Becoming a God Starts with Acting-Chapter 117: [Fish] - Nerio’s Part (29)

"Stab! Stab!"

The sound of something sharp, piercing flesh echoed through the air. Leonard raised his arm to block the monster’s attack, but its two long, razor-sharp claws punctured straight through his arm before flinging him aside.

"Thud!"

Leonard’s body slammed heavily against the ground, and he groaned in pain.

The others frowned, quickly dodging the sword-like claws of Madam William. Bella shouted furiously, "We don’t even know what mermaid scales are! You’ve got the wrong people!"

They did intend to obtain the mermaid scales, but up to this point, they hadn’t even seen what they looked like! They didn’t even know what the scales were supposed to look like—this time, they were truly innocent!

Madam William, however, didn’t care whether these humans were innocent or not. She would eliminate all of them here and now to prevent the possibility of them working with Elena and doing anything that could harm the William family. Right here, right now—she would destroy them all!

She narrowed her eyes, which gleamed with cold cruelty. "You bastards... Even if you didn’t take them, you still have to die!"

Her claws slashed wildly like blades. Even with Austin’s immense strength, he couldn’t hold her back—instead, her other claws pierced through one side of his ribcage. Blood poured like rain, and soon, Austin’s face turned deathly pale.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!"

Arrows of light suddenly appeared, shooting straight toward Madam William. She finally flinched, tossed Austin aside, and dodged the assault. But the barrage was so dense that she couldn’t escape unscathed.

"Damn it!"

She roared, hurling Austin’s bloody body into the wall with a crash. He lay motionless, his condition uncertain.

At the same time, the scales on Madam William’s body suddenly stood on end, then detached from her skin, tearing out with fresh blood. Madam William screamed in agony, her eyes bulging as if they were about to bleed.

As though receiving a command, the sharp scales began flying rapidly toward Cyril—the one conjuring the light arrows!

Cyril frowned and concentrated, summoning more arrows of light. The glowing arrows struck and scattered the scales but couldn’t stop all of them—many dodged with unnatural agility as if they were alive.

Suddenly, they accelerated—breaking through the wall of light!

"Crack!"

A shattering sound rang out as Cyril’s light shield broke into a fine mist. The razor-sharp scales shot toward him and Bella at impossible speed, pinning them both to the ground. The two of them seemed to use every ounce of their power to keep the scales from striking vital points—but their condition was clearly dire.

"Only you left!"

Madam William’s voice had completely changed—now shrill and grating, like it could pierce through a person’s eardrums. Fresh blood flowed from her body, staining the ground—but it was an eerie, thick black fluid. Her body was riddled with holes where the scales had detached, giving her a grotesque, disturbing appearance. The airborne scales returned, floating ominously around her.

Madam William opened her mouth wide, her hollow eyes locking onto Leonard, who was trembling as he struggled to rise from the ground.

"That’s right... only... only me left..." Leonard muttered. He lowered his head, his eyes downcast as if trying to avoid everything—but now, he no longer had long hair to cover his face. There was nothing to shield him anymore.

He couldn’t even stand up straight. Blood continued to pour from his body, his hands twisting and contorting, fingers bending and cracking against each other into grotesque shapes as if they could snap at any moment.

It hurt. It hurt so much.

Why?

Why did it still come to this?

He wanted to be strong, he tried to fight back—but he was so scared.

Where was his power?

What should he do?

He was hungry, so hungry.

What should he do?

He didn’t want to die...

Could he eat the monster?

And if he did—would he still be human afterward?

Countless thoughts rushed through Leonard’s mind, but no one could understand them.

[It’s hopeless. His teeth are chattering so violently that he almost bit his own tongue while speaking. He’s going to lose it.]

[Come on, Leonard, move! Nerio’s not here to help clear your mind this time!]

[If Leonard does nothing, they’re all going to die...]

[Hang on a little longer—Benjamin and the others are almost here!]

"Die, you insect!"

Madam William’s body suddenly lunged forward like an arrow at that moment. Her five fingers led the charge, slashing toward Leonard from a distance, while her scales shot forward at the same time—intending to turn Leonard into a bloody sieve.

"Aghhhhh!"

But just as Madam William’s claws were about to strike him—Leonard’s body vanished, leaving behind only a low, pained growl.

Madam William froze, eyes following her scales in confusion—only to realize Leonard was now behind her!

His mouth opened wide, and without hesitation, he bit into her neck!

"Ha ha ha, foolish, pathetic! Do you really think you can bite through my scales? You pitiful human!"

Her scales were what she prided herself on the most. Blessed by mermaid magic, they were nearly impenetrable. No matter how exceptional a human’s powers or how strong their jaws, there was no way they could bite through her.

It was impossible—

"Impossible!"

She suddenly screamed in agony, her voice so shrill it shattered vases in the distance.

Just a second ago, she had been boasting about her impenetrable scales—but now, a chunk of flesh had been torn from her neck. A grotesque chewing sound followed. Blood spurted like a fountain—and most horrifying of all—she couldn’t heal the wound!

And the way this human was eating—was terrifyingly fast. In no time at all, he opened his mouth again and went for another bite!

"Die!"

Madam William roared as her flying scales caught up and pierced the wretched human’s body.

But she didn’t stop there. Her hand twisted unnaturally as if she had no bones. Her ten large, razor-sharp fingers stabbed straight through Leonard’s body—including his heart!

Leonard’s mouth opened wide, his head tilting back as he gasped in unbearable pain. Blood gushed from his wounds, from his eyes, from his nose and mouth—soaking the ground in crimson.

He kept his mouth open as if to breathe—but the agony was so immense even his breathing had become shallow and ragged.

His eyes had lost all focus...

"Hahaha! Pathetic human worm, you deserve to die—deserve to die!"

Madam William laughed maniacally, then yanked her claws out of Leonard’s body. Leonard’s form slowly slumped backward as if about to fall off her.

But instantly, his eyes suddenly rolled white, glowing with a bright crimson light. His waist tightened with force, and he latched back onto Madam William!

Then, without a second of hesitation, he opened his mouth and bit down!

His teeth had grown longer, like those of a shark. Scales had begun to appear on his face!

This bite hurt even more than the previous ones. Madam William screamed in agony, her claws stabbing through Leonard’s body again and again, pulling out only to stab again.

"Why won’t you die?! Why won’t you die?!"

It was hard to imagine the pain Leonard was enduring, but each time a wound appeared on his body, it healed at an astonishing speed.

Before long, Madam William’s body collapsed to the ground—shriveled like a dried husk.

Leonard dropped to his knees, steam rising with each breath.

"Mother!"

Suddenly, Lucian’s voice rang out, filled with grief. At the same time, hurried footsteps echoed—Benjamin’s group had arrived!

A dome of light instantly enclosed Lucian, sealing off any escape.

Alice rushed to tend to everyone’s wounds. Of course, it was only enough to bring them back to consciousness—she didn’t have the strength to heal them completely. She herself was nearly spent.

As for Leonard... he had no visible wounds. But his condition was undeniably strange.

Cocona stared at the dark scales that had begun to grow on Leonard’s body and said coldly,

"This is a side effect of his power."

"Bang!"

Suddenly, a loud crash rang out—Lucian had slammed his fist into the dome in fury.

"You killed my mother! I’ll make every one of you pay!"

[Look at that face twisted in hatred and those bloodshot eyes that look like they could bleed at any second—his acting skills are seriously next level...]

[Hahaha, if I didn’t know the truth behind all this, I might have been fooled by Nerio too.]

[If only Nerio would trick us once, I’d love to see if these arrogant ones could even tell he’s up to something.]

The others didn’t even have time to react before the ground beneath their feet trembled violently. Then, out of nowhere, water surged up—rising rapidly as if it wanted to drown them all!

"Don’t look at the water!"

Benjamin shouted.

But it was already too late. This time, the choice was no longer theirs to make.

Like a sudden great flood, the waters consumed everything. Humanity, at this moment, was far too small.

All of them were swallowed by the water and pulled into an endless vortex—

It felt like a collision between two timelines, two realities.

There was no doubt anymore—this sensation meant one thing:

They were being dragged into the world beneath the water... Elena’s domain.