Chapter 75: Lost In The Sea
He had never done this before. And needless to say, this was too much.
"What the hell have they been feeding you two?"
He picked up the two crying babies by the backs of their clothes, and the smell hit him like a freight train made of sewage. Literally. A smell so suffocating, so aggressively foul, it was like being punched in the nose by something that had died. Enough to wake the dead—and then enough to make them wish they’d stayed dead.
’I’ve been through hell today. And THIS is what breaks me.’
He tossed their soiled clothing aside, gave them a rinse with some water, and almost threw up three separate times in the process. Ari had slithered to the far end of the ship, coiled up with her face turned away. The knight had somehow found the control room very entertaining.
’Traitors. Both of you.’
He picked up their soiled diapers and threw them as far away as humanly possible—natural monster repellent—and did his absolute best to wrap them in something, like the extra robe he found on the deck. And the best part—they were comfy. He was somewhat proud of himself.
’Yeah. This looks terrible. They look like tiny, angry burritos.’
"You two are actual weapons of mass destruction," he said, eyeing them. "Cute ones, but still."
He picked them both up and brought them toward him, doing a final check. They chuckled as their tiny hands reached for his face—little fingers grabbing at his nose, his cheeks, his hair.
After admiring his work, he placed them down, and they started crawling around the deck. Instantly, he fell onto his back, taking in a lungful of fresh air. Salty. Clean.
The greatest breath he’d ever taken in his life—and he was not being dramatic about that.
Which didn’t last long.
The twins crawled all over him, tiny hands slapping at his chest, pulling at his shirt, trying to get his attention.
"Let me rest. Please," he begged.
They did not let him rest.
Not like he hadn’t tried to get some sleep earlier—but he couldn’t. He kept having the same damn nightmares.
He couldn’t make out the face since it was hidden in the shadows, but she sounded annoying. He was pretty sure it was a goddess.
Even in his dreams, goddesses wouldn’t leave him alone.
’I don’t know if I can handle two goddesses stalking me.’
He ran his hands through his hair. "Damn you, Rei. You cursed me with such a good look that even goddesses can’t resist me," he murmured to nobody before pushing himself up and placing them gently in his lap.
They were identical. Yet each had their own characteristics.
The first child had sea-blue eyes and light tan skin. There was something steady about her, something quiet and sure, like moonlight that refused to be swallowed by the dark.
The second had slate-blue eyes, darker and calmer. Her skin was pale too, but carried a different stillness—like shadows that refused to fade, even when touched by light.
His gaze softened. "You two look so much like him."
He pressed them against his chest.
"Damn you, Kuro."
The words came out cracked.
He grabbed them by their shirts and lifted them up to his face. Their tiny arms reached out for him, fingers grasping at air, at his nose, at whatever piece of him they could get their hands on.
"What do I call you, little buggers?"
He placed the baby girl with sea-green eyes down first and tapped her on the nose. "You are Selene."
She chuckled, waving her hands like the name was the best gift anyone had ever given her. Which, technically, it was.
Next, he placed the one with slate-blue eyes down and tapped her on the nose. "And you are Aurora."
Like her sister, she seemed to like her name as well. Her tiny mouth curved into something that was either a smile or gas, but he was choosing to believe it was a smile.
’Selene and Aurora. Moon and dawn.’
’Not bad for a guy who’s never named anything besides a snake.’
He called Ari to him, and instantly she had the twins’ attention. Shiro lifted her up as they climbed over him—tiny hands grabbing at his arms, his shirt, his face—anything that got them closer to the cute snake lying on his palm.
Ari was terrified, to say the least.
"Okay, girl. I need you to keep them busy for a while. Just until I figure out where we’re going."
She nodded—reluctantly—and began to dart around the deck while the twins crawled after her, giggling like it was the greatest game ever invented.
He took a breath of relief before staring at the map again. It didn’t take him long to realize they were lost. His flying beast returned, and it seemed like it couldn’t see anything either.
Which wasn’t good.
He sighed. "Okay. Keep looking."
It flew back up. He watched it disappear into the clouds and thought, ’Maybe I should’ve gotten a few more of those.’
And with that, an idea brewed in his tiny head. He recalled both Serpentes and waited. Their sheer presence had been keeping all the monsters away—and the moment they disappeared, they were being followed.
He climbed to the mast and sat down—waiting patiently. His eyes followed the long, slithering shadows beneath the surface. Dark shapes moving through darker water, their scales glimmering whenever struck by faint light.
It wasn’t a serpent. Wasn’t the eel-like thing he’d fought before. It was a kind he hadn’t seen before. Or eaten.
But it didn’t matter.
He dove down, driving both daggers into the creature’s head.
Golden blood bloomed in the water around them, swirling outward.
"Oh." The word bubbled up.
Up close, he got a better look—and he was right. This one’s head was closer to a lizard, almost draconic, but with a mouth filled with jagged teeth. Fins sprouted from where its ears should have been, fanning out like translucent blades. Its body was long like a serpent, but covered in scales that caught the light in ways that made the water shimmer. Sail-like fins jutted from its back, sleek and angled.
It was a beautiful creature.
He almost felt bad for killing it.
Almost.
The moment his daggers dug into its head, it thrashed wildly and dove deeper into the dark, dragging him down with it. But with a twist of his blade, its body went still.
[You have acquired 1 soul fragment.]
[Current soul fragments: 9/100]
As the creature sank, its form slowly shifted. Its long body compacted, growing sleeker, more armored. The scales darkened to midnight black, hardening into plates that looked forged rather than grown. Its sail-like fins sharpened into bladed ridges that ran the length of its spine. Its eyes shifted to a deep amber, glowing faintly in the dark water like buried lanterns. Its jagged teeth realigned—becoming uniform, precise.
He hung there, floating, as they circled him. Shadows looping around him in the dark water.
He turned as one came crashing toward him. A wide grin cut across his face as his fingers gripped its upper and lower jaw.
"You all smell like him." He muttered before ripping the creature in half.
Golden blood swirled around him.
"You all disgust me."
[You have acquired 1 soul fragment.]
[Current soul fragments: 10/100]
Just like before, he pressed soul fragments into each half.
[Current soul fragments: 8/100]
The second beast reformed beside him. Same midnight armor. It circled him once, then turned into a shard.
The rest came rushing toward him. All of them. At once. Because apparently sea monsters had never heard of taking turns.
"Illuminate Nocturne."
The dark water lit up—blinding. A flash of silver that turned the ocean into daylight for half a second. Every creature within range flinched, stunned, disoriented.
He cut them to pieces with ease before flicking six soul fragments at them.
[You have acquired 1 soul fragment.]
[You have acquired 1 soul fragment.]
[You have acquired 1 soul fragment.]
[You have acquired 1 soul fragment.]
[You have acquired 1 soul fragment.]
[Current soul fragments: 5/100]
He managed to acquire five of them. Their bodies reformed, each shifting into that same sleek, armored form.
He materialized all of them. Five new shapes gliding through the water in formation, amber eyes glowing in the dark like a fleet of underwater warships.
But he felt drained. Like doing this was pulling something out of him every time. Not just mana—his strength.
The pressure of the deep clamped around him like a fist. He could barely move. His lungs burned. His vision darkened at the edges.
But he moved.
Because staying still meant drowning—and he’d already died enough times tonight.
He burst out of the water, gasping, and climbed up the rope, dragging a piece of meat behind him. His arms shook. His fingers barely held.
But he made it.
’Seven sea monsters. One sky beast. Two serpents. And I can barely stand.’
He found them sleeping. Snuggled together like two commas. Ari was wedged between them—apparently part of the comma club now.
Shiro could barely stand. His legs had stopped filing complaints and moved straight to issuing threats. But he picked them up—all three—and slowly made his way below deck.
As he placed them in their bed, he couldn’t bring himself to let go.
So he didn’t.
He lay down with them, their warmth pressed against his chest, their tiny breaths perfectly in sync.
But once again, sleep wouldn’t come.
Because the voice followed him.
"How interesting."
The words slid through the dark like a blade across silk.
"Zeus’s little bastard has come crawling back."
The dreamscape formed. Empty. Vast.
A woman stood in the center.
Not Ishtar.
Someone older.
He couldn’t see her face.
’Great. Another goddess. Just what I needed.’
"Wrong person, old lady," he muttered. "Go haunt someone else’s dreams. Let me rest."
"You insolent brat," her voice cracked like ice. "You dare speak to a goddess like that?"
He turned slowly. Unbothered.
"The man you’re looking for—Hera... Hera-something." He waved a hand. "I forgot. Anyway, I killed him."
"Oh, really?"
Her tone shifted. Pleased. Almost satisfied.
"Child," she said, softer now. Warmer. "How would you like to be my champion?"
’Here we go again.’
"Depends," he said. "Are you willing to help me and the two children get somewhere safe?"
Silence.
Long. Measuring.
"I will be waiting for you."
Her voice faded.
Then she was gone.
He opened his eyes. A crooked smile spread across his face.
"Idiot goddess."
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