Chapter 584 Descent

Unlike spellcasters of the Academy Faction, although Urk commanded this massive fishman force, it had never actually received any high-level arcane education.

It had an unorthodox background. After displaying spellcaster talent in its youth, it received only basic training before being assigned to a small-to-medium settlement. It had scraped and fought its way up through the sea to reach its current position.

This tortuous, barbaric upbringing might not have granted it profound attainments in the arcane arts, but it endowed the fishman priest with an extreme wealth of magical combat experience.

Right now, it knew this better than anyone.

The adventurers on the battlefield seemed to be applying immense pressure that urgently required suppression, but its own side's fundamental objective was completing this long-planned sacrificial ritual.

Everything else was secondary.

Right now, with the ritual nearing completion, the vast majority of the adventurers on the field were bogged down in fierce combat with the Sahuagin after the [Slow] spell, unable to extricate themselves.

Its attention naturally focused on the few adventurers who had the potential to disrupt the ritual.

"Strum—"

The melodious strum of the Lute that had been echoing over the coast abruptly stopped.

Alton, the Halfling hiding at the rear of the battlefield, was suddenly ambushed from the flank by a fishman commander leading two elite guards.

Although he had avoided injury thanks to Ellison's covering support, he could no longer hide comfortably in the backline and play his Lute to buff his teammates. He was forced to draw his weapon and engage the enemy in close combat.

"Swish! Swish! Swish!"

Radiating scorching heat, three orange-red fire rays shot from the Conch-Shaped Spellcasting Tool of a fishman priest out on the sea.

The Short-Tailed Albatross, which had been circling on its altitude advantage and waiting for an opportunity, was completely locked on. It flapped its broad wings and swayed to dodge, but one of the rays still grazed its wing.

Like an out-of-control airplane trailing a wisp of black smoke from the intense heat, it plummeted from the sky. Amidst flashing magical light, it staggered to the ground and transformed back into the druid Hein, her face pale and a distinct burn mark on her shoulder.

"Whoosh!"

As for Xia Nan, who had already demonstrated his threat, Priest Urk took action personally.

The previous two rounds of probing had already let this highly experienced fishman priest understand the black-haired adventurer's fighting style.

He was fast, highly mobile, possessed outstanding Perception, and was resistant to mind-control spells.

Under these circumstances, it naturally wouldn't use previously tested spells like [Hold Person] again.

Whoosh—

A brilliant magical light shot from the Bone-White Staff in its hand, hurtling through the air toward Xia Nan. Before it even landed, while still in midair, it abruptly transformed into a massive, thick, sticky web, enveloping Xia Nan's entire body.

—2nd Circle Conjuration School Web Spell!

The spell's effect couldn't be simpler: it summoned a massive web to physically restrain the target.

Urk's choice was undoubtedly pragmatic.

Since it knew he had Saving Throw resistance against mind-control spells, it no longer bothered testing whether his Perception attribute was outstanding or if he had a special resistance Feat. It bypassed that field entirely and restricted him physically.

The spell transformed incredibly fast, making it almost impossible to identify before it landed, and the web's area of effect was massive.

Just as he beheaded an elite fishman guard that had taken the opportunity to charge him, the sticky web draped over Xia Nan from above.

It clearly wasn't the fragile type seen everywhere in daily life, the kind in a room corner that would fall apart with a casual swipe of a feather duster.

Xia Nan felt as if his entire body had been coated in superglue. The tough, flexible spider silk clung to his skin and clothes, restricting even his most basic movements.

Because his earlier performance had drawn heavy focus, almost the exact moment the web fell on him, another pink magical light flashed from the nearby seawater and blasted into the entangled Xia Nan.

——2nd Circle Enchantment School Tasha's Mind Whip!

The spell dealt a psychic strike to an enemy within range. If the Saving Throw failed, the target suffered psychic damage and entered a brief state of rigidity, unable to move; if the Saving Throw succeeded, they were immune to the control effect but still had to endure a certain amount of psychic damage.

Clearly, those fishman priests hiding beneath the surface had good synergy in battle, but they lacked the sharp observation skills of their commander.

The bad news was that this spell's resistance Saving Throw attribute was "Intelligence".

The good news was that it still fell under the "mind control" category, capable of triggering the [Gaze into the Abyss] Feat.

The Feat activated a step ahead, saving Xia Nan from the dilemma of having to use his Intelligence attribute for the Saving Throw.

Successful resistance; damage reflection triggered.

Bubbles surged to the surface as an agonized fishman's roar echoed from beneath the sea.

At the same time, the psychic damage of [Tasha's Mind Whip] itself still landed on Xia Nan.

It felt as if a spike had been driven through his skull. The intense pain seemed to tear his brain apart, and a shrill noise churned and echoed within his mind.

Fortunately, with [Gaze into the Abyss] providing the Saving Throw, the damage of [Tasha's Mind Whip] was somewhat weakened by passing the check, preventing Xia Nan from taking the full brunt of it.

His eyes lost focus for a fleeting second, but he gritted his teeth and forcibly endured the pain through sheer willpower.

However, in the mere seconds it took for the two spells to take effect back-to-back, a fishman commander was already swinging its harpoon and roaring as it closed in.

Almost instinctively, he raised his web-entangled arm, using the Gray-Black Straight Sword to block the Goldstone Fork-Blade stabbing toward his chest.

Yet his pitch-black eyes did not display the panic and helplessness one would normally expect under such a dense enemy assault.

His innately strong psychological fortitude allowed Xia Nan to maintain a level of calmness and composure far beyond ordinary people, even when personally facing such perilous straits.

His keen inspiration and intuition allowed him to grasp the most crucial point on the battlefield amidst such fast-paced, intense combat.

Right now, what was the biggest threat to him?

Was it this fishman commander currently locked in combat with him right in front of him?

Too superficial; of course not.

Was it the fishman priest positioned at the rear of the battlefield, casting spells while controlling the overall situation?

It posed a certain threat, but not the greatest one.

The true danger—the one thing that could drive him into a dead end even if he exhausted all his trump cards, instantly reversing the tide of battle and leaving no chance for a comeback—was the unknown entity the fishmen were about to summon through the sacrificial ritual!

During his few months in the Southern Archipelagos, his several encounters with the Sahuagin had taught Xia Nan that the purpose of these sea rats' sacrificial ritual was to summon that powerful Shark Beast monster, a creature not even recorded in the Monster Compendium.

Previously, when they had only used ordinary, powerless villagers as sacrifices on an altar casually built from sea rocks, the summoned monster had already been capable of wiping out an entire Class Grade Adventurer Squad.

Now, the Sahuagin were making a massive spectacle.

Not only had they formed a rare alliance with the adventurer "Algae Scale" Dodd, but they had also dispatched a fishman force of this scale.

Naturally, it couldn't possibly be just for a Shark Beast of that level.

It was entirely predictable just how exaggerated the strength of the summoned monster would be if their sacrificial ritual truly succeeded, using such a towering ceremonial altar on the shore and the corpses of numerous professional adventurers—including Dodd, who had already touched the threshold of the "Transcendent Tier"—as sacrifices.

When that time came, running away probably wouldn't even be an option.

He had to stop the ritual from proceeding!

However, because of Priest Urk's pinning attacks, even Xia Nan, who was currently closest to the altar, was completely unable to approach it in the short term. He could only watch helplessly as the pile of corpses used for the sacrifice dissolved into clusters of glowing blue light under the effects of the formation patterns, gathering in the empty space at the top of the altar and gradually coalescing into a massive, hideous humanoid silhouette that radiated an extremely dangerous aura.

What should he do?

There was no room for thought. In the very next instant after that question flashed through his mind, Xia Nan's body had already moved on instinct.

He suddenly pushed off the ground, and a blurry phantom of a Wolf Head surfaced over his body.

Only the sticky spider silk wrapping his body made it difficult to dash and reposition.

But clearly, judging from the way Xia Nan exerted his strength, that wasn't his goal anyway.

He merely took a single step forward. Utilizing the combat technique of the max-level [Fang Hunt], accompanied by a high-pitched wolf howl, sharp, pitch-black astral winds instantly swirled around him, severing a portion of the spider silk covering his body.

As a result, he regained a certain degree of mobility.

Xia Nan could have taken the opportunity to continue exerting force, using [Fang Hunt] to forcibly break out of the web's restraints.

But in that instant, those pitch-black eyes looked toward the distant altar ahead, which was flashing with glowing blue light.

'It's too late.'

He knew better than anyone the absolute fastest speed he could burst forth with.

Xia Nan's on-the-spot judgment told him that even if he broke out of the web now and sprinted at full speed, it would be extremely difficult to reach the altar before the ritual was completely finished.

Therefore—

The thoughts flashed through his mind in a split second.

His body spun around with another sword strike, blocking the harpoon thrust from behind by the fishman commander.

It was visibly clear that, compared to just a moment ago, this block wasn't as solid. The sword blade was even faintly being pressed down by the harpoon.

The reason was that, right now, only Xia Nan's right hand was gripping the hilt.

Taking advantage of the brief stalemate as their weapons locked, his empty left hand reached out from the side and firmly grasped the harpoon's long shaft.

He violently shifted his center of gravity backward. The forward force previously pushing against the harpoon blade suddenly retracted, and his left hand gripping the shaft abruptly pulled inward with tremendous strength.

The instantaneous shift in the direction of force left the fishman commander unable to react, nearly pulling its entire body into Xia Nan's embrace.

At the same time, Xia Nan twisted his waist and abdomen, dodging to the side.

In the very instant the two brushed past each other, the black-haired youth suddenly raised his leg and delivered a powerful knee strike infused with [Heavy Tide] straight into the fishman commander's soft abdomen.

The force was so immense that, despite the fishman commander's sturdy physique, it was folded over like a shrimp. Such a heavy blow left its consciousness blurred for a second, and its hands, which had been tightly gripping its weapon, involuntarily loosened, allowing Xia Nan to snatch it away with a single hand.

Ignoring the fishman commander rolling on the ground in pain beside him, Xia Nan smoothly spun around.

His right hand still held his [Ember Fall] straight sword, but his left hand had already hoisted the commander's harpoon high above his head.

His right leg suddenly took a step forward, yet his body's center of gravity shifted backward as his upper body leaned slightly back.

His left arm bent to gather power. As the air around it faintly distorted, a russet-red force field energy condensed on the surface of the harpoon in his hand.

His pitch-black eyes reflected the glowing blue light rapidly solidifying at the top of the altar.

Aiming, drawing power, and releasing the force—the entire sequence of actions flowed seamlessly in one breath.

"Swish!"

Accompanied by a sharp, piercing whistle through the air, the Goldstone Fork-Blade snatched by Xia Nan transformed into a red-and-blue phantom, shooting straight toward the altar.

"Galu!!!"

Having witnessed the entire process of Xia Nan forcefully enduring the psychic damage, breaking free from the web's restraints, and snatching the commander's harpoon, Urk's cloudy fish eyes flashed wildly with white light, and it subconsciously blurted out a curse in the Sahuagin language.

Magic power gathered toward the staff in its hand as if it cost nothing, attempting to block the harpoon shooting toward the altar.

"Swish-buzz!"

A high-frequency piercing sound suddenly rang out from the air to its side.

A faint sense of danger surfaced in its heart, and Urk subconsciously tilted its head.

In the next second, a silver-white arrow formed from pure energy shot past its cheek, leaving a tiny wound.

Following the direction the arrow flew from, Sarissa stood atop a reef near the coast at the rear of the battlefield. Both of her hands tightly gripped her metallic, stringless longbow; specks of light from the loosed arrow lingered between her fingers, and her messy hair clung wretchedly to her sweat-soaked cheeks.

This biological daughter of "Algae Scale" Dodd had been constantly looking for an opportunity ever since the battle began.

Although the [Silver-Vein Longbow] in her hands didn't require a bowstring or physical arrows, every shot consumed far more stamina than an ordinary bow and arrow.

Therefore, she hadn't wasted her precious attack opportunities on ordinary fishmen. Instead, she had hidden among the adventurers, waiting for her moment.

It wasn't until just now, upon seeing Xia Nan's actions from afar, that she knew the opportunity had arrived. Only then did she take up the high vantage point she had scouted out earlier, draw her bow, and fire.

It didn't deal any lethal damage to the elderly fishman priest. More importantly, even though it merely grazed past its cheek and scraped a bit of skin off, that was enough to interrupt Urk's spellcasting.

It left the priest with no choice but to watch helplessly as the harpoon, wreathed in special power, left a fading afterimage in midair and screamed down upon the top of the altar.

An explosion.

"Boom!!!"

The russet-red force field energy surged and expanded like a firework blooming in broad daylight. It violently collided with the glowing blue cluster of light, emitting a massive boom that sent a sharp ache through everyone's eardrums.

An invisible shockwave swept out in all directions. The towering altar collapsed layer by layer, and fragments of coral and sea rock turned into colored dust that shot into the sky.

The magic particles in the air, which had been vibrating violently due to the ritual's impending success, once again settled back into stability.

'Did it work?'

His chest heaving slightly as he panted, Xia Nan stared intently toward the ruins of the altar. His pitch-black eyes seemed capable of piercing through the billowing, falling dust to see what was inside.

As if responding to his thoughts, in the next second, a terrifying screech filled with tyranny and cruelty transformed into tangible soundwaves amidst the dust and smoke, erupting from the depths of the altar.