The Magician of Sound

Meanwhile, Michelle's grandfather, Nathan, had flown over the Atlantic Ocean right beside Florida before arriving at Bahama. 

The journey was unusually peaceful as if they were going to fly over the ocean, some magical beasts would attack them. No matter how small their number would be, at least one magical beast would attack them.

Following the safe journey, they didn't see a single sea creature hovering around the sea surface. 

Nathan didn't like this because the sea looked like the calm before the storm. The thing that made him uncomfortable was not the peacefulness, but the thought about what kind of nightmare the people at the base experienced.

They couldn't send a radio message for them because of the distance, so Nathan could only grit his teeth while clenching his fists. 

"Father, I am sure they are still alright. Kai might not look at it, but he is a prodigy of his own. Considering Professor Ria Ross had taught him, his head should be above the rest." Bryan comforted him even though his hands were shaking.

"I know that… but there is too much uncertainty in this mission alone. If I know this would happen, I won't send him there to gain experience." Nathan blamed himself. At first, he thought that this mission would surely give Kai a battlefield experience and might even give some relationship with the army. Unfortunately, his careful planning turned into a nightmare.

"Father, Is a Protector really there?" Bryan asked.

"Yeah. Judging from how Kai described them, I am sure they are there. However, please refrain from talking about it because it's still a military secret. I will tell Kai about this as his rank as a Zodiac, and a student of Ria Ross would allow him to learn their identity…" Nathan let out a long sigh. "I thought I only needed to tell him after he graduates from school…"

Nathan sighed.

After encroaching for a few more minutes, the pilot finally notified them.

"We finally see Cuba. Although it's only barely, we can see many huge magical beasts swarming around the field." The pilot scanned the nearby area before they noticed a dolphin swimming around a human. However, when he focused on the 'human' as he was curious why a magical beast would hop around her, he saw a kind of fishtail under the water.

"Gerry, do my eyes fail me?" The pilot asked his co-pilot. "At first, I see a human female floating on the sea with a dolphin hopping around her… But when I focus my attention, the female has a fishtail…"

"What are you talking about, Don? Although this world has become like this, no… maybe because the world has turned like this, you are hallucinating of a mermaid." His co-pilot laughed.

"Take a look at that!" He pointed in the direction of the human female, so his partner could testify his sight.

"This is…" Gerry dropped his jaw after seeing the fishtail. They were flying an aircraft carrier filled with soldiers and had lowered their altitude since they were going to jump down after arriving at the place. This allowed the pilot to have a sight on the sea, albeit barely. Even so, it was enough to let them see a shadow underneath the water.

Seeing his partner's reaction, the pilot immediately sent an announcement. "We have met an unknown creature on the sea. Her appearance is like a mermaid with a human body and a fishtail. Asking for an order."

"!!!" Nathan's expression darkened after this announcement. Ethan also had the same expression as he also boarded this plane. 

They exchanged looks and confirmed that it was their target.

Nathan turned around to see both of his sons and said, "After this, you are taking the command. Michael should also arrive at this moment and work together with him after you arrive. The children are our priority."

At the same time, Ethan grabbed the phone that connected them with the pilot. 

"Increase our altitude and pass them in the sky. Tell this to the other carriers as well and make no contact with the creature that you see. Tell them not to inform the soldiers," He ordered the pilot.

"But Sir… We are going to miss the landing point since we need to lower our altitude once again before we reach the safe limit to let the soldiers out." The pilot was hesitant as he could already see the place where he could drop the soldiers.

"Shut up and follow my order. My order is also General Nathan's order. Even if you need to miss the target slightly, it's fine because the creature you see is more important. And open the door, Nathan and I need to fight that creature." 

"Sir?" The pilot was really hesitant as this was not according to the standard operation procedure. 

"I am commanding right now? Do you hear my order, soldier?" Ethan was out of time, so he just snarled.

The pilot paused for a few seconds before his hand reached a button while saying, "Yes, Sir."

Ethan quickly dropped the phone and walked toward the back of the carrier with Nathan without any parachute. The soldiers were staring at them, but didn't dare to speak anything after hearing Ethan's rage.

"Let's go." He looked at Nathan, who nodded his head. After a nod, both of them jumped off the plane.

The mermaid seemed to have noticed their presence as it turned around and looked up.

Ethan released his Fire Wing and grabbed Nathan before placing him on the surface of the sea.

Surprisingly, Nathan didn't sink. Instead, he was walking on water, staring at the mermaid with narrow eyes. 

"Kai, you should be able to hear me from here, so I am going to tell you this. Whatever you learn after this, don't tell anyone about it, including Michelle. I only allow you because of your identity… Ria Ross would eventually talk about it with you if not because of this event. So, please understand." Nathan left a message. If Kai could hear the mermaid, he should be able to hear his voice too.

"For what reason, a person like you comes to this place…" Nathan released his killing intent.

"Tria Tabuta Gereo!" The dolphin looked angry at him, spitting unknown words.

Nathan only glanced at the dolphin for a second before looking back at the mermaid. 

"It's because humans are foolish!" The mermaid that had been talking in a strange language since yesterday suddenly spoke in a human language. "The truth could only be disclosed to those who are qualified. Unfortunately, you are not one of those."

"Then, what do you mean about qualified? And what is the requirement?"

The mermaid didn't answer him as she looked at the dolphin with a poker face, signaling him to go back.

A staff that had been underwater earlier finally revealed its appearance, alarming Nathan and Ethan and making them retreat a few meters. The staff was made of pure gold with a radiant green jade as its eyes. It had beautiful fin patterns as a decoration to complement the green jade's beauty. 

Despite having a beautiful appearance, Nathan and Ethan could only stare at this wand with dread.

The moment the mermaid raised the wand, a whirlpool slowly appeared on the sea surface before gradually rising to the air. The height of this water alone reached more than fifty meters to the air, forming a half-person body.

It looked like a water elemental, a half body monster made of water. It raised one of its hands and pounced at Ethan on the air.

"!!!" Ethan swiftly made a red magic circle before shooting a large fireball. 

"Hmph. Your puny fire wouldn't work to my water elemental." The mermaid snorted. 

"Heh, is that so?" Normally, water would extinguish a fire, but Ethan had another trick on his sleeve. As soon as the fireball touched the water, it exploded, blasting all the water on its hand. This explosion destroyed its palm.

The mermaid wasn't too surprised about this, since these two old men must be prepared to face her. If not, they would go with those planes and help those people on the land. She only smiled while waving her hand. "Yeah. I said so."

The hand that had been blasted by Ethan suddenly regenerated and made its way toward Ethan.

"Water Jet!" At this time, a voice came from above the sea as three moon-shaped water flew at the hand and cut it into pieces.

Without the support of the main body, the hand finally dropped to the sea and became normal water again.

The mermaid wasn't flustered as it continued regenerating the water elemental while moving its other hand to Nathan.

"I believe you should also be paying attention to me…" Nathan made a smug smile as he was preparing a shield for the next attack.

Suddenly, the water elemental opened its mouth and shot high-pressure water toward Nathan on the sea.

"!!!" Nathan realized the hand was not the main attack and quickly made a magic circle as the water slowly rose before gradually forming a sphere to protect him. "Water Barrier!"

"Nathan? Are you alright?!" Ethan couldn't help but shout, noticing something wrong with that attack.

After a few seconds, the water stopped and revealed Nathan's appearance.

Nathan was already wet all over his body. His hand already created a barrier to protect him as the water barrier had a hole right in front of him.

"Oi oi oi… Seriously?" Nathan let out a long sigh, not expecting to be that insane. He noticed that the mermaid snapped her finger to control his water barrier so that her attack could go through. 

"As I said earlier, humans are so foolish." The mermaid said with a pacifying tone, looking down on Nathan and Ethan.