The surging sea waves crashed against the hard reefs, bursting apart and scattering white foam into the sky.
A rocky cave stood alone above the ocean, as if completely cut off from the world.
The rolling waves around it kept slamming against the rocks, forming clear crashing sounds that echoed inside the cave.
A deep blue teleportation magic circle slowly descended. Countless dense blue streaks poured down from the sky, passed through the narrow entrance of the reef cave, and finally landed smoothly on the ground.
Viktor held Erica tightly in his arms. One hand wrapped around her legs, the other supported her body, keeping her firmly against his chest.
Erica's face was flushed red, and she was breathing heavily. Her whole body looked extremely weak.
Just from her expression alone, it was obvious that her condition was not optimistic.
"Pro… Professor…"
Viktor lowered his head and looked at Erica.
His fingers moved slightly, and a strand of green energy flowed from his fingertips, slowly merging into the rock beneath his feet.
The next second, vines and thick branches stretched out, roughly breaking through the reef ground.
[First Tier Magic: Wood Carving]
A wooden bed was formed and landed steadily on the ground.
Viktor used magic again and took out many soft monster furs from the player backpack.
He cleaned them, dried them with fire, and then carefully spread them over the wooden bed.
After finishing all that, he gently placed Erica from his arms onto the bed.
Viktor was just about to stand up.
Viktor was just about to stand up when he saw that Erica's hand was still gripping his arm tightly, unwilling to let go.
"Don't…"
"Don't… leave me."
He hesitated for a second, then sat back down.
Vines broke out from the rock beneath him and instantly formed a vine chair, supporting Viktor as he sat steadily.
He felt that Erica's palm was somewhat overheated. A faint mist of vapor rose from her forehead and slowly slid down along her hair.
Her eyes were a little unfocused. Each breath she took carried a hazy white mist of heat.
Viktor looked at her and said, "Don't worry."
"You did very well."
When Erica heard Viktor say that, she showed a bright smile. In the dim reef cave, it was like a candle lighting up the darkness.
It was as if the emptiness in her heart had been filled, finally receiving recognition from Viktor.
"Professor, thank you…"
After weakly saying those last words, Erica's head tilted to the side, and she completely fell unconscious.
Her breathing finally became steady, as if she had fallen into a peaceful sleep.
At this moment, no matter what was done to her, she probably would not respond.
However, Viktor did nothing. When he pulled his arm out from Erica's palm, he turned his hand and held her slender hand instead.
He felt the warmth coming from her palm. It was somewhat abnormal.
This temperature seemed a little disconnected from her body.
"This feeling is familiar, isn't it, Viktor."
Vega on his shoulder slowly spoke.
Hearing Vega's reminder, Viktor suddenly remembered.
Of course he was familiar.
This situation was like when he first absorbed the origin of the Calamity of Fire, sometimes scorching hot, sometimes freezing cold.
It was a state of magical overload.
This kind of overload could only slowly pass through natural recovery.
Viktor had no other solution.
However, Erica's overload at this moment was because he had used her body to combine the source powers of three calamities.
Then through her body, he fused and released them.
And this kind of thing could only be done by Erica.
"As expected, Duke Levi is not simple."
Even now, Viktor could not imagine how Duke Levi, an ordinary man, managed to win over the Goddess of Nature and make her willingly give birth to Erica.
Erica was the descendant of a god.
Half of divine blood flowed in her body.
Because of that, she could hear the call of calamities and even gain their power.
Or perhaps, that power did not come from the calamities.
It was nature's care for her.
It originally belonged to Erica herself.
Just like everything she once saw in her dreams.
'Inheritance.'
All the signs were awakening the natural power hidden inside Erica.
Viktor looked at the unconscious Erica and said calmly, "After a few days of rest, she'll be fine."
"But these next few days, the duke probably won't be able to see his precious daughter."
To fuse calamities required passing through Erica's body. This was something Viktor had already confirmed.
But the power of calamities was not so easy to endure.
So Erica needed a few days to recover her body and to control this power that nature had gifted her.
At the same time, Viktor slowly raised his other hand.
Two groups of different colored light shone in his palm.
The origin of calamities.
The blue origin of surging water was flowing restlessly, while the other dark purple origin flickered like ghostly lightning, elusive and unstable.
To be honest, the Calamity of Thunder was an unexpected gain. After all, Viktor had only intended to defeat the Calamity of Water this time.
But because Dozale let out a whale cry, Riles actually came over on his own.
It was hard not to wonder whether those two had something going on.
But it also made sense.
The Calamity of Thunder only appeared in extremely gloomy cloud layers, the kind of darkness heavy enough to swallow the land.
And the air had to be extremely dry, where even slight friction could generate electricity.
The Calamity of Water just happened to be able to summon dark clouds completely.
On top of that, with Guldon present, the scorching high temperature burned the moist air, drying out the world's clouds.
Under those conditions, the Calamity of Thunder revealed itself.
Vega stood on Viktor's shoulder and sighed a little.
"Next, only the last calamity is left, right?"
The Calamity of Earth.
Viktor nodded.
Since coming to this world, he had spent a lot of time obtaining these calamity origins and gaining power to protect himself.
Time had not passed slowly.
But this was still not enough.
"Not enough."
To defeat those beings in the sky, the power of calamities was still not enough.
And even if he gathered the power of all five calamities, he might not be able to defeat the Calamity of Earth.
To be precise, he might not even be able to damage it.
The special nature of the Calamity of Earth meant that its power had never been reduced.
The other calamities had all been weakened to some degree.
The Calamity of Fire was sealed inside a volcano. The Calamity of Wood was used as a battery by the City of Magic.
The Calamity of Wind was too free and careless. As long as its movement was restricted, it could be defeated.
And the ocean of the Calamity of Water was polluted, relying only on the devotion of the Sea Folk to maintain its power.
The Calamity of Thunder was even more extreme, only appearing in dry storm clouds, though fortunately it could fly.
Only the Calamity of Earth had no restrictions, so it had never been weakened.
So…
"The matter of the Calamity of Earth will have to be put aside for now."
As he spoke, the two calamity origins flowed from Viktor's palm along his coat and slowly merged into it.
Five different colored streaks appeared on the coat, suddenly lighting up in the dark cave.
Five colored light flashed through Viktor's eyes. His aura carried a slight pressure, and rich natural energy overflowed from his body.
"At least for now."
"We still have other matters to deal with."
His cold voice echoed through the cave like distant thunder.
———
Henny walked across the sea surface as if she were tiptoeing through the air.
She spread her arms wide, trying to keep her balance like she was walking on a tightrope.
A bright smile, one that had never appeared before, filled her face. Her cheerful laughter bloomed among the sea waves.
Beside her was the crimson crocodile hidden beneath the sea.
Following the rise and fall of the waves, it swam leisurely in the ocean, cleverly hiding its presence as if it did not exist.
At this moment, a familiar figure suddenly drifted into this sea area.
A cloud, white and soft like cotton, floated gently in the sky.
"Uh, where was I supposed to go again?"
Because she had been working overtime frequently for Viktor lately, Cocote had not rested enough.
So during her free time, she slept for a long while.
Riding on the cloud, she wandered lazily in the sky, and before long, she noticed Henny's figure on the sea surface.
Cocote blinked, confusion rising in her heart.
'Henny!?'
She looked at Henny from afar and instinctively wanted to approach.
But when she was about to get closer, she suddenly felt something was off.
Because Henny's originally loose black robe was not on her body.
Cocote still had a deep memory of the last time Henny took off her clothes in front of her.
This time, seeing Henny without her robe, Cocote felt a bit uneasy.
That kind of feeling was something she really did not want to experience again.
But thinking carefully, she had already become a fifth tier mage.
Was she still afraid of this?
So she giggled and guided the cloud toward Henny.
"Henny!"
Cocote's voice echoed in the sky. Hearing someone call her name, Henny also raised her head.
The moment she saw Cocote, joy flashed in her eyes.
"Senior Cocote!"
Since Cocote was a former councilor and very knowledgeable, and Henny was good at learning, the two of them had a very good relationship.
In their spare time, they often had deep discussions in private.
Cocote slowly approached Henny and asked, "You're here, then where's Viktor? Where is Viktor?"
She had come to support Viktor, but after looking for a long time, she could not find the way.
Henny blinked.
"It's already over."
Cocote, "?"
Did she oversleep?
So Cocote nervously grabbed Henny's shoulders and quickly asked, "H… how did it go?"
"Did he lose, or win?"
Henny nodded as if it were only natural.
"The professor would never lose."
Hearing this news, Cocote finally let out a sigh of relief.
'That pervert Viktor losing? Impossible.'
She felt reassured.
To be honest, Cocote had not really wanted to come to this battle.
After all, asking an elf to fight a calamity was a bit…
So hearing that the battle was over, Cocote felt somewhat lucky.
However, at this moment, she felt something was wrong.
Because she did not sense the usual charm from Henny at all.
Even though she had become a fifth tier mage, she should still be able to feel at least a little of it.
Henny seemed to notice Cocote's confusion and said with a light smile, "Don't worry, Senior Cocote."
"I've learned how to control her."
Cocote looked a little blank. As she looked at Henny, she seemed to notice some subtle changes around her.
She looked more lively… and more confident.
But Cocote could not tell whether this sudden change in Henny was good or bad.
Then, Cocote sensed the change in Henny's magic power and suddenly widened her eyes.
She examined the magic around Henny and widened her eyes even more.
"You… you're third tier?"
At this moment, Cocote closed her mouth and did not want to speak.
'What kind of strange leveling speed was this?'
'What tier had Henny been before?'
'No wonder she had suddenly become so lively and confident.'
She was still so young, yet she had already become a third tier mage.
Who would not get a little proud?
Catching the shock in Cocote's eyes, Henny showed a bright smile.
The corner of her lips curved like a crescent moon, especially eye catching.
She gently brushed her long hair aside, lowered her shoulders slightly, and looked at Cocote with eyes as clear as ocean water.
Then Henny's voice slowly sounded.
Her originally soft and gentle voice seemed to mix with a few tones that did not belong to her.
"Senior Cocote."
She stretched out one hand and slowly moved it toward Cocote's cheek.
Warm breath brushed across Cocote's face and lingered by her ear.
It felt like a hand constantly teasing her by her ear.
The crimson crocodile underwater also seemed interested and quietly lifted its eyes.
At that moment, it saw it.
The special desire emanating from Henny was becoming denser.
And it was gradually forming a shape that belonged only to her.
It was a form so illusory that only demons could perceive it.
A fox like tail appeared behind Henny, swaying gently.
It continuously released that aura of desire.
Even Henny's voice seemed to be wrapped in a veil of temptation.
"The feeling of pleasure."
"Do you want to experience it again?"