Douluo Continent: Tonight, a Fairy Tale Descends

Chapter 596 Illusion

The explosion that the Deep Sea Demon Whale King had anticipated did not occur the instant the beam of light struck the silver barrier.

The dark blue divine power, powerful enough to shatter an entire mountain into pieces, vanished silently, slowly, and irreversibly the moment it touched the barrier's surface, like a flame thrown into deep water.

It didn't shatter, it didn't bounce, and it didn't even generate any shockwaves.

It begins to become transparent from the edges, like melting ice, peeling away and diluting layer by layer, eventually turning into countless tiny silver specks of light that blend into the surrounding space.

The Deep Sea Demon Whale King's expression changed slightly.

His attack was still violent and savage before it touched the barrier, carrying the destructive aura unique to the law of rage and the power of thunder that could tear everything apart.

But at this moment, those lights are being reshaped in ways beyond his comprehension, as if being repeatedly combed, smoothed, and polished by an unseen hand, ultimately presenting a form he has never seen before.

Calm and gentle, like the surface of a lake rippled by a breeze on a spring afternoon, without even a ripple.

The Deep Sea Demon Whale King's gaze fell on the slowly dissipating silver halo, and for the first time, genuine surprise appeared in his golden eyes.

He was used to head-on combat. When fighting against those sea spirit beasts in the deep sea, he always crushed them with sheer power and overwhelmed everything with rage.

But the power of the woman before him was unlike any of the opponents he had ever encountered.

She wasn't defending, she wasn't resisting, she was transforming.

Eva stood behind the dissipating barrier, her emerald eyes calm as an ancient well, a serene smile still playing on her lips.

“Your Highness, the Deep Sea Demon Whale King,” Eva said softly, “your attack just now was quite in line with your temperament. However, if this is all you are capable of, you will probably leave disappointed today.”

The Deep Sea Demon Whale King's gaze lingered on her smile for a moment, then a cold, sharp curve slowly appeared at the corner of his mouth.

He said no more, and dark blue divine power surged wildly around him, like a deep-sea volcano slowly awakening from a fire.

He suddenly raised his hands, palms together, and then pulled them apart sharply.

A torrent of violent energy, interwoven with dark blue and gold, surged from his palm, like an ancient behemoth unleashed, carrying a terrifying power capable of tearing space apart, and crushed towards Eva.

This attack was more intense and more focused than the previous one.

Wherever the torrent passed, space was slightly distorted, emitting a faint humming sound like glass being crushed.

Eva's eyes brightened slightly.

She needs to feel the power of other gods, and to understand how those authorities, though of the same origin as her, are fundamentally different, manifest themselves in battle.

The power that the Deep Sea Demon Whale King was displaying at that moment was exactly the type of power she needed to perceive.

This time she did not use a barrier to block the attack.

She raised her right hand, her slender fingers making a light stroke in the air.

A silver arc of light shot out from her fingertips, like a ray of moonlight scattered by the wind, and crashed head-on into the raging dark blue torrent.

There was no loud noise.

The moment the silver arc of light touched the torrent, it was like a thread thrown into a raging torrent, silently cutting into the core of the torrent and then beginning to spread outward from the inside.

The silver halo spread outwards along the energy veins of the torrent, enveloping, permeating, and penetrating layer by layer.

The violent dark blue light began to soften in the area covered by the silver halo. The originally surging energy particles gradually slowed down, stabilized, and rearranged, like a calmed storm.

The Deep Sea Demon Whale King felt his attacks being penetrated from within by something. The silver halos were touching his core of divine power in a way he couldn't understand, a realm his authority had never touched before.

He suddenly tightened his grip, cutting off the supply of the beam of light at its source, and then his figure flickered and disappeared from the spot.

Eva's eyebrows twitched slightly. She could feel the aura of the Deep Sea Demon Whale King vanish from her perception lock for a moment, and then reformed a few feet behind her.

The Deep Sea Demon Whale King's right hand was covered with a layer of solid, dark blue scales, and the tips of its five fingers gleamed like quenched metal, carrying a terrifying power capable of tearing through space as it fiercely grabbed down at Eva's back.

This attack was completely different from the energy attack just now.

It is a pure physical attack, the crystallization of the deep-sea demon whale king's physical tempering over hundreds of thousands of years, containing no energy form that can be decomposed or transformed by the rules of beauty.

His idea was simple: if the energy attack could be neutralized, then he would defeat her directly with his physical body.

Eva did not turn around.

Just as the Deep Sea Demon Whale King's claws were about to touch her back, the light around her suddenly swirled, like a petal being gently touched by the wind, stretching out for the last time before closing.

The Deep Sea Demon Whale King's claws pierced through the light.

Then he realized he hadn't caught anything.

The instant before he struck her, Eva's figure shattered silently, like a reflection in water scattered by the wind, turning into countless tiny silver specks that drifted away in all directions.

The Deep Sea Demon Whale King's pupils contracted slightly.

An illusion. This is an illusion.

He turned around abruptly, his mental energy spreading out in all directions like a tidal wave, trying to pinpoint Eva's true location.

But everything he perceived was slightly shifting at different frequencies, like a mirrored space that had been repeatedly refracted. No matter how he focused, he could not touch the true core.

“Your Highness,” Eva’s voice came from not far away, still carrying that unhurried smile, “your power is indeed very strong. But in this realm covered by beauty, not all powers can reach where they want to reach.”

The Deep Sea Demon Whale King's gaze swept in the direction of the sound, but he only saw a patch of slowly flowing air and a layer of twilight tinged with pale gold by light and shadow.

He could feel his patience being worn down layer by layer.

The Deep Sea Demon Whale King took a deep breath, suppressing the surging anger in his heart.

He closed his eyes, no longer trying to track Eva's location with his gaze, but instead focused his mental energy on a radius of several feet around him, sensing every subtle change in energy in the surrounding space.

The Deep Sea Demon Whale King's mental power is like a taut drumhead; any slight touch will leave a clear mark on his perception.

Then he felt it.

About three zhang behind him, there was an extremely subtle fluctuation of energy, like ripples on the surface of water caused by the wind.

The Deep Sea Demon Whale King suddenly opened its eyes and turned in that direction like lightning.

His right claw had already gathered power as he turned, dark blue scales layered on his palm, gleaming like quenched metal, and with the extreme explosive power honed by hundreds of thousands of years of physical tempering, it fiercely grabbed down at the spot where the fluctuations occurred.

This time, he caught it.

His five fingers gripped Eva's wrist precisely, pulling her forcefully out of the void.

Eva's expression changed slightly for a moment, a faint hint of surprise flashing in her emerald eyes, as if she hadn't expected him to pinpoint her location in this way.

Then, that composed smile returned to the corners of her mouth.

"We've caught it." The Deep Sea Demon Whale King's voice was deep and rumbling, like thunder rising from the depths of the seabed.

But the next moment, his arm suddenly stiffened.

He looked down.

Eva's right hand had somehow ended up on his forearm.

Long, slender, fair fingers gently landed on the skin covered with dark blue scales, the movement extremely light, as if touching a fragile treasure.

A layer of extremely soft silver light seeped from her fingertips into the skin of the Deep Sea Demon Whale King, silently spreading upwards along his meridians.

The moment the halo touched his meridians, the Deep Sea Demon Whale King felt a sensation he had never experienced before.

His laws of rage were being gently enveloped by something; the surging power was like a rapid current injected with a slowing agent, slowly losing its blood-pumping sharpness.

A deep sea appeared before his eyes.

That was a scene deep in his memory, the original appearance of the Demon Whale Sea. At that time, he had not yet become a god, his wife was still by his side, and his daughter was playing in the coral reefs in the distance.

The seawater was a warm, deep blue, and light seeped down from the distant water, turning everything into a warm gold.

The images flowed slowly through his senses, carrying an irresistible sense of tranquility.

The Deep Sea Demon Whale King's brows furrowed sharply. He felt something gently tugging at his consciousness, as if an unseen hand was trying to divert his attention from the battle.

He suddenly swung his arm, shaking Eva's fingers off his forearm, and retreated several feet, widening the distance once again.

"What did you do?" His voice was even colder than before, with an extreme sense of vigilance in his tone.

Eva straightened up, gently moving her wrist that had been gripped. Her emerald eyes reflected the increasingly tense face of the Deep Sea Demon Whale King: "It was just that Your Highness saw some beautiful things."

She has roughly figured out the strength and background of the Deep Sea Demon Whale King.

His power is indeed immense, and it is unrealistic for her to completely suppress him in a short period of time by confronting him head-on with her power of beauty.

But she doesn't need to suppress him directly.

All she had to do was trap him, trap him long enough, until Ariel completed her divine test.

Eva raised her right hand, spread her fingers, and then slowly closed them.

Countless mirrors emerged from the void. They varied in size and shape, some as small as a palm, others as large as a city gate, surrounding the Deep Sea Demon Whale King from all directions.

Each mirror reflects the surrounding space, yet at the edges, a subtle shift in light and shadow is achieved.

The Deep Sea Demon Whale King's gaze swept across the mirrors, where he could see countless reflections of himself layered and intertwined, like fragments of a mirror image that were repeatedly split and then reassembled.

"Goodbye, Your Highness."

Eva's voice came from outside the mirror array, carrying a hint of composure, like that of someone about to close a net.

The next moment, all the mirrors lit up simultaneously.

Silver light surged from the surface of each mirror, intertwining, overlapping, and merging, like countless lamps lit at the same time, illuminating the area where the Deep Sea Demon Whale King was located as if it were daytime.

The Deep Sea Demon Whale King attempted to break through the light the moment it appeared, but when its body touched the silver light screen at the edge of the mirror, it was gently pushed back by an invisible yet irresistible force.

Then the scene before his eyes began to change.

The once clearly visible outlines of Bright Moon City are becoming blurred, and the streets and buildings that were once bathed in sunlight are like paintings diluted with water, melting, deforming, and recombinizing at the edges.

When he could see his surroundings again, he found himself standing in an unfamiliar sea.

The seawater was a warm, deep blue, and light filtered down from the distant surface, bathing everything in a warm gold hue. In the distance, the outlines of coral reefs could be seen, swaying gently in the flowing water.

This is the deep sea in the depths of his memory.

The Deep Sea Demon Whale King's brows furrowed sharply. He raised his right hand, and dark blue divine power condensed into a sharp blade of light in his palm, which he then swung down fiercely towards the seawater in front of him.

The light blade encountered no resistance as it sliced ​​through the seawater, creating a rift that closed again moments later.

He sensed the presence of power; the divine power surging within him had not been sealed or weakened, but remained intact within his meridians.

But his attack had no effect.

He could not break free from this illusion.