"If I don't get close to the ocean, my heart..."
The Princess raised her hand to cover her chest. Xia De subconsciously thought of some things, but then realized that it was the flesh of the desire affecting him.
"My heart feels empty and very uncomfortable, truly very uncomfortable, as if my soul is entangled by hot chains. I tried to get close to the ocean, and this distance is the maximum I can tolerate. Although there's still that urge, I can feel this red ocean calling to me, but a few hours are still acceptable."
"What does that feel like?"
Xia De asked again.
"I can feel that something deep in the ocean is calling to me, calling me to merge with it."
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath:
"Even if I just close my eyes, it's as if I've arrived at that colossal ancient underwater temple in my dreams, seeing that—"
"Open your eyes!"
Xia De suddenly raised his voice. Leia looked at him in confusion.
"Don't look at that thing again. It's not a good thing."
The colossal Mermaid corpse in the temple was a body that an evil god once used. Regardless of whether that corpse still possessed power, it was not something mortals should look upon.
He gazed towards the end of the ocean, where the yellow sky and red ocean seemed to completely merge at the edge of his vision. According to the ritual steps, after the red ocean appeared, that colossal Mermaid corpse would bring a massive wave and completely engulf Coldwater Port.
Currently, the Mermaid corpse had not yet appeared, and Leia could control her urge to step into the ocean. But once that corpse reached the nearshore, Xia De was very worried about the Princess's condition.
This curse was far stronger than he had imagined.
Xia De did not leave Leia's side. Before the power granted by that piece of flesh faded, he would not go looking for witches, Darkness, or the Cultists on the shore. He and the Princess stood together, watching as the rain grew heavier and the raging waves became more turbulent.
In the sound of the rain, Xia De felt a sense of tranquility. He rarely had the chance to stop like this and observe the world.
"Speaking of which..."
Leia spoke again, a little hesitantly:
"How come you've only been gone for a few hours, but your skin has become so good? What did you encounter?"
Xia De thought of that pretty face that had almost changed his aesthetic standards, and the corner of his mouth twitched:
"A Mermaid."
"A Mermaid? I've heard rumors that the Aurora Family is related to Mermaids. Does Hivi Aurora really know a Mermaid?"
"No, it was introduced by a Cultists."
Xia De touched his face:
"Have I changed a lot?"
"Not much, you just look better."
Leia's face was a little red.
Xia De hadn't found a mirror to observe his face yet, but with so many changes to his physique and appearance, even if people who knew the original Xia De encountered him again, they probably wouldn't recognize him at all.
In just twenty minutes, the waves that had originally only been lapping at the beach were almost reaching the small garden behind the Manor.
As the sky darkened, the color of the ocean also deepened. Although the analogy wasn't entirely accurate, the ocean's color was gradually transforming from cheap wine to the color of true blood.
Amidst the roar of the towering waves, accompanied by the long sound of a conch horn coming from an unknown source, the wailing sound made everyone in the near-sea area instinctively look towards the depths of the ocean.
The largest surge of tide yet was appearing from where the sky and sea met. And behind that surge, a colossal object could be vaguely seen, approaching with the ocean current.
"It's finally here."
Xia De looked up, his gaze passing through the gaps in the grape arbor, over the grapevines, and towards the sky. He reached out and caught some rainwater, realizing that the rain falling from the sky had also turned red.
"Outsider, you feel blasphemy."
"This rainwater seems to be problematic too. You two, quickly return to the building."
He immediately turned to tell the two maids, but the maidens shook their heads.
"You two, go back."
Leia also said this, and only then did the maids behind her hand the fishing rods to Xia De and run towards the building with umbrellas. Only Xia De remained, holding the fishing rods, while Leia held the last umbrella to shield them from the rain.
Xia De's judgment was completely correct. As the sound of the conch horn, whose source was unknown, echoed in the sky, the red rainwater gradually became viscous, until it resembled blood, leaving large, disgusting stains on the ground.
From the courtyard in front of the Aurora Manor, swaying figures walked heavily towards the beach. They paid no attention to Xia De and the Princess under the grape arbor, their eyes dull, their faces covered with swollen merman tattoos, exactly like Leia's condition.
Now Xia De knew where so many cursed individuals came from. This abnormal rainwater could actually spread the curse, though its efficiency was far inferior to the Mermaid statue that was the source.
And as the red rain and the new victims stepped into the ocean, under the sky in the far distance, a dazzling white pillar of light shot from the seabed towards the sky. And as that pillar of light connected the clouds and the ocean, an indescribable female body, simultaneously beautiful and ugly, as if it had traversed from behind the veil of distant time, emerged from beneath the water's surface.
Around her body, a gigantic illusory complex of buildings could be vaguely seen. Estimating by the height of the buildings, that female figure, with only her upper body visible, was roughly five stories tall.
Because the distance was somewhat far, Xia De could only vaguely make out her appearance. She, along with the illusory ancient stone building complex around her body, was approaching with the waves. The water wall that had already risen would likely crash down on half of the City.
More than ten figures flew overhead; they were Ring術士 from the Church and professors who had come as reinforcements from the academy. At the same time, the giant steamships docked in the port set off together, going against the direction of the tide, and under the protection of various spiritual lights, sailed towards the monster behind the waves.
A sudden drum sound, so loud it seemed to make the very ground vibrate, came from the direction of the Natural Church. This drumming, accompanied by the sound of an unknown metal horn, actually temporarily suppressed the sound of the conch.
And in a location Xia De could not temporarily see, the ancient lighthouses guarding Coldwater Port along the coast were faintly glowing. Edmund and more lighthouse keepers were assisting the Church in calibrating the lighthouses, waiting for the power of these lighthouses, which had guarded the coastline since ancient times, to be completely awakened.
Seeing that the colossal Mermaid corpse had already appeared, Xia De also wanted to go into the sea to check the situation. But Leia beside him suddenly groaned, her umbrella fell, and she clutched her forehead, almost losing her balance.
