Chapter 215 ·Revival

“Damn it!”

Lilia only had time to curse in her mind.

Even though she had been prepared, she hadn’t expected the suction force to be this strong.

The life energy within her body surged wildly into the mermaid like a breached dam.

The rate of loss was enough to make one’s scalp go numb.

Her originally abundant vitality began to bottom out within just a few seconds, replaced by a hollowed-out weakness.

Her palms felt like they were glued in place—she couldn’t pull them away at all.

“System! Is this saving someone or committing suicide?!”

Lilia gritted her teeth, cold sweat pouring down her forehead.

【Hold on! This is a normal reaction!】

Even the system sounded a bit panicked, speaking rapidly.

【Her body is too thirsty—her instinctive reaction is a bit excessive… don’t worry, you have the Seed of Life as a foundation, she can’t drain you dry! At most you’ll just feel weak for a few days!】

Weak for a few days?

Lilia wanted to curse.

But it was already too late to say anything now.

If she didn’t satisfy this “great Buddha,” the one who would die first might be herself.

“Go on, keep sucking! Suck yourself to death for all I care!”

Lilia hardened her resolve.

Since she couldn’t pull away, she might as well take control!

She stopped resisting the suction and instead steeled herself, forcefully pushing all the energy in her body over at once.

She had worked for the Demon Queen—what was this compared to that!

Boom—

As this unreserved energy poured in—

That “corpse” lying on the ground suddenly trembled violently.

The deathly petrified texture began to recede at a visible rate.

The previously dry and dull long hair suddenly regained a deep ocean-blue luster, even beginning to float slightly in the air as if infused with life.

Then—

A series of cracking sounds rang out.

Lilia suddenly felt the texture under her hands soften.

The skin that had been as hard as stone cracked open into countless fissures.

And beneath those cracks—

A dazzling, blinding azure light surged wildly.

Like a sprout about to break through the soil, or an undersea volcano erupting from the depths.

An extremely pure, extremely powerful pressure burst forth from this seemingly delicate body.

Lilia’s vision blurred.

The terrifying suction force suddenly vanished.

Replaced by a massive repelling force.

Bang!

Her entire body was flung backward, rolling several times before slamming into a stone pillar and finally stopping.

“Hiss—”

Lilia clutched her waist, gasping in pain.

That was only because her current physique was abnormal—if it had been someone else, their spine would’ve probably snapped from that impact.

She raised her head.

The sight before her made even Lilia, who had seen countless grand scenes, freeze for a moment.

The gray-white old skin covering the mermaid was peeling away inch by inch, turning into crystalline powder that drifted through the air.

And beneath that shell—

A new life was awakening.

That massive fish tail was no longer dull gray, but had transformed into a translucent icy blue. Each scale resembled the finest sapphire, refracting dazzling light.

She slowly propped herself up from the ground.

Though her movements were still somewhat stiff, the elegance and danger of a top predator were already fully revealed.

The mermaid turned her head.

In that instant—

Lilia met her eyes.

Those were not human eyes.

They were pupils composed entirely of deep blue whirlpools, without any whites.

Cold, arrogant, ethereal.

As if they contained the solitude of the entire deep sea.

Under that gaze, Lilia felt as if her blood was about to freeze.

This was no pitiful being in need of help.

This was a deep-sea beast that had just awakened.

And it looked… not in a good mood.

The mermaid did not speak.

She simply looked at Lilia quietly, tilting her head slightly, as if examining this strange creature that had just poured something into her body.

Then—

She raised her hand and gently touched her chest.

There, a warm glow was flowing.

“Um…”

Lilia swallowed, trying to break the awkward and dangerous silence.

Before she could finish—

Boom!

A loud explosion came from above.

The entire bone palace shook violently as countless bone fragments rained down.

The Immortality Society’s fleet had clearly noticed the anomaly here.

Although Dora was causing chaos, the flagship’s main cannon still seized an opening and fired a vicious shot this way.

The dark green energy beam tore through the air, carrying a destructive force as it shot toward the top of the palace.

Lilia’s face changed.

This is bad.

She had been too focused on admiring the beauty and forgot there was still danger overhead.

If that shot landed, forget the treasure—she wouldn’t even need an urn.

She instinctively tried to activate “Time Stop” to save herself.

But the next second—

The mermaid, who had just been standing there in a daze, moved.

She didn’t even turn to look at the incoming attack.

She merely waved that pale, slender hand impatiently.

Like brushing away an annoying fly.

“So noisy.”

That raised finger looked soft, lacking any strength.

But the air above the sea instantly froze.

Then, the flagship’s main cannon—still charging, ready to obliterate the palace and everything beneath it—was suddenly crushed as if gripped by an invisible giant hand.

The screech of twisting metal filled the air.

That black steel warship, under everyone’s watchful eyes, was compressed into a sphere.

Along with the gray-robed lunatics of the Immortality Society aboard it—none of them even had time to scream before being fused into that lump of scrap metal.

Splash.

The massive iron ball fell into the Black Sea, sending up waves dozens of meters high before quickly sinking without even a bubble.

As for the remaining escort ships—

At the same moment the flagship was crushed, several torrents surged up from beneath the sea, like the sharpest water blades, slicing them into perfectly even fragments.

The entire process took less than three seconds.

The sea, which had just been filled with explosions and chaos, now fell into a silence broken only by the wind whistling through the gaps in the bones.

Lilia pressed herself against the wall.

She suddenly felt that if she hadn’t transferred that energy earlier and had instead let this being turn into a stone ornament, it might have been safer.

“Um…”

Lilia swallowed, her eyes darting around as she frantically thought about whether it was too late to pretend to be dead.

But the mermaid, who had just cleared the battlefield, clearly had no intention of letting her go.

That massive icy-blue tail lightly tapped the ground.

Without any heavy impact sound, her body floated lightly into the air, drifting toward Lilia.

Every hair on Lilia’s body stood on end.

She could clearly see the mermaid’s damp seaweed-like hair still dripping water. Every drop that fell onto the bones emitted a sizzling corrosive sound.

Is that acidic too?!

Lilia shrank back until her back was firmly pressed against the cold bone wall, with nowhere left to retreat.

“B-Big sister.”

Lilia raised both hands in a standard gesture of surrender, forcing out a smile uglier than crying.

“Well… now that you’re awake and fine, can I just…”

Leave?

She didn’t dare say the last two words.

Because that massive icy-blue tail was already nearly touching the tip of her nose.

Those deep blue vortex-like pupils, without any whites, stared down at her from above—emotionless, carrying only a suffocating scrutiny.

Like studying some strange insect that had wandered into its territory.

Lilia’s heart sank.

This is bad.

Creatures with this level of terrifying power usually didn’t think normally. Maybe being saved by a lowly human was an insult to her, and now she was preparing to silence the witness.

Lilia’s hand quietly moved toward the dagger at her waist while she frantically called out to the system in her mind.

“System! Stop playing dead! Give me a way out! I need to run!”

【Host, the space here is sealed. Teleportation won’t work. And…】

The system’s voice sounded slightly amused.