The waves churned tirelessly, black surges crashing batch after batch of churning Starfolk onto the shore. The twisted, frenzied Starfolk quickly rejoined the battlefield.
Cecia was panting heavily, her ragged breaths sounding like a broken bellows, the mana inside her body nearly drained dry.
Yet Flintfire and Starhunter in her hands never stopped moving.
Under countless spell castings, the magic circuits inside Flintfire operated at high speed, letting out a painful wail.
Under countless slashes, Starhunter's blade had already begun to dull and notch.
Beside her, Lan, who was bearing the brunt of the frontal assault, was faring no better. The webs between her thumbs and forefingers were worn bloody, and the muscles in her arms bulged violently against her skin. Every slash was accompanied by a beast-like roar.
Mia's mana was completely exhausted, her lips turning pale. A thin veil of water blocked concentrated acid as she used the last of her ability to heal her companions' wounds.
Yet there was no end to these malformed monsters birthed by the Abyss and the ocean.
They charged forward endlessly over the viscous paste and shattered carapaces of their fallen kin. Severed limbs pulled together and fused in the rain, continuously evolving hideous mouthparts in an effort to piece that soul-scraping song back together.
They licked the corpses of their fellows, using their biomass to regain strength and even evolving ever more bizarre forms.
Through round after round of fierce fighting, they constantly adapted to the patrol team's offensive rhythm, even beginning to imitate human shapes, tactics, and attacks.
Those eerie techniques were growing closer and closer to those of humans.
However, it wasn't entirely bad news. The tide was gradually receding, and fewer sea monsters were washing ashore.
Then, the rain stopped.
Battle, battle, battle.
Until dawn.
At dawn and dusk—the boundary between morning and night—both the sun and the moon hung high in the sky together, granting Cecia both divine protections simultaneously.
She decided to make one final, all-out effort.
Finally, at a certain moment...
The surging tide no longer brought Starfolk.
The tide was just the tide. A few stragglers remained on the beach, but they could no longer pose a threat to Cecia and the others.
“There's still one on the left,” Potato said softly.
“I know.”
“Not that one. That's a corpse.”
“Oh.”
Only when the very last Starfolk truly perished did Cecia finally breathe a sigh of relief.
The early morning breeze brushed against Cecia's face, and she collapsed directly onto the ground, utterly exhausted.
It felt like the sweet relief of surviving against all odds.
Corpses littered the beach as far as the eye could see.
If not for her Spirit Realm Excursion mission, Cecia truly would have had no reason to bitterly hold out here for an entire night.
Potato seemed exhausted as well, sprawled on the ground, gnawing on the disgusting flesh and blood of the Starfolk.
Watching her eat so heartily, Cecia inexplicably felt a bit better.
Wait...
What was Potato eating?!
“Potato! Spit it out! You can't eat that!”
“You can't eat it, but I can! I'm just so hungry... I've never been this hungry before.”
Cecia rushed forward and snatched the Starfolk remains out of Potato's mouth.
“Potato, you really can't eat this.”
“Give it back!”
Pushed to the brink of starvation, Potato tussled with Cecia. Seeing that she couldn't win the piece back, she turned to scoop up another corpse from the sand.
Cecia simply lacked the strength to overpower Potato, forced to watch helplessly as she ate.
Since Cecia had taken those bits away, Potato quickly continued picking up other corpses from the beach.
Cecia was completely out of energy; she had been unable to move after dealing with the last Starfolk anyway.
Sister Lan was out cold.
Mia, that frail, pitiful mage, was even less capable of stopping her.
They could only watch helplessly as the cute Potato, her face wrapped in white gauze, continued to munch on the Starfolk corpses.
“Don't say I didn't warn you. These creatures are called Starfolk—a fusion of the ocean and the Abyss. Historical records call them the most rejected scraps of the sea...” Cecia said flatly, turning her head away.
She didn't want to see a comrade who had fought side by side with her turn into a pile of sludge.
Miss Potato was a nice person; it was just a pity she was such a glutton.
After all, Cecia was already in excruciating agony just from her Abyss Erosion, which was why she had been forced to start her Spirit Realm Excursion so early to survive.
Otherwise, Cecia would have preferred to wait until after learning her fourth spell.
Cecia closed her eyes and began to count.
One minute.
Two minutes.
Three minutes.
Munch, munch.
As Potato gnawed on the Starfolk remains, the surrounding shadows began to sway.
How could shadows sway? Was that her magic?
Potato was pretty, though not striking, and often acted airheaded.
Yet she didn't seem holy either. She was like a blank sheet of paper, akin to a noble young lady from some kingdom—naive, innocent, and kind.
She looked thoroughly satisfied as eerie energy danced around her.
Light and shadow shared a harmonious rhythm.
Strange...
Why wasn't anything happening?
Right now, with both the sun and moon sharing the sky, Cecia's body was slowly recovering.
Potato continued gnawing on the Starfolk corpse at an unhurried pace.
It was oddly peaceful for a moment.
Munch, munch.
Starfolk fluids leaked all over the ground, but Potato was far from finished.
The scattered corpse chunks surrounding Potato seemed to be summoned by something, unexpectedly spinning around her in circles like some strange ritual.
It was—
Worship.
Cecia had read records about the Abyss Cult.
The emblem of the Abyss Cult was a pitch-black rift with several stars suspended above it.
Potato wore star-like ornaments on her head—normally hidden beneath her hood—and there was a rift mark on the back of her neck.
In the year 655 of the Old Calendar, the Abyss Cult's emblem was a black sun paired with several rifts.
Potato was clearly not someone from the modern era.
The Abyss Cult could adeptly use or borrow energy from the Abyss, though usually under very strict limitations.
Even high archbishops required cumbersome rituals to absorb abyssal energy directly.
Yet Potato could absorb it directly.
Such a powerful effect—only a bishop or a saintess could achieve it.
Thinking up to this point, Cecia swallowed nervously.
She was starting to panic.
What if I expose her secret and she silences me to keep it quiet?
Finally, driven by curiosity, Cecia spoke up anyway:
“Potato, Potato, I am Sweet Potato.”
“?”
Potato turned around with a puzzled look.
“Alright, Miss Nightingale who likes sweet potatoes.”
Aah, I really am way too much of a coward.
Rate on N.U.
