Guardian of the Abyssal Sea —A Sakamata Chloe Side Story— - The Prisoner of the Abyssal Sea

The hull of the cargo vessel *Kaihou Maru* was thick with the smell of steel and heavy fuel oil. Sakamata Chloe clutched her forged materials-transport ID card and moved swiftly through the dim passageway. The work uniform Urabe Takeshi had procured didn't fit — the sleeves hung past her fingertips. In her chest pocket, she carried an old fisherman's protective charm and a fragment of Station Levia's original blueprints. (*This is where it all ends.*) Urabe's small dark eyes and stubble-covered mouth surfaced in her mind. Just before the ship set sail, he'd handed her a waterproof bag and said, "Go" — nothing more. She remembered how his mutilated fingers had trembled. Chloe climbed the stairs and emerged onto the deck. The open sea above the Mariana Trench. Two in the morning. Stars clung to the sky, and the ocean lay still as black oil. The wind was lukewarm, the scent of salt intensifying. (*In Kaito's lab, that photo of Genzou...*) A sharp pain in her chest. The words he'd spoken to her back then were lodged deep in her ears. Genzou had died shielding Kaito. The will to protect kills people — that's what he'd said. " ...But I..." No one was listening. Chloe gripped the railing. The scale-like markings on her left shoulder throbbed, still carrying the wounds from the previous night's battle. (*Even so, I have to protect the Abyssal Sea.*) She looked down at the water. The Tide Core pulsed, a deep, heavy beat. As if shaking off her hesitation, Chloe dove into the black sea. —————— Depth: 6,800 meters. In the lightless deep sea, Chloe's body transformed. The scale-like markings spread from her nape down her back, her pupils split vertically and switched to underwater vision. Not cold, but the embrace of water pressure. Breathing was easier here than on land. Station Levia emerged into view. The 340-meter-long seabed base, illuminated by pale blue lights, sat on the ocean floor like a steel coffin. Twelve sections connected in a complex web, pipelines crawling along its perimeter like blood vessels. The communication antenna array at its peak emitted signals into the leaden deep. Chloe recalled Urabe's old blueprints. The rear of the base — the cooling seawater discharge port. She would enter there. The discharge port was a steel tunnel roughly two meters in diameter. From within, high-temperature seawater used to cool the twelve resonance drills gushed out in a turbid torrent. The moment it touched her, the scale-like markings sizzled and scorched. (*...Ngh!*) Agonizing pain. Not just her left shoulder — the scales on her right arm peeled away too. Still, Chloe clenched her teeth and swam against the backflow of discharge. Deep in her chest, the Tide Core screamed under the excessive heat. The sensation of her lifespan being shaved away. Minutes later, she reached the maintenance hatch of Section 3. She unlocked the hatch with her fingertips and slipped into the narrow duct. Inside the base. Chloe shed her soaked work uniform and hid in the shadow of the duct. The corridor was lined with sterile white walls; the pressure-proof door bore a plate reading "Section 3 — Materials Management." The footsteps of stationed personnel echoed. Further down the hallway, two men in lab coats smoked and talked. "The day after tomorrow, it's finally over." "Yeah. Once the seal is broken, we'll go down in history." Chloe held her breath. "But Dr. Kaito seems to be expecting a guest. I heard he set up a reception room in Section 12." "A reception room? At the bottom of the ocean? Some people have strange tastes." (*Kaito... has a guest?*) A sense of wrongness pierced her chest like a needle. Relying on the Tide Core's resonance, Chloe headed for Section 12. She crawled through ducts and maintenance passages, slipping through gaps in the security system. The air inside the base was dry, the tap water reeked of chlorine — an environment practically poisonous to the people of the sea. She sprayed a humidifying mist near her mouth. The scale-like markings barely subsided. One hour later. The deepest part. The pressure-proof door of Section 12 stood before her. The door bore a plate: "D-12 Ritual Research Laboratory." It was supposed to be the experimental block adjacent to Kaito's private quarters. But beside the door, an unfamiliar device had been installed. Multiple silver nozzles were aimed at any potential intruder. (*...What is this?*) This hadn't been in the old blueprints. Chloe focused her Tide Core, probing beyond the pressure-proof door. She couldn't sense the wave signature of Kaito's Tide Core. Instead, there was the cold vibration of machinery — and faint, human breathing. (*A trap?*) But she couldn't turn back. There was no time. Chloe shattered the pressure-proof door's lock with a vibration from her Tide Core. *Rumble.* The heavy door slid open to the sides. —The next instant. What leapt into Chloe's vision was a sterile operating table. Restraints lined the walls, the ceiling lights a cold white. And in the center of the room, standing with perfect composure, a white-haired man. " I've been waiting, Guardian of the Abyssal Sea." A face etched with deep wrinkles. A small burn scar on the right side of his forehead. Sharp, light-brown eyes fixed on Chloe, appraising her like prey. Naruse Souichirou — Chairman and CEO of Seaverth Corporation. Age 58. Behind him, two subordinates in combat-enhanced suits. Chloe immediately tried to invoke the Prayer of the Roaring Tide. "Abyssal Sea—" The moment her Tide Core began to vibrate, the entire room resonated with an eerie metallic sound. The wall panels were lined with a special alloy that disrupted the Tide Core's frequency. The prayer spun uselessly. " Futile." Naruse's voice was flat. As he walked, he traced a finger along one of the restraints on the wall. " This room was remodeled into a reception room at Dr. Kaito's suggestion. The resonance frequency of the Tide Core has been perfectly analyzed. All of the physiological characteristics of you sea folk — we've grasped them completely." (*Kaito... designed this room?*) Chloe's chest froze over with cold. The two subordinates approached in silence. Chloe resisted. Using the body control honed through combat training, she grabbed the first one's hand and twisted it. But the other seized her head from behind and slammed her to the floor. *Thud.* The back of her head struck the floor, her vision bursting white. " Let go...!" Resistance was meaningless. Her hands were bound behind her back, her neck pinned down. She was forced onto her back and restrained on the cold operating table. Naruse approached, holding a silver disc. The device, about five centimeters in diameter, had countless microscopic needles arranged radially. The tips of the needles were coated in a special liquid metal that reacted to the Tide Core's frequency. " This is a suppression device that connects directly to the squamous nerve ganglia of the sea folk. It cuts off the energy supply to the Tide Core. It took three years to develop." On the ring finger of Naruse's right hand, an old wedding ring glinted. A memento of his wife, lost to the sea twenty years ago. With that hand, he touched Chloe's nape. The center of the scale-like markings. The connection point to the Tide Core. " Does it hurt? But this, too, is a necessary sacrifice." *Crunch.* The device was embedded into her nape. —The next instant. " Aaaaaaaahhh!!" A searing electric shock tore through her entire body. The Tide Core screamed, the scale-like markings bristling. A pain like her nerves being scorched ran from her nape down along her spine. Her vision was painted over in red and black, her limbs seizing rigid. (*It... hurts... it hurts!*) No voice came out. Her lungs spasmed, gasping for oxygen. Naruse observed her pain-filled expression with cold detachment. " Sea folk. Guardians of the Abyssal Sea. For thousands of years, you have fulfilled the duty of sealing the evil god. That is admirable." He brought his mouth close to Chloe's ear and continued in a whisper. " However, your existence is an obstacle to humanity's ocean development. Especially for this nation's interests." National interests. *This, too, is a necessary sacrifice* — his pet phrases. Chloe clenched her teeth and glared at Naruse through tear-blurred eyes. " It is only natural that you hate me. But all of my actions are taken with the future of all humanity in mind. You sea folk are merely a species of a bygone era. A new age requires a new protagonist." Naruse signaled his subordinates with his chin, ordering a follow-up attack. —Torture by drugs. One of the subordinates stabbed a syringe into Chloe's nape. A nerve-sensitizing agent was injected via the Tide Core suppression device. Immediately after. " ...Ah... aah..." All of her scale-like markings blazed with heat as if on fire. The electric shocks emitted from the device on her nape were amplified tenfold in pain by the drug's effect. An agony that burned to the marrow of her bones continued for minutes, then tens of minutes. (*I'm going to die... I want to die...*) Half-dead, Chloe waited for the drug's effect to wear off. Blood-mixed saliva spilled from her mouth, staining the operating table red. Her vision blurred, her hearing numbed, her sense of time collapsed. Naruse nodded with satisfaction and stepped back to the wall. At that moment— The pressure-proof door opened again with a faint mechanical hum. The man who appeared had long, dark-navy hair tied back. His left eye was the deep green characteristic of the sea folk; his right eye was a gold mechanical prosthetic. Beneath his sterile suit, a muscular physique was hidden. Kaito. Age 22. Technical Advisor, Seaverth Corporation. Doctor of Ocean Engineering. " President Naruse, that will be enough here. I'll speak with her." Naruse glanced at Kaito and quietly left the room. A temporary withdrawal. Kaito walked over to Chloe and placed an oxygen mask over her face. Breathing became easier. Chloe spat blood-tinged saliva at Kaito's face. " ...Don't... screw with me." Without even wiping his face, Kaito looked down at her with cold eyes. " Listen to me, Chloe. To stop the seal's destruction the day after tomorrow, I need your cooperation." " I refuse... I'd rather that than... betray the Abyssal Sea." " ...I thought you'd say that." Kaito's prosthetic eye shifted subtly in brightness, betraying a change in emotion. He pulled a tablet terminal from his pocket and turned the screen toward Chloe. " But look at this." Displayed on the screen was the scanned data of an aged document. The title: "Secret Agreement Concerning the Provision of Information on the Abyssal Sea Sealing Zone." The signatory: Seaverth's predecessor company, "Toyo Deep-Sea Resource Development," and— "—Minashi." Chloe's eyes flew wide open. Her grandmother Minashi's handwriting. And the Guardian's seal stamped at the end of the document. It was unmistakably genuine. " I'll explain. Fifteen years ago, immediately after the Black Current Tragedy, the previous Guardian Minashi entered into a secret pact with Seaverth's predecessor company. In exchange for guaranteeing the survival of a portion of the sea folk, she provided the location of the seal and information on the Tide Core's resonance frequency." Kaito's voice was mechanical and cold. Like a machine reciting facts. " ...Lies... That can't be...!" Chloe's lips trembled. The shock paralyzed her entire body, to the point where even the pain vanished. " This is the truth. Your grandmother, while being the Guardian of the Abyssal Sea, abandoned the sea folk. She prioritized the survivors over the sanctity of the seal." " Shut up! Grandma... what Grandma entrusted to me was...!" " What she entrusted to you was a lie. The Guardian's mission was a deception from the very beginning." Kaito placed his hand on

日本語

What is Novelia? →

Episode 4

Name: Guardian of the Abyssal Sea —A Sakamata Chloe Side Story—
Author: Novelia

What is Novelia?

Novelia is an AI-powered platform to read original light novels and fan fiction, create your own in just a few taps, and chat with the characters. New, illustrated episodes arrive daily — free to start.

Learn more about Novelia →New sign-ups get 5,000pt