When the friends regained their vision, the environment around them had changed entirely. They appeared on a large platform in front of what looked to be a series of temples. Beautiful dark blue stones constituted the walls, and colourful corals grew around them, carefully cared for like patches of flowers. Smooth, azure-blue stones made up the ground. A few statues in black lined the sides. But all of this paled in comparison to the marvellous scene one would see when looking up.
"Wow…"
"Is that the ocean?"
"Look, so many fishes are swimming outside the bubble. So beautiful. Red, orange, blue… I really could look at that all day long."
"But why are they swimming upside down?"
"It's not them who are upside down, it's us!"
The friends were exclaiming in awe. By all rights they should be cautious of the announced trap, but the scene was too captivating. Finally, a discordant voice interrupted them:
"Hahaha! It really worked! You were right, adventurers are not the brightest! They fell into our trap so easily!"
"Hehe, of course. How could they compare to the intellect of us merfolk?"
"Truly, it is not surprising that only we can reign the vast seas."
The content of the conversation quickly attracted everyone's attention. They looked towards the origin of the voice and spotted two tall figures standing at more than two meters. Both of them had bluish skin although the left figure's skin carried a green hue. Their heads protected by fierce, black helmets had a triangular shape with fins on their cheeks and shark-like teeth. Both merfolk wore thin black armor which covered their entire lean bodies except for the spot where sharp spikes grew from their bodies. The gloves on their hands had leather patches protecting the web between the merfolks' fingers. Menacing tridents were grasped in their hands.
"Soon, we, the brilliant merfolk, will drive out those dastardly humans from the Western Ocean and will reclaim our righteous rule over the ocean!"
As the two male merfolk continued to talk, their words becoming more boisterous by the second, the friends wore increasingly strange expressions.
"I read online that those merfolk are all quite arrogant but I really didn't expect it to be to this degree…", whispered Cyclone to her friends.
Everyone nodded, finding it quite strange. It was known that merfolk had arrogance ingrained in their bones. And it was not entirely unfounded. Purely considering the size of their territory the merfolk were indeed the most prosperous race in Crunaboul. The oceans were their home, and no one could contend with them. Merfolk had strong bodies and learned how to fight from young. Even on land they could overwhelm the humans of the Western Ocean with pure numbers.
And yet merfolk lost more often than not in their campaigns against other races. One reason was their low number of truly exceptional figures, and the other was undoubtedly related to their… subpar IQ.
As the two merfolk didn't stop talking the friends looked at them incredulously. Cyclone did a quick check and suddenly she was even more stunned. She finally couldn't hold back and talked to the two enemies:
"Sorry. Guys, isn't this a trap? Aren't you supposed to attack us?"
"Oh? Nephilim, you have some courage. Despite knowing this is a trap you are not frozen in fear! Surprising. It seems this time we reeled in a big fish. The holy priest will be delighted!"
"Yes. But the nephilim is right, Melun. It is time to capture these nosy adventurers and bring them to the holy priest."
"Haha, alright. But there is no need for you to make a move. I alone am enough!"
The friends looked on as the two merfolk continued to boast. Finally, the one called Melun began to move. He advanced with a mocking gaze, approaching the adventurers, his trident pointing at their hearts.
"If you know what's good for you, surrender willingly!"
Cyclone cocked her head, incredulously watching the arrogant man.
"Why would we surrender to a level 54 common monster?"
"Tsk! You don't appreciate kindness. Well then. Violence it is!"
Melun suddenly rushed forward. Radiant Shield took a step to the side, easily blocking the attack. While Melun still kept an arrogant expression he was faced with a rain of attacks. There was absolutely no surprise. The level 54 common merfolk died within seconds. His colleague stared ahead with shock in his eyes.
"Adventurers! It seems our preparations were insufficient. I didn't expect that you are unsurpassed heroes among adventurers. But don't think you can run rampant among us merfolk!"
The merfolk with greenish skin spoke with a prideful voice. Of course, he unexpectedly hit the nail on the head. However, even if it were any other group of players beyond level 50 the two common merfolk would have stood no chance. Now the friends didn't hesitate any longer, quickly cutting down the second enemy.
"Finally they stopped talking!", exclaimed Quickstep while symbolically massaging her ears.
"Really… are all merfolk this bad? It seems in the future it is better to just cut them down directly."
"The players in the forum didn't exaggerate. I even feel they didn't do the true horror of those merfolk justice."
The friends started to joke around as they stepped down from the teleporter and surveyed their surroundings. They also threw a few strange glances at Liam as if to ask if this was the interesting fight he had mentioned. Well, from a certain perspective it was interesting indeed. Quite the eye-opener.
While talking and laughing the party entered the first temple. It wasn't that big but to their surprise it was completely empty. The friends looted a silver treasure chest standing in plain sight, receiving random forging materials, before moving on. The other temples were pretty much the same. Only one of them, which on second look was more like a gathering place for warriors, had a small team of merfolk on guard. From a conversation the friends overheard this team was responsible for coordinating with the sirens to kidnap travellers from Small Haven Island.
After inspecting the four smaller temples only the main temple remained. It was an impressive square building with sharp towers almost gracing the barrier which protected this place from the ocean. Spiralling lines wrapped around the towers, serving as decoration and neatly arranged corals grew around it. Some noise could be heard from inside.
Stopping in front of the temple Cyclone sniffed the air, claiming:
"I can smell a boss fight!"
"Yes my clairvoyance says the same.", joked Quickstep.
"My instincts are screaming."
"My blood is tingling."
Liam shook his head, saying with a chuckle:
"Ok guys, no need to be overly dramatic. But for this fight let's change our strategy a bit."
"Sure, boss. What's the plan."
Liam rolled his eyes as he explained the plan. The friends nodded along while Cyclone and Fortune had their eyes light up brightly. The friends got into position on the stairs leading up to the temple and began to act.
The first to move was Fortune. She began to cast a skill, drawing copious amounts of mana from the surroundings. The others watched for two seconds before Cyclone also started to cast. After another three seconds Fortune's skill was ready to be unleashed. But she made use of her passive to extend the cast, gathering more power.
Again, three seconds passed. Both Cyclone and Fortune had finished their casts. Their faces were incredibly strained as they held back their skills. Each second placed a large burden on their minds. Seeing them like this, the others moved quickly. Silver Blade rushed up the last bit of the stairs and opened the large gate in front of them. Cyclone and Fortune didn't hesitate a single second longer and instantly unleashed their attacks.
Inside the temple was a single spacious hall. At its centre was an extremely lifelike statue. It was a monstrous serpent. Its lower body was coiled up, supporting its upper body which reached towards the air with its maw wide open, revealing a set of sharp, almost demonic teeth.
Various strange trinkets were surrounding the serpent statue. Right in front of it stood a male merfolk in flowing azure robes holding a sceptre with a bright blue gem in his hand. Mumbled words escaped his lips, sounding strangely melodious.
Further away merfolk and sirens were kneeling in circles around the statue, joining the priest's prayer. And hanging from the ceiling above the serpent were ten small cages holding adventurers, pirates, and a certain goblin wearing a pair of yellow trousers.
But suddenly the ongoing ceremony was abruptly interrupted.
"Who dares?!"
The priest let out a thundering shout as spells fell on the merfolk. A massive arcane sphere moved through the halls, striking everyone who came too close, floating straight towards the priest. Simultaneously dark clouds gathered below the ceiling and unleashed a rain of lightning bolts, striking the gathered crowd freely.
The scene was immediately plunged into chaos. The merfolk were still dazed as they awakened from a meditative state when the spells fell on them. The merfolk and sirens present here were not necessarily powerful. Most of them were below level 20. They were no combatants. One or at most two strikes were enough to empty their HP.