'Are you sure master Zephyr managed to summon it?'
'That's the message his subordinates convey.'
'Then where is he now?'
'That's what makes me curious. He should have appeared in the lake.'
'Uhm… is it possible that the evil mermaids surround him so the familiar sea spirit can't escape?'
The serpentine's eyes opened at the mention of her name. Its head looked up to the surface where several people were talking to each other.
How did these people know her arrival to this place?
'It's likely impossible. We are talking about a familiar spirit. It's not a creature that can be trounced, even if the opponent is an evil mermaid. What's more, she is a familiar spirit of the ruler of the seas. You could say that she is the master underwater, far better than mermaids.'
The serpentine's head tilted to the side, hearing at this. She began to wonder if some people were waiting for her arrival. Could it be that the masked white man who called her was their colleague?
With relaxed, sinuous movements, the serpentine swam to the surface. The reason why the evil mermaids didn't attack her wasn't that she created a defense or an invisible array. But its presence cannot be seen by the evil spirits.
In other words, without her permission, no eye could see her. That is why the evil mermaids neither surrounded her nor attacked her. They all could neither see nor feel his presence.
As soon as its head surfaced, serpentine did not go out immediately and investigated the four people standing outside the array of lakes. She could see that there were three men and a girl there. She did not recognize the three men, but she did know the young girl with black hair.
Isn't that girl Niken, the time traveler she saw?
Her blue eyes wandered into the astral dimension of Niken without the girl knowing. She wanted to see whether a part of Princess Merylin's celestial soul was in Niken's body or not, and it did!
With that girl present in this place, she didn't have to bother looking for her location, and all that was left was to find the pure mermaid to restore the evil mermaids' sanity.
Surprisingly, she felt that one of the men had a mermaid aura. Or is it a mermaid? Well, even though he had mermaid blood inside his body, he still was not a pure mermaid. He was a half-breed.
For now, it would be best if she showed herself up first.
The serpentines emerge from the lake in human form and then stroll casually toward the shore. Kazuto was the first to notice a stranger's presence and shortly glanced at the lake.
Kazuto's startled gaze made the others curious and followed the lake's direction to see a charming little girl appearing from the lake's direction. That kid could even walk through the defensive array without making a gap!
The girl's hair was platinum, like the color of the full moon. Her eyes were blue like ice crystals. The clothes she wore were dresses that matched her hair.
The child's appearance was like a fairy in the world of magical beings, and at once, the four people who saw the child's appearance froze because they were fascinated by the girl's appearance.
At first, the girl didn't look dangerous, but suddenly her platinum hair floated and stretched towards them, effecting Kazuto's move to protect Niken reflexively. Even Lionel and Zehell also immediately activated their respective powers while preparing to strike back.
But what happened next really took their breath away. The hair didn't attack them but seemed to pick up something next to Kazuto's feet. The platinum hair seemed to be lifting something short, and then the lovely girl smiled broadly at that 'something.'
"It's been a long time since I met the little white thing. Or maybe you're the new generation?"
They didn't understand at all why the girl was talking to herself like a crazy girl? There was no other person to talk to, but why was that kid talking into her own hair?
No one could see what the girl's platinum hair had taken away except for Kazuto. Kazuto's forehead frowned when he saw the hair take on the white puppy he had just seen.
Who is that kid? How can that child see and touch the white puppy, which is the familiar spirit? Is it possible…?
"Don't tell me... you are the familiar sea spirit?"
Kazuto's guess made everyone gasped. They never could imagine that this tiny body that seemed to have no power turned out to be a familiar sea spirit?!
The serpentine turned towards Kazuto then smiled softly. "Right. That is me. Someone called me here, but I didn't know that you were waiting for me. I also didn't know that Niken would be here without me having to find her."
"You know me?" Niken felt incredibly confused about how one of the strongest spirit familiar in this world knew her name.
The serpentine lowered the white puppy and smoothed her hair, so it didn't look scary.
"I've seen this place's memories, and I saw you befriend the princess and Flynn. It's such a shame a place as beautiful as this ends up like this, but we can fix it."
"Really?" everyone could see the bright light shining in Niken's eyes.
"Of course. But we still lack one element."
"Element?" this time, Zehell asked because of his knowledge, the materials needed have been collected, and nothing was left.
"Right. In returning to the Mermaladia kingdom and the evil mermaid's condition, we need five materials. First of all, we have to put back the throne chair, but I think you guys got it. Second, we need Princess Mermaladia's celestial soul, that is in Niken's body as well as in the incubator's cave. Third, we need someone who can activate air cocoon, maybe a wizard, or a wind Elementalist."
Air cocoon? Wasn't that a technique only wind elementalists could use?
"I can make it." continued Zehell without further ado. "But what is the air cocoon technique for?"
"To lock up the evil mermaids in one place."
Zehell's forehead frowned in disbelief. Air cocoon is a simple yet strong magic technique used to protect a person from outside attacks. But the resistance inside was not as strong as the protection on the outside. Won't the mermaids come out of the cocoon quickly if he locks them inside the cocoon?
Honestly, what kind of plan did the familiar sea spirit have in mind?
"Won't they be able to sneak out? Air cocoon is vulnerable from the inside."
"It's true. But they won't swim out if nothing catches their eye. We just need them to stay away from the palace and the cave so I can put the throne seat into the palace without attracting their attention while Niken will head to the cave to retrieve the other half of the princess's soul."
Zehell seemed to think hard about this. If only he could lock the mermaids together, it would be more manageable. He did not need to lure them with his aura, and the evil mermaids would not become aggressive. Meanwhile, Niken could take the princess's celestial soul, swim to the palace, and put Princess Mermaladia's celestial soul on the throne once the familiar sea spirit finished purifying the lake's water.
Besides, if Niken could dive on her own without worrying about the mermaids being attracted by her magic, Kazuto could feel calmer and focus on his task of guarding the barrier in this lake.
"I understand. I can do it. Then what are the remaining two?"
"The dark force energy pressure in this place is too black and can barely be cleaned. It would take half of my own energy to purify it. But… if I use half my strength, the barrier of this place will break, and the evil mermaids will be frantic to get out of this place."
"We've thought about this. Kazuto and I will keep the barrier array stable and won't break." continued Lionel, making serpentine nod with satisfaction.
"Then what's left?" probed Niken with curiosity.
"What remains is the most crucial. If we don't have this, then everything will be in vain."
"What is it?"
"We need something to spark mermaids' memories. It would help them to regain their sanity."
This is what worries them the most. From the start, they felt that changing the evil spirit back to its original form was impossible. Purifying water contaminated by dark forces energy is indeed tricky, but not impossible to do.
Meanwhile, restoring the evil spirit's state to original forms was impossible.
"Do you know what we need to revive their sanity?"
"I know. We need pure mermaid blood that has a strong desire to save mermaids. The blood will become one with the princess's astral soul. The energy power of the princess's soul and the mermaid's blood will purify the negative air energy in their hearts and revive beautiful memories to bring awareness as a mermaid again."