I must've misheard...
There's no way he ate that thing, right...?
But seeing her completely serious look, I couldn't help but take a step back in shock.
Reinhardt basically just became a sacrifice.
But not only that, the ritual was supposed to be activated externally.
Since it was now inside him, the core had already attached itself to his energy source, the heart.
Now, the ritual was strengthened several times.
So even with Isabelle's power-up, our odds of victory were less than 50%.
I felt a lot of energy gather under the sea, and I knew he had already activated the ritual.
Therefore...
"Kill him."
Melina flashed me a smirk and flicked her finger.
After that, there was silence.
I knew she did it.
The backlash was about to hit.
RUMBLE
The ground rumbled, nearly knocking the three of us off our feet.
And soon after, the sea receded.
It was very quick, as within just a few seconds, the sea had vanished from my sight completely.
Even the rumbling had stopped.
But I didn't let my guard down for even a moment.
Just then, a sharp piece of metal zipped through the sky.
It neared me with deadly speed, but right as it was about to pierce me, I reflected it with my Telekinesis.
Melina and Isabelle were also targeted, but I made sure those pieces of metal didn't pierce them.
It was starting.
A ritual that had just been strengthened several times...
What a fucking mess.
"Melina, go help out Kevin. Isabelle and I will handle this," I said.
"Huh? The main event is here and you're telling me to fuck off? That bastard can handle himself," Melina replied.
I knew she was going to be like this.
But I didn't have time for her whining.
I gripped her entire body with my Telekinesis, and as I heard her hurling all sorts of insults at me, I tossed her away.
I basically turned her into a railgun bullet.
So before I knew it, she was already gone.
Isabelle stared at me with a skeptical look, and I only shook my head at her, then gestured at the sea.
It looked like a mountain had appeared in the distance.
In reality, that was a massive tsunami.
"Uhh... Amon? You expect me to stop that all alone?" Isabelle stammered.
"Mhm. That's your only goal."
I could kind of see her worries though.
It was one big ass tsunami.
At least five times bigger than the one in the game.
Had I not helped her get a power-up, this plan might've not worked out, even with Melina's help.
But now, I was confident.
Bars of metal and all sorts of junk flew our way accurately, and instead of blocking it straight up, I merely moved both Isabelle and me aside.
It was a bit cheaper than blocking such powerful attacks after all.
But as the assault continued, I finally heard the thing I was waiting for.
Why are you just standing there~?
Why don't you come into the sea, and experience its embrace~?
I am waiting for you...
The three lines of dialogue.
The same three lines that came from the mouth of a future heroine.
A heroine who wasn't exactly human.
The Siren Queen.
Clementine Noir.
A Grade 25 being with two powerful Gifts and the authority to send the entire Siren race after somebody.
She was being controlled by this ritual.
And every word that came out of her mouth could charm any man.
Except for me.
My Mental Resistance was at MAX level.
So her soothing words were just that, soothing words.
And I didn't have to worry about Isabelle being affected, since the Sirens' charm only worked on men.
But since her voice resounded, I knew what else to expect.
[Ding!]
[You have triggered an emergency quest!]
[Objective: Kill the Siren Queen.]
[Reward: +100 Free Stat Points]
[Additional Reward if you kill her without exceeding more than 25% of casualties in the Mudflats: Siren Queen's Ability Core]
Hah.
This is the first time I got a shit quest.
I thought the system or whoever knew what my intentions were, and yet they gave me this.
I wasn't going to kill her.
Instead, I was going to subdue her, earn her trust, and then use her help in the future.
Smiling, I decided to focus as the next few minutes were crucial.
"Isabelle, I need you to start freezing the sea now."
"What sea? It's still far away, and I don't think I can even reach it," she replied.
I shook my head.
"Trust me. Start using your frost now."
I knew what I was doing.
Thankfully, she listened.
She began channeling her frost into the ground.
That was when the tsunami suddenly sped up.
It came so fast that had Isabelle not started using her frost beforehand, she wouldn't have been able to react.
The several-hundred-meter-high tsunami suddenly turned to ice and, like a massive tide, hovered over them.
Some of the water managed to slip by the sides, but it wasn't anything drastic.
That water didn't even reach the city.
Isabelle began bleeding from her nose.
She had overstrained herself.
But she actually managed to stop it.
I saw her staring wide-eyed at the tsunami.
But then she turned toward me.
"H-How did you..."
I put a finger over my mouth.
Maybe I'll answer her questions later.
Maybe not.
Definitely not right now though.
"Keep the tsunami frozen for as long as you can."
As I said those words, I gave her a pet on the back and flew up.
It looked like she wanted to say something else.
Not like she had the energy to utter anything though.
And so, I flew above the tsunami and landed on the peak of the tide.
It was beautiful.
She had not only frozen the tsunami but also tens of kilometers of the sea behind it.
All of this while still being in the single-digit Grade.
I admired the frozen sea for a few seconds, and then slid down the tsunami until I was on the other side of the tide.
The frozen sea was surprisingly even.
Would make for a good combat arena.
Smiling to myself, I eventually glanced in the distance where the tsunami came from.
I spotted a tall, tanned woman with crimson hair slowly walking toward me.
Her obsidian eyes were like onyx diamonds, and her loose-fitted dress really made her beauty stand out.
But then again, despite how beautiful she is right now... she's not in control.
So I took a deep breath and prepared myself.
After all, this was going to be the most difficult fight I've had since I arrived in this world.