Blondie jumped into Raindor's room, but inside was only a dark chamber—a small medical room with a faint antiseptic smell lingering in the air. Beds were lined up against the walls, medicine cabinets hung above, and a few scattered medical tools lay around, all swallowed by darkness.
" What the hell?"
He turned his head, raising his hand.
But the window he had just jumped through seconds ago had vanished.
" Where did it go?"
Blondie grew confused, then turned back.
A pitch-black space, silent to a terrifying degree.
At the end of the room was a door slightly ajar, letting a faint, cold white light from the hallway outside seep in.
He slowly stepped forward, his hands constantly feeling along the edges of beds, cabinets, and cold metal frames, every step filled with caution.
Suddenly, he cried out in pain as he bumped into a metal table in the middle of the room, causing countless documents and papers on top to scatter across the floor.
The light shone in, just enough for Blondie to see the papers.
" Documents? Is this some kind of archive room from a castle?"
He lifted his head, about to continue forward.
Suddenly, a figure with blond hair and a flashy floral shirt brushed past behind Blondie.
The sound of metal being pulled rang out from a corner of the room.
Startled, Blondie turned around, but the darkness made it impossible to see anything.
" Who's there?"
Suddenly, the door slammed shut, plunging everything into darkness.
" The little merfolk has fallen into the trap."
Raindor's mocking voice echoed.
" You bastard, get out here!"
Blondie shouted angrily.
The lights suddenly turned on—the harsh white fluorescent light blinded Blondie before he could react.
He lowered his head, raising both hands to cover his eyes.
In the corner of the room stood Raindor, his hand just pulling away from a switch on the wall.
" Hello."
Blondie was furious, but couldn't even lift his head because of the blinding light.
" Damn you, you piece of trash!"
Raindor didn't respond. Instead, he quietly walked across the room, stepping past scattered metal chairs and a small bed, stopping in front of an old wooden cabinet mounted on the wall—a worn medical supply cabinet.
" Do you know what fish fear the most, Blondie?"
He immediately punched into it, smashing the cabinet apart and pulling out a tiny vial the size of a finger, containing a pale yellow liquid.
" Sodium hypochlorite!"
Raindor said, leaving Blondie confused.
Blondie raised his head, his vision slowly returning.
" What is that?"
The moment Blondie finished asking, Raindor threw it straight at him.
Blondie instantly screamed in pain, hurriedly wiping off the liquid splashed onto his body.
" Damn it, do you know how much that hurts?!"
His scales turned red where the liquid touched them, his skin turned brown and wrinkled, causing him immense pain.
" Oh my, I've accidentally hurt the little merfolk princess."
Raindor's mocking voice rang out as he ran to a nearby window and pulled the curtain aside—outside was a wide open courtyard between two massive buildings, with long paved walkways stretching straight ahead.
" Goodbye, beautiful merfolk princess."
He waved his hand in farewell, then immediately jumped out the window, shattering the glass above.
Blondie's soaked hair continued dripping water onto the white tiled floor.
He lifted his head, staring at the window with intense anger.
His eyes turned red, sharp teeth bared.
" You bastard, I told you I'm not a woman!"
He roared, and the water beneath the floor instantly trembled.
It slowly rose and floated into the air.
" Water Control Art! Crimson Water Kick!"
The water gathered into a sphere right in front of Blondie.
At its center, a red droplet spread outward, turning the entire sphere a deep crimson.
He stood up and kicked the sphere violently, distorting it.
It shot forward like a cannonball, but suddenly flattened, transforming into a crimson slash in midair.
The slash cut through the room, making it tremble violently.
Hospital beds, cabinets, and metal tables were sliced in half, dust and debris filling the air.
Blondie waved his hand, clearing the thick smoke before slowly walking toward the window.
But suddenly, the floor beneath him cracked and collapsed, revealing another room below—rows of long desks and chairs arranged neatly like a classroom.
He looked up, the ceiling above also beginning to crack.
With no other choice, he turned and walked out the door.
Behind him, the dust settled, leaving behind a deep cut running from the floor all the way to the ceiling.
He slowly opened the door and carefully looked outside.
The hallway was empty, stretching far with bright tiled floors and rows of glass windows.
Blondie stepped out, looking around.
The room behind him collapsed, the ceiling caving in as it fell to the floor below.
He now stood in a long corridor in a massive building blocks.
Blondie turned to the left—the hallway stretched endlessly with countless identical rooms, doors shut, nameplates neatly placed.
He turned to the right—at the end was a passage leading to another building opposite, with a massive open space between them like a giant atrium.
Blondie stepped forward and leaned over the railing to look down.
Below him, floors stacked upon floors, staircases and corridors intertwined like a maze.
Then he looked up—more floors rising endlessly, glass windows reflecting the harsh sunlight.
Blondie stood on the 7th floor of a towering building with dozens more levels above.
" So tall... even higher than my room in Saffrom Palace."
Behind him was a small staircase leading upward.
Raindor was slowly walking down, holding a large drum in his hands.
While Blondie was still focused on looking below, Raindor suddenly hurled the drum straight at his head.
A loud crash echoed, instantly making Blondie clutch his head in pain, while Raindor burst into laughter and quickly ran down the long corridor.
" You bastard, stop right there!"
Blondie angrily turned, but Raindor had already gotten far ahead.
Blondie turned toward him and raised his hand.
" Water Control Art! Sea Insect Blessing!"
His fingers twisted grotesquely, gradually changing from blue to deep red and sprouting countless sharp spikes.
His fingers transformed into a centipede, then shot straight toward Raindor.
It opened its sharp mandibles and lunged at him.
Raindor immediately pretended to turn into a nearby room, but instead leaped straight out, causing the centipede to miss and tear a long gash through the wall.
Raindor sighed in relief, but another centipede flew toward him, forcing him to keep running.
He dashed into a room and jumped out again, but this time the centipede wasn't fooled and continued flying straight after him.
The first centipede got stuck in a wall behind, struggling to break free but failing.
Suddenly, it let out a strange screech and froze.
Behind it, three more centipedes sped forward, all targeting Raindor.
The stuck centipede began swelling, its body compressed by the wall.
It glowed red—then exploded violently, collapsing an entire row of rooms.
On the other side, Raindor kept running forward as the centipedes relentlessly attacked, biting at him but only causing the entire floor to shake violently.
As he ran, Raindor waved his hand, making the ring on his finger spin and emit a golden light before transforming into a large key.
He spun around, gripping the key tightly and slamming it into a nearby centipede, sending it crashing into a pillar.
But he lost balance and nearly fell, one centipede biting through his clothes and tearing a hole.
The centipede stuck on the pillar began swelling—then exploded.
It instantly destroyed the pillar and cracked the two adjacent ones, causing the entire structure to shake again.
From afar, Blondie realized something was wrong—the supporting pillars were beginning to crack.
Another explosion occurred in the distance, and this time the entire structure could no longer hold.
One by one, the pillars shattered, and the upper floors lost support, collapsing downward.
In the distance, Raindor stopped, two centipedes beside him.
Debris began falling, the ceiling cracking apart.
The three stared at each other—Raindor kicked one stuck to the wall, then immediately turned and jumped down below.
On the other side—
" Water Control Art! Dragon Cyclone!"
Blondie instantly spun, creating a water vortex shaped like a dragon around his body, launching himself out of the building.
He turned back—
The floor above him had already collapsed, dragging dozens of others down and crushing the entire structure.
He flew to the neighboring building, grabbed onto the railing, and jumped inside.
The ground shook violently, the sound of destruction echoing throughout the space between the two buildings.
Blondie staggered toward the railing, preparing to look outside.
But suddenly, a massive cloud of dust surged in, instantly blasting him backward into the wall.