Almost instantly, Angor took a liking to the new song.
Before this moment, he thought that even though the music sung by mermaids was angelic enough, it was still within human limits. Good human singers could always achieve similar performances, just without the extra charming effect.
But the song he was listening to right now was completely beyond that limit.
There was only an unaccompanied mermaid singing, yet her voice seemed to be breaching the limitations of what was possible for an individual as if she could control several instruments to sing for her at the same time.
The sky was her stage, the tides were her drums, the winds were trombones... even the flows of water rhymed for her.
Now THIS was definitely not possible for human performers.
Even Angor failed to resist the magical power of the song and found himself overwhelmed by the tempting melodies.
...
The color of dusk was already replaced by starlight by the time he woke up from his trance.
He looked at the source of the voice. At the center of the coral pile and on top of a throne made from colorful seashells and gemstones, a divine-looking mermaid wearing a crown was chanting her song with her eyes closed.
Angor couldn’t find the right words to describe her stunning visage, which didn’t seem to be from this world at all.
While she praised the stars, the sea, and everything the world had to offer, a team of majestic-looking mermen showed up from the water and came to her, either to join the harmony or stand guard around her like soldiers serving their queen.
The whole sight almost reminded Angor of the terrible dramas and scenes of group sex he saw in Phantom of Festivity. But instead of the contemptible nature of paid actors, Angor only saw absolute loyalty from the mermen. This combined with the divinity shown by the singing mermaid made the whole vista appear as a holy and solemn ritual.
Again, Angor felt his mind almost captured by the mermaid.
He saw the stars in the sky and the water below paving ways to welcome her. He saw the mermen swearing to give up their lives to protect her.
Then he suddenly remembered a fictional story he heard before, which was the Goddess of the Sea. Of course, he didn’t believe that he was looking at an actual goddess since the mermaid was probably only an important member of her clan. But this didn’t prevent him from taking interesting guesses.
As he took more time to admire the fanciful parade, he felt astounding enlightenment filling his mind all of a sudden.
Amazing ideas and visions came forth, which began to construct the tiny corner of a bigger picture, waiting for him to discover...
“A godly voice... but this is not enough!” Angor yelled out subconsciously as he flew away from Gondola under the shocked gazes of Tulu and Toby. “More... I need to see more! The clouds are in the way. I need to see the stars better!”
As soon as he left those words, a breeze came out of nowhere and uncovered the clear sky, allowing the stars and the moon to join the performance.
But Angor still felt the unknown sensation trapped in a corner of his brain. “More! I need more drifts, I need more wind!”
As Angor shouted like a mad artist, both Tulu and the creatures below looked at him in great confusion.
“A flying human. Is that a wizard?” a handsome-looking merman guard asked in a bit of fear.
“It must be. Should we get back and hide?”
“But the princess doesn’t have many chances for such tours. We don’t want to disappoint her.”
“Are you saying we’d rather face the rage of a wizard?! You know we’re hopeless against a mighty wizard who can easily burn the sea dry!”
“Let’s ask Her Highness first.”
All the mermen looked at their princess hoping for an instruction.
However, the singing mermaid was still concentrating on her opera without noticing the ruckus around her. And it didn’t seem that her song was ending any time soon.
In fact, she felt a strong emotion coming from the strange figure flying above her that told her to keep singing. She knew the man was a wizard and possibly a very powerful one. But instead of sensing hostility, she could tell that the wizard was mesmerized by her song just like any other common humans.
Hoping to leave a good impression, she chose to keep up her performance and present her best potential.
And since their princess decided so, her guardians would stay with her.
“I need more, bigger tides! And stronger, faster wind!” Angor was now fully occupied in his own passion as he slowly constructed an illusion.
He was trying to recreate the beautiful scenery in his illusion while adding something of his own. He wanted to bring the mysterious awareness in his mind into reality, yet something told him that it wasn’t possible to fully grasp the feeling in normal conditions, so he decided to accept the bewitching magic of the mermaid and embrace the madness, thus allowing himself to see the buried insight.
He demanded that the mermaid kept singing.
Furthermore, he would like to see billowing tidal waves and hurricanes in his picture that ripped everything apart so that he could pick up and rearrange the pieces into something he wanted.
He could create such elements by using several powerful cantrips. But he couldn’t—he knew doing so would wake himself up from the amazing stimulation.
The mermaid princess felt what Angor wanted to do, but she was too powerless to help.
Angor was yelling louder and more frantically as he felt the incentive opportunity slipping away.
...
At the bottom of the sea, a floating bubble slowly thickened and materialized into a man’s form.
“What’s he doing? Tide and wind?” Jebra frowned as he felt astounded by Angor’s bizarre display.
Using his talented power blessed by the sea, he knew that it was the princess of Rogge Mermaids taking a cruise up there. Even so, he didn’t understand why Angor looked so excited about it.
“The girl looks good. But I prefer blue hair. Curly is better. Heh heh...”
He heard Angor’s unhinged yelling again.
“That girl’s too young to make tidal waves happen. Let me see...” Jebra considered and took control of the water currents around him.
A giant tide emerged on the surface of the sea, causing the air currents to go frenzied as well.
Angor’s eyes gleamed in delight as the unknown thrill was nourished just a little.
“Still not enough!”
Jebra frowned again. “What the heck? Does he know I’m here? Is he... testing me?”
Curious to find out Angor’s plan, Jebra decided to follow the intimation and generated even deadlier waves.
“More! I NEED MORE!!!” Angor screamed.
As Jebra pumped more power into his tricks, the tidal waves grew so big that they almost covered the sky.
While facing the looming disaster, the mermaid princess devotedly continued with her song. In contrast to the intensified hazard around her, her voice grew calm and serene, and it carried a fascinating power that soothed the minds of others as if she were driving a refuge ark in a world-ending apocalypse.
Finally, Angor had fully grasped what he needed.
“There!”
Countless visible illusion nodes came from Angor’s position and burst outward like a dust explosion.
“What’s he doing?” Jebra watched as Angor’s form was fully covered behind an illusion.
Then he suddenly felt a special energy signature, which he had encountered not long ago.
“He’s doing alchemy again??!”