Free Web NovelThe twisted Child of Bountifulness stunned everyone; even the Bishop had never seen anything like it.
The Child of Bountifulness continued to grow in size. It extended countless tentacles, and anything touched by them turned into the same black substance and was absorbed.
“What is that thing…”
Mara had barely finished her exclamation when a tentacle grabbed her. The normally unstoppable tentacle couldn’t even move her this time, and Mara instead tore the tentacle apart.
“Everyone, start singing the hymn now!”
Loren raised the Requiem like a conductor’s baton. Of course Mara would never give Loren that chance, but before she could act, her limbs were entangled by tentacles and she was yanked violently toward the Child of Bountifulness.
Thick black qi poured from her body. Her tentacles began to snap, but whenever one broke, a new one sprouted immediately. Soon Mara was wrapped tightly and swallowed by the Child of Bountifulness.
The merfolk were still active, which meant Mara was not yet dead.
“Honored God of Bountifulness, I present to you this heretic…”
With so many people here, many of Loren’s abilities couldn’t be used. The best way to kill a strange being like Mara was to sacrifice her directly to the Orthodox Gods.
But before Loren could finish the ritual, the merfolk made a new move.
This time they did not charge mindlessly like before. A large number of merfolk in the sea began casting spells simultaneously, their magic converging together, continually condensing.
Only then did Loren realize these merfolk were not simply standing in the water; they were doing the same thing he had been doing. Mara had found a way to gather the merfolk’s magic.
The combat power of these merfolk corpses was far inferior to living merfolk, but when their magic pooled together it became terrifying.
Now Loren understood why the merfolk had stayed in the sea all along — they were waiting for him here.
Fortunately Loren had anticipated this and had prepared a countermeasure.
Realizing something was wrong, Loren hastened the sacrifice, but in the end he was still a step too late.
A column of water shot up from the sea, gradually forming a slender cone with a razor-sharp tip.
The water column drove straight toward the Child of Bountifulness. Loren’s conjured Child of Bountifulness, which he had summoned with great effort, was pierced like paper.
That was not the end. After penetrating the Child of Bountifulness, the water column continued with unabated speed, charging straight at Loren.
“This is Ninth-tier magic! Get out of the way!”
The water column moved extremely fast. Loren only had time to shout that, then he lunged to the side.
Trusting Loren, the others also dodged immediately upon hearing him. Because their positions were so crowded, however, many still got hit despite dodging in time. Loren watched helplessly as one person who had merely brushed the attack lost half their body.
This spell was called Abyssal Piercing. The water columns carried the pressure of the deep sea, especially at the tip where all the force concentrated on a single point. No ordinary defense could withstand it; it could pierce a mountain with ease.
Even Loren would be gravely injured if he took that hit, which would hamper his combat ability.
No sooner had Loren dodged the killing blow than the sky darkened. The blood moon was obscured, and only starlight pierced the thick cloud cover, falling onto Mara.
“Cloud… merfolk… energy convergence… this oppressive force…
“Regain formation quickly!”
This was the prelude to a Super-tier Magic. Loren knew this magic well — it was Abyssal Sea Collapse recorded in the Dawn Princess’s diary.
If this attack succeeded, everyone present except Loren and Laila would die, and even nearby cities might be destroyed.
By now Mara had crawled out from the corpse of the Child of Nature and stood at the forefront of the merfolk. The scattered merfolk gathered at her side; all their magic flowed into her. Clouds churned and thickened in the sky, the sea trembled, and the pressure made it hard to breathe.
“Loren! Rumor says you know every magic in the world. I wonder how you’ll deal with a Super-tier Magic!
“This is not some sentimental friendship spell. This is true Super-tier Magic, beyond Ninth-tier, capable of making me the most powerful mage!”
Mara’s words were filled with fanaticism. She had never been this excited; it seemed her life had been leading up to this moment.
“After you killed me, the Goddess of Love praised my devotion to my parents and preserved a strand of my soul, making it indestructible; the God of Sorrow grieved for my pain and made my soul whole, granting me the power of sorrow.
“After that, my soul was captured by the Angler and stabilized. The God of Hatred let my soul break free, forged me a body shaped by hatred, and I became whole again!”
Her voice trembled with overwhelming excitement as she spoke.
“Once my body was restored, I gained the ability to enter the sea. I began hunting merfolk, collecting corpses, and using the necromancy I stole from Sea God cultists to control those bodies…
“In the end, I took from the merfolk the true Dawn Princess’s great treasure — Super-tier Magic!”
She recounted the events of recent times to Loren as if pouring out her heart.
“Now you will be the first to die beneath this magic. Consider it an honor!”
“You just asked how I would deal with Super-tier Magic, didn’t you?”
Loren’s sudden remark left Mara slightly stunned. Unaccountably, she felt a ripple of unease.
“The spell you’re casting is called Abyssal Sea Collapse. Its effect is to connect the abyssal sea and the sky, letting sea pressure crush everything.”
“Even if you know that, so what! Super-tier Magic cannot be resisted by ordinary means!”
When Loren accurately described the effect of Abyssal Sea Collapse, Mara broke emotionally. She roared, but Loren’s expression remained calm, even mocking.
“Yes, even Ninth-tier magic cannot withstand Super-tier Magic, but only if you can actually release the Super-tier Magic…”
“Nonsense…”
Mara raised her only remaining arm and poured all her effort into the spell.
But no matter how hard she tried, nothing more happened. Even the clouds above began to disperse.
“Look behind you.”
At Loren’s words, Mara turned sharply and saw the most beautiful sight she had ever witnessed.
A field of pure white flowers stretched out, covering the merfolk corpses in bloom. The flowers were pristine and lovely, releasing a refreshing, intoxicating fragrance.
“Ninth-tier magic, Eternal Flower Sea, with extremely fast spread. I planted the seeds on those merfolk long ago, and now they are blooming.”
By the time Loren finished speaking, the same flowers had already begun to sprout on Mara’s body.
