Chapter 127 - Kill a Spirit Soldier (1/2)

Thud! Splash!

The heap of meat consisting of Ye, Hei, Lian, and Pang Ja-Kyung precipitously fell into the freezing ocean waters. Even though the spirit soldier Pang Ja-Kyung did his best to avoid ending up in the water with his flying ability, he alone was unable to hold such a large amount of cargo. So, all he got was just to slow down the falling a little.

The one to suffer the most significant impact was Ye, who first came to touch the water. However, Ye had a resistant body due to the Law of Metal, and therefore that fall had no major consequences on her. Immediately after Ye, Pang Ja-Kyung suffered the most from the fall. Hei had, in fact, controlled the descent so that his enemy would first fell into the water. In doing so, he sharply reduced the impact for him and Lian behind his back.

The four, after coming into contact with the surface of the water, continued to sink. Ye had wrapped her tail over Hei and Pang Ja-Kyung and was dragging them down until she stopped about 5 meters underwater. After reaching five meters, Ye stopped and turned to look at Hei.

'Big brother, now what? Do you want me to finish this one here?' Ye asked as she tilted her head and uncovered her fangs as if she meant she could easily bite Pang Ja-Kyung.

'No, go back to Xing. Kill that second-level seagull and recover its body. Even if you have reached the second level, you are just advanced. I have faith in you, and I know that both of you can kill such an enemy on your own, but since we are in advantage, why do we have to risk suffering deep wounds? There are still enemies around us, and it is better to save our strength.' Hei replied to his little sister via spirit message.

'Alright. Then I'll go immediately. I'll come back in a little while.'

At that point, the large three-meter snake began to rise rapidly to the surface. Pang Ja-Kyung raised a sigh of relief within himself. For a moment, he had believed that his end would come at the hands of that hideous creature, but it hadn't happened. He didn't know why they hadn't finished him, but he couldn't waste that chance. With all his might, he tried to fly up to the surface. However, Pang Ja-Kyung soon realized that no matter how hard he tried it, he couldn't move from where he was.

The reason? It was simple - the ribbon Lian had tied around Hei and Pang Ja-Kyung. Lian had put her spirit power into this ribbon and had hardened it. By commanding it through her spirit power, she could cause the ribbon to remain motionless at a specific point, thereby immobilizing those who had been trapped.

'Lian, go. Stop anyone from coming down here.' Hei quickly ordered Lian to continue with the plan he had formulated to counter Pang Ja-Kyung. Hei had already planned to move the combat underwater to counter the enemy's flying ability; it was just that the presence of the seagulls' flock and the second-level seagull had forced him to modify the details of his plan in a short time. But in the end, things had gone smoothly.

Lian nodded and quickly returned to the surface as well. Now, five meters underwater, there were only Hei, and Pang Ja-Kyung squeezed in that strange cocoon of spiderweb and hair, held in place by the silver silk ribbon with reddish veins. Even though Lian had returned to the surface, with her spirit power, she could still control the five-meter long ribbon.

'So Pang Ja-Kyung, how about seeing who resists most underwater?' Hei faintly smiled as he addressed these words to his enemy a few inches away.

'Crazy! What do you think this farce is for? Do you want to turn our fight into a shallow breath-holding game? Don't make me laugh; I'll definitely kill you.'

'Shallow game? Pang Ja-Kyung, this isn't a game. It is a hunt, and the situation you are in now is nothing more than the trap I have designated to hunt the prey known as Pang Ja-Kyung.' With those words, Hei slowly started to move his neck to rest it on Pang Ja-Kyung's.

'Hey! What are you doing? What do you want to do?' Pang Ja-Kyung asked in an agitated voice, unable to understand the reason for that move. Wasn't it a dispute to whoever breathed the most?

'Spider Bite!'

Two half-moon blades of spirit power emerged from the two lateral sides of Hei's throat. These blades impacted the defensive layer that still protected Pang Ja-Kyung's body. However, that defensive layer had previously been eroded by the consecutive attacks of Ye and Xing. Indeed, Pang Ja-Kyung had spent much of his spirit power to resist the spider and snake pair, even though their attacks hadn't lasted for a long time.

The trap Hei had devised wasn't a simple competition of holding their breath. With Spider Bite, he could continue attacking without repercussions despite the situation he was in. It didn't matter that he was underwater or that his whole body was tied to the enemy's, as long as his head remained free, Hei had multiple ways to continue the fight. This notion, however, wasn't true at all for Pang Ja-Kyung, who could only hope that his spirit power would last long enough for someone to come and save him.

Out of the water, he still had his Great Black-backed Gull, who was currently fighting Xing. The two creatures were tight in a deadly dance as they flew quickly around the battlefield. The second-level seagull, despite being in the middle of combat, had noticed the danger of its master, but it couldn't get rid of that spider that was sinking her legs on its body. Its beak, whom it was so proud of, was unable to break the armor-like exoskeleton of that purple spider with silver patterns.

Keow! Keow! Keow!

Therefore, the Great Black-backed Gull ordered the members of its still-alive flock to go and save its master in its stead. The flock gulls immediately obeyed its command, interrupting their attack on the artifact ship.

”What's going on?” Ho Yeon-Hong wondered to herself.

The gray-haired young woman was breathing heavily, and her sword had now turned scarlet red from the gull blood with which she had stained herself. On the ship's deck, there were dozens of bodies of seagulls with visible blade wounds. Around the ship, an azure-colored oval barrier had been erected by the new defense mechanism of the artifact ship.