Wonderful Insane World-Chapter 63: Marine Creature

Dylan slowly straightened up, stepped closer to the edge, his gray eyes catching the trembling reflections on the lake’s surface.

He dipped his hand into the water, slowly, then sliced it gently, as if testing the temperature—or maybe just claiming a bit of space.

"You said this was a groundwater spring, didn’t you? What kind of creature could even live in here, anyway?"

Élisa crouched beside him. She placed a firm hand on his shoulder. Not aggressive, but with that weight adults use on kids who are being too stubborn.

"You don’t know this forest very well. No... this world, actually."

She stared into the water, her face closed off.

"It’s like a haunted house. Some rooms are quiet, almost normal. Others rip your guts out and make you relive them."

She paused, her gaze hardening further.

"And you never really know which room you’re in—until it’s too late."

Suddenly, he felt it. A vibration. Subtle, but real. Somewhere in the water, farther out.

Dylan yanked his hand back, water dripping from his fingers, pupils already dilated. He knew it wasn’t him. That wasn’t just a ripple.

A chill crept up his spine—instinctive, primal. The kind of signal even hardened souls learn to obey.

Something was moving under the surface. Then... a shape.

Slowly, without stirring up the water, a silhouette emerged. Just the head at first. As if it had all the time in the world. As if it already knew they wouldn’t leave.

No sound. No scream. Just that suspended, unreal moment when water slid off skin—or was it scales?

Dylan took a step back, silent. Maggie, behind him, held her breath. Élisa rose without a word, but her hand was already brushing the hilt of her dagger.

The creature blinked slowly. Two black orbs, deep, bottomless. And it watched them. Not with hostility. Just... curiosity.

As if they were the intruders in its world.

A voice rose—soft, almost maternal... but carried by a gravity that made the cave walls vibrate.

"I sensed the waves of a demon," the creature declared, with the cold certainty of someone dragged from deep sleep for all the wrong reasons.

Her eyes—or rather, those glistening, impenetrable orbs—swept over the group, slowly. Like a scanner. Like she was leafing through their souls.

"But from what I see... you’re just humans," she added, a note of irritation slipping into her deep voice.

Dylan stood frozen. The cold biting at his spine wasn’t from the temperature. It was memory. The weight of another gaze, another being. The last time a creature had spoken like this... was when he first arrived in this world. And what followed had left scars no one could see.

Maggie didn’t move in the shadows, hands clenched around her axe, torch trembling. No need for words. She knew. They all did.

This was an entity. A high-ranking creature.

"Are you going to just stand there with those predator eyes, kids, or are you going to tell me why I’m sensing demonic waves from you?" she growled, each syllable soaked with barely restrained impatience.

Her voice, though eerily calm, carried a pressure. Like a deep current ready to pull them under if they took too long to answer.

Dylan swallowed hard, jaw clenched.

He had to speak. But what to say? And more importantly... what to do?

The creature didn’t move. Only the lake’s surface shimmered slightly around her, like even the water was holding its breath.

A familiar voice sliced through the tense air—calm, poised, almost ceremonial.

"We apologize for entering your territory unannounced and... empty-handed, Dame Ondine."

Dylan turned sharply. Élisa was slowly stepping toward the edge, hands open, posture humble but composed. She stopped a breath away from the water, gaze locked on the creature’s—whatever passed for eyes.

"My companions and I were exploring this cavern when we stumbled upon this place. We didn’t mean to disturb your presence... but forgive me, Dame Ondine, we’ve had no contact with any demon. So I don’t understand why you say such a thing."

The silence that followed wasn’t empty. It was dense, loaded with tension and something else... unreadable.

Dame Ondine tilted her head slightly, like an ancient being observing a well-mannered mouse.

"You know how to speak, at least," she said slowly, her voice humming like the depths of a forgotten ocean. "But don’t lie to me. I may not see with your eyes, but I read the currents. And yours... are disturbed."

She turned her face slowly toward Dylan, then Maggie.

"Something ancient has touched you. And even if you’re unaware... the echo remains. The waves do not lie."

She glided forward slightly, effortless.

"Tell me... have you been in contact with a demon recently?"

She glided forward again, just a breath.

"Tell me... have you been in contact with a demon recently?"

Dylan slowly turned his gaze toward Élisa, brows furrowed. He was completely lost. He understood the words, but not the meaning they carried here—not that solemn, almost sacred tone. And especially... the way Élisa spoke. Did she know this creature? What was she, really?

But the creature’s question still lingered, heavy, like a trap half-sprung.

Élisa had lifted her eyes toward him, then toward Maggie. And in her gaze shone something unusual. Not fear—no. More like... respect. Caution. As if she were standing before some divine judge.

She stepped closer, slowly, and without moving her lips, whispered in a barely audible voice:

"This lady is Ondine... a Rivernyx. A kind of spirit beast. The opposite of a demon beast."

She paused, making sure neither Ondine nor the echoes could catch her words.

"She hates demons. Really. And she’s not hostile to humans—as long as we don’t provoke her. So be careful. Stay calm. Respectful. No sudden moves."

Dylan gave a slow nod, still reeling from the turn things had taken.

He straightened up a bit, tried to gather his thoughts—but deep down, only one question looped in his mind:

Why did she sense a demon... when we haven’t done anything?

Dylan swallowed.

And that’s when it hit him.

A jolt—sharp, sudden—like a lightning bolt down his spine.

The girl.

She’d seemed harmless. Almost endearing. So small, lost in the woods, with those big black eyes and that too-perfect calm for a child alone. He remembered her stare—not scared, not confused. Just... empty. Like a bottomless pond.

He saw himself again, lying on the ground, handing her the anima gems he’d looted off the hobgoblin corpses. For her. And right after, he’d absorbed them—without thinking, like a machine—while she screamed at him to leave.

That cold... Not physical. Something deeper. Sinister. A presence that had crept under his skin, slithered into his veins, and coiled somewhere near his heart.

Back then, he’d blamed it on magical backlash. A reaction to absorbing the gems. His lack of control. He’d never seen her again. She vanished into the woods, like she’d never existed.

But now... he understood.

He brought a trembling hand to his chest.

Ondine, still floating above the water, slowly tilted her head. Almost... compassionate.

"I see..." she said, as if she had flipped through the memory alongside him.

Her dark, infinite gaze locked onto Dylan’s.

"She marked you. You carry her trace. It’s subtle, but I can feel it."

Maggie frowned, looking confused.

"What’s she talking about?"

Élisa turned pale, lips pressed into a line.

"He’s been touched by a demonic entity. Even briefly... that’s enough. These beings leave an imprint. And Dame Ondine... she can sense it."

Dylan, still frozen, murmured hoarsely:

"She was... just a kid. She told me to leave. I thought she was..."

Ondine sighed. A sound ancient, mournful. Almost human.

"The most dangerous ones aren’t always the ones who scream or burn. Some sleep. Some play. And a few... look for hosts."

She sank back into the water slowly, until only her eyes were visible—two black moons hovering on the surface.

"So tell me, child from another world... have you dreamed of her since?"