Chapter 425 - 17: Flood and Godslayer

However, the city was far too close to the Maze.

What should have been a prime geographical advantage had now become an unavoidable death sentence. The colossal waves, controlled by the Divine Being, couldn’t all pour into the Maze at once. Their turbulent aftershocks churned against each other, creating one flood crest after another.

And just like that, they slammed against the walls of Naisel City!

"This is bad! There are still so many refugees who haven’t made it into the city!"

Far in the distance, Su Zhou, who was still contemplating how to defeat the Water God, noticed it as well. His expression changed drastically, and he couldn’t help but take a step forward. "What’s more, if the walls are destroyed, Naisel City is finished! These waves will submerge the entire city!"

"It won’t just be the tens of thousands of refugees who die—the million people inside the city... they’ll die too!"

Su Zhou’s brow furrowed. He knew all too well. ’Even though Naisel City’s shelters are waterproof, if the entire city is submerged, they’ll become inescapable. They’ll be nothing more than large tombs. For the people trapped inside, death will only be a matter of time!’

’Dying trapped like that might even be worse than drowning!’

In truth, the giant island-whale floating in the sky—the Water God from the previous Era—wasn’t intentionally directing the waves to drown the refugees or destroy Naisel City. It truly didn’t spare them a single thought.

Destroying you... had nothing to do with you.

A powerful being can destroy everything a weaker one possesses with the slightest, most casual of movements—or even by its very existence.

"I have to go!"

There was no time to hesitate. Su Zhou gritted his teeth, his handsome features twisting slightly with anxiety. The moment he made his decision, a visible Gale surged around him as two hundred forty *Lan* instantly reassembled into a rocket-like structure.

BOOM! A massive shockwave erupted from beneath Su Zhou’s feet, sending earth and rock churning like waves and cracking the ground open. Su Zhou once again became a rocket-like meteor, streaking back at his top speed. He had to intercept the flood crests powerful enough to destroy the city’s walls!

「Meanwhile, in Naisel City.」

Lake water surged forth with unprecedented fury, completely submerging the farmlands and fisheries outside the city walls.

Some of the refugees from Mickelson Castle had made it into the city, but many more hadn’t, finding themselves shut out by the sealed gates under martial law.

Now, as they watched the roaring tidal wave approach, the refugees trapped outside the gates gave way to despair. An instant later, they were swallowed by a flood crest that advanced like a moving wall... and then, there was only darkness.

Turbulent whirlpools churned within the floodwaters, effortlessly destroying everything in their path. Farmland, farmhouses, and refugee carts were smashed apart like children’s toys. Buildings collapsed one after another, their materials dissolving into a dangerous slurry of driftwood and rubble in the water.

The torrential downpour meant that instead of losing momentum over the long distance, the churning tide only grew higher and more turbulent.

「Naisel City, at the gates.」

The moment Elias, the Little Duke, observed the distant lake water begin to churn, he had given a decisive order: erect emergency flood barriers at every gate, using anything and everything available to block the entrances.

"Faster, faster! Put your backs into it! A little faster, we can hold it back!"

By now, the roads around the Naisel City gates had vanished, leaving only knee-deep water. Even the City Guard, who possessed some Magic Power, struggled to move through it. Every step was a battle against the surging undercurrents.

The one shouting encouragement was an old City Guard. The elderly man, his hair a salt-and-pepper gray, was carrying a sandbag several times his own weight. He strode through the water, calling out slogans and leading a dozen or so younger men, who also carried sandbags, as they hurried toward the gate.

Transcendants were far superior to ordinary people when it came to physical labor. Even while performing such a draining task, the old City Guard—a man who should have been at an age to play with his grandchildren—could still find the breath to shout encouragement to the others. "Put your backs into it! Our families are all in the shelters! We’re not just fighting for ourselves; we’re fighting for our families’ lives!"

This was the same old City Guard who had first let Su Zhou into the city. After Su Zhou became the Hero of Naisel, the old guard would often boast to his colleagues and subordinates that he, too, was one of the key figures who had saved the city, which earned him a good deal of teasing and laughter.

But now, that same face, once full of confidence as he spun his tales, was covered in cold mud and frost. Reaching the makeshift dam at the city gate, he heaved the sandbag from his back onto the small fortress of sand and gravel. Then, the old City Guard raised a hand and used his rudimentary Ice Magic to conjure ice, sealing the gaps between the bags.

Once all the young men behind him had placed their sandbags and frozen them in turn, the old City Guard let out a breath and wiped the mud from his face. He stared anxiously at the sandbag Fortress, which was still leaking muddy water, and couldn’t stop himself from roaring, "Dammit, where are the other City Guards and adventurers?! A dozen of us can’t build a dam strong enough on our own!"