Chapter 1213 - Under the Sea (Part 3) (2/2)
”Their Forbidden Sun allows them to grow crops and bestows upon them a long life, but they need more food than what they have. They have to feed themselves, their cattle, and the people they keep as sacrifices.
”Every time Kolga expands, its inhabitants get more soil to cultivate.” Rem said.
”Right, they cannot fish because even if there wasn't your barrier, they can't get far from their sun without dying.” Tista nodded. ”The only thing I don't understand is how did you manage to hold out for so long against a mana geyser.”
”It's because Kolga needs most of its energy to keep the water out of the city, filter the air they need and fuel their defensive systems. It leaves them little world energy to spare, yet it's enough to make them gain ground after acc.u.mulating it for long enough.” Rem said.
”Kolga is one of the reasons why merfolk have so little resources for their magical research. We use all we get from the sea and our allies to keep it from spreading. The bastard who turned Kolga from a safe haven into a nightmare was one of our own, and we took responsibility for his actions.”
”If the advance is so slow and there is a shortage of food, then how can they feed such a powerful ritual?” Lith asked.
”I don't know. Sometimes one of our soldiers gets captured, but we are very careful never going too close to the barrier.” Rem shook her head.
”One last question.” Phloria had now pink hair, light blue skin, and moved awkwardly due to the ample bosom of her new form to which she wasn't used. ”How do you know the password for the array on the other side?”
”There is no array on the other side. Only a few sentinels who look for cracks in our barrier in the hope to get some extra food. They welcome any outsider with the same joy of a shark that finds a dead fish.” Rem replied.
”They are really arrogant.” Lith now had flaming red hair. The creature he was mimicking was shorter and fatter than his human body, making him look like Vastor's lost twin. ”Good gods, how does Vastor walk with his stumpy legs?”
”You can ask him the next time you see him.” Tista laughed at him waddling with every step he took. She now had blue hair, violet eyes, and a much thinner body than her own.
She joined the others who were already walking around the room to get accustomed to their new body to not arouse suspicions once inside Kolga.
”It's not arrogance so much as confidence. Killing even one of them is really hard and each second spent inside the barrier feels like having hot poison running through your veins.” Mal said.
”Then how did you kill those three guys?” Lith pointed at the three corpses that had already started to rot at a speed visible at the n.a.k.e.d eye. A quick darkness spell managed to get rid of the stench before everyone started puking their gust out.
”We didn't. We created a crack in the barrier on purpose to lure some of the sentinels out. One step outside Kolga is enough to turn those monsters into easy prey.” Ren said.
After a while, Khalia started to feel dizzy and soon the same happened to the others.
”Ready or not, you got to go. We almost ran out of air.” Mal said, taking Tista's hand again while Ren let fresh water flow inside the room.
They left the city and in just a matter of minutes, even the girls could see a light point on the horizon that became bigger and brighter as they closed in.
Thanks to one of Solus's fourteen senses that allowed him to see underwater, Lith was the only one able to understand the nature of the source of light before almost reaching Kolga.