Chapter 321

“Dammit! Goddammit!” Vipera cursed, her expression crumpling as she stood on a giant, black cobra.

Lapsus was smiling coldly before her, shining with a golden light, as he had when he first appeared.

I can’t kill him! Vipera thought.

It killed her to admit it, but Lapsus was powerful. She wouldn’t have a chance against him even if she were to use Snake Incarnation. She looked around the battlefield, where nagas and merfolk were on equal terms, neither overpowering the other.

“Tear the snakes apart!”

“Damn fish!”

“Make them regret ever coming to Gurzes!”

She then shifted her gaze to where she could feel intense vibrations.

“Bastards!”

“Raud! Charge at them!”

“Vasuki! Block that side!”

“Where the hell did Sister Sagara go?!”

Six of the eight snake sisters, the pride of Patala, had each activated their Snake Incarnation. The problem was that they were against six of the Illhveli, who had also activated their Ancient Transformation. The elites of each side were busy fighting against each other, so the battle was at a standstill.

Dammit! Why did things turn out this way?! Vipera shouted inwardly, staring at the forces of Patala that were accumulating damage.

Their original plan had been to wait until Natantes and Carcharocles took each other out. Once each side had sufficiently damaged the other, Dopper, having become an exemplar of Squama, was supposed to appear, take control over Pontus, and designate Natantes and Carcharocles as traitors to the merfolk. Then, Vipera and Rahab were planning to declare their participation in the battle, acquiring both Pontus and the merfolk Race Stone.

So why is Patala the one taking losses?!

She recalled the words of the confident man wearing a bizarre wooden mask.

“I invoke my right to expel. From this moment, until Master Grandis’s final decision, I expel Patala and Aquilo from the Sēmen.”

It’s all his fault! The inspector of the Sēmen! she shouted inwardly.

He not only exposed Dopper’s true identity and expelled Patala and Aquilo from the Sēmen, but he also dragged Lapsus into the battle.

“Bring your master, snake bitch. Bring Regnator,” Lapsus said mockingly.

“Arghhh!” Vipera expressed, gritting her teeth.

A single loach had muddied the water. The problem was that the water wasn’t some small puddle, but an ocean. The human had ruined their grand plan, which they had been preparing since Haema Sanguis killed Squama over a decade ago.

How is Dopper doing? Vipera wondered as she looked toward where Dopper had disappeared.

Considering the intense vibrations she could feel from that direction, he seemed to be under attack from Natantes and Carcharocles.

She then looked eastward, where Rahab had gone, and thought, What about Rahab?

Seeing a red light dyeing the water, he appeared to still be in battle as well.

Time isn’t on our side! News of Patala’s expulsion from the Sēmen has likely spread throughout the Mirror World by now!

Other factions, big or small, were likely attacking Patala’s territories at this very moment as if they had been waiting for the chance. She had brought all of her elite forces with her via the Snake’s Dens, so the territories were literally defenseless.

Not only that, but since the right to expel was activated, Grandis will make his move to confirm the truth. We’ve also failed to eliminate the witnesses!

Vipera Anguis could feel that the worst possible situation had come for them. She had lost far too much from a single mistake.

I have to hide and wait for a chance for a comeback!

Her best option now was to preserve as many forces as possible. Losing any more would risk losing their alliance with Echion. Dragon King Regnator was cold-hearted, throwing aside anything that ceased to benefit him even a little.

Once she came to a decision, she shouted toward her forces, “I COMMAND ALL MEMBERS OF PATALA! RETURN TO THE SNAKE’S DENS AT ONCE!”

***

An enormous entity swam around in the deep sea. He had a crocodile’s head, a long body like an eel’s, and a long dorsal fin resembling a horse’s mane. He had beautiful, black scales, the combination of ganoid, placoid, ctenoid, and cycloid scales, and his light blue eyes looked as if they carried an entire ocean.

The entity that resembled an eastern dragon was Squama—no, Dopper in his Ancient Transformation state.

“YOU BASTARDS—!” he screamed.

Dopper was not in good condition. Parts of his whole scales had been torn off, blood oozing from the wounds, by the giant blade storm before him.

“DIE, IMPOSTOR!” shouted Carcharocles, in his Ancient Transformation form.

[Activating Unique Skill: Shark Ascension.]

Although he was smaller than Natantes in his Ancient Transformation form, he was still several times larger than the megalodon. An entity of such a size spinning with sharp scales erected around it was a natural disaster in and of itself.

Carcharocles charged at Dopper, riding the ocean current, and descaled his whole scales, leaving tooth marks on the exposed flesh. Such traces were why Carcharocles was known as the Ghost Tooth.

“NO, YOU DIE!” Dopper shouted ragefully, opening his mouth wide.

[Activating Unique Skill: Extreme Void Cannon.]

Drops of water vibrated in his mouth, and once the vibrations reached their absolute limit, they shot toward Carcharocles. The drops reduced everything in their path to nothing as they were about to strike Carcharocles, but a giant, white tail moved in their path.

[Activating Unique Skill: White Wave Wall.]

Natantes, the White Whale, swung his giant tail fin, creating a white wave that generated in front of Carcharocles. The wave momentarily blocked the Extreme Void Cannon, but soon turned into white foam and collapsed. However, it bought Carcharocles enough time to get out of the Extreme Void Cannon’s range.

“Gahaha! That’s not how you use the extreme void stream, you half-wit!” Carcharocles mocked Dopper.

“Indeed. Even with Lord Squama’s Stream Force and mana, an impostor is an impostor,” Natantes agreed.

They were not taunting Dopper; they were simply saying what they truly felt. Various stream styles existed in Pontus. Among them, Carcharocles’s blue stream style and Natantes’s white stream style were the most famous.

The blue stream style specialized in offense, and the white stream style specialized in defense. Using one’s Stream Force effectively with these styles made one a formidable foe throughout the entire blue ring. However, a stream style that far outmatched the two stream styles existed: Squama’s extreme void stream style.

What Dopper was using was nothing compared to the power of Ocean King Squama’s extreme void stream style. It was a highly destructive style that vibrated drops of water—no, even the water molecules that made up those drops, using Squama’s boundless Stream Force.

The Extreme Void Cannon was supposed to be used strategically, spreading the drops of water throughout the battlefield to limit the opponent’s movements. However, Dopper was merely using it like a dragon breath.

“Extreme Void? Don’t make me laugh, impostor! You are merely imitating the extreme void stream!” Carcharocles mocked.

“SHUT UP!!!” Dopper screamed, feeling intense humiliation.

He wanted to become Squama. He only wanted to become a free, powerful, and perfect lifeform. Hence, he devoted an insanely long time to becoming the exemplar of Squama, yet he was mocked as an impostor.

“I AM SQUAMA! I AM THE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM!” Dopper shouted, ragefully activating a skill.

[Activating Unique Skill: Extreme Void Orb.]

Destructively vibrating water drops gathered to become thousands of orbs. Dopper did not end it there; the Cosmos, resembling the night sky, seeped out of his os and wrapped the Extreme Void Orbs, turning them pitch black.

“Ahahaha! I have surpassed Squama! I am the ultimate merfolk, not him!”

Thousands of black orbs attracted and repelled one another around the self-admiring Dopper, resembling the bonding of atoms. The mocking smiles on Carcharocles’s and Natantes’s faces disappeared upon seeing the threat in Dopper’s Extreme Void Orbs.

“That looks dangerous. His attacks have become more difficult to deal with now that Chaos Mana is added to them,” Carcharocles remarked.

“Such Chaos Mana... It would be game over if we’re corrupted,” Natantes added.

“In such situations, there is only one solution!”

“Wipe them out at once!”

Pennifer exuded a sharp, blue light, and Spuma rotated as it emitted white foam.

[Activating Star Power: Blue Stream.]

[Activating Star Power: White Stream.]

Their star powers, named after their stream styles, activated, wrapping Carcharocles with a blue aura and Natantes with a white aura. Blue Stream condensed around Carcharocles’s tail to become one blade, and White Stream condensed around Natantes’s tail to become a mace.

“HAAAAAHHH!”

“CHAAAAAHHH!”

They both swung their tails after focusing all their mana and Stream Force, and a blade and mace infused with immense causality split the sea as they flew toward Dopper. A blue and white light engulfed the surroundings, colliding with the Extreme Void Orbs like pinballs and breaking them.

“AHHHHH!” Dopper screamed.

An immense history was recorded in the Akashic Records.

[Recording the story of The Blue Shark in the Akashic Records.]

[Recording the story of The White Whale in the Akashic Records.]

***

[Canceling Chaos Transformation.]

[Canceling Incomplete Metamorphosis.]

...

[Archane’s Embrace destroyed.]

[Gnoass’s Skin destroyed.]

[Steel Plate destroyed.]

...

[Applying Debuff: Bleeding.]

[Applying Debuff: Lethargy.]

[Applying Debuff: Internal Injury.]

[Applying Debuff: Exhaustion.]

[Applying Debuff: Death’s Door.]

...

Ah... Seong-Hwi trailed off in his thoughts.

His appearance had returned to normal once Chaos Transformation was canceled, and the Myriad Cheoyong Mask had been blown off his face. His hair was shortened, the horn in his right temple and hexagonal scales covering the right side of his body were gone, and his right sclera had become white again.

However, he was not back to normal condition. His skin had been ripped off, oozing blood, and his mangled flesh fluttered around him like a flag, swayed by the ocean currents.

What... happened? he thought, using the slowly turning cogs in his brain to reflect on past events to understand the current situation.

He had undoubtedly swung his final attack with Gram. The attack had been made with all his might and was even filled with the destiny of the dragon slayer.

Did I... fail?

Just then, something massive appeared in the powerless Seong-Hwi’s field of vision.

“You’re quite persistent, creature!” the entity shouted.

He was as big as a city plaza. His scales were red and beautiful like rubies, his wings cast a massive shadow, and his tail was as long as a highway.

“Ahaha! Did you seriously think you could defeat me? Me? Storm Dragon Rahab?” Rahab said, laughing proudly as he revealed his spire-like teeth.

His Crown of Pride was shining blindingly with a red light above his head.

[The causality stored within the Harmony Stone Piece is released.]

[THE, one of the pieces of the Master Plot, confirmed.]

...

[An enormous amount of causality accumulates within Crown of Pride.]

[Enhancing the magnitude of Crown of Pride.]

[Magnitude: 2.1 → 1.9.]

...

[Heightening caliber.]

...

“Ahhh! This must be the world that Father sees! The omnipotence! It truly is befitting of a god!”

Rahab had extracted the causality from the Harmony Stone Piece that he had stolen from his father’s treasury and absorbed it with his Crown of Pride. Hence, Crown of Pride instantly became an alpha star, and a brand new world appeared before him.

“Ahahahahaha! With this much causality, no one can deny that I am one of the Ten Lords and Fiends!”

He was ashamed of himself for even being enraged by the notion of the likes of Natantes and Pseraslav matching him. He no longer cared about the world ranking. Whatever anyone said, he was the successor of Dragon King Regnator and the new member of the Ten Lords and Fiends.

“Consider it an honor that you are the first victim of my new self!” Rahab shouted.

Immense mana and Draconic Mana filled the inside of his mouth again. The Underfish, no longer under Seong-Hwi's control, scattered in shock from feeling the aura of an apex predator. Once the Underfish army scattered, the giant shadow looming over them vanished, and the bright sunlight illuminated him.

It’s... blinding, he thought.

He couldn’t see anything from the sudden bright light that engulfed him. All he could see was red, filling his entire vision.

“NO! SEONG-HWI!” Elementum shouted.

Pwoooo! Daddy! Bulgasal shouted.

He heard two voices after regaining his sense of hearing.

Master Elementum... Bulgasal, he said inwardly.

He wanted to open his eyes and move, but his body didn’t listen. He wondered if all his muscles had been severely damaged because he couldn’t even move a finger. He couldn’t feel anything either, so he wondered if the same had happened to his nerves.

I’m... dying. Am I going to die? Me? In a place like this? In this kind of way? Without filling my deficiencies? Without even grasping a fragment of my destiny?

Just then, his mouth opened, and air bubbles left his mouth as he managed to utter a few words that silently echoed throughout the deep sea.

“There’s... no way.”

He would not die. It was decided as such. He had already repeated this hundreds of thousands of times. As always, he would survive.

“I will survive... and shine... brightly!”

***

[■■■ce’s Demon disburses the price of causality instead.]

[The causality stored within the ■■ Stone is released.]

[Temporarily enhancing the magnitude of Desire.]

[Magnitude: 7.4 → 2.9.]

...

[Activating Trait: Savior’s Hearing.]

...

“Who the hell is this human? How did he replenish his causality?” shouted a voice that was slowly growing more vivid. “The how doesn’t matter right now! With this much causality—”

“Who’s... there?”

“Grab me! I am the entity born from the Silence of Uppo and a corroded demonic sword!” the voice shouted, filled with willpower and a soul. “I am Skrep, the Demonic Sword Soul!”