Lord: Sequence Master

"Everyone, gather around me."

Wade, the sorcerer, urged through the communication channel.

Rosen quickly made his way across the seabed to join Wade, and soon the entire team had gathered around him. Wade took out a blue sea bowl and placed it upside down on the ground beneath them. Instantly, the surrounding seawater was displaced, as if being drawn into a spatial shift by the bowl, creating a temporary waterless pocket around them. The displaced water was continuously transferred outside the newly formed spatial barrier, which now created a cyclical flow of water that protected them from the crushing pressure.

At the same time, the Ghost Assassin, Sorin, cloaked himself in a spectral shroud, his body entering a state of spiritual intangibility. He effortlessly slipped through the water, leaving the protective barrier, and disappeared from view. Sorin's mission was clear: lure the nearby mermen to their location.

Meanwhile, Plague Doctor Emilia injected plague toxins into the seawater surrounding the barrier. Her concoctions would soon infect any merman that approached, weakening or driving them mad before they even engaged in battle.

Rosen, not one to remain idle, summoned seventeen Sequence 8 slimes. The Nightmare Slime quickly transformed into a Frost Naga, and under the influence of the pet aura, the rest of the slimes also transformed into smaller Frost Nagas. Although they were about one-third smaller than the Nightmare Slime in size, they retained formidable strength.

Emilia stepped forward and injected each of the slimes with an antidote for the plague she had just released. Once injected, the slimes left the spatial barrier to prepare for the imminent battle. While Frost Nagas were amphibious creatures, their true strength lay in their ability to manipulate the water.

Benny watched in satisfaction as the Frost Nagas began summoning water elements to aid them, casting a subtle but pitying glance toward Rosen.

Benny might have thought his actions went unnoticed, but Rosen's heightened spiritual senses caught the glance. He knew exactly what Benny was thinking.

The path Rosen had chosen—a specialized strategy relying on multiple pets—offered great power early on. But, as Benny believed, this strategy would become less effective as the pets reached higher levels. For example, just upgrading the Pet Transformation skill from Level 2 to Level 3 had cost Rosen ten pieces of Sequence 8 supernatural essence. Upgrading it further, to Level 9, would require ten pieces of Sequence 1 supernatural essence.

Moreover, even if Rosen were to gather such powerful materials, he would still need to tame dozens of Sequence 1 slimes—a nearly impossible feat.

As Benny saw it, Rosen's pets were formidable now, but they would soon become a liability.

But Rosen had a different plan. Thanks to the Nightmare Slime's Devour talent, the slimes he tamed were not ordinary. With the ability to grow stronger through consumption, the slimes wouldn't require constant upgrading. They would slowly but surely progress naturally as they devoured more powerful creatures. Thus, Rosen wouldn't have to restart his search for higher-ranked slimes as he climbed the ranks.

Nearby, in the vast waters, the mermen's territory sprawled across the seabed. Sorin, the Ghost Assassin, had ventured into this realm many times before and had a deep understanding of the mermen tribes' layout.

Before long, hundreds of mermen had been lured toward them. As intelligent beings, these mermen should have been cautious, testing the waters before deciding whether to engage or retreat for reinforcements.

However, the moment they approached the spatial barrier, their eyes turned bloodshot as they mindlessly charged forward. They had all been affected by Emilia's Frenzy Plague. Only the Sequence 8 mermen were able to resist its effects, but of the hundreds, only a few dozen were of Sequence 9—insufficient to resist the deadly plague.

With frenzied screams, the mermen hurled themselves at the Frost Nagas.

Each Frost Naga could summon either ten lower-ranked water elements or a single element of the same rank. In this case, 170 Sequence 9 water elements materialized around the Nagas, and they quickly manipulated the water to crush the mermen into pieces.

Soon, Sorin brought back another wave of mermen. This time, a Sequence 8 merman captain led the group. Although the captain managed to resist the Frenzy Plague, he couldn't control the panicked mermen under his command. Desperate, the captain sent out a distress signal, attempting to stall for time.

But against the Frost Nagas, who could also manipulate water, the captain's efforts were in vain.

Without even involving the Nightmare Slime, one of the weaker Frost Nagas conjured a water shield around itself, while launching a barrage of ice arrows toward the merman captain.

The first few ice arrows, each about a foot long, were deflected by the captain's steel trident, which stirred the surrounding water to act as a shield.

But as the arrows shattered, the surrounding water froze, slowing the captain's movements.

Sensing the opportunity, the Frost Naga conjured a water prison—a ten-meter-wide sphere of water that trapped the captain inside.

What followed was a one-sided assault. Continuous volleys of ice arrows penetrated the water prison, quickly lowering the temperature inside. Before long, the captain was frozen solid inside a massive ice ball.

"Frost Nagas are perfect for this realm," Benny remarked in awe.

In the outside world, Benny was confident that he could defeat Rosen with ease. But here, underwater, Rosen's army of Frost Nagas could single-handedly crush his Spirit Fox guild.

Benny couldn't help but lament that Rosen had chosen the wrong path with his short-sighted focus on accumulating pets. Otherwise, Benny would have considered making him a permanent teammate.

The Mermen's Tragedy realm was home to an estimated 10 million mermen. Like fish, mermen were prolific breeders.

However, despite their numbers, only a small percentage of mermen were intelligent enough to transition into a supernatural Sequence.

While most non-human species lacked human intelligence, they often had a greater affinity for unlocking spiritual potential and transitioning into supernatural Sequences. Humans could also achieve universal transition to supernatural Sequences, but that would require sacrificing parts of their intelligence to convert it into spiritual energy. Alternatively, humans could choose lower-tier Sequences with minimal spiritual requirements, but that would doom the future of humanity.

Of the 10 million mermen, fewer than 10,000 had transitioned into the Merman Sequence. Among them, only 100 or so had reached Sequence 8.

On average, if every human team in the realm managed to kill one Sequence 8 merman and fewer than 100 Sequence 9 mermen, they could obliterate the mermen's combat strength entirely.

As for the ordinary mermen, they were no more than fish waiting to be slaughtered.

While it might seem daunting for each human to fight 100 mermen, the difference in strength between humans and mermen was enormous. Even the weakest of humanity's Nine Great Sequences could defeat elite mermen of the same rank.

Every human in the Mermen's Tragedy was a Sequence 8 elite. Facing off against 100 Sequence 9 mermen might be challenging, but taking them down in waves wouldn't be difficult—especially when most human teams had at least six members.

Rosen's group had slain several waves of mermen already, and soon no more enemies approached.

If other human teams were achieving similar results, it meant that half of the mermen Sequence fighters had already been wiped out. By now, the mermen tribe would have realized that humanity was systematically eradicating them. No longer would they send out scattered patrols—they would consolidate their remaining forces and prepare for a counterattack.

Following standard procedure, the human teams would now need to regroup and form larger battalions.

Rosen, riding on the back of the Nightmare Slime transformed into a Frost Naga, quickly ascended from the seabed to the surface.

The rest of his team used their own abilities to rise to the surface alongside him.

(End of Chapter)