"Teleportation Talisman? The fuck!" Varian cursed. His nerves tensed as his palms sweated.
If he missed this chance, then it'd be hard to get the key.
If he was a peak level 7, he'd have more chances.
But with his current strength, his chances of getting the key at another location were next to none.
"…" Varian rubbed his eyebrows and sighed. This was beyond his control now. He could only do what he could.
'Maybe it's a lie.'
Perhaps.
Now that he thought about it, it was an excellent tactic to lure out the hiding peak level 7s.
Of course, it could also be the truth.
The only way to find out was to go there himself.
"Haa~" Varian took a deep breath and turned around.
"Roar!"
Fifty mermen lowered their heads.
They were all mid-level 7.
They were capable of defeating any high level 7. Varian was confident they could even defeat any peak level 7.
But.
"I need high level 7s to get the job done." Varian's eyes narrowed.
"Roar!" With a single roar, he led the mermen and advanced to the thirty-seventh mile.
"Mermen! So many merme—" A prince yelled in shock, but before he could finish, he was beaten unconscious and thrown out.
Varian didn't even glance at him and continued to the thirty-eigth mile.
"Roar!"
'Search!'
As they slowly spread out, the mermen started to encounter other mermen. Like every other place, these high level 7 mermen groups were also led by an alpha.
Usually, the mid level 7 mermen would've fled or submitted.
That was how it worked.
That was the rule of mermen.
But Varian twisted the rules.
"Roar!"
Fifty mid level 7 mermen attacked the five high level 7 mermen.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Six mid level 7 mermen died in the attack, while four suffered severe injuries.
This one battle took away one-fifth of Varian's forces.
But.
"Kree~"
The five high level 7 mermen bowed their bloodied heads.
Mermen wouldn't bow to a weaker merman. But the problem here was that they couldn't feel Varian's aura. He masked it completely.
So, their instincts evaluated his strength based on his group. Since he commanded such a powerful group, he must also be powerful.
"Roar!" Varian roared a victory cry and snapped his fingers.
Five potions were poured down on the high level 7 mermen and their injuries began to quickly heal.
"Roar!"
Taking the dead mermen, the severely injured mermen dived into the lake.
"Forty mid level 7, five high level 7." Varian smiled.
"Roar!"
Thirty-ninth mile.
"Roar!"
Fortieth mile.
"Roar!"
With each mile, his group grew.
With each mile, he also encountered more powerful princes and princesses. But they were defeated faster and faster.
The mid level 7s in his group slowly grew more injured as they couldn't bear the intensity of the stronger and stronger high level 7 attacks.
Forty-fifth mile.
This was the final mile of high level 7s.
From forty-sixth to fiftieth miles, there were only peak level 7s.
"The key is at the fiftieth mile." Varian clenched his fists and raised his hand.
Drawing the breath from his lungs, he gave a battle cry.
"Roar!"
"Roar!"
A resounding battle roar followed.
Thirty-six high level 7 mermen behind him wanted a battle.
"Onwards!"
The group entered the forty-sixth mile. Unlike what Varian expected, there were no princes or princesses at all.
"They're all at the center?"
That was the only explanation. That meant, he would only encounter the mermen until he reached the center.
"Good." Varian's group moved quickly and as expected, they encountered the peak level 7 mermen.
"Ah shit, here we go again," Varian muttered.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
"Kree~"
Everything passed like a flash.
Varian's group fought the mermen, lost the high level 7s, and subjugated a few peak level 7s.
This repeated itself again and again until Varian found himself at the edge of the forty-ninth mile.
If the lake hadn't suppressed the battle effects, he'd be able to feel the battle even at the first mile.
But even at forty-ninth mile, he could barely feel anything.
"I am relying on you," Varian said to the group behind him.
"Roar!"
The ten peak level 7 mermen roared.
"Go!"
They shot forward.
Boom! Boom!
When Varian and the group reached the center, they were confronted with a spectacular sight.
A huge lightning dragon descended from the sky as a prince in his lightning form rode on it.
Space cracked as a woman with short hair waved her hand.
Gravity twisted violently, making a feather as heavy as a mountain and a mountain as light as a feather.
Water pillars shot into the air with a pressure enough to break down even the largest of mountains.
A huge snake swept its tail and slapped with force enough to destroy a small village.
The ground was filled with red vines that lunged at their prey without the tiniest notice.
Figures blurred as they moved at speeds far higher than sound. Even their afterimages were hard to follow.
Boom! Boom!
Kacha! Zap!
A cloud of dust filled with multiple colors rose into the air.
The princes and princesses gave their best to the fight as they focused on defeating their opponents while simultaneously holding off everyone from reaching the center.
It was at that moment.
"Roar!"
It was a roar everyone was familiar with.
Mermen.
So, they weren't too worried.
What difference can a merman make?
But it wasn't a merman.
"Roar!"
"Roar!"
…
"Roar!"
When the princes saw the eleven mermen, their hearts dropped and confusion rose in their hearts.
Mermen didn't act like this.
There was something wron—
Boom! Zap! Kacha!
Before they could think, they were bombarded by attacks.
Since they were already a bit injured and exhausted from the fighting, the twelve of them were barely able to hold it against the ten mermen.
"Fuck! How did so many mermen come here?!"
"I don't know!"
"What do we do now?"
"Kill them first! We can fight for the key later."
They all fought together while keeping an eye on their teammates to prevent them from trying to snatch the key.
As a result of this extra vigilance, they couldn't display their best and were pushed back further.
It was then.
Whoosh!
Another merman started attacking them from behind using lightning.
The princes and princesses didn't care much about it since it was very weak.
But slowly and steadily, the merman inched closer to the key.
They still didn't worry much. The mermen didn't have anything to do with the key. It was useless to them.
Boom! Boom!
This weak merman slowly reached the area near the key and then—
"Roar!"
It roared.
Boom!
Taking that the cue, the ten mermen launched a reckless attack, catching the humans off guard.
Whoosh!
The merman teleported to the key, grabbed it, and teleported to the edge of the hundred meters before running off.
When the princes and princesses noticed it, the merman was already gone.
"Find it! Now!"
Prince Mar turned into lightning and was about to chase, but a merman formed an ice wall around him and blocked him in place.
A princess tried to teleport, but the space around her was blocked.
Boom! Kacha! Roaar!
Like that, the princes and princesses were held back.
"Fuck it! You're done!"
Anger engulfed them and they started attacking with their full strength.
In the second minute, a merman died and the prince who killed it quickly chased after the merman.
Or at least, tried to.
By the fifth minute, every peak level 7 prince and princess were searching the lake for the special merman.
By the tenth minute, every person on the lake was searching for the special merman.
Including Varian.
"Oh fuck this shit! I can't find the merman, maybe it went back to the lake." He said loudly.
The princes and princesses standing near him heard his words and sighed.
They were on the outer edge of the lake and like most teams, searching for the merman.
Of course, by now, they already searched the storage rings of every awakener, including Varian.
It was disrespectful and incurred a lot of backlashes.
But since the key was involved, they did it anyway.
They didn't find anything.
Varian stored the key in the ghost ship and not the storage ring. His ghost ring appeared like a normal treasure to everyone else.
So, no one realized that the merman they were searching for was actually a human.
After nearly a day, Varian left the lake.
When he did, the lake slightly shook.
'Congratulations. You have directly or indirectly killed the most mermen.'
A light orb appeared on the lake's surface and shot towards him.
It just so happened that it was in the visible range of some people at the edge of the lake.
"He's just a level 7! How can he…"
"There must be something wrong with him?"
"Catch him!"
