FWOOSH!
Diamond Axe Kid's body sliced through the curtain of water and plunged toward the riverbed with easy, practiced grace. The current below—normally clear as a mirror—had gone murky and thick with dark magic, a sickly purple-green haze seeping outward from the ruins of an ancient underwater shrine. The Diamond Axe strapped across the boy's back blazed like a cluster of stars, cutting a bright path through the surrounding darkness and letting the kid see everything down in the deep with perfect clarity.
"Whoa, it's actually pretty nice down here, little fishies!" Diamond Axe Kid blew a stream of bubbles from his mouth and waved cheerfully at a school of golden carp that scattered in a panic. "But seriously, why is the water all thick and gloopy? It's like swimming through syrup. And what's that weird gold-and-fish smell everywhere?"
He kicked his chubby legs and paddled deeper until his feet touched the sandy riverbed. There, curled up inside a bamboo cage sealed with dark enchantments, was a merchant in expensive purple robes—gasping, sputtering, and looking thoroughly miserable. Around the cage, a swarm of Black Serpent Demons coiled and writhed like cobras guarding a nest, vicious and restless. And at the center of the wide underwater clearing stood the Black Serpent Demon Lord himself—the master of darkness in these waters. His upper body was built like a powerfully muscled man, skin a gleaming metallic black, thick scales bristling along his shoulders and chest. Below the waist he tapered into a massive, sleek serpent's tail. He was holding a golden tray he'd stolen from the merchant, greedily inhaling the aura of greed rising off the gold like a starving man gulping down a meal.
"HA HA HA! The essence of gold seized through extortion is so incredibly sweet! The more foolish and greedy these humans are, the stronger my power of ignorance grows!" The Black Serpent Demon Lord's laughter boomed through the deep, sending the water churning in wild spirals.
"Please… great Demon Lord, let me go! Take all my gold, every last piece—just please don't let me die in this cage!" The merchant wailed, tears streaming down his face, his conscience making a very sudden and very convenient reappearance now that his life was on the line.
"Huh… funny how that works, mister," a bright, breezy voice cut through the water. Both the Demon Lord and the merchant spun around at the same time. Diamond Axe Kid had paddled right up and was standing on a river rock with his arms crossed, cool as you please.
"WHO ARE YOU?! You little—!" The Black Serpent Demon Lord hissed, a massive dark aura flaring up behind him like a black crown.
"I'm no ordinary kid, Uncle Snake," the boy said, pointing at his own chin with one finger and tilting his head curiously. "I'm Diamond Axe Kid! And honestly? I'm genuinely confused. You're a Demon Lord with real power down here in the deep—so why are you acting like you've got zero self-respect? Setting up a shakedown operation with a crooked merchant, tricking gullible people, and eating gold instead of actual food. Don't you have teeth for fish or something?"
"How DARE you! What do you know about anything?!" the Black Serpent Demon Lord roared. "This gold is no ordinary meal—it is the greed and sin I must collect to offer as tribute to the Dark Lord of Ignorance, so that I may rule supreme in the underworld, greater even than the Crystal City of the Naga King Sritho!"
"Ohhhh, so you just want to be a big shot." Diamond Axe Kid let out a long sigh that sent bubbles floating upward. "But the plan you came up with? That's using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. You're wrecking the peace of this whole river for fake glory. Master Sage Fireye always says: power built on cheating and hurting innocent people is like a sandcastle at the water's edge—the moment the flood comes, it's gone. Nothing built that way ever lasts, Uncle."
"Big words from a big mouth, kid! Today this deep will be your grave! Everyone—TEAR HIM APART!"
The moment the Demon Lord's command rang out, hundreds of Black Serpent Demons surged through the water toward Diamond Axe Kid like a storm of arrows. The kid's eyes went wide—with excitement. He didn't waste a second. He reached back, grabbed the handle of the Diamond Axe, and swept it out in a blazing arc. A burst of brilliant white diamond-light exploded across the entire riverbed. The power of truth and the law of karma took effect instantly—waves of righteous energy sliced through the swarm of serpents, sending them into a shrieking frenzy. The dark enchantments binding them shattered all at once. The demon serpents transformed back into ordinary fish and river snails, scattering in every direction and swimming away as fast as their fins could carry them.
"WHAT?! My spells—broken!" The Black Serpent Demon Lord's eyes went wide with genuine fear.
"Now it's your turn, Uncle Black Snake!"
Diamond Axe Kid tightened his grip on the axe, his bright eyes sharp with resolve. He launched himself at the Demon Lord like a bolt of lightning. The battle in the deep—the Diamond Axe's righteous radiance against the Black Serpent Demon Lord's dark magic—was about to hit its boiling point in the churning, turbulent water!
Lesson of the chapter: Wealth, status, and power built on the suffering and ignorance of others are nothing but illusions with no real substance. When the light of truth and the current of karma come crashing in, every last fake and fraudulent thing crumbles in the blink of an eye.