The moment the words left her mouth, before Tuo Liesuola could even react, she suddenly felt the surrounding currents change.
Accompanied by an overwhelming surge of spiritual energy, the Devourer writhing across the barrier suddenly sizzled as if it had been thrown onto a scorching hot griddle.
Its gelatinous body crackled as it was burned and melted away.
A piercing shriek continuously erupted from the creature’s formless body. Writhing in pain, it recoiled as though flinging away something too hot to touch, rapidly pulling itself off the barrier.
But that advantage lasted only a single minute.
The instant it left the barrier, the Devourer’s gelatinous body regenerated at an astonishing speed.
Tuo Liesuola only caught a blur rushing past her.
When she looked up again, she realized that the Queen, who had been standing beside her only moments ago, was already outside the barrier.
The immense barrier of spiritual energy securely protected every seafolk.
Yet its creator stood alone several meters away in the desolate sea.
The fully regenerated Devourer was already roaring toward her.
“Your Majesty, watch out!”
Tuo Liesuola felt as though every drop of blood in her body had frozen.
For a brief moment, she couldn’t even hear her own heartbeat.
Everything before her seemed to slow countless times over.
It felt as though, in the very next instant, she would witness her Queen melt into black gelatin and be devoured by the Aberration until nothing remained.
But the scene she feared never happened.
Just before the black monstrosity could swallow the young woman—
The surrounding seawater suddenly erupted into a violently spinning vortex.
Caught completely off guard, the Devourer was like a chunk of meat thrown into an industrial grinder.
Its body was visibly shredded and pulverized.
Spreading her arms, Wendy freely commanded the surrounding seawater.
Her icy gaze remained locked onto the Devourer trapped within the vortex.
Shredded.
Regenerated.
Shredded again.
Regenerated again.
Then shredded once more…
Warm blood continuously streamed from the corners of her eyes and nose before being washed away by the seawater.
The sharp pain stabbing through her mind grew more intense.
Yet the corners of her lips gradually curled upward beyond her control.
Maintaining high-frequency control over such an enormous volume of seawater had indeed exceeded the limit her current body should have been capable of enduring.
The Devourer was waiting for her to reach that limit.
Its grotesque regenerative ability gave it absolute confidence.
No matter how many times it was torn apart, it simply regenerated.
It intended to wait until she exhausted herself…
Until she was cornered…
Then swallow her whole and exact its revenge.
But what it didn’t know…
Was that she was also waiting for its limit.
Seizing the perfect moment, countless razor-sharp water blades instantly formed into a rapidly spinning prison of water, compressing toward the Aberration at the center with overwhelming force.
The Devourer’s instinctive sense of danger awakened almost immediately.
Its sprawling gelatinous body rapidly contracted as it attempted to flee.
But there was nowhere to escape.
No matter which direction it retreated…
The seawater there instantly transformed into another water prison.
Inside the barrier, the seafolk watched in astonishment.
The Aberration that had previously seemed completely immune to damage was now regenerating more and more slowly.
The water blades that had once appeared ineffective were now carving countless wounds across its body.
Little by little, it was shredded…
Disintegrated…
Its agonized shrieks echoed endlessly…
No one knew how much time had passed.
After being torn apart once again…
The black, viscous mass finally failed to knit itself back together.
It was as though some critical threshold had finally been reached.
The countless fragments of black gelatin twitched unwillingly a few times before all life faded from them.
They slowly drifted toward the seabed.
【You have slain the B-Rank Aberration — Devourer. Reward: 120 Action Points.】
【Your subjects have submitted to your overwhelming strength. Faith +345. Your ability “Dominion” has automatically advanced to C-Rank.】
The moment the notifications sounded, the power she had overdrawn rapidly returned.
Not only was it restored—
It became even more abundant than before.
Only then did Wendy smile.
Controlling such a vast amount of seawater at high intensity had indeed exceeded her limits.
But…
Exceeding her limits had never meant exhausting herself and falling into despair.
She dismissed the spiritual barrier.
The moment it vanished, the anxious seafolk trapped inside shot toward her like arrows released from a bow.
Yet before reaching her, they all stopped simultaneously.
One after another, they lowered their heads and curled their tails in salute.
While respectfully performing the traditional salute, they all gazed up at her with admiration shining in their eyes.
【You have unlocked a new Authority: “Gaze.”】
【You have unlocked a new Authority: “Proxy.”】
Two more notifications suddenly appeared in her mind.
Wendy blinked in surprise and focused her consciousness on her Sea of Consciousness.
Within the vast yet dim mental world, the tiny blue planet continued revolving peacefully.
Unlike before, however, a translucent panel resembling a game interface now floated beside it.
Several icons appeared upon it.
The top row contained four scepter-shaped icons.
Three remained dark.
Only the one in the center glowed faintly.
Below them, two new icons had lit up.
One was an open eye.
The other was a little mermaid bowing respectfully with its tail curled beneath it.
Wendy tapped the eye icon first.
【Gaze: Cast your supreme gaze upon your subjects. (Costs 1 Action Point per use.)】
In an instant, her vision underwent a miraculous transformation.
Like a falling meteor, her consciousness pierced through the clouds…
Passed through the ocean’s surface…
And descended into the deep sea.
She saw the Royal City.
From an absolute bird’s-eye view.
The once-glorious capital, now buried beneath ruins.
Countless tiny merfolk hurried through the city, busily repairing shattered buildings.
Gentle spiritual light illuminated the entire capital, sealing every trace of darkness outside the protective barrier.
Then a familiar figure caught her attention.
An elderly mermaid with snow-white hair, dressed in the robes unique to the High Priesthood, leaned upon a staff while seemingly addressing a crowd of Blessed Ones in the plaza before the temple.
The old woman’s exaggerated, slow gestures looked unexpectedly adorable now that she appeared as a tiny little mermaid.
Wendy couldn’t help watching for a little longer.
Unexpectedly, the moment her gaze lingered—
Hegaluoyin, who was being watched, seemed to sense something.
She slowly raised her head toward the sky.
At the same time, the second icon began flashing rapidly.
Wendy tapped it.
【Proxy: Your Blessed Ones walk the world and carry out all of your commands. (Costs 2 Action Points per use.)】
Nearly one hundred nautical miles away—
The Royal Capital of the Seafolk.
Hegaluoyin was directing the surviving Blessed Ones, organizing them into groups to provide spiritual healing to the citizens rebuilding the capital.
Suddenly…
She felt a gaze.
A colossal gaze descending from the heavens.
A gaze…
Fixed directly upon her.
Hegaluoyin’s lips trembled as she stood frozen in place.
Then she heard a familiar voice echo inside her mind.
“High Priest?”
It was the Queen’s voice.
Yet Hegaluoyin knew with certainty that Her Majesty had not returned.
That ethereal voice had spoken directly within her consciousness.
A storm of shock surged through her heart.
Even so, she immediately lowered her head and curled her tail in respectful obedience.
She was listening.
Watching the tiny Hegaluoyin respond beneath her divine perspective, a spark flashed through Wendy’s eyes.
So this was how it worked.
That meant…
From now on, no matter where she was…
She could remotely inspect every corner of her territory.
She could oversee her civilization from afar.
Her breathing quickened.
Hegaluoyin was still waiting for instructions.
Looking down upon the Royal City spread entirely beneath her gaze, a bold idea suddenly emerged in Wendy’s mind.
After informing Hegaluoyin that the rescued young seafolk had been safely recovered, Wendy withdrew from her Sea of Consciousness and led the group back to the Royal Capital.
The return of the bloodline that represented new life and hope filled the entire capital with joy and celebration unlike anything seen since the Cataclysm.
The reconstruction proceeded in an orderly fashion.
After arranging everything that needed to be done, Wendy raised her head.
Beyond the Magnetite Barrier, the ocean was pitch black.
Above the tens of thousands of meters of seawater…
Human civilization still struggled desperately to survive in the apocalypse.
The spiritual power awakened within her allowed her to clearly sense it.
Countless grotesque Aberrations…
Were being drawn by something…
Gathering toward the ocean’s surface.
It was time.
The heavy black clouds blanketed the entire sky as torrential rain poured down amid flashes of lightning and deafening thunder.
On the boundless ocean, an escape submarine rose and fell violently with the roaring waves.
Compared to the endless sea surrounding it, the once-massive submarine now looked pitifully small, as though it could be swallowed by the churning waves at any moment.
But the most terrifying sight was that its bow, midsection, and stern were completely covered with gigantic crimson water spiders.
“Quick! Close the ventilation ducts!”
“Hurry!”
The terrified shouts rang clearly across the desolate sea before being swallowed by the pounding rain.
The giant spiders scuttled rapidly across the submarine’s outer hull. They soon noticed that the slowly retracting ventilation ducts seemed to lead into the hard shell that emitted such a sweet scent.
Several giant spiders climbed out of the sea, raising their long legs high before slashing them down toward the closing vents.
The next second, a massive particle beam erupted with dazzling brilliance.
The three giant spiders exposed above the water’s surface were struck directly, crashing back into the sea, while the ventilation ducts finally retracted and sealed shut safely.
The remaining spiders, however, were immediately alarmed.
Shrieking, they gouged countless deep craters into the submarine’s hull with their razor-sharp legs before charging toward the small combat sub that had fired the particle beam.
For a time, flashes of particle beams lit up the waters beneath the sea one after another.
The ocean churned violently.
Blood spread through the water as severed spider limbs and the wreckage of combat subs sank one after another into the abyss.
Hidden beneath the flashes of particle beams and explosions, no one noticed that while the spiders surrounding the combat subs were being destroyed by the particle fire, the untouched spiders on the outer perimeter were also exploding one after another for no apparent reason.
The desperate soldiers fired their last remaining weapons, fully prepared to die.
Yet to their astonishment, the countless giant spiders that had seemed impossible to eliminate…
Had all been wiped out.
“We… killed them all?”
Someone murmured in disbelief.
Listening to the cheers and sobs of relief coming through her earpiece, Liao Chengyu found herself unable to feel any joy.
She stared at the several combat sub identification numbers on her display that had turned gray.
Her hands trembled uncontrollably.
Chen Cheng.
Ge Xiu.
Jiang Qiao.
Gao Daocheng…
The soldiers she had personally trained…
Had died right before her eyes.
Suddenly, an emergency distress signal popped up on her display.
【Operation Code T28-16-J. Jiang Qiao. Oxygen supply nearly exhausted. Requesting assistance.】
It was a signal from the tactical wristband!
Liao Chengyu’s eyes widened.
Before her mind could even process it, her hands had already started the combat sub and sent it diving rapidly toward the marked location.
Jiang Qiao’s wristband was still transmitting.
That meant…
She was still alive!
In the dark waters, a figure clad in a black combat suit was struggling upward.
The oxygen warning light on her face mask flickered several times as the remaining air ran out.
The light was incredibly faint.
Yet in the pitch-black sea, it was unmistakable.
Liao Chengyu immediately spotted the tiny flashes of red.
She maneuvered her combat sub above the drifting figure and pulled her aboard.
“Jiang Qiao! Jiang Qiao! Can you hear me?”
Liao Chengyu switched the combat sub to autopilot, allowing it to return to the escape submarine on its own.
She hurried over and removed the oxygen mask tightly fastened to Jiang Qiao’s face.
Beneath the mask was a pale face.
She looked very young, barely in her early twenties.
Her features were not especially striking, but she possessed a quiet, delicate beauty.
The moment the mask came off, Jiang Qiao gasped desperately for several deep breaths.
After catching her breath, she seemed about to say something.
But those few breaths appeared to consume the last of her strength.
The light in her eyes gradually began to fade.
“Jiang Qiao! Stay with me! Don’t fall asleep!”
“Hang in there! Stay awake! We’ll be back at the escape submarine soon! Just hold on!”
Watching Jiang Qiao’s condition worsen by the second, Liao Chengyu was frantic.
She rushed back to the pilot’s seat, hoping to push the combat sub even faster.
Only to discover…
It was already traveling at maximum speed.
What she didn’t see…
Was that the instant she turned away, the corners of Jiang Qiao’s lips curled ever so slightly.
A faint blue light flashed deep within her pitch-black eyes.