"Miss Skadi, tell me, is the Seaborn god dead? I remember you were the one who dealt the last blow."
Lucas Reeve suddenly asked Skadi.
Skadi didn't know why Lucas Reeve was asking this.
Her fair finger poked her own cheek.
"Uh... probably not dead. Although I delivered that strike at the time, I felt that the Seaborn god didn't die... just temporarily disappeared into the seabed. Is there a problem, Mr. Reeve?"
"Nothing."
Lucas Reeve smiled and shook his head.
"Just a little annoyed. If it's not dead, when I have a physical body in the future, I might bring a few friends to the sea to spar with It. I want to see if the God of the Deep Sea is really that much stronger than the ones on land."
"......"
Skadi didn't speak.
She was already mourning for it in her heart.
Seeing Skadi remain silent.
This Priest thought she was afraid.
"You are an excellent test subject. You, who are the sin of Aegir polluting the sea, I admire you very much. All these years, our people have been observing you. As long as you had someone close to you, horror fish would go and devour them. We originally thought you would soon have a mental breakdown, but unexpectedly... you held on even longer than I imagined."
"You....."
The Priest's words exploded like a bomb in Skadi's mind.
"You did this!!"
Skadi's voice gradually turned grim. Her grip on the greatsword tightened, so much that veins bulged on her pale arm.
These people...
Skadi, too, had once been deeply trapped in self-doubt.
She recognized that it was because of her that her friends, one after another, died under the teeth of horror fish. Therefore, Skadi had intentionally sealed off her emotions and heart all these years, not actively making friends. But as time went by, Skadi discovered that it wasn't just friends; even strangers who had just spoken a few more words with her would die under the teeth of horror fish.
Therefore.
Back in Rim Billiton, Skadi's spirit had already reached the verge of collapse. If not for Lucas Reeve's appearance, Skadi would have very likely been assimilated by the Seaborn.
"Be angry! The noble blood of the great sea flows in your body! Although it is impure, full of taints, the great god, He will forgive you. Returning to the embrace of the sea is your only...."
KACHA!
The Priest hadn't even finished his sentence.
Skadi had already transformed into a hurricane and arrived in front of him.
The greatsword in her hand swung out fiercely, effortlessly cutting the Priest into two. His upper body flew out and smashed against the laboratory wall, his eyes wide with disbelief.
Furthermore.
The force of the greatsword's slash just now sent a gust of wind that cracked the laboratory walls.
The surface of the vessel holding Skadi's companion cracked.
With a *psshh* sound.
The vessel completely shattered. The pure Originium liquid inside flowed out. Having lost the support of the Originium liquid, the white-haired girl inside also lay limply, her face pale, like Sleeping Beauty.
Skadi snorted, and kicked the Priest's lower body again. The entire lower body flew out as well.
Punching the vessel open.
Skadi picked up the girl onto her back, patting her on the face.
"Sharky, don't sleep."
"Sharky? Laurentina!"
Faced with Skadi's calls, Laurentina showed no signs of waking up. Fortunately, she was still breathing at this moment, confirming that she was at least still alive.
Just as Skadi was preparing to leave.
Suddenly!
A series of sinister laughs echoed through the laboratory.
"You surprised me greatly, hunter."
Skadi spun around abruptly.
The Priest's upper body, which had been cut open and should have been dead, suddenly started speaking.
No blood flowed from the body.
Skadi could see.
Countless deep-blue tentacles were extending from the Priest's severed body, seemingly about to form a new body.
"I have received the god's blessing! I am the god's most devout believer! The god has granted me power, enough to defeat anyone who dares to oppose the god!"
"You possess a filthy bloodline... hunter."
"Your bloodline... has polluted the pure sea, polluted the god! If not for you still having some use, you would have died long ago..."
The Priest was a chatterbox. He had a lot to say.
While he was talking trash, his body was transforming.
The upper body gradually split open, and deep blue, flower-like vines, resembling earthworms, continuously drilled out from his body.
Suddenly.
The Priest's head split open with a crack. Then, his head split open in a very disgusting manner. His body swelled, continuously expanding, and transformed into a giant flower. The salty seawater smell hit them. This laboratory seemed unable to bear the weight of this giant flower anymore. After stomping a few times.
The surface of the laboratory cracked.
Below was actually a huge cavity. Skadi, holding Laurentina, and the Priest, transformed into a giant flower monster, fell down together.
It wasn't very bright below, but the full view was barely visible.
The surroundings were pitch-black stones covered in moss, and the disgusting smell of seawater permeated the air below.
If Lucas Reeve wasn't mistaken, this should be the very bottom of the mobile city. This mobile city had long since fallen into ruin, stranded on the shore. Apart from the upper levels being habitable, all the basic facilities at the bottom of the mobile city had long since disappeared under the corrosion of seawater and Seaborn.
And...
This place had likely long since become a Seaborn nest.
The moment Skadi landed.
Countless scarlet eyeballs lit up in the surroundings, all staring fixedly at Skadi.
"The great God of the Deep Sea will purify everything."
A grating human voice came from within the giant flower.
"The god has granted me invincible power!! Here!! I am invincible!!!"
"Invincible, huh..."
Skadi's expression was grim.
These Seaborn at the very bottom were continuously releasing spiritual damage attacks at her. However, because Lucas Reeve was present, this level of spiritual damage was completely useless.
Skadi gently placed Laurentina on the ground. Then, she shouldered her greatsword, her sharp eyes staring at the two-flowered monster opposite her.
"A god... I've pierced one of those before, too. It wasn't as indestructible as I thought."
"Hmph!"
The Priest, transformed into a giant flower, naturally didn't believe Skadi's words.
"So... you will die too."
Skadi gripped the greatsword with both hands. A golden brilliance erupted from the sword's body, and one of her eyes turned a deep black, as if she had become a different person.
"That gold!!"
The Priest was astonished. He didn't know why, but even in his current state, he still felt an instinctive fear when he saw this golden brilliance. What on earth was this light!!
Skadi's feet suddenly stomped on the ground, and her whole body shot out like a cannonball, reaching the giant flower's base at extreme speed.
The vines at the base of the flower also whipped towards Skadi. However, this kind of painless, ticklish attack was no different from nothing to Skadi. Her greatsword, burning with golden brilliance, easily severed the vines.
"It's useless! I am immortal! The god has granted me powerful regenerative abilities! No attack can...!"
Before he could finish his sentence.
The Priest froze.
Because he suddenly discovered that the vines that had just been severed by Skadi showed no signs of regenerating.
This!!!
This!!!
How is this possible!!
The god clearly granted me immortal life force, why!!
"Because...."
Suddenly.
The corners of Skadi's mouth curled up slightly, revealing an unfamiliar smile that had never appeared before. When this smile landed in the Priest's eyes, it made him feel terrified for a moment.
"I am a god too!!"
A male voice came from Skadi's mouth.
At the same time.
Both of Skadi's eyes turned a deep black, and within the pitch-black pupils, a golden light faintly swirled.
!!!
"No!! No!! Die! Die!!"
The Priest roared madly.
And along with its anger.
The giant flower trembled violently, and countless thick vines whipped out, attacking Skadi. Each vine was countless times thicker than Skadi herself, like one giant whip after another, lashing down. The ground, and even the entire mobile city above, seemed to tremble under this frenzied attack. The residents on the city-state could vaguely sense that something seemed to be about to awaken from the ground.
However.
This kind of attack was useless against Lucas Reeve.
With the enhancement of the Transparent World.
Although the vines were numerous and ridiculously fast, he could analyze them clearly, easily passing through gaps that ordinary people couldn't perceive, dodging the attacks, narrowly, time after time. If it was once or twice, it could be described as luck, but ten times, twenty times...
"Is this the power your great and invincible Seaborn god bestowed upon you?"
Lucas Reeve was somewhat disdainful.
"It's a bit boring... Why don't I bestow power upon you? The power I give you might be stronger than your god's. At the very least... I can take over and fight for you. Your god.. won't."
With that said.
Lucas Reeve raised the sword in his hand. The speed in his hand quickened. One after another, rays of golden light slashed down on the giant vines. And under Lucas Reeve's assault, these tendrils were like a hot knife cutting through tofu, effortless. And the places that were cut, due to the effect of the divine power, were actually unable to regenerate quickly.
"How is this possible!! You!! You!!"
The Priest, who had been so arrogant just moments before, couldn't be arrogant at all now. It looked at Skadi in disbelief, seeming to vaguely detect another phantom inside Skadi's body. This phantom made it instinctively afraid, as if its flower was about to wilt.
"What about me?"
Lucas Reeve smiled faintly, stretching [Skadi's] left hand into the air. One by one, golden light particles, like a hurricane, began to gather in the center of Skadi's left hand.
[Holy Lance... Unsealing...]
A phantom of the divine, golden Holy Lance condensed on his left hand. The brilliant golden light illuminated the vast underground of the mobile city. The Seaborn, who had been glaring covetously just moments before, after sensing this destructive divine attack that they couldn't adapt to, actually became afraid, from the bottom of their hearts. Their scarlet eyes even dimmed, and they gradually began to want to leave.
"No! No!!!"
The Priest could naturally also easily sense the power of this golden Holy Lance. If it hit him head-on, he would die!! He would 100% die!! Even with the immortality granted by the god, he would die!!
Impossible!
This fellow, why!!
Why is she so strong!!
The Priest was roaring madly in his heart. It continuously manifested vines to try and block, but no matter how thick the vines it used to shield itself, the feeling of panic in its heart just wouldn't disappear.
[The Lance that Shines to the End's End]
As Lucas Reeve's chant finished.
The golden, holy energy lance aimed at the opponent.
The Holy Lance was released.
A massive energy beam that tore through space shot out, directly enveloping the Priest, who had turned into a flower monster, and even pierced through the entire mobile city from the side.
"No!!"
The flower monster, feeling its body visibly disintegrating under this attack, struggled desperately.
"Emissary! Save me!!!"
However.
The Emissary of the god that the flower monster was crying out for did not appear.
Or rather, this Emissary had come out long ago, and was staying nearby, disguised in an ugly human form.
However, after being glared at by Lucas Reeve, this Emissary instantly behaved. And, after witnessing Lucas Reeve's Holy Lance, this Seaborn Emissary chose to follow its heart and body's instincts, decisively turning into a puddle of black water and fleeing without looking back. Even the other Seaborn did the same, fleeing from here without a backward glance, preparing to return to the sea.
Because.
This Seaborn, which had evolved into a human silhouette, had gained human circumstances, could think faster, and could understand many more things. It even... had, more or less, gained some human emotions in its heart.
And this Seaborn, not long after evolving into a human, which was now, the first human emotion it grasped was... Fear...
Is this the feeling of fear?
This intelligent Seaborn understood. And then it was very true to its feelings, directly turning around and leaving. It wasn't the only one leaving; along with its departure, the other ordinary Seaborn also, as if they had found their core, obediently left.
Finally, following the dissipation of the Holy Lance.
The Priest, who had turned into a giant flower, completely disappeared. This time, he truly didn't even leave a speck of dust behind.
"Thank you, Mr. Reeve. If it weren't for you, I couldn't have found Laurentina so quickly, nor could I have defeated this Seaborn so easily by myself."
+2000*4
Another eight thousand points poured into Lucas Reeve's soul.
Skadi was speaking the truth.
Without Lucas Reeve's help, she would have likely become a Seaborn puppet right from the start. And without Lucas Reeve, she wouldn't have been able to come here, and naturally wouldn't have been able to find Laurentina. Moreover, without Lucas Reeve, she couldn't have possibly killed this flower monster so simply.
This flower monster looked easy for Lucas Reeve to kill, seeming pathetically weak.
In reality, this flower monster was not weak at all. It could even be described as very strong. But Lucas Reeve completely countered it, making it unable to regenerate new vines. And, based on the attack strength of the vines, even someone like Skadi would definitely be injured if she was hit head-on.
Skadi once again expressed her gratitude to Lucas Reeve, preparing to leave with Laurentina on her back.
Suddenly.
Laurentina, on Skadi's back, slowly opened her eyes. She looked around in confusion, and finally, her gaze fixed on Skadi, who was carrying her. She asked politely.
"Excuse me... Miss, who are you?"
Laurentina asked in confusion.
However.
Skadi's expression froze.
Is this something Sharky would say? Since when is she so polite!! It's simply unbelievable!!