-1256
It was the highest damage that Zyrus had dealt so far, However, there wasn’t a trace of a smile on his face after looking at the red damage number.
+1256
‘As I thought, Nuckelavee is practically immortal on the sea,’
“Expand,”
Zyrus once again attacked with the vortex, but the result remained the same. Nuckelavee had 100K Hp. Ignoring its instant recovery rate, Zyrus couldn’t finish it off even if it stood still.
*Shaaaa*
Black water bullets shot towards Zyrus and the flood dragon. Even with the augmentation of Avatar, his armor, and the Sylvarix scales, he was forced to retreat several steps.
“Keep an eye on others,” Zyrus stopped Franken who was about to join the battle and lunged at Nuckelavee once again.
He was unable to fly without his companion, but still, he could hover on the sea with the flood dragon’s mirage.
‘I should be able to complete the skill,’
Zyrus had started working on his vortex skill since his fight against the blood drake. As one progressed in the sanctuary, getting skills and achievements became more and more difficult. Naturally, the gains also increased proportional to the difficulty.
The human part of Nuckelavee whipped at the approaching Zyrus. Having gauged the opponents' speed and strength from the last encounter, Zyrus was able to dodge the whip with ease.
He ignored the surrounding ships and focused solely on his opponent. The giant vortex that separated the battlefield spun with increasing momentum.
Zyrus was proficient in using mana in vortex forms. Even his mana circulation method was based on such principles.
Adding onto that, the avatar skill gave him a boost in water manipulation as well. It was only a temporary buff based on the environment, but it was enough for him.
Zyrus kept evading Nuckelavee’s attacks as the speed of the vortex became faster and faster. After the centrifugal force reached a tipping point, a crushing pressure descended at the center.
-1584
+1584
It was precisely at the torso of Nuckelavee. Such a method of manipulation was already enough to be considered a skill by the sanctuary’s standards.
However, Zyrus was just starting. He didn’t give the sanctuary a chance to send him a notification.
Zyrus had completely fine-tuned his mana after becoming a Sylvarix. While it may sound simple, it was anything but that.
A human and a Sylvarix were fundamentally different. He had to modify his knowledge from his past life to better suit his current race. This variation would become more and more evident as he leveled up and acquired new traits via blood fusion.
Zyrus waved his hand and half of the vortex sunk into the ocean. He also manipulated the mana in such a way that both halves of the vortex were following a different rhythm.
The one in the ocean used centrifugal force to increase the pressure, while the one on the surface of the ocean acted on the principle of hydrokinetic propulsion.
With a slight twist in trajectory, it was pushing the giant figure of Nuckelavee towards the pressurized point.
*Neeeigh*
-256,-1258-658
+256,+1258,+658
The players were already numb towards the numerous red and green numbers floating above Nuckelavee. The vortex tore apart its muscles, but even before its black blood could seep out from its yellow veins, they were already healed in the next instance.
It gave out a true feeling of invincibility. And it was for that reason that Zyrus, the one who was one-sidedly beating such a fearsome creature, became even more monstrous in their eyes.
Zyrus once again changed the flow of his mana. Augmented with the effects of avatar, the vortex and by extension the ocean also followed his will.
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After working on the flow and direction of the water, he focused on the tiny water molecules. The surrounding mana ceaselessly flowed into every atom and increased their kinetic motion.
The vortex was spinning at such a high speed that it became a blur in the players' eyes. Soon, white sparks of thunder formed on the bluish-black vortex.
The red damage numbers almost doubled in size, but still, Nuckelavee was healing just as fast. Its almost invincible trait forced it to endure the inhumane torture. The white sparks of thunder enveloped the entire vortex from top to bottom.
Even the players who were far away felt their bones tremble, much less the skinless monster who was trapped at the center.
[Congratulations! You have created a chain magic with the power of vortex]
[You have earned the achievement: Helm of the cyclone (A+)]
[You have obtained the skill: Vortex Manipulation (A)]
[SP+5]
Zyrus curved his lips after reading the text. While the skill wouldn’t allow him to get past the stalemate, it gave him the chance to relax his taut nerves.
A tremendous amount of calculation power was needed to execute the skill while grasping the accurate timing. But activating a skill with the sanctuary’s power was different in nature.
It was like using a calculator instead of calculating on paper. The difficulty was far less compared to the initial process.
‘Without centuries of hard work before my regression, I would have long since died at the hands of the aliens,’
There was no system on earth. He had to rely on his knowledge and practice to fight against the invaders.
“Can you hold on until morning?”
“I can with enough recovery potions,”
“Good then. This is quite anticlimactic by your standards though,”
Zyrus merely smirked at Ria’s words. While the battle between him and Nuckelavee looked high profile and majestic, nothing much had changed since the start.
Neither side was able to harm the other. Nuckelavee attacked once in a while, but the black whip and water bullets were easily dodged by Zyrus.
It wasn’t that the monster didn’t have any more moves, it was just that it couldn’t use them in the second phase.
Nuckelavee's rampage was limited due to Zyrus’s planning. If he didn’t drag the monster to the center of the fleet, if he didn’t use the vortex to prevent it from submerging into the ocean, then the results would have been catastrophic.
*Buuuuuuu*
The goblin riders’ bugle resounded once again. Eleven hours had passed since it warned them of the approaching night.
[You have survived against Nuckelavee!]
[You will no longer be attacked by The Warden of the sea.]
[Rewards: The Ocean's Testament, Ring of Sebek]
Apart from the system’s notification, they also made progress in the Flag march.
<{Congratulations! You have successfully opened up the ocean routes}>
<{You have met the conditions to create a unique authority}>
<{Achieve more feats and tier up your flag to complete the authority!}>
“Deactivate the barriers and activate the night’s blessing,” Zyrus’s voice brought the thrilled players back to reality.
Nuckelavee would no longer take the initiative to attack their ships, but the same didn’t apply the other way around.
‘The third and the final phase,’
-1,-3,-1,-2,-0,-1,
…
Zyrus’s solemn eyes landed on the monster that was forcibly breaking out from the vortex. Nuckelavee didn’t have the instant recovery trait in the third phase, but it was replaced by just as annoying ‘Absolute defense.’
“Are we still attacking it?”
“Of course, didn’t you just say it was anticlimactic by my standards?”
Ria was struck speechless by his words. Looking at the single-digit numbers, the current situation wasn’t much better from before.
“Just attack it with all your strength. You won’t earn any exp from this, but it’s a perfect target to improve your skills,”
Of course, the precondition to that was that they survived against its attacks. Nuckelavee's greatest offense was in the first phase.
Its threat was reduced to a minimum in later stages as it was just annoying to kill. But since the levels of Zyrus and everyone else were so low, all three phases were the same for them.
They would die if they took a single hit, and even if they managed to retaliate, it was impossible to harm their opponent.
“What are you planning?” Franken asked after looking at the busy players. It was quite a funny sight as their barrage of attacks didn’t even deal 1 damage to the struggling Nuckelavee.
“Do you know why I selected Papyrus plants and cursed iron nails?”
“What does that have to do with this? They’re both dark-natured, similar to this freak. It’s impossible to kill it unless you have something with light, fire, or holy attribute.”
“Who said I was going to kill it?” Zyrus scoffed at the reindeer’s disbelieving expression and deactivated the avatar skill.
Papyrus plants were associated with funerals and various sea-related rituals, whereas the cursed iron nails were made from the iron in the graveyards.
When selecting materials to create his fleet, how could Zyrus not consider the first threat they’ll face at the ocean?
“The ships have the ability to repair and enhance themselves. The enhancement stems from them absorbing the materials they were built with.”
Franken nodded as the scene of the ships draining the fish’s blood was still vivid in his memories.
“They are also being nourished with the players' will. Their sentience will keep developing as we roam across the vast oceans,”
“A-are you going with that method…” Having guessed his goals, Franken stuttered with a horrified look. He wasn’t this flustered even when Zyrus killed thousands of players in the crown hunt.
Slaughter and bloodshed were all too common in the sanctuary. However, there were still some taboos that were rarely broken.
‘Yasa Refinement’- a method in which living beings were used as a sacrifice. It was created by a notorious arcanist, A madman who sacrificed millions of lives to create artifacts using the most ‘efficient’ method.
Such acts infuriated and scared all powers residing in the sanctuary. Under the orders of one of the Eternals, the arcanist was hunted down and killed in the fifth ring.
“I obtained his research notes by chance. Do you know what he wrote about Nuckelavee?”
Zyrus paused to look at the dissipating vortex and answered his own question,
“The best lump of flesh in the entire sanctuary,”