Chapter 15.
I chased after the fleeing school of tuna at incredible speeds, my new, massive body cutting through the water with a terrifying power that made the previous version of myself seem like a literal slug.
The water didn't feel like a resistance anymore; rather, it felt as if it was pushing me forward as I pursued the school of tuna.
Coincidentally, the direction in which I was relentlessly chasing them happened to be dead-set in Artria and Garin's direction, though in my frenzied state, I didn't care if I plowed right through them.
Both of the younger merfolk were absolutely stunned when the massive school of fish, driven by pure survival instinct, slammed into their seaweed net with the force of a tidal wave.
The momentum of thousands of thrashing tuna was immense, and for a split second, they both instinctively gripped the edges of the seaweed, trying to hold the enclosure in place to secure the catch they had worked so hard for.
However, the moment they looked past the shimmering scales and saw me, a hulking, obsidian nightmare of a shark rushing toward them with pitch-black eyes, the desire for food was instantly replaced by the raw need to survive.
They gave up on trying to hold the fishes in place and allowed the net to snag on their arms, pulling them along in with the fleeing school.
"Hey! Snap out of it! You're going to kill us!" Artria screamed at me, her voice vibrating through the water with a mix of terror and fury.
The only response she received was the horrific, wet sound of me snapping my jaws at her.
Her voice had shifted my focus from the fish onto her. My teeth snapped shut together, barely missing the tip of her blue tail by a hair's breadth.
I couldn't control myself; my growing bloodthirst had completely hijacked my body.
Right now, I just wanted to eat something!
Anything that moved, anything that bled!
The blood coursing through my veins felt like liquid fire, and the iron-sweet scent of the shredded tuna from earlier was making it even harder to stay conscious.
I could feel my human mind receding into a small, dark corner of my brain, pushed aside by my predatory instinct.
I feared that if I completely gave up on resisting even for a second, I would become a total mindless beast, trapped forever in this black-scaled prison of hunger.
The sensation of my failed bite and the rush of water from my passing jaws caused Artria's scales to stand on end, a paralyzing fear coursing through her veins.
She looked at me and didn't see the "annoying shark man" from before; but a monster that viewed her as nothing more than a snack.
"I don't think he's willing to listen to reason anymore, Garin!" she yelled, her voice trembling as she struggled to keep her distance while the net pulled her along.
"We need to snap him out of it, and we need to do it before it's too late for all of us!" Garin warned his companion, his eyes darting between me and the environment.
He was much more observant than Artria, and he could see that my eyes were beginning to change again.
"Then what do you suggest we do? We can't fight that thing!" Artria retorted, her panic rising as I lunged again, my black snout bumping into the edge of the net.
Clearly, she had no idea how to snap me out of such a state without getting herself torn to pieces.
"I think I have an idea that might just work, but it's going to be tricky! Are you up for it?" Garin shouted over the rush of the current.
"I'm up for anything so long as it smacks this idiot back to his senses!" she screamed back.
At this point, I had completely lost the ability to discern their speech.
To my ears, their voices were just muffled, irritating vibrations in the water that served only to further agitate my predator mind.
I couldn't listen to their plan or even recognize them as people; my consciousness was becoming more and more frenzied, replaced by a singular, pulsing red rhythm.
My pitch-black eyes were slowly beginning to bleed into a dark, glowing crimson, and I felt my grip on reality slipping even quicker than before.
Overwhelmed by pure, unadulterated bloodlust, I continued to give chase, my tail lashing the water into a froth as I closed the distance between us.
"Now, Artria! Move!" Garin shouted.
Artria nodded, her eyes wide with desperation.
Just as I launched myself forward, my jaw opening wide to bite clean through Garin's tail, she threw her entire weight into the seaweed net.
Rather than trying to stop the momentum of the fish, she actually utilized the force they were generating.
Artria controlled the flow of the net, using it like a massive rudder to steer the entire school, and herself, in a sharp, sudden direction.
The unexpected turn forced me to miss my mark yet again.
My teeth snapped shut on empty water, the force of the impact sending a jarring vibration through my skull.
Due to my hurtling speed and dwindling reason, I was unable to compensate for the turn and was forced to swim several tens of meters past them before I could finally twist my massive body around and give chase once more.
Yet, seeing how far they had managed to get in that short window of time caused my mind to be clouded in a thick fog of frustration.
The beast didn't like being outmaneuvered.
I didn't hesitate to push my transformed body to its absolute limit, breaking past my original speed.
I pierced through the ocean like a bullet through the air, the water screaming over my gills.
In no time at all, I caught up to the both of them yet again. My jaw opened wide, revealing rows upon rows of horrifying, serrated teeth aimed to rip them both to pieces.
Yet, once more, they twisted and turned, using the seaweed net to pivot around a rocky coral outcrop, evading me yet again.