Chapter 160

The Seas of the Southern Sea.

The seas of the Southern Sea are a blue star.

A vast ocean the size of several continents combined.

Above it, the sun rises and the stars set.

“It’s even prettier up close.”

Yuria was right.

Along with Erasmus, it was the most special star to us people from our homeland. Looking at the dark blue rolling waters of the Southern Sea, you couldn’t help but be captivated by the wonder. But seeing it this close made it even more beautiful. It wasn’t just dark blue—under the sunlight it was brilliantly red, yellow, and purple, and when night came, the black waves became mirrors that held starlight.

The floating island Sion flew leisurely through that fantastic scenery.

But the sea is only beautiful when viewed from afar.

-We couldn’t find any gates above sea level.

That was Nadia’s conclusion after days of searching.

“So after all…”

-Yes. We have no choice but to explore underwater.

…So we really have to dive into the water?

I’d expected this to some degree and prepared accordingly, but I couldn’t help the resistance welling up inside me. But what could I do? Fighting isn’t something that goes the way I want it to.

“Alright. We’re landing.”

Boom-!

Floating island Sion’s size rivals Jeju Island. When such a massive landmass descended onto the sea, the ocean surged upward.

Patter patter patter.

The seawater that had shot up fell back down as rain, and the surging seawater formed mountain ranges. Blue mountain ranges that rose as if to touch the sky slowly moved away, shattering the sunlight. The fishy smell of the sea vibrated through the air.

“Ready for water entry!”

Sion, still swaying unsteadily as it tried to find its balance. The cold shower of rain. We endured it all as we prepared for the decisive battle.

2,000 3rd Circle mages.

400 4th Circle mages.

60 5th Circle mages.

8 6th Circle wizards.

And vampire lord Kaisel.

We had mobilized all of Pathfinder’s forces.

The massive sea where tsunamis raged. We were about to enter this place.

-As expected… my prediction was correct. There’s dimensional distortion 10 kilometers down. Ragnarok’s stronghold should be there too.

A faint tension colored Nadia’s voice.

-Sion’s operation rate is still only 8 percent. The floating island’s area control technique <Sanctuary Declaration> can only be used once, so please make careful judgments.

I looked down at the black waves where the bottom couldn’t be seen. The massive sea swayed as if shaking the entire world.

I turned my head to survey the 2,500 or so mages. We were about to enter this underwater realm. With no promise of return.

“Haah… Monggu better get that lifeline ready.”

Yuria, standing beside me, couldn’t hide her tension either. Even if we fought in favorable conditions it wouldn’t be enough, but now we had to dive into a sea where we didn’t know what awaited us… How could we not be tense?

Monggu. And Evan.

I quietly stared at their empty places, then stepped forward.

The Southern Sea, surging like a monster.

Standing before it, I declared,

“There’s nothing to worry about. Even if the entire sea becomes our enemy, we’ll find a path through it.”

The mages responded with eyes sharp as steel. I nodded once and signaled the beginning of war.

“5th Circle or 5-star mages and above, step forward.”

“Forward!”

“This far will be the advance team. I’ll take point. Follow behind me in Circle order. The main force will depart 10 minutes after the entire advance team has entered the water. The advance team has one mission only. To minimize casualties for the main force by clearing a path with overwhelming firepower.”

Thump-!

The 6th Circle wizards and 5th Circle mages stomped their feet in unison.

Rumble-!

Wail-!

The sound of Circles roaring pushed back the loud sound of waves.

“Enter the water!”

I dove into the sea.

Through bubbles rising up, I could see the pitch-black depths spread below.

I glanced back quickly. The wizards and mages entering the water behind me.

And on the brilliantly rippling surface floated submarines carrying the main force.

A masterpiece created by combining the blueprints Nadia provided with the Cube’s equipment and Refinement Oh Si-jin’s craftsmanship. Lower-level mages would reach the depths with the submarines’ help.

No matter how deep the sea might be an unfavorable battlefield for humans, the magic we possessed was more than enough to overcome that.

‘Let’s go down.’

I twisted my Ki-blood.

The ki that emerged from my Ki-blood created spinning blades at my feet.

Rumble—

My body shot downward, creating whirlpools.

But it was still too slow.

“Increasing speed! Follow carefully so you don’t get lost!”

I used the seawater to shout resoundingly.

‘Gyeol. Help us out.’

-You’re calling me after sooo long?

-It’s water. Ah, I like it. It’s water!

I heard children chattering in my ears, and the water naturally parted before my eyes. In the underwater realm, the water spirit’s blessing exerted absolute power. Rather than sinking, I descended at a speed like falling.

‘Ari. If anyone runs out of breath during the fight, help them out.’

-I’ll help. I’ll provide cool oxygen to anyone who’s suffocating.

The wind spirit Ari answered with bubbling water droplets.

‘Right. Oh, and you don’t need to worry about me.’

-Why? Don’t you suffocate? How come?

‘I’ll be fine.’

-Well, you are an administrator.

It’s more because my body is a Philosopher’s Stone. I can move without any problem even without oxygen, and if necessary I can even produce oxygen myself. Theoretically, I could even become water entirely… but at my current level, if I did such a thing I’d never be able to return to my original form, so I should restrain myself.

Anyway. Gyeolli led us while Ari’s bubble-spheres supported the party.

Our bodies fell ceaselessly into the deep abyss.

Underwater?

I was nervous for nothing.

Now that I’m actually here, it’s this comfortable!

* * *

The Ragnarok forces that Beatrice had told us about were sufficient to claim to be the Tower’s strongest.

Total wizards: 27.

Among them, 12 wizards were currently gathered at the sanctuary where Beatrice was located.

Even including Kaisel, our wizard forces numbered only 9 in total, so we were already at a disadvantage just in numbers.

But Ragnarok’s terror didn’t end with the number of wizards. Ragnarok’s other power was the different races. Races that were said to have fought on the demons’ side in the distant past. ^[1]

Ragnarok commanded these different races, and furthermore commanded calamities.

Ragnarok’s combined forces of calamities and different races were immeasurable.

Beatrice also told us she hadn’t been able to fully grasp the different races and calamities currently gathered at the sanctuary.

In the depths of the Southern Sea.

That place was crawling with the different races and calamities that Ragnarok commanded.

-5 kilometers underwater. Be careful.

“Yeah. Looks like they’re finally coming out to greet us.”

The pitch-black depths.

Without the target point Nadia was marking, I would have been confused about which way was up and which was down.

I narrowed my eyes and examined the area below.

The light created by the mages barely illuminated our surroundings. In the dim beams of light, pitch-black shadows danced beyond.

The fish-people had streamlined heads with shark-like sharp teeth, and sharp fins on their backs and sides. They gripped spears and swords with clawed hands, swimming through the depths like they were flying.

Each individual’s power was about at the Mana User level—not particularly strong.

But their numbers exceeded tens of thousands. Nearly 3-meter-tall fish-people, tens of thousands of them charging all at once. The sea seemed to explode. The “fish-people charge” that could tear everything to shreds in an instant possessed destructive power surpassing grand magic.

Roooar!

The sea, heavy enough to crush steel, was pushed aside by the fish-people’s charge. Even before their charge reached us, our formation nearly scattered from being pushed by the current. Even their meager magical power, when intertwined together, became as ferocious as a massive calamity.

‘It really feels like the entire sea is attacking us.’

A host that had been waiting for us to descend, rushing at us eagerly from the deep depths.

Right. This is what you should do. Now there’s just the right amount of tension.

I hid the smile that naturally formed and placed my hand on my sword hilt.

“God-Slaying Lightning.”

Pure white lightning sparked from the twin swords wrapped in their sheaths. The lightning soon spread beyond the sword hilts to cover my entire body. While becoming lightning itself was still beyond me, accepting already-generated lightning was no problem.

“Going first!”

Gyeolli, reading my mind, dropped my body downward. My body sank straight into the middle of the charging fish-people army. Before the startled fish-people could react, pure white lightning spread through the pitch-black sea.

Crackle!

Lightning underwater is more intense than lightning on land. The dark sea turned blood-red with the fish-people’s blood and charred flesh.

Crack! Crack!

Every time I swung the twin swords, the sea lit up brilliantly. The fish-people’s fish heads, gaping with shock, left afterimages as if captured in photographs.

-Noooooom!

When I’d been cutting through fish-people for a while, an angry voice reached out from the still-bottomless depths. Looking down, I saw a being wrapped in red and black magical power. Magical power extending like limbs. Water webs and fins made of magical power…

A fish-person over 5 meters tall was rising at tremendous speed. The trident in its hand erupted with massive magical power, and suddenly the surrounding sea became heavy.

-Wh-what’s strange… the water spirits won’t listen to me!

Gyeolli was flustered.

That made it more interesting.

‘Looking at its magical power, it seems to be at least 6-star Ki-blood wizard level… and it has water-attribute dominance strong enough to push back water spirits? Is it the king of fish-people? It’s a decent specimen.’

I found myself licking my lips.

Savoring the salty taste of the sea, I readjusted my grip on the twin swords.

But my capable comrades didn’t give me a chance to step in.

“I’ll lend a hand too! Collapse Strike!”

With a resounding voice, something dropped down with a thud…

Whoosh!

My body was pushed far upward by tremendous pressure.

Boom!

The explosion that shook the sea came after.

-Gaaaaaah…

“Uryaaah!”

The fish-people king sank into the endless depths, his trident broken and his head deeply dented. Standing before him, Wizard of Extraction Ak-hu flailed his black beard and roared in victory.

“Sticky World! Magic Ball World!”

This time I heard Lytol’s clear voice. The fish-people noticeably slowed down. They became entangled in the sticky mana Lytol had scattered, stopping their charge and gradually losing even the mobility to evade. And over them rained egg-sized Magic Balls.

Patter patter patter!

Pop pop pop!

Unable to withstand the impacts that penetrated to their bones, hundreds at a time vomited blood and sank into the depths.

There was nothing that could stop us. The fish-people’s desperate charge couldn’t delay us even a little.

‘How boring.’

It was such an overwhelming victory that I thought this.

But this couldn’t be the end.

-6 kilometers underwater.

The end of the sea was still nowhere in sight.

* * *

“Oh? The first line of defense has already collapsed? Wasn’t the fish-people king guarding it? I thought the fish-people charge could at least blunt their advance…”

In front of Mimir’s Well sat the Prophet. She casually played with the rippling spring water and asked nonchalantly.

The one who was actually flustered was the inquisitor who had brought the news.

“That’s… the enemies are stronger than expected. Unimaginably strong for ordinary wizards… especially the boy leading them is terrifyingly strong. We judge him to be a 7th Circle wizard.”

Splash.

The Prophet flicked the water surface with her palm.

“A boy… you’re talking about that human called Baek Jun-woo.”

Chuckle chuckle, the Prophet laughed quietly.

She calmly read the bizarre characters that floated up in Mimir’s Well.

Her eyes curved like crescents.

“That little bastard who doesn’t even know his own fate.”

Splash.

Her hand stirred Mimir’s Well once.

“Don’t worry. Mimir’s Well just gave me a revelation. They’ll all die and never see sunlight again. Don’t worry and proceed as planned.”

“Yes, sir!”

The inquisitor withdrew with a brightened face.

Past, present, and future—Mimir’s Well, which knew everything, had given a direct revelation, so the outcome was already decided.