In the center of the altar, the stone pillar was blown in half.
The fist-sized water sphere directly above the pillar had evaporated completely in the explosion.
Most of the emerald-blue crystals on the four walls were shattered, their fragments scattered all over the floor, the light flowing within them slowly fading.
Smoke and dust drifted through the altar.
Boulder pushed himself up from the stone wall of the passage, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth.
He stared at the crater blasted into the center of the altar, at the severed fragments of the water chains, and at the crystal shards littering the ground.
“Dammit,” Boulder muttered.
Korlo pried himself out of the depression in the stone wall, the runes on his dark gray robe completely dark. “He self-detonated? A First-Tier Wizard just self-detonated like that?”
The Sword King Fish warrior struggled up from the ground. Only one of the bone spikes on his shoulder blades remained intact, while the other two were mostly broken.
He knelt on one knee, his right hand pressed against the cracked stone floor, silent.
The Eight-Claw Giant Crab strongman retracted his four tentacles. The carapaces at their tips were completely shattered, and dark red blood seeped from the cracks.
The tall, thin figure from the Echinoderm Starfish tribe hunched his back as he stepped out from the corner, the eerie blue glow on his five fingers entirely extinguished.
The golden patterns on the cheeks of the Electric Eel youth had mostly faded. A few faint arcs of electricity flickered weakly within the patterns before finally dying out.
The Silver-Fin Merfolk clambered up from the ground, their seaweed cloaks shredded. The dark green crystal spheres had all shattered, not a single one left intact.
“Three-Thousandth Prince.” The Giant Clam elder straightened up from the end of the trench, the shell on his back slowly closing. “The core crystal of the Spirit-Deceiving Array is shattered. Our plans... I am afraid we must draw up a new plan.”
Boulder stood at the entrance of the passage, the widespread devastation reflected in his pale blue eyes.
He had anticipated that this wizard would fight back desperately, that he might use some unknown method to break free, or even that he might have some hidden trump card.
But he had never expected him to self-detonate.
Without a single word of nonsense, without a single wasted movement, he had simply blown himself up.
Was a wizard's life from a backwater place like the Thorn Empire really so cheap?
Or were all wizards such lunatics?
“Pack up,” Boulder said in a low, hushed voice. “We cannot stay here. The energy fluctuations from that wizard's self-detonation cannot be hidden from the wizards' monitoring. It won't be long before someone comes to investigate. Korlo, clean up all traces of the altar. Giant Clam tribe, gather every single crystal fragment. Do not leave a single shard behind. The rest of you, prepare to evacuate.”
Korlo took several emerald-blue crystals from his sleeve, bending down to press them into the cracks of the stone floor.
The moment the crystals were embedded, the remaining glowing crystal fragments on the four walls of the altar dimmed simultaneously.
The Giant Clam elder opened the shell on his back, retrieving a dark blue cloth pouch from the layers inside.
He aimed the opening of the pouch at the scattered crystal fragments. As if drawn by an unseen force, the shards flew into the bag one after another.
The Sword King Fish warrior pulled out the bone spikes embedded in the dome, gathering the broken fragments as well.
The Eight-Claw Giant Crab strongman used his tentacles to sweep up the shattered remnants of the water chains on the ground, piling them together.
The tall, thin Echinoderm Starfish figure squatted by the crater in the center of the altar. He thrust his five fingers into the bottom of the pit, his fingertips lighting up once more with a faint, eerie blue glow as he searched for something.
The Electric Eel youth walked to the entrance of the passage. The golden patterns on his cheeks glowed faintly again as he set up warning arcs of electricity in the passage.
The Silver-Fin Merfolk tore off the remaining seaweed fragments from their cloaks, stuffing them into their storage devices.
Everyone moved quickly, and no one spoke.
Boulder stood at the entrance of the passage, watching his Sea Race guards clean up the mess.
His fingers clenched inside his sleeves, released, and clenched again.
A single First-Tier Wizard.
Just one First-Tier Wizard.
The plan he had prepared for over a decade, the secret technique of the Deep Mirror Clam tribe, the Spirit-Deceiving Array of the Giant Clam tribe, and over a dozen elite Sea Race guards—all of it had been thrown into this.
The altar was ruined, the Spirit-Deceiving Array was shattered, and barely any intact crystals remained.
He had gained absolutely nothing and had nearly lost his own life in the process.
“Three-Thousandth Prince,” the Giant Clam elder said, straightening up as he placed the last crystal fragment into his pouch. “We can leave now.”
Boulder nodded, turning to leave.
Just then, a faint sound echoed from the crater in the center of the altar.
Every member of the Sea Race froze, their eyes snapping toward the center of the explosion.
Inside the crater, Ethan stood up.
“Heh, Sea Race,” Ethan said. “I'm not done having fun yet.”
Korlo's pupils shrank to the size of pinpricks.
The blue runes on his dark gray robe flared to life at the exact same instant, and the seven emerald-blue crystals hidden in his sleeves exploded simultaneously. Before the crystal fragments could even hit the ground, they transformed into seven water chains as thick as arms, whipping toward Ethan's head, heart, and joints from seven different directions.
The shell on the Giant Clam elder's back opened completely.
The runic patterns surging from the nacreous structure wove into three shields of light in the air—not for defense, but for blockade. The shields of light pressed down from the left, right, and overhead, completely cutting off any escape route for Ethan.
The final intact bone spike on the shoulder blades of the Sword King Fish warrior shot forward.
The bone spike tore through the air, its screeching whistle shaking loose dust from the stone blocks of the dome.
The Eight-Claw Giant Crab strongman's four tentacles snapped off the stone pillars simultaneously.
The carapaces at the tips of his tentacles fully opened, and the dark red suckers aimed at Ethan, spewing four streams of dark green venom.
The tall, thin Echinoderm Starfish figure bent his five fingers to their absolute limits in five different directions.
The eerie blue glow at his fingertips detached, condensing in midair into five spinning cones of light. The tips of the cones aimed directly at Ethan's forehead, throat, heart, and knees.
The golden patterns on the cheeks of the Electric Eel youth erupted completely. Electric arcs surged from the patterns, weaving an airtight net of electricity in the air that descended from above.
The Silver-Fin Merfolk spread their tattered seaweed cloaks. The partially intact dark green crystal spheres inside their cloaks glowed simultaneously, their residual energy condensing on the surface of the cloaks into dozens of hair-thin water needles, their tips glinting with a sickly green, cold light.
Almost every attack was unleashed in the exact same instant.
Forget a First-Tier Wizard—even an unprepared Second-Tier Wizard would have to exert some effort to deal with a coordinated assault of this caliber.
Yet, facing these attacks, Ethan did not make a single move.
The Thorn Blood Armor automatically manifested.
Blood-red woody fibers welled up from beneath his skin, intertwining, weaving, and taking shape over his body.
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