Chapter 262
Chapter 262: What Do You Have to Beat Me With?
The guard stood frozen in place, trembling as he cupped the small, shattered three-headed emblem in his hands.
He had no idea what the Council Member Viktor spoke of actually represented, for he was nothing more than a simple gatekeeper. But looking at the black-coated man before him, he knew Viktor was not someone to be trifled with.
The guard picked up the emblem and said to Viktor with a respectful bow:
"……Yes, I……I'll go notify the City Lord right away!"
He hurried to turn and leave, but just as he turned, Viktor suddenly called out to him from behind.
"No rush."
The guard turned back, looking at Viktor with a hint of fear.
Viktor stood with both hands in his pockets, his tone flat as he said:
"Now. Let us through."
……
Viktor and Heni were ultimately allowed through by the guard into the city.
After hearing Viktor's words, the guard plunged headfirst into the sea to find the City Lord, and naturally let the two of them enter the city freely.
The moment they entered, Heni's eyes went wide.
Looking at the extraordinary city before her, she was struck by an overwhelming sense of wonder.
The entire city seemed to be enveloped in a surge of water elements, and buildings of all shapes and sizes, made entirely of water, rose and stood tall above the ocean's surface.
Curved streams of flowing water wound around every structure, as though the earth itself had turned over and cradled the city completely within its palms.
Though it was called earth, the ground beneath their feet was nothing more than a stretch of soft, flowing water.
Further below, the massive city extended downward through the floating surface of the sea, reaching deep into the ocean's depths.
The scattered flickering lights followed the surface of the water all the way down, points of crimson red like tiny flames kindled at the bottom of the sea—faint, yet unwilling to go out.
Beneath the ocean, corals of every color blanketed the surroundings of the buildings, as though someone had deliberately carved and placed them there.
Various species of algae drifted in the water around them, floating aimlessly.
In the night, set against the pale blue of the city, it was breathtakingly beautiful.
The entire place had a fantastical, almost magical quality to it that left her utterly enchanted, drawn in without even realizing it.
Then, Heni looked around her surroundings.
All along the way, people came and went.
They appeared just like the guard at the gate earlier—different parts of their bodies were marked with deeply ancient, mysterious patterns.
They walked along the surface of the sea, yet the clothes on their bodies were not dampened in the slightest by the water.
Had Heni not used magic to create a barrier between herself and the water, her robes would have been soaked through long ago.
At that moment, Heni also noticed their necks—every one of them wore the same necklace, flowing like water itself.
And on all of their wrists flowed streams of water, drifting like ribbons in the current.
Heni felt puzzled, and then looked down at her own arm.
On her arm too, flowed an identical stream of water.
And she remembered—this thing had been given to her by the guard just a moment ago.
It seemed that without it, the guard would not have let them into the city. Though, of course, the guard had not been in any position to resist Viktor's forcefulness.
In the end, they had still made it into this City of the Sea.
Thinking about it, Heni walked behind Viktor and quietly tilted her head up to glance at the arm of his silhouette from behind.
There was nothing on the Professor—no inexplicable stream of water, nothing carrying any 'water' element at all.
Perhaps that was why the gazes of the passersby kept drifting over in their direction.
Heni was acutely sensitive to the stares of others, and all the way here, she had continuously felt the weight of many eyes watching them.
They were eyes of every different kind.
Curiosity, confusion, disgust, contempt……
It was hard to imagine that looks carrying so much emotion could all be directed at them from ordinary passersby at the same time.
Heni was growing a little frightened under the weight of so many stares—though she knew that most of them were fixed on Viktor rather than on her.
The hostility directed at her specifically was almost nonexistent.
Was this what the Professor had referred to as the exclusiveness of the Sea Folk?
But then what about her? Why had the Sea Folk shown no hostility toward her?
"Because of that 'Ocean Covenant' on your wrist."
"Ocean Covenant?"
Heni blinked in confusion and lowered her head to look at the faint current of water coiling around her arm.
Viktor gave a small nod and said:
"The Sea Folk will show hostility to anyone who enters the City of the Sea."
"But if you have this, it means you have accepted the ocean."
Viktor tapped Heni's arm, and the stream of water on it seemed to be activated, circling slowly around her wrist.
The droplets suspended in the air around them began to rotate at the same time.
Heni stared at the flowing band of water encircling her arm and felt a wave of surprise wash over her.
"You are willing to become a part of the ocean."
Viktor offered the calm explanation, but Heni felt her head spinning slightly from trying to make sense of it.
What did any of this have to do with becoming a part of the ocean?
She still couldn't quite wrap her head around it.
At that moment, Viktor withdrew his hand and tucked both into his pockets.
"That thing can stay on your wrist for a while. The City Lord here will find us through your 'Ocean Covenant.'"
"We'll rest here for the day. Tomorrow, Duke Livi and Erika will arrive as well."
Hearing Viktor's words, Heni blinked.
Learning that Erika would also be coming, she felt a surge of pleasant surprise.
After all, Heni and Erika got along very well—Heni considered the two of them friends.
Heni had very few friends, so few as to be almost none at all, and she cherished those who were kind to her all the more deeply for it.
But without quite knowing when it happened, Heni felt a faint pang of disappointment settle over her.
She couldn't tell what had brought it on.
Perhaps it was because the two-person trip she'd been quietly looking forward to with the Professor had suddenly become a group of four.
The little Succubus had never been one to hide her feelings—when she wasn't happy, she wasn't happy.
Viktor noticed the shift in her mood and tilted his head down to give her a passing glance.
Then he walked over to a street vendor on the side of the road selling decorative accessories, and pointed at one of the crystal-clear ornaments among the display.
The ornament was fashioned to look like a waterdrop, carved with striking realism—translucent and shimmering, as though it held a rolling current of clear water within.
"How much is this one?"
The vendor was also a member of the Sea Folk. His thick arms were covered in patterns, and even the Ocean Covenant on his wrist appeared broader and more striking than most people's.
The moment he saw Viktor, his expression darkened instantly.
He shot Viktor an unfriendly look, the corners of his mouth dipping downward.
"I won't sell you anything……"
Boom.
A surge of scorching, vivid red magic erupted from Viktor's fingertip, and a sharp, flame-forged spike drove itself into the floating surface of the sea.
The spike began to crumble, and the flames settled slowly over the surface of the water.
A heartbeat later, a wall of fire rose from nowhere and completely surrounded the vendor.
Staring at the wall of flame that looked ready to swallow him whole, the vendor was overcome by a jolt of terror. He stumbled and fell backward onto the ground, scrambling several steps away.
But behind him was still the searing heat—he could only curl up where he was.
Viktor's voice, however, remained perfectly composed:
"This one—how much?"
"O……one thousand Geo."
Geo was the universal currency of this world, and not one limited to use within the Empire alone.
That was one of the hallmarks of this game world.
The price was not expensive at all—roughly the same as a single bottle of the Clavena Family's brand of exclusively sold Magic Potions.
So Viktor gave a casual wave of his hand, and a pouch of coins materialized out of thin air and dropped in front of the vendor.
Viktor took the waterdrop ornament as intended, and the wall of fire gradually faded.
The vendor, however, was still reeling from the intense heat of a moment ago, his nerves far too shaken to settle for a long while.
The passersby nearby had already taken notice of the commotion Viktor had caused. They watched him warily, their expressions heavy with unease and barely concealed fear.
After all, the magic Viktor had just unleashed was not something anyone could afford to dismiss lightly.
What's more, Viktor's behavior was simply far too aberrant.
Who in their right mind used fire magic inside the City of the Sea? Did he have no regard for the other Sea Folk at all?
But talk aside, now that Viktor had made a show of his power, no one dared to cast any further glances in his direction.
No matter where one went, having the stronger fist was, in the end, the only truth that mattered.
Heni stood in place, staring blankly at Viktor.
He held the blue, waterdrop-shaped ornament in his hand and was walking toward her, step by step.
Could it be—that the Professor had done that for her sake……
Heni's heart became suddenly tangled with feeling.
There was delight, and yet there was also frantic confusion.
If the Professor really intended to give her that item, then how was she supposed to respond.
Accept it, or refuse……
Ugh, no—Heni, I can't figure this out!
She watched as Viktor drew closer and closer, even pinching the waterdrop ornament between two fingers and lifting it slightly.
Her heart in chaos, Heni quickly squeezed her eyes shut.
She felt her heart being utterly uncooperative, beating rapidly and out of control.
But the sensation she had been bracing for never came.
Then, Heni opened her eyes.
What she saw was Viktor's hand sliding down along the shoulder of the Crow perched there, stopping at the top of the pitch-black bird's head.
Atop that jet-black crow's crown, the waterdrop ornament—its surface flowing like running water—had been fastened there.
The Crow raised its proud head and looked at her, as though showing off something.
Heni blinked in baffled confusion, just as Viktor spoke:
"This isn't for you."
At those words, Heni couldn't help but let a look of disappointment cross her face.
Right. What had she even been imagining?
The Professor had even seen through her little fantasy and made a point of reminding her.
No one was ever going to prepare a gift for her.
Not even the Professor—she had been expecting far too much……
"But……"
At the sound of that word, Heni gave a small start.
But before Viktor could finish, all at once, countless guards came charging in from both ends of the street at breakneck speed, armed with spears formed from flowing water.
Without exception, their wrists were all wound with a pale blue current.
Countless guards converged here, moving to encircle the two of them.
Heni felt a wave of panic at the sight and pressed herself close against Viktor's side, not daring to move.
She had never seen anything like this before.
Viktor, on the other hand, stood exactly as before—both hands in his pockets, expression blank.
As though he had fully anticipated this moment, he paid the assembled guards not the slightest bit of attention.
After a long moment, a tall figure stepped off a transport vessel that had glided across the surface of the sea.
On his chest was a small badge—like a brilliant azure star.
In the night, it glimmered with a faint, gentle starlight, as if someone had truly plucked a star down from the sky.
One glance was enough to tell anyone that he was absolutely not an ordinary guard.
"Outsider ahead—the one without an Ocean Covenant. Listen well."
"Your conduct has disturbed the peace of the City of the Sea. Now, cease your resistance at once, and submit to our arrest and investigation."
The moment his words fell, every guard in the vicinity raised their spears at once. The tips rippled with waves of water, all aimed directly at Viktor.
And yes—Viktor had triggered an investigation by the City of the Sea's patrol unit.
He thought to himself, quietly, in his mind.
In the game, every Player who forced their way into the City of the Sea without a proper invitation would be surrounded by the patrol unit.
And at a moment like this, what would a Player typically do?
Almost at the exact same moment the man's words fell.
Behind Viktor, a ferocious, blazing flame ignited.
Crimson patterns swept instantly across the coat, engulfing it in raging fire, like a furious beast driven to wrath.
The guards' eyes went wide, their grip on their spears tightening involuntarily.
From within that fury-filled flame, Viktor's voice rose slowly:
"Arrest me?"
"Are you even worthy?"