Chapter 474

Chapter 474: Paralyzed with Fear

The attention of the Abyss shifted away.

The focus of the dragon-shaped fish deities also wavered, but not completely.

Several stragglers, the "leakage fish" that were not selected, instinctively wandered near the Abyss.

As "war deities" born from the Abyss, they had an instinct to protect it from the start; any "foreign objects" noticed by the Abyss faced their strong attacks.

Even if these things seemed small to the Abyss, they did not escape the anger of the dragon-shaped fish deities.

“Roar—!”

“Hiss—!”

The roars of the dragon-shaped fish deities stirred the ether waves, covering them with a faint but threatening divine pressure.

“Uh…”

“Cough, cough…”

Muffled groans came from the Soul Network.

The souls of some "Microscopic Dragon" working ships, hit first, made painful muffled sounds.

The crushing divine pressure went through the hull straight into their cores, shaking and hitting their souls; under this force, the souls of the Saraph people became stagnant and dazed.

It was like weak animals that, when targeted by a predator, did not run but stayed frozen in place.

This was called a "forced immobilization reaction."

In nature, this often happened when creatures faced great danger, making glands in their bodies release pain-relieving or calming hormones like opioids.

Sometimes, too much of these hormones caused this response.

This was a natural protective way for beings.

The "soul stagnation" that appeared in the Saraph was similar.

At that moment, they had to use all their strength and focus all their beliefs to fight the divine pressure.

Their souls had no time for anything else.

Though this put the Saraph people in great danger, if they lost their souls, everything else was useless.

Honestly, when Sylvia saw the Saraph people showing "soul stagnation reaction," she felt relieved.

With that level of impact, ordinary mortals would have been turned to dust, their souls gone without a trace.

“Luckily, as long as the Saraph had their souls, there was still hope.”

“But this could not go on.”

“If the dragon-shaped fish deities kept destroying the working ships, the Giant God’s "Great Plan" would fail!”

“And if they wiped out all the working ships, the Soul Network of the Saraph people would break down.”

“If that happened…”

Thinking of the bad results, Sylvia stopped hesitating.

“Hey!”

“I’m here!”

While the working ships tried to stay low against the thick Divine Body of the Ether Abyss, Sylvia’s Microscopic Dragon swam the opposite way.

She twisted her Divine Body fast, using all her strength to swim.

But she still did not swim very quickly.

The Microscopic Dragon lacked even a notochord; her body was limp, making her moves weak. In contrast, her replicas, the Microscopic Dragon-class special working ships, had a "dragon spine" made from divine bone wreckage at their core.

With that dragon spine, the Microscopic Dragon could swim at a good speed.

At least faster than Sylvia’s avatar body.

So, Sylvia became the only living saint whose avatar body could not match the replicas’ performance.

The Giant God’s favoritism was clear.

Yet, she could do what other replicas could not—Taunt!

“Hey!”

“You big fools!”

“I’m right here!”

“Hiss—!”

She raised her head, and her snout bloomed into a strange fleshy flower.

The dragon-shaped fish deities, charging at the expedition’s main force, suddenly saw this "bold" one and changed their target priorities.

They simply thought this daring creature, who provoked them, was a bigger threat!

“Whoosh—!”

The dragon-shaped fish deities flicked their caudal fins, their long bodies shooting like arrows. They flew over the heads of the expedition’s main force, fast approaching Sylvia, who proudly held up her avatar body.

“Bloom!”

“Pshhh—!”

A water column sprayed out, but it did not go far this time. After all, the etheric liquid was a fluid, and fluid resistance was much greater than in the void.

But that was fine.

“Hiss—whoosh—!”

The water column hit resistance, slowed quickly, and spread around, forming a brown "fog" that drifted in the Ether Sea.

This was even better!

One by one, the dragon-shaped fish deities crashed into this "fog."

“Hum…ga…hiss—!”

As expected, they let out sharp screams.

The piercing sound waves broke through the avatar body’s protection, stabbed into Sylvia’s eardrums, and made her ears bleed.

But she had achieved her goal!

“Go!”

Sylvia ignored the piercing throb around her ears and frantically shook her avatar body, struggling to put as much distance as possible between herself and the expedition’s main force.

"Dig now!"

"You fools!"

Her priority was making the deities forget about—and stay away from—the replicas already burrowing deep into the Abyssal Carpet.

"Time!"

"I need more time!"

"With enough time, once they safely tunnel in, the Giant God’s Great Plan can still advance!"

"If the Great Plan continues, why regret my life or death!?"

"Swim farther!"

"Faster…"

"Giant God protect me…"

"Ah—!"

Faster proved unnecessary.

A scream cut through her prayers and struggle.

Dragon-shaped fish deities surged past, flipping her tiny avatar body and sending it tumbling through the sea.

"Boom—!"

Waves of divine might crashed against her soul.

Yet this meant little to Sylvia.

Her soul was directly linked to the Giant God.

Collisional energy would channel straight to Him; even the soul pressure from core councilors of chaos drowned in His boundless spirit, let alone these beings who likely held chaos’s lowest rank.

Still, despair washed over Sylvia.

"Whoosh—!"

Several dragon-shaped fish deities darted forward, streaking silver lines through the Ether Sea before doubling back to block her path.

Front, back, left, right—all escape routes sealed.

"Hah…"

The dragon-shaped fish deity directly ahead bared needle-like teeth within its slender jaws.

It could finally eliminate this anomaly above the Abyss.

Soon, those clinging to the Abyss would be purged too.

"Die—!"

One of the few words within the creature’s simple soul!

But Sylvia showed no fear.

She slowly knelt within her avatar body, surrendering all defense.

"Great is the Giant God!"

She chanted silently.

Then…

"Boom—!"

An enormous maw plunged down, clamping onto the dragon-shaped fish deity!