Chapter 480: Help for the Contaminated
The little blue creature is made for everyone's spectacle. The curious Gio approached to examine and touched the creature Introduced as the Sea God.
Unfortunately, the sensation he felt upon contact with the Sea God was nothing more than touching the water.
"Nee, what are we going to do with this swarm of black creatures? After looking around, they do look like black ink or slime. Eww..." Sylvia narrowed her eyes to look at the many monsters frozen inside the huge chunk of ice.
At that very moment, a pair of sinister eyes moved and stared back at Sylvia.
"Eek!" Sylvia was shocked and fell on her bum. She pointed at the iceberg and looked at the divine beings. "The eyes move, they move!"
"Oh, that's fine. It would take a few dozen minutes just to break free from those icy shackles. I'm quite impressed that a Saint-level snow fox is capable of such an accomplishment." Oceanid waved his hand in front of his face, then he glanced at the little white fox wrapped in a towel.
For some reason, he could see something was wrong with this little fox. Despite his astonishment, he decided to ask. "Wait, why do I see you don't have the resistance to extreme cold? That's your ability, right?"
"What's wrong with having flaws? Hmph!" Yuuki snorted because she thought it was a satire. She snuggled back into Evelyn's arms.
"Can I pet you?" Evelyn suddenly asked. She couldn't hold back the impulse from her heart.
"Uhm?" Yuuki looked up to meet Evelyn's green eyes. She then curled up again and muttered. "This time, you have my permission. But please do it gently."
"Understood!" Evelyn was thrilled. She then caressed Yuuki's head attentively. Fluffy, soft, and white... The sensation bore much resemblance to when stroking Vanessa.
"Hmm... She's not traumatized, is she?" Elena spoke in a mosquito-like voice.
"No, but Yuuki can't help us for quite some time." Elysia became helpless. Even so, she also couldn't allow Yuuki to help out for the common good.
"I see... So, we will take over from here." Elena replied with a subtle nod. She then signaled to the three divine beings beside her. "All of you will be involved in this. Help us to take care of these black slime-like creatures."
"They're not black slimes... They're just contaminated with curse energy and make them look like thick ink pools." Oceanid responded in defense.
"It's the same. As for the others, please wait for us on the magic carpet. Layered protection will be applied to you." Elena voiced her order, and it was carried out without question.
After that, she erected a protective barrier around the magic carpet. Only herself, Elysia, Rhea, Nell, and Oceanid remained outside.
"What can we do to help?" Rhea asked happily. She was confident that her current self was much more reliable.
"First of all, we need the temperature here to keep dropping to keep them frozen. After that, you need to separate it into individuals to make our job easier, little one. And you are the one who will help with the task of separating them as well. Is that understandable?" Elena gave her instructions as if she was the leader of the group.
"I see. I'll keep the temperature below sixty degrees Celsius in this restricted zone. Leave it to me." Rhea moved her finger to form a circle in the air.
A golden magic circle plated with green and blue appeared around the ice lump. At the same time, the extreme temperature immediately hit the frozen creatures.
"Alright, now it's time for action. Your water abilities and dimensional tricks can help me with this. Let's get this over with quickly." Nell rubbed her arms and applied blessing magic to keep her body warm. Then, she flew into the extreme cold zone without hesitation.
"Hey, apply your blessing magic to me too! I'll only freeze again if I enter that extreme cold zone." Oceanid called out before Nell could get far.
"Oh, you're right." Nell flew back to apply similar magic to Oceanid. After that, they entered the extreme cold zone to work together in completing the given task.
After twenty minutes had passed, the ninety-seven chunks of ice were laid out like neatly lined formations. Simultaneously, Rhea deactivated the extreme cold zone and went to Elysia's side.
"We're done. Now, what are we going to do?" Nell rubbed her hands together to get rid of the remaining dew and ice.
"Hmm... Let's do an experiment first. Ely, I need your assistance." Elena did slight fingers stretch as she walked closer to one of the nearest ice chunks.
"Yes, master." Elysia acted like an obedient disciple and followed closely behind.
"You poor little creature. The honor goes to you because you will be the first test subject." Elena closed her eyes with a subtle grin.
"That's still my other-self. Please treat them with care." For so many reasons, Oceanid was anxious and nervous about what might happen.
"You don't have to worry. We're just going to do a harmless experiment." Elena gave an ok hand gesture. Then, she sat in seiza position on her magic footing. Elysia sat next to her right after.
'Ely, are you feeling cold?' Elena softly asked as she gave her attention to the chunk of ice in front of her.
'No, I don't feel cold. Thanks for our all-in-one magic. How about you, master?' Elysia answered while examining the little black slime-like creature with her advanced perception and sacred vision.
'I have no problem. Make sure you don't get out of this golden foothold, mkay? Then, let's start trying a little experiment on this little creature, Ely. Maybe, we can use their curse energy to level up?' Elena touched the ice and channeled her magic energy.
'Let's give it a try.' Elysia also brought her hand closer to the ice, but she didn't touch it. She simply channeled her magic energy and started working to purify the curse energy.
It was very much like purifying a liquid substance from a dirty stain through gradual filtration. Elysia and Elena managed to destroy the curse energy from one contaminated Oceanid in less than three minutes.
Elysia absorbed some of the purified energy in between, of course.
The creature that was previously like a black slime became one that had the shape of an Oceanid, namely the little blue creature with a tail fin and wing-like hands.
'Hm, one done. We have ninety-six more.' Elena let out a soft sigh.
'Yes...' Elysia also sighed to look at the neat formation of ice chunks.
"Woah! That's amazing, marvelous! You are truly an incredible master and disciple. You destroying energy curses just like that is nothing." Oceanid appeared out of nowhere and exclaimed in admiration while circling the previously his contaminated self.
"Hum, what do you think? Does this one have common sense as your other avatar? Can this one be connected to your control?" Elena got up and gave a helping hand to Elysia to stand up.
"Err, wait a moment." Oceanid stroked his chin and approached the ice. He knocked on it a few times.
*Crack* *Crack*
Cracks appeared and spread throughout the ice until the ice finally shattered into small pieces. The little blue creature was freed, but he shivered with his body still more than partially frozen.
"Oh, the other me! You've finally returned to the bright side. Welcome back. Everything was perfect. No curse energy contamination or any flaws. Marvelous!" Oceanid opened his arms wide with excitement welling up from his entire being. It was as if he could already see his whole self was so close.
He used his magic to make his other self no longer freeze. Then, he greeted his other self with a big hug. "It's good to have you back. We'll be back together again soon."
"Ooh! That's been a very long time." Oceanid's avatar returned the hug in a slight daze.
At the same time, that avatar was suddenly absorbed into Oceanid's body and disappeared from everyone's sight.
"You absorb him?" Elena frowned with a hint of astonishment.
"Yes, you are absolutely right. Because of you and your precious disciple, I have decided to recombine all three thousand of me into one existence." Oceanid nodded confidently.
"..." Elena decided not to comment with anything.
After all, what Oceanid said was justifiable. It was still part of him, and it was a natural thing to return to the real one.
"Come on, Ely. Let's get this over with as soon as possible. Little one, you're going to help this Sea God break up the ice chunks or something." Elena pulled Elysia's hand to go to the next ice floe. She didn't forget to give her orders.
"..." Nell only responded with a nod. She flew over and was ready to help at any time.
While Rhea decided to stay two meters behind, Elysia and Elena. It was as if she was ready to do anything if something unexpected happened.
For the next few hours, Elysia and Elena performed a recurring aid to the contaminated Oceanids.
By the time everything was done, more than six hours had passed. Elysia was feeling quite exhausted, and Elena knew it very well because they worked without rest.
"Thanks for your assistance. Would you like to rest?" Elena gently asked while wiping Elysia's sweat with a handkerchief. She also felt quite tired and wanted to sleep, but Elysia was her priority.
"Mm, thank you." Elysia closed her eyes and let Elena do whatever she wanted. She felt quite weak and wanted to relax for a while.
At that moment, she felt a hand wrapped around her waist. She opened her eyes only to see it was Elena's hand.
"Let's go back to the magic carpet." Elena decided and helped Elysia to fly away.
"Woo, thank you very much for your help, the Goddess of Light and Elysia." Oceanid waved his hand before he gave his other self a big hug.