The Great Black Sea
黒海
Arthaex
Chapter 4: Trial of the Dark Tide Dragon
The ocean began to change long before the island appeared.
The wind died first. Then the waves slowed, stretching unnaturally as if frozen mid-motion. Kurohane stood at the edge of his ship, his grip tightening around the railing as the sea beneath him darkened into a deep, endless black.
This was not ordinary water.
It felt alive.
From the mist ahead, a massive silhouette emerged.
Shinkai no Shima.
The Abyssal Island.
No birds circled it. No sound came from its shores. The sky above it was sealed by thick fog, heavy enough to feel like stone pressing down on the world.
The moment Kurohane stepped onto the island, his knees buckled.
Gravity crushed him.
Every breath felt heavier than the last. The ground beneath his feet was soaked, pulling him downward as if the island itself wanted to drag him into the sea.
"So you are the one who carries Kinryu."
The voice did not come from one direction.
It came from everywhere.
The ocean behind him split open.
Water rose, spiraling upward, forming a colossal shape. Scales made of shadow and tide glistened faintly as glowing eyes opened within the storm.
Ankoryu.
The Dark Tide Dragon.
The strongest Umi No Oni to still walk the world.
"You seek power," Ankoryu said. "But power sinks quickly in my domain."
Without warning, the sea surged.
Kurohane was dragged beneath the surface.
Cold crushed him instantly.
The pressure shattered his thoughts. His chest burned as water forced its way into his lungs. Kinryu's golden heat flickered uselessly, smothered by the abyss.
"You will not swing your way out of this," Ankoryu's voice echoed inside his skull. "Fight, or drown."
Kurohane thrashed, swinging the scythe wildly. Golden arcs formed, but the sea swallowed them whole. His vision blurred. Darkness crept in.
Just before he lost consciousness, the water released him.
He collapsed onto the shore, coughing violently.
"This is training," Ankoryu said coldly. "Survive."
Days turned into weeks.
There was no rest.
Ankoryu drowned him again and again.
Sometimes in shallow water. Sometimes miles beneath the surface where light could not exist. Each time the pressure increased, crushing bone, slowing thought, forcing panic.
Kinryu refused to answer his desperation.
"You rely on weapons," Ankoryu said during one trial. "The sea does not care."
On the twentieth drowning, Kurohane stopped fighting.
As his body sank, he relaxed.
He let the current carry him.
For the first time, the pressure eased.
His movements became smoother, guided by the tide instead of opposing it. When Ankoryu's massive form lunged, Kurohane twisted with the flow and struck not the body, but the current itself.
Gold spread through the water like weight instead of flame.
The sea recoiled.
Ankoryu emerged in a humanoid form, towering, his dark scales visible beneath a flowing cloak.
"You are beginning to understand," he said.
On the final trial, Ankoryu revealed his full power.
The ocean opened into a spiraling abyss, a hole in reality itself, dragging Kurohane toward endless darkness. Bones cracked. Blood escaped his lips. His vision shattered.
Calm.
Kurohane raised Kinryu without fear.
The golden weapon did not burn.
It pressed.
The abyss slowed.
Then stopped.
The sea bowed.
Silence followed.
Ankoryu placed a clawed hand on Kurohane's shoulder.
"You have learned how to stand beneath the tide," he said. "Remember this feeling. The Black Sea will return."
Far away, unseen by all, something ancient stirred beneath the ocean floor.
And the sea remembered Kurohane's name.