There was something fulfilling in hunting the ambushers. Keynes didn’t even bother killing them. The dominion would do its job if they were stupid enough to linger about.

It almost took him an hour before an unheard message made the enemies stop the chase after Esopp and retreat toward the south, away from the lake. Glad with the turn of events, as his mana was running dangerously low, Keynes found Esopp and both men made their way back to the beach.

They found Serrata ready to leave.

“What’s up?” Esopp asked, which earned him a scowl.

In the poor light of the lanterns left by the attackers, her face looked rough. Her aura told Keynes that she had enough. They all had. The ever-present debuffs were soaking into their very being, becoming obtrusive and tiring. Keynes couldn’t even imagine how difficult it had to be for the people without his powerful defensive buff.

Still, they meant to be professionals. They shouldn’t forget that their lives were at stake here.

To her credit, Serrata’s scowl quickly melted upon seeing Esopp’s state. Despite Keynes’s effort to take down the chasing enemies, some still managed to land a cut or a punch, and on top of that, Esopp hadn’t come in the best shape prior to that. For now, he wasn’t in a critical condition or anything but he’d need the healers to patch him up.

Serrata considered Esopp’s question for a brief moment then something changed in her demeanour. Keynes sensed shame and regret. Hm?

“Artefact Exchange officially withdraws from this expedition,” she said, her tone sombre.

Esopp was about to say something, then he paused and he looked around, taking in the rest of the people. Serrata took his silence for a sign to continue.

“We’re spent, tired and with the recent ambush also aware of our inadequacy. We have no business being here. With all the debuffs running rampant, it takes only a tiny error to die. And to die for what?”

She let the question permeate the air around them.

“If you value your people’s lives, you should turn around as well. Go back, get stronger, prepare better, then return here.”

“We aren’t here only for the rewards,” Esopp said but Keynes knew that these words were hollow. “This dominion in itself is a threat to the world.”

“Is it really?” she asked scornfully.

Esopp turned to where Keynes rested on the sand, then glanced back at Serrata.

“You’re right. This expedition is a failure. My failure. I haven’t expected the extent of perils we’ve encountered here. Therefore, I understand and respect your decision and thus officially end our expedition as well.”

Despite Esopp’s statement, Serrata didn’t relax. She knew that Esopp wouldn’t give up on the prize. Keynes watched her carefully for any signs of betrayal.

“Will you return with us then?” she asked.

Esopp shook his head.

“I won’t but I’d like to ask you for a favour. Will you escort my people out of the dominion? I’ll make sure to recompense you for the trouble.”

“I knew it. You cannot give up on the reward.” she snapped then asked. “What about Sandman’s henchmen?”

“I don’t believe they were Sandman’s people. He’s always worked alone. It’d be out of character for him.”

“They still worked for someone. You know it.”

He nodded, wincing. As he sat down, the healers used their spells on him. Esopp’s recovery was short though. Serrata agreed to take their people back to safety, leaving Keynes and Esopp at the mercy of the dominion’s debuffs. Keynes tried to get rid of the annoying debuffs but his Will wasn’t strong enough, still he felt he was close.

They said their goodbyes and soon the two men were left alone sitting in darkness.

“Are you sure you want to follow me?” Keynes asked, banishing the silence.

“Can you beat the sub-boss by yourself?”

Not likely. If someone like Syberius Sael had failed, what chances did Keynes have? He didn’t like it but he actually needed Esopp and he couldn’t discount the aforementioned enemy - Sael, who might come after him. Well, actually, Keynes ‘forgot’ to mention him to Esopp.

“There is something you should be aware of…”

***

Keynes and Esopp left the beach and travelled further north. They were all too aware now that not only monsters posed a threat inside the dominion. Each monster they encountered, they carefully dispatched, trying to cause the least amount of noise. It took them the better part of the night. Upon the sunrise they found a cliff, overseeing the lake and camped inside a shallow cavity that was inaccessible to anyone without [Flight].

While they slept, Alice took a sentry, keeping an eye on the surroundings.

Finding very little rest in their sleep, they woke up after noon and started planning their next move. It quickly became obvious that giving up would be smart. Serrata’s decision to withdraw was correct.

“I underestimated the strength of these dominions,” Esopp admitted. “I thought that being Level 7 was enough to steamroll through it but I was proven wrong. Sorry.”

Yeah. The Dominion of Monsters turned most of their assumptions upside down. Suddenly, Levels weren’t the sole axis of power. Nonetheless, their job here wasn’t finished. They needed to put down the sub-boss.

Keynes tested the sky around the island learning that flying to the island wasn’t actually an option. Each time Keynes got about two hundred metres from the island, a gigantic swarm of smaller monsters took off becoming a living wall.

After a system message about a failed attack on the boss, Keynes figured out that this was how far Syberius Sael had been. So they still didn’t know how strong the sub-boss would be. Keynes tested the swarm a couple of times. His auras did a good job initially but the monsters had passive that increased expenditure of mana which each kill that almost emptied Keynes’s tank, which would have seen him plummet into the lake below if he didn’t disengage in time.

Clearly, the dominion was designed to not let anyone abuse a flight movement.

That left swimming. During the day it was no go zone as the lake was heavily infested by monsters. But once again, the monsters vanished with the arrival of the night.

“You sure about it?”

Keynes nodded despite having doubts. Everything about the dominion was perilous. If the lake was another trial, they’d be screwed.

“Well, in that case, let’s get to it.”

***

With the arrival of night, they gently slipped into the water. The lake wasn’t deep until a hundred metres from the coast where it almost vertically sloped down. Alice kept scouting the area for the monsters while Keynes and Esopp had another issue to deal with.

The currents.

There were many and they were wild!

Just standing submerged to the waist was enough to be rocked gently. If Keynes was still Level 1, he would unlikely be able to remain on his feet. Esopp fared better but they knew that this was only the beginning. On top of that, darkness blanketed everything like a hand of god. Keynes used [Night Sight] but Esopp didn’t have the same luxury.

To add insult to injury, Esopp revealed that he was on the verge of entering the Medium stage but without a good chunk of essence he was unable to make the final ascension. Having him in the Medium stage would have solved the navigational issue as his spiritual companion would have been able to follow Keynes in darkness.

As they waded out of the shallow waters and entered the depths, the currents became dangerously strong and unpredictable. Some pulled them down, others in circles. Still, both ascenders prevailed, their legs strong enough to keep them on course. But this endeavour had never meant to be easy. Halfway to the island, the currents started to pull them apart. It was strange for the water to have an intent.

Then Keynes sensed it. A solitary monster trailed them. It was too deep for him to find out what set of powers it possessed, but Keynes quickly warned Esopp to be ready. Somehow, the monster became aware that it’d been noticed and the water started to churn around them.

Still, it kept its distance. It seemed its powers focused on indirect combat. A similar idea Keynes had with his [Telekinesis], only his spell was too weak to do much damage at this point.

Alice, is there anything you can do? Keynes asked, finding the swimming harder.

I cannot physically attack it but … I am able to do some spiritual attacks. But they are mostly weak and will only distract the monster.

Do it.

The moment Alice engaged the monster, the water completely stilled.

“Follow me!” Keynes shouted and picked up speed. This was their only shot at getting away from the underwater creature. They only covered about a hundred metres when the currents returned.

Then everything went mad. Pillars of water exploded all around them and the water in many places became as thick as syrup. The real struggle began even though the only thing they had to fight was water. The monster that manipulated it remained hidden deep below the surface.

In the chaos, Keynes and Esopp were separated, which seemed to be the intent of the monster.

Can you attack it again? Keynes asked Alice, he needed to get to Esopp before the distance would be too great.

I cannot. I am unused to these kinds of encounters.

Keynes fought the currents but in the end, he wasn’t going to triumph. His stamina was halved from swimming alone and he still had a considerable distance to the island. Assuming that no more dangers awaited them there, which was unlikely. He decided to abort the attempt, grab Esopp from the air and leave the lake to recover.

Then came ice. It spread fast and forced Keynes into the air lest he would be caught in it.

Keynes blinked several times, not believing his eyes. A large iceberg was floating in the middle of the lake. On top of it stood Esopp. That was some crazy Talent right there. Keynes landed next to Esopp before the swarm attacked him. The underwater monster’s assaults didn’t stop but the iceberg was heavy and granted them a moment of respite.

“Holy shit,” Keynes said after catching breath. “I didn’t know you could make something like this.”

Esopp looked worse for wear even with his [Endurance] skill. Without looking up, he replied.

“In normal circumstances, I can’t. Or at least doing something of this size would be impossible. But the water seemed to be infused with the monster’s essence. I guess, and it allowed me to create this. But please, don’t expect an iceberg falling on our enemies. My Talent doesn’t work that way.”

They stayed on the iceberg for some time, recovering their mana and stamina when Keynes went still. Something was wrong. Esopp didn’t notice it because the night was pitch black and his spiritual sense wasn’t good enough to read emotions of someone in Keynes’s spiritual stage.

“Esopp.”

“What’s up?”

“The monster’s attacks have stopped.”

“Isn’t that good?”

Keynes had a bad feeling that the monster wouldn’t let them off the hook and he had even worse feeling one that the monster was the third champion. If his theory was right that each subsequent champion was immune to the damage that had killed other champions, they would be in trouble. It would make [Chaos Aura] and physical damage useless. He hoped he was wrong but his gut was telling him otherwise.

“I can’t say. These dominion monsters proved to be quite cunning. I wouldn’t disregard it until we are out of the water.”

His words were proven right a minute later when a jet of water speared the iceberg. The monster itself had gotten closer to them as well. Keynes’s worst suspicions were confirmed. It was, indeed, a champion and its skill set was very dangerous while in the water. It could freely manipulate water, infuse it with its essence, as Esopp had noticed, and had a fast regeneration as long as it remained in the water and had access to food.

Alice described it as a bus-sized medusa with tentacles that seemed to disappear in the depths of the lake. She also made it clear that killing this beast in the water was short of impossible for them.