Chapter 155 – This Means War

Chapter 155 – This Means War

After jumping back on the deck, I deactivate the borrowed skill and return to my Human form. Or Primordial, I guess. I’ve been spending quite a lot of time as an aquatic hybrid and while it shouldn’t have any serious negative effects on me, it’s better not to tempt fate. So, all the additional features disappear from my body as I glance around. Cornelia follows suit soon after, returning to her original appearance too.

“So, is it finally time to get back on track?” Captain Alyssa walks up to us and shows a warm smile.

“Looks like it. I don’t think there are any Mermaids left for him to fuck.” Cornelia smirks at me.

“Hey. That was never my objective.” I squint at her.

She snickers lightly, crossing her arms under her chest. “Sure, sure. Tell yourself whatever you want.”

I shake my head at her while sighing softly and turn back to Alyssa. “We are good to go. It’s been fun to escort and help the Mermaids but we can’t stay around forever. I’ve already overused your kindness by taking us out of our course, definitely turning this into a much longer voyage than first assumed.”

“Oh, think nothing of it, dear husband.” Lianne giggles from behind me and appears under my armpit to hug my side with a bright smile. “This is more like a vacation for Ali and her crew. One they can spend with their family. The longer we take, the longer they can relax before having to get back to their usual commissions. Of course, since I hired them for you, they are getting paid for this properly too.”

“It’s as Lin says.” The captain nods at her royal friend. “Besides, who would reject the opportunity to aid the legendary Mermaids? It’s not often you get a chance like that. The very sightings are considered rare. Yet, thanks to you, we’ve been able to even experience some of their culture.”

“It’s unfortunate that you had under the current circumstances,” Meru says with her usual, collected tone. “If not for the Sahuagins, you might have been able to see their home in a more welcoming and beautiful state. Chased out by those monsters, the Mermaids had to leave a lot behind. It will take some time for them to turn those underwater ruins into anything closely resembling their previous reef.”

“And that’s why we are here.” Neira smiles at me warmly. “Alastair is going to solve that problem once and for good.”

“Yeah! Master is going to kill them all! Emi will help too! No evil fish-people will escape Emi’s slime!” Emi throws her jelly fist into the air while cheering us on.

I chuckle lightly and move my hand to her head, patting the wobbly surface with some gentle affection. “You girls give me way too much credit, as always. But, I agree with you on one thing. We are hopefully going to scare them off enough to guarantee the safety of the other aquatic races. But, if nothing else works, we shall have no mercy.”

“No mercy,” Meru repeats strongly.

Glancing at her, I use my other hand to brush her side. Considering what the Sahuagins have done to her and the people she knows, it’s not surprising for Meru to feel this strongly about revenge. I’m not trying to delude myself into hoping that this conflict can be solved peacefully, but who knows? Judging by the descriptions of those monsters, negotiations through anything other than pure strength might not even be in consideration, though.

“I’ll go set the course, then.” Alyssa nods at us respectfully and walks away alongside her officers.

“We are quite lucky though, aren’t we?” Safi asks shortly after we are left alone.

“Why?” Cornelia raises a brow at her.

“We haven’t run into any Sahuagins yet. Considering that they are conquering the aquatic tribes and lands, the parts of the sea through which we sailed have been relatively calm,” the sapphire beauty explains.

Meru glances her way. “We didn’t sail above any bigger settlements or colonies that aren’t hiding from sight. Most of their army is focused on taking over the major, larger reefs while sweeping through the smaller ones on the way. Their scouts won’t really pay attention to a single ship unless it’s close to their main forces since their task is to find more underwater targets. The group that pursued me and the Nereids was a forward party that overextended a lot.”

“Now, that might be jinxing it.” I chuckle a little, still rubbing her chilly side. “But the earlier we stumble on them, the better. We do need some actual battle experience against those entities.”

“It shouldn’t take long considering how far from the shore we are now, and the fact that your new Mermaid worshippers have been running away before the Sahuagins got to their home,” Cornelia chimes in with her thoughts.

“I agree. We should be ready at all times starting now,” Lianne says. “I’ll take care of the crew and the ship, you guys take care of everything that happens under the water. We have a lot of bad fishies to catch if these seas are going to become safe again.”

“We appreciate the assistance, Lianne.” I move my hand from Emi’s head to her white hair to brush my fingers through it dearly.

“I bet you are glad that I’m here now, aren’t you?” She giggles while gazing up at my face with a sly expression.

“Ignoring the fact that the Queen herself snuck out of the castle or even the entire capital just to reunite with her gang of raunchy sailor women with the goal of fucking her husband in front of them before giving him to everyone for a wild ride, yeah, for sure.” I smirk at her while roughly rubbing her head.

She chuckles and escapes my grasp while spinning in circles. “Children always dream of being free and unrestricted.”

Cornelia lets out a heavy sigh while rubbing her temples. “You are not a child anymore. You had a child.”

“Details, my dear Cornelia, details.” The petite Queen flashes us a mischievous smile. “That only makes it better, doesn’t it, my dear husband?”

I catch up to her and evoke a cute gasp from the Queen as I yank Lianne into me by her wrist. Lifting her delicate chin up, I steal her delicious, pouty lips, listening to the quiet hum she releases as we tenderly make out. Lianne’s hands brush all over my front and cop a good feel of me, as expected from the little pervert that she is.

“Perhaps having one more would fix your childish behaviour.” I smile at her impishly from up close, running my own hands over her smooth back and supple butt.

Lianne’s eyes widen ever so slightly and an extremely rare trace of an honest blush tinges her light cheeks. Letting out a quiet chuckle at her adorable, flustered expression, I pull her in for one more loving peck before stepping away and returning to the others. The corner of Cornelia’s lips curls up in a tiny, satisfied smirk and we hit a sneaky high five as I approach my beloved magician wife.

With the playful Queen pacified, things calm down just a little bit. We spread out throughout the ship and take care of various things, just like we’ve been doing for the entirety of our voyage. Whenever she isn’t with us on the deck, Meru continues to swim alongside the vessel to scout for any potential danger. Of course, I still join her now and then to spend some time alone with the incredible sharkgirl, listening to more stories about her home.

But, there’s one more thing that deserves a lot of my attention at the moment. To be exact, two things, or rather two people. From what Safi and Emi tell me, they seem to be slowly nearing the limits of their current existence. Checking their statuses confirms that they are at the last Advancement Stage before their next evolution. It isn’t possible to ascertain it in more detail but if they feel like they are almost there, I believe them.

It’s certainly a very curious thought. The evolution, that is. Safi and Emi have been by my side since the very beginning and I still remember their first advancement, letting them speak with me properly. Each next advancement was a small thing like that too so we didn’t really celebrate all of them, and they haven’t even told me about one or two, but something like an entire evolution is on another level.

And, judging from what I know about monster evolutions, they can go in any direction, including unexpected ones. Previously, they evolved from Greater Slimes into Queen Slimes thanks to the consumption of the two poor girls who were on the verge of death. I’m wondering what kind of influence consuming my mana and something else can have on their evolution.

In the end, I’m a Primordial right now. I’ve been one for quite some time already. Safi and Emi have received quite some of my time too. There isn’t a lot about the Slimes from the age of Primordials in the castle’s records so it’s hard to predict what might happen. I would be a fool to expect the possibility of only a normal evolution as the next step on a Slime’s evolution path.

Hopefully, it won’t end up as something utterly outrageous.

Nevertheless, I do my best to spend as much time with my loyal Slimes as I can without neglecting everyone else who came with us on this expedition. Time passes quickly while we are having fun and we soon reach the location where we met the Mermaids, more or less. Alyssa and her girls make sure that we stay on track and their prized ship cuts through the waves like the elegant lady that she is. She might be the Terror of the Siren Seas but she isn’t exactly hostile to Mermaids, as we have learned.

But, less than a day after we pass by that point, I sense some distress in Meru’s mind and she jumps out of the water, landing on the deck right next to me. She raises her calm gaze to meet my face, now with a much more apparent tinge of fierceness on her sharp visage.

“Enemy ahead. Either a small forward team or a scouting squad,” she announces. “There’s a high chance that they will catch my scent and pursue it since it leads to an unusual place, which is the ship.”

The next Sahuagin I lay my eyes on isn’t faring that much better from his brother. He’s been unlucky enough to be put up against my lovely duo of Slime Queens. They both got rid of their uniforms and attached themselves to his fishy body. A blue blob is currently swallowing his entire, ugly head and clearly preventing that guy from breathing while also eating off at his face with the acidic nature of Safi’s slime. At the same time, a green blob is attached to the bastard's... waist. Emi is also melting him apart, though starting with a different head.

I have a feeling that Meru’s words might have potentially affected them. Just a little bit. Maybe.

Curious about what kind of heavenly punishment my incredible artist wife is delivering to her targets, I glance around the deck in search of Neira. I snort the very moment my eyes find my beloved Dark Elf wife. She’s set up an easel with a clean, white sheet of paper and is currently painting the various scenes of carnage that are taking place in front of her, unbothered by the ongoing battle. Though, I don’t feel like she is in danger, noticing the hidden trail of clear water running all around her limbs like a serpent waiting to strike.

Shaking my head at her antics, I break into a run and pass by Meru, who is still fighting the leader. There are two more Sahuagins, currently trying to save their brothers who are in the clutches of my talented Ice Queen and crafty Queen Slimes. Before they decide to switch their attention to Neira, I decide to get rid of them.

To minimise the risk of damaging the main mast or anything else, I switch my longsword with my trusty whip. It’s the first shape I’ve been able to assume in the very beginning and still one of my most favourite ones. It’s versatile, hard to predict, and unimaginably fun to use.

Not so fun when you are on the other end but I digress.

Sending the snake-like purplish rope forward, I wrap the Dragon’s tongue around the ankle of the guy who is trying his luck with stabbing Safi and Emi. I yank him into the air and wave him around a little bit while he releases panicked croaks and gurgles. Just as his friend who is trying to aid the guy assaulted by Cornelia notices it, I slam the dude in my grasp into him and send them tumbling to the side.

Leaving the remaining Sahuagins to the ladies, I get closer to the fallen duo as they slowly gather themselves up from the deck. To their credit, they didn’t drop their weapons even amongst all of that. It’s certainly impressive. But, it won’t save them from their fate, no matter how strong their grip is.

After they stand up, I’m against one spear and two heavily curved shortswords. They glare at me angrily but don’t dare to make the first move. Considering what they’ve witnessed, it’s not that surprising. I doubt they would like to end up in a similar state as the two Sahuagins they’ve been trying to help before I pulled them away. I wouldn’t wish that for anyone, honestly.

Before I take action, a soft thunk reaches my ears from behind and I glance over my shoulder, finding Neira just setting down her easel not that far from us.

“Don’t mind me.” She flashes me a beautiful smile. “I just wanted to have a good view of how you are going to massacre those ugly monsters.”

I chuckle while shaking my head and turn my attention to the two guys in front of me again. They seem confused about the whole ordeal, most likely wondering if the person behind me is going to join in as a support or something like that. Thanks to Neira, they become even warier of me, but that’s not going to be a problem.

Testing their reflexes, I send my whip at the Sahuagin wielding two shortswords and he manages to block it barely in time, getting his hands flicked to the side. The spear guy jumps in front of him to protect his partner while he fixes his posture. Their cooperation seems to be quite good. It really might be an army and not just a hastily gathered group of individuals belonging to the same species. Or they are just very good friends who fought together for a few years.

Unfortunately for them, I don’t care about any of that and bring my whip back just to start smacking them with it repeatedly. If they have been trained, they’ve clearly never dealt with whips, which is quite logical. With water instead of open air, it definitely gets difficult if not near impossible to use one. Thanks to that, I land a few solid hits on their bodies, targeting both the areas covered with skin and with scales.

The former seems to be just slightly tougher than Human skin and I can easily make them bleed just by grazing them strong enough with my whip. Having in mind that the spiritual rope is extremely coarse and patterned like the scales of a Dragon. As for their scales, they fulfil the role of natural armour decently well. They only cover the outer surfaces of their limbs and body, including their back, but it’s definitely not as easy to make a cut in those.

Suddenly, after I smack one of my opponents in the head, he reels it to the back and releases an unusual choking sound while his body makes a weird, trembling motion. As I recall my whip, he flings his head forward and shoots a disgusting blob of acidic green fluid out of its ugly mouth. I step to the side to avoid the repugnant projectile and realise what I’ve done just a fraction of a second too late.

A scream reaches my ears and I snap my head to the back with the worst already playing in my mind. My eyes immediately find Neira as adrenaline rushes through my entire body, but it calms down as quickly as it came.

My beloved artist stands next to her easel with her hands gripping her hair while staring at a giant hole in her unfinished painting. It emits dark smoke over the edges, which are expanding further while eating away the rest of the sheet.

Before I manage to even begin asking if she is alright, Neira’s face snaps to me with untamed fury in her usually calm, slightly teasing gaze. I shiver involuntarily as her unrestrained killing intent crashes into me like a mighty wave of a stormy sea hitting the breakwater. Lots and lots of clear liquid starts gathering all around her in the form of numerous serpents of water.

“How dare you... The masterpiece that I was pouring my entire heart into making... For my beloved Alastair...”

The moment she seethes in fury, my silly brain finally decides to figure out that she isn’t directing all the rage at me but at the monsters currently standing behind my back. I relax a little bit and watch the serpents of water coiling around Neira’s figure turn into literal serpents. Like, Chinese Dragon serpents. The size of a buff guy’s forearm.

She throws her hands forward with an angry shout and at least a dozen of those draconic snakes swim through the air at an incredible speed, passing right around my body. I take a peek over my shoulder again and watch the dude who made the spitball get bitten by all of them and shredded into bits, piece by piece, as the violent serpents tear his body apart until nothing but blood and mutilated traces of flesh remain on the wooden planks.

Seeing it, his best friend sends Neira one last, fearful glance, and breaks into a sprint towards the other side of the ship, abandoning his weapon straight away.

“Oh no, you don’t,” Neira growls in a furious but also so hot voice.

She extends her arms to the sides and directs her head to the sky. Her eyes shine brightly as she opens her mouth wide in a silent, voiceless chant. A few clear tendrils raise her body into the air and the ship suddenly lists towards our side heavily. With a loud splash, a gigantic head of the same draconic serpent emerges from the seawater and looms over the deck. It’s size almost twice as big as a fucking truck.

The panicked Sahuagin comes to a halt with his path of escape blocked. Neira’s serpent wastes no time and plunges down right onto the deck, causing the ship to list the other way this time. It slithers up the wooden surface and catches the poor guy with its massive jaws. Bouncing off the deck, it flies straight up in a mesmerising spiral, and everyone follows it with their gazes by craning their heads to the sky.

Two more loud splashes take place on both sides of the ship and two more gigantic serpents soar into the air just like their friend. Reaching the same level as the first one, they open their jaws wide while imitating the motion of taking a breath, and shoot a massive beam of pressurised water each. The two rays of annihilation crash into the head of the middle serpent and blast it into oblivion, alongside the Sahuagin hatching a forced ride.

A powerful explosion shakes the air as a heavy downpour falls onto the deck while the three Dragons drop into the sea. Not a speck of the monster left, that’s how finely it’s been ground into dust. The ship rocks from side to side due to the strong waves caused by the descent of Neira’s creations.

Note to self, NEVER disrespect Neira’s paintings.

The person in question slowly descends onto the wooden planks and sighs heavily. The glow in her eyes gradually fades as she looks my way. I expect to see a proud smirk on her beautiful face, but the very moment our gazes meet, she gasps in terror while covering her mouth.

“Oh no... I’m so sorry... We were supposed not to kill them...”

I snort lightly to the side and look around.

The guy Safi and Emi have assaulted is now missing all the flesh from the shoulders up and around his pelvis. Unless these monsters can function without a brain and a giant hole in place of their waist, he’s dead dead.

Cornelia’s opponent resembles a porcupine, with his javelin clearly sliced off, judging by the amount of black blood flowing from under his loincloth. Unfortunately, it seems that she’s just recently stuck one of her daggers right in his skull, perhaps by accident when the ship was rocking around heavily. We can count that dude out too.

The last remaining candidate is the leader, who has been going against Meru. I don’t have any expectations regarding his state considering how furious my lovely sharkgirl mate was at his unforgivable transgression, but it looks like we are in luck. He lies with his back on the deck and with Meru’s trident pinning his neck to the wooden planks, caught between two of the spikes. With how thick his neck is, it did suffer a small injury, but it doesn’t look threatening.

I return my gaze to Neira and walk up to the distressed Dark Elf lady, brushing over her delicate cheek with my palm. “It’s alright. You had a good reason to be angry. I was looking forward to that painting too. It looks like Meru caught us one so don’t blame yourself, alright?”

Neria gazes deep into my eyes and smiles wryly with a rare, dark brown blush on her pretty skin. She makes a delicate nod to acknowledge my words and I pull her in for a gentle kiss. Our lips brush together as we exchange a bunch of soft and fluffy pecks. Neira is the first one to break our sweet moment and draws her face back with a more fitting, happy smile.

We both turn around and start walking towards the others.

There’s a guy we have to interrogate.

And an entire army to purge.