Chapter 542 The Premature Ritual

On the surface, Xia Nan and the Windforged Squad had no real enmity.

Before noon today, they hadn't even met face-to-face, only trading in rumors and passing news.

Had they crossed paths on a crowded street or in an Association hall packed with adventurers, Zephyr, the Windforged captain, might even have nodded in greeting to Xia Nan as they passed.

But the timing of this encounter was far too delicate.

From the Windforged perspective, they were looking at an elite adventurer with a solid reputation in the Southern Archipelagos—known as "Sea Fang"—who had split from his usual team to operate alongside an unknown Halfling.

Moreover, he was currently locked in a bitter stalemate with a powerful, bizarre-looking monster.

Adventurers were, ultimately, adventurers.

Their Class Level and combat experience might be vastly superior to the lowly grunts wrestling with Goblins in the woods, but deep down, they were the exact same breed of creature.

When running into peers on a quest, those willing to lend a helping hand were always in the minority. The vast majority preferred to sit on the sidelines, waiting to see how the situation unfolded while looking for a chance to take advantage.

The Windforged Squad didn't know—and didn't care—about the Deep-Sea Resonance Stone inside the Shark Beast's stomach.

What truly provoked Zephyr's murderous hostility was his own greed. He wanted Xia Nan's equipment, his gold, and the fame that would come from killing "Sea Fang."

Of course, the familiarity their sworn enemies, the Raging Tide Warband, had shown Xia Nan back at the Glass Oar tavern also played a part.

On the other side stood Tieg of the Raging Tide Warband. Having just slaughtered a group of Sahuagin that had inexplicably emerged from the sea to attack them, he had hurried over at the sound of the commotion, only to see Xia Nan battling the Shark Beast. Given their mutual connection to Auriel, Tieg didn't mind lending Xia Nan a hand—provided the monster's strength didn't exceed what they could handle.

And in fact, that was exactly what he had been about to do.

Until he spotted the Windforged Squad on the other side, striking a combat posture as if ready to jump into the fray at any second.

The already chaotic battlefield instantly froze.

"Damn it, why are these guys here too?" a dwarven adventurer behind him asked in surprise.

Tieg didn't reply. His round eyes stared into the distance, meeting the gaze of Zephyr, who stood at the very front of his own team.

The grudge between the Windforged and the Raging Tide Warband was long-standing. Right now, the tension between them was a powder keg; the slightest spark would be enough to set it off.

Meeting on Stodd Island, the two squads had only maintained their restraint under their respective captains because of their commissioned quests and the upcoming Lunar Tide Banquet.

Now, if the Windforged stepped in to gang up on Xia Nan, the Raging Tide Warband wouldn't just stand by and watch—whether out of their own personal grudge or because of Xia Nan's connection to Auriel.

Conversely, if the Raging Tide Warband entered the fray to help Xia Nan, the Windforged—who had already shown clear aggressive intent and placed themselves in total opposition to "Sea Fang"—wouldn't necessarily back down either.

All things considered, the dozen or so veteran adventurers with formal Class Grades unanimously halted their actions, standing on opposite sides of the beach in a tense standoff.

Meanwhile, the battle between Xia Nan and the Shark Beast had reached its most intense stage.

A profound black wolf, formed entirely of pitch-black energy, circled the Shark Beast with agile grace.

Its slender limbs tapped lightly across the sand, effortlessly dodging claw strikes and bites capable of tearing through steel, leaving deep, bone-exposing gashes across the enemy's body.

Unfortunately, perhaps because the sword strike that had severely wounded the Shark Beast at the very start of the battle had put it on high alert, it no longer gave Xia Nan any openings to launch a full-powered attack combining multiple combat techniques like [Gravity Etching] and [Heavy Tide]. It left room to dodge and counter with every strike, making it difficult for Xia Nan to end the fight quickly.

On the other hand, the Shark Beast's cautious behavior allowed Xia Nan to completely control the tempo of the battlefield, tipping the scales of victory entirely in his favor.

Xia Nan estimated that in about ten more exchanges, the accumulated wounds he had inflicted would undergo a qualitative change, completely exhausting the Shark Beast and allowing him to deliver a fatal killing blow.

For whatever reason—perhaps because it truly felt its stamina draining and had no counter to the slippery black wolf, or perhaps because it sensed the threat from the adventurers standing on either side of the beach—the fury in the scarred Shark Beast's heart quietly faded alongside its heavy blood loss. A small sliver of genuine rationality returned to its brain.

"Roar!!!" it bellowed maniacally.

Its arms swung violently around it like pendulums, forcing back Xia Nan as he tried to close in.

At the same time, throwing all caution to the wind, it once again opened its disproportionately massive maw, gathering an incredibly dense concentration of water vapor inside.

Knowing the enemy was about to use its water-jet attack, Xia Nan locked his gaze and focused his attention.

Prepared for this, he was entirely capable of dodging the moment the water stream fired, relying on his explosive power and agility.

Meanwhile, the physical stiffness that followed the monster's water blast would create the perfect window for Xia Nan to deal damage, allowing him to take it out for good with a single strike of [Gravity Etching].

But unexpectedly, under Xia Nan's watchful eyes, a sly gleam flashed through the Shark Beast's murky, fishy eyes just a split second before the liquid gathered in its throat could burst forth.

The shark head aiming right at Xia Nan suddenly dipped, shifting the water stream's target from Xia Nan's body to the ground right beneath its own feet.

"Rumble!!!" The highly compressed jet of water blasted into the sandy beach. The immense impact instantly cratered the ground beneath the Shark Beast.

At the exact same time, the Shark Beast's thick, stubby legs bent to gather power. It shifted its center of gravity backward and explosively leaped the moment the water stream fired. As its feet left the ground, the explosive force of its leg muscles combined with the recoil of the water blast.

The resulting effect turned the Shark Beast's heavy, muscular body into a massive grayish-blue blur, sending it flying backward toward the ocean surface like a propelled bomb.

It was trying to run away!

The few Shark Beasts he had encountered previously had all fought to the bitter end, so Xia Nan genuinely hadn't considered the possibility that this one might flee.

Even so, he reacted the very instant the water blasted and the monster's feet left the ground.

The sea might be the enemy's home turf, but empowered by the [Abyssal Current] armor set, his own underwater combat abilities were vastly enhanced.

There was no reason to let a heavily injured enemy escape right in front of his eyes and needlessly add risks to his adventuring career.

A sonorous wolf howl exploded through the air.

The Shark Beast and the black wolf plunged into the sea, one right after the other.

This left only the two adventurer squads—the Raging Tide Warband and the Windforged—standing on opposite sides of the beach in their tense standoff.

The core region of Stodd, the Isle of a Thousand Piles.

Past the shallow sea and the sandy beach, past the sprawling wooden platforms stretching outward, lay the center of Stodd Island.

The clamor brought by the adventurers faded deep within the cold forest winds.

Taking its place was the rustling of leaves and the tranquil, unfamiliar chirping of insects.

Stout Water-Iron Wood trees rose from the earth, their dense canopies blocking out the blazing sun overhead and casting profound shadows onto the leaf-strewn ground.

Thanks to the protection of the local Pile Dwellers, this forest in the island's core zone had practically become a sacred site on Stodd Island. Logging was strictly prohibited, and foreign visitors were not even allowed to enter.

—

Having grown for who knew how many years, the trunks of these Water-Iron Wood trees were so thick it would take several people linking arms to encircle one. Their bark had evolved into a deep, almost ink-black brown covered in cracked textures. Illuminated by the occasional ray of sunlight piercing the canopy, one could faintly catch the metallic luster refracting off their surfaces.

"Rustle—" Accompanied by the subtle sound of a long, hard object dragging against the ground, an exceptionally tall figure walked unhurriedly through this ancient woodland.

At first glance, he looked like nothing more than the most ordinary of human travelers.

A dark travel cloak covered his head. The shadow cast by the hood obscured half his face, revealing only a sharp jawline and the contours of his neck. As he moved, the faint metallic clinking of armor under the cloak could be heard.

But if one drew a little closer and observed carefully, the anomalies that distinguished him from ordinary humans could no longer be hidden.

There were the translucent fleshy scales on the backs of his hands, exposed by the hem of the cloak swaying back and forth with his movements.

There were the thick, platinum-blonde locks of hair spilling from inside the hood, dense as an animal's mane.

There were those amber, slit-like pupils, half-hidden in the shadows, slowly dilating and contracting with the shifts in ambient light.

And then there was the long tail dragging out from beneath the cloak, lined with fine platinum scales, swaying rhythmically from side to side with every step.

A dragonborn!

Like Sarissa, his bloodline was thin; aside from the fleshy scales on his body and those slitted pupils, his appearance was otherwise indistinguishable from a human.

Yet in stark contrast, the long tail dragging behind him proclaimed his racial identity with an incredible presence.

"Crack." The heavy tail swept over a dead branch, snapping it with a crisp sound.

As it occasionally trailed through the dapples of sunlight in the forest, one could faintly make out a hue of verdant green—much like sea algae—tucked between the tightly packed platinum scales on its surface.

And it was exactly this trait that had served as this dragonborn's famous epithet across the Southern Archipelagos for many years:

—"Algae Scale" Dodd.

By now, several dozen minutes had passed since he received the news of the Sahuagin attacking the port.

Having Stodd Island firmly under his control, his long-established intelligence network had delivered the report within minutes of the incident breaking out.

Not just at the port and docks, but reports of fishmen coming ashore had flooded in from all along Stodd Island's coast.

He had to admit that his carefully laid plans had been somewhat derailed by this.

The Lunar Tide Banquet marked the day when magic particles in the air were at their most active throughout the entire Sea Rhythm Festival.

Which was exactly why he had chosen that day to hold the ritual.

Dodd had indeed struck a deal with the Sahuagin: he would hand over the adventurers drawn to the island for the Lunar Tide Banquet as sacrifices, and in exchange, the fishmen would provide an ample supply of Deep-Sea Resonance Stones.

But just as he had never intended to honor his end of the bargain from the very start, the fishmen clearly weren't going to wait until the banquet concluded to make their move either.

He had long anticipated this.

He felt a tinge of regret that the ambient magic particles hadn't yet reached the peak activity they would hit on the day of the banquet. However, a difference of merely a few days meant that even if the effects were slightly diminished, it still met the ritual's requirements.

"Errrgh—" His chest rose and fell as a bizarre noise—somewhere between a human sigh and a reptilian purr—escaped his slightly parted lips.

Dodd came to a halt.

Tilting his jaw up slightly, his amber slitted pupils peered forward.

Entering his vision was a circular clearing that looked exceptionally jarring amidst the dense forest.

As if repelled by some invisible force, the fallen leaves and dead branches were kept entirely outside its perimeter.

Bathed in bright sunlight, the ground inside was a soft, verdant meadow.

Sitting squarely in the center of the clearing was a bizarrely shaped little pavilion.

It was woven together from six Water-Iron Wood trees.

As if purposefully guided by some power since they were saplings, these Water-Iron Wood trees had grown close to one another, intertwining and fusing. Their thick roots paved the floor, their twisted trunks acted as supporting pillars, and their branches and pine needles were woven into a domed roof.

Densely packed, intricate symbols were carved into the pavilion's floor and the surfaces of the trunks, looking much like ancient formation patterns. Dotting the structure were translucent, deep-blue crystals. Breathing rhythmically, they absorbed the magic in the surrounding air, pulsing with a luminescent blue glow in tandem with the formation lines connecting them.

If any adventurer participating in the event were present, they would instantly recognize these as the specially processed Deep-Sea Resonance Stones required for the quest!

His gaze swept carefully over every single Deep-Sea Resonance Stone embedded in the pavilion's surface. Judging by the intensity of the magical light they emitted, he confirmed they were fully charged.

"Algae Scale" Dodd strode forward, walking straight to the center of the pavilion.

He stopped.

Lowering his eyelids slightly, he reached both hands—covered in translucent fleshy scales—inside his cloak and clasped them together over his chest, as if grasping some object.

His lips moved soundlessly.

"Hum—" The Deep-Sea Resonance Stones, which had been pulsing steadily with blue light, abruptly ceased their rhythm.

A brief pause.

Then, the light violently erupted.

Brilliant blue light surged along the runic grooves carved into the Water-Iron Wood, flowing through the nodes formed by each Resonance Stone, and converged directly on where Dodd stood.

A shrill, piercing screech of high-frequency energy vibrations echoed through the forest.

"Boom!!!" A blinding pillar of luminescent blue light shot up from the center of the pavilion, piercing straight into the heavens.

The cloud layer was thrust apart. Expanding outward from the top of the beam, translucent, concentric ripples began to slowly descend.

Like an overturned, luminescent blue dome, it draped over the entire island at a speed that appeared slow, but was utterly inescapable.