Twenty-something Atlanteans cornered Zoork and Vanilla, who held Void. The trio was at the whim of Elli's wishes.

She held her trident up and pointed it at them as she neared them, her teeth showing as she smiled and nodded like a maniac.

Zoork shifted his eyes from Arthur to Elli as he remained calm, not afraid of the situation despite their unfavorable odds.

"Ah, I am king," Elli said, walking through her people and towards the trio, but as she did, she stared at her trident, almost like she was anticipating something; she pointed it at the trio, inches away from their bodies. "Watch as I take over."

'Why isn't it working?' Zoork thought. He tried using his emergency escape, but it wasn't operating. Since Arthur died, the only living individuals were Vanilla and Void, and although he touched them and initiated the emergency exit, it didn't work. Arthur was dead, so the transportation should have been successful.

"What is this bullshit?" Elli asked as she stared at her trident and pressed her lips together like a snobby, enraged brat. Stomping her foot onto the ground, she turned her head, and her pinpoint focus vision glanced back at Arthur. "My weapon should have changed!"

The Atlanteans grew scared, so they avoided eye contact with their supposed new king. They were as confused as Elli because the weapon she held wasn't truly a trident; it was a malleable object that changed to its current king's demeanor, and strictly depending on the monarch's nature, the weapon would take on a different shape.

'I'll use an unrestricted teleport,' Zoork thought. No matter what he tried, his emergency one didn't work. He only had one option left, but the only problem was that unrestricted teleports abrogated most of his FQ rules, meaning the implications would make him wish for death once he used it.

"Why? Why is it not changing?" Elli asked. "Does anyone know why my weapon isn't changing?" She asked again as she pointed her weapon at her own people, but no one answered her out of fear. "Of course. Of course, you idiots don't know. Damn fools. If you have to do anything, then you have to do it yourself." She pointed "her" trident at Void's throat and shook her head. "Whatever, I'll just kill another. What's one more?"

Zoork clenched his teeth, an excruciating pain flowing through his veins as it felt like he was being stabbed over and over, and unfortunately for him, that was only the start of the process, nothing compared to what was to come.

Elli clenched her teeth — her anger ascended to new levels as she unexpectedly pressed the trident into Void, slowly slicing a part of his neck open.

She couldn't cut deep enough. Zoork dived to the right as he pushed onto Void's shoulder, moving his other hand towards Vanilla and pulling her. They all fell to the floor. To activate his power, all he needed to do was touch whoever he wanted to teleport, but he just needed a little longer — a bit more to fulfill his Tuam requirement.

Elli pushed her blade into nothing. The trio was on the floor. She looked at the ground, taking in a deep breath through her nose as she flung her blade in their direction. With her hyper-focused eyes, she fastened the trident's prongs towards Void's head.

Zoork only needed a few more seconds, but so did Elli. A battle of who was faster.

Both were sure that they were going to make it before the other, but almost in an instant, the palace's ceiling tore apart, ten bolts of water slamming through and pummeling the room, and multiple thunderous sounds erupted outside, all heard throughout the city. They came from outside Atlantis. The barrier was destroyed in numerous areas, water leaking through them, and though the force field regenerated, no ordinary wave could have shattered such integrity. After all, the cataclysm that came was one that nobody could see — the water-made lighting was too fast.

By the time anyone noticed what had happened, it was too late. The bolts of water crushed them, separating them, and because of this, Zoork's teleportation was nullified, and Elli's attack was halted. The fast-flowing water like that in a tsunami injured several people and even killed some. However, for the trio, it wasn't harsh, but instead, it was like feeling a cozy warm bath on a Saturday afternoon — it was relaxing. The water washed them outside.

As the bombarding bolts of water welcomed the guests, one hit Arthur. The water suffocated his body, clinging onto him and collecting into a ten-foot-tall ball. He floated to the middle of the water-orb, fluid changing from clear to red. The liquid squished into a tight pack wrap that only formed around his body shape, and soon enough, the fluids absorbed into him, his skin appearing as if it were brand new — his face was back, and even the eye Elli tortured was anew.

Elli stabbed her trident into the floor and held onto it as she watched Arthur. She was pushed against by the flood, but she didn't let go of her weapon, and soon enough, all the liquid leaked outside with many dead Atlanteans. They washed through the various ruptures made by the bolts, and all that was left in the area were broken remnants of decoration and some living or dead people. She pulled out her trident, walking over dead bodies and towards her prey.

Arthur stood next to Elli. "The deal is off. I'm going to kill you and make you suffer. I will."

"What the fuck is happening?" she asked. "Stuff never goes my way because of vermin like you."

"I hate you," Arthur said. "Everything about you. I hate it. So, we both have something in common, hate. So whoever has more of it will triumph."

She gripped her trident, swinging it at Arthur's face.

He had been in the same situation before. Last time, Elli made his head into a donut. Instead of dogging the attack, he pressed his ass-cheeks and pumped water through his palms and feet, flying back.

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Elli missed him, hitting the air, but she didn't waste time and adjusted to a sprinting form, chasing the flying fish with an unwavering focus. She watched as he stopped his flight and descended to the floor, but as he did, he launched a wave of boiling water. Ignoring it, she continued running, letting the fluid graze her cheek and pass her, colliding into dead bodies — it turned the dead Atlanteans crispy. She continued and drove her blade towards his body while he still was in the air. Her shoulder rotated to the right, and with all her power, she pushed through with her attack, slamming her trident's prongs against his abdomen, propelling him through a wall, and breaking it into pieces. She stared at her weapon with minimal blood on it.

Arthur found himself on a cobblestone floor, on top of a few bodies. His tough skin protected him, and his shirt was torn near his stomach, where his scaled six-pack was mostly unscathed with hardly any scratches.

"Get off me, you fatass," Vanilla said.

Arthur jumped off her and blinked. "Sorry about that…" He turned around and noticed Elli rushing to them, but he looked back at his teammate. "Find Void and Zoork while I deal with her."

Vanilla stood up and nodded.

Arthur grabbed a lance from one of the many dead washed-up guards and ran forward, and while he moved, he chucked red Tuam at Elli, pushing his lance's tip behind the wave for a sneak attack.

Arthur's presence irked Elli — her neck veins throbbed as her anger rose. The dark red wave of energy blocked her peripheral vision, but she knew the trick. She could see it coming from miles away as the red Tuam passed her, pushing her a few inches back, and as soon as the color disappeared, a blade appeared in front of her face.

Arthur pressed his foot against the ground and put his body weight into the weapon, increasing its momentum as it neared Elli.

Her trident was near her waist, facing up to the sky. She brought it upwards, clinking her prongs into Arthur's weapon, shifting the lance's direction upwards, leaving Arthur open, so she momentarily let go of her trident, punching him in the face and kicking his waist.

His grip broke free from his weapon as he was launched to the side.

Elli repositioned her legs and stood tall, catching her trident as it fell to the floor.

Arthur flew towards the right. Once again, he spun against the rough stone — he was airborne. He tried to stop by slamming his scaled hands against the ground, but it didn't help, and all he did was grind his nails against the rough surface. His wasted efforts left him with thoughts. All he could think about was a way to kill Elli. Not just kill. He wanted to make her feel such pain, something so severe that he would feel pity. But he wasn't one to make such demands — after all, he found himself on the floor, facing the sky, his vision blurred from the spinning.

Elli jabbed her blade towards Arthur's face as she pounced in his direction.

He turned like a worm to his right, but the attack pierced his left shoulder. He freed himself by continuing to spin on the floor. He jumped onto his feet, not thinking about the pain, and instead, he grabbed his right shoulder, trying to stop the blood, but he couldn't, so he stopped holding it and let his arm dangle downwards. His scales grew far weaker than before.

Elli scoffed once, looking down at the floor, then at Arthur as her eyes brightened. She shook with laughter. "Arthur, why won't you die in my hands? We both know that this is my rightful position. I am a king. And you… you are trash."

He paced his breaths, using this time to pace himself. He wasn't sure if he should continue the conversation and catch his breath or attack her while she was careless. "I will say this, you might be right. I probably am trash. I am filth. I won't argue with you on that one, but as for yourself, you are no king."

She laughed hysterically, half smiling. "You people sure know how to make someone laugh, don't you? You come here, kill my father, and then you intruders kill my people. You'd think it would end there. But it doesn't. You also want to disqualify my right as king? My… my destiny."

"Don't get so angry, oh wannabe king. I'll do you one favor before I kill you. Would you like to know why you aren't a fit king?"

"Humor me?"

"Aside from your selfish behavior. Tyrannical tendencies. And even outright disrespect to your loyal followers. The reason you can never be a fit king is because of… what you have down there."

"What?"

Arthur shrugged. "You're a woman."

Elli didn't take humor in the response. Her blade neared Arthur.

But he was ready. He clenched his butt, propelling himself in the air, launching waves: one red Tuam and behind boiling water came gushing. The red Tuam pushed Elli back while the boiling fluid splashed against her trident as she used it to defend herself. Water drops sprinkled in the air and onto her, burning her, but she stood unfazed with her legs wide and brought her weapon behind her back, launching it into the air like one would with a javelin.

The trident blew into Arthur's chest, breaking his scales and producing a loud crunch as his bones broke into multiple pieces. He fell to the floor, slamming his back against the pavement. His scales turned to normal as he lay on the floor, the blade still in him.

Elli pressed her foot on his stomach, grabbing the trident that resided in Arthur. She pulled it out and pushed it back in. She leaned her body weight into it.

His chest snapped ever further, his bones more than broken, and he tried to gasp for air, but his efforts were hindered — his lung collapsed. His gaze was fixed on Elli and then on his penetrated chest. He grabbed the trident prongs, trying to pull them out, but he couldn't and was left to simply stare at her as she stirred the weapon around. It made him angry. He was once again pinned against her will.

Elli stepped on his wound and pulled her blade, cutting his left arm, followed by another swipe to his right arm. Her footing swayed as he banged his head against the floor in agony.

Arthur bit his lips, trying to free himself from her. But he couldn't. The pain was too much for him to rationally think. All he heard was an irritating buzz in his ear, it only grew louder by the second, and as immense as his ache was from the wounds, this noise he heard was far more aggravating. It took him a few seconds to realize that the maddening sound was coming from him. He pressed his lips shut, the noise dulling.

"I am the king. And you can't say otherwise." Elli directed her weapon towards Arthur's man square, her blade touching the tip of his crotch, but as she struck into the area, an object swung at her face, forcing her to look back. She saw a female with blonde hair.

It was Vanilla.

Elli shook her head as she took a step back and spit blood from her lips. She tilted her head, looking at the intruder. "What the-"

"Fuck it!" Vanilla said as she rotated the gun and held it properly, shooting at Elli's face, though the bullets bounced off her. It was as if it wasn't a real firearm but a toy. Soon, the gun ran out of ammo.

Elli rubbed her face with her fingers. "All that for nothing."

Vanilla swung the gun at her like a baseball bat, breaking it in half, and she stood still, looking up at the Atlantean as she awkwardly smiled. "Fuck."

Elli punched the intruder in the face.

Vanilla plunged to the cobble, her head slamming against it, and a loud pop was heard. Her head bled, clumps of blood attaching to her blonde hair and staining it red — she continued to bleed.

Elli breathed heavily through her nose and grabbed her weapon with both hands, plunging it into Vanilla.

Arthur watched as his teammate's chest was about to be impaled. But it confused him. Her face was content. It infuriated him; why was it that someone who saved him would end up dying? He vowed to do such to Elli, not to have his teammate die. His vision blurred, his eyes etched with a wave of anger far grander than anything he'd ever experienced — they shined blue.