Unable to repay my student loans, I had no choice but to work part-time as a demon hunter.

A wisp of dust fell from a crack in the dome, and Gray looked up.

Gordon tapped the ground with his Blackthorn Lee cane, and his expression changed drastically.

Scarlett's bombardment of the chapel, Olivia's frenzied tremors after transforming into a giant octopus, and perhaps even Gray...

The main building of the chapel is about to collapse!

boom!

Immediately afterwards, a huge rock fell from above and crashed to the ground, instantly triggering an ominous chain reaction.

"Come here, everyone! Senior! Shirin! Mouse!" Gordon picked up Vera and quickly retreated to a place close to the building's load-bearing wall.

"Where's Gray?!" Shirin turned her head.

"Hold on!" Gray released the bird and flew away, then disappeared from the spot.

Shirin was about to ask why they didn't call for Gray, but seeing this scene, she understood the reason.

She quickly covered her head with her hands, jumped over the collapsing ground, and rushed to Gordon's side.

Eve also struggled to jump over the cracked ground, stumbling and rushing over. She crossed the sudden downpour of falling stones of all sizes, her body quickly covered in dust and gravel, some of which tore her outer garment. She pursed her lips and did not cry out.

Rat, carrying a supply bag, moved with a blur of motion. Ellen, finally recovering from her shock, struggled towards Gordon.

"hiss……"

Gordon spread his arms wide to make sure the load-bearing wall behind him wouldn't collapse, then pulled Vera and Eve into his arms.

Boom!

The chapel collapsed before their eyes.

The historic building was completely destroyed, and soldiers and civilians on the lower levels ran frantically outwards.

After a few seconds of earth-shaking tremors, one-third of the original chapel that had been submerged had collapsed.

Gordon and his group were trapped high up in the chapel, where they found themselves on a platform suspended high above the ground. All the stairs connecting to the lower levels had disappeared, and dozens of meters below lay the ruins of the building, covered with rubble.

He could only sit on the high platform where the stairs had been lost, listening to the rain pouring down outside, forming a silvery curtain of water around them.

"..." Eve dusted herself off before wriggling out of Gordon's arms and regaining her balance.

"Let's get down here as soon as possible." Gordon looked at the collapsed chapel.

Just then, the lake surface suddenly lit up.

A burst of crimson erupted from the deep water, piercing through the black lake surface and turning the cave into a blood-red daytime.

:

Immediately afterwards, giant electric arcs spread underwater, with thick arcs piercing through the lake water and branching wildly along the rock walls!

Boom! Boom!

Countless monsters of all sizes emerged from the water. Poisonous eel monsters, deep-sea blind fish, and salamanders with transparent bellies floated silently on the surface. Some were as large as small islands in a black pool, while many more juvenile individuals huddled together in dense clusters.

Gordon immediately adjusted the focus of his sunglasses to magnify his field of vision.

When he saw the corpses of those demons, his eyes lit up. Many of the demons contained a faint light, as if they were scratching at his eyeballs from afar.

So many different sizes of source matter!

"This place has abundant aquatic resources," Gordon murmured, sitting on the high platform.

"Don't say these things." Vera lay in Gordon's arms, her head resting on his shoulder, quietly feeling the pain in her body and Gordon's body temperature.

The next second, the black water exploded in the center.

Scarlett burst from underwater.

A crimson streak of light swirled along the water's surface as she leaped onto the precipice, carrying her mechanical armor sword on her back, holding the Water-Splitting Holy Sword in her left hand, and gripping Severin's collar with her right.

Severin's body was covered in charred cracks, and he was no longer breathing; his long, gray hair was stuck to his forehead.

Scarlett swept her wet brown hair back, her dark red scarf dripping wet.

She put down her sword and the corpse, glanced at the chapel that had collapsed so badly, and at Gordon and the others trapped high up.

Scarlett then leaped onto the ruins, nimbly bounding twice to Gordon's side.

"Is it over?" She glanced at the ruins.

"We defeated Olivia; she was buried underneath and turned to ashes," Gordon concluded.

Scarlett nodded to Gordon.

At first, she had no hope for Gordon and his group, and was even worried about their safety.

During the underwater battle, she was mentally prepared to kill Severin first, then come back to kill Olivia, and finally wipe out all the resisters.

After all, Scarlett's initial orders to them didn't include dealing with Olivia at all...

But now it seems that they have accomplished the task brilliantly, or even exceeded expectations!

You played exceptionally well!

"Make it beautiful." Scarlett nodded solemnly.

:

Gordon could tell that she truly approved of the team.

"Only that..." Gordon glanced at the collapsed building.

"I'm going to give him a public nickname: 'Death' Arthur Grey." Scarlett glanced down at Grey.

"?" Gray stood on the ground with his arms crossed, feeling like someone was slandering him.

"Let's go." She took a deep breath and then opened her arms.

"Huh?" Gordon suddenly felt a lightness in his body as Scarlett gently lifted him down from the height along with Vera.

The next second, they had landed on the lakeside.

Then, Scarlett came back to pick up Ellen and Shireen, but it was clear that she didn't intend to take the rat stick with her.

"Chirp chirp." The rat had no choice but to sway down the sloping ruins.

Upon reaching the shore of Blackwater Pool, Gao Deng took a deep breath.

The first thing I saw was Severin's corpse and the Dividing Water Holy Sword; the second thing I saw was the lake full of otherworldly demons.

Scarlett crossed her arms, contemplating what to do next.

The Battle of the Water Chapel was the biggest turning point in the Empire's fight against the Blackwater Hermitage.

Through sheer violence, we've finally eliminated the most vicious of them all...

"There's a lot of source matter in the demon corpses," Gordon said, turning to Scarlett. "And a large amount of fresh demon materials. We'll have to collect them now or it'll be too late."

"We can salvage it," Scarlett said, snapping out of her daze. "We'll collect the appropriate items and then distribute them according to our contributions."

Just as Gordon was about to order someone to prepare a small boat, he suddenly saw a shiny green figure float to the surface.

Dark green hair, pale face, beautiful upper body, and a fish tail that is two meters long.

Mermaid!

She was half-cooked from being struck by lightning; her shoulders and back were charred black, and her face was covered in dust.

"Miss, you killed the mermaid!" Gordon exclaimed in shock.

"I think I went a little too far..." Scarlett scratched her hair.

"Oh no, oh no!"

Gordon quickly threw out the Divine Thread, a thin, transparent thread that crossed the water and wrapped around the mermaid's waist and abdomen.

Then, he pulled her back, used his blackthorn cane to fish her over, dragged her to the shore, and finally pulled her ashore with both hands.

:

[Mermaid. A high-ranking member of the Kintoki, or a fat, green fish that eats only white rice.]

Gordon crouched down and reached out to feel her heartbeat.

So beautiful, with pale, almost translucent skin and youthful, delicate cheeks, possessing an ethereal beauty that no land creature can imitate.

Thankfully, I'm still alive.

The Tide of Destiny: Time Repairs

He materialized a drop of water, which spread along the mermaid's body.

Cracks appeared on her charred skin, which then peeled off inch by inch, and the newly formed tissue regained its color.

The body, which had been charred by the electric shock, began to twitch again, and its eyelids trembled slightly.

"……ah!"

Ningning opened her eyes and made a strange sound.

Those eyes were quite unusual, with pale green pupils. They first stared blankly at Gordon, then at Scarlett, and finally, after confirming that their tail was still there, they moved their tails, their expressions still showing the bewilderment of someone struck by lightning.

Gordon observed carefully, peering around curiously.

"Where's your dagger?" he suddenly asked. "Why did you eat Harold?"

"?" Ningning didn't understand.

Gordon frowned.

He remembered it perfectly.

The mermaid crawled out of the drainpipe, her eyes cold, carrying a dagger made of whale bone, and frantically devoured Harold's corpse, as if that pile of deformed fetuses was the dinner she had been waiting for.

And this mermaid before us...

They look much sillier; their faces are different, and their aura is different too.

"Come and see, is this the same one from that day?" Gordon called Vera over.

"No." Vera came over with a bag of energy candies, glanced at it, and confirmed.

"!" Ningning's gaze followed the candy in Vera's hand. When Vera moved to the left, Ningning's gaze followed to the left; when Vera moved to the right, Ningning's gaze followed to the right. Finally, Vera went over and fed the mermaid a piece of candy.

"~" Ningning was happy, with a candy in her mouth.

Gordon turned his gaze away and looked at Scarlett, who was wiping the captured holy sword.

"Why does this mermaid seem a bit dim-witted?" Gordon wondered.

:

"She's pretty good at fighting underwater," Scarlett admitted. "I was chasing Severin, and Severin was chasing her. She got desperate and turned around and punched Severin."

"adjective?"

"No, it was just a real punch, and then Severin flew out, retreating dozens of meters against the current... and was eventually killed by me."

"So she's actually quite useful." Gordon turned his head.

"Yes, mermaids are said to be a very mysterious and high-level being," Scarlett pondered. "Currently, we have our first partner to deal with the Fishing King, one of the three mermaids..."

Three mermaids.

Gordon pressed his forehead and suddenly remembered something from a long time ago.

A few newspaper headlines resurfaced from the depths of my memory.

...New regulations at Lundnim Police Station: Before arresting a drunk person, it must be confirmed that the drunk person is not a member of parliament.

...Three mermaids emerged from the rising Blackwater River; onlookers say this isn't the strangest thing that happened today.

...The floor of the gentlemen's club collapsed, forcing the underground casino to open for business.

At the time, he was busy paying off his student loans and clearly took these headlines as normal noise in the city of Lundnim.

"Where did they all go? Does the agency have any leads?"

"One is right before our eyes, one is still missing, and another... seems to have been used in an immortality ritual."

Gordon paused for a moment.

"Really?"

"We followed the leads in March. Since the mermaid appeared, underground buyers, cult groups, and some illegal organizations have been hunting her down. From the bits and pieces we've gathered, it seems that someone has indeed successfully completed the ritual."

Kill the mermaid and steal her lifespan...

If the Noble Life Ritual is not just a legend, it means that someone in Lundenim has already lived to be 800 years old, becoming a true long-lived being.

A person who murders a high-ranking member of the kin in exchange for a long life must be extremely dangerous and morally questionable.

"Who did it?"

“There are many people who can do this, which is why the situation is dangerous. We can’t let the remaining two mermaids suffer the same fate.” Scarlett took a deep breath. “There is an unidentified immortal in Lundnium.”

"If the remaining two mermaids fall into their hands, they will also be murdered."

Scarlett did not deny it.

Gordon thought for a moment and then went to Eve.

:

Eve was panting as she carried a relief with ancient inscriptions out of the ruins. Upon seeing Gordon, she immediately regained her composure and revealed an inscrutable expression.

"We've caught a real mermaid," Gordon said, scratching his head.

"An eight-hundred-year lifespan is right here by the river. You don't want to miss it, do you?" Eve teased.

"It feels terrifying to think that transferring the lifespan of a mermaid to oneself... This method of achieving immortality seems rather bizarre."

"Of course, this will greatly anger the sea eon 'Baal,' bringing himself a powerful enough opponent..." Eve pondered.

"Isn't there a cleaner way to achieve immortality?"

"All we need to do is hunt down the Fishing King."

"The King of Fishermen..."

"He is immortal. If He is truly killed, there will be a fundamental and true anchor of eternal life, not just an eight-hundred-year lifespan. It is the kind of power that allows you to live as long as you want. It is the material that must be fought for on the path to ascension. It may be used to create an extraordinary status and provide a higher level of support for your source order."

"The fundamental nature sounds even more powerful than the source matter."

"Ordinary source matter is merely a solidified phenomenon, while the fundamental nature is more like the force that supports all of this."

Gordon understood.

This is probably the main reason why Eve returned to Lundnim.

Olivia, the Holy Grail, the Blackwater Hermitage, and even the entire wading chapel were merely ripples on the river. Eve's true concern remained with the Fishing King.

Gordon turned to look at the mermaid lying on the ground, seemingly harmless. She was reaching out to Vera for a second energy candy, while Vera sat on the ground, clearly intending to share.

"It seems that the only one in all of Lundenim who truly doesn't need immortality is the Emperor himself," Gordon concluded. "Therefore, only we can protect him from being captured and eaten by some mystical nobles."

"I have a lot to say to her. Maybe we can find enough good things to dig out her knowledge little by little. The knowledge she has is older than any human library. With enough patience, I can learn a lot from her," Eve thought to herself.

"This 'to' doesn't sound particularly friendly either."

"I'll be very gentle," Eve smiled.

"Finished talking?" Scarlett walked towards Gordon.

"We need to monitor and investigate Ningning. She can't just be thrown into any cell, nor can she be suddenly taken away by some research institution or noble, otherwise she'll be instantly refined into an elixir of immortality. She's our ally in the fight against the Fishing King, a boxing champion," Gordon explained.

"I agree to some extent," Scarlett pondered. "But neither of us has the authority to make the decision. I will consult with the Director of the Demon Affairs Bureau and the Seven Lords. Until the official order comes down, are you willing to take care of her?"

: