Looking at the strange Seaborn swarming and spreading.
The mutual suspicion between the Abyssal Hunter and Alive Until Sunset was also temporarily set aside.
After all.
If this many Seaborn came ashore en masse, Siesta likely wouldn't be able to hold them off at all. It would inevitably become a living hell.
Theoretically.
After so many years of evolution.
The Gods and Behemoths had gradually adapted to their current lives. If their own characteristics or beliefs acted up, these Gods and Behemoths would generally try to live as ordinary people. And as a normal person, what would one do in such a situation?
They would run.
Just like Nian.
She had lived in Lungmen for a long, long time. For so many years, she hadn't used her Divine power even once, truly treating herself as an ordinary person with an infinite lifespan. If not for Sui's crisis gradually approaching, given Nian's propensity to slack off at a moment's notice, she'd probably be completely carefree right now.
"Hehe-hey!"
Nian suddenly let out a strange laugh, then waved her hand as if she had discovered something fun, and said happily.
"You guys wait, hold on! It's rare to have enemies. Let me first test my latest invention, the 'two-kick'."
"'Two-kick'?"
Everyone around was stunned. The four members of Alive Until Sunset were also stunned.
What kind of thing had such a weird name?
Jessica, Franka, Amiya, Ceylon, and Schwarz, who had just walked out of the painted world, also looked at Nian in confusion. Jessica and the others were fine; they were already used to it. Even if Nian waved her hand and produced a Gundam, they wouldn't be the least bit surprised.
Amiya would have been surprised in the past.
But after experiencing a round of "Beach 'Kill' Volleyball" and "Lethal 'Melon-Split'," the adorable little Amiya had gradually become numb.
Only Ceylon and Schwarz had never witnessed this before.
The two of them were just ordinary people.
When she first stepped out of the painted world, Schwarz's pupils were practically quaking. As a top-tier elite assassin, no matter how hard she thought, she couldn't understand the principle behind it. Originium Arts? No, could such an outrageous Originium Art even exist? And then, seeing the swarms, tens or even hundreds of thousands of Seaborn crawling ashore from the ocean, even Schwarz couldn't help but feel her scalp tingle. With so many monsters, they would definitely flatten all of Siesta. Siesta stood no chance of resisting.
Ceylon, on the other hand, was hugging Lucas's Originium Slug body, her clear, wave-like eyes looking at Lucas with curiosity, before lowering her head to glance at the Lucas-brand Originium Slug in her arms.
"Tada-dada-da~"
Nian beckoned with one hand, and a cylindrical firecracker appeared in her grasp.
The 'two-kick,' formally known as a double-bang firecracker, is a traditional folk item in Yan. Its principle is that after being lit, the combustible material at the bottom instantly explodes, sending the firecracker flying ten-odd meters into the sky, after which the internal gunpowder in the second stage explodes again.
"It's so small?"
Looking at the approaching Seaborn army, Schwarz's expression was grim and anxious.
These monsters were already so close, how could this group of people still be standing around chatting and laughing?
Franka looked at the firecracker and grumbled, "It's so tiny. How much power can it have?"
"Hmph hmph."
Nian proudly puffed out her completely-disadvantaged chest and said, "It's super powerful. Don't look down on it just because it's small; its kick is huge. I'll give you a demonstration. Dusk, if you please."
Nian said to Dusk. Dusk sighed, nodded, and waved a hand. A writing brush materialized from the void and fell into Dusk's hand.
Under the watchful and curious gazes of the crowd.
Nian couldn't allow any mishaps. She carefully aimed the 'two-kick' at the Seaborn army, while Dusk, understanding implicitly, twirled the brush in her hand like a spirit serpent. Instantly, a translucent barrier appeared in front of everyone.
Nian rubbed her fingers together, and a small flame appeared on her fingertip.
Sizzle sizzle...
She lit the fuse, which made a sizzling sound.
After lighting it.
Nian quickly scurried behind the barrier Dusk had drawn, her movements exactly like a child playing with firecrackers during the New Year.
The fuse slowly burned to its end, and the Seaborn drew closer and closer.
Schwarz, standing at the very back to protect Ceylon, didn't have high hopes.
Generally speaking.
The power of a bomb's explosion is, to some extent, related to its size. How much power could a firecracker barely the size of a palm have? In any case, Schwarz had never seen anything like it. The most powerful bomb of this size she had ever seen had an explosion radius of merely ten meters. But... a ten-meter blast radius was truly not enough to deal with a beach full of monsters.
That's what Schwarz was thinking. She hadn't even finished the thought.
She only heard a *boom* that sounded like an Originium bomb exploding. The tail of the 'two-kick' shot out pale blue flames, and propelled by the flames, the 'two-kick' flew out instantly. The shockwave from the propulsion alone carved a large trench several meters wide in the beach.
Immediately after.
Schwarz only felt her vision go white.
She couldn't see anything, couldn't even hear anything. Her entire being felt as if it had been plunged into chaos. For that single instant, even her thoughts stagnated.
A thick blaze of fire erupted from within the white light.
After the firelight spread, a terrifying gale swept across the entire beach. The small food stalls at the edge of the beach disintegrated instantly under the gale, and the rows of tall trees lining the beach snapped in two and collapsed to the ground.
Schwarz's eyes widened.
The terrifying energy generated by the explosion spread continuously in all directions. Fortunately, they were protected by the barrier, so apart from the light and sound, they were completely unaffected by the gale and the blast's power.
"..."
Then.
As the light faded, a giant mushroom cloud slowly rose from the ground into the sky. And in the center of the beach, Schwarz saw a crater with a radius of several hundred meters. A radius of several hundred meters meant a diameter of about a kilometer...
In the middle of this large beach, an incredibly deep crater had been blasted into existence. Seawater flowed into the crater, filling it halfway.
Uhh...
Schwarz and Ceylon were speechless.
Ceylon was one thing; at least she wasn't a combatant. Ordinary people don't have much of a concept of weaponry. But Schwarz knew all too well. An explosion radius of several hundred meters... the affected area was far more than just a few hundred meters. Such a terrifying weapon... Schwarz had seen and heard of them, but weapons like that were invariably massive. How could it be like this 'two-kick,' which was only palm-sized at best? You could fit several of them in a large pocket.
Outrageous...
Too absurd.
However.
This 'two-kick' seemed to have a serious design flaw. It needed to be lit manually, and from ignition to explosion was only a few seconds. With such a short fuse, the person lighting it couldn't possibly escape, right? They would 100% still be at the center of the explosion. A true mutual-destruction bomb.
"Yay! It's a success!!"
Nian, seeing the crater on the ground, jumped up in satisfaction.
This 'two-kick' was something she and Lucas had designed together in the past.
However, unlike ordinary 'two-kicks,' this one had Lucas's unique concentrated Originium solution added to it. So, despite its small size, the energy it contained was in no way inferior to an extra-large Originium bomb. The reason Nian wanted to create such a thing was purely so she could set it off as a normal festive firecracker during the next Yanese New Year celebration.
As a 'demolitions enthusiast,' besides movies, she also pursued the legendary 'explosion is art.' Before meeting Lucas, Nian had tried various 'two-kick' formulas, but their power was worrying.
The most powerful version Nian had ever made had a blast radius of only a few dozen meters. Although this was already ridiculous for a bomb of its size, Nian was extremely dissatisfied. Now, she finally had a satisfactory product.
Nian was naturally eager to set off a few to celebrate when the New Year came around.
Uhh...
Everyone, including the Emperor and the members of Alive Until Sunset, froze.
A bomb this small could create a mushroom cloud effect??
Ridiculous!
As for Exusiai, standing behind the Emperor, her eyes were shining. As an enthusiast of firearms and firepower, she absolutely loved this kind of *poof-then-explode* effect that could effortlessly annihilate everything around it.
"Miss Nian!! Is that bomb for sale?"
Exusiai waved excitedly at Nian.
However, as soon as she spoke.
She took a karate chop to the head from Texas.
"If you dare buy that thing, you're not allowed within two kilometers of us ever again."
"Oh..."
Exusiai clutched her head and squatted on the ground.
However.
Even with the super-modified 'two-kick.'
It only managed to kill one batch of Seaborn. But these Seaborn seemed endless. No matter how many were killed, more would crawl out from the bottom of the sea. Moreover, the life-instinct of some Seaborn that had miraculously survived the annihilation was forcing them to undergo a collective evolution.
"Hmph... looks like we still have to do it ourselves, huh?"
Nian sighed as she looked at the endless Seaborn, but beneath her sigh was excitement.
It seemed like a long time since she had last *really* fought. In the past, she wasn't allowed to use her Divine power on Yanese soil, but this was not Yan.
A halo of fire flashed in her crimson eyes. Then, Nian clenched her hand, and a divine greatsword, seemingly composed of countless broken blades, slowly appeared in her grasp. Behind her, weapon after weapon floated in the air, arranged chaotically yet rhythmically behind her. Her divine power erupted, and the phantom of a giant white dragon with red markings slowly materialized behind her. At this moment, Nian looked just like a sword immortal.
At her command.
Countless longswords, greatswords, giant halberds, and long spears fell from the sky, transforming into golden rays of light, scattering like a dense rain. *Boom, boom, boom!* The instant each weapon hit the ground, it was like a bomb, blasting crater after crater into the beach. The Seaborn were easily killed by these attacks.
These weapons were all forged by Nian during her long life. Naturally, they weren't divine artifacts, but if any one of them was thrown into the mortal world, it would be enough to make a top craftsman study it for decades. One could only imagine their sharpness. No matter how the Seaborn evolved, they couldn't possibly develop a way to resist these attacks in a short time.
And the four members of Alive Until Sunset, as four divine fragments, naturally didn't need to merge into their original body to deal with this number of Seaborn. The four bodies erupted with divine might, heading to another front to stop the Seaborn from entering Siesta.
Dusk sighed.
She didn't really like fighting, nor did she like joining the commotion, but it seemed there was no other choice now.
She tossed her brush to her left hand, and her right hand formed an ancient, crimson-bladed bronze sword.
Dusk's left hand moved wildly in the void.
'Freestyle Over Form!'
In just a moment, ink fiends, as if brought to life by Dusk's brush, charged forward to deal with the swarming Seaborn. And the bronze sword in her right hand also swung down forcefully.
'Splash Ink!'
The divine power erupting from Dusk was black and white. As the bronze sword swung, a black-and-white sword qi, like an ink painting, slashed out from the blade. Wherever the sword qi passed, the Seaborn were completely unable to resist, easily sliced in two, dead as dead could be.
Skadi, Laurentina, and Surtr also joined the battlefield, grimly holding the last line of defense.
At this moment.
Ceylon and Schwarz were completely dumbfounded.
What... what kind of people were these?
This tide of monsters... even if Siesta's military strength was multiplied several times over, they wouldn't be able to stop it. Yet, in the hands of these people, it was being held back so easily. The monsters that took all her effort to pierce with a crossbow bolt were like tofu in their hands, cut through with effortless ease.
Terrifying...
How could such terrifying beings exist in the world...
For so many years, Schwarz had been very confident in her own strength. After all, she had single-handedly wiped out a major Victorian family. However, that confidence didn't last long. After meeting these people, Schwarz discovered... she seemed... a bit weak.
Although Franka didn't know Schwarz.
She could understand what Schwarz was feeling. She walked over, patted Schwarz's shoulder, and said earnestly.
"Sister, don't worry about it, just relax. In this day and age, who *wasn't* an elite at some point?"
Schwarz: "???"
Just then, Lucas paused. From his soul-fragment over with Ifrit, he heard a message from Ceobe.
Ceobe: "Big Brother Lucas, there's a weird uncle on the stage! He's not singing, and he's staring at Ceobe meanly!"
Rosmontis: "Brother Lucas, this person is very strange. Wherever he walks, a lot of weird stuff spreads on the ground."
Ceobe couldn't explain it clearly. At the critical moment, they had to rely on the academically excellent Rosmontis.
"Got it."
Lucas nodded, called over Surtr and Nine-Colored Deer to go to the city center with him. Jessica, Franka, Ceylon, and Schwarz saw this and followed along. Leaving the beach battlefield to the divine fragments and Abyssal Hunters would naturally be an easy clean-up.
————————
"Great God of the Sea!! Grant me your power!"
On the stage, the Bishop was giving a passionate speech, and the tendrils gradually spread over the entire stage, even beginning to seep through the walls of the nearby buildings.
The Bishop was using this method to call the Seaborn, urging them to speed up.
However, after calling several times, not a single Seaborn came.
Bishop: "???"
"Great God of the..."
Before he could finish.
A voice interrupted him.
"Stop howling. Your god is long gone. The grass on his grave is already ten meters high."
The Bishop frowned angrily and looked down from the stage.
Below the stage stood a group of girls and one man in the middle.