It was not just one gaze, but hundreds and thousands of them.
Mermaids, sirens, sea folk... all the overlapping phantoms, those faces—some beautiful, some eerie, some majestic—pierced through the barrier of the deep sea, all facing the same direction.
Klein felt as if his brain no longer belonged to him.
Instead of being struck by a heavy hammer, it felt like countless poisoned invisible needles were piercing his soul from all directions, frantically stirring and tearing.
With a hum, the outside sound of wind, rain, and thunder instantly receded, and the entire world fell into a dead silence.
Then, the song changed again.
It was no longer a melody, but a chaotic intertwining of countless voices—shattered hymns, venomous curses, the helpless cries of infants, the dying murmurs of lovers... countless heart-tugging sounds were kneaded together, turning into an unreasonable torrent that exploded deep within his mind.
The mental protection he had established earlier could not even last a second under the impact of this soul storm, instantly covered in spider-web-like cracks and teetering on the edge of collapse.
Hallucinations surged like a flood from a burst dam.
He seemed to feel the rough yet warm touch of his mother's fingertips as she straightened his collar in this life.
He seemed to see countless data streams converging before his eyes, forming a ladder leading to the truth.
Everything was so familiar, so real, and so nostalgic.
A gentle thought emerged from the depths of his heart, carrying an irresistible magic: 'Go back, return to that warm and comfortable world, back to the embrace of your parents...'
'Just jump down, jump into this seawater that looks cold but is actually as warm as a mother's amniotic fluid, and you can wake up from this bizarre nightmare and return to where you truly belong.'
'They are not dead, they are still there.'
'Just like the roses they planted with their own hands, blooming year after year.'
'You do not have to seek the so-called truth anymore...'
No...
That was not right!
Klein clenched his teeth hard, using all his strength to let his teeth pierce the tip of his tongue.
The rich, metallic taste of blood exploded in his mouth, and the sharp pain was like a bolt of lightning, splitting through the layers of hallucinations.
He forced himself to turn his head away, no longer looking at the monster beneath the water, but the demonic sound was still everywhere, echoing frantically in his mind. Every vibration widened the cracks in his mental protection by another fraction. Collapse was imminent.
He could not hesitate any longer!
Klein suddenly reached into the alchemical satchel at his waist and pulled out a reagent.
The potion vial contained a deep blue liquid, with silver specks of light floating inside like a handful of stars sealed in glass.
Without the slightest hesitation, he pulled the stopper and tilted his head back, drinking the entire bottle in one gulp.
The icy liquid slid down his throat and into his stomach, and in the next moment, an indescribable extreme cold instantly exploded!
It felt as if countless tiny frost stars were bursting in his veins, the chill rushing up his spine like an electric current straight to the top of his head!
The sensation was as if all warmth had been stripped away in an instant, his soul frozen in an absolute zero silence of deep space.
Those sickly sweet, seductive, and manipulative melodies in his mind were forcibly frozen and shattered by this extreme cold.
The hallucinations entrenched in the depths of his consciousness shattered inch by inch, like a broken mirror, revealing the hideous truth behind them.
The world returned to clarity.
The wind was bone-chillingly cold, the rain was piercingly icy, and the sound of the waves was a violent roar.
And the song, still in his ears, now felt as if it were behind a thick wall of ice, no longer able to shake his mental core strengthened by the potion, leaving only an annoying noise.
"Sobriety potion... the effect is better than expected."
Klein gasped heavily, cold sweat soaking his back, a lingering fear in his heart. If he had not had the habit of an alchemist to carry various potions for emergencies, he might have lost his mind or at least fallen into a brief daze just now.
And before an enemy of this level, a moment's daze meant death.
He immediately pulled out another identical reagent, turning to hand it to Ophelia beside him to help her resist this horrific erosion.
However, his outstretched hand froze mid-air.
Ophelia's reaction was completely beyond his understanding.
She stood there, her golden battle qi rising around her like a burning flame.
The terrifying song seemed to have a massive impact on her as well. The golden glow enveloping her was fluctuating violently at an unprecedented frequency, with wisps of black gas even escaping from the edges, as if fighting against some invisible mental pollution from the depths of her soul.
But her figure was as steady as a rock, like a mountain range rooted deep in the earth.
Her profile remained that same image of determined calm, her golden hair dancing in the gale. She was like a peerless sword slowly being unsheathed, sharp and cold.
Her attention had been locked onto that sea area ahead from start to finish.
Faced with the song that could easily tear through a mage's mental defenses, she did not dodge or use any defensive techniques. Instead, she used the purest and most overbearing knight's will to endure and crush it head-on!
Is this woman... a monster?
This thought uncontrollably surfaced in Klein's mind.
The combat styles of mages and knights were indeed worlds apart.
While he was still thinking about how to defend and how to break the enemy's ability, she seemed to be thinking about only one thing.
And that was how to cut the opponent down.
As if sensing Klein's movement, Ophelia finally had a slight reaction.
She did not turn her head, only speaking in a very low but incredibly clear voice:
"Klein..."
Her voice carried an imperceptible, surging fighting spirit that was about to erupt.
"Hmm?" Klein subconsciously responded, his hand holding the potion still raised in mid-air.
In the next second, the golden battle qi around Ophelia, which had been fluctuating violently, suddenly collapsed inward! The extreme compression felt as if a miniature sun had been forcibly stuffed into her slender body!
And then—it exploded!
Boom!
It was not just light, but a pure, undeniable 'dawn'!
The dazzling golden light turned into a physical shockwave, instantly evaporating the surrounding rain and nearly tearing the night sky shrouded in blood-colored moonlight in half!
"I am going in!"
Before the words finished, Klein only felt the reef beneath his feet let out a groan of being overwhelmed, instantly cracking apart!
Ophelia's figure had already turned into a golden meteor piercing through the heavens, trailing a long tail of flame, charging straight toward that pitch-black sea area where the monster lurked with a resolute and fierce posture!
Rate on N.U.
