Chapter 168: Slaughter

Chapter 168: Chapter 168: Slaughter

Jeremy and Lucius further exchanged information about what happened after they separated. Each told half the story, piecing it together.

Only now did they confirm: the exact moment they stepped through the first ice jade door, the entire group had fallen into an illusion.

When Jeremy turned back to search for the exit, the Lumina Ribbon connecting them had been severed right at the boundary.

As for the other four, what they saw when they turned around wasn’t the real him, but merely an illusion standing still on the spot. Lucius recounted that at the time, "he" didn’t answer when called, and when Evelyn reached out to touch his shoulder, her hand passed right through as if passing through smoke.

Afterwards, while searching for the real him, the four also lost each other amidst the identical doors.

Jeremy reorganized the timeline in his head.

According to Lucius’s account, the time he fell into a coma perfectly coincided with his — both passed out after about the tenth door, and both woke up on the same day.

If this illusion within an illusion was related to the ruin’s trial, then the others must have been pulled in as well. But they might not necessarily be in the Aetheris Holy City.

All five had the Ashbloom Flower totem from the undersea tower. Perhaps, like him, they were also assigned a specific racial identity accompanied by a task.

Thinking of that, Jeremy asked: "Has the mark on your hand shown any anomalies these past two days? Like assigning a task, for instance."

Lucius raised his hand, turning his wrist over. The totem there was also glowing faintly.

"It appeared yesterday. A line of text. Roughly telling me to hunt the Sea race to awaken my bloodline."

Hunt the Sea race?

Jeremy paused.

Both Mermaids and Ice Dragons were of the Sea race. And the sea region didn’t just have those two races — there were also the Jellyfish race, the Stone Turtle race, and dozens of other minor races.

But a bloodline holder having to hunt the Sea race to awaken... Could it be that this time he bore the identity of a land-dwelling race like the Celestials?

Having that speculation, Jeremy asked directly: "What race are you this time?"

Lucius didn’t answer immediately. He stood up straight from the wall, and the wings on his back unfurled — a pair of ash-gray wings, feathers sharp as blades, the edges of the wings tinged with a streak of dark red.

His voice was flat: "Consider it the Celestial race."

That answer confirmed Jeremy’s speculation.

A few days ago, while browsing the ancient tomes of the Mermaids and Ice Dragons, Jeremy had also glanced over the introductions to other races.

Both Celestials and Angels were lords of the sky; the two sides countered each other like day and night.

The forms of the two races were very similar: humanoid figures, possessing wings. The only difference lay in the feather color — Angels were white, Celestials were gray.

But unlike Angels, who loved peace and maintained a neutral stance, Celestials were addicted to slaughter, even considering the entire Sea race in the sea region as prey.

They were unlike Ice Dragons and Mermaids — those two races slaughtered each other to dispel their own backlashes and curses, which was purposeful killing.

Celestials attacked the Sea race purely to enhance their own strength and seize other races’ territories.

According to records, their ultimate goal was to unify both the sea and the land, becoming the sole lords.

But there wasn’t a single line in the ancient tomes stating that Celestials had to kill the Sea race to awaken their bloodline.

It seemed what he read was only a fragment. Or perhaps the totem’s task didn’t necessarily have to match the rules of this world.

"By the way." Lucius retracted his wings, tilting his head to look at him from head to toe. "Why is the captain covering up so tightly? It’s not like the weather is cold."

Jeremy hesitated for a moment.

Hiding it served no purpose. Being teammates, knowing each other’s identities made it easier to coordinate. He decided to tell the truth.

But the words on the tip of his tongue automatically turned into a sentence entirely unrelated to his original intention.

"Why do you care so much? If you are a Celestial right now, you must know where the Illusion Dream Pearl is."

His voice was cold, harsh, as if ordering a subordinate.

"?"

After speaking, even Jeremy froze.

That wasn’t the sentence he intended to say. Neither the intonation nor the content was his.

What the hell is this... Was he being controlled?

Remembering something, he immediately glanced down at the totem on the back of his hand.

As expected. Not only the Ashbloom Flower pattern in the middle, but the coiling dragon patterns around it were also emitting a faint glow, flickering rhythmically.

Exactly as predicted. The sentence just now was dictated by this thing.

Lucius stared at him for two seconds. Expressionless.

Just as Jeremy opened his mouth intending to explain, Lucius abruptly held out his hand.

In his palm was a round pearl the size of a bird’s egg, radiating a pearlescent, lustrous light, with rainbow-colored bands swirling slowly inside.

"Are you talking about this?"

The Illusion Dream Pearl was condensed from the special spiritual power of the Celestial and Angel races. Only those with an extremely pure bloodline could condense it, and each person might be lucky to condense three or four pearls in their lifetime. It was so rare that even in the Aetheris Holy City during its open period, only a few pearls were brought out for trade, their value equivalent to a small city.

He didn’t expect Lucius to actually have it. And to offer it as easily as handing over a piece of candy.

The moment he saw it, Jeremy’s hand automatically reached out. By the time he snapped back to reality, the pearl was already resting snugly in his palm, cool to the touch.

He had never ordered his hand to do that.

This anomaly was now starting to become truly terrifying.

...It seemed the totem, wanting to accelerate the task, had directly interfered with his physical body.

Jeremy tried to inform the other party that his current actions were out of his control. He opened his mouth. But the words seemed to choke in his throat, blocked by an invisible wall, completely unable to be uttered no matter what.

Regarding that blatant snatching action, Lucius offered no opinion. No furrowed brows, no questions. He merely retracted his hand, his voice remaining calm: "What is the captain’s task?"

Jeremy replied, his head aching slightly: "Hunt Ice Dragons."

This time the spoken words matched his intention. It seemed the totem didn’t prohibit speaking about the task.

"Ice Dragons are also of the Sea race." Lucius said. "I’ll go with you."

Having just regrouped, separating again would only add trouble. And having an extra tier-five person along meant a higher survival rate. Jeremy did not refuse: "Alright."

"Leave now or find the other three first?"

"Do the task first."

Midway, they could still keep an eye out while traveling. Blindly searching in such a large city would only be a waste of time.

Having settled it, the two left the Aetheris Holy City, setting off toward the sea region.

Along the way, when Lucius asked him what he needed the Illusion Dream Pearl for, Jeremy merely replied perfunctorily that he needed it to enter Ice Dragon territory.

Even when swallowing the pearl, he found an excuse to go behind a rock, avoiding Lucius’s sight, absolutely refusing to reveal his Mermaid scales and ear fins.

It wasn’t that he wanted to hide it. But every time he intended to take off his face covering in front of Lucius, his arm stiffened, unable to move an inch. Under that control, he was forced to hide it.

The Illusion Dream Pearl could transform the user into any form, but it had a time limit — about a month, depending on the pearl’s purity.

Nearing the sea region, Jeremy transformed directly into an Ice Dragon form. The scales on his body shifted from emerald green to dark blue. His ear fins shrank into two short horns. The totem on the back of his hand was covered by a layer of dragon scales, leaving only a faint mark.

As for Lucius, in his capacity as a member of the Celestial race, lords of the sky, wanting to go underwater also required him to transform into the Sea race.

For convenience, he also chose the exact same Ice Dragon form as Jeremy — he took out yet another Illusion Dream Pearl from his clothes and swallowed it, not bothering to explain how he had two.

The transformed form could freely switch between human and dragon shapes.

To travel fast, Jeremy chose the dragon form straight away.

His body elongated, his scales thickened, and his four limbs sprouted claws. An ice dragon over ten meters long plunged into the water.

Perhaps because inheriting whatever identity came with the corresponding realm, not only could Jeremy utilize tier-five cultivation, but Lucius could as well. Lucius’s cultivation level was even slightly superior — the silver-gray dragon swimming beside him was a size larger, its scales brighter.

Thanks to that, the journey from the eastern sea region to the northern part consumed a mere hour.

Currently, Mermaids and Ice Dragons were engaged in battle. The outer perimeter of the Ice Dragon territory was a chaotic mess.

To reach the royal palace, one had to traverse fourteen cities and two seabed forests.

Jeremy and Lucius shifted back to human form, disguising themselves as two Ice Dragon soldiers, intending to slip through the outermost city gate. But before they could sneak into the inner city, they were grabbed by a patrol squad and dragged straight onto the battlefield.

Outside the city, blood splattered everywhere. The seawater was dyed so red one couldn’t see past a few meters. Smoke from underwater fire magic rose into columns of bubbles. The screams, the clash of weapons, the roars of dragons, and the Mermaids singing battle hymns blended into an unceasing cacophony.

The two were pushed to a small combat zone at the outermost edge, where a coral wall had half-collapsed. The number of Ice Dragons there, counting the two of them, was less than twenty.

A commander wearing misaligned scale armor swam over, barking: "You lot better not slack off. This area is short on hands, stand here and defend."

He swept his gaze over the group, then pointed towards the battle line: "If you can’t kill a hundred dead fish, don’t even think I’ll let you off!"

"Dead fish" was the Ice Dragons’ derogatory term for Mermaids.

His face was flushed red, his breath exuding a strong stench of fermented algae liquor even underwater. Clearly, he wanted to slack off himself, so he tossed the quota onto his subordinates.

Jeremy paid him no mind, quietly retreating to the back of the formation, planning to wait for him to swim away before finding a chance to slip out.

But the commander didn’t leave. He dragged another person over, and the two plopped down on a rock behind the formation, looking as leisurely as if they were sitting down to watch a play.

His eyes were glued to every person.

"..."

The escape plan went bankrupt.

Jeremy fell into a dilemma.

If the Ice Dragons discovered an anomaly — a soldier standing still refusing to fight — then not only would his plan fail, worse yet, he would be hunted down on the spot, surrounded by hundreds of Ice Dragons.

But his current identity was a Mermaid prince. Bearing an Ice Dragon form to slaughter his own race. If the Mermaid side found out, he didn’t dare imagine what would erupt.

While Jeremy was still hesitating, from the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Lucius standing in front.

A Mermaid had just lunged over, the trident in his hand aimed straight at Lucius’s chest.

Lucius tilted his body a beat to let the trident tip glide past, then pierced his sword straight through the opponent’s heart. Before the sword was even pulled out, his left hand plunged into the chest cavity, barehandedly digging out the life orb.

The azure blue life orb, still coated in blood and flesh, glowed faintly in his palm.

Dripping with blood and flesh. Yet his expression remained freezing cold, without a single ripple. He pressed the life orb into his own palm, absorbing it on the spot. The blue light sank into his skin and vanished.

Not finished. He plunged his hand back in, this time ripping out the entire heart while it was still beating. He sucked dry the spiritual power within until the heart shriveled into a wrinkled lump of meat. Then he tossed it onto the pile of corpses nearby like throwing away a piece of trash.

Afterward, he turned to the next Mermaid. Beginning a new round of slaughter.

On the rock behind, the commander slapped his thigh and laughed heartily.

In that moment, Jeremy caught a glimpse of the person standing before him, someone so unfamiliar he could barely recognize him.