[Vol. 7] Chapter 53: The Blazing Sword
"For this reason, I used the [Book of Truth]'s ability to swap between the inner and outer worlds and infiltrated the royal palace of the Mingjiao once again. There, I found Queen Anies, who had yet to decide whether to inherit the throne, and told her everything I had seen and heard."
As Rashid spoke, his gaze swept over King Willipol, who was anxiously trying to channel some energy into the barrier with little success. Beside him, Silisa had already collapsed into unconsciousness. In contrast, Queen Anies stood there, watching coldly, her expression completely different from the others. Rashid let out a bitter smile.
"When Her Majesty first heard my story, she was absolutely furious. Almost had me dragged away and executed on the spot. But thankfully, the queen is rational and has a solid understanding of the [Book of Truth]. After listening carefully to my explanation, she eventually agreed to the plan, though reluctantly."
"Through my connections, we found the poaching group that the [Revelator] had pointed out, a group that had been operating in the Eastern Seas for years. We anonymously offered them a generous bounty, instructing them to infiltrate the Emerald Sea during winter. However, we strictly forbade them from killing, permanently injuring, or torturing the target. With our secret assistance, they successfully kidnapped Princess Nitila and took her to the mainland."
"Her Majesty reasoned that even if the [Revelator]'s prophecy was inevitable and destruction was unavoidable, at the very least, this plan would ensure Princess Nitila’s survival, preserving the last bloodline of the Mingjiao tribe."
"In the end, we are just mere mortals. All we can do is try our best and leave the rest to fate."
"After that, Her Majesty put aside all hesitation and officially took the throne. With my assistance, she led the people of the Emerald Sea in resisting the Ghosts, while the princess was taken to the mainland and went through many twists and turns."
"I arranged for a trusted friend to keep an eye on her, offering minimal but necessary protection. I discovered that through a series of coincidences, Princess Nitila was sold and passed from hand to hand, until she somehow ended up in the Human United Kingdom in the west, the country where the [Revelator] resided."
"The [Revelator] took over the secret protection and continued monitoring the unfolding events for us. At that point, everything was out of my hands… Until about a year ago, when Her Majesty suddenly contacted me with news. Princess Nitila had been rescued by local authorities during a large-scale crackdown in the Human United Kingdom and had safely returned to the Eastern Sea Pearl."
"And… something about her had changed in an inexplicable way."
After listening silently for a long time, Anies finally spoke, picking up where Rashid had left off. Her gaze was filled with disdain as she watched the dark energy struggle and roar within the barrier, like a cornered beast, desperately resisting the golden glow radiating from Nitila’s Merfolk Pearl. It was as if she was savoring the sight of her enemy suffering.
"That's right. After careful examination, I discovered that the Merfolk Pearl within that child, our most important magical core, had somehow absorbed a massive amount of pure, light-attribute energy, similar to holy magic. But it wasn’t just infused or added, it was as if it had been shattered and then reforged into something entirely new, a completely different kind of treasure."
"The Merfolk Pearl is the essence of our kind, nurtured through our very blood and spirit. This is especially true for the Mingjiao lineage. Nitila already possessed the purest royal blood, making it possible for her to cultivate a pearl of unparalleled quality, rivaling even those of our ancestors. And with the addition of that pure light energy, something unbelievable happened. An incredible reaction that made it grow even stronger, even purer."
"It became something worthy of being called a divine artifact, a hidden trump card capable of striking back against any external corruption that tried to invade her. In that moment, I finally understood the true meaning of the ‘uncertainty’ Rashid spoke of. The key to it all was likely right there."
"When I asked her about the reason behind the change, she was hesitant and unable to give a clear answer. She only requested that the matter be kept secret, not to be shared with anyone. That suited me just fine. So, I began planning everything that followed, this inescapable trap that no one could have predicted in advance."
The Queen’s lips curled into a mocking smile, though she made no attempt to hide the way she raised her scepter.
"Do you understand now? I turned your own plan against you! Willipol, you think you're so clever, but without the [Book of Truth], you’re nothing! You’re a coward who can’t act on his own!”
“You blindly worship that so-called god, abandoning all reason, responsibility, and even your own people and kin, thinking that as long as you put your faith in divinity, everything would be solved. And now?"
"Now your ‘god’ is trapped like a dog in the very prison you built with your own hands, howling and struggling in pathetic desperation! Do you still think it can be your salvation!?"
"Open your eyes and look, Willipol! The god you worship is nothing more than a disgusting monster!!!"
"Anies!!!!!"
Unable to bear the humiliation and fury of defeat any longer, Willipol let out a furious roar as his body, made up of countless writhing tentacles, suddenly exploded apart. In an instant, the tentacles reformed into even larger, more monstrous arms, lashing out in a wild, indiscriminate attack against everyone around him.
"AAAAAHHHH!!!"
But just then, something unexpected happened. Silisa, who had collapsed unconscious moments ago, suddenly let out a chilling, beast-like wail. Her body, without any warning, lifted into the air as if an invisible force had taken hold of her. From all directions, a dark, ominous energy surged toward her, rushing into her body at terrifying speed.
"This is...!"
"It's that monster! It’s trying to cut off its own limbs to escape, using its followers’ bodies to flee!"
Anies immediately recognized what was happening. It was just as she had anticipated. Without hesitation, she raised her scepter and unleashed a powerful spell she had been preparing all along.
"Everyone! This is the moment when it's at its weakest, our only chance! We can't let it escape!"
"YOU—WILL—NOT—STOP—MY GOD!!!"
Willipol’s deranged, monstrous screams echoed through the air as his countless tentacles flailed wildly. Even as Anies’ magic tore his body apart, piece by piece, he refused to back down, fighting with everything he had, as if he was willing to die just to buy time for the god he worshipped.
"Tch… This guy is completely insane!"
"Move!"
Seeing the situation turn critical, Le Qiaoqiao gritted her teeth, ready to pull out a trump card. But before she could act, Hongyan suddenly stepped forward, blocking her path. Without hesitation, she threw something into her mouth.
Crunch.
It felt like biting down on a piece of liquor-filled hard candy, except instead of any discernible taste, a strange warmth flooded down her throat as a small amount of liquid slid into her stomach. Before the swordswoman could even process what she had just consumed, her entire body suddenly froze.
In the next instant, a blinding golden light erupted from her, surging out like a geyser. Within moments, her entire figure was engulfed in a brilliant, pure-gold radiance. The sheer intensity of the light was overwhelming. Le Qiaoqiao, standing behind her, was forced to stumble backward with a startled shout.
"Whoa—!"
It felt as if a raging fire had suddenly ignited in her stomach, and in an instant, the scorching heat spread through every corner of her body. The dark energy that had been lingering in the air, causing an eerie discomfort, was immediately expelled and burned away by the overwhelming flames.
At that moment, Hongyan felt as if she had returned to that fateful time. When, with Miss Violet’s guidance, she had split the sea with a single strike, as if she had been possessed by a divine force.
But unlike that previous moment of perfect harmony, this terrifying power was indiscriminate. It burned everything, including her own body. Every cell felt like it was being thrown into a furnace, as if she were a balloon inflated to the very brink of bursting. She was seconds away from completely exploding.
So… this is what they meant by "compatibility"?!
In that instant, she fully understood the warning Miss Violet had given her when handing over this mysterious object. Hongyan did her best, she forced herself to endure the unbearable pain as if she were being roasted by a raging fire. With trembling hands, she gripped the hilt of her sword at her waist, ignoring the searing agony engulfing her…
And she swung.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!!
An immense, unparalleled wave of fire, imbued with a terrifying destructive power that defied categorization as mere sword energy, erupted in a flash. Devoid of any cutting edge or artistic expression, it was like a chain breaking free, a surge of pure, unrestrained fury, a light of earth-shattering force that instantly swept outward!
The tentacles that Willipol transformed into were the first to meet the golden sword light head-on, but they were instantly annihilated in the avalanche-like and tsunami-like arc of light without being able to resist at all.
The sword energy, which spread out like a fan, destroyed everything along the way, and even Silisa, who had just finished possessing and had not had time to act, was engulfed in an instant. In the blink of an eye, she vanished without a trace.