RPAGF 071. Defeated
071. Defeated
Xinlai opened her mouth, but ultimately did not utter any further rebuttal.
He took a deep breath and, with Eve's help, stood up. The excruciating pain in his left leg caused large beads of sweat to appear on his forehead.
He glanced at the Bernis manuscript in his hand. At this moment, the cover of the manuscript was emitting an increasingly intense blue light, as if it were resonating with the sealing array in the palace.
He could feel the manuscript vibrating slightly, as if it were calling out to something.
"Manuscript..." Something flashed through Xin Lai's mind.
"Eve, you take it first."
Eve paused for a moment, then nodded.
Xinlai shoved the manuscript into Eve's arms. "If I don't make it out, you take the manuscript and go first..."
Eve instinctively caught the manuscript, but before she could say anything, her body stiffened the instant her fingertips touched the cover.
The same illusion, or rather, a more vivid and complete legacy than what Xinlai had seen, flooded into Eve's mind like a torrent.
She witnessed Bernice's entire life.
From sensing the rhythm of water elements by the sea in his youth, to creating forbidden magic capable of shaking the tides in his middle age, and finally to using all his knowledge in his twilight years to seal away the tyrannical tide king that ravaged the coast.
The manuscript's cover opened automatically, and the flowing words on the dark blue cover floated up like living things, disappearing one by one into Eve's brow.
The moment each character disappeared, Eve's magical energy surged dramatically.
But at this moment, their greatest threat is still right in front of them.
The Tide King seemed to sense the manuscript's unusual activity and became even more violent.
Its massive body began to writhe violently, the dozens of chains binding it tightened simultaneously, and the magical patterns on its surface flickered wildly, emitting a piercing metallic scraping sound.
Some of the chains had begun to crack, and dark silver debris was falling off.
All the tentacles that had been drooping at the edge of the platform rose up, and Xinlai could finally see how many tentacles the Tide King actually had.
A total of twenty-seven!
Each tentacle ranges in length from ten to twenty meters, waving in the dimly lit palace like a tangled mess covering the sky.
The edges of the tentacle suction cups continued to ooze a sticky, transparent liquid, which dripped onto the floor and corroded shallow pits.
"Eve!" Xinlai roared, "Let's go!!"
Eve's gaze wavered for a moment before refocusing.
Something seemed to be burning deep within her pupils—the internal combustion of magical power belonging to a high-level mage.
"I...I can't leave..." Her voice was somewhat weak.
"It's...it's drilling into my brain..."
"I need time to process this..."
Xinlai figured it out!
The extraordinaryly talented Eve resonated with the manuscript the moment she touched it, and was forced into enlightenment by the manuscript without any explanation!
At this point, the two had no chance to escape. Their only hope was that Eve could break through her defenses and escape with him!
I'll buy you some time.
Xinlai released Eve's hand and held the magic longsword horizontally in front of her.
His left leg could barely bear weight, and his right arm was covered in scars, but his eyes were brighter than ever.
Those were eyes that would never retreat, even when facing an invincible enemy.
The first tentacle crashed down.
Xinlai did not dodge, but instead gripped the sword with both hands, pouring all her strength into this strike.
【Blazing Slash Lv.1】
【Whirlwind Slash Lv.6】
The flames on the blade erupted the moment the tentacles made contact, and the scorching heat cleaved the tentacles in two.
Dark red bodily fluids poured down like a torrential rain, soaking Xinlai completely.
"Come on!!!"
Xinlai roared.
The Tide King was utterly enraged.
Five tentacles attacked simultaneously from different directions, sealing off all of Xin Lai's escape routes.
Xinlai gritted his teeth and swung his magic sword, severing two of them, but the third one wrapped around his right arm. The suckers on the tentacle clung tightly to his skin, the barbs embedded in the muscle, and tightened abruptly.
"Ugh!"
Xinlai let out a suppressed cry of pain. He could clearly feel the tentacles crushing the muscles of his right arm, and the bones creaked under the pressure.
He loosened his grip on the sword hilt with his left hand, then gripped the tentacle wrapped around his right arm tightly, his fingernails digging into the dark green skin as he tore at it forcefully.
However, he only has one hand, and his left leg cannot bear weight, so he has completely lost his balance.
The fourth tentacle wrapped around his left leg, lifting him upside down.
The fifth tentacle lashed at his chest like a whip, and Xinlai heard the cracking sound of his ribs breaking, spitting out another mouthful of blood.
[HP: 945/6400]
The Tide King lifted Sinlai high and then slammed her to the ground.
Xinlai's back slammed into the stone slab, and the violent impact caused his vision to go blank for a moment.
He could no longer feel pain; only numbness and dizziness enveloped his consciousness.
But his hand remained firmly on the magic sword.
"Sin Lai...Sin Lai!!"
Eve's call pierced through the buzzing eardrums.
She saw Xinlai's limbs bound by tentacles, slammed to the ground, blood spreading from beneath him and pooling into a small puddle on the stone slab.
More tentacles are converging on him, intent on crushing him completely.
She glanced down at the manuscript in her arms; it was already turned to the second half, and the ancient characters were flowing rapidly before her eyes.
She could sense Bernis's will slumbering within the manuscript, the culmination of a legendary mage who stood at the pinnacle of water magic, having exhausted his entire life's wisdom.
But crystallization takes time to comprehend, and what she lacks most right now is time!
"No..." Eve bit her lip, blood seeping from between her lips.
"There must be a way... there must be a way!!"
Her eyes scanned the manuscript frantically, the profound magical theories flooding her mind like a tidal wave.
She saw Bernice's understanding of the nature of water.
Water is not weak, nor is it passive. Water is the source of all things, the carrier of life, and also the instrument of death.
Water can gently nourish everything, or it can be so violent as to destroy everything.
The Tide King is essentially a mass of water.
Its body is composed of more than 70 percent liquid, its tentacles are driven by the hydraulic pressure of its body fluids, and every muscle fiber of its body is immersed in body fluids.
in case……
Eve's pupils suddenly dilated.
What if she could make the liquid inside the Tide King... work for me?
The last few pages of the manuscript opened automatically in front of her, revealing a line of golden text.
Fifth-tier water magic - Liquid Domination
The principle behind this magic is to manipulate liquids, to control and dominate all liquids that exist in the world.
It can cause the blood, lymph, and cellular fluid in the target body to flow backward, reverse the direction of the heart's pumping, cause blood vessels to rupture due to reverse pressure, and cause cells to disintegrate due to osmotic pressure imbalance.
This is a magic that can dismantle enemies from within, ignoring physical defenses and magical resistance, because it directly affects the most basic components of life.
However, the conditions for casting the spell are extremely demanding.
The caster must have a precise, cellular-level perception of the fluid distribution within the target's body, possess magical output sufficient to reverse the fluid dynamics of the entire circulatory system, and withstand the immense burden of magical backlash.