"If I'm not near the ocean, my heart..."
The princess raised her hand to cover her chest. Xia De subconsciously thought of something, but then he realized that it was the piece of flesh and blood of desire that had an impact on him.
"I felt empty and uncomfortable, really uncomfortable, as if my soul was entangled in fiery chains. I tried to get closer to the ocean, but this distance is the maximum distance I can tolerate. Although I still have the urge and can feel the call of this red ocean, I can still bear it for a few hours."
“What does that feel like?”
Shade asked again.
“I could feel that there was something in the deep sea calling me, calling me to become one with it.”
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath:
"Even if I just close my eyes, I seem to have come to the huge ancient underwater temple in my dream and see that..."
“Open your eyes!”
Xia De suddenly raised his voice, and Leicia looked at him in confusion.
"Don't look at that thing again, it's not a good thing."
The huge mermaid corpse in the temple was the body that the evil god once used. Regardless of whether the corpse still had power, it was not something that mortals should see.
He looked towards the end of the ocean, the yellow sky and the red ocean seemed to merge completely at the edge of his sight. According to the steps of the ritual, after the red ocean appeared, the huge mermaid corpse would bring huge waves to completely engulf Coldwater Harbor.
Now that the mermaid's body hadn't appeared, Leicia was able to control the urge to step into the ocean. But once the body came near the coast, Shade was very worried about the princess's condition.
This curse was far stronger than he thought.
Shade did not leave Leicia's side, and went to look for the witch, Darkness, or the cult priests on the coast before the power given by the flesh and blood faded. He stood with the princess, watching the rain getting heavier and the violent waves getting more and more turbulent.
In the sound of rain, Xia De felt a sense of tranquility. He rarely had the opportunity to stop and look at the world like this.
"Speaking of which..."
Leicia spoke again, she was a little hesitant:
"How come your skin looks so good after you've been away for a few hours? What happened to you?"
Xia De thought about that beautiful face that almost changed his aesthetic sense, and the corners of his mouth twitched:
"Mermaid."
"Mermaid? I've heard rumors that the Aurora family is related to mermaids. Ms. Xiwei Aurora, do you really know mermaids?"
"No, it was introduced by the cultists."
Xia De touched his face:
“Have I changed much?”
"It's not a big change, it just... looks better."
Leicia blushed a little.
Xia De has not yet found a mirror to observe his face, but his body shape and appearance have undergone so many changes that people who originally knew Xia De would probably not recognize him at all even if they met him again.
In just twenty minutes, the waves that were originally just hitting the beach were almost hitting the small garden behind the manor.
As the sky darkened, the color of the ocean became darker and darker. Although the metaphor was not apt, the color of the ocean was gradually changing from cheap wine to the color of real blood.
Amid the sound of huge waves, accompanied by the long sound of conch horns coming from nowhere, the humming sound made everyone in the coastal area subconsciously look into the depths of the ocean.
The largest tide so far was emerging from the junction of the sky and the sea. Behind the tide, a huge object could be vaguely seen, coming with the ocean current.
“It’s finally here.”
Xia De raised his head and looked up, through the gaps in the grape trellis, over the grape vines and up to the sky. He reached out to catch some rain and found that the rain falling from the sky had also turned red.
You feel blasphemy, stranger.
"There seems to be a problem with this rainwater too. You guys, hurry back to the building."
He immediately turned around and spoke to the two maids, but they shook their heads.
"You guys, go back."
Leicia also said so, and the maids behind her handed the fishing rod to Shade and ran towards the building with umbrellas. Only Shade was left holding the fishing rod, and Leicia held the last umbrella to protect the two from the rain.
Xia De's judgment was completely correct. As the sound of the conch horn from an unknown source echoed in the sky, the red rain gradually became sticky until it looked like blood, leaving large and disgusting marks on the ground.
From the courtyard in front of Aurora Manor, staggering people walked towards the beach with heavy steps. They didn't pay attention to Shade and the princess under the grape trellis. Their eyes were dull and there was a red and swollen fish tattoo on their faces, exactly the same as Leicia's.
Now Shade knew where so many cursed people came from. This abnormal rain could actually spread the curse, but its efficiency was far less than that of the mermaid statue that was the source.
As the red rain and new victims stepped into the ocean, a beam of dazzling white light shot out from the bottom of the sea to the sky in the far distance. Along with the beam of light connecting the clouds and the ocean, an indescribable female body that was both beautiful and ugly, as if it had come from behind the curtain of distant time and space, emerged from under the water.
Around her body, the shadow of a huge building complex could be vaguely seen. Judging from the height of the buildings, the woman with only her upper body exposed was probably about the height of a five-story building.
Because the distance was quite far, Shade could only vaguely see her appearance. She and the illusory ancient stone buildings around her body were coming with the waves. The rising wall of water would probably hit half of the city at once.
More than a dozen figures flew overhead. They were the church's ring sorcerers and the professors who came to support the academy. At the same time, the giant steamships anchored at the port set off together, going against the direction of the tide, under the protection of various spiritual lights, heading towards the monster behind the waves.
A drumbeat that seemed to shake the earth suddenly sounded. It was coming from the direction of the Natural Church. The drumbeat was accompanied by the sound of an unknown metal trumpet, which actually temporarily suppressed the sound of the conch.
In a place that Shad could not see for the time being, the ancient lighthouses guarding the Coldwater Harbor on the seashore were glowing faintly. Mr. Edmund and more tower keepers were cooperating with the church to debug the lighthouses, waiting for the power of these lighthouses that had been guarding the coastline since ancient times to be fully awakened.
Seeing the giant mermaid corpse had appeared, Xia De also wanted to go into the sea to see what was going on. But Leixia beside him suddenly groaned, and the umbrella in her hand fell. She covered her forehead and almost lost her balance.