Chapter 515: Underground and at Sea
Chapter 515: Underground and at Sea
"In my heart, you are the one who truly embodies the qualities of a knight", Rayne said earnestly.
Whether it was Menya's performance in the recent battle or the scenes of countless battles that Rayne had sensed from the fragments of Menya's consciousness, he felt a deep respect for the mature, beautiful, and wise woman before him.
While Rayne had not fully fused and thus had not completely reviewed all of Menya's consciousness fragments, even a glimpse was enough to understand her character.
Hearing Rayne's words, Menya was momentarily taken aback.
When she regained her composure, she found Rayne still gazing at her intently.
If anyone else had been so impolite, Menya would have been angry. Even in the past, Rayne would have offended her.
But she was different now.
Even she hadn't realized it, but after the fusion of their consciousness, she felt a natural closeness and familiarity with Rayne.
In some ways, this intimacy even surpassed that of a lover.
And the way Rayne looked at Menya now was different from before. It was as if he was looking at Anna, someone he knew very well.
"Thank you."
Faced with Rayne's gaze, the usually dignified and authoritative 'Red Queen' Menya blushed slightly, feeling a rare sense of shyness, and, even more rarely, she lowered her head before a young man.
If anyone else had seen this, they would have been utterly astonished.
But to Rayne, the Menya before him, while still regal and elegant, now exuded an additional charm and shyness, making him unable to look away.
"Rayne, I need some time to recover."
"Of course, Your Highness", Rayne nodded hurriedly, trying to cover up his momentary lapse.
"However, although I have healing potions, they are unlikely to be very effective in treating the aftereffects of the Dragon Blood Sacrifice. So, it may take a few days for me to regain some of my combat capabilities."
Menya's beautiful eyes scanned the surroundings, seemingly assessing whether the area was safe.
"Don't worry, Your Highness. With me here, you can rest assured and recover", Rayne reassured her immediately.
"By the way, is there anything I can do to help?"
He had long noticed that, despite appearing unharmed, Menya's aura was significantly weakened and unstable. She was struggling to maintain the level of a 4th-level Dawn Mage.
If she didn't receive immediate treatment or recovery, she might fall from the Dawn Wizard realm.
This was understandable, given the immense power of the secret art, which came with severe aftereffects.
In a normal scenario, Menya would have perished after performing the Dragon Blood Sacrifice.
Fortunately, Rayne, the recipient of the Dragon Blood Sacrifice, was an anomaly. He had forcibly terminated the ritual and returned everything to its original state.
However, this wasn't as simple as returning a borrowed item. It involved a series of complex and precise changes. Rayne knew that even if Menya recovered well, her strength would likely drop by at least one level, to a mid-4th-level Dawn Wizard—the best possible outcome.
If not treated promptly, she might fall to the early 4th-level Dawn stage.
In the worst case, she could even drop to the 3rd-level Crystalization Peak stage.
"Thank you, but not for now", Menya shook her head.
"Alright, let me know if you need anything."
As Menya entered a deep meditative state, Rayne carefully checked the surroundings again, ensuring there were no violent creatures in the dark lake or the surrounding rock walls, before returning to Menya's side.
"We are hundreds of meters below the surface, and the pit above has formed a lake due to the siphon effect. The likelihood of the Sea God Cult discovering us is minimal."
"However, with what has happened, the federation will likely be in an uproar."
He had tried to use arcane communication, but the magical fluctuations were greatly affected by his deep underground position, making it impossible to contact Reginald.
"I wonder if His Excellency Reginald has managed to escape?"
After a moment's thought, Rayne shook his head, realizing that attempting to contact Reginald might carry a small risk.
It wasn't that he feared Reginald would reveal their situation, but if there were a significant number of high-level Sea God Cult wizards around the island, his attempt at arcane communication could be detected by nearby wizards.
With only a few remaining attribute points, if he attracted the Sea God Cult while Menya was in the crucial recovery stage, it would be counterproductive.
However, Rayne wasn't idle.
Besides summarizing his battle experience, although he didn't have the necessary materials for elf leatherworking or goblin engineering constructs, he still had the goblin engineering knowledge he had memorized. He hadn't had the chance to study it thoroughly yet.
Previously, Helm had shared all his research progress with Rayne, helping him advance to the third prerequisite for becoming a Goblin Engineer (Legendary) — ‘Mastery of Goblin Engineering Knowledge’ — which had already reached 63%.
So, Rayne planned to take advantage of Menya’s recovery to see if he could further increase this progress.
Of course, before doing so, Rayne had one more thing to do: confirm the condition of the mermaid girl who seemed to be from an ancient race.
Her state was very peculiar. There was no consciousness within her body, neither the original consciousness nor any residual awareness from the Goddess of the Depths. Yet, her blood flowed slowly, her skin was vibrant, and she appeared as if she were merely asleep.
A few minutes earlier.
Near the Island, on the sea surface.
Just as Reginald was trying every means to control Ted and catch up with Menya and Rayne, who were retreating toward the Island, he was blocked by Sea God Cult Pontiff Ejil and a large group of High Warlocks.
With no choice, Reginald had to fly in the opposite direction, joining the remaining Imperial dirigible fleet that had come to his aid.
He planned to rely on the cooperation of the Imperial Airship Fleet to withstand a wave of the enemy’s attacks and then find an opportunity to reunite with Menya and Rayne.
Of course, he knew that although Rayne’s combat strength was as impressive as ever, Menya’s condition was extremely poor, almost unable to maintain her dragon form. If Menya lost her fighting ability, the balance of the battle would be broken, and both would face a dire situation.
So, he was extremely anxious!
"Imperial Airship Fleet, support His Majesty Reginald and launch a forced assault on the Island!"
In the flagship’s command room, the elderly vice admiral saw the scene and immediately issued the order.
Just as the dirigible fleet turned and engaged in fierce battle with the Sea God Cult’s Flying Fish Knights and Manta Ray Knights, a dazzling white light column suddenly appeared before everyone’s eyes!
The light column emerged from the center of the nearby Island, almost piercing the sky, and rapidly expanded to dozens of times its original diameter. Then, a powerful shockwave covered the Island and slammed into the sea.
The numerous Sea God Cult flying knights were directly blasted dozens of meters away by the shockwave, while the Empire’s remaining four dirigibles swayed like candles in a strong wind, on the verge of collapse.
Only Reginald and his dragon managed to maintain their position in the air.
"Such fire energy fluctuations, it can’t be..." Reginald’s face turned pale as he muttered.
He knew very well that Rayne was a metal wizard, and the fire magic capable of producing such energy fluctuations must have come from Menya. However, Menya was almost exhausted; how could she have the psi energy to release such a powerful attack?
Sea God Cult Pontiff Ejil, equally experienced, was overjoyed at the sight.
"That young man named Rayne is not a fire Dawn Wizard. The only one capable of casting such a powerful spell is the Dragon Empire’s ‘Red Queen,’ Menya."
"Given her condition just now, there’s no way she could release a spell of that magnitude. It seems she has been forced to self-destruct by our Lord."
Hearing their Pope’s analysis, the Sea God Cult High Warlocks behind Ejil nodded, their faces filled with joy.
"That’s a great victory! I’ve heard that this Menya is the Dragon Emperor’s own aunt, a top-tier royal warrior. Killing her would be a significant achievement!"
"I’ve also heard that the ‘Red Queen’ Menya is a renowned guardian of the Dragon Empire. Her death at our hands will greatly enhance the prestige of our cult."
"Ha-ha, should we push harder and annihilate them all here?"
"Not yet. Let’s first go to the Island to check the situation. As for Reginald, we’ll decide later." Pope Ejil thought for a moment and decided to head to the Island first.
He reasoned that if Rayne was still alive, being so close to the center of the spell’s explosion, he must be severely injured. They could help their goddess by preventing his escape, and if they were lucky, they might even finish him off.
Additionally, Reginald was a defense-oriented earth Dawn Wizard, accompanied by a yellow dragon with innate earth magic, making him as tough as a turtle shell. It would be difficult to kill him in a short time.
Therefore, the priority was to eliminate Rayne.
Thus, a strange unity was formed on the battlefield. Both the Sea God Cult and the Empire raced toward the Island with all their might, and the battles along the way intensified.
Soon, the scene on the island came into view.
In an instant, almost everyone stopped what they were doing, staring at the massive crater that had turned into a small lake. Many people began to look around, as if searching for something.
The ground, ravaged like it had been hit by a hurricane, was completely devoid of vegetation. Radiating from the center were chunks of soil and rocks, the scene all too clear.
There was no sign of the Sea Goddess Hela.
No sign of the three-headed dragon Rayne.
Even after a thorough search, they found no trace of the Red Queen Menia.
It seemed as if all three had vanished in the great explosion.
This caused many of the Sea God Cult High Warlocks to murmur.
"Could they have all perished together?"
"It's possible, but who can say for sure?"
"Although my goddess has lost an incarnation, if we managed to kill the empire's 'Red Queen' Menia, it would still be a small victory."
These words naturally reached the ears of Pope Egil, but he frowned. The scene before him was different from what he had expected, and his thoughts diverged from those of his fellow cult members.
If his goddess had the upper hand, even if the Red Queen Menia had self-destructed, there should still be an incarnation of his goddess present. But there wasn't.
"The explosion was definitely a surge of fire energy, and the Red Queen Menia is undoubtedly dead."
"However, Rayne likely survived and defeated my goddess's avatar."
"Moreover, he must be severely injured, which is why he went into hiding before we arrived. That explains why no one is here now!" Pope Egil's mind raced, and his eyes gradually brightened.
Especially when he silently prayed to his goddess and received no response, it solidified his suspicions even further!
"Hold the empire's airship and search the entire island!" Egil ordered.
"As you command, Pope!"
The same thought crossed Reginald's mind.
"Princess Menia has likely perished!"
"But Rayne may still be alive. There's no sign of the Sea Goddess of the Depths' water avatar, which suggests that after Menia's self-destruction severely wounded him, Rayne managed to defeat the Sea Goddess."
"Could he be at the bottom of the explosion crater?"
The sudden attack by the Sea God Cult interrupted Reginald's thoughts.
Facing the cult's fierce assault, the remaining dirigibles of the empire, though fearless, were at a disadvantage. However, under Reginald's leadership, they managed to fight a defensive retreat, barely holding their ground.
But soon, the Sea God Cult discovered that a small federation fleet was rapidly approaching from the nearby sea.
Although this fleet was quickly annihilated by the Sea God Cult's flying knights, it did divert some of their forces. Shortly after, several more federation rapid patrol fleets arrived from the vicinity.
For a time, a long battle line stretched for several kilometers across the sea, with cannon fire and the roars of sea beasts filling the air!
After a while,
"Pope, my subordinates have searched the entire island, but we still haven't found Rayne", a warlock reported.
"Continue the search!" Egil said sternly.
"Pope, more and more federation naval vessels are gathering here. Both the Flying Fish Knights and the Manta Ray Knights have suffered significant losses. Should we—"
At this point, a High Warlock advised.
When Pope Egil issued the order to search the entire island, many High Warlocks had their doubts. They believed that both the empire's Menia and Rayne, as well as their own goddess's avatar, had likely perished in the explosion.
With the search yielding no results, this suspicion only grew stronger.
Pope Egil, of course, understood the implications of his subordinate's words. He glanced around and saw that more and more federation ships were appearing on the distant horizon.
If they waited any longer, federation experts would arrive.
Moreover, he had tried praying again, and his goddess did not respond. Clearly, even his prayers as Pope received no answer, meaning his goddess's avatar must have perished.
But whether they had all perished together, he couldn't be sure.
"Could they have all perished together?" Egil mused.
Suddenly, a silver streak of light cut across the eastern sky, and a powerful figure was rapidly approaching!
"Stop!"
A massive silver cross-shaped sword light sliced through the sky, instantly cutting dozens of Manta Ray Knights and Flying Fish Knights into pieces, their blood raining down!
Faced with such overwhelming power, the other flying knights hesitated to attack.
"Tillio!" Egil's eyes narrowed.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report