Chapter 81: Chapter-81

The fire behind her crackled as shadows danced wildly around them. The sand scuffed beneath her boots, marked with quick, brutal steps.

Kaya’s eyes darted around.

Three down, a few more to go—

But she wasn’t here for all of them.

Even as Kaya slashed and dodged, cutting through the group of male mermaids with raw determination, a truth settled in her chest—she was outnumbered.

She could hold them off for a while, sure. She could wound them, knock them back, even scare a few. But she couldn’t fight them all, not here, not in their territory. The sea was their home. Every movement they made on land was practiced, calculated, controlled. And if they got her into the water?

That would be the end of it.

Kaya gritted her teeth, breathing hard through her nose as another tried lunging at her. She ducked, pivoted, and elbowed him sharply in the ribs before kicking him away.

But her eyes weren’t on the others anymore.

No.

Her focus had shifted—to him.

The one she’d only seen briefly earlier... the one with the pleasant, commanding voice, the man whose presence had unsettled her in a way she couldn’t explain.

She remembered a flash of shining golden hair, and now she spotted him—

Standing still at the edge of the sea.

Not moving.

Just watching.

Like this was entertainment.

Like she was a clown putting on a show.

Kaya’s breath hitched, not from exhaustion—but from fury.

"So you’re the one pulling the strings," she thought, eyes narrowing.

And she knew—if she wanted to survive tonight, she’d have to take him down first.

But alongside her rising resolve came an itch of growing frustration.

Where the hell were those two idiots?!

Cutie. Vayu.

She had told them to stay away—but that didn’t mean disappear into thin air!

She had warned them to stay sharp, stay alert.

Not vanish!

Her knife moved on instinct, slashing another’s arm as they got too close. The man stumbled back, cursing under his breath, but Kaya hardly looked at him. Her gaze was still locked on the golden one, her heart pounding like a war drum in her ears.

Kaya was not an ordinary girl.

She wasn’t some fragile wanderer or helpless target.

She had been a commander—a damn good one. Her instincts, her sharp mind, her talent in combat—all of that had earned her respect and fear alike.

She could hold her ground.

She could fight.

But beastmen... beastmen weren’t like normal enemies.

Even now, on land, she could tell they were holding back slightly—slower, heavier. Perhaps because this wasn’t their ideal terrain. Perhaps because she wasn’t what they expected.

But if they pulled her into the water?

If even one of them managed to drag her back to the sea...

She wouldn’t stand a chance.

She clenched her jaw, tightened her grip on the knife, and exhaled.

Kaya dashed forward, eyes locked on the golden mermaid shimmering under the deep sea light. Her breath quickened, her muscles burned—but she didn’t stop. She couldn’t stop.

But reaching him wasn’t that simple.

A swarm of guards circled around him like a living shield. Even before she could touch him, others lunged at her. One by one, she struck them down—swift, precise, relentless—but the numbers were overwhelming. Her body ached, her movements slowed. No matter how fierce she was, she was still just one girl.

And they weren’t ordinary guards either. Their strength was unnatural, their speed inhuman.

Still, she fought.

Gritting her teeth, Kaya slammed her elbow into the jaw of another mer-warrior, feeling the crunch beneath her strike. But just as she turned for the next—

Whack!

A sharp blow landed against the side of her neck. Her eyes widened, her balance faltered. Before she could even register the pain, the world tilted, and she collapsed onto the cold, stone-like ground beneath the water.

Above her, the golden mermaid stood. His weapon lowered, his expression unreadable—but his gaze was like ice. Cold. Detached. Not a hint of regret in his eyes.

And Kaya... she lay still, her fingers twitching, breath shallow, vision blurring—betrayed not just by her body, but by the cruel twist of fate that let him be the one to strike her down.

And just like in every overdramatic series ever made, Kaya—along with the three glorious idiots she called companions—had been kidnapped. Yup. Snatched clean by the mermaid tribe and dragged back into the sea like they were prized sea cucumbers.

When Kaya finally stirred, her lashes fluttered open, and for a moment, everything looked... normal-ish. Until it wasn’t.

Because right in front of her was a floating—yes, floating—ceramic pot. A full-on, elegant-looking pottery masterpiece, just bobbing casually in front of her face like it had a purpose in life. For a second, she actually blinked at it, wondering if she had hit her head too hard.

Then reality smacked her across the face harder than the golden mermaid did.

She was sitting on the ground. No, not dry ground—some weird sea-floor-like place—with her wrists and ankles tied. Tied. As if she was some helpless damsel. And of course, right next to her were the three other fools—Cutie, Vayu, and the Third One Whose Name She’d Yell at Later—also bound like seaweed-wrapped dumplings.

And that wasn’t even the worst part.

Fish. Freaking fish. Swimming in front of her. Like this was their territory. Like she was the intruder.

Which, okay, maybe she technically was.

But as her eyes darted around, seeing nothing but shimmering water stretching far and wide, her brain finally caught up with the absurdity of the moment.

She was underwater. Like, really underwater. Sea, bubbles, fish, coral—the whole aquatic package. And yet... she was breathing. No choking, no drowning, no water flooding her lungs.

Just—breathing.

Her expression twisted into one of pure disbelief.

"What the actual hell... am I a mermaid now?!" she muttered under her breath.

If this was a dream, it was doing an award-winning job of being annoyingly vivid

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Tip: You can use left, right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.Tap the middle of the screen to reveal Reading Options.

If you find any errors (non-standard content, ads redirect, broken links, etc..), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report
Follow our Telegram channel at https://t.me/novelfire to receive the latest notifications about daily updated chapters.