The instant the pillar of light struck the silver barrier, the explosion the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King had expected did not occur.
The dark-blue Divine Power, powerful enough to blast an entire mountain into fragments, vanished the moment it touched the barrier's surface like fire cast into deep water—silently, slowly, and irreversibly.
It did not shatter, rebound, or even produce a shockwave.
Starting from its edges, it turned transparent, like melting ice peeling away and thinning layer by layer, until it finally became countless tiny silver motes that merged into the surrounding space.
The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's expression shifted slightly.
Before reaching the barrier, his attack had been savage and violent, carrying the destructive aura unique to the Law of Wrath and the thunderous might to tear all things apart.
Yet now, that radiance was being reshaped in a manner beyond his comprehension, as though invisible hands were repeatedly combing, smoothing, and polishing it until it took on a form he had never seen before.
Calm, gentle, like a lake brushed by the breeze on a spring afternoon, without even the faintest ripple.
The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's gaze fell upon the slowly fading silver halo, and genuine surprise appeared in his golden eyes for the first time.
He was accustomed to fighting head-on. When battling those Sea Soul Beasts in the deep sea, he had always crushed them with sheer strength and drowned everything in wrath.
But this woman's power was unlike that of every opponent he had encountered.
She was not defending. She was not resisting. She was transforming.
Eva stood behind the dissipating barrier, her jade-green eyes as tranquil as an ancient well, that composed smile still resting on her lips.
"Your Highness the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King," Eva said softly, "that