Far north, Dony finally arrived at the Siren Sea, where Miasma sent him to deal with one of Orion's companions.

He walked on the beach, his eyes deeply focused on the water.

Recalling the great view of the sea from his past, a feeling of nostalgia appeared on his face, quickly replaced by a dark gaze.

The pulsing inside his body reminded him of his current condition, one he would never be rid off.

With corruption having taken hold of his life, there was no future for him when even his past became miningless.

Nothing could be done anymore.

Dony sighed dramatically and slumped his shoulders.

"If only I had retained my sanity instead of drinking that tainted mixture."

After being reformed into a more perfect corrupted, Dony's mind became free of the impulses driving him when he was an Apostles ruling a city.

Cleared of the fog in his mind, he was able to take a few steps back, and understand the issues of his life.

"I wouldn't be stuck doing mindless errands like these."

He placed his hands into his pockets, and approached the water. The waves reached his feet, as he looked in the distance.

Inside the water, he could see life. Fishes, crustaceans, mollusks, larger creatures that shouldn't be able to survive like sharks, and...

The one he was ordered to get rid of, a siren.

In the middle of the sea, floating perfectly still in calm waters, Senia glared at the intruder.

"Oh~"

Dony smiled the moment he noticed the woman, and whistled.

"Such a waste, killing such a cute face."

Lifting his hand above his head, he turned his palm to the sky. A dark sphere of darkness grew, before he aimed it at Senia.

*Psssssh*

Before he could fire at her, a jet of pressurized water magic pierced the sphere and Dony's chest.

Senia attacked him while not giving a single chance to fire at her.

With the dark sphere crumbling into sludge that fell into the sea, Dony fumbled backward while holding his chest.

"I know your kind, and I know that expression."

With a disdainful look, the siren kept her finger pointed at the man, threatening to pierce his chest with more pressurized jets.

The disgust on her face showed the intense emotion she was feeling. Recalling the man's smile only brought back the memories of the man who captured her species in the past.

"You will not set foot in this sea, nor will you land a hand on me."

"I- We will get rid of you, here and now!"

Senia released a shockwave of magic, that began pulling seawater with it. Floating in the air for a second, a water sphere formed around her, where she kept her eyes on Dony at all times.

Around her, the entirety of the sea moved, revealing the seafloor. Broad tubes of water traveled far and wide, creating a surreal vision.

Fishes swam through these tunnels, which formed all around Dony. They went above him, behind him, and all around him.

And, inside those tubes, shadows rapidly swam between the fishes at a tremendous speed.

Confusion, surprise, and fear showed on his face. A magic with such scale was a disaster that only people like Layla could muster.

The fire Kelvin used to erase Bandir from the map of Triazils was on the same scale, a truly terrifying sight.

With Senia in the center, continually aiming at him, Dony smiled sourly.

"Shit..."

~

While Horizon was under attack, Noctelagia was in the middle of a struggle that seemed unending.

"..."

Saffira, standing next to Olivia, looked at the carnage with her mouth wide open.

"Close your mouth. You wouldn't want a fly to enter it, right?"

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

With a side glance, Olivia asked her to calm her feelings in a roundabout way.

Still, this was impossible for the leader of the kelpies. Utterly shocked by the scene in front of her, she couldn't close her mouth.

"Is this... normal for you?"

"What is?"

"This."

Pointing at the maids holding a line across the beach, Saffira blinked.

"Oh... I guess."

Olivia shrugged and smiled.

"They are the strongest. Of course, they are not on the level of an Apostle like myself, but for normal humans, they are the cream of the crop."

Proud of her friends, she said with a smug face.

"I... see."

Fear and horror showed on Saffira's face, knowing that Olivia could at any moment get rid of her and her faction.

'I'm glad we're friends and not enemies.'

With that small thought, she glanced at the battlefield.

Without a single sound escaping their mouths, the entire maid squads were ripping through the corrupted ranks effortlessly.

Wired strings flowed in the air, glistening when met with the ray of the sun, before raining down on the poor creatures with a single movement of their fingers.

The sound of sliced flesh, bodies flopping back into the sea, and growls coming from the marine beasts echoed everywhere.

But what was truly disturbing wasn't the horrendous amount of corrupted beasts.

No, it was the deranged smile of the maids as they cut through the creatures effortlessly. Pleasure in killing, a feeling they contained deep inside their hearts.

Of course, Olivia knew their constitution well, and the reason for their twisted minds. Yet, she never tried to 'heal' them. They were who they were, and beside that small part of them, all of them were sweet and pleasant ladies.

But in front of an enemy, all semblance of normalcy vanished, leaving the repressed feeling of hatred they felt against the corrupted.

Behind Olivia, two sighs entered her ears. She turned around and glanced at the two maids standing still, bored.

"There's nothing to do if there's nothing to defend..."

"Alice, I get you, but don't lose focus."

The two maids left to defend the kelpies looked at each other with a hand on their cheeks, a disinterested expression on their faces.

Olivia knew they were talking deliberately, hoping to get new orders from her. They were eager to join the fight, but couldn't.

"You two, don't."

She looked back at the battle while answering them.

"..."

They looked at Olivia with a faint smile and shrugged.

"I guess that's that."

Eden looked at the sky, patiently waiting for some action.

Her wish was rapidly granted, when she noticed sparkling lights in the sky.

"Hey, Alice."

"What is it?"

Confused, Eden squinted her eyes, before pointing at the sky.

"Did Olivia use her magic?"

"Not yet. Why?"

The shimmering lights suddenly approached faster, putting Eden on high alert.

"Alice! Get ready to intercept!"

"Eh? Wha-"

Alice looked into the air, and noticed a volley of water bombs dropping on them. They both looked far back into the sea, and noticed hundreds of large creatures spitting those bombs hundreds of meters into the air.

Olivia looked up, and was about to move out to help, when she was stopped by Saffira's arm.

"It's not your job."

The kelpie said, before walking away toward the others.

With a frustrated look, Olivia pouted and looked forward.

"It is, though? If that falls on my city, it's my responsibility..."

Hearing the cute retort, Saffira smiled. Yet, after getting closer to the kelpies, her smile vanished, replaced with sternness.

She walked next to the maids, and looked at the bombs closing on them. They had roughly twenty seconds to be ready.

But, to everyone's surprise, without even uttering a word, Saffira pointed her finger at the sky. The kelpies all looked toward that direction, noticed the attack, and stood on their front leg powerfully.

Their long tail curved behind them, anchoring their weight into the ground. The giant underwater horses opened their mouths, spouting water magic into the sky.

Each one of them aimed at a singular bomb, while Saffira looked at the two maids beside her.

"Do you mind listening to me? Or do you listen only to Olivia?"

The blasts of water created by the two attacks meeting each other shook the air, sending shockwaves toward the ground.

One blast crashed on the maids, as they looked at each others. They nodded, and looked at Saffira while pushing their long hair over their shoulders.

"What do you us to do?"

Saffira nodded, delighted to have the support of the maids.

"We can't deal with all of these. Especially the one going further into the city. Can you deal with these?"

Eden and Alice nodded, before staring at the remaining bombs falling toward the ground.

"Sure."

"We can do that."

The two crouched, and moved opposite to each other. They traveled a large distance in the blink of an eye, and stopped where bombs threatened to fall.

Eden went further into the city, while Alice went past her, near the castle.

'We can't let a single one touch the city.'

'Disappointing Olivia is out of the question.'

With those thoughts in mind, the two turned around, and let the wires speak for them.

...

Four bombs fell toward Alice. Having felt the blast firsthand, she knew how powerful a single explosion was.

With only one, it could easily kill a frail human like her. Yet, her gaze was determined.

Moving her arms and fingers carefully, a wall of thin threads shone briefly, weaved in the path of the bombs.

Each bomb touched the wires, and traversed them seemingly unscathed. Though, a second later, they appeared to have been cut in tiny pieces.

The problem was, the explosive part was yet to come. Alice pulled on the strings attached to her rings, and continued to cut the bombs in record time.

Her swift and calculated movements showed the prowess of her art, as droplets of water continued to fall down as she ripped pieces after pieces of water off the attack.

Ultimately, a rain of water fell around her, as she stopped the water bombs from exploding.

...

While Alice dealt with the bombs falling her way, Eden tasked herself with defending the city, where the citizens were hiding.

"Look! Isn't that one of Lady Olivia's maid?"

From the windows, they noticed Eden jumping from one roof to the other, her eyes deeply focused on her target.

She stepped on a chimney, and jumped higher, with her wires following closely behind her.

Unlike the others, Eden used thicker wires. She wasn't as fast as the others with them, and looked even sluggish, but she was deadly for trapping things with them.

One of the bombs came directly toward her as she jumped. Eden twisted her body in midair, and swiped her arms from her thighs to her head.

Then, she crossed her arms as she began to fall back.

During her movements, the entire water bomb disappeared, sealed into a thick layer of wired threads.

While falling with the encased attack, she pulled with more strength, tightening the seal even more, until water gushed out between the threads.

Eden stepped graciously on the tilled roof, and slid down its slope, before jumping to another roof.

There were a few more coming her way, which she dispatched with the same method.

...

With both Eden and Alice successfully defending the city against the first wave of water bombs, it was time for Olivia to act.

Past the piles of beast bits and organs, deeper in the water, her opponents stirred, agitated by their unsuccessful advance.