Their romance storyline only begins on the second playthrough?

Chapter 116 The Deep Sea God, probably a thug.

Chapter 117 The Deep Sea God, probably a thug (4k)

Rod and Clara entered the Serpent Gate together.

Upon careful consideration...

This girl has a naturally strange quality to her.

Divine? At least his bloodline seems much stronger than Mirado's.

Such a being with a stronger bloodline should not, in theory, be chosen as a vanguard.

Even if she had amnesia, would a typical marine species really be as gentle as Clara upon first seeing a human? That seems unrealistic.

This is very strange; there are doubts about it from every angle.

"Besides the remaining muscle memory, what other information do you have?"

Not the things outside, but what just happened in here.

Rod and Clara walked side by side in the narrow tunnel, which was about two meters wide, and it was actually quite crowded.

However, because Clara was petite and kept moving to make way for Rhodes, Rhodes didn't have much trouble walking.

but-

At that moment, Clara stretched out her fingers and tugged at the hem of Rod's clothes.

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

"Ah—sorry, it just makes me feel a little better," Clara's clear voice rang out.

This is true.

From the moment she inexplicably appeared behind this man, she had felt quite uneasy.

Because I felt like I had nothing left, like everything had disappeared.

She had nothing to rely on, and nothing that could put her at ease.

They were all as strange as monsters —

Yes, she didn't even know why she had suddenly appeared, let alone what she was, what the other person was, or what this place was.

Only this human male is different.

It was strange to her; the moment she saw him, she felt as if she knew this man and felt at ease.

That's why she just said, "You must be a good person."

It wasn't because I was foolish enough to blindly trust Rhodes, but because Rhodes was the only one I could trust.

But—if she knew this man before, he wouldn't have asked, "What's your name?"

This is a question, isn't it? Therefore, she herself shouldn't know this man.

So, it's quite strange.

Why?

I don't know, I just need to follow him.

"————" Rod glanced at Clara.

Please, among the people here, it seems that you are much stronger than me, right?

Rhodes twitched before managing to speak, "So now that you're relieved, can you tell me what happened just now?"

He just let her hold him, figuring she wouldn't tear his clothes anyway.

"Oh." Clara nodded. "Just now?"

"If it was just now, I remember killing several strange black monsters while in a state of chaos, and then my consciousness began to return—"

"Then, in the blink of an eye, they appeared behind you."

"That's all?"

"Hmm." Clara blinked slightly and nodded. "So, how are we going to get out? You—oh, right, Rod Chivenlance, I got that."

"Our goal is to find a powerful enemy, you can think of that enemy as the culprit that created this labyrinthine world, and then help the side of good defeat the side of evil, so we can get out."

"Huh? I think I understand? Hmm—I don't really understand. Justice, evil—" Her brows furrowed, as if even her so-called "common sense" was flawed.

Even Rhodes felt slightly horrified upon seeing this scene.

It's normal to cause amnesia; many illusionary dungeons can achieve this level of effect.

However, the most fundamental common sense and principles cannot be erased in a short period of time; at least, none of the illusionary dungeons that Rhode has ever seen can do so.

"The Deep Sea God really did create a good barrier using [Carmen], but unfortunately, this damn barrier isn't protecting against enemies, it's protecting against teammates." Rhodes shook his head helplessly.

"Deep Sea God?" Clara frowned. "That name... I think I've heard it before."

"Of course, because you are a marine species, the Deep Sea God is your deity, the being that gives you power."

"Wait, is that so?" Clara's eyes flashed, as if she had regained a bit of her [existence].

Is the Deep Sea God her deity?

"Is the Deep Sea Goddess a good person or a bad person? Why do you say she created the barrier?"

"The reason we're trapped here is because of the Deep Sea Goddess. Simply put, something dangerous is fighting against her, so she naturally released a protective barrier."

"What we need to do is help the Deep Sea God kill that dangerous thing."

"Is that so? Then, is she very strong? What kind of person is she?"

"I'd say I'm strong, but at least when it comes to helping her overcome this crisis, I don't really have much confidence. As for the person? I don't know."

Yes, I forgot to ask Lilith what kind of being the Deep Sea Goddess is before I came in.

In that case, if he were to enter the consciousness realm of the Deep Sea God himself, it would be even more troublesome to help her.

The most crucial aspect of providing emotional support lies in understanding the other person's personality.

"He must be a rather arrogant being." Rhodes pondered for a moment. "Almost all gods have this trait."

"They include those who are unreasonable, inexplicably arrogant, and overconfident."

These three gods correspond to the God of Souls, the God of Stars, and the God of Dragons. One obvious commonality among them is that they are all somewhat arrogant.

After all, he is a god—always listening to people's stories, so it's understandable that he would naturally elevate his status.

"Huh? Isn't that a terrible person?"

Clara was taken aback and blurted out.

But after she said it, she felt a little awkward.

Ok?

What's going on? I feel like I said something wrong—

No, the key question is, why do I have this urge to punch Rod?

She quickly shook her head.

Clara is her name, and the Sea God is the deity she worships.

Something just doesn't feel right.

She couldn't quite understand where this strangeness came from, so she simply clenched her fists, then gathered that odd, fluid blue energy in her hands—

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The substance, which was blue like seawater, swept and rolled wildly like a hurricane at this moment, and finally evaporated.

"Oh!" Clara exclaimed in surprise, "It's gone."

Rhodes sensed something was wrong. "Wait a minute—let me ask you something, do you know what your [skill] is?"

Funny?

A powerful individual who has advanced at least five times can't even control their own source of power? That's simply impossible!

"What are skills?" Clara blinked her bright, innocent eyes. "I... I think I've heard of... water magic?"

You'd better be talking about proper water magic, thank you.

"—I." Rhodes wanted to say something, but he swallowed his words halfway through.

There's not much to explain.

Just think of it as a vase hanging next to you.

That's not right either. Even without using any skills, someone who has been upgraded five times still has decent basic combat power after all.

At least there's no magical damage, so using a tough body to withstand the impact shouldn't be a problem, right?

As Rhodes pondered this, they had already passed through the snake gate of [Carmen] and entered another octagonal cage space.

This time, only four doors remained in the space.

However, the octagonal space was much wider than before, and each door no longer had animal patterns, but strange inscriptions, countless of which were entwined and coiled on the door, like snake demons.

At that very moment, in the very center of the octagonal cage, a dark, malevolent aura began to gather.

Eerie energy, like that of a vengeful spirit, along with pitch-black slime, continuously gushed from the ground.

Bang bang bang!

The slime coalesced, eventually forming two [Fallen Monsters].

The monster's head was covered in thick, black hair, resembling seaweed, with only one eye in the center, glaring angrily.

At the same time, it has a robust body, standing two and a half meters tall, with two pairs of rough arms, like a god.

[Heavenly Eye] is activated instantly at this moment, allowing it to perceive the strength of the demon.

[Fallen Demon Seed/Divinity]

[Upgraded four times]

Attributes:

Physical Fitness: 710

[Agility]: 655

[Physical Constitution]: 711

【Spirit】: 511

With the numbers laid out before us, combat strength becomes clearer and more readily apparent.

Judging from the stats on the panel, its strength is indeed not weak; it's a typical monster that has been upgraded four times to a mid-tier level.

However, as corrupted monsters, they have almost no special skills.

In other words, this attribute value is completely insignificant in Rhodes' eyes.

Rhodes' fingers tightened, instantly creating the [Elf Dragon Sword], his eyes filled with murderous intent.

"Rhodes—what do we do? They're the enemy, aren't they? They want to kill us, right?"

"Can you beat him? No problem, right? —?"

Ok.

The moment those two sentences were uttered, Rhodes really couldn't hold back anymore.

"They are not strong, or rather, they are the same for you."

"But they look much stronger than you—" Clara said, trembling.

"What makes you so strong? I'm asking you!" Rhodes laughed angrily. "You go and deal with the other one, I'll take care of the one on the left."

The words fell.

Rhodes' figure flashed out like lightning and disappeared from the spot.

The moment Rhodes approached, he felt a strange word appear before his eyes: [Door].

A huge "door" character appeared before his eyes, making him slightly dazed.

"Mental shock."

In an instant, he used his mental skill to pierce through the mental energy of the charging demon and assumed a defensive stance.

"roar--!"

As expected, the demon's steps slowed down due to the mental shock, so even the strange bewildering skill that briefly distracted Rhodes had no effect.

After all, when both sides are half a beat behind, it's the same as neither side being behind!

The demon's giant hand slammed down like a warhammer, while Rhode simultaneously extended the [Elf Dragon Sword] to counterattack—!

The clash between flesh and sword was not as hard as one might imagine.

Conversely, a gash was cut open on the demon's hand, plunging its mind into shock.

The spiritual shock here is a true mental breakdown.

After all, the Elf Dragon Sword comes with the [Soul Damage] effect after being upgraded.

This effect can undoubtedly tear apart the demon's mental domain with ease!

"roar----"

It was as if a piece of my soul had been cut open.

Its body jerked backward, and at the same time, Rhodes charged forward—

Yes.

This is why it is said that divine souls are extremely terrifying to mortal objects.

Once the first cut causes a loss of soul, the body's control will decrease.

Once the ability to control the situation decreases, it becomes even more difficult to win and one will fall into a passive state.

Unless someone has specifically trained in soul defense, soul damage is an extremely powerful skill.

At that moment, Rhodes' next sword strike landed squarely on the monster's arm.

With a soft "plop," two of the monster's four arms were instantly severed like vegetables and rolled onto the ground.

"Roar roar roar—!"

When the monster realized that it was in extreme danger, it no longer cared about anything else!

It instantly unleashed all its energy, like a dynamite, with crimson flames appearing on its chest!

"Self-destruct?" A sharp glint flashed in Rhodes' eyes, and his longsword instantly changed direction, piercing straight through the center of his chest!

Puff-!

The longsword pierced the monster's chest.

The pitch-black slime sprayed out along with a little crimson blood, and at that moment, the flames in the monster's central heart were extinguished.

Utterly foolish.

Who else but those idiots would be fooled by this level of self-destruction?

Rod remained calm.

Then, the longsword was thrust upwards!

"die!"

Splash!

Like the creation of the heavens, a beam of light burst forth after the Rhodes longsword pierced upwards, spraying out endless energy that instantly blasted the demon's body into dust.

Rhodes simply stood still, calmly flicking his longsword to wipe away all the bloodstains.

ended.

It's only about this level of improvement after four median upgrades.

Having acquired new skills and after the previous massacre, Rhodes's attribute values ​​had already ballooned to an absurd degree.

At least in terms of physique alone, his attribute value has reached over 800 points when all his skills are activated.

Not to mention that he also deals unique [Soul] damage—it can be said that there are almost no enemies he cannot kill during his four upgrades.

but.

Rhodes turned his gaze toward Clara.

It was on that extremely strange girl who had forgotten everything.

At that very moment, Rhodes' pupils contracted, because what he saw was neither Clara's panic nor her curled up like a turtle.

At that moment, she threw a punch in a panic.

And it was this punch—

bump!

The monster opposite them instantly swelled up like a bomb, twisted open, and then evaporated into a blood mist.

That's right.

There was no skill involved, no technique whatsoever—it was just the power of a simple punch.

She directly killed an enemy who had been promoted four times to the middle rank.

ha?

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