Woah—there really is a door!" Matteo remarked in surprise.

As he reached the obscure entryway, which didn’t seem to connect physically to another place, he paused. All he knew is that it would lead somewhere "safe", but the mission itself would be anything but that, he knew.

["It’s dangerous, and going in without any of the others is even more so. Still...This is a task perfect for me. I can stay out of danger’s path, infiltrate the castle and destroy the crown."]

Cementing his resolve, he pulled the door open and stepped through without hesitation.

"Ah—"

He found himself in a plain room with chalky walls, though resembling human architecture. A quick glance behind him found no door behind him—no way back.

"So, it was a gateway of some sort," Matteo observed.

Florentine called over, looking out of a window, "Hey, Master—look!" She hurriedly said in a hushed tone.

He moved over carefully alongside Matteo, peering out of the window. The scenery immediately filled him with awe; a cityscape of pearl-stone buildings, overlooked by the deep, great-blue and the colorful trees of coral.

"This is Atlantis?" Gael remarked.