Mermaids?!

The scene revealed before their eyes as the door opened was, surprisingly, a long corridor descending downward. And along both sides of this corridor stood many sculptures.

“Are those mermaid statues?”

All of those sculptures were in the form of mermaids, half human and half fish. Of course, they were divided into male and female forms. At such a sight, Lacen could only look on with a questioning gaze.

‘Surely something like actual mermaids is not going to appear, right?’

He had a feeling that something like that might happen. But he was not particularly worried. Considering the scale of the fleet currently stationed in this area, whatever came out, they would be able to handle it. What they had to obtain right now was the White Crystal that would be here.

‘After struggling this much, there should be at least two of them.’

Thinking that, Lacen soon gave hand signals to those standing nearby. Those who immediately understood the signal began advancing forward at once. Every one of them was armed with submachine guns. They were all veterans who had rolled through battlefields.

Those men moved in pairs, passing through the wide-open door and proceeding down the descending corridor. Watching them, Lacen briefly looked at the White Crystal in his hand and considered whether he should send it back or carry it with him.

‘We might need it again.’

If a new door suddenly stood before them, he would have to bring it in again then. Since he was confident it could be protected well enough, he immediately tucked it into his clothes and began walking as well, properly entering the interior of the ruins.

Inwardly, he remembered that the last time there had been a complex maze of considerable scale. What would be waiting this time? As he moved while thinking that, the number of personnel entering the interior had reached around three hundred. After advancing inward like that, they soon came face to face with yet another door.

‘Good thing I did not send it back.’

“So this time too, do we need to bring the White Crystal close to it?”

“That appears to be the case.”

“It is troublesome having to open them one by one.”

“Even so, I cannot tell you how glad I am that it opens like this. Until now, we had accomplished nothing, had we?”

At those words, Lacen felt that he certainly agreed. Then, once again, he took the White Crystal out from his clothes, held it in his hand, and approached the door. As he did so, just as before, patterns filled with bright white light appeared, and then a line formed in the center of the door, after which it began opening.

Fwaaaash-!!

The instant he saw the inside together with the brilliant light, he could not help flinching. It looked like some entirely new world entering his view. That did not mean it was actually as vast as the real world. It only meant that an extremely wide space existed within the ruins. In such a place, a long bridge stretched out, and all around it was filled entirely with water.

“Do we have to cross the bridge?”

Muttering that, Lacen once more tucked the White Crystal into his clothes as if to say they should go in, and began walking. They moved along the long stone bridge, and the bridge itself seemed quite wide. It looked wide enough for two vehicles to move side by side.

Step, step. The expedition force moved with the sound of hundreds of footsteps. Even while moving, none of them let down their guard. Had they gone about a hundred meters like that? Lacen, who had been walking, suddenly halted. As a result, the rest of the personnel had no choice but to stop naturally as well.

“Lord Lacen, what is the matter?”

At the words of the bearded man with a face full of beard, Lacen heightened his senses and, having felt something, spoke.

“There is something in the water. Everyone, stay alert.”

“Everyone, battle stations!”

At the bearded man’s shout, everyone began pointing the muzzles of the submachine guns in their hands in every direction. Following that, the surroundings became completely silent. In that stillness where no sound could be heard, just as everyone swallowed nervously, ripples could be seen spreading across the water around them.

“There is something in the water! Look over there!”

“Everyone, be careful!”

“The moment it shows itself, blast it!”

“There is movement over there too!”

Just as they were all standing there tense and on edge, suddenly something sprang out from the water. At that sight, everyone instantly aimed their gun barrels in that direction, but the moment they saw what had appeared, they all flinched and had no choice but to stop the action of pulling the trigger.

“A woman..?”

“Why is a woman coming out from there?”

Amid such words, what had popped out of the water was the face of a woman with a very beautiful appearance. Everyone could only react in bewilderment at such a sight. But in the midst of that, Lacen could sense that the woman before his eyes had an aura completely unlike that of a human.

“Do not let your guard down! That woman is not human. She is probably a mermaid!”

“A mermaid?”

“You mean a mermaid like the statues we saw earlier? But she does not look dangerous.”

“Yeah. She looks kind of fragile, does she not?”

“Quit your stupid talk and get ready to kill her at any time!”

Those who heard the bearded man shouting before they knew it could only wear uncertain expressions. But soon after, they saw the mermaid’s mouth open. In that moment, what became visible were sharp teeth that could never be thought human. Only then did they realize that they could not treat her as a human woman.

Just as everyone was flinching at the bizarre sight, from the mermaid’s mouth suddenly burst a shriek, Kiiiiiiaaaah-! At that shriek, everyone had no choice but to cover their ears and cry out in pain. Even when they blocked their ears with both hands, the sound kept boring into their heads.

“Uaaagh! What kind of sound is this?!”

“Damn it, my ears hurt like hell! Covering them with my hands does nothing!”

“K-kill her! Hurry up and kill that bitch!”

Rat-tat-tat-tat-tang-! Rat-tat-tat-tat-tang-!

Before they knew it, fire burst from the submachine guns, and bullets flew into the body of the mermaid screaming that shriek. They came all at once, and a considerable number of those shots struck home. In an instant, blood splattered, and the mermaid ceased shrieking and hurriedly fled back into the water. Only then did those who recovered their senses speak with deeply furrowed expressions.

“D-damn it, what kind of sound was that to make us so dizzy?”

“Is this a mermaid’s attack? It feels like she attacks with sound…?”

“Blocking the ears does not help. Is that not dangerous?”

“Calm down. It is just one of them. She took quite a few bullets too, so she must have suffered deep wounds. Rest easy.”

Just as the bearded man once again spoke words to reassure everyone, Lacen’s expression stiffened as though he sensed something, and he spoke.

“There are more! Shoot whenever you see them!”

At those words, more than three hundred people hurriedly changed magazines and aimed their gun barrels at the water. Then, suddenly, faces popped out. Once again, faces that appeared female showed themselves. Their appearances and hair colors were varied as well. At that sight, no one hesitated any longer and pulled the triggers.

Rat-tat-tat-tat-tang-tang-!

Together with the gunshots loudly echoing all around, the continuous bullets flew straight toward the faces of the mermaids who had shown themselves. One after another, they were hit in the eyes or forehead, spraying blood and dying. The remaining mermaids bared their teeth and began launching the same sonic attacks as before.

Kiiiiiiaaaah-! Kiiiiiiaaaah-! Kiiiiiiaaaah-!

At the noise resounding from all directions, everyone thrashed their bodies around even as they fired their guns, trying not to hear the sound. But this type of sonic attack was not the sort that could be blocked merely by covering one’s ears. At that moment, suddenly a shout filled with force rang out from Lacen’s mouth.

“Haaap-!”

Together with that powerfully ringing sound, the sonic attacks immediately began to be canceled out. His voice, laden with considerable mana, spread outward and blocked the sonic attacks. In that situation, those who regained their senses hurriedly pulled their triggers. As those attacks continued, more and more mermaids began to fall.

Seeing the ones that floated up dead, it was clear that their lower bodies resembled fish covered in scales. In the midst of that, as time passed, the number of mermaids was rapidly decreasing. Of course, the mermaids were not the only ones suffering. There were also those who, unable to endure the sonic attacks, died with bloody tears streaming from both eyes.

‘A troublesome attack.’

Those who were too far away were not reached by his battle shout. This kind of technique consumed far more mana than expected. He felt that simply swinging his sword once would be less taxing. And with that thought in mind, he drew his sword and swung it straight at a mermaid.

Swaaash-!

The blade of aura flew out in an instant and split horizontally through the face of a mermaid that had risen above the water. Such actions continued several times. Then, at that moment, the sound of gunfire began to lessen. The mermaids were no longer emerging from the water.

Meanwhile, the survivors hurriedly clicked! clacked! as they changed magazines. At the moment when everyone wore thoroughly exhausted expressions, Lacen realized from the absence of any more sensed presences that all the mermaids that had shown themselves had been dealt with.

‘Are there no more now?’

At that moment, he remembered that when they had first entered, there had also been statues of male-form mermaids. What had appeared so far had all been female, which meant male forms still remained. As that fact struck him, just as Lacen was about to leave a warning for those around him, something rapidly cut through the water and approached.

Puaaak-!

As expected, what burst out of the water was a male-form mermaid. It was far larger and more muscular. As the creature came out of the water and pounced on those standing on the bridge, everyone gasped in shock and hurriedly fired their submachine guns.

Rat-tat-tat-tat-tang-!

Gunfire erupted, and the bullets that burst forth struck the mermaid’s body directly. But unlike what they had expected, that it would be pierced through at once, the bullets instead bounced right off. Looking closely, one could see that the upper body’s skin was faintly in the form of scales. It possessed tough scales capable of deflecting even bullets.

“Uaaagh!”

“Urk!”

Deflecting the bullets, the creature climbed straight onto the bridge, stretched out both hands, seized two men by the neck, then powerfully sprang with its lower body and plunged back into the water. Everyone panicked at that sight. Soon after, the two who had been dragged in could be seen floating back up. They had emerged dead, their neck bones broken cleanly.

“Submachine gun rounds will not work! Those with rifles, shoot with your rifles!”

Some could be seen throwing aside their submachine guns and immediately pulling out the rifles slung over their shoulders. They began scanning the water at once. In the midst of that, once again, a male-form mermaid burst out with a puaaak!, and those men fired their rifles at it.

Bang-bang-bang-! Bang-bang-! Bang-bang-bang-!

Unlike the submachine guns, the male-form mermaid struck by rifle rounds twisted its body as though in considerable pain. At that sight, they pulled the triggers even more, and it covered its face with its hand and struggled repeatedly, trying to return to the water. In that instant, there was a slash that cut across its neck.

The one who severed the male mermaid’s neck was Lacen. His gaze was scanning the surroundings. At that moment, he could feel numerous presences rapidly cutting through the water and approaching. He shouted, “They are coming!” and everyone aimed their gun barrels at the water.

At that point, some of them began throwing stick-shaped grenades from their waists. The grenades, activated and thrown, traced arcs toward the water. The moment they touched the surface and sank beneath it, explosions followed one after another. Boom! Boom-boom! Boom!

Guek! Kkek! With screams, the creatures came up out of the water, and bullets flew toward them. Everyone aimed as much as possible not at the skin but at the eyes, which looked vulnerable, and whether that effort worked or not, they could be seen taking bullets to the eyeballs and dying with screams.

“Aim for the eyes! That works there.”

“Shoot them dead!”

Since everyone had high firearms skill, they were able to target the eyes without much difficulty. Under such attacks, the male-form mermaids had no choice but to fail to launch proper attacks. In the midst of that, the blade of aura covering Lacen’s sword was also cutting through the mermaids’ bodies as he dealt with them.

As more time passed, the number of creatures still moving rapidly decreased. Just like before, it did not take long for the male-form mermaids to be completely annihilated in the end. Even so, that did not mean there had been no casualties. Already, around a hundred members of the expedition had died after being taken down.

In the end, the expedition force, which had once again finished in victory, searched for the remaining enemies with sharpened eyes. But there was nothing alive moving above the water. Seeing that, Lacen thought it seemed to be over now. At that moment, the bearded man who had survived approached him and spoke.

“What shall we do about the dead?”

“We leave them for now. It seems the situation has ended, so first we will proceed to the end of the bridge.”

“Understood.”

The surroundings were quickly put in order, and in that situation, the survivors had no choice but to advance once more. After all, casualties had been expected from the beginning. They moved silently for the sake of the mission, and the place they headed for was where yet another black door stood.

As if accustomed to it, Lacen immediately took out the White Crystal once again and opened the door.

Fwaaaash-!!

The moment he passed through the door opened together with brilliant light, a smile had already formed on Lacen’s face at the sight before him. In his line of sight, he could see two White Crystals. Just like on Jaide Island before, there were two of them here as well.

‘This was worth all the trouble we went through.’

With the two White Crystals located here now in their hands, the Magnia Empire had come to possess a total of four White Crystals.