The last day of Stage 2 was a beautiful one, two full moons illuminating the dark night. The waves were shy and there was barely any wind. The Frozen Siren floated in tranquility amidst the watery desert. The crew was singing a sea shanty adding more colors to the atmosphere.

After getting both Favor of the Sea and the Sky, Viers took his pirating duty very seriously, preying on NPCs and fellow players alike.

If the Crystal Trident was as good of an item as rumored, Viers wanted to keep it for himself. By doing so, he would not be getting any shards. Since he still wanted to get into the top 10, he needed to get shards from elsewhere.

Piracy was a lucrative business.

Other than Fithel and Pyke, none could contest with Viers’ might. His tyranny ran rampant. He didn't plunder everyone though. Fithel was left alone because he didn't want to fight him and Sakuya was also spared.

It was a bias. Plain and simple.

At 17,600 spark shards, Viers undoubtedly had the most shards out of everyone in the Stage 2 water world, surpassing even Fithel by a thousand shards at least. His worry was about the other players in their respective worlds. He had done all that could be done and hoped it was enough.

At Stage 2, the stronger a player was compared to his defeated opponents, the fewer shards they would gain from their victory. If White Aletro didn't make that rule Viers would have at least twice the number of spark shards than he had now.

And yes, Viers’ blackmail and tithing also got imposed with limitations. Gamemaster Aletro didn't want anyone getting a bunch of spark shards with ease.

As for the defeated, while some of their sparks flowed to their opponents, Aletro also penalized them for losing by axing a portion of their shards, resulting in less shard wealth in circulation.

At any rate, this would be the last twenty-four hours. Either way, Stage 2 will end next midnight.

And now, in the middle of nowhere, Viers would spend the last stretch of Stage 2 at the City of Pearl.

“So, one minute until midnight. If the path does not open I’ll make you into fish food.”

“Relax, you’ll see it soon enough.” Crazy Pete said while bound upside and down.

Almost a month without food, without toilet break, only occasional rum and he’s still as right as rain. He really is not human.

Giving the Frozen Siren a wide berth, were the ships of other players. They too converged at that place, near the supposed entrance to the sunken city.

At the stroke of midnight, a change happened in the sea. A patch of water sunk as if there was an aquatic antlion making a circular hole in the sea itself. From tens of meters wide, it became a hundred meters in the span of minutes.

Suddenly, Viers and the other players were on top of a cliff of water, looking down on the last dungeon far, far below: the City of Pearl. The city was emitting its own light, all of the buildings were glowing lustrous white.

Cool, but how am I gonna get across?

Waterfalls greater than the Niagaras separated Viers and his place to be. He didn't wait for long before the problem solved itself. Stairs made of water just wide enough for one person appeared near the Frozen Siren, leading to the supposed city of unfathomable riches. Viers knew an invitation when he saw it.

Viers addressed his crew, the loyal crew that followed him even after death.

“Gentlemen, I don't know if I will return but if this is it,” Viers took a deep breath. “It has been an honor.”

“The honor is ours, Captain. Uuu… ” The guy was half crying already.

“Go get the Trident. It belongs to no one else but you.”

“Aye! I’ll have one hell of a boast in the afterlife for this.”

In the middle of the spirited goodbyes, Viers bid the last member of his crew, knocking the wood on the Frozen Siren.

“You are one hell of a ship, my pride.”

A light wind blew and the black flag flapped. Viers stepped on the water stairs and descended to the main event.

After the long walk down the stairs, Viers had focussed his mind. This was the crucial moment. Finally, he stood on the seabed. The City of Pearl was even more impressive up close, a beauty of a city. The corals and underwater signs only added its marvel.

Good design, Aletro, Viers praised in his mind. And yet, he felt a wrongness in the city. Interesting…

The city felt sacred and cursed at the same time.

Pyke’s brother did say there’s some kind of god in the city. The final dungeon is normally harder than normal. Gotta keep it together.

The sight from where Viers stood was incredible, he stood at the base of a kilometers-long waterfall. Like tunnels, there were stairs cutting through the tall wall of water and from there the other players came in. The destination of the stairs was the same, the place where Viers was on.

...37 people. The rest didn't come, Viers counted. Either they chose to back out or are not qualified to enter.

Since the rivals had arrived, the race was on. Viers and the others dashed deeper into the city.

Because the place was underwater just recently, there were many places with pockets of water in the area. The floor was also rocky and uneven but the players ran across the historical city as if in the middle of a wild marathon.

Some picked natural treasure along the way or even broke off entirely from the group to scour the alleyways. Viers stayed in the main path.

Hmn? What is that?

There were buildings, roads, doors, covered with thick black mist. He observed that a player couldn't open or go through the black mist.

They encountered more and more black mists as the players went deeper until only one path remained.

Viers, Fithel, and four others were the first group to reach the end of the black mist path. The moons and the pearl buildings provided all the illumination required. It was an open space just like a city plaza or square. There seemed to be a giant hole in the middle where the black mist originated.

Also, there were people waiting for the players.

Crazy Pete? Viers recognized one of them.

“Tito? No, it can't be. You’re dead!”

“Heiness? What is the meaning of this?”

The others let out words of confusion about meeting the people that weren't supposed to be here.

“Welcome, to the City of Pearl.” They spoke in one voice. “Your arrival has been expected.”

The black mist closed the path the players used to arrive at. They were all trapped in the plaza.

One person merged with the other, Crazy Pete included. Precisely 37 people, the same number as the players. The person showed his true form.

“The rumors about the City of Pearl, the riches, the favors of Sea and Sky, are all my doing. Why? To lure you people here! KHAK KHAK KHAK!”

Dread Pirate Pyke guffawed grandiosely.

Gehh! The NPC turned out to be the bad guy cliche! I even checked Crazy Pete before. There are no signs he’s Pyke. Alas…

Pyke walked to the hole behind him. Turned out it wasn't a hole but a body of water. It was so big it might as well be a lake. He stopped when he stood in the middle of the lake.

“Come and see, let me introduce you to the host,” Pyke said amicably. Half of his face that still had skin attached looked like he was enjoying this.

Viers wasn't the fool that approached the unknown -possibly very dangerous- when a stranger told him to. He remembered a scene in the Alien: Covenant movie. The bad guy tricked a guy to come closer to an alien egg and the man did so like a braindead person! Viers had no intention of making the same mistake.

But the other players were not smart like Viers so after some hesitation, a few stepped forward to the edge of the lake. After nothing happened to them for a while, only then did Viers approach.

The black mist cleared out, letting Viers see what was inside the lake. He couldn't help but hold his breath.

The lake was full of human skeletons. Surrounded by the human remains like a king surrounded by his subjects, was a red kraken. The black mists were actually the kraken's tentacle that coiled throughout many parts of the city. The massive tentacles covered with suction cups had been covered by the black mist and still were but no longer obstructing what really lay beneath.

From the glimpse above the lake, how much of its entirety Viers was actually seeing? Enormous was a fitting word. Although its two eyes were open, it hadn't even made so much as a twitch since the beginning, the same with all those tentacles outside of the lake of death.

The observable part of the kraken was like the head of an octopus and there was a human-sized rainbow-colored trident radiating holiness stabbed on the middle of the red kraken's forehead.

Viers realized the kraken was still alive. It had the shape of a kraken but it was not. No soul but there exists a stark difference from NPCs.

What is this… being? Not NPC, that part I’m sure. Is it real? Like the flesh and blood monsters?

“Behold, my eternal liege!” Pyke shouted while the treasure hunters were awed. “The Deep Dweller God, the Land-Swallower, Sovereign of the Lightless Depths. He was dead but no more. You all can feel just a thimble of his magnificence at his current state. Imagine how great he would be when fully revived.”

Viers was amazed how Pyke could be so proud serving a half-alive carcass, god or not.

“Decades! I have been getting food for the Most Honored One. Today, He shall need my service no longer. Today, He will wake from his slumber!” Pyke was ecstatic.

“Rejoice! For you shall become the one with a GOD!”

The skeletons stirred and rose from the lake. This was the true form of Pyke’s unkillable underling, the Crew of the Damned. To make matters worse, the three fish lieutenants of the Dread Pirate also arrived, teleporting using water.

The players slowly walked backward as hundreds of skeletons emerged from the lake. They were trapped and grossly outnumbered. Worry and panic started to spread like a plague among the players.

“Hehehe,” Pyke chuckled. “My liege needs to eat but there is no need for all of you to become dinner. So, I have a proposition. Those who pledge eternal fealty to the Most Honored One shall be spared from the menu. KHAK KHAK KHAK! Patience isn't my strong suit. Decide and decide fast!”