"If I don't stay close to the ocean, in my heart—"
The Princess raised a hand to cover her chest. Shade instinctively thought of certain things, but then realized that the Flesh of Desire was affecting him.
"My heart feels empty and uncomfortable, truly unbearable, as though my soul has been wrapped in scorching chains. I tried getting closer to the ocean. This is the closest I can bear to be. Though I still feel that urge and can sense the Red Ocean calling to me, I can manage it for a few hours."
"What does it feel like?"
Shade asked again.
"I can feel something in the depths of the sea calling to me, calling for me to merge with It."
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"Even just closing my eyes makes me feel as though I've arrived at that enormous ancient underwater temple from my dreams, and seen that—"
"Open your eyes!"
Shade suddenly raised his voice. Leisha looked at him in confusion.
"Don't look at that thing again. It's not something good."
The enormous Mermaid corpse in the temple was a shell once used by an evil god. Whether that corpse still possessed power or not, it was not something mortals should look upon.
He gazed toward the end of the ocean, where the yellow sky and red sea seemed to blend completely together at the edge of his vision. According to the ritual's steps, after the Red Ocean appeared, that enormous Mermaid corpse would carry massive waves and completely drown Coldwater Port.
The Mermaid corpse had not yet appeared, and Leisha could still control her urge to step into the ocean. But once that corpse reached the nearshore waters, Shade was deeply worried about the Princess.
This curse was far stronger than