Chapter 72: The Next Move
“Our enemy likely requires sentient beings as sacrifices. Just like the Lord of Nightmares we faced before, and the Lord of Submergence I haven’t met,” Rebecca said to Abyss. “This is evident from the fact that his followers only abducted humans from the surrounding area.”
“I agree,” Abyss nodded, concurring with Rebecca’s assessment. This phenomenon might be due to non-sentient beings lacking the necessary essence to provide sustenance for an Outer God.
“And they didn’t just randomly grab villagers and bring them to the underwater temple. I asked the villagers through Flora, and they said the fish-men captured them one by one. One of the fish-men could create a breathable bubble that wouldn’t break, allowing them to transport people from land,” Rebecca continued. “Oh, by the way, Leona killed that fish-man. I hope you don’t blame her.”
“Is that so? That’s good news for us,” Abyss smiled. “The Lord of Bullying’s influence in this world isn’t widespread enough for him to act freely; his followers still need to put in some effort. So, your plan involves targeting his followers, right?”
“Exactly! As expected of the man I admire, you quickly caught on,” Rebecca praised Abyss without reservation. “My idea is this, Abyss: I need you to place sentinels at all the Sacred Tree roots near the shore, to prevent the Lord of Bullying from directing his followers to cause trouble elsewhere after we destroy this temple. But this might be difficult to execute; I know your magic is disrupted in the Stormy Sea…”
“I have a solution,” Abyss nodded without hesitation.
“Oh? You do?”
Abyss explained his strategy for the Stormy Sea: While his necromantic links were less effective there, making it difficult to control undead at long distances, he had a workaround – an energy-saving mode that didn’t require constant supervision.
He would resurrect marine animals, granting them basic sentience through a spell, and position them near the coastal Sacred Tree roots. If they detected anyone tampering with the roots, they would send a specific signal to Abyss through the necromantic link.
These resurrected creatures wouldn’t require constant attention and would only contact him in case of anomalies, minimizing errors. Abyss could then quickly pinpoint the enemy’s location and deal with them.
“Ah, that’s a great idea,” Rebecca exclaimed, impressed. “And it’s much less taxing on you. I agree. So, how do you plan to transport these resurrected creatures to the various roots?”
“Hmm… I can fly to each location and resurrect them there. I know the locations of all the roots, especially those near the shore. It should take about a day, right? Do you have a better idea?” Abyss asked.
“Based on your idea, I have a better suggestion,” Rebecca chuckled. “Why not find some dead seabirds here and have them carry your resurrected marine creatures to their destinations? It might be slightly slower, but not by much, and it would save you a lot of trouble.”
“Excellent, let’s do that.”
Abyss immediately set to work. He quickly located various dead sea creatures on the seabed, resurrecting them regardless of their condition. He then granted them rudimentary intelligence with his unique spell, temporarily storing them within his Magical Catfish’s pocket dimension. Now that the immediate threat was dealt with, there was no need to conserve magic; summoning his familiar wouldn’t be a problem.
“Alright, let’s head back to shore,” Abyss said to Leona and Flora, who were waiting inside the temple.
Flora hesitated. “Abyss, do you have a way to safely transport these villagers back to land?”
“Did you forget about Rebecca’s alchemy lab?” Abyss smiled. “Used correctly, her lab is the best portal in this world. Far superior to those inaccurate portals on the continent.”
Flora was relieved.
The villagers, eager to escape this hellish place, entered Rebecca’s alchemy lab under Flora’s guidance, with Leona keeping an eye on them to prevent them from tampering with anything inside. Their memories would be erased anyway; they would forget everything about Abyss and his companions.
Abyss entered the lab, Rebecca summoned it on the shore, opened the door, and they were effortlessly transported back to land. Flora, having learned about the Lord of Bullying from the villagers, mercifully erased their traumatic memories. Abyss provided them with food from his Magical Catfish to restore their energy, then sent them home in a daze. According to Flora, they would be like their old selves after a night’s sleep, with no memory of the ordeal.
Those who had lost loved ones, however, would have to cope on their own. Flora implanted a suggestion in their subconscious, making them believe their loved ones had died in a shipwreck. This might lessen their grief.
“Did you destroy the temple?” Rebecca asked, watching the villagers walk towards their village.
“Yes, Leona demolished it before we left,” Abyss nodded.
Leona proudly raised her fist. “Smashed it to bits! It was stone, now it’s sand!”
“Let’s find some seabird corpses now; it shouldn’t be too difficult; there are plenty of birds around here,” Rebecca said. “After you send out the seabirds and return to the Druid gathering, what’s your plan? The Sacred Tree’s withering and the animal mutations are mostly resolved, right? Are we done?”
“Indeed, we’ve accomplished a lot. We still need to investigate how to reverse the animal mutations. But now we have something more important to do,” Abyss raised a finger. “It’s time to formally investigate Agnes. I have a feeling she’s the key to solving this.”
Leave a Reply