Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 1304: Chapter 1303: High Tide

In the Boundless Sea shaped by water elements, the currents surged, and a powerful wave formed in the depths of the sea, quickly stabilizing into a female figure.

Sea Demon Queen Petia swayed her tail and, accompanied by her guards and Deep Sea Witches, arrived near the river-like rushing Deep Blue Vein Flow. Her eyebrows slightly raised as she asked the Abyssal Commander beside her, "Did Sentinel Caroline fall from here?"

"Yes, Her Majesty," the Abyssal Commander bowed in response, "It was an accident—a rapidly moving cube suddenly appeared in the vein flow. Caroline didn’t notice and lost her balance after being struck on her blade..."

"Your Majesty!" Sentinel Vila couldn’t hold back and stepped forward, "Hasn’t Caroline come back alive yet?"

"We haven’t found her at the assembly point—there’s a possibility she’s been swept too far and reborn in other waters on this planet," Petia slowly shook her head, "But regardless, she can’t leave this planet; she will eventually return."

As the words of this Deep Sea Sovereign fell, a giant figure swam over from the side—the Water Elemental Lord, who had just finished treatment at the outpost. He stopped at a distance from Petia, looking at this "alien water element leader" with some reverence and caution: "Great Harvester, so what exactly happened here?"

"We suspect those who are throwing things into The Deep Blue Webway have already started their actions," Petia said lightly, "This might be a test, or perhaps it’s an inevitable change occurring once the quantity of those cubes reaches a certain critical point... Either way, we’ve already sent warnings to our allies; hopefully, there won’t be too many uncontrollable situations to follow..."

The Water Elemental Lord beside her couldn’t help but roll his eyes upon hearing this—aren’t the sea demons themselves the most "out of control" things on this planet?!

...

Cold winds howled, sand and dust flew, the air filled with the pungent smell of powerful Magic Power reacting with the atmosphere. Dim sunlight seeped through the thick, filthy cloud layers, coating the distant rolling mountain edges like dry bloodstains glaringly, and in the sunken valley depths, the Fyrna Sisters stood on an observation platform beside the Deep Blue Rift, frowning silently.

"The Rune Stones we dropped yesterday have lost contact again," the rustling of roots across rocks sounded, as the tall, dried-up, twisted-faced Archbishop Bolken approached, his voice hoarse and ominous, "Almost every fourth drop results in a Rune Stone ’disconnecting’, and they are largely concentrated within two or three specific node intervals..."

"This indicates there’s a problem with a Deep Blue Vein Flow," Fyrna interrupted before the other could finish. "That vein flow might have crossed an extremely unstable layer, or... something is actively intercepting and destroying the ’alien objects’ within that vein flow."

Bolken glared at the Elven Twins with his amber eyes, sinisterly saying, "Are there things in this world that even you don’t understand?"

"Hmph," Lelena snorted, "The concept of being all-knowing is stupid; we just happen to know more about most subjects than you—don’t worry about those disconnected Rune Stones for now. Stop sending them to those problematic node intervals; we have plenty of alternate paths..."

"More important than those disconnected stones is the ’test’ we just completed," Fyrna continued, "Yesterday, we conducted a low-powered ’release’ using the existing control nodes, Archbishop, you’ve witnessed firsthand the energy fields permeating the entire atmosphere—now you should no longer doubt the knowledge we imparted to you."

"Our theoretical model is effective, it’s evident, Archbishop," Lelena gazed into Bolken’s eyes, "The controlled Deep Blue Webway can be used to create an ’Elysium Barrier’ that envelops the entire planet, granting the selected evolvers permanent protection within the barrier, no more chaotic waves, no more gods—a world eternal and safe, as we promised."

"...Hopefully," Bolken fixed his deep brown eyes on Lelena’s, "But don’t forget, the energy fields created during yesterday’s test were far from the standard. Our Rune Stones are far from enough, and The Deep Blue Webway isn’t as easily ’tamed’ as you promised. This planet is resisting our control, and we’re now faced with the predicament of Rune Stones repeatedly ’disappearing’."

"Be patient, my dear Archbishop, patience is needed for great endeavors," Fyrna smiled, speaking slowly, "You’ve waited here for hundreds of years, haven’t you? You’ve patiently watched your foolish and shortsighted compatriots suffer severe failures due to impatience; you don’t want to repeat their path..."

Bolken snorted, seemingly wanting to say more, but just as he opened his mouth, an unfamiliar, careless young female voice suddenly called out from nearby: "What are you talking about?"

The Elven Twins and Treants leader on the platform were instantly stunned, and then three pairs of eyes quickly turned towards the direction of the voice. The next moment, even the leader of the evil cult followers and the invading Sentinels couldn’t control their astonished expressions—they saw a rippling water flow had somehow emerged in the Deep Blue Rift below, and from within the non-material Magical Vein Flow, a female figure appeared. She had light purple hair, wore peculiar fitted armor unseen on land, held a weapon that seemed a hybrid of a trident and spear, her skin shimmered with a luminous blue glow, and her eyes were filled with curiosity as she looked towards the platform.

"What were you just talking about?" Noticing the strange figures in front of her were all dumbfounded without an answer, Caroline, who was spinning in the Deep Blue Vein Flow and had struggled to find an exit to climb out, couldn’t help but ask again, "What do you mean by taming The Deep Blue Webway? What do you mean by controlling the planet? Who are you really? What are you doing here?"

She stretched her neck, gazing around, realizing she seemed to be at the bottom of a large pit, and the next second, her gaze fell on another platform nearby. At the edge of that platform, several black cubes covered in complex magic symbols were neatly lined up, appearing to await activation—the sea demons Sentinel who had been dazed just moments before instantly reacted.

"Damn it, I knew it! It’s you guys who have been throwing stuff into The Deep Blue Webway all the time!"

Finally, Bolken, who was slow to react due to astonishment, also realized what was going on. He couldn’t bother to contemplate the origin of the strange woman emerging from The Deep Blue Webway, nor could he ponder how she accomplished such a feat; like any conspirator whose plan is about to be exposed, his first thought was to silence her immediately—without even considering the feasibility of capturing her alive. Because she had only exposed her upper body from The Deep Blue Webway, and she clearly possessed the ability to traverse freely through the energy flow. Hesitation would only allow her to escape through the webway, and by then, it would be too late!

Thoughts raced through his mind, and in an instant, Archbishop Bolken made his decision without hesitating. He stretched out his "hands," which resembled a tangled mass of dried branches, and unleashed a powerful force of corruption and decay. This force transformed into a gray-white spike that pierced the air, with the intent to instantly kill the creature in front of him, which seemed human but could not possibly be human!

Yet, at that moment, the faces of the Fyrna sisters, Lelena and Fyrna, changed drastically. They seemed to have finally realized something and shouted in unison, "Don’t kill her!!"

But their warning was ultimately a step too late—the gray-white spike, released with the full power of a legendary powerhouse, was already at Caroline’s front in an instant. Due to the aftermath of her repeated spinning in the Deep Blue Vein Flow, she couldn’t react in time. She only managed to slightly lift the blade in her hand and shouted "Oh Mom—" before dying instantaneously.

A splash of blue water, mixed with faint sparkles, exploded and then instantly dissipated in the air, leaving no trace. This mysterious "intruder" vanished as if she had evaporated in front of everyone’s eyes. Bolken looked in astonishment at the suddenly shouting Fyrna sisters: "What did you just say?"

"We said don’t kill her! Damn, you..." Lelena glared, in all the years of operating with this mortal vessel, such moments of anger were rare for her, but she quickly realized that rage was futile now, and the unreliable misfit before her was her only controllable "ally" at the moment. She could only suppress her fury and said in a constrained tone, "Our base was exposed here, ’Archbishop’, get ready— or rather, we have no time to prepare, all plans must be activated immediately!"

"I don’t understand," Bolken spoke in an unfriendly tone, clearly dissatisfied with the attitude of the Elven Twins, "I have thoroughly killed that intruder, leaving not even a trace— you must not doubt my prowess, on this planet, almost no mortal can survive after being hit by my Withering Spike, not even a dragon!"

"That’s precisely the problem! ’Archbishop’!" Fyrna raised her voice too, "That was a sea demon! Only a very limited number of soul-based powers can kill such a creature—your Withering Spike can only temporarily disintegrate her physical form. She has returned to their deep-sea lair now, carrying all she saw here! The situation is clear—these recent days, it is the sea demons who intercepted our deployed rune stones. Whatever the reason, this ancient alien race now stands in opposition to us, Archbishop, do you understand this situation?!"

Sea demon?!

Bolken finally awakened from his annoyance, the slightly unfamiliar term "sea demon" quickly evoked the scarce information he had. He recalled stories related to the deep sea and the deep dark sea trenches, as well as the ballads echoing among reefs and islands, and the frenzied horrific accounts of sailors who miraculously survived the surges in ancient times. He took a gentle breath, "The sea demons you refer to are the ones the Sons of the Storm spoke of over the past few centuries..."

"Begin everything early, Archbishop," Fyrna interrupted the leader of the Treants, "There’s no point in continuing to lie dormant and develop."

"But... our ’domestication’ of The Deep Blue Webway is still far deficient!" Bolken couldn’t help but say, "And is the situation truly so severe? Our previous tests triggered observable phenomena globally; our enemies cannot remain unaware..."

"There’s a world of difference between exposing your existence and exposing your cards, Archbishop. The civilization of those sea demons is far more advanced than you imagined. That ’scout’ saw many things we set up here, and the truths they can infer are much more than those weak races on the continent, and now I’m very worried... those deep-sea creatures probably have already allied with the weak races on land," Lelena said seriously, "The plan must begin early, though this will cost us many advantages we should have gained, it’s better than letting the entire plan fall short..."

This ancient runaway AI occupying a replica body gritted her teeth as she spoke, her expression growing increasingly unsightly. Clearly, this sudden change greatly disrupted the entire plan, preventing some of her arrangements from being completed on schedule, but then, beside her, Fyrna seemed to think of another branch from a different logical thread: "However, it’s not entirely bad news—the Realm of the Mortals living outside the wasteland is probably unprepared, if we begin our actions early, we may catch them off guard..."

"Wait," at this moment, Bolken seemed to suddenly sense something, shaking his dry and twisted canopy, he stretched out his arms formed by entwined vines, and his dark brown eyes were filled with vigilance, "Do you feel... the moisture in the air is increasing?"

"Moisture?" Fyrna frowned; this mortal form she was using was limited by its material nature and couldn’t perceive much better than an ordinary elf. Yet, this fully plant-mutated Archbishop clearly was more sensitive in terms of water content. So after a few seconds, she perceived the "increase in moisture" he mentioned.

The air was becoming humid, and a faint, salty scent wafted to her nose.

In this barren wasteland far from the sea, she smelled the scent of the sea.

The sound of waves seemed to appear as an illusion beside her ear, that crashing sound was so clear as if the whole sea was right in front of her, yet the essence of that sound wasn’t an air tremor—it resonated within the soul and mind, creating "senses" spanning reality and cognition. The moisture gathered more and more, and the surrounding valleys’ dry stones and cliffs unknowingly started to seep layers of water beads, salt-laden winds stirred the Treants’ dry branches and leaves, and a gentle song abruptly emerged in the waves, linking the minds of everyone present, instilling thoughts of longing for the deep sea, longing to dive, and longing to merge with the dark sea trench.

This was the unique Spirit Song of the sea demons—

Sea Demon Queen Petia was singing.

The deep sea was descending upon this valley through her song.

Fyrna and Lelena sisters raised their hands without hesitation, pointing to the space rift that lay in the pit not far away, layers of halos emerged from their sides, controlling the borders of the rift.

"Blow up this passage!"

They shouted in unison.