[11:43 AM]
A barbed harpoon was formed in the man’s hand, made entirely out of the sea’s water that condensed over each other into folds through magical means.
The Drowned King stepped on the air, his bare toes digging into it as though it were a physical matter—he then took on a throwing stance.
Holding the barbed harpoon above his head, he muttered a sentence as he took a single large step forward in the air:
"[4th Technique of the Abyssal Harpoon: Harpoon of the Black Tides]..."
With a rapid twist of his torso, he hurled the harpoon with all of his weight behind it and with it—
BOOM!
—A cone of air bursted from behind his hurl; a sonic boom.
The mana that was wrapped around the water harpoon began to take on an illusory shape, causing the harpoon to appear as a streak of dark-blue lightning.
It shot down through the air like a malicious shooting star—a shooting star that was aimed directly at Lillian, who managed to widen her eyes.
Did he really just use a named attack on her!?
With all the ounce of strength and speed Lillian could muster, she crossed her sword and scythe over the centre of her chest and manifested a barrier of water around her—preparing herself for the impact.
Once the harpoon finally arrived, it made contact with Lillian’s water barrier, but was only stopped for a split second before completely piercing through it.
The harpoon of condensed water then collided with Lillian’s weapons with the tremendous weight that could only be comparable to an entire mountain.
Lillian felt the world warp as she did all that she could to resist, but it was ultimately a failure; for in the next moment after she blocked it, an illusory roaring black tidal wave manifested behind the water harpoon.
It rushed through the air and swallowed the harpoon, colliding with her as well and causing her to go crashing through the deck of the ship, which had begun to crack in half.
DUM!
Lillian smashed through the floors of the ship and exited under the entire ship, entering the sea with a pained and shaken expression as the harpoon continued to drag her further down before finally slowing.
The Drowned King followed Lillian’s descent into the depths of the sea before raising an open hand and slowly clenching it into a fist.
Lillian, who had barely managed to avoid being one-shotted, widened the area around her head using her magic to make room for air above. She breathed deeply, feeling her arms shake terribly.
To think the bastard would use such an attack right off the bat!
After recovering slightly, Lillian noticed a faint crack had formed on the curved blade of her scythe. She widened her eyes in shock. It was actually damaged!
Lillian’s face darkened, and her expression turned grim, especially when she noticed the harpoon that still lingered around her began to wriggle and bloat.
She instantly realised what was about to happen.
With the best that she could move, Lillian used her magic to propel herself through the water, trying to distance herself as far away from the harpoon as it exploded.
Lillian, who was swimming towards the surface, felt the water below her begin to push her upwards with her consent.
Soon enough, before she could even realise it, she was dragged up into the sky by a massive pillar of water that towered 40 metres tall.
[11:46 AM]
Disoriented, Lillian tried her best to regain her balance and control in the air. Eventually, she was able to form a platform of solid water below her.
Once the pillar of water had finally fallen, Lillian was able to catch something charging towards her in the distance—it was the Drowned King.
Surprised, Lillian immediately raised her scythe and began to swing wildly in a systematic manner.
"[4th Technique of the Deep Sea Hunter: Drowning Net]!"
Bzz...!
Her scythe buzzed with electricity as Lillian formed a net of interlacing slashes of pure electricity that shot forward to intercept the Drowned King.
The Drowned King flew towards her, unimpeded in the air as his spiritual body flew with immense speed. And without regard for defences, he flew right through the interlacing slashes.
Electricity streaked across his body, only causing a momentary twitch in his face to appear as he raised a fist.
Appearing before Lillian, he shot his fist out, causing alarm bells to ring inside her head. Her primary mind and one born from her earring’s [Parallel Thinking] immediately went on high alert.
Lillian instantly leaned back, managing to dodge the blow, which caused the still face of the Drowned King to show a hint of emotion.
The girl flipped back, cartwheeled before summoning an array of water spears in the air—around 50 total—surrounding the Drowned King from all directions.
Up, down, left, right, diagonally. She had essentially created an omnidirectional dome of water spears around the Drowned King!
Once creating another platform for her to land on, Lillian swiped her sword down as a gesture, commanding the spears to shoot towards the Drowned King, who calmly watched this happen.
The Drowned King glanced at the speeds darting towards him and raised a hand to the back of his neck. In the span of a couple of hundred milliseconds, he cracked his neck and got into position.
[11:49 AM]
With supreme dexterity and skill, the Drowned King began to dodge the spears like an elegant acrobat. Even when Lillian added twists and increased sizes to her projectiles, he managed to dodge them with ease.
He would also destroy the spears that had flown past him to prevent her from using them again.
SPLASH!
Lillian scowled, watching as her second-to-last spear shatter upon impact from a backhand. She then watched as the last spear flew in, missing the man, who dodged.
What Lillian had expected to watch another destroyed spear of hers never came to light as the man caught it. Then, in the next moment, Lillian felt her control over that particular spear disappear.
Lillian widened her eyes as she watched the spear clutched in the Drowned King’s hand take on a much slimmer and narrower form, appearing more like a harpoon of a fisherman than the spear of a warrior.
The Drowned King had overwritten her control!
SWIP!