"I'm not worried about that!"
Facing Shui Bing'er's concern, Ignaz showed no hint of worry. As long as the Sea Dragon Douluo could break through the Evil Demon Orca King's domain—a magical whale field comparable to a Death God's domain—he was confident that, with Shui Bing'er and the others' cooperation, he could finish the fight in one go and slay the Evil Demon Orca King.
Ignaz looked at the three of them seriously and said,
"When we reach the Magic Whale Sea, make sure to stay safe. The real danger isn't the Evil Demon Orca King itself, but the swarm of Evil Demon Orcas it commands."
Then he turned to the Sea Dragon Douluo beside him.
"Senior, once we reach the battlefield, I'll need you to take care of part of those Evil Demon Orcas for me."
"No problem."
The Sea Dragon responded immediately. When leaving the Sea God Island, the High Priest had made his duties very clear: when hunting the Evil Demon Orca King, he didn't need to go all out, only protect Ignaz at critical moments. If Ignaz requested anything reasonable, it should be granted.
Yet there was another layer of meaning hidden in these instructions, known only to the Saint Pillar Douluos: it was an opportunity to kill Ignaz, and the hunt for the Evil Demon Orca King was the perfect chance. However, this wasn't the Sea Dragon Douluo's intention—he acted out of gratitude toward Posei and out of respect for the High Priest of the Sea God, who would inevitably require sacrifices.
Soon, the five humans and their beasts reached the edge of the Magic Whale Sea. The view stretched out in eerie silence: the sky above and the sea below seemed lifeless.
"So this is the territory of the Evil Demon Orca King? It's terrifyingly quiet… even the air smells faintly of blood."
A wave of fear crept into the hearts of the three girls.
Ignaz, on the other hand, was unusually excited. The denser the blood aura in a place, the faster his spirit power circulated, and the more his mood was lifted by the blood energy.
Suddenly, about 300 meters ahead, dozens of black fins broke the surface, charging rapidly toward them. Among them were one or two ten-thousand-year Evil Demon Orcas.
"Perfect timing!"
Ignaz leapt off the back of the Fierce Bite Dragon Shark, running over the surging waves as if on solid ground. The three girls and the Sea Dragon couldn't help but marvel at the speed and skill of his steps.
Before they could react, Ignaz swung his Blood Thunder Battle Spear.
"Sea Wave Trick: Sky-Roar Ocean Killing!"
In an instant, all the air within a sixty-meter radius vanished. The dozen or so Evil Demon Orcas and the surrounding seawater within that sixty-meter circle floated in midair. Ignaz stepped in swiftly, unaffected by the vacuum. His spear moved with terrifying efficiency.
In less than ten seconds, ten Evil Demon Orcas were pierced through the brain. Yellow whale oil gushed from their wounds, mixing with the floating seawater, forming a thin oily layer on the ocean's surface.
When the spirit skill's effect ended, all the floating water and beasts crashed back into the sea with a loud "bang," sending small waves twenty to thirty centimeters high rippling across the surface.
"Is this… still a spirit skill?"
Dugu Yan couldn't help but marvel. Shui Bing'er and Ye Lingling, however, were bewildered.
"Ten Evil Demon Orcas wiped out in one go… is this still the Ignaz I know?"
"I've never seen him use this spirit skill before. This man keeps hiding things from us—it's outrageous!"
Meanwhile, the Sea Dragon Douluo, relying on his Titled Douluo perception, charged forward while alerting Ignaz,
"Divine Son, the Evil Demon Orca King is right beneath you."
Realizing the danger, Ignaz immediately flew upward.
"Human, you're too late! I'll devour you first, then feast on the humans who killed my kin and disturbed my peaceful dreams!"
In an instant, the twenty-meter-long, twenty-ton Evil Demon Orca King leapt from the water, jaws wide, aiming to swallow Ignaz whole.
As the beast's maw closed in, the Sea Dragon summoned his true martial spirit form, transforming into a gigantic sea dragon and ramming the Orca King's right eye.
"Boom—"
The Dragon's force sent the Evil Demon Orca King crashing into the sea, narrowly saving Ignaz's life.
"Thank you, Senior!" Ignaz said with genuine gratitude.
In truth, he could have escaped on his own using his spirit skill, but he hadn't expected the Sea Dragon to intervene with five spirits possessed at once.
Looking ahead, the Evil Demon Orca King had already surfaced with a massive group of Orcas, glaring viciously at them.
"All of you, attack! Take them down! That human with the spear—I'll handle him personally."
At the King's command, the swarm of Evil Demon Orcas charged toward Ignaz and the others.
"Lingling, fall back! We'll handle these beasts."
"Yan Yan, let's go together. We can't let Big Brother Ignaz underestimate our strength."
Shui Bing'er activated her third spirit skill, Resist Ice Ring, sending the lead Orcas flying, her wings sprouting as she soared. Dugu Yan fought valiantly as well; though her first two spirit skills were limited in the ocean, her forty-thousand-year Nine-Heaven Dragon Centipede skeletal frame allowed her short bursts of flight-like movement.
They protected Ye Lingling while using spirit skills that minimized energy consumption and maximized damage against the Evil Demon Orcas:
"Ice Seal!"
"Crimson Turbid Sand Domain!"
Ye Lingling stayed in the rear, healing the two and replenishing their spirit power.
The Sea Dragon casually cleaned up the remaining Orcas, as none, aside from the ten-thousand-year Evil Demon Orca King, exceeded eighty thousand years in age. His strategy was to prevent the three girls from being killed while maintaining a subtle threat, leveraging the Orcas to create conditions to potentially kill Ignaz.
The older Evil Demon Orcas, realizing they couldn't harm the girls and fearing the Sea Dragon, retreated together.
"Pathetic, all of you are worthless. You can't even kill a few human girls."
The Evil Demon Orca King's rage flared. A swipe of its tail knocked out the nearest fifty-thousand-year Orca. If it weren't for their usefulness to the clan, the King would have slaughtered them all.
With a shift of its massive body, the Orca King lunged at Ignaz, mouth opening wide, forming a red energy orb at its maw.
"Whoosh—"
The enormous red energy sphere shot straight toward Ignaz.