Chapter 1354: Warm in Winter, Cool in Summer

Thalvyr quickly realized where the group was heading.

The calm vanished from his face.

They weren’t coming to the palace.

That route led straight to his food farm!

If they destroyed it, everything he had done would go to waste.

Thalvyr rose from his throne.

"You two, come with me!"

His voice rang throughout the palace.

"Our kingdom is under attack. Prepare to meet the enemy!"

A vortex formed behind him. Several pearly white dragon orbs rolled across his palm as a blood-red Vaelor appeared at his back, the mantis shrimp perched on his shoulder.

Thalvyr swept out one hand.

The vortex passed over all three of them and reopened ahead. Thalvyr stepped through first, followed by Vaelor and the mantis shrimp.

Deep beneath the sea, everything had turned blood-red.

The color was flowing from the building ahead. The closer the group came, the stronger the stench of blood grew and the thicker the crimson haze in the water became.

Namyanna finally made out the structure.

It appeared to be a fish slaughterhouse.

She broke away from the group and approached it alone. The squat building stood only three stories tall. There was nothing alive anywhere around it, only an endless bloody haze steeped in hatred.

Namyanna gripped her trident and drove it into the seabed.

The surrounding water immediately began to churn.

Currents swept up the blood that had settled around the building, sending great swaths of red spiraling through the water. Namyanna turned the shaft of her trident. The seabed split open, and the rock surrounding the structure collapsed.

Then all movement in the water stopped.

An enormous vacuum enveloped the entire building.

Namyanna didn’t care what might still be hidden inside. Before she finished, she simply offered an apology to any creatures in the area.

She opened her palm.

A miniature vacuum sphere appeared above it, containing a tiny three-story building.

The original structure was gone without a trace.

Before the others could figure out what had happened, a chain of whirlpools formed beside them.

A figure emerged from the swirling water.

Another figure resembling him followed, with a mantis shrimp sitting on his shoulder.

Thalvyr saw the vacuum sphere in Namyanna’s hand, and his anger shot straight through the roof.

"How dare you come here..."

His voice faltered.

"My food supply!"

He was too late after all.

His precious food supply!

"I’ll kill every last one of you!"

Namyanna casually crushed the sphere in her hand.

The compressed building vanished with it. The surrounding water lifted her above the others as she leveled her trident at Thalvyr.

"You’re the ruler?"

That only infuriated him further.

He hadn’t even confronted them yet, and they were already questioning him!

One of the dragon orbs flew from Thalvyr’s hand. As it spun, the surrounding seawater condensed into razor-sharp swords, all aimed at Namyanna.

Thalvyr drew his own longsword and charged through the water.

"Thalvyr!"

His voice reached her with the point of his blade.

"You’d better remember that name!"

Namyanna spun her trident and brought it behind her back. Instead of meeting his attack, she held both hands before her chest and began gathering a mysterious energy.

The water swords had already crossed more than half the distance between them.

Ethan raised his hand and hurled an energy orb.

It flew in front of Namyanna, then spread outward into a white barrier. The barrier advanced against the oncoming water swords and met Thalvyr’s charge head-on.

Vaelor and the mantis shrimp joined the attack.

Blood swords took shape around Vaelor. A small sphere of compressed air formed at each sword’s tip, combining with the crimson blades before they shot toward the group.

The water dragged against Ataneya’s tail, slowing her far more than it had on the surface.

But the energy orb in her hands still blazed with searing light.

Infernal power churned inside it. Before the surrounding seawater could even touch the orb, bubbles erupted across its surface.

Ataneya pushed it forward.

The blood swords collided with the energy orb.

There was no contest. The infernal heat swallowed the blades outright, burning away their crimson energy along with the seawater around them. Even the compressed air blasts that had torn through everything before couldn’t penetrate the infernal power. The moment they touched the flames, their structure collapsed and they dispersed completely.

Thalvyr’s approach was much simpler.

When he saw that the water swords couldn’t break through Ethan’s white barrier, he abandoned them. The blades dissolved back into seawater as Thalvyr clenched his fist and punched the shield head-on.

The entire seabed shook on impact.

The white barrier caved inward, sending rings of force rippling through the water. The nearby blood haze was blown away, and loose stones rolled across the seabed in the wake of the expanding ripples.

Ethan, who had been advancing behind the barrier, was knocked backward.

He tumbled through the water, righted himself, and gathered an orb of white lightning in his palm.

Then he threw it.

The lightning orb streaked toward Thalvyr from the right as another energy sphere closed in from the left.

Thalvyr glanced to either side.

He clenched his fist and punched the orb on his left. His dragon tail swept across the other side, its tip striking the lightning sphere dead center.

Neither orb exploded.

They turned soft under the force of his fist and tail, their surfaces sinking inward before molding themselves against Thalvyr’s body and melting into him.

They felt like ice cream—soft and cold.

Once inside him, the energy began suppressing the turbulent blood power in his body. The force that had been raging out of control gradually settled, and even his overheated meridians cooled.

Thalvyr instantly fell in love with the sensation.

It suppressed the power running wild inside him, and he still got to enjoy a good fight.

This was freaking awesome!

He stared at the retreating Ethan and slowly rubbed his hands together. A blood-red pearl formed between his palms, deep crimson light flowing across its surface.

"What’s your name?"

Thalvyr’s tone abruptly became much friendlier.

"You seem like a great guy. How about working for me? My place is warm in the winter, cool in the summer..."

Ethan was completely lost.

He had only thrown two energy orbs.

How had this guy fallen in love with him?

Had his brain rusted from soaking underwater too long?

No one lowered their guard.

The force of Thalvyr’s punch still lingered in the barrier. Cracks covered the white shield, leaving it one blow away from shattering.

Namyanna remained behind it, still gathering energy.

The trident held behind her back was their final line of defense if the barrier failed.