The echoes of twenty-one distinct clunks reverberated through the vast, shadowy expanse inside The Gate to the Seventh Realm. As the final sound faded into an eerie stillness, the imprisoned denizens stirred, their forms obscured in the perpetual gloom. They knew not what awaited beyond the great gate, but freedom—however fleeting—called to them like a siren's song. For eons, they had languished in this lightless prison, a masterwork of arcane engineering crafted by wizards who dared to meld the volatile forces of magic and technology in their misguided quest for universal harmony.

These captives were no ordinary criminals, but beings of immense power— as fierce and untamable as the primal forces of nature themselves. They were an integral part of the Runiverse's cosmic balance, their very existence a testament to the raw, chaotic energy that underpinned reality. In ages past, they had roamed free, their unchecked power disrupting the industrious society that flourished in the realms beyond. They prevented citizens from harvesting valuable resources, wreaked havoc on shipping lanes, and reveled in the destruction of cities, driven by an insatiable hunger to maintain the balance of nature.

On the other side of the ornate barrier, its surface a mesmerizing tapestry of royal purple and lustrous gold, stood a contingent of fifty wizards accompanied by their mystical steeds. These self-proclaimed saviors of the Runiverse believed their actions righteous, their cause just. In their hubris, they sought to harness powers beyond mortal comprehension to avert a looming cataclysm. Had the Quantum Shadow—that festering wound upon the landscape born of their previous folly—not served as warning enough? Alas, the seeds of pride often take root in the fertile soil of wisdom, choking out caution and foresight.

As the gate's ancient hinges groaned in protest, unleashing a flood of harsh light into the eternal night of the Seventh Realm, it became horrifyingly clear that salvation would not be found here. A deep, primal chuckle rolled forth like distant thunder, followed by a bone-shattering screech that set the very air trembling. A blood-curdling scream pierced the cacophony, intertwined with the metallic whinny of otherworldly steeds. A gout of flame announced itself with a bestial snort, while an earth-shaking roar threatened to split the heavens asunder. Yet it was the final sound—a feminine giggle laden with the promise of exquisite horrors—that sent icy tendrils of dread coiling around the hearts of all who bore witness.

In that moment of terrifying clarity, the wizards realized the magnitude of their mistake. But before they could react, a new terror emerged from the yawning maw of the gate. The Character #1 burst forth, a nightmarish fusion of disparate creatures that defied the natural order.

The wizards recoiled in horror, recognizing the telltale signs of forbidden magical experiments. Scars and glowing sigils crisscrossed the Chimera's hide—a grotesque testament to its unnatural creation by renegade mages. In their arrogance, they had birthed a monster that defied control.

With a reality-shaking roar, the Chaos Chimera leapt forward. Its bat wings cast an ominous shadow, while its serpent tail struck with deadly precision. Panic erupted among the wizards. Their carefully laid plans crumbled as they turned and fled, their mystical steeds whinnying in terror.

In the wake of the Chimera's charge came the rest of the liberated prisoners, each a force of nature in their own right. Among them strode the Salt Kelpie, a creature of terrible beauty and insidious intent.

At first glance, the Salt Kelpie appeared as a hauntingly beautiful human figure. With flowing hair the color of sea foam and eyes that reflected the depths of the ocean, the Kelpie's human guise was a masterpiece of deception. Its skin shimmered with an opalescent quality, as if covered in the finest of scales, barely perceptible to the untrained eye.

As the Kelpie strode forward, its true nature began to assert itself. Each step left a trail of briny moisture, and the air around it wavered as if viewed through water. Its eyes, initially alluring, now revealed depths of ancient, otherworldly intelligence. These fathomless orbs fixed upon a distant glimmer on the horizon—the vast, briny expanse known simply as the Salt.

The beasts from the Seventh Realm dispersed, each to pursue its own inscrutable agenda. The Salt Kelpie, indifferent to its fellow escapees, moved with singular purpose towards its watery domain. The call of the brine consumed its entire being.

The Kelpie did not halt at the shore but pressed onward, submerging itself in the briny depths. With each step into the saltwater, a grotesque metamorphosis continued. Its body stretched to impossible lengths, limbs fusing and transforming. Scales multiplied and hardened, forming an impenetrable armor. The once-beautiful bioluminescent patterns twisted into pulsating, alien geometries that hurt the eye to behold.

The kelp-like mane expanded, transforming into a mass of writhing tendrils, each tipped with barbs dripping paralytic venom. The Kelpie's equine head distorted, jaw unhinging to reveal row upon row of needle-sharp teeth, while its eyes grew to the size of dinner plates, all the better to pierce the eternal darkness of the deep.

When the transformation reached its apex, the true form of the Salt Kelpie was revealed—a rival the mightiest creatures of legend, dwarfing krakens and prehistoric terrors alike. This colossus of the deep, born of ancient magics and nurtured by eons of darkness, would lurk in the abyssal trenches of the Salt, emerging to wreak havoc upon the realms of land and sea.

In this final form, the Salt Kelpie embodied the merciless beauty and unfathomable horrors of the ocean depths. It was a force of nature unleashed, and a harbinger of the chaos that was now free to reshape the world.

Entered by: 0x0D36…0E6A and preserved on chain (see transaction)