Even though my hundred or so Little Anglers and Lantern Fishes formed up around me, I realized that the synchronize ability wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. Coordinating so many spirit beasts to synchronize their qi together was quite the difficult feat, and I realized I underestimated the task.
Nonetheless, this was a chance to turn the tides. Any longer and the Atlanteans wouldn't be able to hold out. I had to do something drastic to alter the outcome, so I decided to gamble on this. That said, I was aware that my one single move might not change anything, but it was better to try than to give up. At least I wouldn't be dwelling in regret later.
Taking a deep breath, I watched as the strings of spiritual qi linked my aquatic armada together. They were weaving their qi linkages together, and all of them were trailing back to be like an invisible web. Of course I had to handle the majority of the qi connections – I was the summoner, after all. The main responsibility of synchronizing everybody fell on me, much like how it was the conductor's responsibility to direct the flow of music in an orchestra.
"Phew…"
Such a huge move required a tremendous amount of focus. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the countless threads of qi that wove from Little Angler to Little Angler, and Lantern Fish to Lantern Fish, and even between the two different species. As different as they were, I could still synchronize them because a Little Angler would eventually evolve into a Lantern Fish.
No wonder they had such elemental affinity with each other.
For this move, I chose an electric move…because electricity was super effective against water type spirit beasts. Even the merfolk would be weak against electric moves because of their affinity with the water element.
"Let's go!"
My eyes flew open and I grinned as I gave the command.
"Divine Thunderstorm!"
At my order, all hundred of my Little Anglers and Lantern Fishes unleashed their electric qi in concert, combining their spiritual energies into a single colossal attack. Like a titanic lightning bolt, the Divine Thunderstorm seared through the depths of the sea, sending plumes of boiling water and steam billowing across the battlefield and scalding the combatants.
Damn, I had underestimated the potency of my armada's combined attack and ended up injuring my allies too. I could only apologize and ask for forgiveness later, but for now, I had no choice but to focus on the present.
The Divine Thunderstorm hit its mark, the colossal thunderbolt slamming into the center of the massed undersea tribe's forces and obliterating almost everybody. It wasn't just the merfolk who were caught in the electric blast. Snaking currents of electricity lashed out like ravenous serpents and enveloped the great underwater beasts as well. Megalodons were fried, giant squids were roasted, and even the mosasaurs were burned, their green scales blackened from the sheer heat. They cartwheeled away in the water, their carcasses simmering and still crackling with the violent voltage of the unexpected thunderstrike.
As I thought, the main command element of the undersea tribe had gathered there. Shortly after their demise, the merfolk assault fell apart. Disorganized, many of the merfolk began retreating, hunted down by vengeful Atlanteans who left their domed fortifications in fury. It also seemed that whatever was controlling the spirit beasts had been with the commanders, for the majority of the Megalodons, giant squids, plesiosaurs, mosasaurs and pliosaurs broke away and engaged in their own feeding frenzy or slipped away in the chaos. A few continued attacking, but the pod of whales, shoals of dolphins and orcas easily fended them off.
Faced with the threat of being annihilated, even the great sea monsters decided to retreat, slinking back into the depths or seeking fresh, more vulnerable prey elsewhere in the vast ocean.
"Huff…"
I drifted idly in the waters, exhausted by the move. It wasn't just me. My Little Anglers and Lantern Fishes had also slackened, drained after pouring all of their qi into that last move. I sent them a mental compliment, praising and thanking each of them for their contribution, and I received some sort of joyful response.
But none of us had the energy to move. Synchronize was a double-edged sword, evidently. It had the power to decapitate a formidable foe, but once it left the bowstring, it left us vulnerable to a counter.
And one of the enemies was approaching fast. A plesiosaur, from the looks of it. Sapphire scales gleamed and its long neck snaked through the water as its paddles propelled it forward. On its back was shell-like protrusions, and it reminded me of a transport type spirit beast that ferried people from shore to shore.
A water and ice type spirit beast that was known as the Shell Loch, if I remembered. It wasn't as aggressive as the Las Loch or Large Liopleudoron, and it usually had a gentle nature, but it had yet to shake off the last mental command from the dead merfolk chiefs.
This was bad. I was too exhausted to lift an arm, never mind defend myself.
Fortunately, I didn't have to.
Da Hai slammed into the Shell Loch from the side, slashing at its flanks and drawing blood. The Shell Loch wailed and thrashed about, a beam of azure energy leaving its mouth and freezing a trail of ice across the depths. Da Hai dodged it, spinning his shell about to crash into the poor spirit beast again. Popping out of his shell, he then raked his claws across the Shell Loch's neck, causing it to recoil in pain.
I was about to sigh in relief when I noticed a notification window. Holding up a hand, I sent a mental command.
"Sorry, Da Hai, but that's enough. Do you mind stopping?"
My War Turtle sent me a quizzical look before realization dawned on him. With a nod, he backed off. I slowly floated toward the Shell Loch, too tired to swim. Luckily, I could make use of the undersea currents to move myself without relying on my exhausted limbs.
"All right, pal…you're mine."
And with that, I formed a spirit contract with the wounded Shell Loch. To my lack of surprise, the moment the spirit contract was forged, the qi that flowed from me to it allowed its injuries to heal. As it slowly recovered, I saw a new notification window.
-Shell Loch. Rank: Yellow. Elemental Affinities: Water, Ice. Nature: Gentle and modest. Gender: male. Would you like to give him a name? –
"Xiao Ke," I said, noting the shell on his back. This was weird, normally Da Hai would receive the name Xiao (or Da) Ke, but I decided to switch things around. Not that it mattered, it seemed that Xiao Ke was satisfied with his name, just like Da Hai. I nodded at my War Turtle and smiled. "You're the big bro now, Da Hai. Make sure you take care of everybody."
Da Hai did a mock salute with his flipper. I nodded and dismissed them all – including my armada of Little Anglers and Lantern Fishes – into my summoning space, leaving me alone in the sea. If I came under any threat, I was sure that the automated summoning defense would be initiated, so I didn't have to worry. Just like Xiao Huo on the surface, Da Hai would materialize to protect me before I became shark food.
Not that I was in any danger right now. I could see Myria and her elite bodyguards swimming toward me. They were exchanging astonished and disbelieving glances. I waved weakly, still floating about aimlessly.
"You…" Myria stared at me before shaking her head in bemusement. "How did you do that?"
"Do what?"
"It's useless to pretend. We all saw it." Myria stared sternly at me, placing her hands on her hips as she swam up in front of me. "You exerted unprecedented control over all those Little Anglers and Lantern Fishes and merged all of their qi to unleash some sort of super attack! I've never seen anything like that before! How did you do that?"
"Is that an ability of a surface dweller?" One of her bodyguards asked. His colleague frowned and shook his head.
"No way! I've never heard of a surface dweller controlling spirit beasts before!"
"I mean you communicate with all those whales, dolphins and other spirit beasts to ally with Atlantis against the undersea tribe," I pointed out. Myria shook her head.
"No, that's different! We have an alliance with the whales and other spirit beasts, but we do it through communication. We have established a long-term relationship with them over several decades, even centuries! That's a relationship that you surface dwellers definitely do not have!"
"That's right," one of her bodyguards spoke up thoughtfully. "We know the undersea tribe has a way of influencing the pliosaurs, plesiosaurs, mosasaurs, sharks, giant squids and other sea monsters, but even then they do not have total control over those ferocious beasts. More often than not, they simply direct the sea monsters toward fresh prey and let them do whatever they want. Even then, their influence over them is temporary."
"Yeah, but this surface dweller displayed not just mental influence but complete command of the Lantern Fishes and Little Anglers!"
"I also saw a War Turtle working hard to protect him, as if he was its master!"
"Um, yeah, well…" I wasn't sure what to say. "It's a unique ability I have. I managed to develop an ability on the surface to…uh, befriend spirit beasts."
The Atlanteans stared at each other before Myria sighed and raised a hand.
"Actually, that's fine. It's rude of us to pry into your secrets. You're a guest and an outsider, it's only fair that you don't spill everything to us. In fact, we should be grateful to you…not only did you help us greatly in our war against the undersea tribe, you even turned the tide against the enemy and secured our victory."
"That's an exaggeration…"
"No, it's not." Myria's tone softened and she smiled. "We saw your attack. If you hadn't eliminated the command element of the undersea tribe and sent the survivors fleeing in chaos, we might have lost the war. Already, we were hard-pressed trying to hold the breach in our fortifications…any longer, and our defenses would surely have collapsed."
"Your highness!" One of the bodyguards hissed, but Myria shook her head.
"It's totally fine. If he had the intention to hurt Atlantis, he had every opportunity to do so when the undersea tribe invaded. Instead, he risked his life fighting beside us and even contributed to our eventual victory. He is undoubtedly our savior."
"I wouldn't go that far…" I protested. I didn't think they would believe me if I told them of the linked quest that the super summoning system assigned to me, but honestly, even without any linked quest or whatever, I would have done the same thing. There was no way I would leave my hosts to fight a war on their own while I cowardly hid in the villa. I simply wasn't that kind of person.
"Yes, you are."
I glanced at the bodyguards for help when Myria insisted, but none of them came to my aid. A few of them were regarding me with admiration. One of them shrugged when I stared at him.
"I was this close to being killed when your thunderbolt struck the main army of the undersea tribe, you know." He held his fingers close together. "One of the Megalodons made it through and was about to bite me when it got electrocuted. I owe you my life, surface dweller…bro. Thank you."
"That's right! The lines were collapsing and the giant squid was tearing apart the fortification and about to ensnare me when it swam off suddenly! I realize later that it was because you broke the undersea tribe's mental influence over it! Thanks!"
"Uh…no problem." I couldn't help but feel uncomfortable as the Atlantean bodyguards thanked me profusely. Myria giggled at the sight before gesturing to her loyal subordinates.
"Well, let's not just float around here. Help our savior back to Atlantis. We have a lot to thank him for. And…" Her expression turned serious. "The threat is far from over."
"Huh?" I turned to her while one of the Atlanteans pulled my arm over his shoulder. "What do you mean?"
Myria's eyes flashed with rage as she stared into the vast distance of the ocean depths and she clenched her fists. "This invasion was only a diversion. I had just received a report from one of our outer bastions. The undersea tribe's true objective is elsewhere."
She tightened her grip on the shaft of her spear, her hand trembling in rage. And no small amount of fear, if I wasn't mistaken. I could detect a similar quiver from the bodyguard next to me, mostly because he and his comrades had already heard the bad news.
"While we were fighting off the main bulk of their armada, a sizable detachment of merfolk has infiltrated the forbidden territory of Atlantis." She took a deep breath to calm herself down. "A sacred land that has been banned to all Atlanteans for good reason."
I felt a chill run down my spine even as the princess of Atlantis continued.
"They plan to free the dreadful entity that has been sealed there for millennia."