Xi Wei had been writing his script in his Divine Kingdom. After checking the time and finding it almost right, he energized this transmigration powers.
“Although I can’t directly interfere with the trial, it’s probably okay for the Players to devoutly repay me after finding the Sea Sapphires!
Hence, Xi Wei began the self-directed act he had been preparing for some time.
***
At the moment, it wasn’t just the seven parties who had found the seven Sea Sapphires sitting around in the Frogmen Village. The other Players had also seen their various posts of spoiler images, which was why they had all stopped farming fishmen and ran there to watch.
Without the Lord of Dimensions’ interference, time moved the same for everyone.
Hence, as every Player watched, the countdown timer for the quest finally ticked down zero.
In the very next instant, the Sea Sapphires within the Players’ hands unleashed a blue radiance that shot up to the horizon.
Afterwards, the skies that had only been covered by clouds became dark and gloomy, with purple-blue lightning streaking between the clouds.
One could faintly see an enormous serpentine form wafting across the clouds too.
“What is that? What just happened?” Edward watched as it all unfolded, taken aback.
Then, the Sea Sapphires in their hands rose into the air!
…well, not all of them.
“Ooooooooh! I’m not letting you get away!” Terrosche had tightly clenched his hands over his own Sea Sapphire, pressing the weight of his entire body over it to stop it from rising.
“Brother! Brother Terrosche!” Silva, too, tightly wrapped himself around Terrosche’s feet to add a bit of weight.
“I think now’s the time to let go…” Terry advised quietly beside them.
“No, this has to be the Ocean God’s trick to get the gems from us!” Terrosche yelled.
The Players could only stare at the pair as if they were idiots.
This is clearly the continuation of their quest. Isn’t what they’re doing completely unnecessary?
Eventually, there was a burst of blue light from Terrosche’s Sea Sapphire that sent those two flying, and only then did it rose into the air with the other Sea Sapphires vanish into the clouds.
But just as the Players thought that it was over, the serpentine silhouette suddenly let loose an ear-shattering bellow. Almost every Player immediately put their hands over their years by reflex, but they soon noticed that their HP was still falling despite doing that!
“It’s just one roar, but we completely couldn’t stop it… what the heck is that?” Princess Leah asked in pain.
“I am the patron deity of the fishmen, serving the great Ocean God. How dare you maggots hurt my believers! I shall kill every last one of you vermin after I retrieve the Sapphires!
Oh sh*t. It actually really was an enemy allied to the Ocean God?
Everyone’s stares were full of respect as they turned to Terrosche’s comedic duo.
However, Leah who had seen and known much was confused. Didn’t the fishfolk believe in the Lord of Tides? How did another god with direct ties to their race pop out?
Shenron(1)…. Or, to be precise, the voice of the fishmen’s god was endlessly powerful, and the Players were losing HP even though it was merely normal conversation.
Some of the weaker classes and newbies were left with a fraction of their HP and about to expire.
But as the Players faced their direst moment, a white light shone upon the other side of the skies.
That radiance shot through the thick clouds and easily illuminated half the skies, a stark difference from the thunder and lightning of the other side.
It was warm like the sun, as gentle as the winds of spring and a light filled with life.
The Players realized then that their HP wasn’t dropping anymore. At the same time, some of the Players with better vision noticed that the shape of a ball seemed to have appeared vaguely at the clouds behind the light.
Could it be the God of Games? Some Players were remembering the god’s statue at the Valley of the Tragic by connection, and yet assuming that their god was a ball felt a little insolent.
“Begone!”
The ball of light had merely cried out loud, but the distant thunder, lightning and darkness faded immediately like winter snow against the sun. The enormous serpentine shadow behind the clouds seemed to be grievously hurt right then, yelling ‘no—!’ as it shriveled and rapidly disappeared, and that part of the skies soon reverted to the normal winter weather.
If their HP bars were not slowly recovering, the Players would actually had believed that they were seeing things.
Meanwhile, the ball figure moved a part of itself that looked like its hand, and seven blue dots of light hence wafted away from the clouds.
They began to whirl, rotating more and more rapidly before finally fusing into a massive blue halo. Then, with a shove from the ball, it shot towards the Ocean Eye at the heart of Fishmen Island!
The moment the halo struck the Ocean Eye, it turned into a gigantic magical circle that shrouded the Ocean Eye (weirdly, the fishmen beneath it were going about their buiness as if nothing happened, although the Players’ vision clearly could not see that) before fading slowly and entirely.
The ball of light vanished from behind the clouds too, and the Players never did see its true form in the end.
After that, the Players heard a stirring sound right beside their ears.
[Ding!]
[Winter Swimming Event—Dawn of Fishmen Island—Third Phase]
[Event introduction: The great and noble God of Games has repelled the fishmen god and in turn used the Sea Sapphires to seal the Ocean Eye, denying their race the ability to invade land on a wider scale. Even so, many fishmen remain on the island and are a great threat to the Frogmen Village! O brave Players, now is the time to show your courage to wipe out every last fishman!]
[Event details: Clear every monster on Fishmen Island. Aside from the normal item exchange, each monster culled is awarded 1 to 10 clear points based on the monster’s power level, and when the third phase of the event is over the Player with the highest clear points would be awarded with the legendary gold item ‘Fishman Must Die’]
[Players in the top ten would also be rewarded with the rare purple item ‘Venomous Fish Fin Longsword’, while everyone in the top thirty would obtain the elite blue item ‘Fishman Helm (Dolphin Style)’]
[Note: This is not ethnic cleansing but merely a culling of overbred cockroaches at home, so don’t pay it too much mind—Mistolin, Anti-Fishfolk Strategist]
