Chapter 6: The Return of the Evil Merman
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The round trip to the Great Snow Mountain took the Evil Merman nearly two weeks!
But, it was worth it!
The Evil Merman, with a team of elite monsters and the Master of Blizzard Cave, scoured the Great Snow Mountain, and they actually found a hidden cave!
Although it wasn’t the legendary tomb, they managed to find a divine weapon inside.
It could slice through millennia-old ice like a hot kn*fe through butter, let alone regular rocks!
The only problem was, this divine weapon wasn’t something you could just pull out whenever you pleased.
After fiddling with it for several days, the Evil Merman could only confirm that this peculiar sword could only be drawn at a specific time during the night.
At all other times, it simply ignored him.
It was as if it had a mind of its own!
But for the Evil Merman, this wasn’t a big deal. Worst case scenario, he could wait for nighttime, take out that human holy son, chop him up, and have a feast the next day!
The Master of Blizzard Cave was quite pleased. He had helped the Evil Merman out with a little task, but it also landed him some unexpected perks.
So, he rallied a group and followed the Evil Merman, eager to taste the supposed fresh flavor of the human holy son.
Upon their hurried return to the Evil Merman’s cave, it felt like they had just been hit by a ton of bricks, utterly unable to believe their eyes.
The Evil Merman’s cave entrance was charred to a crisp, the once lush surrounding forest now a wasteland of ashes, and inside the cave, well, it was just a dark ruin, nearly unrecognizable.
What on earth happened?
He had only been gone for a few days; why did the Evil Merman’s cave end up like this?
Furious, the Evil Merman threw his head back and howled, a shockwave emanating from him like a sonic boom, making the distant forest shudder.
“I’m telling you, brother, your cave has clearly been raided! And they didn’t stop there, they even set it on fire, just to ensure you wouldn’t rise again!” the Master of Blizzard Cave sighed.
The Evil Merman’s eyes turned bloodshot, “Who did this?! I’ll make them wish they’d never been born!”
Finding the divine weapon should have been cause for celebration, but coming back to this disaster threw him completely off balance.
As he raged on, a little demon squeaked its way out of the forest, limping right towards the Evil Merman and his crew.
“Finally, the Great King has returned! Boohoo, it’s terrible at the Evil Merman’s cave!”
Upon seeing the little demon, the Evil Merman perked up, finally ready to learn what had happened.
This little demon had been a loyal follower for decades; there was no doubting its loyalty, and he was pleasantly surprised it was still alive.
Fired up, the little demon recounted the entire tale.
With each word, the Evil Merman’s eyes grew redder, his body shaking with fury.
That blasted Cold Wind Cave dared to take advantage of his absence, turning his followers against him and ransacking his home!
Never would he have guessed that a coalition of caves ranked among the top three in strength would fall to the Cold Wind Cave.
The grudge of having his family and home destroyed could not be left unavenged!
Did they think the Evil Merman was a pushover?
He had underestimated the Cold Wind Cave before; now it was time to return the favor with interest.
“My apologies, brother, but I need to deal with the Cold Wind Cave situation first. How about you wait here for a day or two? Once I wipe them out, I’ll be back to meet you.”
“If I’m right, that human holy son must have been captured by them too, but without the divine weapon, they can only watch helplessly.”
The Evil Merman said to the Master of Blizzard Cave.
The latter shook his head, “No, I’m coming with you. A little detour won’t hurt; maybe I can lend a hand.”
“Your graciousness will be remembered, brother.”
The Evil Merman stopped urging him otherwise, waved his hand, and without a moment’s rest, they headed straight for the Cold Wind Cave.
As they journeyed onward, the Evil Merman grew increasingly anxious.
He had assumed that the caves who had surrendered to the Cold Wind Cave would still be at their posts, and he was ready to make them taste the bitterness of their betrayal.
But to his surprise, the several caves that had originally belonged to him were completely deserted.
It was as though they had all packed up and vanished overnight!
Furious, the Evil Merman raged on. The cave could be rebuilt, but his minions were gone! Where was he going to find more followers? How was he supposed to flex his muscle?
The only solution now was to quickly take down the Cold Wind Cave, tear the Master of Cold Wind Cave apart, and then the previous defectors would swiftly turn their weapons back toward him!
He knew how fickle those fence-sitters were.
The group moved swiftly, and thanks to the Evil Merman’s leadership, they crossed the wilderness overnight, drawing close to the Cold Wind Cave by the afternoon.
What he didn’t expect was to find a lookout tower standing in the way, even though they were still a distance from the Cold Wind Cave.
A wide, empty space surrounded the lookout tower, enclosed by a tall wooden fence. Inside, a few small wooden houses seemed to be for rest purposes.
Several little demons brandished bows and arrows, patrolling the lookout tower.
Not long after the Evil Merman and his crew emerged from the forest, they were spotted.
“Stop right there! Identify yourselves!” someone shouted from a distance.
The Evil Merman clenched his teeth, “You can tell your grandma!”
He didn’t slow down at all; instead, he charged forward.
The lookout tower immediately fired arrows at him, but for the Evil Merman, these regular attacks felt like mere tickles. With his agility, even a hundred archers couldn’t touch him!
In a frantic rush, the lookout tower sent up alarm smoke, and the little demons stationed there scrambled up to the lookout tower, determined to confront the Evil Merman.
Too bad for them, a regional boss was no ordinary demon.
In the blink of an eye, the Evil Merman was already beneath the lookout tower.
With a quick turn, his flexible tail wrapped around the supporting post of the tower.
Without even exerting much effort, the wooden post let out creaky groans. Moments later, with a loud crash, the support shattered, and the lookout tower collapsed amid the frightened screams of the little demons.
The Evil Merman grinned and stepped forward to begin a heartless slaughter.
By the time he left the wreckage of the lookout tower, bl**d on his hands, the whole thing had taken him barely ten minutes.
Yet, in those ten minutes, the freshly established defense system of Cold Wind City was given a precious moment to react.
Meanwhile, at another lookout tower, Cold Moon was inspecting the situation and immediately rushed to the scene with Little Drill Wind and the newly promoted Tiger Demon, who was now in charge of the outer defense.
At the same time, as the backbone of the defense system, the Great Demons sprung into action at the sight of the alarm.
Fearing that the uninvited guest might ruin the King’s peace, Cold Moon vowed to keep the enemy out of Cold Wind City at all costs.
Ecstatic after the massacre, the Evil Merman shook the bl**d off his hands and readied himself to continue towards the Cold Wind Cave.
But little did he know, in that brief moment,
dozens of Great Demons, varying in strength, had arrived and blocked his path.
Leading the charge was a beautiful demoness in a white dress, barefoot and radiant.
The Evil Merman squinted, feeling like he’d seen her before but couldn’t quite place where.
