novelraw Chapter 208: The First Pioneer (Extra Long Chapter)
Chapter 208: The First Pioneer (Extra Long Chapter)
In the treasury hall, behind the stained glass watched over by the expensive crystal Mother Goddess statue, was an extremely, extremely broad and massive plaza. Casually placed within that plaza were colossal amounts of wealth that countless people couldn't obtain a fraction of even if they struggled their entire lives.
The gold coins, tightly piled up like mountains, were numerous enough to blind a person's eyes. Exquisite and elegant silk fabrics were also scattered on the ground like worthless rags. And further away, there was also a pile of items flashing with strange light. Those were all relics; some were brought back from ruins or other places by Black, but the source of the vast majority of relics was the Stormsea.
At this moment, Anna, a beautiful woman wearing conservative Naris attire, was arduously supporting her body as she moved toward the depths of the treasury. Her complexion was extremely pale; like a fragile piece of artwork about to shatter, she arduously maintained her forward motion.
Ever since entering the transmission magic at that entrance just now, she felt her body was extremely uncomfortable. She didn't know if this was a side effect of the transmission magic...
Enduring the continuous sensation of vomiting from within her body, she slowly advanced toward the depths of the treasury. A mark on the tip of her tongue was faintly heating up, seemingly guiding her to travel in a certain direction, guiding her to find the Life and Death Dependency Bell Artifact that controlled her life, death, and freedom.
"Right away... right away..."
But having barely walked a step or two, she squatted on the ground somewhat painfully. Drops of cold sweat fell along her exceptionally beautiful face.
Her entire body hurt terribly, but using her tenacious will yearning for freedom, she forcefully continued to drag her body ahead.
Beside her ears, everything from the past surfaced in her heart like an illusion. It was as if countless people were speaking, and as if countless people were witnessing the process of her breaking free from this pitiful cage...
"Big sister Laya... I feel so uncomfortable. I caught an infectious disease. Please don't enter the room, I'm very ugly right now."Those were the words the most beautiful girl in her tribe had said to her. Separated by a small door, the young girl infected with a venereal disease used palms full of sores to tell her that if she ever had to return home one day, firmly tell Anna to satisfy this simple wish of hers.
Limi, Hatulu, Skoda Li, Amashi...
Anna clutched her chest. She didn't even look at the tall golden peaks acting like barriers beside her; she stepped over countless amounts of wealth, advancing step by step.
Behind her in the distance, the hall faintly transmitted the roaring sounds of quite a few monsters. But right now, there was no time for her to wait for Fisher and the others. She absolutely had to get the bell first; she was extremely close to that relic when she was transmitted over.
All around, those illusory conversational sounds continued. Beside a golden mountain nearby, Anna even saw Kaje, the young girl looking at her, who said to her,
"Laya, send those bills out. Muddy the waters a bit and go find Her Highness Elizabeth to have her help us."
"I can't see Elizabeth, but we can try to find Fisher Benavides. However, Black will definitely find out about our little tricks..."
"Tell him then that I did it. He still needs you. As long as you can leave the West Continent, it'll count as all of us being free..."
Kaje...
The young girl's shadow abruptly vanished. Anna also deadly covered the position of her chest, limping toward the rear of the gold piles.
I will definitely... definitely...
Thinking like this, Anna raised her head to look into the distance. She saw that not far ahead of her, above a pile of relics of unknown function, a tiny bell was floating in midair.
The entirety of that bell appeared to be cast from bronze. The complex patterns carved upon it seemed to have no regularity, and yet seemed as if they could transmit a faint song chanted by someone unknown.
That was exactly the Soul Calming Bell Artifact Anna was searching for!
She limped forward. But right at this moment, Anna, having advanced a certain distance, realized that an old man wearing a cloak was also sitting panting at the foot of the golden mountain not far away. That aged and wrinkled face was now covered in sweat. He arduously raised his head to look at the equally suffering Anna, his pale hair appearing somewhat messy.
"Black... you bastard..."
"Anna... heh, I knew long ago that you wanted to take your sisters and leave the West Continent to return to your homeland... But your home has long since become scorched earth. There are no relatives of yours there; there are only mines and slave plantations, only corpses and dry bones littering the ground. Even if you go back now, you can't change anything."
"You look exactly like a person from the West Continent now, don't you? Originally, I was thinking of gifting half of my shares to you after leaving the West Continent. At that time, you would have been the wealthiest lady in all of Naris..."
Clenching her teeth, Anna's beautiful face appeared exceptionally hideous. She covered her face deadly tight with her hands, yet still looked at Black through the gaps between her fingers,
"I don't care for it! I promised my sisters I would take them away from the West Continent. Even if it means death, I must die in my hometown. Do you know? Day and night, I repeatedly memorized which part of my body belonged to which sister, all for today!"
Anna's eyes were full of tears. Her fingers slid downwards along her face. Every place she touched was the proudest and most beautiful part of a girl before her death. Their bodies and dignity were crushed and chopped to pieces by the pioneer, yet Anna made their proudest parts bloom upon her own body.
"My nose is Limi's, my cheeks are Hatulu's... here, Amashi, here is Skoda Li, here is Kaje, here is Buturu..."
Anna's movements went from top to bottom. She could point out with unerrant accuracy which part belonged to which person.
Yes, upon Anna's entire body from top to bottom, there was already not a single place that belonged to herself. Her entire body was composed of Flesh Grafting from parts of her deceased sisters.
Composed of the most beautiful parts of dozens of young girls, how could Anna not be considered the most beautiful woman in this world?
"...This was your own choice, wasn't it?"
Letting out a sigh, Black slowly stood up. His aged face was still somewhat unwell, but compared to Anna who was nearing collapse, he was considerably better.
"Back then, it was you who saw your dying sisters and cried and begged me to graft them onto your body. You know, originally this spot for the experimental subject was for Katerina..."
"Yes! But I cannot forget why those sisters died! They believed in you so much! Believed you would treat them well. Yet how did you treat them?!"
"They were merely toys in your hands, stepping stones for you to pursue that disgusting goal, and I was the same!"
Anna no longer wished to waste breath with Black. Dragging her staggering steps, she sprinted toward the bell ahead. Black also moved simultaneously, but right now his body was trembling slightly; he actually wasn't much different from an ordinary old man, his movements extremely slow.
Evidently, just like Anna, he had also suffered from the side effects of the spatial magic.
Getting ahead of Black, Anna fiercely grabbed that bell in her hand. Gripped in Anna's hand, the bell swayed slightly, emitting a series of crisp, wonderful chimes.
"Ding-a-ling~"
As that burst of bell chimes passed, Anna immediately felt a sensation of comfort spreading from her fingers. That aged Black, who was incapable of walking properly, also let out an angry roar, his physique becoming incredibly agile.
"No! Let go of that bell!"
But in the next second, Anna fiercely smashed that bell onto the ground.
That bell was made of metal. Although this strike didn't shatter it, it caused dense, tiny cracks to spread across the bell's surface. Those pleasant bell chimes abruptly changed, the sound becoming mournful and ear-piercing. As soon as that sound emerged, both Black and Anna felt a maddening agony.
Black's advancing motion in midair slightly stalled, and he fiercely collapsed onto the ground. He painfully covered his body, as if suffering the most rigorous punishment and torture in the world.
"Do you know what you have done?! Anna!"
Anna simultaneously felt that intense agony. Blood began to flow from her seven orifices. But even so, she tightly raised her hand, wanting to pick up that bell and smash it again.
"Stop, Anna!"
Right at this moment, a silver whip-like weapon beat Anna's action and pulled that bell back. Anna was slightly stunned. Turning her head to look behind, she saw the stern-faced Fisher behind a golden mountain fiercely yank it, taking that bell into his hand.
"Why?! Fisher, why did you stop me? I'm only one step away!"
Seven orifices bleeding, Anna roared at Fisher with unwillingness and anger. Her yearning for freedom had already driven her near madness. She fundamentally didn't think about why her body would hurt when smashing the bell; she merely regarded this as a necessary trial in the pursuit of freedom.
Enduring the agony, she actually wanted to forcefully crawl to Fisher's side to snatch that bell back.
"Anna, smashing the bell fundamentally cannot save you! This fundamentally isn't some Life and Death Dependency Bell Artifact; that was Black lying to you! The efficacy of this thing isn't to restrict your freedom, but to stabilize the flesh-grafted parts within your body!"
With a cold face, Fisher gripped that bell which had already begun to shatter. Looking at that relic ultimately not shattering, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Going all out, he finally snatched this bell back before Anna took action, lest Anna perform this foolish act.
"Anna, you have always been free. This was merely a lie fabricated by Black to make you stay by his side. As long as he had someone strike this bell instead of shaking it, your body would feel uncomfortable, making you mistakenly believe it could control your body."
"Wh... What?"
Slightly stunned, the groveling Anna turned her head in disbelief to look at the Black sitting in place. That old man panted slightly, quietly looking at the wretched Anna before him.
Looking at the girl who had been toyed with for so long and finally came to a sudden realization at the end, Black looked at her and mockingly cursed with a smile,
"You idiot, even if you ruined that bell, the only one finished would be you... After so long, do you still not understand? If this bell truly could control your life and death as it pleased, how could you have had the chance to betray me?"
Panting and panting, Black slowly stood up anew. His falcon-like gaze swept past the few people before him. That bell had not shattered in the end, and the extent of the influence Black suffered also wasn't as great as Anna's. Moreover, because Anna had accidentally shaken that bell earlier, Black's unstable condition had recovered quite a lot...
Supporting Anna, who revealed a dull gaze, Jasmine arrived behind Fisher. Using her hand, she wiped away the liquid mixing blood and tears on Anna's cheeks, rather affectionately letting her lean beside her to rest.
Gazing at Fisher holding the bell, Anna remained silent for a long time. It turned out this man had already deduced what the condition of her body was...
When he learned of this, Anna completely didn't care anymore. A feeling of obtaining freedom mixed with emptiness assailed her heart. Yet at this moment, her body was...
"Roar roar!"
"Behind us seems to be... waaah, so many, many monsters are coming!"
Xi Yate turned her head to look behind the golden mountain, only to see countless tidewater-like monsters suddenly springing out from the hall watched over by the Mother Goddess. There were composite monsters like the Human-Insects, as well as failed products of Flesh Grafting.
Fisher furrowed his brows. That bell was already close to shattering. If he carried it on his body to fight, problems would definitely arise. Thus, using the Fluid Sword, Fisher hooked onto that tiny bell and placed it upon the golden mountain behind, where no one could reach it.
"Fisher, I'll go block those monsters behind!"
Gazing at the tidewater-like monsters behind her, Xi Yate grit her teeth, raised her hooves, and charged out. Jasmine couldn't even stop her. Fisher glanced back at Xi Yate, using the Fluid Sword to hook up quite a few relics from the ground to throw to her.
"Use these things for self-defense! Do not confront them head-on; if you can dodge, then dodge!"
Raising her fingers, Xi Yate made a "got it" gesture, yet didn't open her mouth to reply, because her mouth was currently holding an arrow, while her hands were frantically searching for something in the backpack slung behind her. It wasn't until a long time later that she fiercely pulled out quite a few small jars from inside.
"Let me show you the prowess of the Centaur Race..."
Xi Yate's movements were extremely fast. She ferociously tossed those jars toward midair in the distance, and then rapidly drew her bow and shot. Three or four arrows accurately struck the jars in midair. The instant the jars burst apart, streaks of purple powder began to descend accordingly with gravity, forming a splendid smoky rain in midair.
Acting like a giant wall, although beautiful, that powder possessed a fatal threat. The instant the Human-Insects and monsters came into contact with it, their skin began to corrode, bursting with bloody water.
Taking advantage of those monsters' hatred being drawn by herself, Xi Yate also abruptly leaped into that monster swarm. While wielding the relics in her hands, she ran in the opposite direction from Fisher and the others.
"Idiots! Go this way! Hyah!"
The burning scent caused by the relics, the roars of the monsters, and the panicked running sounds of the Centaur girl intermingled. Looking from this place, the Centaur girl had actually truly lured that horde of terrifying monsters away from here.
She intended to run toward the exterior of the treasury, luring these damned things to the outside of the karst cave; over there, they couldn't outrun her.
This was good too. With the Centaur girl not fighting high-end matches, her safety could also be somewhat protected, and Fisher could wholeheartedly deal with the Black before him.
However, the vision of Anna beside them grew increasingly blurry. Looking at her own palms, those originally fair and delicate palms illusorily had countless complex double images within her sight. At this moment beside her ears, roars and painful screams sounded constantly, like songs that would never cease.
Her body at this moment was extremely unstable, even she herself knew this.
It turned out she had been deceived all along; her yearning for freedom was merely a casual mocking smile to Black...
Over these past few years, the hell-like life could only be experienced by herself and her sisters.
She... could no longer return to the Southern Continent.
Fisher and Jasmine were confronting Black who had stood up anew, while the suffering Anna behind was already on the verge of being unable to suppress everything going out of control within her body.
Countless low voices, roars, and madness constantly poured into her mind. In this second she still felt she was Laya Lu, yet in the next second she transformed into Kaje, and in the next second transformed into someone else.
"No... No, sisters..."
"I feel so uncomfortable..."
"Elder sister, save me..."
With her head bowed, Anna's mouth continuously spat out sentence after sentence of bizarre words. But those words were akin to silent recitation; only to Anna were the sounds so crisp and clear.
Those agonies and torments before death were now attached to Anna hundreds and thousands of times over, making her instantly repeat in a loop the suffering every sister had slept through within her body during this time. That kind of agony and torment could cause a person's rationality to collapse instantly, driving them onto the singular path of seeking death.
Yet Anna didn't utter a sound. She deadly clasped her own body. Those bloodshot eyes of hers, carrying unforgettable hatred, gazed toward Black standing in the distance, seemingly desiring to flay his skin and extract his bones...
Relying on this piercing unwillingness and resentment, Anna's consciousness became significantly clearer in this instant.
Only this demon...
He absolutely must die for it to be over!
The spent force that was Anna went all out to suppress the madness within her body. She turned her head, looking at the tottering bell upon the golden mound. Trembling, she stretched out her hand, swiping at those gold coins. As the gold coins began dropping, the bell atop the mountain of gold coins also slowly sank into the pile of gold coins, sliding downwards.
"Ding ding ding~"
A burst of pleasant chimes sounded out. Fisher and Black, who were just preparing to attack and commence battle, simultaneously turned their heads toward that direction. Amidst Black's shocked gaze, the fragile Anna deadly seized that tiny bell in her hand.
"Anna!"
Although the shattering of that bell wouldn't cause lethal harm to the current Black, he still needed the Son of the Sea later. Once he obtained the Son of the Sea, the Soul Calming Bell Artifact had to be used. If there was no Soul Calming Bell Artifact...
Thinking up to this point, Black's movements were exceedingly fast. Like a bolt of lightning, he roared while sprinting toward Anna. But in midair, the Whale-kin girl Jasmine had already stepped ahead, blocking his advance before his body.
"Bang!"
The sound of violent clash between the two of them rang out. Jasmine pursed her lips, standing in place as she looked at Black whom she had knocked back.
"Son of the Sea!"
While behind them, Fisher's Fluid Sword had already risen, ready at any time to snatch back that bell from Anna's hand. But Anna at this moment abruptly turned her head and made eye contact with him.
Fisher could see clearly; that bloodshot gaze was filled with pleading. Her beautiful, bloodstained face was already pale to the extreme. And concurrently, her entire body from top to bottom was trembling uncontrollably without a single spot spared. Her calves hidden beneath her skirt had even unbearably begun to fold backward; her entire body resembled a machine about to fall apart.
She had truly reached the end of her strength in endurance; she also could no longer return to the Southern Continent...
Gazing at that pained and resolute expression, the Fluid Sword in Fisher's hand ultimately did not move.
At the end of the day, if that bell was snatched away from her hand, would this fundamentally be liberation or torment for Anna?
Fisher was incapable of judging, nor was he qualified to judge; he could only follow Anna's wishes.
She needed liberation.
"Fisher..."
Watching Fisher gently lower the Fluid Sword in his hand, Anna cast a grateful gaze toward him. That peaceful gaze still carried a tiny trace of hope, and her trembling, soft voice also transmitted accordingly,
"In the cemetery, there are still the ashes of my sisters. Please bring them home for me..."
Having finished speaking this sentence, Anna fiercely gritted her teeth and threw the already near-shattered bell onto the ground.
"Thud!"
The instant that relic shattered, an ear-piercing loud boom that seemed to have transmitted from the depths of the soul seemingly desired to pierce through the souls of everyone present. A ring-shaped, illusory qi wave instantaneously exploded outwards, carrying everyone around so they uncontrollably flew backward.
Although Fisher and Jasmine were nearby, they hadn't undergone the process of Flesh Grafting, so they merely felt a headache, and there was a constant ringing sound in their ears. But Black was not nearly as fortunate.
"Ahhhhhhh!"
Black flew extremely far away. After rolling several times on the ground, he sprawled upon the ground. He painfully covered his body, and fresh blood also began to seep out from between his brows and eyes. A massive torment descended to punish him,
"Anna! Do you know what you've done! No!"
Anna could already no longer hear Black's hysterical roar. Originally she thought she would suffer tremendous agony after the bell shattered, yet right now, all her sensations were excluded from her body. It was as if she had never experienced pain, never experienced those hardships.
The senses around her were pitch-black. Anna—no, Laya Lu—stood quietly within this pitch-black space. Her appearance was no longer the incredibly beautiful visage from before. Instead, it had transformed into an elegant young girl with wheat-colored skin all over her body. The only thing the same as before, were her pair of beautiful and lively eyes...
She was wearing her tribe's grass skirt. A fragrant flower was tied on her long black hair; that was precisely the hair ornament of their tribe.
There were no pearls, diamonds, or gold, no beautiful dresses or enticing perfumes. There was only the fresh Southern Continent monsoon blowing in from the sea against her face...
All around was pitch-black. Laya Lu lowered her head, looking at the hands that truly belonged to her. Entering a long, long silence, however, a massive sense of loneliness and loss surged into her heart, as if trying to swallow her.
"Big sister Laya..."
"Laya..."
"Lady Laya..."
Just as she was feeling lost, from the surrounding darkness, countless voices that had become somewhat unfamiliar due to being separated for too long sounded out one after another.
Laya raised her head pleasantly surprised, only to discover that at an unknown time, her surroundings were already crowded with the sisters she longed for day and night. Just like her, they were wearing the simple simple clothes they wore when they left the Southern Continent, carrying tranquil and contented smiles on their faces, staring straight ahead at her.
No forced West Continent makeup was painted on their faces, no scars from being beaten or humiliated remained upon their bodies; their eyes were filled with the wildness and freedom of the Southern Continent.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry, in the end... I still didn't bring you home."
Gazing at the quiet lines of sight of her sisters, Laya nevertheless knelt onto the ground carrying extreme guilt. Drops of burning tears fell down her cheeks; she didn't even dare to raise her head to look at the sisters before her, as if doing so would awaken the memories of them dying before her eyes.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."
Amidst Laya's intense feeling of guilt, warm hands affectionately gripped her shoulders and arms, soothing her current sorrow.
Their aura, their warmth transmitted to Laya's body without any barrier, lifting up her face that was already covered in teardrops. All the sisters squatted beside her with smiles, tightly holding onto Laya's body, as if they were still living by her side.
"It's okay, Laya. As long as we can still meet now, and you are still by our side, we are already very satisfied..."
"Exactly! Furthermore, our surname proves that there is a beautiful Lu Tribe, located right at the southern tip of the continent across the ocean. That was once our beautiful homeland..."
"As long as we are together, one day we will return... Return to the homeland beneath the wings of the ancient Dragon Court's shelter, return to the boundless wilderness, and return into the embrace of our family..."
Laya collapsed rather exhaustedly amidst the warm whispers of her sisters, yet her consciousness gradually became blurry.
"Yeah!"
She had done so much, she had toiled so long, she had hoped for so long, perhaps it was merely for today?
Right now, she was somewhat worn out, yet still earnestly hoping that one day, she could truly return to the Southern Continent to sink into peaceful sleep together with her sisters.
As long as they could return, then however it was, was fine...
As long as they could return, return to the homeland, return to the Southern Continent.
Harboring such intense prayer, in reality, along with the violent shattering of that bell, from within that already deceased Anna's body, the anger and unwillingness that had been suppressed for a long, long time finally erupted comprehensively.
A sensation of extreme terror Fisher had felt since the first time he met Anna began to bloom slowly.
"Hiss hiss..."
"Woo woo..."
Amidst the pile of gold coins where Anna collapsed, expanding giant flesh and blood began to grow one by one. Countless giant arms and bodies bearing human or other biological traits inexplicably began growing wildly. A horrid foul stench surged upward, carrying a gushing tide of gold coins surging wildly toward Fisher's side!
"Crash!"
"Jasmine!"
Fisher had just wanted to stretch out his hand to grab Jasmine beside him, but the floor beneath his feet had already been crushed by the monster sprouting from within Anna's body. Pressured by the terrifying weight, the fragmented ground inclined, causing Fisher to instantly retreat backward several meters away from Jasmine.
A full ten or more seconds passed before that creepy growth came to an abrupt end. At this moment, reappearing before Fisher and Jasmine's eyes, was a massive monster with a body approaching forty meters long.
Toppling the small mountain piled with gold coins, the enormous monster retreated backward, making the entire hall of the treasury extremely crowded.
That monster's body carried a disgusting foul stench. On the surface of its skin, women's arms and eyes extended outward, swiftly covering the monster's body.
The mere instant this thing appeared within the treasury, the mana circuits on Fisher's body all lit up, as if his soul had suffered a sort of heavy blow.
"Ying..."
Because in Fisher's line of sight, the souls of dozens of human bodies were twisted together on the monster before him. Having slept these past few years, it had already grown to an extremely terrifying degree. Just taking a look made a person feel their scalp go numb. The fragmented independence of a soul interpreted its true meaning and terrifying semantics perfectly in this instant.
"Return..."
But that monster had no aggressive desire towards Fisher or Black. Endowed with terrifying mighty power, it simply securely stood in place blankly. Peering toward a certain direction in the karst cave, countless human mouths painted with red lips opened in unison, chanting words mixing the indigenous language of the Southern Continent with Naris.
Carrying a disgusting foul-smelling aura, that voice resounded deeply within the soul inside the karst cave akin to an endlessly oscillating murmur and echo,
"Return home... return home... return home..."
In the next second, it seemingly had already pinpointed its direction. That colossal body fiercely leaped into midair. Those terrifying fleshy arms acted like drills, easily boring open the stone wall above.
Like a massive worm, constantly twisting and rotating in midair, it actually wanted to drill open a giant hole leading to the surface just like this!
"Return home... return home..."
The monster sluggishly cried out, like the wailing of a baby yet also like a noble female singer, simply repeating over and over the prayer of South Continent souls lost in a foreign land.
It wanted to return home.
"Rumble!"
The entire underground karst cave tremored ceaselessly like an earthquake. Large amounts of valuable gold coins fell down the shattered ground toward a deeper underground river. Heaven and earth splitting apart, clenching his teeth, Fisher saw Jasmine who lay motionless on the ground paralyzed by fear. He subsequently dashed over arduously to embrace her below his body.
Countless giant rocks fell. Not a few rocks smashed directly down beside Fisher, and a few rocks also hit his body. But clenching his teeth deadly, he didn't move his body.
"Buzz!"
Meanwhile the monster's movements were truly extremely rapid, it twisted its body continuously within the rock layer, drilling all the way upward. Amidst several minutes of wriggling, it finally fiercely pierced through the surface along its confirmed direction—
"Return home! Return home! Home..."
That forty-meter colossal worm-like monster, composed of flesh and blood, abruptly emerged from Klein Mountain.
It stood up its body, that terrifying, incredibly oppressive body simply stood straight like this, as if standing upon the heavenly dome looking down over all of Saint-Nazareth. All the people of Saint-Nazareth only needed to raise their heads to see a monster standing under the distant sky, roaring at the heavenly dome.
"Return home!"
It gazed fixedly at the adjacent ocean outside Saint-Nazareth city, suddenly crouched down, and began to move along the Klein Mountain range. It was actually preparing to head south, crossing straight through Saint-Nazareth city to then enter the ocean!
Finally feeling that terrifying quaking sensation disappear, Fisher, remaining inside the treasury, painfully got off from above Jasmine's body. The back of his white shirt was entirely covered in dust from rocks and dirt; one could tell just how many rocks he had blocked for Jasmine earlier.
"Fisher! I... I'll help heal you."
Seeing Fisher's pained state, Jasmine hastily stretched out her hand. Streams of pure life energy were also passed into Fisher's body via her fingers. After this, his complexion finally became somewhat normal.
"Clack..."
"Who?"
Right at this moment, faint footsteps nevertheless transmitted from within the quieted treasury. Jasmine's ears twitched slightly. Suddenly extending a finger pointing toward the other side, the black water streams in her eyes flowed slightly; she was using the Whale-kin curse to extract the lifeforce of whoever was coming.
From the air, a pale blue lifeforce was quickly drawn out. Jasmine's eyes shrank, yet she hastily withdrew her finger in fright.
"H-how could it be..."
Jasmine's hands began to tremble non-stop. Simultaneously, she also raised her head in disbelief to look into the distance.
She saw that the expressionless old man Black, supporting himself against an adjacent large fallen rock, was looking straight at Jasmine before him.
Rocks continuously fell from the sky, but when hitting his body, they were deflected by a pale blue watermark shield. This was exclusively the thing that had deflected Fisher's Fluid Sword countless times.
This time Jasmine was close, and finally recognized what that thing was...
"That's Auntie's Blessing..."
"Cough!"
Gently coughing, Fisher also regained his consciousness. He hurriedly sat up erect, yet saw Jasmine looking at Black in the distance with disbelief.
"Jas..."
At an unknown time, Black's left hand at this moment had already picked up a relic shaped like a great sword. The blade of that great sword was already stained with spots of rust; it appeared it hadn't been used for a very long time.
Concurrently, his right hand grasped an old-fashioned short-barreled flintlock; his thumb pushed to chamber it as well.
Fisher was a Naris person, he knew there was a bronze statue specially erected for Black at the port of Saint-Nazareth. It was to commemorate the glorious deeds of his heroic self, representing Naris to go across various places in the world exploring and retrieving rich results repeatedly. What that bronze statue sculpted was the image of the young Black grasping a great sword and raising a flintlock.
Bearing a smile, he pointed his weapons toward the sea; this statue symbolized his unremitting pursuit and exploration toward the unknown ocean.
And right at this moment, the person had actually reappeared before the eyes of the two people quite like this.
"The Soul Calming Bell is already ruined, Fisher... even if I capture the Son of the Sea, it is useless."
"Why would Auntie's Blessing be upon you! Just what exactly did you do to her! Tell me! Woo woo... what did you do to her?!"
Looking at Fisher and Jasmine before him, Black surprisingly didn't reply. With a calm expression, he raised his head toward the deep hole bored through by that massive monster.
A hole piercing straight through hundreds of meters connected the distance from underground to the surface. Looking upwards from this position, that circular and even hole just happened to capture a view of that highly risen sun.
After finishing looking at that sun, Black then lowered his head with a slight smile, resetting his gaze upon the Fisher and Jasmine currently before him,
"Don't be impatient, this is already the end... even Muxi has quieted down... Although even if you ignored me and left right now, I would quickly die soon. But I presume you probably wouldn't do this, right?"
In the next second, the Black before their eyes planted the great sword in front of him. Following that, he gently grasped the cloak on his body and pulled it down.
That cloak was tossed out to flutter in the wind, and taking a deep breath, Black exposed the skin beneath the cloak.
One saw that upon his robust muscles, pieces of soft muscle were haphazardly patched together in pieces from east to west. Those muscles were clearly not his own; they looked much more like female skin.
And located at his heart, a beautiful face sleeping peacefully was embedded within his chest—it was precisely Muxi, who had already been deceased for a long time.
And expanding backward from his back, a giant black whale tail, even more massive than Jasmine's, fiercely broke free of constraints and extended. A bizarre moisture was carried forth by the hole's cold wind.
Black inhaled a deep breath. Simultaneous with slightly arching his body, his body additionally enlarged another size around. Every part of his body flickered with a faint layer of blue brilliance. And erupting from his back, violent blue lightning bolts also lit up at the same time, as if an oceanic storm had bloomed here.
Whale-kin Blessing, [Iron Wall].
Whale-kin Curse, [Storm].
"No... No, no... Auntie..."
Jasmine's pupils abruptly constricted. Looking at the relative who had already lost their life and been embedded into flesh and skin, Jasmine sank to her knees onto the floor, nearly collapsing. Her eyes acted as if they were broken, continuously surging with layer after layer of illusory black water streams.
"No... You deserve to die... You deserve to die... You deserve to die..."
As her mute and sluggish voice constantly sounded out, deep within the distant South Ocean, that Companion Sea Beast named Xianghun also simultaneously roared having empathized with her. Resonant and terrifying forces of impact bloomed within the ocean, as if it wished to raise a towering wave that submerged everything.
"I curse you! You demon who blasphemes life! I curse you! I curse your soul to be bitten, chopped and shattered by darkness and sea beasts. I curse your life to be crushed to ashes by everything in the world! I curse you..."
Jasmine's eye pupils had already entirely transformed to black. The Demi-Human Completion Handbook within Fisher's inner pocket was like it was burning up. A terrifying sensation of consumption bloomed from Jasmine; standing beside her, Fisher felt he could be crushed to powder at any time as if welcoming a tsunami.
Fisher was also shocked by the terrifying state on Black's body. With that kind of loss and desecration of life, even he felt heartfelt anger.
But facing Jasmine behaving like a terrifying ocean before him, Black amazingly remained motionlessly relieved. His fingers gently caressed Muxi's unmoving face, and then his expression suddenly turned extremely apathetic, ruthless like a bloodthirsty machine.
No need for regret, no need for retreat, no need for trembling.
"I am..."
Obvious blue veins fiercely bulged out on Black's robust muscles. He firmly gripped the great sword before him, raised it up with absolute ease, aims it at Fisher and Jasmine before him, and subsequently roared with a tremendous voice,
"The First Pioneer!"
"Boom!"
Amidst the suppressive feeling of the furious roar, Muxi's storm also grew increasingly manic. Those blue water currents continuously condensed until they were seemingly tangible, pointing at Fisher and Jasmine before them.
Black and Muxi, Fisher and Jasmine...
This is a battle between two pairs of humans and Whale-kin.