Chapter 647: Giant Statue

After traveling fifty kilometers to find the small island and another forty kilometers to locate a hundred-meter-deep underwater pit, Liszt didn’t take long to uncover the Temple of the Undead Yuchou.

It was an ancient ruin overgrown with seaweed and half-buried in mud.

The structure was massive, with hundreds of stone pillars supporting the circular dome of the palace, enclosing the interior. No fish or shrimp swam around the palace—only swaying seaweed and coral drifting with the currents.

"Brother, let Acheronides handle the Undead Yuchou."

Acheronides "balanced" on a seashell, standing before Liszt to volunteer for battle. Born with the ability to control water and now a master of water magic, her underwater combat prowess far exceeded Liszt’s—mainly because whenever Liszt activated his mana, it would rupture Rosi’s Rainbow Breathing Membrane.

Once the Rainbow Breathing Membrane was broken, he’d have to hold his breath, making it extremely difficult to channel mana afterward.

Moreover, his mana was fire-attribute, which was only useful when channeled into his sword for direct attacks.

"I’ve got your back!" Liszt gripped the Frostbite Dragon Slayer Sword and said solemnly.

He hadn’t yet mastered the "Frost Shift" skill of the Frostbite Dragon Slayer Sword, and the "Frost Seal" skill remained inactive, so it wasn’t much help underwater.

His main role was to provide backup support as Acheronides hunted the Undead Yuchou.

As Is had warned, as soon as they stepped into the temple’s vicinity, the Undead Yuchou would emerge from the shrine to drive out or kill intruders.

So when Acheronides stepped into the corner of the temple, a powerful current suddenly surged.

From within the swirling water, a spectral monster surged forth like mist. Just as Is had described, the creature stood ten meters tall, resembling a standing frog with the upper body of a fish, bow-legged with webbed feet.

"Skreeee!"

The moment the Undead Yuchou appeared, it let out a piercing shriek, raising its trident high as a pulse of magic power shimmered around it.

Without hesitation, it flung a spell directly at Acheronides.

But Acheronides had hunted many sea monsters before and had already raised her Water Wave Shield, instantly casting advanced spells like "Hydrospiral Fusion" and bombarding the Undead Yuchou with a barrage of high-tier spells. Her combat style leaned toward overwhelming offense, likely influenced by Liszt.

Liszt often shared his battle philosophy—attack first, talk later, go big or go home, and never hold back when going all out.

Acheronides took these lessons to heart.

So she opened with a barrage of high-level spells. After all, the Undead Yuchou wouldn’t chase far from the temple. If her magic power ran out, she could simply retreat without hesitation.

But unexpectedly, as Acheronides unleashed wave after wave of advanced magic, the seawater churned into a murky maelstrom, silt surging from the seabed as if a black tornado had formed above the temple. The Undead Yuchou’s defenses were utterly crushed by her onslaught.

It couldn’t even counterattack.

Ten minutes later, Acheronides was gasping for breath, her magic power nearly depleted.

Following Liszt’s instructions, she began falling back from the temple, wary of a counterattack. Yet, the Undead Yuchou didn’t pursue. Only when the magic subsided and the murky waters cleared did the water clear.

Liszt and Acheronides exchanged glances, stunned.

The Undead Yuchou had vanished. A section of the temple had collapsed from the magic, exposing a yawning chasm. Even more surprising, a steel trident was jammed into the seabed, half-buried in the sediment.

"Brother, that’s the Undead Yuchou’s trident."

"I know."

Liszt stared at the silently collapsed corner of the temple before finally reacting. "Acheronides… did you actually obliterate the Undead Yuchou with that magic barrage? Logically, even if it retreated into the temple, it should’ve taken its weapon with it. It shouldn’t be left behind."

"Ah… did Acheronides defeat it?"

"Let's check it out!"

The two approached the vicinity of the Yuchou Temple,

but nothing stirred; picking up the steel fork discarded by the Undead Yuchou, still no response; touching the collapsed gap, there was no reaction; even after entering the temple through the collapsed opening, everything remained still. Clearly, the Undead Yuchou had indeed been wiped out by Acheronides' overwhelming magic.

Is's supposed 'great magician' status now seemed like a joke—perhaps Is wasn't very strong in combat, leading her to overestimate the Undead Yuchou's strength.

After entering the Yuchou Temple and confirming there was no danger,

Liszt finally surveyed the interior—simple but grand, old yet luxurious. Though half the area was covered in silt, the temple still felt enormous. Thick stone pillars supported a simple dome, with enormous statues lining the walkway.

Crystal lamps lit up the statues, revealing every detail.

"Brother, what monsters do these statues depict?"

"I don’t know, but I suspect they must be stronger sea creatures than the Yuchou. Look, Acheronides. The four closest to the entrance are clearly Yuchou of the same race as the Undead Yuchou. The statues further back no longer resemble Yuchou but are more human-like figures."

There were four anthropomorphic statues, all with two arms.

Further back were another four, but with four arms.

Then came four more, this time with six arms.

These twelve statues, aside from differing in the number of arms and body strength, were otherwise very similar—scaled and finned, with three thick fingers gripping various weapons. Their heads resembled both snakes and fish, just like the Yuchou.

Further back,

statues of different appearances emerged—another four, but these were muscular women. These women looked a bit like sirens but with rougher features, partially scaled and finned. Interestingly, behind them were another four statues, this time four-armed women, followed by four six-armed women.

Since half the temple was buried in silt, only the upper halves of these statues were visible.

Perched on Rosi's back, Liszt felt each statue was life-sized and enormous—the four Yuchou statues at the entrance matched the size of the Undead Yuchou, while all subsequent statues were even larger.

As he studied these statues, trying to deduce some information,

Acheronides suddenly tugged his arm and whispered, "Brother, look at the main seat in the temple—is that a mermaid? That mermaid’s enormous!"

Only then did Liszt notice, in the dim depths of the palace, a massive stone throne stood high on steps, untouched by the silt.

Upon the throne was a lifelike statue.

The figure carved had the upper body of a human and a massive fish tail, perfectly matching the classic mermaid image from knightly tales, folklore, and magic books. Her tail coiled on the throne, covered in scales below the navel, while above it was smooth and indistinguishable from a human.

Or rather,

the biggest difference was that the mermaid statue was at least twenty meters long—truly colossal.

Yet the next moment, Liszt cast Magic Eye, and his gaze fell between the mermaid statue’s enormous chest, where a teardrop-shaped jewel gleamed brilliantly with a deep blue radiance. Within it seemed to flow water-aspected magic denser than any other.

It hit him, and he knew the answer: "The Mystic Jewel!"