A fierce flame rose from the surface of the sea, as if it wanted to ignite the glowing blue water beneath their feet.
The flames swayed constantly in the air, like a vicious beast searching for the right angle to attack.
The surrounding guards stared at the flaring fire in shock. Their eyes were wide open, as if they had been completely scared stiff, frozen in place.
The officer wearing the badge hurriedly shouted at the guards, "Are you trying to resist!"
"Attack, all of you attack! Arrest him!"
Hearing the officer's command, the guards snapped out of it and tightly gripped their long spears.
The sharp spearheads, which looked as if they had grown from water itself, were wrapped with two intertwining streams of water that spread along the entire shaft.
Dense waves of cold spears thrust forward. Blue currents surged out from the spear tips, racing toward Viktor at high speed.
The combined force tore open a trench in the sea beneath their feet. Waves splashed upward, scattered droplets smashing into the buildings wrapped in thin membranes, shattering them apart.
Some guards drew their bows from afar. One after another, high-speed water arrows gathered with blue glowing light shot down from above, trying to completely engulf Viktor in this violent assault.
But facing thousands of attacks, Viktor still stood where he was.
The next second, the trench coat burned fiercely within the flames.
The fire surged upward, as if it had gained consciousness, rolling out waves of heat in the air and completely blocking all the incoming attacks.
The moment the water element touched the wall of fire, steam erupted, evaporating everything in an instant.
The flickering flames lit up everyone's faces, red light reflecting in their eyes.
They stood there in disbelief, watching all their attacks be completely blocked by Viktor.
And Viktor did not even raise a hand.
Shock filled countless hearts, to the point that some nearly lost the will to resist on the spot.
'He… what exactly is he…?'
At this moment, Viktor raised his head.
His gaze flicked to his health bar.
No damage taken.
To be honest, the sea people were very good at restraining players who used fire-type abilities.
They belonged to the water attribute, and in elemental countering, fire damage would definitely be reduced.
Unfortunately, Viktor was an exception.
The flames he used were not ordinary flames.
If calamity fire could be easily extinguished by water, then Guldon would truly be a disgrace of calamity.
Viktor swept his gaze across the guard force and spoke lightly, as if reminding them of something,
"Looks like you attacked me first."
Hearing Viktor's words, the guards were all stunned for a moment.
Because according to what Viktor said, it did seem to be true.
Viktor was only defending in advance, yet they had already assumed he was resisting and attacked him.
But now, arguing over who was right or wrong was no longer important.
What mattered was…
Viktor raised one hand. In an instant, the raging flames surged like wrath itself, transforming into a massive dragon that expanded wildly in the air.
A pair of scorching, furious eyes emerged from the flames, locking tightly onto the guards.
As if in the next second, it would devour them completely.
Fear spread through the guards, their bodies trembling, while Viktor continued to stare at them coldly.
"Then now, it's my turn..."
"to act in self-defense."
Snap!
The sound of a finger snap echoed through the air.
As Viktor's motion ended, the sound fell.
The next second, the flame dragon let out a furious roar.
Terrifying crimson heat swept across the entire sea surface.
Waves surged up, droplets flashing as if the sea itself had begun to boil.
The dragon's eyes burned with the same terrifying heat. The scorching power radiated endlessly from its body, making even the air unbearably hot.
Violent flames looked as if they were about to drown the sky completely. The dragon's massive body thrashed wildly, colliding again and again across the sea.
[Tier Four Magic, Dragonflame Fury]
It crashed down onto the sea surface, swallowing everything around it.
Countless guards were swept into the giant maw of the flame dragon. The streams of water around their bodies turned into rising steam in the blink of an eye.
Under these terrifying flames, the water they were so proud of was nothing more than decoration.
Most of the guards were burned away in the fire, rapidly losing their lives.
In the final moment before death, a ridiculous thought rose in their minds.
If water could not extinguish fire, then what could possibly protect them?
The next second, their bodies.. within the flames, turned into steam and vanished.
Henny stood to the side, staring blankly at the scene.
Yes, steam.
She was not surprised that Professor Viktor had killed these people.
Just as the professor said, he was only acting in self-defense.
What Henny was more curious about was the death of these sea people.
Under the sweep of flames, they did not turn into ash-like corpses.
Like water, they seemed to become steam under the scorching heat, then completely dispersed into the air.
As if they had never existed at all.
At this moment, only the last guard remained, frozen in place, as if he had just witnessed an unprecedented, shocking spectacle.
His body was stiff. He could only stare wide-eyed as his subordinates disappeared within the city, disappearing into this ocean.
At that moment, he happened to see Viktor.
And Viktor seemed to notice him as well, strolling slowly toward him.
One step, two steps.
When the third step was about to land on the water, his body suddenly turned into a streak of crimson flame.
Like a meteor, it slammed down in front of him.
Only Viktor's head emerged from the flames. He looked like a hellish envoy bathed in fire, carrying intense heat as he coldly stared at the guard.
Then Viktor extended a 'hand' formed of flames and removed the star-like badge from the guard's chest.
After that, he looked at the trembling guard and spoke in an indifferent tone, "Get lost."
The guard felt immense relief. His body went limp like a deflated ball as he scrambled and crawled onto the water-shaped vessel.
He instantly activated it and fled.
Holding the badge, Viktor walked over to Henny.
Henny blinked as she watched Viktor extend his hand and slowly approach her.
"This is the one meant for you."
Viktor hung the badge on Henny's chest.
Henny did not quite understand.
But soon, after putting on the badge, she felt something was wrong.
A lightning-like sensation seemed to shoot into her mind.
Within her thoughts, she felt it.
Parts of the Sea City seemed to form a transparent skeleton in her mind.
A three-dimensional map appeared inside her head.
It was as if she suddenly gained a monitoring system.
As long as Henny wished, she could notice anything happening anywhere within this area.
But aside from the area she was in, everything else was shrouded in gray haze.
What lay behind the thick fog, Henny could not see at all.
Still, she felt deeply shaken and could not help but ask Viktor, "The Sea City is divided into countless regions?"
Viktor replied calmly, "That's right."
'How vast is the ocean?'
'Even the surface alone already exceeds the land in area. Not to mention the even deeper parts beneath the sea.'
The design of the Sea City is simply one word, "vast."
The interior of the Sea City is divided into countless regions, and only by obtaining the local sheriff's badge can a player unlock the map of that region.
And the Sea City itself has two parts.
The upper part, corresponding to above the sea surface, where one can still live while breathing normally.
The lower part, corresponding to beneath the sea, where one can only survive within the ocean.
And within such countless regional divisions.
There exist an unknown number of Sea Cities across the world.
Just its sheer scope is enough to make those who wish to explore it give up, losing all desire to do so.
And now, Viktor and the others only possessed a single regional badge of the Sea City.
Region A: 1, this was the Sea City area governed by the badge in Viktor's hand.
At this moment, the flames dissipated.
Henny also noticed the surroundings.
Within this region, the passersby from before seemed to have completely vanished.
Aside from the buildings, there was not a single person left in the entire city.
Henny could not understand.
Just moments ago, it was a lively, bustling city.
How did it suddenly become a dead city?
Even if they were scared of Viktor and fled, they should have made some noise.
Not like this…
Quietly dispersing like water, melting into the ocean.
Henny suddenly recalled that the guards Professor Viktor had 'killed' earlier had also left no bodies behind.
They had simply evaporated completely.
"Did you notice?"
Viktor bent down and pinched a droplet of water from the ground with his fingers.
This was a droplet left behind after some unfortunate person died. In Viktor's hand, it was finely crushed.
"The true sea people have long since merged with the ocean."
Viktor straightened up and spoke lightly.
"They are human, yet they cannot be called human."
"Because they are already part of the ocean."
Henny listened in a daze as Viktor continued.
"The controller of this region just ran away, so correspondingly, those sea people merged back into the ocean."
"Now, you are the controller of this region. You can summon them back."
Henny froze as Viktor pointed at the badge on her chest.
A thin blue magical power was released from the badge, scattering into specks of starlight and rapidly spreading outward.
Like a heavy ripple, it swept across the city.
Henny looked around and was immediately shocked.
Those sea people were actually slowly emerging from the water's surface.
The streams beneath them gathered continuously, reconstructing their original bodies.
Transparent currents collided violently with one another, bursting like blooming splashes.
The water folk seemed to be reborn, appearing once more throughout the city.
"As long as the ocean does not perish, they will not truly die."
"But that may not be a good thing."
Viktor stood with his hands in his pockets, looking at those numb sea people.
They seemed completely unaware that they had just merged into the ocean and reappeared.
Even their memories from before seemed to have vanished.
Pedestrians continued doing their own things, and the city returned to its lively state.
But this time, whenever they saw Henny, they showed respect.
When facing Viktor, however, they still showed the same attitude as before.
They still hated Viktor.
Viktor ignored their hostility and did not even treat them as humans, speaking indifferently, "The lives of the sea people are like puppets on strings, controlled by higher beings."
"If the controller is satisfied, they can live."
"But if the controller wants them dead."
Viktor's finger once again rested on Henny's badge and tapped it lightly.
As if controlled, the surrounding sea people burst like water balloons, shattering into chunks of seawater that splashed into the ocean.
Yet everyone else acted as if nothing had happened.
Henny looked at the sea people around her and felt a sense of unfamiliarity.
Just a moment ago, they had been chatting and talking with each other.
Some were even bargaining with shopkeepers.
The next second, their bodies vanished directly and fell into the water,
splashing others in the face.
And yet, those who were splashed acted as if it were normal.
If one person died, they simply went to find someone else to talk to.
At the same time, Viktor's gaze moved to others.
Each time he looked at someone, that person burst into brilliant splashes of water, turning into a pool of liquid and falling onto the sea surface, completely merging with the ocean.
Finally, Henny asked Viktor with some confusion, "Professor."
"Then why don't you wear this badge yourself?"
Viktor turned around and looked at Henny.
"That is exactly why I brought you here."
Henny tilted her head in confusion, not quite understanding what Viktor meant.
Then Viktor explained calmly, "A controller needs to be accepted. The prerequisite is that the controller must not be hated or even hostilely viewed by the sea people."
Henny blinked, then heard Viktor suddenly say, "I think, in this world, no one would hate you."
"Including me."
Hearing this, Henny froze completely.
She blinked and looked at Viktor.
A sweet feeling suddenly welled up in her heart.
Her chest felt warm.
'So the professor… had always thought this way?'
"I…"
Henny's eyes became slightly dazed, but she saw Viktor suddenly turn his head and look back at the water folk.
"Things are just as I thought. You have been acknowledged by the sea people."
"So, with the badge, you have become the new controller of this region."
Henny hurriedly snapped back to her senses. This was still the professor talking about serious matters.
She quickly shook her head, clearing away her wandering thoughts, and listened as Viktor continued, "And if that person were me."
Viktor took the badge from Henny's chest and put it on his own.
"Like this."
The moment the star badge was placed on his chest, in an instant, countless hostile gazes from the sea people all turned toward Viktor.
Then, alarm-like beeping sounds rang out across the entire city, spreading far and wide.
"[One-Star Alert, One-star criminal detected in Region A: 1.]"
"[Execute elimination order immediately]"
Hearing the alarm, Henny immediately panicked.
But Viktor remained expressionless.
On his body, violent flames once again rose up.
This was something every player who entered the Sea City would experience.
"I didn't want to commit a crime."
"But they..."
"Insisted on forcing me to kill."