Swish—! Swish—! Swish—!
The ear-piercing sound of something breaking through the air tore through the viscous atmosphere! Four or five giant tentacles, condensed from thick black mist and carrying bone-chilling deathly coldness and violent malice, shot toward Castorice, who stood on the river of souls water pedal, from all directions simultaneously!
Every single tentacle carried immense power, stirring up the gloomy mist, looking as if they were about to completely devour her.
However, facing this siege that would be difficult for ordinary experts to withstand, Castorice was extremely calm.
She didn't even move her feet. She merely turned her wrist slightly, and the giant scythe flowing with deep purple light swung up from below, drawing an elegant arc as it silently met the incoming swarm of tentacles.
Hum—
There was no earth-shattering collision, only a low hum of energy.
Wherever the scythe's blade passed, the space seemed to be cut by an invisible force. The moment those berserk tentacles touched the purple arc of light, they emitted a "sizzle" of dissolving sound. Their massive forms instantly disintegrated, reverting back into rolling black mist and scattering away.
However, these tentacles composed of pure death energy were not physical entities. The disintegrated black mist didn't disappear but tumbled and condensed violently above the lake, acting as if they were alive and about to reassemble once more.
"A bit troublesome..." Seeing this, Castorice frowned imperceptibly. Following that, she swung the scythe again, and a deeper purple light swept past, dispersing the newly formed mist clumps once more.
Then, taking advantage of this gap, she quickly turned her head and looked at Calanthe, who was clinging tightly behind her, her face somewhat pale and her body still trembling slightly.
"Calanthe." Her voice remained clear amidst the intense sounds of energy collision. "Can you swim?"
"Swi... swim?" Calanthe was clearly dumbfounded by this sudden question. She repeated it subconsciously, her eyes a bit dazed.
Afterward, she watched as Castorice casually swung the scythe again, slashing another wave of newly formed tentacles emerging from the lake's whirlpools into ash.
"Yes, swim," Castorice affirmed.
While precisely blocking and dissolving the endless stream of attacks, she explained in an even pace.
"I can create an opportunity to send you out of here, but outside is the vast Crescent Lake, and I'm not sure how well you swim. Tell me, how long can you hold out in the water?"
"I can! I can swim! I grew up by the lake, I'm a very good swimmer!" Calanthe instantly understood Castorice's intention. The instinct to survive overpowered her fear, and she practically shouted it out, her voice filled with urgency. "I can swim back!"
"Good." Seeing this, the corners of Castorice's mouth curved up slightly. "Then... get ready."
"Get ready?"
While Calanthe was still a bit confused, Castorice dropped her passive defensive stance.
A purple glint flashed in her eyes, and the giant scythe in her hand erupted with unprecedented brilliance!
Immediately following that, holding the scythe single-handedly, she unleashed a fierce, diagonal slash upward toward the area where the black mist was churning the most violently!
Rip—!!!
A massive, deep purple blade aura, as solid as physical matter, exploded forward aggressively.
The blade aura was invincible. The black mist tentacles and the surging gloomy fog along its path evaporated instantly, as if they had met their nemesis.
Carrying a terrifying might, this deep purple blade aura forcefully tore open a long, narrow rift in the gloomy mist.
Golden sunlight poured in through this rift, dispelling the gloom in this corner.
"Go!"
The moment the rift formed, Castorice shouted in a low voice.
Then, Calanthe felt herself enveloped by an irresistible force, and she was instantly sent flying into the air!
A sudden feeling of weightlessness struck her. Along with her vision spinning, she was hurled by Castorice precisely toward that long, narrow rift, like a stone thrown from a catapult.
"Ahhhhhhh—!!!"
Calanthe's scream tore through the sky, accompanied by a loud splash—
Plop!
Her entire body passed directly through the rapidly closing rift and crashed heavily into the clear lake water outside.
"Pfft—cough, cough, cough!"
The freezing lake water enveloped her instantly. Calanthe choked on a few mouthfuls of water, but her strong desire to survive made her struggle quickly to the surface.
She wiped the water off her face and looked back in lingering fear.
She saw that the torn rift was rapidly shrinking under the frantic writhing of the black mist, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye, as if it had never existed.
That terrifying gray-black fog once again completely shrouded the central area, re-isolating the inside from the outside world.
Seeing this, alarm bells rang in Calanthe's heart, and she didn't dare hesitate any longer.
Taking a deep breath, she plunged fiercely into the water. Like a nimble fish, she stroked vigorously with her arms and kicked rapidly with her legs, using all her strength to swim toward the distant shore!
At this moment, there was only one thought in her mind:
Faster! Even faster! Find the elders! And then rescue Your Excellency Castorice too!
Meanwhile, inside the mist, as if sensing the escape of its "prey," the black mist instantly boiled.
Countless newly formed tentacles, carrying a berserk rage, frantically thrust out from the edge of the mist, grabbing straight toward the figure swimming desperately in the water!
Swish!
Another incredibly sharp purple blade aura slashed through the air from the center of the mist! It precisely swept across those pursuing tentacles.
The black mist tentacles disintegrated inch by inch under the blade aura, unable to touch even a single ripple near Calanthe.
The pursuit... was casually nipped in the bud by Castorice.
After confirming that Calanthe was temporarily safe and that those tentacles could no longer threaten her, Castorice finally withdrew her gaze from Calanthe.
Following that, she slowly turned around and looked at the churning black mist on the lake's surface.
The giant scythe hummed low in her hand, its deep purple light flickering like breathing.
"Alright." Her voice wasn't loud, but it carried a strange penetrating power, echoing clearly in the oppressive space, as if speaking to some hidden existence. "Now that the innocent personnel have left, it's just the two of us here now."
And her calm expression seemed to have completely enraged the unknown entity hiding at the bottom of the lake.
Rumble—!!!
The entire center of Crescent Lake seemed as if explosives had been dropped into it. The lake water was no longer just churning; it had turned as turbulent as an ocean amidst a storm.
Monstrous waves rose from the ground without any warning, carrying an even denser swarm of black mist tentacles than before. They formed a gray-blue wall of water that blotted out the sky, crashing down toward Castorice, who stood alone on the river of souls pedal, with a terrifying momentum capable of crushing everything!
Faced with this attack that was enough to change the color of the world, a trace of... disappointment appeared on Castorice's face?
She sighed slightly, her voice carrying a somewhat helpless tone:
"Going back and forth, is this... your only move?"
The moment her words fell, she didn't even make an obvious movement to swing the scythe. With just a slight thought, a deeper, dark purple aura spread out silently from her like ripples in water, instantly forming a "circle" with a radius of a full ten meters.
Any entity that trespassed into this "circle," be it berserk waves, ferocious tentacles, or churning black mist, was instantly stripped of all "vitality" the moment it entered this domain.
The surging giant waves solidified in the air, turning into static sculptures; the tentacles formed from black mist stiffened instantly, then dissolved inch by inch, reverting back into black mist before drifting down powerlessly.
All turbulent energy fluctuations were forcefully smoothed out, returning to a dead silence.
This purple "circle" seemed to have become an absolute pure land amidst this frenzy.
And Castorice stood quietly in the center of the circle, calmly watching outside the domain as those black mist tentacles tried to rush into the "circle" at all costs, only to disintegrate into ordinary black mist, over and over again.
The waves grew more and more turbulent, the tentacles denser and more berserk, and the concentration of black mist in the entire central lake area reached its peak...
Until—
Screech—!!!!!!!!
An indescribable, twisted howl containing pain and rage abruptly exploded from the deepest part of the lake!
This sound didn't resemble any known creature; it was full of inhuman terror and chaos.
Immediately after, a scene that surprised even Castorice occurred!
Those tentacles frantically assaulting the purple ring instantly lost all vitality, as if their source had been cut off. They turned into a sky full of black smoke and silently dissipated into the air.
The grayish-black fog shrouding the entire lake center, cutting off sunlight and vitality, also began to fade rapidly at a visible rate, soon dissipating completely.
The surging waves lost their support and quickly calmed down, and the churning whirlpools also returned to tranquility.
In just a moment, bright sunlight once again bathed the sparkling lake surface, and a gentle breeze blew past, bringing fresh moisture.
It was as if... the terrifying attack just now had never happened, leaving only Castorice standing alone on the calm lake surface.
"What... is going on?"
Seeing this sudden turn of events, Castorice was stunned.
She scanned the calm lake surface, her brows furrowing slightly.
She had been holding back her power all this time precisely to completely enrage that monster before drawing it out and killing it.
In the end... did this monster just anger itself to death?
"No, no."
Castorice immediately overturned this ridiculous speculation.
She looked down at the lake surface and muttered to herself:
"It must have been subjected to some kind of restriction, so it couldn't use its full strength all along."
"That cry just now... could it have tried to further use its power, but triggered some kind of restriction, leading to a backlash?"
Looking at this bottomless lake surface, Castorice quietly deduced.
...
Meanwhile, in a forest on the outskirts of Shadow-fold Valley.
A male elf wearing leather armor and holding a longbow was walking shoulder-to-shoulder with a companion, vigilantly patrolling the forest.
Suddenly, this male elf's body stiffened violently! It was as if his chest had been struck hard by a heavy hammer. His eyes widened instantly, and intense pain and horror erupted from the depths of his pupils!
"Ugh—!"
Before he could even let out a complete cry of pain, a mouthful of blood with a heavy metallic taste spewed uncontrollably from his mouth. The bright red blood mist looked particularly striking under the sunlight.
The severe pain made his vision go dark, and his legs went soft. With a "plop," he fell heavily to his knees. One hand tightly clutched his agonizing chest, while the other barely propped him up against the ground to keep from collapsing completely. His body curled up in pain like a shrimp.
"Valin?! What's wrong with you?!" The companion beside him was alarmed by this sudden change, his face instantly turning pale.
He dashed forward, hurriedly squatted down to support Valin's violently trembling shoulders, and immediately shouted at him:
"Valin! Answer me! What happened?!"
However, Valin seemed completely deaf to the outside calls at this moment. He kept his head down, his body trembling continuously from the severe pain and some deeper shock. But in those sweat-drenched eyes, besides the pain, there was disbelief and a bone-deep terror.
'Why... is Lord Nether Moon so... angry?!' A terrified thought exploded in his chaotic mind. 'That damned outsider... what exactly did she do at the center of the lake?!'
The reason he suffered such heavy injuries was because, in that split second, he clearly felt the fury transmitting from "Lord Nether Moon," who had a mysterious connection to the depths of his soul!
That anger was like physical magma, burning his spirit! If it weren't for his own low Status and extremely weak connection to the "Nether Moon," then this terrifying mental shock alone would have been enough to cause his mind to instantly collapse, or even kill him outright!
But even so, just these insignificant "aftershocks" had caused him severe internal injuries.
"Valin! Valin! Look at me!"
The anxious calls of Valin's companion finally pierced through Valin's chaotic consciousness. He felt his companion shaking his shoulders vigorously.
"Cough, cough... I... I'm fine, Caleno," Valin forced a highly strained, pale smile and said, enduring the overwhelming dizziness and the agonizing pain in his chest with great difficulty.
Then, leaning against a nearby tree trunk, he staggered to his feet.
Seeing this, the elf named Caleno hurriedly supported him with force.
"Heavens! You coughed up blood! And you call this fine?! I'm sending a signal immediately to have someone take you to the Lighthealers!"
With that, he flusteredly prepared to send a communication.
"Don't! Caleno!" Seeing this, Valin grabbed his companion's hand with astonishing strength.
Panting heavily, he quickly began to weave an excuse.
"I... I was just privately trying a new magic earlier, and as a result... I failed to control it properly and suffered a mana backlash. Just now... cough... my old wound acted up, triggering the backlash power... I'm fine, really..."
As he spoke, he tried hard to calm his erratic breathing, attempting to make himself look more believable.
"Mana backlash? And it's this severe?" Caleno looked suspiciously at his pale face and the bloodstains remaining at the corners of his mouth. But seeing the resolute look in Valin's eyes and his seemingly steadying breath, he hesitated. "Are you sure? Do we really not need a Lighthealer?"
"No need..." Valin waved his hand, trying to push away Caleno's support to stand steady on his own, though his body still swayed slightly. "I... I've already seen the Lighthealers. They helped me stabilize the condition... I just need time to recuperate... Look, I'm much better now."
Then, he forced himself to stand up straight. Although his face still looked terrible, he tried his best to sound relaxed.
"Let's not delay the patrol. Let's go."
With that said, he took the lead, his steps still somewhat unsteady, and signaled Caleno to follow.
Caleno looked at his slightly staggering back. Although he was worried, he could only sigh helplessly and hurried to catch up.
But he still exhorted with concern:
"Alright... but you must be careful! If you feel anything wrong, tell me immediately! Absolutely do not force yourself! Understand?"
"Understood..."