Chapter Fifty-Three: Ghost Ship (5) The Bloody Mermaid

“Ah, ah~~ this is agony...” The ghostly captain lowered his head, gazing at the severed edge of his body. From his breast pocket, he produced a bullet shimmering with dazzling starlight and loaded it into the pistol in his hand.

These bullets were crafted from the souls of his spectral crew. The Sea God, once filled with panicked sailors desperate to flee Zhao Tianhe’s party, had been disassembled and reforged into a rare spectral energy, and the captain’s pistol could fire these as potent ammunition, unleashing attacks rivaling a B-class boss.

Swish, swish!

A cross-shaped flash cut through the air, slicing the ghost captain’s upper body into four pieces. The light-based damage from the Lake Sword made it almost impossible for him to heal or reform.

Three more slashes followed, and at last, the spectral captain perished, his body collapsing, scattering into fragments of ghostly light that drifted upward...

“Beauty, beauty... If I cannot see you, cannot hear you, then... accept my final existence...” The captain’s lingering thoughts slowly dispersed, leaving the onlookers puzzled and bemused.

“Why didn’t he drop any equipment?” Just entering the hall, Geros frowned at the vanished ghost captain, casting yet another layer of protective magic over himself.

“Run!” Zhao Tianhe shouted. “Quick, run!”

As Zhao Tianhe’s cry echoed, the surface of the Sea God’s ghost ship began to emit a fierce red glow, transforming the entire second-level lake into something uncanny, like a pool of hellish blood...

With the intensifying crimson light, the hull of the Sea God began to crumble and dissolve. Even Geros, the archmage, was powerless against the mighty ship’s body, which was disintegrating from the inside out.

Boom!

Artoria, carrying Zhao Tianhe on her back, burst out through the hull, pursued by blood-red tentacles, which she cleaved apart with swift sword strokes.

On the other side, Geros followed, escaping amidst explosions of fire. Just as Zhao Tianhe called for retreat, countless bizarre blood-colored tentacles erupted within the cabin, and the supposedly indestructible wooden hull began to collapse. In such chaos, casting large-scale magic was tantamount to courting death, so Geros turned and fled without hesitation.

With the weakened hull, breaking through was easy. The tentacles, while numerous, were neither strong nor swift, unable to withstand Artoria’s holy sword or Geros’s spells.

“What’s happening? Such intense magical flow... All the ship’s magic is gathering in the blood-red crystal hall beneath the hull...” Geros’s arcane vision revealed the source: the ship’s immense magic was converging, causing the hull’s collapse.

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“No, not only that... It’s drawing life energy from the entire dungeon, converting it into magic!” Geros glanced around, only to see countless blood-red tentacles emerging from the lake, spreading throughout the second level!

“Cover me, Lady Artoria!” Geros took a deep breath and began a chanting spell.

Even a great archmage like him needed to chant for such magic, which meant nothing less than a sixth-level spell.

Glittering spheres of light appeared above Geros’s head, while Artoria busied herself slashing the blood-red tentacles that lunged at them.

Over a hundred spheres hovered in the air, and Geros finally ceased his incantation. The spheres, resembling a cluster of neon lights, were actually a sixth-level attack spell—a composite spell: Rainbow Burst Bomb.

This spell possessed multiple attributes, inflicting effective damage on all enemy types, while also allowing the caster to probe for enemy weaknesses. Lower-level spells offered substitutes like Rainbow Ray and Rainbow Orb, essential for specialists in magical attacks.

Yet as a sixth-level spell, it was often far more than a mere probing tool.

With a thought, Geros sent a barrage of light spheres hurtling toward the ruined remains of the great ship.

Thanks to his arcane vision, Geros could see the core where magic condensed. However, the shattered hull was now enveloped by protective layers formed from the concentrated core, blocking direct attacks. Only by breaking through this shield could they strike at its heart.

Fifty Rainbow Burst Bombs detonated, finally shattering the remnant’s shield. The remaining spheres poured through the breach in an overwhelming flood.

Thunderous explosions erupted, radiant elemental lights shooting through the cracks in the wreckage.

When the rumbling ceased, an eerie silence descended on the second level...

The blood-red tentacles extending from the lake fell limp and began to dissipate...

“It’s not over yet...” Geros drew a deep breath, closed his eyes in contemplation, as waves of heat began to radiate from him.

The shield over the lake’s center collapsed and fragmented, as a massive figure, over five meters tall, began to rise...

It was a mermaid, with a human torso and fish tail, her entire body blood-red. She was beautiful, voluptuous, her long hair billowing, a pair of shells covering her chest—her appearance and attire matched the classic mermaid image.

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But her features were somewhat blurred; her facial structure was lovely, yet no matter how closely one looked, her face remained indistinct...

Staring at this enchanting creature, Geros hastened his chanting, while Artoria charged forward without hesitation!

“Ahhhhhhh~~~~~”

The blood-red mermaid opened her mouth, unleashing a shrill, buzzing wail—the same terrifying sound from the ship that had driven the spectral crew mad!

Yet this time, the sound waves were clearly enhanced for harm: even without listening closely, everyone’s hearing and bodies were damaged, their health steadily draining, albeit only one point per second.

But even such minor damage nearly broke Geros’s chant.

He was frightened—despite layering himself with seven or eight protective spells, this bizarre sound bypassed them all, inflicting direct harm!

“You are afflicted by Blood Wail: HP -1 (this is targeted true damage, inflicting absolute harm on living beings, immune to resistance).”

Artoria, fearless, dashed across the lake’s surface. Her magic flared as she leapt high, slashing upwards from the mermaid’s tail to her forehead!

Light erupted from the wound carved by the Lake Sword, and the mermaid’s wail paused for a moment—but only for a moment.

The next instant, the five-meter-long, meter-deep, finger-wide gash slowly healed, the light in the wound suppressed and neutralized by dense blood magic, unable to hinder her at all.

“This creature... has no weakness... At least, I can’t find one... It seems to lack a core...” Zhao Tianhe strained to sense, but could not determine how Artoria might attack it for effective damage.

“Then keep attacking, and wait for the mage’s spell to finish.” Artoria nodded, glancing at Geros standing on the distant shore.

A blazing cloud of fire was gathering and transforming above his head...