“Do you think this is a place you can just come and go as you please?”
Xia De still wanted to argue with Darkness, but the old priest, who was being beaten down by the Creation Church's Thirteen Ring Sorcerer, suddenly spoke up loudly.
His extremely fish-like face was flushed red, and the three holy emblems on the back of his hands and forehead were glowing:
“Show some respect, human! What do you think this place is?”
Xia De and Darkness exchanged a glance, both looking at the Merman. The old Merman was surrounded by a transparent protective shield made of liquid, and the machinery controlled by the Creation Church's Thirteen Ring Sorcerer was attempting to contaminate them.
“The age of humans will surely be ended by the age of the deep sea. When the flame of civilization extinguishes and the world approaches its end, all will return to the deep sea!”
The Merman old priest of the Scarlet Cult prayed loudly in the delarion common language.
“Lunatic.”
The Witch cursed softly.
“You don’t understand, humans, none of you understand. My great one has long said that the world will eventually be destroyed, and all of this is destined. None of you can escape.”
The Merman priest shouted loudly, and the holy emblem at the end of the temple seemed to respond to his prayer, those golden lights making him even stronger:
“This is the temple of the great one. The old ruler of the ocean once stayed here. Heretics will only meet the fate of ultimate demise.”
That strange pressure indeed became more pronounced with his shouts. Not only the Witch, the Creation Church's Thirteen Ring Sorcerer, and Darkness, but even Xia De, whose soul contained divinity, felt a shortness of breath.
“Madam, I’ll help you deal with him later.”
Xia De said softly to the Witch, stepping on the floor, and snowflakes drifted down from above. The oil painting on the temple ceiling, depicting ancient tragic naval wars, seemed to have melted into a large hole, but behind the ceiling was not a dim, rainy sky. Silver Moonlight poured down from the ceiling.
“Hmm?”
The Witch looked over.
Although he couldn't fully use the Mystic Lock, the space formed by a partial Mystic Lock was enough to counteract some of the suppression from the temple.
Xia De said to the man from the Creation Church:
“Let’s deal with this Cultists first.”
Once the Merman was killed, Xia De could touch the holy emblem. Once he obtained what was hidden behind the holy emblem, he could do anything.
“Alright, be careful. His divination ability is very powerful.”
Speaking in an unfluent delarion common language, the middle-aged man rushed towards the Merman priest amidst the falling snow. Tiny brass machines drilled into his pores, forming a strange metallic layer under his skin. The old priest waved his hands, and the three Ling Runes—【Merman】, 【Ocean】, 【Impact】—on his Destiny Ring behind him flickered with spiritual light:
“Spirit of the Great Sea!”
As the ground beneath his feet trembled, a giant shark made purely of seawater leaped out from under the floor. But despite its powerful appearance, it was scattered into points of light by the Ring術士 of the Creation Church amidst the flying snowflakes.
Steam spewed outwards from his body, and he looked like a steam bomb about to explode. After smashing through the obstructing shark, he crashed into the stunned old priest with astonishing force, but the Merman’s body suddenly turned into seawater, spilling onto the ground and attempting to drill into the cracks.
The Witch, temporarily ceasing her fight with Darkness, glanced over and pointed a finger. The water re-condensed, and the old Merman’s vanished body reappeared.
“Moonlight Greatsword!”
Xia De’s figure appeared above his head, and the two-handed greatsword, brought down in a jumping slash, fell fiercely. The old Merman looked up and chanted, his skin writhing behind him. Dozens of slender octopus tentacles flew out from his collar, forcefully blocking Xia De’s sword.
But this gave the gentleman from the Church an opportunity. Buzzing brass machines glowed, surrounding the Merman. After confirming that Xia De’s body had once again disappeared, those tiny metals surrounded the old Merman, causing a violent explosion.
The power of the Thirteen Ring Sorcerer was still suppressed within the temple, so he could only employ such relatively simple attack methods, but this was enough.
After the explosion, a loud coughing sound came from deeper within the temple. The Ring術士 of the Creation Church, Xia De, the Witch, and Darkness all looked in that direction. Seawater seeped out from the cracks in the ground, reconstructing the battered body of the old Merman. He stared with eyes that seemed to bleed, looking at the four humans under the falling snow.
Even Darkness would not help it at this moment. Although the two sides had cooperated, from the current situation, the Scarlet Cult was clearly destined to fail this time.
“You—”
The old Merman’s body rapidly expanded. Everyone immediately retreated; this appearance strongly suggested that the opponent intended to self-destruct. The fact that he hadn't used Sublimation Words for a desperate struggle was likely due to the immense consumption and sheer inability. After all, even if Xia De hadn't appeared, the old Merman was no match for a Thirteen Ring Sorcerer.
Twelve and Thirteen represented the difference between two Sublimation Words and three Sublimation Words.
“Sea Return is no longer possible to succeed.”
The Church Ring術士, who was controlling the brass machinery, said, his hoarse, steady voice making it clear that the Church had the situation under control. Unlike the Night of Divine Descent in Tobesk, the Coldwater Port Shadow Incident would have no surprises.
“You don’t understand, you don’t understand, the fire of civilization is already flickering. None of you understand.”
He screamed madly, his hands and legs flailing as if uncontrollably. But upon closer inspection, it resembled an ancient, primitive sacrificial dance performed around a fire.
This peculiar dance possessed a unique rhythm, and Xia De felt as if he saw something within it.
He danced, screamed, and laughed, looking at the four humans in turn:
“I see it, I see it, none of you will have a good end!”
But no one paid him any attention.
“You, a human, yet you foolishly try to abandon your flesh.”
The middle-aged man from the Creation Church frowned slightly.
“You, shrouded in Darkness, yet also seduced by Darkness.”
Darkness remained unmoved, his half-demon form still cackling wildly.
“You, burdened by a curse, yet still foolishly dream of pursuing freedom.”
Although Xia De couldn't clearly see Miss Aurora’s face, he knew she must be angry.
“You—”
The old Merman looked at Xia De, and Xia De also looked into its cloudy fish eyes. The opponent was a Cultists priest and a Twelve-Ring Arcanist, even proficient in divination. His earlier comments about the others were quite interesting.
“What about me?”
Xia De asked softly.
“Do you think the audience below the stage is truly the safest?”
The Merman laughed heartily, his body having expanded more than three times since Xia De first arrived.
“Audience…”
“You are the most foolish, entangled by desires, with a broken body, and a void future. Even if past power protects you, what about the future? Your end will surely be more tragic than mine. How foolish, you are all fools, why can’t you believe in the deep sea?”
He suddenly stopped, then faced the glowing holy emblem deep within the temple, spread his arms, and roared:
“May the lord of the scarlet spiral be with me!”
The mass of flesh on Darkness’s right hand rapidly expanded, and a flesh-colored structure burning with black flames formed a shield in front of him; the gentleman from the Church summoned all the brass mechanical constructs he had released, then knelt on one knee, grasping the metal greatshield formed by those machines; the Witch calmly snapped her fingers, her body quickly trembling, her color gradually fading until she became completely transparent.
Xia De didn't believe the leaf in his mouth could block the incoming damage, so he took a step back, his body disappearing, and returned to the passage.
He ran back along the passage, then suddenly sprang forward, clutching his head, and lay down on the ground. Although this was not at all dignified compared to the other three, it was at least effective enough.
Boom!
A dull sound came from behind him. Because his body was pressed against the ground, Xia De could even feel the uneven old square bricks beneath him trembling.
A terrifying sound came from above, and rustling dust and lumps of dirt continuously fell.
“Cough, cough~”
Xia De coughed as he stood up, brushing the dirt from his hair. When he turned back to the temple, flesh was splattered on the floor, and a small pit had appeared where the old Merman had stood.
But his death was not without value. The holy emblem was also stained with the blood of the willing sacrifice, and its evil golden light grew even stronger. The divine power within the temple suppressed the non-believers there with increasing intensity.
Outside the temple, the rain raged violently, and the Scarlet Cult was making its final desperate struggle. The Mermaid giant corpse was advancing towards Coldwater Port with giant waves. Although this battle had not lasted long, it was nearing its end.
And the Witch, Darkness, and the Ring術士 of the Creation Church, in the smoke and dust of the explosion, all looked around. The Witch and the Creation Church’s Thirteen Ring Sorcerer were unharmed. Although Darkness was somewhat disheveled, he did not appear to be seriously injured.
Under the light of the evil god’s holy emblem, the four people observed each other.
