Chapter 60 – Troublesome Merfolk Shadows

Nerima dove beneath the collapsing Dreagan, found the fallen Manacer, and brought it back to Darya. She was covered in white blood, the fluid soaking the ragged black garment she wore on top. 

Fominel took it from her on his way back and tossed it, Darya. 

“I’ll give you a kiss later!” Darya yelled at Nerima, making her laugh as she waved from the black water. 

Fominel grabbed Darya by the arm, letting her cling onto him rather than float like a polythene bag. She holstered her Manacer in a belt loop and clung weightlessly around Fominel’s neck. 

“I don’t know what you just did, but are you alright, Princess?” Fominel asked, pulling her closer by the waist as his golden wings swung around them. 

Must’ve looked crazy from where he was watching, me hopping around like a teleporting fly. No wonder he’s worried. 

“Worked out, didn’t it?” Darya asked with a grin. “I didn’t know you could do what you just did either!” 

“Guess we both have our methods,” He grinned, showing her his forearm. He was bleeding. “Can’t do another one of those until I drop by Seris.”

Darya gasped, grabbing his forearm. It looked as if his flesh had twisted and splintered like a piece of wood. 

“That’s bad!” she said, digging around her to find anything to help him with. She caught a piece of her own dress and, in her panic, tore it with her gauntlet.

It ripped a strip up to her waist, almost causing a wardrobe malfunction. 

Next time I should get armor or some shit. I’m doing too much with these mage dresses. 

“Wait, princess!” Fominel protested. 

“It’s fine, you’re bleeding like crazy!” She knew he was too stubborn to do it himself, and he wouldn’t stop long enough for Seris to mend it with the Dreagans surrounding them.

She wrapped his arm as tightly as possible, sealing the crack. Digging into his waist belt, she found a healing potion and soaked his forearm with it.

“I was going to say I had bandages!” Fominel said. 

“Ah, too late for that now.” Darya scoffed, patting his forearm. 

They didn’t get much of a break. The larger Dreagan loomed in the distance, already splashing Shadows into the water. 

“I saw those Shadows when I ripped the last one open. They’re all merfolk.” Fominel said, changing directions. 

Shit. Good swimmers then.  

Darya hurriedly pulled out her telescope again. Using Fominel’s arm for stability, she managed to scope it just right. It was a full-on battle against the Desert Rose; the crew was already firing the cannons at the water.

She realized something about the Dreagan's tactics didn’t add up. It could very easily wreck the ship if it crashed into it at its top speed. 

It doesn’t want to sink us. It wants to pick the strongest of us to turn into shadows. 

She had to remind herself that this was an enemy that wanted her alive, and would go to great lengths to make that happen. A battle with merfolk Shadows on the ship seemed more likely.

“We need to get the ship out of here!” Darya said urgently. It was already on its way, sails full of wind and the chimney puffing black smoke. “This is not fast enough!”

“About as fast as it can get, I’m afraid,” Fominel said, looking ahead. 

“In that case, you get between them and the ship,” Darya said, pointing at the white streaks on the black waves swimming like torpedoes towards the Desert Rose.

“What will you do?!” 

“No idea, I’ll figure something out!” she yelled, staring at the looming Dreagan. She had to keep it from producing more Shadows. 

“Princess?!”

She caught a quick glimpse through the telescope of a Shadow halfway out of the black tar surface. 

[Vainfall: Terminate]

As the world flickered monochrome, she targeted it. 

[Frame Selected Entity] 

Zooming through the frozen atmosphere, she appeared a few feet away from the merfolk Shadow. This one looked better ‘built’ than the last one. Its eyes were already glowing with mana, almost like Sarka’s corpse. 

Using the momentum while the world was frozen, she drove her spear straight through, watching the prediction dots part like curtains. Some of the prediction dots already previewed a small mana pulse when the tip of her spear breached the tar surface. 

This is going to hit like the last time. 

She braced for impact during the last half second, expecting to be thrown hundreds of feet away. 

Her spear sank through the Shadow’s torso just as predicted. Sparks of mana burst from the point of contact on the other side, but the big pulse she expected didn’t happen. 

Something else did. 

The Shadow clenched in place, widening a hole around itself in the tar surface. She felt the gust of wind on her face as it reached for her. 

“Shit!” 

The Shadow grabbed her by both arms, pulling her into itself. It stared directly at her with glowing eyes, and she felt as if something sharp just touched her forehead. 

[Vainfall: Terminate]

In the monochrome world, she saw how close she was to death. She had dodged a sword-shaped mana attack by a millisecond. The tip had indeed touched her forehead just then. 

Did that just do that with its eyes? This is a different level of spell casting. 

The shadow did look old. It could’ve been a practiced mage. Moreover, it had a plan. She was pinned in place for other Shadows to emerge and restrain her. She saw three new ones just poking their heads out. 

Holding her spear firmly with one hand, she moved fast enough to phase through the Shadow’s grip to free herself. 

One.

She started counting this time, because every second mattered. 

If it relied on eyes, she had to take its eyes. 

Diving forward, she drove her sharp gauntleted claws into the Shadow’s face.

Two.

Red mana pulsed as she deepened the strike, pushing her hand straight into its face.

Three. 

Then she slowed enough to lodge her hand there. 

Half. 

Prediction dots showed the face getting crushed like a watermelon, and as the world caught up, it happened exactly that way. Her gauntlet cracked audibly as it poured mana to keep the damage up, but meshing itself with bone was always going to damage it. 

Pulling out, she crushed the Shadow’s face, making sure it had no eyes to target her with. 

Mana pulsed as soon as she did. Again, she couldn’t even see it coming. She was hurling through mid-air like a tossed rock before she even realized it had happened. 

Didn’t like that, I see. 

Fortunately, she had held onto her spear tightly this time, and she was about to splash into the water with the angle she was thrown off the Dreagan. 

[Spell: Flying Celestian]

-254 MP • Circle • Instant

[view more]

She was quick enough to graze the cold black waves before she fell into them.

Nerima popped up behind her just as she floated away from the surface. 

“Princess! You fell! Is everything alright?!” she asked, rubbing her face. 

“This one’s tough. I think you should get back to the ship!” Darya yelled. The wind was carrying her parallel to the water. 

She heard Sarka’s voice saying something that wasn’t loud enough to pierce the winds. 

“Master Fominel’s gone there. Magus Sarka and I stay with you!”

Some of the glowing belugas were catching up behind her. 

“There are Shadows in this water! Be careful, alright?!” Darya said, looking at the ship. 

It looked like a mess. Pulses of blue shielding spells, splashing cannon fire, and various spells hurling out. The Shadows had already made it within tens of meters. 

She saw Fominel flying low in a golden arc, dragging his mana blades through the water. He was unusually frantic. 

Shit. They’re overwhelmed. I should get help. Can’t let this Dreagan keep producing Shadows that can cast swords with their eyes either. What should I do?

She had an idea to the tune of ‘be at two places at once ’. Of course it was impossible, but she could do her best now that she had experimented with Frame Selected Entity.

“Nerima, stay right here where I can see you!”

She nodded, waving her hands. 

Darya targeted Fominel first. 

[Frame Selected Entity] 

Appearing a few feet above him, she saw his bleeding arm hanging uselessly. He was trying to maintain a defensive line, cutting water near the Desert Rose in increasingly faster movements. It wasn’t as effective as it could be with one arm. 

Actually, he’s more useful on the deck if they breach this line he’s trying to keep. 

His love for the Desert Rose wouldn’t let him consider that option. He was going to burn himself out to keep that from happening. Darya found it just as hard, but she knew where things were heading. 

Some Shadows were already bouncing off the hull shield. 

[Skill: Wind Step]

-20 SP • 8s Cooldown

[view more]

Darya slammed against his back. Even with the weightlessness spell, it was almost enough force to crash them both into water.

“Fom!” She yelled. 

“Princess!” 

“Back to the ship!” She screamed in his ear, twisting his head towards the ship to show him it was already too late. 

“But!” 

“That’s an order!” She punched his shoulder to make the point.

She couldn’t waste more time. 

Letting him go right away, she targeted Nerima. She was still poking out of the water, hundreds of feet away at a midpoint between the Desert Rose and the Dreagan: Exactly where she wanted another ‘entity’ to be. 

[Frame Selected Entity] 

Nerima gasped as she appeared two feet away from her face, followed by a mighty gust of wind. 

From here, Darya could see the emerging Shadows without the telescope. 

[Frame Selected Entity]

A new Shadow had already emerged. This one was pushing itself out spine-first, unfurling like a flower petal.

She already knew it was trouble. It was tracking her movements. When their eyes met, it extended a hand, brimming with a powerful spark of mana. 

[Vainfall: Terminate]

She targeted another Shadow that was near the troublesome one. 

[Frame Selected Entity] 

Gripping the spear tightly, she pivoted mid-air in the split second she appeared out of the zoom. She aimed her spear at the one that cast the spell. 

[Skill: Smooth Slither]

-30 SP • 30s Cooldown

[view more]

The spear went straight through its chest, and she jerked it with all her strength, almost cutting through its body as if it were a sword. Prediction dots showed the body tearing almost in half, and her manacer losing some chunks of wood. 

She twisted in place during the last half second, preparing to slam a gauntlet into the Shadow’s dome before earning another pulse from the Dreagan. 

Then she saw a luminous yellow line extending from the Shadow’s hand. As the Shadow’s torso ripped open, she noticed its hand. The one casting the spell she just dodged. It was more like a thread than a laser beam. 

She saw where it connected with the water. She hadn’t been the target.

“Nerima!” 

She couldn’t see her through the slow-motion splash of water as the world caught up to the prediction dots. She couldn’t tell if the spell had hit the girl.

The next steps she took were almost on instinct. 

[Vainfall: Overlay Depth Buffer]

The command made the entire world translucent, simplifying all the complex cluttering shapes into line silhouettes. The sea surface cleared like dark glass, and she suddenly gained a sense for all the fishes, belugas, sea monsters, and everything lurking below. 

Then she saw Nerima. The Shadow’s spell had pierced her tail. She was in trouble, and Seris wouldn’t see her in time to port her back.

Fuck I’m gonna drown. 

[Frame Selected Entity]