Chapter 1180 - 583: The Great Conquest (Part 2)

What these adventurers did, and who interrupted the energy transmission just as the ritual was about to be completed, the shark beast knew all too well.

"The hunt is approaching, and the black tide will surely devour the coast."

"Merciful and great lord, God of the Deep Sea and Giant Sharks, any arrogant who dares to defy your will... will surely be punished."

The unfamiliar Sha Hua Fishman language was incomprehensible, not knowing what the enemy was saying.

Aware that interrupting the ritual may very likely turn him into a target for the enemy.

Xia Nan kept his eyes fixed on the Blood Skin Shark Beast and the Fishman Priest in front of him, highly alert to their every move.

Meanwhile, the Fishman Commander, whom he had just entangled with and embarrassingly disarmed with one hand, would not stand idly by and watch.

Recovering from the pain of a knee strike, it snarled lowly and lunged toward Xia Nan.

Reacting promptly, Xia Nan sidestepped and raised his left arm, using the Snake Scale Arm Shield to block the Fishman’s claw strike. At the same time, his right hand swiftly slashed upwards with a straight sword, the sharp blade slicing through with the aid of great force, severing the Fishman’s left arm.

Glowing blue blood splattered from the wound onto his face, and he kicked the Fishman’s abdomen to create distance, then advanced with force. The grey-black straight sword spun through the air in a crescent arc, sending half of the opponent’s head flying.

Maintaining vigilance, even amidst the intense battle, Xia Nan continued to keep an eye on the altar’s situation.

However, the opponent in front of him was a powerful Fishman Commander.

Even having lost its weapon and its combat power significantly reduced, it still required focused attention to deal with.

So when Xia Nan executed the final [Vortex Slash] to end a strike, his original attention toward the altar was inevitably somewhat distracted.

And it was during this less than a second’s lapse of attention.

When he turned around with the sword to look back at the altar.

What appeared before him was the Fishman Priest slowly raising its head.

Buzz—

A vast shadow loomed, and a strong scent of blood suddenly rushed into his nose with the breath, creating a sense of mortal danger erupting from within him.

From the body’s rear side, came the mournful wail of air being torn apart.

Without the slightest hesitation, almost instinctively.

On the index finger of his right hand, the magical radiance of the silver-white ring engraved with subtle patterns on the inside wall burst forth.

One of the trump cards, usable only once a day, the "Deflection Field" from the [Dead Line] ring, turned into a russet semi-transparent shield, enveloping Xia Nan’s entire body.

As the level of combat increased, this enchanted equipment, which had helped him much at the adventuring outset, was beginning to lag a bit behind.

Xia Nan hadn’t even seen the specific scene of the shield colliding with the enemy attack, when the russet shield had already, with a violent tremor, shattered into drifting star debris.

But nonetheless, the [Dead Line] ring still managed to gain its wearer the most precious half-second.

Allowing Xia Nan to complete a half-turn, raising his left arm shield to block in front.

Only then did he finally see the Blood Skin Shark Beast that had vanished from the spot, and...

The massive shark beast iron fist, almost as large as half his body, wrapped in scarlet blood wind, crashing down amid a sonic boom.

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

In the pitch-black eyes reflected the ferocious figure emitting a bloody aura in front of him, Xia Nan could even see the viscous saliva falling from the Shark Beast’s fangs due to high speed movement, and the slightly sunken skin on its knuckles from the contact with the Snake Scale Arm Shield.

Then...

"Bang boom!!!"

As if hit head-on by a high-speed train, Xia Nan felt an overwhelmingly powerful force coming from his left arm, coursing through muscles and bones, permeating his entire body.

A crackling sound of bones breaking echoed in his ears.

But at this moment, Xia Nan lacked the ability to discern which part of his body had suffered critical injuries.

His consciousness, under the impact of the immense force, was nearly scattered.

Not adept at defense to begin with, relying on mobility and maneuvering in battle, his margin for error was entirely upheld by equipment and battle skills.

Taking a punch head-on nearly made his life flash before his eyes.

Fortunately, the massive gold coin investment on his gear, enough for an ordinary person to live a stable life, played its role at this critical moment.

As the most fragile yet most essential first layer of defense, the precious enchanted accessories, the [Dead Line] ring, with its "Deflection Field," first partially mitigated the force of the Shark Beast’s punch;

Then, the Dark Scale Guard, of blue rare quality, primarily made of Exotic Legendary Creature scales, with its "High level Toughness" effect, further absorbed a significant amount of damage for Xia Nan;

The third layer of protection was the Abyssal Stream armor, offering "+10% blunt damage resistance," though it emphasized underwater mobility over defense capability, it still wasn’t weak in defense, further diminishing the force transferred to him.

Through these three levels of protection, by the time the punch from the Blood Skin Shark Beast, separated by the arm shield and armor, landed on Xia Nan, much of its force had been neutralized.

Thus he didn’t immediately lose consciousness and fall into a near-death state.

Instead, in intense pain, his awareness blurred and he was subsequently sent flying by the accompanying tremendous impact force.

"Splash."

The sound of falling into water came from the distant sea.

The sudden change in the battlefield situation exceeded all adventurers’ expectations.

From their perspective, even though their advantageous position had halted because of the Fishman Priest’s casting, and they were in a tough battle, they were still within the capable range.

Even the sacrificial ceremony itself was stopped by the young adventurer nicknamed "Haiya."

But with the injured Blood Skin Shark Beast’s appearance, the Fishmen entangled with them seemed to receive some form of morale boost, becoming even more fierce.

The sound of breaking through the air was fleeting, and Sarisa, who witnessed the whole event from a distance, even with the dynamic vision of the Wanderer profession, could only see a vague scarlet blood shadow.

There was simply no time to warn, and the Blood Skin Shark Beast was already at Xia Nan’s rear side.

And then watched helplessly as he was hit with a punch, sent hurtling backward like a cannonball, and plunged into the sea.

Hailing from the Divine Country of Sekola, God of Giant Sharks and Deep Sea, this Blood Skin Shark Beast possessed a higher intelligence and emotional control than its kind.

After punching Xia Nan away, it did not get swept away by the battlefield’s fervor, attacking the surrounding creatures blindly.

Instead, it lowered its head, glanced at the diamond impression on its fist from the arm shield, and then cast a gaze toward the distant sea.

Recalling the force from the brief contact earlier, it knew that such a blow probably didn’t instant-kill as expected.

But it should at least have inflicted a serious injury.

The water environment inherently favored the Fishmen, much like sharks drawn to the smell of blood. With Xia Nan falling into the water, the lurking Sha Hua Fishmen in the surrounding waters began to swim toward the spot where he fell.

The outcome was already decided.

Bearing a mission to the Material Realm, with numerous tasks from various fronts, the Blood Skin Shark Beast withdrew its gaze, turning its attention to the adventurers who were fiercely battling with the Fishmen.

These greedy and cunning scum, having relentlessly invaded the lands that originally belonged to them over the years, building ugly structures like parasites on islands, sailing their ridiculous boats through territories not belonging to them.

The merciful and great lord endured too much, causing these most despicable, lowly little bugs to dare overreach, even forgetting the fear from the deep sea and shark fins that should cause them to tremble in their beds.

Today.

Using Stodd Island and the Moon Tide Banquet as the nodes.

Starting with the blood of the adventurers before them.

[God of Giant Sharks and Deep Sea], the majestic and powerful "Sekola," will lead His most devout Sha Hua Fishman followers toward a great conquest facing the entire ocean.