The cavern fell quiet except for Kaelen’s heavy breathing.
Thalasar stepped in fully now, staff at his side. "Is the item neutralized?" he asked, looking at the gem which still gave off wisps of darkness.
Nox nodded at the cracked gem and warned, "Dormant—but don’t touch it with bare hands."
Thalasar nodded. He then retrieved a whistle carved out of coral and blew into it.
Nox didn’t hear any sound, but that was because it wasn’t ant for him to hear in the first place.
A few minutes later, a pair of royal guards slipped in from the tunnel mouth. They carried a sealed box marked with warding sigils.
’Is that their way of communicating?’ Nox’s eyes glinted in amazent. If the timing were right, he would’ve asked questions, but more important things were at hand.
"Carefully," Thalasar ordered.
The royal guards didn’t argue. One pried the broken gem free using a hooked spear. It ca loose with a faint hiss, like steam escaping a cracked shell. The second guard dropped it into the warded box. The lid shut with a click, and the markings glowed faintly.
Kaelen watched the box leave his armor. His expression collapsed into sothing empty.
Nox loosened the holy chains. They didn’t vanish completely; they reford into a set of luminous cuffs around Kaelen’s wrists and ankles.
"Try anything," Nox warned quietly, "and those tighten."
Kaelen didn’t answer. He looked past Nox at Thalasar, then away—sha or stubbornness, or both, darkening his features.
"Up," Thalasar said. "We return to the gate. The city needs to see this end."
Nox nodded. "I can move."
He took a step and almost fell. Thalasar caught his elbow—steady but brief. Nox smiled wryly. Fighting underwater, even though he was good at it, had been far harder than he expected. Just this brief exchange had already taken a huge toll on him physically.
If it were on land, he wouldn’t have been left in this state. He adjusted his footing and pushed off the ground.
They rose through the cracked shaft and into the open trench.
Lyra saw the glow first. And when she saw the next figure, the princess let out a soft exhale.
Dorran exhaled so hard it almost sounded like a sob. "He’s alive."
The crowd at the gate moved forward, then paused as the guards held them back. Everyone was watching. They saw Kaelen. They saw the cuffs. They saw the absence of shadow.
A thousand whispers broke out among them.
Thalasar frowned and spoke in a booming voice. "Stand down. The battle is over."
The Devotees who still hovered in scattered ranks beyond the outer plaza hesitated. Without the Scourge elent and without Kaelen’s oppressive aura, their formation lost its unity. One after another, they lowered their tridents to the ground.
A senior Devotee captain walked forward cautiously, tension in his shoulders. "Lord Kaelen?"
Kaelen didn’t et his gaze. His head hung low, jaw clenched. "Return to your posts," he growled.
The captain faltered at the tone. It wasn’t the sa voice that had ordered them to break statues. It was smaller. It was... normal.
...He was scared.
"There will be no more fighting today," Thalasar announced. "Any who raise a weapon against my city will be arrested or expelled. Those who stand down will be given safe passage out of royal waters."
The captain looked between the Sea King and the bound Kaelen. Slowly, he lifted his hand and made a circular motion. The order rippled across the outer ranks, and they began to move back toward the Abyssal Kelp Forest.
Of course... except Kaelen. Nox wasn’t quite done with him yet.
Seeing that the imdiate threat was dealt with, loud cheers erupted among the guards and citizens who had been watching from their hiding places.
While the cheering went on, Lyra reached Nox and braced his other side.
"You look terrible," she said.
"I’ve gone through worse," Nox replied with a faint smirk, the corner of his mouth twitching.
Coralia’s eyes shifted to the glowing cuffs on Kaelen, a puzzled expression crossing her face. "What’s the use of that? And why can’t I sense that dark energy anymore?"
Nox nodded and began explaining everything that had happened.
"That could’ve killed both of you," Coralia gasped.
"Would’ve been cleaner than letting the Ninth spread," Nox didn’t deny it. "But it didn’t. Now we know it works."
After that, everyone’s gaze moved to Kaelen, silently asking what should be done with him.
Thalasar, noticing this, raised a hand. "We will decide his judgnt after we understand what he knows. He will be restrained, healed, and questioned. No one harms him without my order."
He then turned to the crowd and raised his staff. "Citizens of Aquaria—listen. The Leviathan Guardians will return to their rest. The barrier will be restored at full strength. No Devotee will cross the line. Anyone who lost shelter will be housed in the inner ring until repairs are complete."
As soon as the orders were given, those who had sustained only minor injuries began moving to assist the wounded and restore order.
Nox’s eyes followed their movent for a few seconds before he stared down at his hands.
He flexed his fingers slowly, testing the residual burn from channeling light into another person’s core for so long. The ache ran bone-deep, but it was bearable.
Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he glanced at King Thalasar.
"You seem to know more about the elents. Could it be that you’ve encountered them as well?"
Thalasar remained silent for a mont before nodding. "A long ti ago, I ca across them in the non-human continent."
"I see." Nox had more questions to ask. It seed he wasn’t the only one who knew about the Ninth Elent. In fact, it appeared they had fought against sothing similar in the past.
Princess Lyra’s next words confird just that.
"Father," she said quietly, "the thod he used..."
Thalasar already knew where she was going. "We’ll test it in a controlled chamber. On inert samples first. Then on an infected fish. If it holds... on a willing subject."
Infected fish... that ant the Scourge had already started spreading in the deep.
Could it be that vile Scourge Queen tried to infect the sea people as well?
It was the only conclusion he could think of.
’I knew sothing like this might happen,’ he cursed inwardly.
Truly, after the Scourge Queen had taken over the Dragon Realm, there had been a looming fear that she would try to expand her corruption beyond it.
It seed it had already started before he even realized it.
He stopped thinking about it, shifting his focus back to Thalasar and Lyra as he spoke.
"The subject must be bound—not just physically. You need a mana lock at the wrists and ankles and a holy chain around the chest to stabilize the core while you flood it. If they thrash, the light scatters and the core cracks."
Coralia’s brows furrowed. "How do you know that?"
"I almost cracked his," Nox said plainly. "Fortunately, I adjusted just in ti."
"And if you had cracked it?"
"He dies," Nox said matter-of-factly.
"We’ll think about this later," Thalasar interrupted, shifting his gaze to the cuffed Kaelen. "He has a lot of talking to do."
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