Battle Under the Sea

After a brief preparation, a colorless spatial ripple centered on Starlight began to spread, enveloping everyone like a bubble. A second later, the four of them vanished from the underwater stone shelter.

Although Starlight had tried using Instant Movement with Moen before, he never expected that the difficulty and mana consumption would increase exponentially with two more people.

The power he thought would move them over a thousand meters only lasted for about two hundred.

As the spatial bubble burst, the four landed one after another on the soft seabed. The ruins they were in previously had been completely crushed by the mermaids' sonic attack. The stone shelter on the seafloor disintegrated once it lost the support of Starlight's mana.

The mermaids, suddenly losing their target, didn't react immediately, rummaging through the rubble for any sign of the group. The four intended to use the surrounding ruins as cover to slip away, but they clearly underestimated the abilities and intelligence of these deep-sea creatures.

The mermaids didn't all rush to the seabed in a swarm; instead, a significant number remained suspended in the surrounding water, continuously emitting a low-frequency sound wave from their mouths.

Amidst this bass hum that acted like sonar, the four were exposed before they could even swim a few meters.

The mermaids who detected the movement let out a few low cries, and their companions still searching the seabed immediately turned and charged toward the group at high speed.

“Damn, we've been found again!”

“How are these things so sensitive?”

“It’s going to be a hard fight. Sister, Nature's Blessing!”

“On it!”

As the mermaids relentlessly pursued them once more, a pale green light quickly climbed onto the four, instantly putting them into combat mode. With the powerful thrust of the mermaids' tails, the distance of several hundred meters was crossed in an instant.

Just as they were about to surround the four again, countless massive strands of seaweed suddenly spread across the seabed. Moen was attempting to use the power of nature to drive the underwater plants, and to her surprise, the spell's effect was exceptionally good.

The thick seaweed acted like sturdy chains, binding the lead mermaids tightly and greatly slowing their advance. The trapped mermaids began to tear frantically at the seaweed, only to be bound tighter by the water-snake-like roots.

While this was only moderately effective, the sheer number of mermaids was overwhelming. Only a few seconds later, the great net of seaweed showed signs of collapsing. However, those few seconds Moen bought were exactly what Starlight needed to prepare his magic.

“Thanks, Moen. Leave the rest to me!” Having finished condensing his mana, Starlight swam to the front and launched a long-prepared spell at the nearly freed mermaid swarm.

“Floating Water, Thousand-Blade Frigid Radiance!” With a wave of his hands, countless ice needles formed in the seawater, shooting like a torrential rain into the dense pack of mermaids.

Starlight was no longer the mage who only knew basic magic from a month ago.

From the vast collection of books in the Spiritual Arts Academy, he had absorbed a massive amount of knowledge, allowing his talent to be fully unleashed. The spell he used now was a genuine high-tier spell, a creation left in the library's core area by a former headmaster.

In an environment teeming with water elements, as long as he had enough mana, the number of ice needles was nearly infinite, making it an excellent way to stall a large group of enemies. The hard scales on the mermaids couldn't withstand the rain-like assault, and in a flash, their bodies were riddled with holes by the ice needles.

A large cloud of dark green blood mist immediately exploded in the blue seawater, enveloping the mermaids.

“Phew... ha...” Starlight panted slightly. This was the first time he had applied his recently acquired knowledge in actual combat, and his body was still adjusting.

Although the consumption was high, the results were clear. A single strike had incapacitated over a third of the mermaids—an achievement that would have been unimaginable a month ago.

The heavily wounded mermaid swarm immediately slowed down, seemingly intimidated by the spell. But before the four could celebrate, the swarm ahead slowly parted, creating a path. Two particularly massive figures swam slowly to the front.

They were two muscular mermaids wielding stone blades, clad in armor made of an unknown material.

Unlike their ordinary kin, they were the size of young whales. Their powerful upper bodies were as well-defined as a bodybuilder's, and their eyes glowed like two red lightbulbs.

“Ho~ these two must be the bosses, huh? They look like trouble!” Po Kong chuckled, swimming to Starlight's side with his longsword in hand, his eyes fixed on the enemies.

“Haooo!” The two suspected leaders sensed Po Kong's fighting spirit and let out a high-pitched howl, propelling themselves forward with their tail fins.

“Ice spikes, go!” Starlight reacted quickly, condensing several ice spikes the thickness of water bottles and hurling them straight at them.

But the speed of these two mermaids far exceeded his expectations. Their massive size didn't make them clumsy; instead, they were as fast as bolts of lightning darting through the sea. Half of the ice spikes he condensed missed their mark, and the few that struck the mermaids' armor made a crisp “clink” sound, barely penetrating the skin by a few centimeters.

For their massive bodies, such a small wound was like an insect bite and caused no real damage. The giant mermaids didn't slow down at all, arriving beside them in an instant.

“Aooo-sha!” With a sharp roar, a mermaid raised its stone spear and stabbed fiercely at Starlight.

“Clang!” Po Kong dashed forward, his silver longsword meeting the attack head-on, parrying one of the stone spears with a loud boom.

At the same time, the other giant mermaid had its tail snagged by thick seaweed, pinning it in place.

Just as the mermaid prepared to turn and cut the annoying plant, a short blade sliced through the dark water, aimed at its neck.

This forced it to abandon its action and turn to protect its vitals with its stone spear. Even so, Xia Duo's short blade still managed to graze its skin.

“Hey~ your opponent is me, big guy! I'll leave that one to you—let's see who can finish theirs first, Little Shadow!” Po Kong roared. Without waiting for Xia Duo to agree, his body erupted with brilliant battle qi as he charged forward.

“Tsk, I never agreed to a race, but I won't lose to you!” Seeing that he was already locked in combat with the mermaid, Xia Duo clicked her tongue in annoyance but met her own opponent nonetheless.