"Queen Seris," Myrissa said, her voice trembling with fear and disbelief. "The ruler of the Abyssal Trench..."
"Mother should have executed you for good!"
The expression on Queen Seris’s face was simultaneously beautiful and terrifying. Her voice, reminiscent of Nerissa’s lodic tone, was tainted with a sinister undercurrent of poison and corruption.
"Executed for good, you say?" Seris laughed, her voice echoing ominously through the depths. "Oh, sweet, innocent Myrissa."
"For sure I was already executed, and the bitch you called mother made sure of that."
"You see... she killed slowly, like a form of torture. And it wasn’t a quick death, just because she wanted to pay for taking her beloved Typhon’s heart."
The evil queen’s grip on the Tidecaller Trident tightened. "She forced to watch as she murdered each of my seventeen children, one by one!"
"And she made rember their screams as they perished. Then she sank my entire kingdom, crushing three thousand of my people under unimaginable pressure!"
"Only after all that did she finally allow to die!!!"
The purple eyes of Seris got brighter. "But the Archon found in the dark..."
"They found my body, my anger, and my need for revenge. And he gave a present!"
"The resurrection through corruption, but not as a mindless puppet. It involves total awareness, full mory, and an unyielding hatred, preserved perfectly over fifty years of death."
Rick felt sick. This was worse than any corrupted creature they had ever fought.
This was a person who was fully aware and driven by a justified rage that had transford into sothing horrific.
Seris’s voice took on a tone of reverence as she declared, "The Archon revealed the truth to ."
"He is not rely a form of corruption. He embodies the grief of every civilization that has ever fallen..."
"Every empire that crumbled into ruin... Every kingdom destroyed by betrayal, war, and despair..."
"He represents the universe’s response to the endless cycles of pain." She raised the Tidecaller Trident high. "And his plan is beautifully simple!"
"He doesn’t want to destroy Zorathia for no reason! He wants to pass judgnt on it!"
"The Seven Major Powers are the root of all the problems in the world!
Those dragons hoarding power, and those demons reveling in violence!
Then there are those elves, who isolate themselves in superiority, and witches ddling with forces they don’t comprehend!
And let’s not forget those wretched humans who call themselves superior mages, chasing knowledge without wisdom!
Finally, the Ocean dwellers are drowning kingdoms out of personal vengeance because of a woman who really can’t control herself."
She looked at Rick in particular. "Rick Rolland, the Archon, knows about you."
"The Demon King, or should I say... Hero of Mature Hearts, believes he can save the world by forming Spirit Bonds with mature won. How appropriately sad," she said.
"You seduce strong won and call it heroism."
Even though he was annoyed by her talk, Rick’s hands turned into fists. "The motherfucking Archon is taking advantage of you... are you fucking stupid or what?!"
"Your sadness, your rage, and your right to be angry about what Nerissa did."
"That asshole manipulated your trauma just as he did hers."
"I know," Seris said simply.
Her honesty was scarier than any lie. "I know I’m being exploited, but I don’t care because my goals are the sa as his."
"Nerissa stole everything from . My partner. My kids. My land. My life. And now I’m going to take everything she has."
"What the fuck?! You’re the one who stole her husband!" Rick shouted. "Why did you act like the victim now?!"
"What a fucking joke!"
"Shut up! I was the one who was supposed to be with Typhon and rise as the Ocean Empress to rule the entire ocean to its forr glory!"
She waved the Tidecaller Trident, summoning a roar from the Leviathan that echoed through the water. "I’m going to start with her city. Then her kids. Then you and your precious Spirit Bond partners!"
"And finally, when she’s as broken as I am, I’ll kill her slowly. Just like what she did to back then!"
Carmilla quickly drew her sword. "We won’t allow you to proceed with that foolish plan."
Seris’s laugh was genuine and surprisingly amusing. "You think you can stop ? Woman, you’re on Scylla, a Guardian!"
"I witnessed its creation six hundred years ago. Do you truly believe that one uncorrupted galodon can halt the Leviathan under my complete control?"
She raised the corrupted trident, purple lightning crackling along its length. "Leviathan..."
"Get rid of them all. Don’t let anyone live to tell Nerissa!"
"When she cos looking for it, let her find their bodies..." The command was unmistakable.
The many heads of the Leviathan all turned toward their group simultaneously, hungry.
Rick’s danger sense scread so loudly that it made his past encounters feel like re soft warnings.
"Spread out! Rick yelled loudly, using bond resonance to amplify his voice. "Get everyone off Scylla right now!"
Just as the Leviathan launched its attack, Rick’s partners leaped off the back of the galodon. Simultaneously, multiple heads struck from various angles, creating a nearly impossible deadly zone to evade completely.
Scylla, who was brave and loyal to the end, faced the Leviathan head-on. The purified galodon was big and strong, and she was a guardian in her own right, but she was like a small fish facing a whale when it ca to the Leviathan’s evil power.
One of the Leviathan’s bigger heads opened up, showing a mouth full of teeth. Purple corruption energy built up in its throat until it reached a critical mass in a few seconds.
"Scylla, get back!" Myrissa yelled in a panic. "You can’t fight her!"
The galodon didn’t back down. Instead, she charged forward, positioning herself between the team and the Leviathan’s incoming attack.
She took the hit that was intended for them. The corruption blast struck Scylla squarely in the face.
The Guardian’s body disintegrated during the cleansing. Not shattered or ripped apart.
It was simply gone.
In an instant, she was present, and the next, only fragnts of what had once been a living being floated in murky water.
The ocean echoed with Myrissa’s painful scream. "SCYLLA!"
Rick felt the loss reverberate through his network of bonds. Despite not having a direct connection to him, Scylla had accompanied them on their journey.
She had been cleansed of corruption, rescued from her past, and given a second chance.
She was now gone in one attack on people she barely knew.
"You fucking bastard!!!" Zara shouted, and even though she was in the water, a demonic aura surrounded her. "I’ll kill you!"
She launched herself at the Leviathan while activating Blood Price, sacrificing her health for increased power. Her claws raked against the Guardian’s scales, drawing forth purple ichor, but the damage was rely superficial.
Natasha constructed ice walls to separate the team from the various heads of the Leviathan, but the creature’s fiery breath lted the ice almost imdiately.
Carmilla’s sword strikes rely bounced off the armored scales, and Liora’s divine purification barely made a dent in the corruption.
They were utterly outmatched.
Rick used both Draconic Sovereignty and Blood Price at the sa ti, which gave him the most power. He swam straight at Seris, thinking that if he could control the controller, he might be able to stop the Leviathan.
He got within ten ters of a Leviathan head before it casually swatted him away. The impact broke his ribs and sent him tumbling through the water, where blood clouded around his broken body.
Queen Seris watched the useless fight with a cold smile. "This is the line between real power and fake heroism, Rick Rolland..."
"The Archon chose because I understand that so wounds are beyond healing."
"So betrayals are too deep to forgive, and so acts of revenge..."
"...are justified!"
Reviews
All reviews (0)