Mermaids were usually timid in nature. They had long patience, serene, tranquil, and they also loved peace.
Although, of course, they were distant towards other races.
If it was with each other, they were close to themselves, and they valued friendship, family, and hierarchy. They were one of the most loyal among the Elementals when it came to their loved ones.
That was mostly because of their natural character.
However, for the first time in her life, she finally felt so eager to kill someone. Nerissa, no matter how beautiful she was, couldn't help but wear an ugly frown. Her body couldn't help trembling, agitated at the arrogance the human before her had spouted.
Her patience, tranquility, and serenity, couldn't help her at all.
''You bastards are dead.'' Nerissa uttered under her cold breath. She didn't waste any more seconds as she finally began to make a move.
Swoosh!
Nerissa rushed at King with incredible speed. She dove into the air, swam like the air was water. She decided to deal with this purple-haired bastard first before dealing with that black-haired big-mouthed bastard.
''Tch, fine. I'll play along,'' King clicked his tongue in response. He had no choice but to act accordingly or else, things would get way too troublesome. He just decided to deal with Jax later on, once the trouble had been dealt with.
Just like that, King also ran forward to confront the furious opponent. Since he had already encountered mermaids in the past plenty of times, he was quite familiar with how to deal with them. Although it was no way easy, especially with his current weakened state, he was confident that it was still doable.
The two powerful forces then soon clashed against each other. Nerissa used the same attack as earlier, while on the other hand, King raised his hand forward to create a similar attack.
A sphere of purple energy manifested before his palm, spinning with greater violence than the water ball of the other party.
However, when the two energy balls collided, something unexpected happened — something that even Nerissa failed to see coming.
When the balls of energy clashed, both of which suddenly dispersed in midair. As if both were nullified, or were silenced, leaving Nerissa in momentary distraction.
But that distraction was more than enough for King. And also, it was what he was aiming for. He took that moment of distraction as he grabbed the mermaid's wrist real tight. Then, with a force that didn't spare any mercy, he pulled the mermaid close to him and sent a powerful knee strike to her stomach.
That rendered her completely stunned and unmoving as King took the chance to finally throw her down on the ground, plunging her with overwhelming strength and violence.
Before the mermaid could realize what had just happened, she was already there on the cracked ground, lying with her back and aching.
Everything just happened within five seconds. It was so fast that Nerissa's mind was still struggling to keep up.
Did she just lose in a hand-to-hand close combat fight? How could that make any sense? There was no way a mere human, especially a mere kid, could...
''Stop wasting your time and go back to your mom now while I'm still being kind. It's obvious that you'll stand no chance against me at all.'' King, while standing close to overshadow the defeated mermaid, suddenly spoke with a voice cold and deprived of mercy. Then, with an increasing coldness mixed in his voice, he threatened, ''If you still persist, then I'll have no choice but to make you my Familiar.''
However, deep inside King's heart, he was already sweating. He really hoped to scare that little mermaid away and destroy her fighting spirit now. Because he knew full well that once she got enraged more than what she already was and used her Royal Skill to transform, things would get a lot more troublesome.
''You...'' Nerissa, as she glared at the other party fiercely, couldn't find a word to reply at all. She clenched her teeth in resentment, but her eyes suddenly became watery. The helplessness and weakness seemed to intrude into her heart.
Since mermaids not only valued loyalty, but also hierarchy, or more correctly, strength, they would naturally shrink down in the face of absolute power. Right now, upon that short moment of clash, she saw King as a powerful enemy that she wouldn't be able to defeat.
And also, the threat of becoming a Familiar by a human seemed to frighten her very soul.
It wasn't a secret to her that humans always had a cunning way to do the uncanny. They could make elementals like her be their tamed pet and enslave them for as long as they wanted.
It went without saying, Nerissa, seeing the overwhelming strength of the human before her, couldn't help but shrink down and hesitate. Her watery eyes could tell it all that she was ready to cry any time soon.
Unbeknownst to her, what happened earlier was only King's attempt to display power. In reality, what he pulled out earlier was already taxing his body greatly. He wouldn't be able to do the same thing over again for a good while.
But King was satisfied. He could see that his plan was effective. He felt like the other party's willpower was dwindling. If this went on, then they could just leave without spilling any blood.
Swoosh.
Amidst King's attempt to destroy the other party's fighting spirit, something terrifying happened. A sudden object fell from above right before his eyes. And then...
Pasak!
That swift object went directly into the mermaid's stomach.
King was caught off guard. His eyes bulged out as if he had seen something unreal. He looked at the object and realized that it was a bolt.
He blinked thrice and rubbed his eyes, but still, he saw the same thing. That little mermaid really got her stomach pierced for good!
Nerissa also had her eyes bulge out. That, too, was something she didn't see coming. Regret, resentment, enmity, those were only a few of the many emotions she could feel right now.
So, feeling that her strength was escaping her body, and with a hand trembling in weakness, she raised her hand to reach her stomach.
She wasn't dreaming. It wasn't a fluke either. She really got hit by a bolt, piercing her belly with no mercy. And when she realized and finally saw the end of her life coming, a mouthful of blood exploded out of her mouth.
She coughed and coughed, glared at the human before her, but no words still came out of her mouth.
How pathetic, was she really going to die just like this? This couldn't be happening. She must...
King, on the other hand, shifted his furious gaze to where his hunch told him. And in there, he saw Jax standing in the distance. He had a crossbow in his hand, still pointing toward the sky.
And with a dumb expression, he scratched the back of his head and laughed dryly.
''Oh, shit, it really hit her?'' Jax smiled bitterly. He only locked that mermaid as a target using his crossbow. After that, he aimed into the sky to test if it would really hit the locked target.
To his astonishment, his crossbow wasn't really joking. The ability of his Weeping Boltcaster to always hit the locked target wasn't just for display. Once he locked a target, no matter in which direction he aimed, his bolt would chase the locked target to deliver its piercing attack.
That same thing happened to the pitiful mermaid.