174 Ch. 174 'Purifying The Lake'

"You want to know what your body smells like? What for?"

"I'm just wondering why many are tempted by my scent. Kazuto also said the same thing while I was sweating. Is there a problem with people's sense of smell, or am I the weird one?"

Aqua chuckled to find out how cute this girl in front of her was.

"Niken, you have an indigo magic circle. Even though it is not purely from your efforts, it is still yours. A wizard who has an indigo magic circle having his own pheromone makes everyone want you. If the opposite sex is stuck with your pheromones, he will be on heat and wants to have intercourse with you. If a girl is trapped, she will want to stay close to you. But if daemon or evil spirits are hit by your pheromone, they will want to eat you. Never act alone when you meet a spiritual race. They have more difficulty controlling primal instincts than ordinary humans."

"..."

Niken massaged her forehead tiredly. She began to remember Kazuto's actions. He often tried to put her hood on her head to cover her face. Could it be that there were many of the opposite sex who had affected by her pheromone?

What kind of pheromone is it anyway? She didn't even know that she had a pheromone that could arouse every single man's desire.

Ugh! Really, why did the familiar spirit choose her to be the master? And where is that spirit? Why didn't it show up when Niken needed its help the most?

Unbeknownst to her, within her astral dimension had fallen asleep a small chrysalis that would grow more prominent day by day as she grew more vigorous in her cultivation.

The chrysalis will break, and a beautiful butterfly will appear. That's when the butterfly will choose Niken to be its master, and only when Niken accepts it will the contract become active, and Niken will become the phantasm lord - the creator of the world of the illusions.

She will not be entrapped by another illusion from daemon or wizards. Instead, she would be the one who creates the illusion for them.

The current Phantasm Lord is still alive and is currently monitoring Niken's development from afar. She did not help or assist Niken when she was in danger. If Niken didn't survive this mere trial, then that girl wasn't worthy of being the next phantasm lord.

At night when the citizens had rested in their respective homes, Aqua quietly installed a soundproof array around the mermaid lake. She also cast sleep magic spell across the land so they wouldn't have to worry about someone getting up to interfere with the mermaid lake's purification process.

Lionel and Kazuto have settled in their position to strengthen the barrier, while Aqua will release her power to purify water from dark force energy.

Ceryle's husband is a tortoise shapeshifter. He will be tasked with creating a water cocoon to prevent the mermaids from feeling Niken and his wife's presence.

The young Xehan could only wait by the beach with one of Kazuto's wolf shadows.

All that's left is to wait for the full moon to appear at midnight.

Niken, Ceryle, and Aqua are ready and now standing on the ocean. They will dive right in as soon as the full moon begins to appear.

"I'm curious about one thing. What happened to the red hair?" Aqua started the conversation because she felt bore of just waiting without doing anything.

"I don't know. Since we were ambushed by the Elementalists, sir Zehell didn't appear. What's going on?"

"I have a bad feeling. I feel like the purification of this lake won't be easy."

Niken and Ceryle looked at each other, hearing this.

"Aqua, don't be pessimistic. We've come this far, we can definitely do it," declared Niken in a firm tone.

"Niken is right. We can do it. Moreover, we have a familiar sea spirit like you. Everything will be alright."

Niken nodded her head in agreement with Ceryle's words, getting Aqua to smile.

"Okay, I will think optimistically. Thank you." Aqua looked up and saw gray clouds drifting away, showing the light of the full moon. "It is time. Are you ready?"

Niken and Ceryle gave smiles without hesitation, then Niken discharged the indigo magic circle that was their footstool. The three women instantly fell into the water.

Ceryle's pair of legs now turned into mermaid tails while Niken quickly reformed her magic circle and changed her legs into tails. The three of them were both swimming and waiting at the edge of the lake.

Not long after the full moon emanated its blinding light, the evil mermaids began to feel the moon's light pull. As if someone had called them, they all swam up as if they wanted to reach for the moon.

Several heads, maybe even dozens of blackheads, appeared on the water's surface, making Kazuto and Lionel stay where they were.

The two men secretly merged their energies into the barrier to strengthen the barrier defense. They made no sound and were breathing very slowly to not attract the attention of the evil mermaids.

As soon as it felt that all the evil mermaids had appeared on the surface, Ceryle's husband changed into a tortoise and then activated the water shield from his shell. The water shield is much stronger than the water cocoon so that the mermaids will not easily get out of the water shield.

Kazuto sent a signal through the wolf's shadow near Xehan, then the wolf howled with a loud voice. Upon hearing Kazuto's wolf howl, the three women who had gotten ready at the lake's edge swam through the barrier and entered the waters filled with dark force energy.

"Ugh!" the only one who was affected by the dark force energy was Ceryle, as she was the only mermaid amongst the groups.

"You're okay?" Niken held the mermaid's hand to support her.

"I'm fine. I didn't expect the thickness of the dark force energy in this place to be so dense. If I stay here for a week without coming out to the surface, I'm sure I will turn into evil like them. Don't worry, I won't change overnight." Ceryle continued when she saw Niken's worried expression.

"We have arrived," Aqua announced as they arrived at the entrance to the incubator cave. "Ceryle, don't forget to drop your blood into Princess Merylin's astral soul orb once the two pieces of the orb are reunited."

Ceryle nodded her head, affirming Aqua's reminder. "I will place the royal seat in the palace and wait for you. Be careful."

"You too."

Niken looked at the cave door, which was covered with green moss while taking a deep breath.

'Merylin, I'm here. Help me open the door of this cave.' Niken spoke in her heart as she concentrated on gathering the foreign energy stored in her astral dimension.

Not long after that, a white orb glowed out of Niken's body and floated towards the door. As soon as the door senses Merylin's energy's vibe, it opens, creating air bubbles in the water.

Niken and Ceryle swim inward without further ado to follow the orb light, which is now floating more in-depth and deeper. The orb appears to sense its other half, and, like a magnet, it is attracted towards its twin.

In a moment, Niken will unite the two orbs, and Ceryle will be dripping her blood over Merylin's astral soul orb. Aqua has also entered the Mermaladia royal palace and will soon restore the royal throne's seat to its original position.

Lionel and Kazuto have also prepared in place and made sure that the barrier will not be destroyed while the evil mermaids are already in the water shield created by Ceryl's husband.

Everything seemed perfect, and their plan was working. They only needed to wait for Aqua to begin the purification ritual before Niken would place the mermaid princess's astral soul orb onto the throne seat.

Everything would have gone smoothly had it not been for the pair of emerald green eyes watching them all from the sky.

"Well, they sure are stubborn."

Apparently, Aqua's sleep magic didn't work against Eryl at all. And that man with an amuse gaze observed their attempts that he was about to thwart. A lopsided smile perfectly imprinted on his face as he couldn't wait to see the despair that would fall to his uninvited guests.

Niken could heave a relieved sigh when the two orbs merged into one while Aqua took the royal throne from her astral storage and placed it on the original position.

Hizzzz!!

Niken and Ceryle gasped at several evil mermaids' appearance while the evil princess Merylin faced Aqua in the castle's hall.

What is going on? Why is there still have some evil mermaid inside the lake?