Divine Luck: SSS-Rank Battle Maid Harem

After growing until it reached a size wider than one of the boats, the vortex stopped expanding. It stayed the same size and kept spinning in place. Amazingly, it didn't affect the water around it. Only the water inside the vortex spun and dipped downward like a funnel.

Both boats were unaffected by the spiraling current.

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Zach looked at the golden medallion with strange symbols that Krage had handed out while the vortex grew.

He glanced at Nessa before looking at Violina. He had expected something to come up out of the vortex when it first appeared. Maybe a gate they could walk through.

"So, how long before the entrance is ready?" Zach asked Violina. Even if it was her first time, she should have an approximate. Even if she didn't know, she could ask Krage. Zach had a feeling she would get a better answer than he would if he asked.

"What do you mean?" Violina asked with a puzzled frown. She pointed at the vortex. "That is the entrance. It is ready." To be sure, she looked at Krage, who nodded.

Zach looked at Vioina for a moment to see if she was joking. It didn't look like she was. She wasn't that good at controlling her expression, especially when she thought she had fooled her target.

"What now?" Zach frowned slightly as he looked at the vortex.

"We jump!" Violina had just finished her answer before her feet left the railing and she dove into the vortex, her Frost Imp and Ice Spirit trailing behind her in the air. She swiveled around in the vortex before disappearing down into the ocean's depths.

Zach glanced at Krage and Tayup, who were both unbothered if not expressionless. Before he had time to ask Nessa what she thought, she too had dived in with her familiars.

'Fuck it.'

Zach joined them before any of the other passengers could cut ahead in the line, though the guy with piercings was close. While he was in the air, Yanael and Alzara next to him, Zach locked eyes with him. The guy didn't look too pleased.

But that was none of Zach's business, and he quickly ignored it as he focused on not drowning, which was surprisingly easy. He just had to hold his breath.

The current dragged and tugged him like a ragdoll. Zach had rarely felt as powerless as he did when he entered the vortex. He instinctively tried to control his body and swim against the current.

But whatever he did, it was useless.

Zach would have started panicking if he hadn't felt Alzara's hand on his back guiding him forward toward Yanael.

The only time he had felt a similar sense of powerlessness was when he entered or left the Jira Labyrinth. The feeling of weightlessness and loss of control of his body was similar to the vortex taking control of his body.

Before he knew it, however, Zach was kneeling on a stone floor, soaked and panting. Yanael helped him stand up. He saw Nessa and Violina suppressing their giggles off to the side. The guy with piercings splashed down on the floor before he could question them.

One by one, passengers from both boats plopped down on ground made of gently rounded, mostly square yellowish stone bricks in the center of a plaza.

Zach quickly forgot about questioning his two comrades as he looked around.

First, he was taken by the sky, not that there was one. From what he could tell, they were under the sea. Far above them, a large dome held back the ocean from crashing down on the underwater city they had found themselves in.

Then, Zach looked around. The city appeared to be simple. Rows of houses made from the same type of stone as the street stretched out from the plaza. The houses had holes for windows and doors, but, as if only the stone had stood the test of time, that was all the houses had.

Zach glanced into the houses closest to the plaza, but they all appeared to be empty without so much as a trace of furniture unless they were also made of stone.

Before long, all twenty-four participants had entered the Labyrinth of Syst. All of the youths looked around with various expressions of awe, curiosity, skepticism, and interest.

But before anyone could say anything or start asking questions about what was going on or what they were supposed to do, a blue, translucent screen appeared in front of all of them.

[24 Entrants confirmed. Closing entrance. Initiating Trial (1/12)]

[Underwater City Haya's protective dome will disappear in 24 hours. Find a way to survive.]

The twenty-four entrants looked at the message. Surprisingly enough, the ones most surprised were Zach, Nessa, and Violina.

The format of the message was almost too similar to their summoning interface to be a coincidence. It was a different color, and the screen itself didn't seem as rigid as their interface. The background moved like gentle waves, and there was no fancy or shiny border like on the summoning interface.

But most of the surprise came from how they hadn't expected to see anything similar in a situation so unrelated to summoning. So, they quickly gathered themselves and read the message instead.

The first part wasn't very important. It was the second part that mattered, especially the last sentence.

They had to find a way to survive. It went without saying that they would die if they didn't. The only problem was that they didn't know what to look for or where to look.

Everyone took a minute to read and read the message again.

"Everyone, I suggest splitting up and going in different directions to look for anything that stands out. It doesn't seem like there's a limit to the number of people who can move on to the next Trial, so let's work together. Every hour and when you find something, let's gather here. Okay?" Violina raised her voice and spoke to all the entrants.

"I don't take orders from you." The guy with piercings and black hair huffed before turning around and leaving the plaza.

"..."