"Come back, go away, evil creature!"

Gwen watched as his father was knocked down by the pony-sized Caliban, crushed against the bulkhead. Its claws scurried around the galvanized walls like nails on a chalkboard, making her cringe.

"Gwen! tell this thing to stand back! or I'll banish it!" Moyer warned, feeling multiple tongues pounding against his crystalline salt armor.

Caliban grunted, sympathetically telling Gwen that her father was delicious and likable.

"Caliban, that's enough!" Gwen commanded, verbally and mentally. "Give it to me!"

Ariel jumped at the chance to jump on Caliban, and it flew back quickly, looking brave as it balanced on Caliban's carapace.

Gwen wondered if she could ride on Caliban too, though that meant she needed to get him to eat some kind of horse, preferably a horse with many limbs and multiple terrain to travel. She still needed time to figure out how his metamorphosis worked, and the island looked just as good as the rest.

The two pets returned to their owners, the eight-legged arachnids jumping back and forth around their owner's ankles, while the mink circled around her ankles.

But Dawn thought of better armor.

"Dispel!"

Salt poured down from him and fell to the ground in large chunks, like a knight coming out of a plate with a broken rope.

Meanwhile, Jonas, the Taj Mahal and Paul have recovered from their initial shock and are cleaning the bulkheads.

"I was told it was a snake...... Paul blamed Gwen, his face full of pain and betrayal. "I don't mind spiders, but that's another story. ”

"I once saw a carrion crawler eat a man alive," Jonas muttered. "I thought it was annoying, but it took advantage of it, Gwen. Oh my God, you're going to take it to an open game? You're going to cause a commotion. ”

Gwen thought to herself that Kaliban wasn't a spider demon at the time, but it was too complicated to explain her life story to those who didn't know.

"I'm sorry," the Taj Mahal apologized with a low self-esteem. "I thought I wasn't afraid of anything, but that thing scared the hell out of me. ”

"Cariban, follow," Gwen gently ordered the demon. Caliban wagged his pointed tail and stopped beside her.

"So, what is its power?" Jonas asked.

Gwen looked at Moyer.

Moyer looked away, in case his daughter thought he would make a good example.

Gwen said, "Avoid charged physical attacks that can penetrate most shields and armor. ”。 "What else can you do, Caliban?"

Caliban lifted his body and stuck out a pair of fleshy tongues, spiked daggers as the tips.

"Meat hooks?" Gwen shrugged as she turned to the crowd, looking at their lively faces.

Caliban's tongue retracted into the second jaw.

"God, imagine fighting that thing!" Jonas pulled his face and patted his pockets, wondering why he wanted to quit smoking.

To Gwen's surprise, Moyer pulled out a pack of Winfield Blues from his pocket and pointed a yellow tip at the others. They each took one.

"How good is your elemental control?" Maya asked. "Can you light us up? Lightning chain, perhaps?"

"I'd rather you keep all your faces. Gwen blushed a little. She is still a long way from understanding that particular scam. Instead, she pulls out an enchanted piece of gunpowder, which she uses to survive outdoors, and dutifully lights their cigarettes.

She watched intently as the men passively smoked, retracted two of her acquaintances, and told them that she would be outside, watching the ship leave Darwin.

As Gwen's sonorous footsteps fell, people turned their attention to each other.

"Sorry to interrupt, guys. Moyer took the opportunity to break the silence by looking each man in the eye as he spoke.

"Don't do that," Jonas replied. "We usually work with Alessia de Botton. ”

"The crimson witch?"

"The only one," Paul interjected. "That shit we're dealing with, you won't start to believe. ”

"Does it include those netherworld spiders who want to your face?" Moyer teased.

"Hah!"

Everyone giggled nervously, reminiscing about the horrors of the last few minutes.

Maya stretched out a hand and dropped a little salt from his hand. The other three watched as it turned into a crystal vat, its topmost tip expanding until it formed an elegant-looking ashtray.

Moyer tapped his cigarette and the others followed.

"I guess it's inevitable," he coughed and cleared his throat. "The Song of Maya, Transfiguration 6th Major, Abandoner 4th Minor, Salt Element. ”

"Nice to meet you. Jonas reached out and shook his hand. "Jonas Doon, Summoning Magic, Healer Tier 5, Positive Element. ”

"I'm Paul McKay," Paul and Moyer also exchanged greetings. "Magic Transfiguration Layer 5 Primary, Enchantment Secondary Tier 3, I specialize in transposition and teleportation. I'm sorry, but I only have one elemental affinity, so I don't really like fighting. ”

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Paul. ”

"Again. ”

"Trajan Smith Philips, but call me the Taj Mahal. Taj held out her hand after the others said hello. "Confessor Level 5, Earth Element. ”

"How did you know Gwen?" asked Maya. "I don't talk to her much. We're not close yet. ”

"Ahh Paul's eyes sparkled. "If you're wondering, I should probably start with Alesia. Are you sure we have time? Because it's a long story. ”

We have seven days. As for Gwen's training, I'll talk to her about it and then we'll fix some of the issues. Why can't she get a pony or something like a normal girl? Oh my God. ”

The group thought of Gwen's terrible magic and laughed nervously again.

"You know," Paul said calmly. "I'm kind of looking forward to seeing Caliban break things. ”

The others tried to imagine and nodded. After all, they are military personnel, influenced by training and trauma, and they want to see something.

Gwen stood on the ship's side railing, watching the glittering city of Darwin disappear into the distance. Once they sailed out of the deep-water port, the aircraft carrier quickly accelerated until the sea water under the bow turned into churning white foam. From above the large chimney in the cabin, a dark blue plume of smoke polluted the saltwater air, and unfiltered shards of unburned mana crystals rained down on the ocean.

While they were moving, the air was hot and humid, damp and humid, wet and wet on the soft skin of her legs, but the uncomfortable view was worth it.

As Gwen watched her flowing hair swing wildly in the air, her mind flashed to the man smoking below.

Gwen knew she owed them a large debt.

The Taj Mahal, Jonas and Paul were not obligated to come. They came here because of the order of Alexia. They had no feelings for Avia and Yue, or Weitu, and risked their lives to please their mistress, a woman they respected and adored like an older sister.

Her father was also obligated to come. Gwen didn't know why he had suddenly changed his mind. Whatever his reason, it is undeniable that he risked his life to satisfy her whim and conscience.

All these threads, all these connections. This is how her life now separates compared to the rest of her life in the Old World. There, she only had her company, her dad, her employees. She had no close friends to visit her, only clients and colleagues, no family to bother her, and she had lost them somewhere in the past. She has her cats, of course, Ariel and Kaliban, but they are worth even less than the relatives and friends she has now. Those cats are assholes, kind of like herself.

Gwen laughed at first, then whistled in the wind.

She is not alone in this world. She has her friends, Elvia and Yue. She has Sulia, her slapstick grandfather, and Richard, her faithful cousin. She even had her mother, who she never left, and now she also has her father, who stayed nearby.

Her hand landed on the unicorn pendant.

Such a precious item. Gwen felt warm on her chest. What did her father know?

She was sure Moyer was the pink salt man.

Her father - not a useless confessor, but a salt mage, a double mage, in confession and transfiguration. This means he has the perfect balance between versatility and offense and defense. She wondered how the higher spells worked in his element, the combination of negative energy and water, how her father managed his life force. From her point of view, he effortlessly showed off his set of salt crystal plates for mail.

Gwen had to admit that her father's signature spell was very, very cool.

A set of white old-fashioned mail with intricate scroll reliefs. Its visor is a stylized helmet, with T-shaped slots for its eyes and nose, and a pair of white crystal wings spread out. Interlocking plates are also inlaid with the reflex ability to be discarded and regrown. She especially liked the Podron epaulettes, which were higher on one side than the other, which gave the armor an asymmetrical, but beautiful aura.

Gwen suddenly had an idea. Doesn't she also have transmutation now? In fact, if the light emanating from Siegel is passable, then it should already be the second layer.

She can use power-enhancing spells that are unique to the school, just like the spells that Deborah once used.

Deborah.

Master.

Elizabeth.

Avia, Xiaoyue and Huitu.

Gwen immediately felt deflated, her previously enlightened mood becoming gloomy and heavy. The city has lost its magic. It's time to go below deck.

The smoke screen is over.

Dinner was served by the ship's chef, a young man who had just completed his internship and had been recruited by the captain to replace their retired cook.

When the young man gives Gwen an extra meatball, there is a commotion in the chaos. Amidst laughter, the crew punched the poor lad in the right arm.

"Do you like it?" said one of the sailors with a snicker. "Does the arm feel dead?"

"Let's see what you're up to tonight, Blueball," the other sailor quipped loudly.

A burst of laughter echoed through the chaos, and some sailors turned over and spilled the sauce from their plates.

This is the madness of the sea, and its effect on people who are chronically lonely. Ever since a wandering sailor saw Gwen, the crew's conversation had little to say about it other than the lovely femininity in them. As for Gwen, she didn't mind the sailors going on a pleasant trip at her expense, but their vulgar humor was straightforward, making her feel cramped and uncomfortable in their company.

"The captain is on deck!"

The crew stood, suppressing their laughter as best they could.

The captain apologized to the crew for Tulum's rudeness.

"Would you and your companions be willing to have dinner with me?" He glared at his subordinates.

"Of course, Captain Tully, it will be our greatest honor. "I'd love to ask you something about Singapore," Gwen replied dignifiedly, watching the captain's grim eyes soften.

"Great, I'll be waiting for you tomorrow for dinner. Good night. ”

When the captain left the chaotic place, the rest of the crew relaxed.

The level of boisterous sound returned to its usual deafening roar, even though their conversation had now deviated from many of Gwen's qualities. Gwen eats her dish and looks at the cook longingly, which makes the guy with the doe's eyes completely misunderstand her intentions. Despite his professed radiant appearance, how could he imagine that the lovely illusion was not longing for his legendary blue meatballs, but for the third meatball that still lingered in the pot.

Within the confines of the bulkheads, a strange displacement of time occurs, and the light of the day and the light cast during the day form a strange partnership.

Whether it's late at night or early the next morning, Gwen finds her father and asks him to teach her how to use her Void magic. Her idea was that they should start with something less personal before moving on to the dirty disclosures. Even though he had been avoiding her, she skillfully trapped him in his hut so that his only escape was to push her away with his body.

"Do you want me to teach you Void Magic?" Moyer was critical of his daughter. "Why do you think I know Void magic?"

"No, I mean, how can I not kill myself?" Gwen winked at him, her long eyelashes fluttering.

Moyer felt goosebumps all over his body. Gwen was too much like her mother's daughter.

"Don't do that. "He put some distance between them. "If you're talking about how to keep you alive, I'm afraid you're in luck. ”

"What's wrong?" Gwen replied, her voice full of disappointment. "If what I've heard is true, you've been fighting for hours!

"Well, I'm a salt mage," Moyer put his hands together and parted them to form a pillar of salt.

"Use probe magic to tell me how much negative energy is in it. ”

Gwen casts a spell and focuses her attention on the salt rod - discovering that it is mostly a mass of elemental water with trace amounts of negative energy.

"There's hardly any negative mana in this," Gwen replied to her father, feeling a premonition of unfriendliness, and she didn't like the answer.

"Teleport a Cantrip's Void Mana, just a little bit, go on," her father instructed.

Gwen focused her attention, imagining the phenomenon in her mind. A hairless orb blacker than black swirled over her palm.

"Detect magic. ”

The negative energy emanating from the sphere is so dense that a cloud of dark matter has also formed in the colorful world of elemental mana. There were traces of elemental air inside, silvery, glittering, but hidden in angry, boiling malice.

"Do you feel it?"

"Yes. ”

"What do you feel?"

"Negative energy, most of the hollows are negative energy. ”

"Good, let it go now. ”

Gwen snuffed out the empty ball.

"Give me your hand. ”

She complied, holding out her right hand. Moyer took it in the palm of his hand and touched her pulse with his fingers. Gwen could feel her father's rough fingers, rough and warm, two blue veins just visible on the soft skin of her wrists.

"Surprisingly healthy," her father said after a while. "What supplements do you take? Or is this what Caliban did?"

"What do you mean?"

"Did he give you his life?"

"A little. Gwen's voice barely whispered. "When he feeds on live prey. ”

"Do you feel sick when you use the Void, like vertigo or disorientation?"

Gwen nodded.

"When I recite advanced mantras, I feel dizzy. I've also fainted a few times. There was also a time when I was very weak, I mean, skinny and hungry, but what I ate didn't seem to help me with anything. ”

Moyer took his fingers off Gwen's wrist.

"Can't you not use an invalid element? After all, you have lightning. It's a rare blessing. ”

Gwen shook her head.

"Dad, I don't want to leave both of these around. I need strength. Someday, perhaps soon, certain people will know about my Void Element. Until then, I need to be strong and influential, I need strong allies and influential supporters. Without these things, I would just be someone else's puppet, or worse. ”

Moyer licked his dry lips thoughtfully. A beautiful girl with Gwen and talents with two rare bloodlines.

"It could have been worse," he admitted, his expression unrecognizable. "That aside, do you insist on using the Void?"

"Yes. ”

"Okay, back to the topic. It is impossible for you to mitigate the effects of the void, because the quasi-elemental plane of the void is mainly negative energy, mixed with trace elements in the air. ”

"Then I'm going to have to put up with it? I've been using healers that provide me with positive mana to offset the negative cost. ”

Moyer frowned critically, with a look of disapproval on his face full of suspicion.

"It didn't work. The consumption of the Psychic Hollow does not come from the negative drainage of the undead Gwen. All positive offsets do is postpone the inevitable. The corruption of emptiness comes from within you. Your body itself is pumping a cursed power into life. There is no force on earth that can stop it from draining your vitality. My advice would be to use the Void as a fatal blow, or just use it to empower the Caliban, at least that thing will give you something in return. ”

Looking at her face down, Moyer looked at his stubborn daughter and considered his options.

"Look, there's a reason there's no Void Mage, okay? It's not an ability for those who want to survive. I don't even know why you have two elements, Gwen, but that's the damn lottery, okay? Whatever fate you think awaits you, is it worth dying? Even if you end up marrying someone for political reasons, or "Gwen" forbids it, in order to perpetuate the blood relationship - is that worse than death? If you die, nothing else matters, you know? Your friends, your mentors, Alesia, Gunther, and the girls we're trying to rescue, none of that matters. ”

Gwen's expression remained grim.

Gwen, are you listening to me?"

She was listening, but her father's words didn't appeal to her at all.

"There is no force on earth that can stop it from draining your vitality. He said, but Gwen knew he was wrong. She knew that there was a force on Earth that could undo the damage caused by her Void power. She received it three times—the first time when she fought Edgar, then when Gwen sang "The Serpent," and finally when she took the essence of Almuji out of the pendant.