Chapter 151

Chapter 152: The Song Within Water Riddle City (4th Update, Please Subscribe!)

The unbroken roar of the waterfall echoed thunderously.

Within the azure water space, there seemed to be a delicate and melodious song floating about.

Something was singing.

The song was as fine as a thread, so subtle that one would never notice it without careful and focused listening.

Wave after wave, it was as if some creature was humming cheerfully and leisurely.

“What’s that sound?”

Izay slowly emerged from the cave labyrinth, having temporarily deactivated the Jade Shield, and furrowed his brow.

If his ears weren’t playing tricks on him, then there must indeed be someone or something here making noise.

But looking around, all he saw was a picturesque natural landscape.

The grand waterfall let turquoise water fall straight down. Watching the waterfall up close, its majestic flow was truly breathtaking.

The incessant roar and splashing water were the main melodies here, instinctively masking the canary-like crisp singing.

This allowed Izay to only rely on his acute senses to detect a second sound here, but he couldn’t determine if it was someone singing.

Before him was a waterfall pool resembling a lake, vast enough to occupy half the space of the Great Void. Directly below the waterfall, it appeared deep azure, seemingly indicating how deep the water was.

By following the waterfall pool for a while, one could directly overlook the space and waterfall mouth of the twenty-sixth floor.

Ignoring these, one would see a fantastical scenery.

Everything around was constructed of deep azure crystal—crystal shores, crystal valleys, and crystal cliffs. The only plant was the sapphire-white petal-dropping azure cherry blossom, creating an extremely beautiful scene.

“Shoooooo!”

Without giving Izay time to think, a sharp whistling sound came.

「Instinct」 instantly helped him make a judgment, and Yetsha reacted at the fastest speed—stabbing backward following the feeling!

“—!?”

The sensation of hitting the target came.

At this moment, Izay turned his head to look.

A crimson, wet swallow carcass was impaled on the sharp spear tip, dissipating into black ash right before his eyes.

The shattered magic stone also fell to the ground.

“Flash Swallow…”

Izay slightly narrowed his eyes as he uttered the name of this kind of monster.

「Flash Swallow」, the scarlet swallow monsters appearing from floors twenty-five to twenty-seven.

They nested on the cliff surfaces inside the Great Azure Waterfall and were described by adventurers as invisible beasts, even earning the nickname 「Flash」.

Their name originated from their astonishing speed.

As soon as anyone dared approach the great waterfall, they would launch an aerial assault at a speed capable of breaking through the mighty cascade. The sight resembled arrows being fired.

Unfortunately, this monster’s swift attack style was naturally disadvantageous against Izay!

They could only attack once, like bullets; either they hit or they regroup for another attempt.

Dodging such attacks was incredibly simple for Izay.

Even without the warning from 「Instinct」, with his unparalleled ability values, Izay could handle them effortlessly.

“—Shoo! Shoo!”

Hearing the sound and sensing movement,

Izay didn’t hesitate to dodge sideways.

The next moment, terrifying whooshes came from two directions.

Two red streaks arrived almost instantly at the position Izay had been in moments ago, dashing away. Their incredible speed even caused ripples on the water surface.

At the same time, when the two points intersected front and back, Yetsha invaded the high-speed domain like lightning.

The glint of the spear tip flashed momentarily.

The sharp wind-cutting sound followed a beat later, and four Flash Swallow corpses, carrying inertia, fell into the water, dropping magic stones.

“—!!”

There was no time to rest; just as he dealt with one round of attacks, another quickly approached.

Flash Swallows were notoriously insane monsters. They wouldn’t stop until they killed the adventurers they discovered, even resorting to suicidal tactics.

They darted diagonally through the air, their wings flashing as they attacked.

In response, Izay spun up a whirlwind around himself, accelerating Yetsha to the point where afterimages appeared.

Intersecting flashes of cold light brought forth wind blades, slicing through the air itself.

If the charging Flash Swallows were flashes of light, then the spear tip countering them was like a divine wind capable of stopping everything.

The weapon longer than two meters transformed the area around Izay into a forbidden zone, shredding and piercing all incoming flashes.

For Flash Swallows, which could only effectively attack by getting close, Izay merely needed to counter enemies entering his range.

Compared to actively hunting them down, dealing with those entering his range was far easier.

As time passed, more and more shattered magic stones and drop items “Flash Swallow Feathers” accumulated beneath Izay’s feet.

Until finally…

“Shoo—!”

“Pfft!”

Accurately raising Yetsha, Izay pierced the last approaching scarlet swallow, and the surroundings slowly returned to peace.

The waterfall water splashed up white foam.

Glancing upwards and seeing no remaining Flash Swallows, Izay spun his spear in a flourish, lowering his battle stance and relaxing his focus from the Flash Swallow ambush.

“The sound is gone…”

Looking around, only one sound remained.

The booming water sounds of the Great Azure Waterfall resonated in his eardrums, with nothing else audible.

“It shouldn’t have been a mistake on my part…”

With a puzzled heart, Izay approached the riverbank edge, sending azure magical streams along the shore into the water.

There’s something in the water!

…There was no doubt about it.

Just as Izay was about to sense the situation underwater, a splash sounded.

“Laahaaaahhh——”

Climbing onto the nearby crystal above the shore were two mermaids with fish-like lower bodies.

They used their high-pitched voices to weave a bizarre, bewitching destructive song that could ensnare travelers.

The half-human, half-fish monsters, 「Mermaids」.

They had hair as dark and dull as withered plants, and they were also one of the rare species in this floor area.

Although their appearances were better than the half-human, half-bird harpies, their ghastly pale eyeballs and lifeless cyan-white skin were still revolting.

“Shit! Scaring people out of nowhere!!”

Izay, who was preparing a spell and accidentally startled by these two ugly ones, immediately launched a combo thrust.

Two swishing sounds rang out.

The two uglies instantly turned to ashes and scattered.

Monsters like 「Mermaids」, though rare, were almost entirely incapable of direct combat.

Their sole weapon, or means, was the 「Charm」 through their songs.

The song… Izay couldn’t say whether it should even be called a song… In short, it was unbearably terrible!

It was a form of mental pollution.

Indeed, 「Charm」 was a type of psychological attack.

Among the various 「Anomaly Effects」 possessed by monsters, 「Charm」 stood out uniquely and was the most malicious. Symptoms originating from psychological factors couldn’t be removed by items, not even resisted by the Development Ability 「Anomaly Resistance」.

After charming adventurers, mermaids would either make them kill each other or drown them.

They were truly water ghosts.

And they were hideously ugly.

As for the countermeasure… it was spiritual power.

The higher the spiritual power, the greater the resistance to 「Charm」.

Izay, whose abilities broke limits and whose spiritual power was doubled by skills, declared fearlessness.

Having dealt with the unexpected situation, Izay once again calmed his mind, preparing to use magic to probe the situation under the lake.

However, as he deployed the magic again, he froze.

Not far ahead, on the crystal rock ground, a pair of bright, blinking big eyes were staring at him.