Two crescent moons hang in the cloudless night, one larger than the other. The big one glows with a blue hue, its smaller companion a red one. The red moon looks a little strange.

  Stars blanket the sky. I’ve never seen so many back on Earth; it’s almost magical. Too bad I don’t recognize a single constellation.

  The submarine rocks gently in the dark waves. I climb out for a better view. The waves lap softly against the sub’s hull. A light breeze brushes my face.

  It doesn’t feel like an open ocean. After taking a breath, I’m hit by the familiar scent of salty seawater, a comforting reminder of Earth.

  Scanning the horizon, I gradually make out the shapes of mountains and land in every direction, some closer than others. This is an inland sea.

  The gentle lapping is abruptly shattered by a series of loud bubbling noises.

  Before I can scramble back inside, the submarine is launched skyward, then crashes back into the sea.

  Struggling to stay afloat, I’m confronted with a massive mouth filled with dagger-like teeth.

  Well, I think to myself, this might be my chance to finally break this cursed body.

  Sharp teeth clamp down on me. A thick blue liquid blooms into the surrounding water.

  The water now entering my mouth has a rather unpleasant metallic and acidic tang.

  Looking down at my perfectly intact body, realizing the liquid isn’t my blood, I curse in my head. Guess this creature can’t break this body either.

  The creature recoils, twisting and coiling, screeching in pain.

  Upon closer inspection, the creature is a giant alien-looking sea serpent, covered in scales, sporting a couple of pairs of flippers and a long tail. Its triangular head has two pairs of tiny eyes and an absurdly large mouth.

  The mouth, once full of sharp teeth, now sports several broken stumps. A thick stream of blue liquid gushes from its jaws.

  During my time in the lab, I tried to figure out some weaknesses for this body. If there is a critical weakness that I can exploit and break this body, it’d be a dream come true.

  But I soon realized the biggest weakness I have isn’t death. It’s being trapped forever.

  Some sort of sealing ritual, maybe—some way to trap or isolate this body. An eternity in solitary confinement? Now that’s my worst-case scenario.

  So, I absolutely must prevent any possibility of that. And to do so, I must be able to protect myself.

  The submarine is still intact and bobs on the surface. I eagerly start swimming toward it, but another long, massive body blocks my path. This creature makes the last one look like a tiny worm.

  It whips its tail, and a crushing force slams me into the seafloor. I frantically stir up the water, trying to hide among the rocks.

  Seriously, why are they attacking me? Do I look that delicious?! Am I radiating some kind of irresistible seafood aroma I’m not aware of?

  The larger sea serpent swims near the surface, while the smaller one races to the bottom. The blue liquid has stopped flowing from its mouth.

  It furiously thrashes, smashing its body against everything on the seafloor in a watery tantrum.

  Taking advantage of its little meltdown, I carefully sneak around it and swim back to the surface.

  Channeling my Qi from my abdomen into my arms and legs further enhances my speed and strength before I finally pull the dagger from the side of my leg.

  When I’m close enough to the larger serpent, I stab and slice into it with all my might. Another wave of that blue fluid erupts, showering my face.

  The large sea serpent twists and turns violently, clearly not enjoying my impromptu acupuncture session. I seize the opportunity and rush toward the submarine.

  Quickly grabbing onto the hull and starting to climb, I'm about to haul myself back inside when the sea starts swirling around me. Losing my grip, I tumble back into the water.

  Below me, the large sea serpent swims in a circle at an unimaginable speed. The water around me twists and turns into a small, rapidly growing whirlpool, dragging everything down.

  The creature has a special move?! Of course, it does. Why wouldn’t it?

  While the larger sea serpent creates the whirlpool, the smaller one launches itself at me from my blind spot.

  Oh, look, they have a combo attack too. How… original. I’m starting to think these guys took lessons from anime.

  It attacks again and again, snapping its jaws, trying to take a chunk out of me. It can’t even pierce my skin, but I’m being tossed around in the water like a rag in a washing machine.

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  I jab my dagger into the smaller serpent’s head and body whenever I get a chance. Slowly, the water around us begins to darken, turning a murky shade of blue.

  As I scan for the smaller serpent, bracing for its inevitable return, I’m suddenly plunged into absolute darkness.

  The water around me thickens, turning into something like thick, sticky glue. My body is squeezed from all directions. I push, stab, and slice blindly, my dagger meeting resistance at every turn.

  My mind races as a wave of claustrophobia washes over me. I keep stabbing with the dagger in every direction, a frantic mantra echoing in my head.

  Oh no oh no oh no no no no no…

  The viscous fluid continues to thicken, enveloping my entire body. I feel myself being dragged down, down, down through the endless darkness.

  Being eaten, and then digested... I really hope this isn't how it ends. Ending up trapped in a giant monster’s… well, you know. At the bottom of the sea. That would be a truly awful demise.

  Once again channeling the Qi within me, I clear my mind and sense the right direction, then focus the Qi into one of my arms. With a mighty heave, I stab once more with all my strength.

  This time, instead of pulling the dagger out, I keep pushing and slicing, tearing at the inner gut lining with both hands. I tunnel my hand, then my arm, head, shoulders, and the rest of my body into the rip I created.

  The fluid around me slowly begins to thin and acidify. The dagger strikes a solid mass in front of me, like hitting an iron wall. I wriggle closer and focus Qi into my leg this time, stomping onto the solid mass. It cracks into two under my power, and I dig myself in further.

  Finally, my dagger slices through, creating an opening. Salty water rushes in, covering my hand, then my arm, my face, and finally, the rest of my body.

  Freedom! Sweet, glorious freedom!

  I rip through the opening and kick back, freeing myself from the sea serpent’s intestine.

  Back in the embrace of the seawater, I glance back at the dark blue cloud of viscous fluid. Within it, the large sea serpent coils into a tight ball, twisting and writhing.

  Hopefully, that’ll teach it to keep me off its menu.

  A deafening, high-pitched scream pierces through the water. I quickly turn and swim back towards the surface.

  Thankfully, I can still see the submarine floating above. I rush towards it, swimming as fast as I can.

  But halfway there, I’m yanked downwards again by my leg.

  "You can’t even chew me; you’ll get a blockage swallowing me! Why?!" I repeat the statement and gesture with my body language, hoping the alien sea serpent can somehow understand my very valid arguments.

  The smaller serpent refuses to let go, even as I infuse my legs with Qi and kick furiously at its head.

  Frustration boils—how many times do I have to fight this thing?—I raise my dagger with both arms, channeling Qi into every strand of my muscle fibers.

  Aiming for the center of its skull, I thrust downwards with lightning speed, hoping to end this once and for all.

  But before the blade can connect, a massive tail swipes my arm aside, and my dagger plunges into the serpent’s eye instead.

  It twists its head, and the dagger slips from my grasp.

  The tail swipe, of course, comes from the larger serpent. It wraps itself around the smaller one and carefully extracts the dagger from its eye with its mouth.

  Then, staring right at me, it swallows the dagger whole.

  Did it just… eat my dagger? It is definitely intelligent. Is the smaller one its offspring?

  A pang of guilt strikes me, quickly followed by annoyance.

  Seriously, why are they attacking me?! There are, like, a million other things they could be eating! Like… those small alien creatures. Or slightly larger alien creatures. Anything but me!

  Weaponless, I tread water, keeping my eyes locked on the two serpents. My other weapon is inside the submarine, but these two aren’t giving me a chance to retreat.

  As I weigh my rapidly dwindling options, the two creatures lunge. The larger serpent clamps its jaws onto one of my legs, while the smaller one latches onto my opposite arm.

  They twist their heads, trying to tear me apart. It’s no use; my body remains stubbornly intact, without so much as a scratch.

  Thank you for the effort, I really appreciate it. I mean, seriously, not even a scratch?

  With my free arm, I pull back and punch the already damaged eye of the smaller serpent. I push my hand deeper into its eye socket, firmly gripping the inner structure to prevent it from pulling away.

  It’s a bit gross, I’ll admit, but desperate times and all that.

  I swing and kick at the larger serpent, but it maintains its grip on my leg. Okay, new plan.

  Refocusing my attention on the smaller serpent, I’ll just take care of this first.

  Wiggling my fingers and digging them deeper into the smaller serpent’s eye socket with both hands, I find a firm grip on what I assume is its skull. I hold on tight as it thrashes and twists.

  With my other hand, I make a fist once again infused with Qi and punch repeatedly at the same spot on its skull.

  As I punch, the larger serpent pulls harder, dragging us all toward the seafloor. It twists its body around mine, wrapping tighter and tighter, trapping my punching arm and squeezing with increasing force.

  But I refuse to let go of the squirming smaller serpent. No way. Not after all that effort.

  Managing to wiggle my arm free, I gather almost all the Qi I have left and focus it onto a single point on my fist, for one final punch.

  Shannarō!

  When my fist lands, I hear a sickening crack, and the serpent’s skull caves inward. Blue liquid oozes from the wound. With one final push, my fist sinks deep into the skull.

  The smaller serpent gives a final twitch, its strength utterly spent.

  A deafening, anguished screech fills my ears as the smaller serpent’s body floats sideways, lifeless.

  Suddenly, my hair, as if sensing the victory, flares to life again, each strand regaining its iridescent sheen.

  As if with a mind of its own, it twists into a spear and effortlessly pierces the smaller serpent’s head. Talk about overkill. Another flash of light erupts.

  When my vision clears, instead of the expected golden light, a massive golden sphere hangs above me.

  It’s…it’s just like the painting in Dr. Keyser’s room, only, way bigger. It practically fills my entire field of vision.

  It looks like an endless number of specks of light nested within the sphere. It’s like staring into the sun.

  Is this the true form of the bright light? Dr. Keyser definitely knew more about this dimension than he let on.

  Just like in the painting, trillions upon trillions of tiny lights, connected by shimmering golden strings, swirl within the sphere.

  They flicker like miniature golden stars, but they dim the closer they get to the center. It’s mesmerizing, if not slightly overwhelming.

  From the darkness below, a speck of light drifts upwards toward the sphere. But before any golden strings can reach it, iridescent strings shoot out from behind me.