A fierce wind dug into the middle of the ocean.
Ruuuumble!
Tens of millions of tons of seawater were pushed to both sides, and the ocean, originally one, split into two.
It was a spectacle as if a myth, passed down only through oral tradition, had unfolded right before their eyes.
Following that, the ship they were riding caught the wind and slowly descended, settling onto the muddy dirt floor.
"So this is the scenery. The bottom of the Blue Sea."
Oscar muttered, looking around as if fascinated.
However, Tesila and her party were frozen stiff, unable to say a word.
Only bewildered gazes were directed at Oscar.
In fact, it was a perfectly natural reaction.
Even though they had explored all sorts of unknowns until now, the current situation was completely beyond their understanding.
‘What... am I looking at right now?’
‘Is this truly a level of mana a mere human can possess?’
‘Level 9. No, maybe if he were at least Level 8, I could understand. But can a Level 7 do something like this?’
‘El Sia.’
Squelch!
Oscar, who stepped off the ship first, looked back and asked.
"Are you not getting off?"
"U-uh, yeah! We should!"
Coming to her senses belatedly, Tesila followed suit and disembarked from the ship.
The bottom of the deep sea felt a little different from the sand on a beach.
It felt much firmer, having absorbed so much water.
‘What a strange feeling.’
Her eyes quickly sparkling like a true adventurer, she looked around.
On both sides stood walls made of seawater.
Their height was approximately 100 meters.
Inside the walls, swaying seaweed and swimming fish could still be seen.
Moreover, the bastards that had tried to destroy the ship from underwater were also glaring this way from a short distance away.
"Ah, they really were mermaids."
Their upper halves were similar to humans, but their lower halves were covered in scales and fins like those of a fish.
Perhaps this was a first for them too, as they didn't rashly attack and instead seemed to be just observing the situation.
"Let's go."
"...U-uh, yeah. Let's move out, everyone."
Leaving the ship behind, they naturally followed behind Oscar.
Unable to hold back her curiosity, Tesila asked.
"By any chance, can all the mages of the White Tower do things like this?"
"No way. I'm probably the only one capable of doing this."
"Why is it only possible for you, Oscar?"
"I just have a bit more mana."
Is this really something one can do just because they have 'a bit more mana'?
This?
Wouldn't it not be strange even if this were recorded in the scriptures of the El Terra Order?
Looking around, Tesila swallowed hard and asked again.
"By any chance, how long does this last? If that wall of the sea were to collapse on us like this..."
"It's fine. It should hold out for 30 minutes."
Oscar stared at the towering wall of the sea.
Crash! Whooooosh!
The wall of the sea, which looked like it could collapse at any moment, could not cross a certain boundary, as if blocked by something invisible.
"I secured the space by parting the sea, and I set up spatial walls so the water wouldn't overflow."
"It was a much more complex magic than I thought."
A miracle that could only be performed by wielding two attributes: wind and space.
She felt like she understood why he said he would be the only one capable of doing it.
"Have you ever done something like this before?"
"No."
He had done something similar in his past life, but honestly, it was much cleaner and consumed less mana this time.
Because he hadn't been able to handle spatial magic back then.
"But how did you even think of attempting something like this?"
"I just felt like it would work. I had an estimate of how it would turn out."
"Amazing."
As Tesila's barrage of questions ended, Tristan asked as if he had been waiting.
"In that case, can that barrier only block water?"
"No. It basically blocks almost everything. Because it's a spatial wall."
Tristan's gaze turned towards the wall of the sea.
The mermaids that had attacked the ship a little while ago were following them while keeping their distance.
"That's a relief. That means those things won't suddenly jump out from beyond the wall."
"Yes, though the story would change if they could break the spatial wall, of course."
At those words, Tesila subtly widened her distance from the sea wall.
Even so, her eyes observed the mermaids.
"Just looking at their appearance, they are exactly the same as the mermaids of the Southern Sea we know. Even the fact that their upper bodies get covered in scales during combat."
"But they seem much more aggressive. They tried to sink the ship without any warning or reason."
"But it's strange. Even with that many gathered, they aren't exchanging any signals with each other."
There were no sounds or gestures directed at each other.
And yet, they moved in perfect order, synchronized to a chilling degree.
After walking for a short while, observing the mermaids.
Arriving at the first point, the party searched the surroundings thoroughly.
"Look here. There are clothes and weapons belonging to the Brihen Mercenaries on the ground."
"There are skulls and bone fragments scattered on the floor."
"...They must have sunk the ship first and then hunted down the survivors one by one."
"How vicious."
As it had already been over half a month, there were no intact corpses.
They had probably all become fish food a long time ago, leaving only these bones behind.
"Hmm."
Letting out a small groan, Tesila shrugged her shoulders.
"We can't expect to be full on the first bite. Let's move to the second point."
"If we get back on the ship, the mermaids will attack us again."
"...More of them are gathering. There must be well over a thousand of them by now."
"Oscar. Is it too much of a burden to part the sea again?"
At that question, Oscar fell into thought.
He had tried parting the sea because he thought it would work, but it consumed about 8% of his total mana.
It wasn't exactly a burdensome amount, but it wasn't something he could just casually spam at every exploration point either.
‘Above all else...’
It might sound a bit harsh, but he didn't trust them 100% just yet.
In other words, he didn't want to leave any clues that would allow them to deduce his total mana capacity.
"Doing it consecutively might be a bit difficult for me as well."
"Is that so? Well, it is on this sort of scale, after all."
"It'd be stranger if you could."
It was when the party nodded without much suspicion.
Drop, drip.
"Hmm? It's raining."
Eddie, the cleric, muttered as he raised his head.
"Rain? No way."
"There was no such forecast, was there?"
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Since they were heading out to sea in the first place, they had scheduled everything only after thoroughly checking the weather.
As the entire party tilted their heads in confusion and looked up.
Drip, drop, drip.
One or two drops of rain fell onto their faces.
"It really is. Is it a sudden shower...?"
"The sky is too clear for that."
Just then, Tristan licked a raindrop flowing down his cheek with his tongue.
Then, his face crumpled like a piece of paper.
"...It's salty. This isn't rainwater. It's seawater."
"Hmm? Then does that mean the seawater is overflowing this 'spatial wall'?"
"I set the height quite generously, though."
Considering even the crashing of waves, he had set it up to be 15 meters higher than the sea level.
And yet, for the water to be overflowing meant...
‘Could it be?’
The moment Oscar furrowed his brow, concentrated mana in his eyes, and looked upwards.
Splash! Smack!
He saw mermaids continuously leaping from the surface of the sea and slamming their bodies against the spatial walls.
Most of them failed, but occasionally the water would spill over and fall like rain.
"...That gives me the creeps. Those bastards are trying to climb over the wall."
"I have a bad feeling about this. I think it would be best if we head back for now."
"Let's move. Towards where we left the ship."
With their faces stiffening, the party started heading back toward the ship.
Just then, Whooosh!
A mermaid, creating a splash and using its momentum to cross the barrier, plummeted headfirst into the seabed.
Crack!
Naturally, its neck completely snapped.
Because the current floor had no water to act as a cushion.
"...Wait, do we not actually need to be scared of this?"
At the same time as Tristan's muttering.
A second and a third mermaid also fell and died in the exact same manner.
Maureen, who was staring blankly at the sight, let out a hollow laugh.
"What, we got scared for nothing. Isn't it actually better since they're just killing themselves like that?"
Right then, countless mermaids began pouring down from above.
Crunch! Thud! Splat!
Every single one that fell had its neck or spine broken and its flesh crushed.
"What in the world is all this..."
"Is their intelligence even lower than we thought?"
They watched the mermaids' incomprehensible mass suicide with stiff faces for a brief moment.
Crack, craaack!
The mermaids they thought were dead began to stagger and rise to their feet.
"Damn it!"
"Everyone, run to the ship! Before we get surrounded!"
At Tesila's shout, the party began to sprint all at once.
Simultaneously, the mermaids beyond the wall threatened them by slapping the wall with their palms.
Bang! Bang, bang!
Deafening roars echoed from all directions, and it wouldn't have been strange for an ordinary person to fall into a panic, but...
‘They are elites for sure.’
Tesila's Adventurer Party maintained their reason even amidst all this.
The moment they boarded the ship, Tesila shouted.
"Oscar!"
"Yes, I will lift it."
Ruuuumble!
A strong wind pushed the ship upwards, its altitude gradually rising.
Thud! Thump!
Just then, the rushing mermaids grabbed onto the ship and started hanging from it.
"Drop."
Clack, bang!
Mary Jane's gun muzzle spat fire.
Every time she pulled the trigger while running along the railing, the mermaids' heads exploded.
"...How persistent."
However, the hand of a headless mermaid did not let go of the railing.
Crack!
Instead, its broken fingers dug even deeper into the wood.
"They still insist on grabbing the ship and climbing up even after their heads have been blown off?"
"Just push them off!"
Tristan and Maureen also stepped forward, forcefully tearing off the ones clinging to the ship.
Bang! Bang, bang!
Mary Jane pulled the trigger without resting.
The bullets shattered the five fingers gripping the railing, then the elbows, and sequentially pulverized the shoulders.
Only then did the mermaid finally plunge downwards.
"Phew, did we shake most of them off?"
"I think so."
The moment the party looked down over the railing and let out a sigh of relief.
A shadow was cast over their heads.
Thud! Crack!
Following that, the mermaids that fell from above intruded directly onto the deck.
"May the wicked be vanquished!"
The divine power emitted from Eddie's body swept over the mermaids on the deck.
The mermaids shuddered, their movements becoming noticeably sluggish.
"They are greatly affected by divine power!"
"Are they something like the undead?"
"Here's one for now! Hryaat!"
Maureen dashed forward like lightning and swung her hammer.
Crack!
The mermaid was sent flying and crashed into another one falling from above, sending them both tumbling to the floor.
Wielding a hammer larger than her own body with refreshing vigor, Maureen shouted.
"There's no end to them! They just keep coming down!"
"They're coming up from below, too! Damn it, these bastards are linking their bodies together to make a rope!"
At those words, Oscar subtly peeked over the railing.
Just as Tristan said, it felt like looking at a long, continuous trail of ants.
Hundreds of mermaids had linked their bodies together to grab the ship, pulling it from below.
‘No wonder we couldn't gain speed.’
Oscar pondered for a moment before snapping his fingers.
"Release."
A portion of the bottom of the spatial wall he had set up completely vanished.
Simultaneously, the blocked seawater crashed over the mermaids like a tidal wave more furious than ever before.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]

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