Chapter 190: Blake Vasily (8000)
The scene shifted back to the hidden chamber beneath the Healing Room, where Fisher smashed the relic jar hidden in the wall with the Fluid Sword. In the distance, Kachina suddenly froze, and not just her—countless worms extending from her body also became immobile.
The once vibrant and flying living meat-worms trembled their wings, pulled by gravity, and began to fall, turning into nothing but dust before they even reached the ground.
Filled with resentment, Kachina walked towards Fisher and Jasmine, extending her hand as if she wished to swallow them whole.
“Child of the Sea!”
Before she could take even a step, her body suddenly lost control and collapsed to the ground; her legs had completely turned to ash, unable to support her body.
The gray-white decay gradually spread to her entire being, finally resting on her unwilling and resentful face. At that moment, she had completely transformed into a statue, and then, in an instant, scattered into a pile of lifeless ashes.
Thus, Kachina, the head of the Healing Room, was completely dead.
Fisher didn’t have to exert much effort, but to be honest, if it weren’t for the mysterious person’s reminder in the book, handling this strange Kachina would have been quite troublesome.
He looked down at the red text in the work guide and suddenly recalled the moment when the Shivali delegation was attacked and the artificial sorceress’s worm penetrated at the last moment. That worm was filled with wisdom and could speak, claiming its purpose was to enter the magic and confirm its own safety.
In other words, the person behind that worm actually wanted to help him, just like this time.
But Fisher had no idea who this person was that could freely enter the Healing Room and foreseeably leave him hints in advance.
“Fisher, those jars are relics! Are there humans who can create relics? I thought only my aunt could do that; after all, she once told me her skills are unique in this world.”
Hearing Jasmine’s question as she pointed to the broken pieces of the jars, Fisher turned to look, picking up a shard that shimmered with faint phosphorescence, uncertain of what material it was made of.
He shook his head and replied to Jasmine, “I’m not sure if the Healing Room or Blake can create relics. Of course, it’s a possibility. But from the current clues, it seems your aunt has an unclear connection with the Healing Room. Is it possible that she created these things?”
“Impossible! There’s no way these could be made by my aunt!”
Upon hearing Fisher’s speculation, Jasmine’s response was very definitive. Her small face looked very serious as she said to Fisher,
“We Whale Folk are devout followers of Lord Ramastia, and we have a religious respect for life. My aunt would absolutely never do such a thing that desecrates life; it’s an unforgivable crime for us.”
“I’m sorry about that, Jasmine.”
If the relics were not made by Muxi, then this matter was very worth pondering. Either there was someone else inside the Healing Room who was also capable of creating relics, or they had learned from Muxi or others how to create them.
However, the urgent matter now was to take the evidence in hand that could corroborate the Healing Room’s crimes to Elizabeth. The previous path had been sealed by his magic, and Fisher would have to blast the door open with another spell.
Just as he began to move, the hair on his arms suddenly stood on end. A sense of alertness given by his body made him feel that something extremely dangerous was approaching.
“Jasmine! Be careful!”
“Ding!”
He instinctively reached out to protect Jasmine beside him, but just as he opened his mouth and stretched out his hand, a sound akin to a falling screw or clashing coins echoed in the tunnel-like space.
No one had time to react as a beam-like magic shot unimpeded through the crystal glass that separated them from the Klein River. A coin-sized hole appeared, and at the same moment, a burst of blood exploded from Fisher’s right hand, causing his pupils to shrink as the evidence he held scattered all over the ground.
An intense pain shot through him, prompting his brain to work rapidly.
He recognized this magic; it wasn’t Nali magic but was recorded in the Kadu texts. Because the materials for engraving magic runes were relatively rare, the cost of such magic was exceedingly high.
Six-ring magic, 【Light Beam】.
This high-level offensive magic with the ring head of 【Light】 had immense power, but its accuracy was somewhat difficult to control. The ring tail of this spell was as superfluous as a human appendix; once the beam fired, it meant losing control over its specific direction.
Fisher guessed that the Light Beam magic was originally aimed at his neck or head but went off-course and hit his arm instead. It was partly his fault for raising his hand at that moment, which could be considered taking it well.
“Fisher!”
“Don’t move, Jasmine!”
Fisher’s arm was pierced. He endured the pain and pulled Jasmine into his embrace, not caring about the fallen evidence. In his peripheral vision, he saw the glass already covered with dense magical papers, the 【Light】 ring heads indicating they were all Light Beam magic.
Amid that mass of magic, there was also a pure black magic paper, which was why Fisher decided to abandon the evidence in his hand. That was a high-ring magic with 【Destruction】 as the ring head.
The value of the magic on that wall alone, combined with the previous Light Beam, was enough to buy a street in Saint Nali.
There were hundreds of six-ring magic spells, not to mention the one Fisher couldn’t clearly see—only catching sight of the ring head’s Destruction magic!
“But, Fisher, the evidence…”
Jasmine was still thinking of reaching for the evidence on the ground since Fisher had told her those pieces were the key to defeating Blake and the Healing Room. She relied on her body as a Whale Folk, believing she could withstand more than humans, thus wanting to give it a try.
Perhaps Whale Folk could resist the power of that magic, and even if she were injured, she could be healed. But for some reason, Fisher didn’t want to risk her body’s strength against that magic.
“Come back!”
Fisher’s expression was grim as he forcefully pulled her back to his side. Watching the magic’s light on the glass grow stronger, his right hand had lost all feeling. He could only laboriously pull out another card with his left hand; it was a Queen card engraved with yellow patterns.
Six-ring magic, 【Shield Ring Cover】.
As that playing card was illuminated in mid-air, a shimmering golden shield erupted from it, forming a solid circular barrier that enveloped Fisher and Jasmine, also enclosing the scattered evidence on the ground inside it so they could retrieve it afterward.
But unfortunately, good ideas faced harsh realities.
“Ding ding ding ding!”
The beams shot from the glass, striking Fisher’s high-level defensive magic like a meteor shower. Those seemingly weightless beams collided with such crisp sounds, but the cracks on the protective shield increased while the broken glass around them began to let in icy river water from the Klein River, gradually spilling into the chamber.
Watching the water continuously rise around his body, Fisher’s face changed slightly. He suddenly realized what the caster of the magic wanted to do.
He looked at the shelves damaged by the Light Beams; countless books and experimental materials were submerged in the water. It was the first time he witnessed the high-ring magic with Destruction as the ring head.
It was a proper nine-ring magic, 【Conduction of Destruction】.
The specific effect was to radiate a wave of destruction from the magic rune as the center, overpowering the surrounding medium—air, liquid, and solid—in sequence to enhance the power of the destruction wave. If air was used as a medium, the power would be severely insufficient.
The caster of the magic didn’t actually intend to kill Fisher and the others but aimed to shatter the hard crystal glass to let Klein River water seep into the hidden chamber and then use Destruction magic to wipe out the evidence all at once.
“Buzz buzz buzz!”
The water continued to rise; the chamber was nearly full. Suddenly, a pure black shockwave spread from the crystal glass at the front.
That visible shockwave generated a high-frequency vibration upon contact with the flowing water. As the bookshelves, experimental materials, and books met that shockwave, they turned to ash as if they had never existed.
Fisher originally wanted to pick up the evidence on the ground, but time was evidently running out. Not only did he have the protective shield raised, but he had also uprighted his staff; he needed to enhance his defensive magic. Jasmine’s situation was uncertain, but he knew if his current physical strength came into contact with that shockwave, he would die instantly.
“Jasmine, hold on tight!”
“Puh!”
The water had risen to Fisher’s neck, and Jasmine, slightly shorter than Fisher, had completely submerged, only her small head visible above the surface. So her response was merely a series of bubbles.
“…”
Fisher quickly erected waves of purple defensive magic, but the shockwave arrived at the same speed as the sound. It first struck Fisher’s golden shield, which shattered instantly, followed by the purple protective barriers.
These purple shields had low ring counts; even a regular firearm bullet would shatter them with enough hits, let alone face a nine-ring Destruction magic enhanced by medium.
But it didn’t matter how abundant Fisher’s defense magic was; he quickly depleted all the protective spells carved above. With the shockwave approaching closer, he tightly grasped Jasmine’s hand. Yet the last layer shattered, and the force of destruction was not completely dissipated.
At this moment, the chamber was completely filled with river water. In the dark, Fisher knew the defensive magic couldn’t fully withstand the destructive magic. Instinctively, he clasped Jasmine tightly, turning his back towards the approaching destructive magic. That suffocating discomfort made it hard for even Fisher to breathe underwater.
The next second, his back felt as if a cannonball hit him directly, a wave of impact surged across his broad back, and then his back lost all feeling, but the force of destruction had not calmed down; it burrowed inwards towards his organs, threatening to pierce through his back when Jasmine suddenly entangled him into her embrace.
This time, it was Jasmine’s turn to protect Fisher.
She gritted her teeth and used her tail and back to create an opposing current to counter the force. Even so, she still absorbed part of the impact, letting out a muffled groan as she hugged Fisher and sank to the bottom of the room.
Blood continuously flowed from Fisher’s back, staining the entire chamber red. He had endured most of the magical damage, and his mind was becoming somewhat foggy. Jasmine was in better shape; if she had taken this damage, she might have fared better than Fisher.
But in Fisher’s eyes, Jasmine was not just a beautiful subhuman girl but also his student. He felt responsible for protecting her.
Looking at Fisher, who was bleeding profusely in her arms, Jasmine worried he might drown and quickly swam towards the shattered crystal glass window alongside the Klein River.
At the same time, Elizabeth, walking inside the Healing Room, suddenly sensed something. She had just looked down when the entire Healing Room shook, and immediately afterward, cracks began to spread across the ground, indicating the underground room was under attack.
“Your Highness! We need to get out quickly; the foundation of the Healing Room seems to have taken a violent hit and could cause the building to collapse!”
“What? Collapsing? But Fisher is still below!”
Elizabeth’s expression turned pale. She gripped the collar of the soldier in front of her tightly, angrily shouting, “Go, notify the Royal Guard, use fortification magic to keep the building intact; we can’t let it collapse.”
“Your Highness! Let’s get out first and then discuss how to bring Mr. Fisher out! And even if we use fortification magic, the collapse of the underground room is a fact! From my perspective, it’s very likely that the underground building is connected to the Klein River, and Fisher might escape from the river!”
Yet even when her soldiers said all this, Elizabeth still couldn’t rest easy. Her heart raced to the utmost. Her golden eyes scanned the empty Healing Room, and reason told her that her soldiers were right.
After a long moment of silence, as the building continued to shake more visibly, she finally made a decision, pointing outside the room.
“Everyone, evacuate immediately! Follow me to the Klein River to find Fisher!”
“Yes!”
The Royal Guards acted quickly, but as previously mentioned, the flow rate of the Klein River was the fastest among all rivers in Saint Nali. By the time Jasmine dragged Fisher to the water’s surface, they were already several hundred meters away from the Healing Room and continuing to drift downstream.
“Fisher! Fisher! Don’t scare me! I’ll get you to shore!”
In the water, Fisher lay limply in Jasmine’s embrace. It was only at that moment that Jasmine noticed his back looked as if countless steel knives had shredded it. His clothes were completely damaged, exposing flesh that resembled a honeycomb and a bloody mess.
Jasmine anxiously swam towards the shore as Fisher finally collapsed on the ground, able to catch a breath.
At this moment, every part of him was in pain, nearly killed by that magic blast. Now that he was still alive, he had to thank the physical enhancement granted by the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans once again.
“I’ll treat Fisher first; don’t move for now.”
Jasmine wanted to heal Fisher, but just as she reached out to him, Fisher’s pale face lifted slightly. In the moment he looked up, he unexpectedly saw a tall figure standing behind Jasmine, staring intently at her.
In the moonlight, it was a human nearly two meters tall, who was not only tall but also extremely robust.
He had silver-white long hair that fell disorderly across his forehead, contrasting sharply with his wrinkled, aged face.
Most of his body was covered by a long, thick, dark-brown burlap cloak, yet his bare arms displayed thick muscles filled with bluish veins, a stark difference from his elder face. He stared silently at Fisher and Jasmine in the water, his gaze slightly vacant, as if he had glimpsed something incredible in the desolate moonlight.
But just one glance sent a chilling sensation rushing through Fisher’s brain because the old man exuded a terrifying presence. He was one hundred percent sure that the old man before him was the mastermind behind the Healing Room and the Pink Pavilion.
He was the “Initial Pioneer,” now a aged clan elder of the Pioneer Party, Blake Vasily!
The magic that had just destroyed the hidden chamber was conducted by him, no wonder he could do so without regard for expense.
It appears Kachina must have informed him in some manner to arrive here, otherwise he definitely wouldn’t have come so timely. According to Anna, he had just emerged from his seaside mansion tonight; based on his original plan, he shouldn’t have been here at all.
“Jasmine! Behind you!”
Fisher, feeling intense pain throughout, could only breathe heavily and shout at Jasmine.
Jasmine’s eyes narrowed, and she swung her fist at Blake with all her might, but that powerful punch was suddenly caught by Blake’s hand.
“Bang!”
With Jasmine’s strength, a human was able to catch her punch?
At that moment, Fisher strongly suspected that he must have undergone some physical modifications, but given his now cloaked form, Fisher couldn’t ascertain what exactly he had done.
“Boom!”
After a loud crash, the ground where the two of them made contact created cracks due to Jasmine’s force. Blake’s aged face showed no signs of trembling as another of his powerful arms formed a fist and swung towards Jasmine.
While Jasmine spun in mid-air, she launched another strike at Blake’s face, but her punch only slightly caused his head to wobble as if it lacked force, despite Jasmine giving it her all.
Looking at Jasmine’s shocked expression, Blake lightly spoke,
“The strength of the Whale Folk is indeed unique; you truly deserve to be the Child of the Sea.”
In the next second, he tightly grasped Jasmine’s wrist to prevent her from escaping while his other hand aimed for her elbow with a chopping strike—this blow would likely shatter Jasmine’s right arm if Blake’s extraordinarily exaggerated strength was anything to go by.
“Buzz buzz!”
But at that critical moment, two high-speed spinning light blades shot straight towards Blake’s eyes.
Blake’s expression changed slightly at the sight of the magic heading towards him, forcing him to shift his movements, stepping back to cancel his original action. In this process, Jasmine took the chance to twist free from Blake’s grasp.
“It seems there’s some movement ahead; let’s go check it out!”
Blake was evidently enraged by Fisher and Jasmine’s successive attacks. Though the voice of the Royal Guards was distant, there wasn’t much time remaining.
It was time for a quick resolution. Taking a deep breath, he tightened the muscles in his arms and directed a punch towards Fisher.
“Whew!”
The terrifying force made Fisher’s hairs stand on end as he painfully twisted the Fluid Sword in his hand, leaping into the air to slash at Blake’s neck. Blake neither dodged nor avoided it. The moment the punch and the blade collided, the entire area emitted a shocking sound.
“Ding ding.”
“Boom!”
Fisher’s Fluid Sword reached Blake’s body a fraction of a second quicker, but this time, the normally effective Ramastia Fluid Sword failed to penetrate its target.
In his astonished gaze, a faint blue glow appeared on Blake’s skin around his neck, closely protecting it like some form of invisible, hard armor, preventing Fisher’s sword from going any further.
“Heh.”
Blake’s expression twisted grotesquely; as the blade scraped past, Fisher felt as though he had struck the hardest object in the world. His already weakened arm from the injury lacked sufficient strength, and the backlash from Blake almost caused him to drop the Fluid Sword.
The sword’s blade grazed against his flesh, producing a sharp noise of metal scraping, but at the same time, Blake’s fist slammed into the ground.
The effect was opposite that of Fisher’s attack. At that moment, a violent gust of wind erupted from the ground where he slammed down, the horrific force stirring up sharp stones and debris.
After a loud explosion, the ground exploded into a large pit, and Fisher was splattered by the flying debris, blood spurting out from the severe pain of fractured bones. His complexion turned pale; a sense of impending death overwhelmed him. Out of control, he spun several times in mid-air, trailing blood in a dramatic arc on the ground.
“Fisher!”
Jasmine’s heart shattered at the sight; she hurriedly reached out to catch Fisher to prevent him from hitting the ground again, but even if he had soared, the residual force was still immense. It was unimaginable just how powerful Blake’s initial attack truly was.
Was this human a monster?
“Fisher Benavides, stop resisting foolishly. I only need the Child of the Sea. Once I have her, I will disappear from Nali and no longer appear in human society.”
Blake’s voice was incredibly old, reminiscent of iron plates grinding from the last century. His desperate male voice approached with heavy steps, and Jasmine gritted her teeth as she placed Fisher down, standing to fight again, but Fisher stopped her from advancing.
Facing Jasmine’s anxious gaze, he took a breath and flicked his pinky, summoning a playing card back into his palm.
This magical playing card was his last trump card, inscribed with eight-ring magic, 【Rain】.
The designed effect of this magic was not meant to kill enemies. In Fisher’s initial plan, reaching the necessity to use this magic meant that he and Jasmine’s situation was extremely critical. It was also the last resort Fisher left for this operation.
As the magic’s aura surged, it drained every last bit of his magic power. He gritted his teeth in pain but still activated the power on the card, resonating with the world.
An eerie and void wave of energy dispersed with the direction aimed at the nearby rushing Klein River. The river water, drawn by the world’s resonance, defied scientific principles and flew backward in droplets, forming a substantial vortex that swept towards Blake on the shore.
“Drip, drip, drip.”
Furious raindrops poured down densely, resembling a swarm of fish. However, upon striking Blake, it seemed weightless, resembling a never-ending torrential downpour.
As the torrential rain fell, when Blake attempted to shift even slightly, an immense resistance suddenly impacted his body.
This was the specific magical effect of 【Rain】, which maximally obstructed the movements of enemies within a given area.
At this moment, the resistance Blake experienced was equivalent to the weight of the entire Klein River. This magic could weigh down and limit the movement of targets within the rain curtain by the overall mass of the water, allowing Fisher and Jasmine to escape during this time.
“Do you think you can escape? Gahhh!”
Blake roared, the muscles on his arms bulging. As he raised his hands, countless streams of rain were torn apart by his chaotic power.
He lifted both arms, taking heavy steps toward Fisher and Jasmine. As he drew closer, Fisher’s heart sank as well.
Fisher had originally planned to take advantage of Blake being restricted to bypass him and meet up with Elizabeth, but it was clear that it wouldn’t work at all. There was no reasoning behind seeing his chance to escape while approaching Blake; wasn’t that just walking to one’s death?
And the Royal Guards wouldn’t arrive until at least a while after searching the front.
Thinking thus, he gritted his teeth and looked at Jasmine, pointing at the river water in front of them.
“Jasmine, take me into the water; we will drift downstream along it. Remember, do not stop in the city of Saint Nali, only to Snakehead Street, where we have been before.”
Blake was an elder of the Pioneer Party and also a director of the Nali Exploration Company; the entire Saint Nali was basically their territory. Without the protection of the royal army, entering would mean being seized by the Secret Bureau or others. Jasmine could end up on Blake’s operating table by midnight.
Only in a chaotic area like Snakehead Street could they ensure their safety to the greatest extent. The muddier the water became, the harder it was for fishers to catch them. Otherwise, in Fisher’s severely injured state, he felt he would die encountering anyone.
“Wait! But Fisher, your condition is too bad. I’m afraid you’ll drown if I take you into the water?”
Whale folk must dive into the water to swim, and it was worse to be half in water and half under; especially dragging an injured Fisher with her.
“I can breathe underwater; you don’t need to worry about me. We have to move fast!”
Upon hearing Fisher’s response, Jasmine’s gaze flickered slightly, a strange expression crossing her face before she nodded without hesitation, tightly embracing Fisher as she prepared to submerge.
With a slight flick of her whale tail, she plunged into the water. In an instant, Jasmine transformed into a water spirit, swiftly heading downstream.
“Boom!”
The next second, Blake suddenly tore apart the magic curtain of rain. The shower flew away, and he looked slightly pale, staring at the rapidly disappearing figures of Jasmine and Fisher in the water.
The voices of the Royal Guards behind him grew louder. He coughed once, reaching into his cloak and pulling out several squirming flesh balls.
As those flesh balls were tossed into the water, several monstrous shark-like creatures made of flesh with three human heads roared as they stretched their bodies.
Looking at the monsters appearing in the water, Blake spoke softly, “Go, bring back the Child of the Sea.”
With his command, the group of bloodthirsty shark monsters swayed their heads and rushed downstream.
Further away, there were several human-worms following Blake’s command, jumping into the water one after another, causing the turbulent Klein River to boil as they plunged into the water like dumplings, racing downstream.
Blake, himself, held his right chest and gasped for breath, his aged face revealing deep fatigue. His age was too great, and even with that method…
He had to find the Child of the Sea quickly!
He was merely one simple step away from that goal!
The next second he looked this way, the towering old man’s figure had already vanished.
Elizabeth led the Royal Guard to quickly search the waters around the Healing Room, and as they began their descent, they finally spotted the traces of the earlier battle between Fisher and Blake by the riverbank. Looking at the ground still emitting smoke and steam, Elizabeth’s pale golden eyes finally remained on a long bloodstain on the ground.
Her breath hitched, and so did her heartbeat. The anxiety over Fisher’s safety felt like an invisible hand gripping tightly at her heart and soul.
She knew very well that this was Fisher’s blood, and she could deduce from it that he was significantly injured.
“Damn it! Useless trash!”
Elizabeth’s body trembled slightly as a fierce anger radiated from within her. She shouted at the Klein River under the moonlight, but no one answered her. The soldiers behind her lowered their heads, not daring to interrupt the furious Elizabeth at that moment.
Breathing heavily, Elizabeth maintained a moment of silence, finally calming her expression somewhat, though her golden eyes resembled a bottomless abyss that devoured souls. She did not look back but commanded her Royal Guards,
“Search along the Klein River for Fisher’s trace. We must find him!”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
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(End of Chapter)
