Chapter 73
Lavana thought for a short while before transforming into her merform. If she was to reach there in time, she needed her tail, especially since sea monsters would chase her no matter which cave she took.
…
10 minutes later, she arrived at the spot where she could see 13 different caves lined up before her. Oceana had said she should pick the one that looks most dangerous. She thought it’d be easier to find. How come all of them looked safe to get into?
At the entrance of the first one was just a small organism. The others had nothing at the entrance. The caves weren’t too dark either.
“What should I do now?” she thought.
After spending another 5 minutes deliberating on which cave to enter, she finally decided to enter the last cave.
The gemstone on her forehead illuminated the cave as she swam slowly. Suddenly she stopped and covered her mouth. Ahead of her was a pile of skeletons that reached the top of the cave. There was no space to see what was behind these things.
Was this the most dangerous cave? Or was there a chance that there was one that was scarier than this and that was the real cave that led back to the island?
In any case, she was already here and she could not go back as a magical, glowing rune serving as a barrier was at the entrance of the cave.
She slowly put down her hands and turned around so as to once more see the cave’s entrance but instead of that, she saw something else. Seven huge fishes that looked so ugly that she wanted to vomit were baring their huge, silver teeth at her. She couldn’t even see their eyes!
“Ahhh!” she screamed while also launching ice chains at them but it didn’t last long before vanishing.
“Eh?” she looked at her hands. Could that magical rune at the entrance be the reason? So she could not use her powers in this cave? Then there was only one thing she could do.
She turned around and swam forward, diving into the pile of skeletons with her eyes closed. She soon broke out from the pile of skeletons and she opened her eyes to the same 7 fishes waiting for her with their mouths wide open. They were coming at her!
She was baffled as to how these fishes appeared here.
“Could it be… these monsters teleport?” she thought. This race would be a tough one if that’s the case.
She had a lot on her plate then.
Behind her, was the pile of skeletons. She turned around and dived into the pile. The fishes immediately teleported. Contrary to what they thought, Lavana did not appear at the starting point. Lavana who was peeking from inside the pile, upon seeing that they indeed teleported with the almost invisible gemstone on their heads, used the chance to come out and swim faster. Sure enough, after the fishes noticed she wouldn’t be coming out, they teleported and reappeared at the other side of the skeleton pile and started chasing the mermaid.
Lavana saw how fast they were. She immediately increased her speed and launched ice chains at them whenever she could even though she knew they won’t last long. At least the chains served the purpose of slowing them down a bit but not by much.This text is © NôvelDrama/.Org.
At a point, she decided that if she continued like this, she would run out of strength without reaching the cave’s end.
She just focused on swimming even faster and the fishes followed suit.
30 minutes later.
She suddenly stopped. Ahead of her was a wall. Her face paled. She really made the wrong choice? She turned around and saw that the fishes had caught up. Her fire couldn’t work her. She didn’t know if there was enough energy to spit out any lightning. There was no way forward. Or…
She transformed into her human form and then smiled.
She launched an ice chain at the biggest fish in the middle. It did not wrap around it but moved forward, wrapping around its tail. It became enraged but she launched more ice chains at it while swimming closer to them. Then she turned invisible.
The fishes were dismayed that their prey had disappeared. Suddenly they saw all their tails were tied together by the familiar ice chains. Lavana who had now reappeared in her mermaid form used her tail to hit the bound tails hard, sending the fishes forward to hit the wall.
The so-called wall immediately cracked and crumbled.
The fish who were trying to register what had just happened saw the annoying mermaid in front of them waving.
“Bye losers!” she giggled before turning around to swim forward at a higher speed. The fish just remained in that spot for a reason best known to them.
Lavana who was elated that she actually chose the fight way became stunned and stopped swimming. The way forward was blocked by a super gigantic red fish with black fins and yellow eyes that were glowing.
Its open mouth was enough to swallow 30 people at once! What should she do now? Even if she turned invisible. There was no space to pass.
The fish wasn’t moving from its spot to chase her either. Was there really no way forward from here?
She looked behind her and saw that those fishes pursuing her earlier were gone. They must have known what was here that’s why they gave up! And a magical rune had appeared which means she couldn’t head back. She kept looking at the fish and an idea came to her. This fish was blocking the way. Since it wasn’t gonna move from its spot, why not just go through it?
She transformed into her human form and swam slowly into the mouth of the fish. Surprisingly, there was a hole. So this was not a real fish? She swam out of the hole and saw a door that was above the water level. There were no stairs to get to it.
Wings sprouted from her back and she flew to the door. It had no handle for her to turn. But there were several patterns of a dragon’s scales designed on it. She quickly bit her middle finger and touched the door with it. As she expected, blood began to flow out of her bleeding finger at a fast rate. Soon the patterns were all dyed with her blood. She wanted to take back her hand but to her dismay, she could not. Blood kept trickling from her middle finger at an even faster rate.
She nonetheless kept trying until her hand finally got free.
Her injured finger immediately healed and she sighed as the door finally opened.
She saw some golden stairs and the familiar scene of losing blood with each step reappeared in her head.
The stairs were numerous and so high! How was she to get past all of them and still be alive?
Behind her, another magical rune had appeared, blocking the way back. No other option for her than climbing the stairs!
She slowly ascended the first staircase but surprisingly felt no pressure. She ascended the second stair, it was the same thing. She increased her pace and ran up the stairs with a serious expression. Upon reaching the last stair, she saw a dead end. But there was a hole above her. She flew upwards out of the hole and saw the platform once again.
She watched as the hole below her closed. She flew onto the platform and sat cross-legged in the middle which now had various sea shell designs once again.
“Oceana, I made it,” she said with a giggle.
Oceana had now awakened. “Congratulations on making the right choice and passing the test.”
“Thank you,” Lavana replied happily.
“Don’t be too happy. Prepare for your tribulation. I’m going to slumber.” Oceana’s words faded.
Lavana sighed while wondering what the tribulation was like. Was it some super difficult test? Or was it…
She got interrupted from her thoughts when seven white pillars shot out of several holes that suddenly appeared around the platform.
They were all 3 meters tall and they joined together at the top. Lavana did not understand what it meant. Before she could think of something else, a bolt of lightning from the joining point of all seven pillars hit her left shoulder. She gasped in shock and stared at her shoulder. Although there was no mark on it but it felt hot and painful. She looked upwards and opened her mouth in shock.
A huge ball of lightning was levitating just below the joining points of the pillars. So this was the so-called tribulation? She’s a thunder dragon after all so it only made sense for her body to be further tempered by lightning bolts. But how many bolts would she receive from that rotating lightning ball?
She subconsciously hugged herself and shut her eyes. These actions of hers initiated a series of lightning bolts being launched at her without stopping. She gritted her teeth for the first five minutes but could not bear it anymore and let out a scream as her body trembled. Still, she did not stop hugging herself. Her fingers curled into fists and blood was flowing from them.
Suddenly the series of lightning bolts reduced to just one at random intervals. Lavana’s body was already swaying but she was determined to collapse. She opened her eyes and saw the lightning ball that was rotating fast. As it did so, a lightning bolt hit her and she grit her teeth. Her entire being was in so much pain. She felt that the pain of the transformation back at Ralton pack was not even worth mentioning. Breathing had become a hard task now.
The entire island suddenly turned cold and a few tiny holes opened around the platform. They soaked her with water before closing. Lavana knew she was toast. If any blot of lightning hit her now, would she still be alive. The rotating lightning balls grew larger and suddenly split in half. Before Lavana could comprehend what was happening, both parts of the split lightning ball descended at her. She screamed in fright but had no strength to move fro there. The split parts joined together before enveloping her. A bloodcurling scream was heard.
…
Meanwhile, Phoenix who had been feeling pain in his chest suddenly lacked the energy to stand. His knees gave as he clutched his chest and grit his teeth. He was in another forest in V country in search of his mate.
“Lavana, my love, where are you? Where are you please? You’re eating so much pain in some place that I don’t know. How can I help you now? Moon goddess, you surely won’t watch both of us suffer like this. Please show me any sign that can lead me to her. I’ll do anything.” he thought as the pain circulated around his body.