Enforcer Manual
Chapter 790 - 788: Travel_1

Chapter 790: Chapter 788: Travel_1

The mighty reinforcements quickly assembled on the island, and even the "Emperor" who had lived through the Dark Age had never seen such a spectacular sight.

The bug swarm and airships obscured the sky, and once again, the sea was dyed blood red.

This time, however, it was the sea monster’s blood that was scattered across the sea surface, its broken limbs carried off into the distance by the current, while the "mountains" that surrounded the island were collapsing one after another.

The tide of battle unfolded as Diago had described, with the forces of the Tide Master retreating.

Victory was within reach, yet the "Emperor" felt an unsettling unease in his heart.

He remembered the eyes he saw deep under the sea, finding it hard to imagine how massive the owner of that eye must be, but he scanned the battlefield in vain for any sign of the Tide Master.

Unconsciously, the feeling of being watched enveloped him.

It was exactly like the sensation he had when he first arrived at Silvermoon Harbor and stood gazing out from the pier.

"You will pay the price for your betrayal."

An ethereal voice resonated in everyone’s minds.

Along with the voice came a tsunami that rose from the sea, its height almost connecting with the sky, instantly engulfing some of the bug swarm forces that couldn’t dodge in time.

Before the giant wave approached, a light screen fired from the airship clusters formed a barrier surrounding the entire coastline. The water evaporated into gas the instant it touched the barrier, while the sea monster’s broken bodies were swept onto the shore by the waves, blanketing the entire coastline with a strong scent of char.

This weapon array too was something the "Emperor" had never seen before.

He had intended to inquire about the technology of these weapons from RT6, but upon seeing the aftermath of the steam, his thoughts froze at the sight so full of impact.

He vaguely realized that the tsunami just now wasn’t an attack launched by the Tide Master at them; it was merely the "splash" created when He emerged from the sea.

Even now, they could not fully see the Tide Master; His mere hand was enough to envelope the entire island, the vast sea to the Tide Master as a bathhouse is to mortals.

The "Emperor" saw the half-exposed head above the water surface, those pair of eyes blocking everyone’s vision.

"His energy..."

He heard RT6’s exclamation, "What on earth is going on?"

"This is the power of belief and fear."

Archbishop Helifis brought them the answer, her brows furrowed as the Tide Master looked towards her, and the incessant Whispers echoing in her mind were driving her mad.

"How many sacrifices has He received over a thousand years?"

If one listened closely, they could discern the screams of despair and pain mixed within those Whispers, the consciousness of the sacrifices becoming nourishment for the Tide Master.

Before setting out, Helifis had anticipated all this, but when she faced the Tide Master directly, fear inevitably surged in her heart.

The open palm held the land beneath their feet in its palm; with a mere clench of His fist, everything on the island would be reduced to dust.

This was the genuine power bestowed by a Deity.

"Kunka’s fleet and the Barrosa Group were all a ruse; we arranged an evacuation fleet on the other side of the island. I need you to cooperate with me in the relocation work—the His power is inextricably linked with Atlantis, and if we wish to defeat Him, we must first move the people here away."

Before departure, the leaders of the three parties gathered for a meeting.

Guns and cannons couldn’t kill belief, and neither could laser weapons or thermal barriers. They were facing an aggregate formed by the consciousness and souls of countless sacrifices, and as they spoke, the fear of the people of Atlantis was continuously transforming into the Tide Master’s strength.

This was the reason He dared to be an enemy to anyone in this sea region.

Helifis explained, "The blue skin and fish-like features are the brands the Tide Master engraved on them."

To defeat a Deity would be a long process, today they were merely opening the prelude to the war of subduing the Deity.

After the rescue battle, they needed to find ways to diminish the power that the Tide Master drew from belief and fear. As far as Helifis knew, the only way was forgetfulness—they had to completely eradicate the fear of the Tide Master from the minds of the people of Atlantis.

This might take 3-5 years to accomplish.

But that was a problem for the future, right now they had to find a way to escape from the palm of the Tide Master.

He didn’t immediately crush the island, nor would He do so.

Because He was savoring the fear of the people.

"He will not kill everyone but intends to brand the shackles of despair into everyone’s hearts once more, just like a thousand years ago."

Helifis stared directly into the eyes of the Tide Master, and due to the Whispers, their Consciousness Entities occasionally connected for moments. In her trance, she saw the wars that occurred here over centuries, heroes of Atlantis carrying the hopes of all as they led their proud fleets into the sea, then...

...They were destroyed effortlessly.

It hardly qualified as a war; the god simply closed His hand, and like ants, the mortals perished within His grasp.

Afterward, the survivors watched in despair as the island sank beneath the sea.

"I will let them live through pain and despair, but you, you traitors, do not have the right to live."

The voice of the Tide Master echoed in everyone’s minds.

Someone covered their ears, rolling back and forth on the ground, yet unable to drive these low whispers out of their own head.

Helifis knew that these words were aimed at her and the Barrosa Group.

They were meant to become the chosen ones, loyal to the Father God, but the Ceremony of the End had been disrupted, and they had stepped onto the path of rebellion against the Father God.

"Retreat,"

she urged the Emperor, "In these seas, the Master of the Tides cannot be conquered."

They could, in fact, use God’s anger towards them to gain as much time as possible for a massive evacuation.

Helifis didn’t retreat but instead walked directly towards the outstretched palms of the Master of the Tides.

As a deity, he had scripted the fate of the Atlanteans—they were destined to live in despair and pain for generations, and as the High Priestess of the Lunar Eclipse Sect, she too had once believed in the path guided by fate, but the cessation of the Ceremony of the End had made her realize that fate could indeed be changed.

Now, she wanted to spread this message to all the puppets of fate.

"Come at me, Master of the Tides!"

With every step Helifis took forward, the whispers in her mind became more chaotic and disorderly, already reaching the point that could drive anyone insane.

The Master of the Tides didn’t even need to lift a finger; the echoes from His consciousness were enough to plunge the entire island into madness.

The shore was getting closer.

She saw Kunka leading his fleet in an attack against the palms of the Master of the Tides, and the airship swarm of the Barrosa Group spewing out ammunition.

But this firepower that they took pride in couldn’t shake the Master of the Tides in the slightest.

Not a single tiny wound could be found on His body.

It didn’t take long for the Master of the Tides to move a finger, and the tumbling waves then tossed several destroyers into the air.

His fingers grasped the descending ships, making a squeezing motion.

In these thousand years, He had learned a lot from humanity.

Especially from King Zeruo, whom He quite fancied as a ruler, it was this human who made Him realize that there were many torments more terrifying than death in this world.

This time, He wanted to instill fear in the hearts of the Atlanteans for a much longer duration.

Even after a thousand years, or ten thousand, it wouldn’t wane, crushing any thoughts of rebellion they may have again.

So, He would, before their very eyes, gradually eradicate those reinforcements that brought them hope.

His finger closed.

In the fleet’s command room, Kunka’s roar was still echoing.

This scene was like a return to a thousand years before, and to the true ruler of these seas, nothing had changed except that the recent ships had become somewhat more flamboyant.

The Master of the Tides gazed at His own closed fingers; He could no longer remember what it felt like to crush the Paladin fleet, perhaps this time He should etch that feeling into His heart.

He could see the expressions on the faces of everyone on deck; they were plummeting down with the ship, and in the blink of an eye, they were back on the sea surface.

Hmm?

This scene was somewhat different from what He had imagined.

Could it be that these ships were truly too insignificant, so much so that they accidentally slipped through His fingers?

So, He waved His fingers, sweeping them from the side towards the ships.

But this time, even the waves He stirred up vanished, His fingers passing straight through the ships as if they had touched nothing but air.

What exactly was happening?

In an attempt to answer the doubts in His mind, the Master of the Tides became more violent. Yet, again, the swinging palm passed through all obstructions before Him.

It seemed the people aboard also noticed all this; they fired tentatively at the swinging finger; their cannon fire too passed straight through the afterimage of the finger, hitting nothing but the waves.

And the incessant whispers in their minds, they too had stopped without notice.

"It seems I’ve misunderstood you, you came prepared, and I heard that you’re invincible in these seas,"

the Master of the Tides heard a voice.

He didn’t see anyone, yet that voice was distinctly delivered to His side.

That voice didn’t seem to intend to chat with Him but rather seemed like somebody was talking to themselves, "It’s getting late, Old Lu is about to finish work, I should get the rice ready in the cooker, Yeying, wake up, go help me prepare the ingredients..."

At this point, the voice’s attention finally seemed to return to Him.

He asked, "If you were to travel, where would you like to go?"

Without waiting for the Master of the Tides to answer, he suddenly realized something and said, "Oh, you probably can’t go there anymore; when a space-time overlap occurs, any obstacle caught between them will be eradicated, whether robots, Genetically Transformed People, or Consciousness Entities, no exceptions."