Chapter 45

Whether it was Alpha or the Blackwater Merfolk led by King Ilanus, none of them understood what Old Joel was up to. However, from King Ilanus's expression, it was not hard to see cunning, like the pocket of a machine cat, which seemed to be the only way the merfolk leader positioned Old Joel.

Of course, the expressions of the merfolk might not be easy to capture, but it was enough to see a hint of disdain and anticipation in King Ilanus's eyes. Two completely different emotions coexisted, clearly indicating that Old Joel's goods were both problematic and highly praised by the merfolk. Who knew how many things Old Joel had sold to these merfolk, so many that even the merfolk, with their incredibly low intelligence, could see that the one-eyed old rascal was a complete swindler, yet they still had to willingly do business with this swindler.

Anyway, no matter what, Old Joel had the right to continue speaking, and all the merfolk were eagerly awaiting what Old Joel had to offer:

"Wise King Ilanus, this time, poor Old Joel may bring you what you desire the most."

"Wise" was one of the merfolk's favorite terms of respect. It was puzzling that these creatures, with fish heads and human bodies, like humans, would eagerly pursue titles that were completely impossible for them to have, just like "poor Old Joel."

—Of course, Old Joel said this to make himself richer.

"......"

Old Joel's last sentence was a bit long, and the "wise" King Ilanus couldn't understand it for a moment. After thinking for a while, he finally understood and said fiercely:

"Brain... smart Ilanus... most wants... raider's... head!!!"

"What?!"

Alpha was taken aback. Wasn't this asking for his own head?! What the hell was this old rascal thinking? Alpha glared at Old Joel, but unfortunately, the old man completely ignored him, just wrinkling his face and continuing to flatter King Ilanus.

"Oh, let us mourn for the poor merfolk—I just learned that a cruel mage slaughtered 100 brave and fearless Blackwater Merfolk!!"

Old Joel put on a sad face, as if the 100 or so Blackwater Merfolk that Alpha had killed yesterday were his own grandchildren. Alpha was inwardly fuming and gradually understood Old Joel's behavior.

"Roar!!!"

King Ilanus roared, his eyes turning blood red. Alpha felt a "buzz" in his head, almost losing his balance. Immediately, a message appeared in his combat log: "Suffered sound wave damage, maximum health -10, lasting 5 seconds."

This merfolk king was truly domineering; a single roar could reduce maximum health by 10 points. Was this a lion's roar?

This wasn't just losing health; it was directly reducing the maximum health, which was clearly much more serious. For example, with Alpha's current maximum health of 478 points, after this roar, he only had 468 points left.

A level 30 boss was indeed formidable, and Alpha knew that once a fight broke out, he would have no chance at all.

At this point, he had to rely on Old Joel. Alpha glanced at Old Joel and found that the old man showed no reaction at all, seemingly not taking King Ilanus seriously. The old fox must have some tricks up his sleeve, which was not surprising, given that he had entered the Tower of Forgetfulness twice and come out unscathed.

But even so, it was unlikely that Old Joel could lead him to victory against so many merfolk and a powerful level 30 boss.

—What was this old man up to?

If he really wanted to show off and say that the 100 brothers of the merfolk were killed by his people, Alpha was sure he would be killed by King Ilanus first, and then the big fish would lead a group of minions to gang up on Old Joel. Of course, the term "gang up" used on Old Joel was a bit too disgusting.

The ominous feeling grew stronger, and it deepened the problem Alpha had been considering at the cargo station:

Given that there was a powerful level 30 boss, King Ilanus, it seemed more normal for Old Joel to try to win the favor of the Blackwater Merfolk rather than show off.

"How to win their favor?"

Alpha was deep in thought when he suddenly felt something was wrong. He realized he was alone in the middle of the area, as Old Joel had taken two steps forward, leaving him behind and approaching the enraged King Ilanus, who was furious about the slaughter of his brothers. Suddenly, Old Joel turned around and pointed at Alpha:

"You can use divine magic to detect the evil on this mage!!"

King Ilanus, Priest Charles, and all the Blackwater Merfolk present turned to Alpha. Even the low-intelligence merfolk could understand what Old Joel meant. If this puny human hadn't committed a heinous crime, why would Old Joel accuse him?

—All the merfolk, while angry, were also proud of their clever heads.

"Roar!!!"

The tall merfolk king, Ilanus, bared his teeth and roared again. The other merfolk, including Priest Charles, either brandished their weapons or pounded their shields, roaring at Alpha. Alpha found that his just-restored maximum health had dropped by another 10 points.

This effect could stack, and King Ilanus had roared twice, reducing his maximum health by 20 points. If this guy kept roaring, wouldn't Alpha's health drop to zero?

"..."

Alpha remained silent, but his mind was racing, trying to figure out what to do next. Fortunately, he was already prepared...

These fish-headed, sharp-toothed creatures looked ready to tear Alpha apart at any moment, truly a fitting end to be devoured by fish. Who said Blackwater Merfolk didn't eat humans? The skulls floating in the seawater couldn't be monkeys', could they?

But at this critical moment, King Ilanus showed a bit of kingly demeanor.

—At least he didn't just kill Alpha without a word. Instead, he listened to Old Joel and decided to use the merfolk's secret magic to detect whether Alpha had blood on his hands.

For law-abiding NPCs and monsters, the process of judgment was essential. They would never act rashly like chaotic factions—of course, self-defense or territory invasion was an exception.

As a follower of the fierce lady Ambory, the sea goddess had bestowed the Blackwater Merfolk with her petty, vengeful, and cruel nature. The leaders of the Blackwater Merfolk possessed divine magic to detect whether someone had slaughtered their people.

It was essentially a merfolk version of "Detect Evil." At this moment, Alpha couldn't help but imagine Lancelot with a fish head.

—He still had time to think about this...

King Ilanus raised his hands to the sky and chanted a long, dog-like incantation. A deep blue energy gathered in his hands, the power of the sea goddess.

The Blackwater Merfolk around him glared at Alpha with their large, fish-like eyes, ready to pounce. Priest Charles waved his priest's staff, which was actually just a meter-long coral with a fist-sized ruby at the top.

Rubies were the best carriers for fire spells and could enhance fire damage. The brilliant gem emitted a red glow, and a fiery energy beam appeared between Charles's hands. The air was filled with the scent of high-temperature combustion, and from Charles's blood-red eyes, it was clear that if the divine magic proved Alpha's guilt, this fiery beam would wrap around his neck without hesitation.

This temperature was much stronger than the "Burning Hand" spell. Alpha frowned:

If nothing went wrong, the next spell would be a 2nd-level evocation spell, "Scorching Ray," which could deal about 100 points of fire damage. Alpha had seen the casting process of this spell in the spell description, where the caster first linked a flame energy beam and then released it.

As a 2nd-level spell, "Scorching Ray" had relatively low damage, even less than some 1st-level spells. Low damage was a common issue with ray spells.

To compensate for this weakness, ray spells often had fast casting times, high speed, and were hard to dodge, which was a trade-off. Typically, spells like "Scorching Ray" and "Frost Ray" were used in player vs. player (PvP) for quick attacks or to control the opponent.

However, don't forget that Charles wasn't a player, or rather, Charles was much stronger than a player.

According to the setting where high-template NPCs cast stronger spells than players, as an elite boss, Charles's "Scorching Ray" could deal about twice the normal damage, and the ray was extremely fast and hard to dodge, making it a deadly weapon in his hands.

Even with Alpha's 478 points of maximum health at level 16 and the "Internal Force Protection" active, he probably couldn't withstand a few "Scorching Rays" from Charles.

The cooldown time for this spell was too fast, and the mana cost was minimal.

Even if Alpha could survive Charles's "Scorching Ray," don't forget that the "palace" of the merfolk, which was actually just a large reef with a few simple huts and a stone throne, was filled with level 20 elite Blackwater Merfolk Warriors.

According to the rules of the Blackwater Merfolk, if a higher-level merfolk attacked, lower-level ones had the right to attack as well.

Unfortunately, these level 20 elite Blackwater Merfolk Warriors wouldn't just stand by. With over 5,000 health points and formidable combat abilities, even one of them would be a challenge for Alpha. If they all attacked together, being torn apart by their blades was inevitable.

—Given the current situation... Alpha seemed doomed...

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