The Conquerors Path

Chapter 1046: Chapter 1044- NonStop Chase.

“Keep up, little brother. If you fall behind and get caught, I’m not coming back for you.”

She muttered, glancing over her shoulder at me. Her amber eyes still held that mix of irritation and reluctant amusement I was starting to like a bit.

I grinned beneath my hood, keeping pace effortlessly.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Big Sis. Who else is going to cheer you on when you inevitably save the day with your amazing vine powers? I’m your number one fan. Official Little Brother Cheer Squad, reporting for duty.”

She rolled her eyes so hard I thought they might spin out of her head.

“You’re going to get us killed with that mouth one of these days.”

“Probably, but at least it’ll be a fun death. Much better than dying of boredom in some quiet corner with a bottle of wine.”

I agreed cheerfully.

We had been moving through the underbelly for nearly an hour, taking twisting side passages and hidden kelp curtains to avoid the main patrol routes. Every shadow felt alive with potential danger, but I had been subtly influencing the currents and patrols, creating small openings for us to slip through.

The high-stakes pursuit caught us in the heart of the central under-districts, a massive, multi-layered market plaza built into a natural coral canyon. It was one of the busiest hubs in the lower city, filled with hundreds of stalls carved from giant shells, floating vendor platforms, and narrow bridges of living kelp connecting different levels.

The water here was thick with the noise of commerce: vendors shouting prices for glowing pearls, fresh deep-sea fruits, enchanted weapons, and rare symbiotic plants. Schools of colourful fish wove between the crowds like living ribbons, and the air hummed with laughter, haggling, and the occasional burst of music from street performers playing shell instruments.

It was the perfect place for chaos.

The corrupted agents found us near the centre of the plaza.

A squad of twelve mid-level corrupted Origin level 6 to 7 burst out from three different tunnel entrances, their dark auras staining the water like ink in clear currents. The lead was a hulking catfish beastman with jagged black veins running across his chest, his eyes glowing with corrupted hunger. Flanking him were fish warriors crackling with dark electricity and octopus manipulators with bladed tentacles writhing like living nightmares.

The crowded plaza erupted into panic. Merfolk scattered in every direction, vendors abandoned their stalls, and fish schools exploded outward in glittering clouds. Tables overturned, glowing fruits rolled across the floor, and shells clattered everywhere as people fled the sudden violence.

Elowen’s expression hardened into that familiar battle-mad focus.

“Sigh….here we go again. Your ‘test,’ little brother?”

I grinned, cracking my knuckles beneath the cloak.

“Yup.”

The fight exploded across the market plaza in a storm of comedy and carnage.

Elowen moved like a force of nature. She slammed her palm against the seafloor, and massive vines erupted from beneath the coral paving, thick as ship masts and covered in glowing thorns. They lashed out like living whips, wrapping around the legs of three charging shark guards and yanking them off their feet. One fish warrior tried to flank her with crackling dark lightning, but she spun gracefully, her water-whip cracking forward to intercept the attack in a shower of sparks. The impact sent the eel flying backwards into a fruit stall, exploding colourful pulp everywhere.

I created small space distortions throughout the plaza, making sections of the water suddenly heavier or lighter, causing enemies to stumble comically. One octopus guard lunged at Elowen with all eight bladed tentacles. I twisted the current around him so his own tentacles tangled together like a knot of angry snakes. He fell in a heap, cursing loudly as he tried to untangle himself.

One corrupted catfish charged Elowen with a massive blade. I “tripped” right in front of him at the perfect moment, sending the catfish face-first into a vendor’s glowing pearl display. Pearls exploded everywhere like underwater fireworks as the shark roared in frustration.

Elowen couldn’t help but laugh, a bright, genuine sound that cut through the noise of battle.

“For a test for me and help, you are quite the menace here!”

“Only sometimes, though!”

I called back, dodging a trident strike and creating a gravity well that made two guards slam into each other. The corrupted agents were no pushovers. Their dark mana twisted their attacks, making them faster and more vicious than normal soldiers. One big ass warrior unleashed a barrage of dark lightning bolts that crackled through the water. Elowen responded by growing a wall of carnivorous coral-flowers that absorbed the electricity and snapped back with thorny vines, pulling the eel into a crushing embrace.

I slipped behind the main group, distorting currents to create looping paths that made three guards chase their own tails in circles. “

“Wrong way, guys! The exit’s over there!”

The market plaza had become a living battlefield of slapstick and power. Elowen’s vines turned stalls into traps, wrapping around support beams and bringing entire vendor platforms crashing down on enemies. My space tricks added layers of confusion: hammers swinging in full circles to hit their owners, tentacles tangling in impossible knots, and sudden currents that sent soldiers sliding across the floor like they were on ice. A fight formed between the corrupted guys, the paid corrupted guards, which is different and then the two of us.

Elowen ducked instinctively as a bladed tentacle whipped over her head. She countered with a whip strike that sent the octopus spinning into a pile of glowing kelp baskets.

“You’re going to get me killed with all this fighting!”

“If that is an issue, then finish this quest of ours, find out the centre!”

I countered.

The lead catfish beastman broke through a vine wall with a meow, his corrupted hammer glowing with dark energy as he charged Elowen. She met him head-on, her water-whip cracking against the blade in a massive explosion of sparks and displaced water. The impact sent shockwaves through the plaza, cracking coral structures and sending debris flying.

I created a gravity distortion beneath the shark, making him suddenly much heavier. He stumbled forward, and Elowen seized the opening, her whip wrapping around his weapon and yanking it away while vines pinned his massive arms. The shark roared in fury, but Elowen poured more power into the vines, her bloom spots blazing as the symbiotic connection strengthened.

“Not today.”

She growled, slamming him into the ground with a vine construct shaped like a massive fist.

The remaining agents started to falter as their leader went down. We pressed the advantage, Elowen’s vines and whip creating a whirlwind of destruction while my space tricks turned their retreat into a comedy of errors. The merman continued his ridiculous assistance, “accidentally” poking enemies with glowing shells that released disorienting flashes.

The fight ended with the last corrupted agent fleeing into the crowd, cursing loudly as he disappeared into the panicked masses.

We didn’t celebrate.

“Move!”

Elowen ordered, breathing hard but with a fierce light in her eyes.

“Deeper. Lower levels. Now.”

We escaped deeper, slipping through narrow passages and hidden kelp tunnels as the sounds of reinforcements echoed behind us. The city’s lower levels were darker, more labyrinthine, filled with forgotten storage chambers and old smuggling routes. We finally found a relatively safe spot.

Elowen collapsed against the walls, breathing heavily as the adrenaline faded. Elowen looked at me, her expression now really annoyed. She was getting sick and tired of these fights and barely escaping because of my help, which was guiding all this. She knows I can easily end it, yet she sticks to it.

“Fuck…..just end all this, this whole situation is fucking useless!”

She said, wiping a cut on her arm.

I grinned, leaning back beside her.

“Then stop running away, take the fight to them, kill, break out of your hesitation or keep running like a baby~”

She shook her head, definitely pissed and burning.

“It’s not as easy as you say! fuck….fuck…fuck!”

I bumped her shoulder gently as she screamed like she was going crazy, which she is.

“It is not easy, that is why I am pushing you this much, get blood on your hands, kill and torture, running away like this only means they will keep finding us, I will make sure of that.”

Elowen was quiet for a long moment, her amber eyes studying me in the soft moss light.

“You’re fucking little kid, I am gonna beat you up bad one day,”

She said firmly. I smiled softly.

“Good. That’s exactly the plan, Big Sis.”