Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 149: The Sea of Hidden Dragons (16)

Dragon Raja 3

Even Anjou would be stunned by this scene. The Secret Party understood the mysterious world, but what Erii was doing seemed to have surpassed alchemy or yanling, reaching a whole new realm… the realm of the gods.

She lowered her head and hummed a tune, her gaze seemingly piercing through the black sea. Her downward look resembled a deity gazing down upon the mortal world from a heavenly throne.

Chisei leaned weakly against the winch, fully aware that he could no longer change anything. Once Erii transformed into this state, she wouldn’t listen to anything; no one could approach her side, and everything that came near her would be killed. At this moment, she was no longer the obedient girl he knew as his sister; she was indistinguishable from the Grim Reaper. Sakura looked at him and then thought back to his fighting spirit just a minute ago, suddenly understanding… deep down in Chisei’s heart, he truly wanted to save those three madmen.

In the world-destroying roar, the shockwave approached as expected—the shockwave from the nuclear reactor explosion. Lu Mingfei’s thoughts seemed to be cut off; he had never experienced such violent acceleration. Compared to this acceleration, Anjou’s modified Maserati seemed weak. Everything before him was pitch black, and his eardrums ached as if they were about to burst. But this also meant they had finally succeeded; once the nuclear reactor exploded, the entire city would be swallowed by the lava river, and that hellish ruin would no longer exist. Those death-like Corpse Guardians would also be buried.

“We actually survived,” he gasped. “I felt like I should start reciting poetry several times. I read in a book that Japanese warriors recite a farewell poem at the moment of death, something like, ‘At the edge of paradise and hell, there must be light; as the clouds disperse, only the bright moon remains in the heart. Forty-nine years of splendid dreams, enjoying a cup of wine for a brief moment,’ and something else like, ‘There is no path of order or chaos, the Great Way connects the source of the heart, fifty-five years of dreams, when awake, return to one sleep.’ It’s particularly moving.”

“That’s not something they recite at the moment of death,” Chu Zihang said. “Most Japanese warriors have an average cultural level; those poems are usually prepared by someone who can write poetry, and they just read them before they die.”

“I thought so; if I only knew how to say ‘Hero, spare my life,’ then there would be no poetry left.”

“Something else has survived,” Chu Zihang suddenly said.

Lu Mingfei looked at the screen; thousands of dark figures were rapidly surfacing from the seabed, gathering together like a black vortex. The Corpse Guardians—the last batch to escape Takamagahara—were surprisingly numerous, and they hadn’t been affected by the nuclear explosion. Among the swirling black vortex of Corpse Guardians appeared a gigantic figure. Each time it swam, it stirred the water around it, accompanied by countless undercurrents and whirlpools. The Corpse Guardians floated around it, as its movement created an upward high-speed current, like fish following a massive whale during migration. The fastest Corpse Guardians were already approaching the Trieste, their crystalline teeth reflecting blinding light under the illumination of the gas lights.

“Still want to recite poetry now?” Chu Zihang asked.

“Hero, spare my life!” Lu Mingfei lamented.

At a depth of about 3,000 meters, once the inertia from the nuclear explosion shockwave wore off, they wouldn’t be able to accelerate anymore.

Chu Zihang might still be able to release the King’s Blaze again, but the deep-sea submersible couldn’t withstand the impact anymore. The shell was emitting a terrifying tearing sound, and the resin windows were visibly deforming. The King’s Blaze and the nuclear explosion shockwave had caused irreparable damage to the submersible’s shell; at this rate, it would be a miracle if they could float to the surface. The only hope left was that safety line, just waiting for Chisei’s safety line to exert its force.

“I think I heard the sound of eggs cracking,” Lu Mingfei whispered.

“That’s our shell cracking,” Chu Zihang said.

It indeed sounded like the breaking of an eggshell, and the cracks slowly extended across the surface of the shell… but they were inside this enormous egg. The sound of metal tearing and curling was teeth-grinding, followed by a “pop” sound and the roar of surging fluids.

“Damn, it’s leaking!” Lu Mingfei’s face turned pale.

“It is leaking, but water hasn’t entered the cockpit yet,” Chu Zihang said. “The Trieste has a double metal shell, with light kerosene between the two layers. Right now, the outer shell has perforated, and kerosene is leaking.”

“Call the Sumeru Throne! Call the Sumeru Throne! Quick! We need the support of the safety line!” Chu Zihang shouted loudly.

Neither Chu Zihang nor Lu Mingfei could have imagined that their calls were echoing in the empty Sumeru Throne, while the massive floating platform was slowly sinking to the seabed. The Corpse Guardians occupying the Sumeru Throne had nowhere to escape; once it sank into the sea, they would be frozen.

The helicopter hovered above the surface of the sea, its spotlight illuminating the small boat and Erii within it. The massive rotor blades stirred up a wild wind, yet the sea below remained utterly calm. The towering waves could not penetrate this area. Erii softly hummed a tune, and around her and the small boat, a kilometer-wide section of the sea was completely frozen. The tsunami had arrived, with waves towering dozens of meters high, but they disintegrated at the edges of her domain. Darkness surrounded them, while a beam of moonlight shone on the crystalline surface of the water.

Rather than saying the helicopter was waiting for Erii, it was more accurate to say that Erii was protecting the helicopter. As long as the helicopter dared to leave her domain, the wild winds could easily break its rotor blades.

Chisei looked down at Erii, observing this battlefield that had buried so many. He silently drew the cigar Caesar had gifted him on their first meeting. Suddenly, he felt a sense of nostalgia for those few days surrounded by that group of madmen, singing and dancing.

Erii rose, and the surface of the sea rose with her. It was a massive iceberg, tapering downwards and topped with a smooth, mirror-like surface.

The surface of the iceberg glimmered with a blue glow, within which swarmed countless Corpse Guardians, and sharp ice ridges grew rapidly beneath it. Erii stood high in the air, surrounded by icy cliffs, with the sharp edges resembling swords beneath her. She quietly murmured something, and every word that left her mouth was incomprehensible.

“Impressive!” both Crow and Yasha exclaimed.

“This is Tsukuyomi,” Sakura said softly.

Suddenly, the iceberg with Erii sank, sending colossal waves soaring tens of meters into the air. This iceberg resembled a giant ice crossbow, slicing straight through the sea as it descended toward the ocean floor, carrying with it a cutting intent that was incredibly sharp.

The Trieste stopped its ascent, surrounded by the Corpse Guardians.

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