Their romance storyline only begins on the second playthrough

They were like an impenetrable net, surrounding Rhodes and his companions the moment they entered the academy.

They have a more accurate name, which is—[marine species].

Among them, a colossal deep-sea monster, resembling a giant, tore open its mouth, its voice as murky as the abyss:

"Kara, Rod, Qiwen...?"

"Negotiation, capture, resistance, killing."

“Ten promoted four times, one promoted five times. This level of lineup is nothing special.” Rhodes said calmly to the girl beside him, “But the problem is, these people are just blocking the door to arrest us.”

"In other words, the academy has long been occupied by marine species."

"The information was wrong... or rather, they deliberately chose the moment we returned to make their move."

"It wasn't me, I didn't do anything," Cecilia quickly raised her hands and said with an embarrassed smile.

"I didn't say it was you."

Rhodes looked up at the sky, his expression growing even colder.

At that moment, the sky suddenly changed.

Countless blue slimes, as sticky as slime, began to spread out from the sky like a net.

Like the gaping maw of a ten-thousand-meter-long whale, it instantly swallowed up the entire Stasen Holy Academy.

In just an instant, this blue "curtain" enveloped the entire area within a radius of tens of kilometers.

Rhodes could clearly sense that it was almost impossible to forcibly break through this barrier from the inside, or rather—it would take at least some time to break through.

That was quite a hassle.

Although the situation has become more dangerous, it also signifies one thing—

That means their target is almost certainly themselves.

Whether it's themselves, Felicity, or Cecilia, they could all be targets they're trying to capture.

Otherwise, the barrier wouldn't have been activated instantly after they entered.

Rhodes turned his gaze to the marine creature in front of him:

"Negotiation? Tell me, what do you want to talk about?"

“Our leader… wants you to go there, to negotiate with her, and to… do something for her.”

"What if I don't go?"

An eerie light flickered in the blue eyes of the deep-sea giant:

That is—death.

"And...the church's saintess is also at the negotiating table."

“You’d better explain what’s on the table.” The elven dragon sword gleamed in Rhodes’ hand.

He is now almost undefeated in battles even after four upgrades, unless he encounters a very strong fourth-upgraded opponent.

Although we can't defeat the deep-sea giant in front of us, the other marine species are nothing to us.

“We…don’t have the habit of eating people.” The deep-sea giant’s mouth made a gurgling sound, seemingly mocking. “We’re just waiting for you to come and negotiate.”

"So it's a threat?"

"No, it's just a friendly invitation for you to handle this—"

"Enough with the nonsense." Suddenly, a clear, girlish bell rang out from behind the deep-sea giant.

This voice interrupted the giant's words and instantly attracted Rhodes and the others' attention.

At a glance.

She had light blue scales like Clara's, fish-like ears, a slender figure, and bright blue eyes.

Without a doubt, it is a marine species with a high lineage.

Her figure slowly emerged from behind the giant, her eyes coldly fixed on Rhodes, and she spoke calmly:

"Enough with the nonsense, Chiven Lance. We have only one goal."

"Release our God."

The words fell.

The scene instantly fell silent.

Even Rhodes was taken aback for a moment.

He had considered the possibility of a troublesome situation, and even the possibility that the other side might try to kill him to worsen the relationship between Lynn and Melanie, but he never expected this...

ha?

Release the spirit?

Is your god a dog? You want me to release him?

This is how the same thing?

Can humans even capture a god dwelling in the deep sea? That's the pinnacle of the world, surpassing ten ascensions and inheriting divine positions!

He held up his finger and pointed to himself, looking completely bewildered.

"When did I capture the god who dwells in the deep sea?"

Holy crap, I've been framed?

……

...

Inside the college's conference hall.

This place should have been the meeting hall for professors and the dean of the academy, but now all the students of the St. Starson Academy have been kidnapped in St. Starson Square, and even most of the professors are no exception.

After all, there are only three professors in the entire academy who have been promoted four times, and they are no match for the marine species.

Everyone was trapped in the square, and there were sudden riots from time to time because some people fell into demonic ways due to excessive panic and were beheaded.

As a result, the entire square became stained with blood, and the atmosphere grew increasingly horrifying.

It's like a death countdown... As long as Rhodes and his team haven't resolved the so-called "negotiation," the students will keep dying.

Rhodes and his group then entered the conference hall.

The conference hall was quite simple, after all, it was just a place for professors to hold meetings, and even the chairs looked a bit worn out.

However, apart from Rhodes and the others who had just entered, there were already several people sitting in the conference hall.

Besides the high-bloodline marine species that had just led Rhodes and the others, Natalie and the High Priest were sitting opposite two other marine species with equally high bloodlines.

“Natalie,” Rod greeted her gently first.

Clang.

Hearing that long-lost voice, Natalie's heart was pounding even though her back was to Rhodes.

But she couldn't appear too excited, nor could she show any indecent signs.

Because now—

The enemy is in front of us.

So, she didn't even notice that the number of girls in the group was a little off; she simply nodded slightly to Rhodes and smiled sweetly.

"Yes, it's been a long time, a very long time. And everyone, but let's talk about those things later. Let's chat first..."

Natalie's gaze returned to the two marine creatures, and instantly her eyes became pure and clean, as pale as a saint's:

"It's a problem with marine species."

Rhodes nodded and sat down in the chair next to Natalie.

"Hmph." The sea creature who led Rhodes sat back in her seat and said arrogantly, "Then let's begin to explain the situation. My name is Mirador, Chivenlans."

"So, what exactly happened? We just got back to the academy and we're being told that I captured your god or something. Don't you find that ridiculous?"

"Shut up, Chiven Lance." Mirador held out his hand to stop Rhodes, then looked at them seriously. "Let me explain things properly."

“Okay,” Rhodes nodded.

"Ahem." Mirado seemed to clear his throat, coughing twice before slowly beginning to speak—

“Two days ago, a group of corrupted demons captured one of our people and threatened her to make her mother release the parasites to destroy the St. Starson Academy.”

"Because the mother was afraid of being blamed for losing her daughter, she didn't do it in a big way, but rather proceeded cautiously."

"But things went wrong a few days ago when our tribeswoman was killed by a corrupted demon."

“We are not those foolish tribes on the coast who think of solving things through war.”

"We know that the girl died at Stasen Academy, so we came here to properly handle this matter."

"This is the origin of negotiation, understand?"

"This is a goodwill act by us to avoid war, please don't misunderstand."

Mirado's eyes grew increasingly cold.

"..."

Rhodes looked at Cecilia.

In an instant, Cecilia hurriedly offered excuses and denials:

"It was all Isadora's doing. The witch who captured your people has been killed, and her body is in the academy's library."

“Oh? Is that so? This is irrelevant.” Mirado shook his head. “We’re not here for revenge, nor are we here to reclaim the [corpse].

"Huh? If it's irrelevant, then why bother negotiating with us?"

"Because, well, after that girl died, everything became meaningless. Or rather, the moment she was corrupted by the fallen demonic seed, your countdown to death had already begun."

"What does it mean?"

"what?"

"I just don't understand what you mean."