Chapter 15-401: Shadows at Sea, Part II

There was no doubt who was in command here between Legion and I, and the Lemurian Dragon King of the merfolk could see it with just a glance between the two of us.

He could see that Legion was at least a base Seventeen, and with that Draconic Bloodline, effectively at least Twenty... and so more powerful and dangerous than he was.

And then there was me, showing a Noble Rank of at least Fifteen... and a Caster Level of Don’t Mess with Me Little King, which was still humming in the manafield.

There were only three others still with him.

The first was obviously the Queen, by Prestige, Crown, and her being a Whale-Shark merwoman, definitely of a size with her husband. Her skin was shades of white and blue, with long white hair, more jewelry, and water-defying curves, powerful without looking bulbous. The looks she was shooting at Legion were recognition of a dangerous woman and threat to her position, and more than a little envy and jealousy...

Nereid Aura, dangerous stuff.

The second person was the triton Prince Tithkianlan, who also had an Astral Ward on, but that didn’t hide the looks he was shooting Legion. I was not trying to attract his interest, but it would have been very funny to do so, as Nymphs were at their core a branch of the Water Fey...

Tritons resembled merfolk, but were even more humanoid, with actual scaled and finned legs instead of a fish lower body, and even their upper bodies were arguably more like land-dwellers than those of the merfolk were. The tritons were a very noble people with a great status among the folk of Water, and were not conquerors. His acting as my emissary had been taken quite well.

The last was an advisor of some kind. He was chubby in build, much smaller than his lieges while still being larger than a human, and had the odd lower half of a sunfish, of all things. Definitely not a quick swimmer, but his shrewd eyes definitely held a sharp mind, and I assumed he didn’t get the position for his swim speed and fin sizes. The heavy golden Chain of Office he was wearing also granted an Astral Ward, so he wasn’t gaping at Legion, but he was trying real hard not to glance at them, regardless.

“Lady Traveler of The Jet and Silver!” the prince called out, swimming forward between us, up to the edge of the water’s surface, spiraling in an ornate 3D bow as he did so. “It is a pleasure to see you again, Your Majesty.”

“<Your Highness Tithkianlan, Spear of the Gibraltar Deeps>,” I replied formally in perfect Aquan, no translation magic required. “”

“Given the importance of the matters at hand, I am happy to be of service, Your Majesty,” he replied firmly, humbleness not being a trait of his warrior people. “Would you like me to withdraw?”

“”

“Of course. Lady Traveler, may I introduce to you His Grand and Sublime Royal Majesty, the Dragon King Oichio of Lemuria, Gatherer of Pearls, Trident of the Great Deeps, Krakenslayer, Ravager of the Sharkfolk...” He went on for another minute or two, smoothly and precisely naming off titles related to victories, undersea areas that had submitted to the King, clan ties, and several other important strings of words that those who rule over realms for a long time accumulate like spare jewelry.

The prince then also introduced Her Royal Majesty, Queen Wu’I’wima, of the Whale Shark Tribe, and all her attendant titles and honors, and then Vizier Huala, Sage of the Royal Court.

Each such title was a thing acknowledging the Prestige behind it, adding weight and depth to the Aura pressing upon me. I, of course, didn’t claim any such titles, as they were largely meaningless. I wouldn’t be here long enough for them to be of any use, and my True Titles were not very relevant here. The Perfect Halvyr, yessirree Bob...

“<Your Royal Majesty.>” I inclined my head at him as the triton prince withdrew with a courtier’s grace. Including the Royal here meant he had a family line and clan, with descendants and an heir and everything. I was just a Monarch with a high Ranking. Although my Prestige was incredible, from a social standpoint I was not ‘developed’.

“Lady Traveler.” His voice boomed with a Jotun’s lungpower, a King’s authority, and a dragon’s strength as he swam up to the plane of the water between us. “Even in the deeps, word of the deeds you have been performing have managed to spread. It was with great interest that We received your invitation.” He knuckled down and stopped glancing at Legion and their sensuously twisting tails. “The Triton Prince alluded to this matter being of nigh-apocalyptic importance to Our people. We come with great interest to hear your words.”

I nodded once. He was coming right to the point, no need to waste either of our times with chit-chat, which would have been the case if I’d gone to his castle instead. “<Your Royal Majesty, this matter first touches on matters of state security you may or may not wish Prince Tithkianlan to know, hence his earlier offer to withdraw.>”

His mighty brow furrowed. “What manner of information, Lady Traveler?” he asked directly.

“<The locations of the settlements of your underwater realms and people>,” I stated directly.

His frown was deep. I noted that he had sharp teeth as he bared them slightly, looking over at the triton, who nodded that he’d known this, and realized the sensitivity of the information.

At some length, the King finally responded, “This matter must be of dire importance if you even dare ask Us to share the locations of Our people with land-dwellers, Lady Traveler.” His tone was not very agreeable.

I bowed my head. “<In TRUTH, I declare that I come bearing nothing but goodwill for your kingdom and its people.>”

The whole of the waters shuddered around us as the Word Sang in them along the Chord. Merfolk shuddered, some even bleeding, as the Word was spoken, while the King’s dark eyes widened in utter shock. The Word transcended languages, as did its effect.

“<In HOPE, I wish that this moment will at least bring about the beginnings of a more open relationship among our peoples. And in VALOR, I would set aside the fear of failures to deal honorably and well in the past, and take a chance on extending trust and a helping hand at this time.>”

I had just incapacitated most of his army, the large part of which were Neutrals, with some Evil ones likely unconscious at the way the Words had resonated inside their skulls.

Rich red blood had also jetted from the mouth, nose, eyes, and ears of his Queen. I turned my eyes upon her, and with a sparkling crinkling, the bubbles in the water were joined by vast clouds of motionless ice.

“<However, my efforts may be fallen before they are born. Tell me, Dragon King, why is your Queen a Dagonic Pact Grantor of the Black Water Pact?>”

TRUTH was still ringing in the water. There was no way to call my words a lie. His shocked eyes turned, as did those of everyone else out there who could do so, to the white-haired whale-shark merwoman clutching at the ringing in her ears from the Words of Creation.

My pounding headache was another thing, but that would go away soon enough.

“Da-Dagonic Pact?” King Oichio stammered in utter shock. “This, you...” He couldn’t even deny it, as TRUTH shone a light on those words before they could be spoken, and such just died on his tongue... and then Parts Two and Three of the Words bit in deep. “WIMA!” he thundered, as HOPE and VALOR ignited fury.

Her glare at me was bloodied, but that massive Trident of his was rising, water spinning around it with sudden savage energy, and she didn’t want to take the hit.

Black energies drawn from the deepest depths of the oceans, where dwelt things even the aquatic races didn’t want to disturb, boiled up around her hands. Her eyes went black, with burning demonfire slits, and yellow and black patterns raged across her skin and hide as Great Signs manifested for all to behold.

“DIE!” she howled, the flat oral surfaces of the Whale Shark Tribe replaced by needle-like black fangs, and a whole lot of deadly energy-

Was instantly washed away in a wave of silver sparkles, exploding around her hands and filling the water with wild lights, bubbles, and splashes of frenzied steam that drove the royals apart.

I watched her turn and her tail beat at the water, plainly attempting to flee as she regained her concentration. Doubtless she knew spells to flee through the water... and she had also felt the Interdiction coming down and preventing her from using them.

Still, her incredibly enhanced speed in the water would surely-

A clawed hand reached out, grasped her broad tail calmly, and yanked.

As lightly as if she was a sardine, the multi-ton body of the merfolk queen was ripped right out of the water, into the inverted dome Legion had cleared; the queen’s neck almost broke with the abrupt whiplash of the movement.

Legion flipped her right into the air with one hand, clearly not using any real strength for the maneuver, and the mer-queen could only ride it as she flipped over haplessly in midair in a tight spiral... and slammed right down into Legion’s grip on her face, while nine draconic tails came together from all directions.

The layered CRACK of supersonic tails slamming into jotun-sized flesh and bone was literally ear-splitting at close range, so thankful for Thunder Resistance. Black Health Qi exploded out, but didn’t do anything for the crimson, glowing Brands left behind on the shaken mermaid queen.

Legion’s clawed hand was dug right into the mer-queen’s skull as their other hand came back, closed into a fist as their Tat-Mask glared at the wild demonic Runes now playing over the blued skin of the staring queen.

I just saw the flicker as Legion’s fist struck, and the double boom of supersonic speed and something hitting something hard at that velocity seemed to come out of nowhere. Soak evaporated, and the battered mermaid queen went completely limp.

And then, rather to my surprise, Legion swallowed her.

Watching something that big go down the throat of a human-sized being was definitely a sight to see. Not many of the surrounding troops were in any condition to look on and watch, and there was a lot of ice and bubbles in the way, even as they were all holding their ears from the thunder of Words and fist, tumbling helplessly in the water.

It still took less than ten seconds for the queen and the last of her tail to go down Legion’s throat.

Well. Hell really has something going with that Pact, I guess?

Legion looked at me, coughed once as their tails struck like snakes, and all the queen’s jewelry and accoutrements were spit out and smoothly scooped up by said appendages, including the queen’s Crown.

Legion hadn’t even moved off from Sleipner, who had just zipped over at the proper moment to get them into reach of the queen. Extendable arms had done the rest, thank you, Warshaper Levels.

King Oichio blinked in shock at Legion, and then slowly turned his eyes to me, fury he couldn’t vent now focusing on me.

That was probably because I had his Vizier floating out of the water in front of me, my hand on the pudgy bald head twice the size of mine, silver sparkles playing over him.

“<Vizier Huala,>” I stated grimly, ignoring the trembling King, “<Did you think your Devouring Maw Hellpact had somehow managed to escape me?>” I asked him as he quavered there, unable to move.

There was a shining spark as golden Heavenly Wrath was transferred to me and my hand, and at the contact, Hellfire blossomed.

The Devouring Maw was a Pact granted to and by the Sahaug and their Shark Goddess, who claimed to rule over all the oceans of Hell. The Sahaug were not friends to anyone... and were naturally Lemuria’s greatest foe!