Starlight watched the golden light below grow more distant and let out a sigh of relief. Then, he turned his head to face the giant whale charging at him once more.
“Since you’re so intent on chasing me, I’m not going to make it easy for you!”
His mana was nearly depleted. Aside from short-range instant movement, he could barely do anything, leaving him with no choice but to pin his hopes on the elemental mark on his wrist.
Having left the bioluminescent undercurrent, the surrounding waters had become pitch black. Aside from water elements, the most abundant resource here was dark elements.
With a flicker of movement, Starlight landed atop the giant whale's head. He jammed one hand into a gap between its scales to secure himself and began focusing all his mental power to condense dark elements.
This was extremely dangerous. These external elemental forces had not been purified or neutralized by his own mana; instead, he was using the elemental mark directly as a medium for the spell.
One slip-up, and the forcibly gathered dark elements would backlash against his own body.
He understood the risks, of course, but it was the only solution left.
As a massive amount of dark elements began to coalesce, the giant whale sensed the threat and started rolling its body violently, trying to shake off the enemy on its head.
But how could Starlight let this singular, golden opportunity slip away? He concentrated his remaining mana into the hand gripping the scales, literally freezing his arm onto the whale’s body.
His other hand remained focused on gathering dark elements, staying steady despite the violent currents lashing against him.
Under his intense mental control, a massive sphere of dark elements soon materialized above the whale’s head.
By Starlight’s estimation, the power concentrated in this attack was several times stronger than the one he had used against the mermaids. No ordinary creature could withstand such a massive erosion of dark elements.
“Take this, you monster!”
As Starlight let go, the giant elemental sphere floating beside him plummeted onto the whale’s head, which was as vast as a sports field.
The violent dark elements reacted fiercely the moment they touched the whale's body.
Even those scales shimmering with a dark luster could not resist the invasion. Within a few breaths, a massive wound appeared on the whale's head.
Thrashing in pain, the giant whale’s movements created a surge that threw Starlight far back, luckily carrying him out of the dark element explosion's range.
Only then did Starlight realize that while he was focused on his magic, the whale had carried him out of the deep sea. Looking up, he could see sunlight filtering down from above.
In the faint light, Starlight saw that his attack had blasted a gaping hole in the whale’s head, even exposing the white bone at the center of the wound.
“Heh! How does that taste? Looks like my luck isn't so bad after all. It actually brought me to the shallows. Time to get out of here!”
Watching the whale roll in the water, Starlight quickly darted into its blind spot, planning to use the opening to leave this dangerous area.
Once he broke the surface, he would immediately use wind elements to carry himself into the air. No matter how powerful this whale monster was, it wouldn't be able to threaten him then.
But before his satisfaction could last even two seconds, several gashes over ten meters long suddenly split open across the whale’s belly facing him.
To Starlight’s shock, several massive red eyeballs appeared on the beast’s abdomen.
The eyes shifted slightly, instantly locking onto Starlight’s position, their diamond-shaped pupils staring fixedly in his direction.
Starlight felt a chill run through his body under those blood-red gazes, momentarily forgetting to even keep moving.
What drove him to further despair was seeing the wound on its head, which should have been a heavy blow, healing at a visible rate as the beast turned back around.
After only a few breaths, the exposed bone on the whale's head was covered by writhing granulation tissue, turning a deep red.
“Damn it! How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!”
Overwhelmed by a sense of powerlessness, even someone as well-bred as Starlight couldn't help but curse.
The magic he’d risked his life to cast had only made the thing roll around a few times? If that wound wasn't dealt with soon, it would probably be fully healed!
His current condition was abysmal. While he had no obvious physical injuries, his mana and mental power—the lifeblood of a mage—were at an unprecedented level of exhaustion.
Just as Starlight was about to give up and accept the beast’s attack, a series of sharp cries echoed from a nearby coral reef.
The mermaid army they had previously outrun suddenly appeared, swarming out from the ruins they inhabited and charging toward them with furious roars.
“Damn... My luck is just the worst. Are you really not going to give me a single chance to live?!”
Watching the giant beast and the mermaid army close in, Starlight couldn't help but close his eyes. Since death was inevitable either way, he might as well face it with some dignity.
“Ah, so this is what death feels like? It doesn't hurt at all!”
“Wait... Why don't I feel anything??”
After a while, Starlight opened his eyes in confusion to find himself still floating intact in the water. The scene before him left him dumbfounded.
Instead of coming for his life, the two sides had actually started fighting each other, leaving him completely ignored on the sidelines.
The whale’s body was now crawling with mermaids, who were frantically hacking at the giant beast with their weapons.
Though an individual mermaid’s strength wasn't exceptional and most of their attacks couldn't even pierce the whale’s scales, their sheer numbers were overwhelming.
Under these circumstances, the wound Starlight had opened and the crimson eyeballs on the whale’s belly became their primary targets, as those areas lacked the protection of scales.
Like a swarm of frenzied ants, the mermaids formed a silver-grey tide that completely enveloped the giant whale.
Soon, the clear blue water was stained red by the dark blood flowing from the whale’s wounds, turning the sea murky.
For the first time, the behemoth let out a cry of agony and began to struggle desperately, trying to shake off the mermaids.
But the mermaids clung to its body like stubborn leeches, refusing to let go no matter how the whale thrashed and turned.
Forgotten on the side, Starlight naturally wasn't going to pass up this chance to escape. He didn't even bother watching the epic battle and immediately turned to swim toward the surface.
Sprinting with all his might, the bright light from above drew closer and closer. Just a few more minutes, and he would be back in the familiar air.
But reality rarely goes as planned. Just as Starlight was immersed in the joy of his narrow escape, the faint green light that had been surrounding him flickered rapidly before vanishing into nothingness.
A powerful sense of suffocation instantly surged through him, making his limbs feel numb.
“Oh no!”
The Water Breathing Spell Moen had cast on him had expired at this critical moment...
Rate on N.U.
