Chapter 648: Coma

Signaling Rainbow Whale Rosi to swim in front of the mermaid statue's chest, Liszt gazed at the tear-shaped jewel about the size of a fist.

To him, this jewel was not small—on the contrary, a fist-sized gem was absolutely enormous.

Yet for the mermaid statue, it was like a tiny diamond pendant on its chest, somewhat disproportionate to the statue's scale. Instead of directly plucking the jewel, which hung as a pendant on the statue's chest, Liszt focused and conjured the mist task.

"Complete the task. Reward: Mermaid’s Tear."

A new task followed.

"Task: The mermaid statue in the Undead Yuchou’s temple—its sculptor is eroded by time, and much history has drowned in the tides of time. The now is what matters most. Perhaps gifting this Mermaid’s Tear to the siren Acheronides will have unexpected effects on her. Reward: Undead Yuchou’s Protection."

"Mermaid’s Tear, huh."

Liszt banished the mist task and gently removed the pendant. The cord holding the Mermaid’s Tear quickly decayed, leaving only the fist-sized tear-shaped jewel.

Now, it truly looked like a teardrop in shape.

Originally, he had planned to keep it for further study—after all, it was a relic of an ancient race, possibly imbued with powerful effects. But since the mist task had given a hint, it was clear the Mermaid’s Tear was more suited for Acheronides. After giving it a cursory inspection, he handed the jewel to her.

"Acheronides, I sense this jewel is rich in water-aligned magic. Given its shape, why not call it the Mermaid’s Tear? I’ll give it to you—perhaps you can unlock its secrets."

"Give it to Acheronides?" She was surprised but soon smiled elatedly. "Thank you, brother! Acheronides will treasure it!"

"Not just treasure—use and study it. It’s pulsing with water-aligned magic inside."

"Mmm."

"You study it first. I’ll dig out the lower halves of these statues to see what kind of creatures they depict." Wasting no time, Liszt took out a bone spade and began excavating the mud covering the Undead Yuchou’s temple.

...

While Liszt was busy digging through the mud,

Acheronides sat on a seashell, holding the Mermaid’s Tear and studying it. She was elated—not just because the Mermaid’s Tear was stunningly beautiful, its sapphire blue complementing her aura, but also because it was a gift from Liszt. Anything he gave her made her happy.

"Brother is really good at naming things. Mermaid’s Tear—mm, it sounds so lovely. Hanging on the mermaid statue’s chest, with this shape, it really does look like a mermaid’s tear."

Channeling her magic,

she activated the Mermaid’s Tear, preparing to carefully examine its magical structure to unlock its secrets. Possessing magic and being a pendant, the Mermaid’s Tear was clearly a magical item. And given that it was enshrined on a statue with an entire temple built around it, it was no mere magical trinket.

Acheronides didn’t have the Magic Eye, but she could sense the Mermaid’s Tear was filled with flowing magic, and it thrummed in harmony with her.

Closing her eyes, she let her perception guide her magic, wandering through the magic that formed the magic runes.

Soon, she noticed the magic composition of the Mermaid’s Tear was highly structured, yet within that structure lay depths of arcane intricacy. The magic runes seemed not artificially inscribed but naturally formed.

"No signs of artificial carving... Curious. Could the Mermaid’s Tear be a naturally formed magical item? Or... could it really be a mermaid’s tear?" A fanciful notion dawned on her—unlikely, yet not impossible, given the mermaid statue’s prominent position.

The Undead Yuchou, with the level of a great magician, only ranked at the end of the temple’s statues. Beyond them were six-limbed beasts and maidens—each rank more regal and more powerful.

From this, it could be inferred that the mermaid must possess awesome power.

The very essence of powerful creatures naturally carries extraordinary properties—dragons, for example, excrete substances that are all coveted arcana.

Suddenly,

she keenly sensed the magic runes inside the Mermaid’s Tear coalescing in a peculiar pattern, with a singular node flaring brightly.

The term "node" was proposed by Liszt to denote the convergence point of magic power.

It was first used to explain the Magic Web’s structure, but later Acheronides realized that nodes could also apply to magic circles—these being composed of numerous magic runes forming nodes, which together create a complete magic circle. Identifying the precise nodes allows one to dismantle a magic circle with ease.

Likewise, by tweaking the nodes, the magic circle can be restructured. Her knack for crafting original spells stemmed from applying this concept of nodes.

"So, what is this node for?"

As she pondered, she channeled her magic power to activate the node.

Instantly, the mermaid's tear burst into a radiant magic aura, within which warped, web-like strands condensed and spread outward, piercing through statues, Rainbow Whale Rosi, Liszt who was digging through the mud, the Fish-Ugly Temple, and even the vast ocean beyond.

They dissolved into the far-off, boundless ocean.

Meanwhile, Acheronides, who was holding the mermaid's tear, trembled slightly under her closed eyelids before slumping onto the shell in a heartbeat.

As she fainted, the tear’s glow flickered out, slipping from her hand and falling onto the seashell. Then, cracks spiderwebbed across its teardrop surface.

On the other side, Liszt, who was digging through the mud, spun around, dodging as he assumed an attack upon feeling the sudden blue warped threads pass through his body.

He saw Acheronides faint and the tear’s glow vanish just in time.

*Crack!*

The tear shattered before his eyes, crumbling to dust, swept away by the current.

He no longer cared about how the mermaid's tear had vanished.

Rushing over, he picked up the unconscious Acheronides and called out urgently, "Acheronides! Acheronides!" Panic gripped him—she was far more important to him than anyone else.

Acheronides did not respond, but her chest still rose and fell faintly.

Forcing himself to stay calm, Liszt quickly cast Magic Eye and discovered that the magic power within her was highly unstable, seething as if boiling. Her magic flickered—some vanishing, other surges flaring up—as though constantly exchanging with ambient free magic.

But ambient magic wasn’t nearly this dense to sustain such relentless exchange.

"What exactly happened? Why did Acheronides faint for no reason? No—it must be the mermaid's tear! The mermaid's tear triggered something in her and caused her to collapse. That strange phenomenon earlier was caused by the mermaid's tear... The smoke mission told me to give it to her."

Guilt twisted his face—he should have checked for dangers first before handing it to her. "I hope this doesn’t truly harm her!"

Had he not used the smoke missions for so long and gradually realized they were more projections of his own will, he might have suspected that some hidden mastermind behind the smoke missions was targeting him by first eliminating his crucial ally, Acheronides, before coming for him.

Like raising a gu—ripe for harvesting.

"I hope nothing happens to Acheronides, or else..." He bit back the threat, unsure how to direct it at the hypothetical mastermind behind the smoke missions.

But before he could figure out how to deal with this possible mastermind,

Acheronides stirred awake, her gaze foggy, yet she managed to utter a single sentence: "Brother... Acheronides has touched... the Magic Web..."

Then, she fell unconscious again.

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