Inside a deck-out, bookshelves-filled, warm, and cozy room, Rob mindlessly ignored everything else and focused on the stack of papers on his desk. Holly held a tray of tea and gave a cup of warm tea to Rob before sitting down on the couch in the middle of the room and passing along another cup of tea to Elaine.
“It sure is cold…” Elaine rubbed her hands together and embraced herself with the warm touch of her thick, magically enchanted sweater. Looking at the cloudy gray sky outside the window, she couldn’t help but murmur, “Is it related to those recent storms at the Merson Sea?”
“I think…” Rob absentmindedly checked some of the boxes on his never-ending checklist before answering Elaine. “You’re correct.”
“I heard the rain at the southern regions of the continent isn’t ending… Fortunately, it seems Mirakal Village is just fine from what Mama and Papa told me,” Holly said with a sad look on her face.
“Don’t be too sad about that,” said Elaine. She then grabbed her cup of tea and took a sip of that refreshing, herbal taste that she slowly came to love. “There’s nothing we can do other than pray. It’s not like we have godlike powers to change the weather of entire regions with a wave of our hands.”
“You’re right… We can only hope for the benevolence of our Lord,” Holly agreed with a nod and also took a sip of her freshly brewed tea.
“What about you, bro? What kind of paperwork are you doing?” Elaine asked curiously.
“It’s just… a lot, so shut up for now.” Rob groaned, yet his arm remained in constant motion. “But I do have some good news, really good news. It will cost a bit though, but that’s fine with those rich bastards in tow like Kain and Simon.”
“Oh, exploiting the rich again I see,” Elaine said without a change in her tone, as if she wasn’t surprised by her dear brother’s corrupt behavior.
“You’re a fan of that masked singer Trixy, right?” Rob asked with a grin plastered on his face.
“Yep…” Elaine answered with a calm voice at first, but upon seeing Rob’s big wide grin, she felt her heart skip a beat as she stood up in a hurry. Her eyes bulged out from shock and her legs trembled with excitement, “No fucking way… NO WAY!”
“Language!” Rob tapped his desk with a loud bang. “But yes, it’s as you think.”
“NO WAY!” Elaine grabbed her face in sheer dumbfounded shock and joy.
“In fact, she’s going to be playing her new… latest, unreleased love song for the biggest event of our Summer Festival, the Dance!” Rob added. “But don’t say this to another soul, or I’m gonna end your whole life, Elaine.”
“OH MY FUCKING GOD!” Elaine practically threw herself at Rob as she squeezed him tightly in a tight hug. “YOU’RE THE FUCKING BEST!”
“I know, I know,” said Rob. He then pushed Elaine away from his desk and moaned helplessly upon seeing the scattered papers. “Just shut up you little brat. I still have to deal with these damn papers!”
“Yes, yes! I love you so much!” Elaine hopped around the room in joy, unable to hold in her excitement.
“Go back to your seat already, or you might break something inside the room,” said Rob.
“Yes, boss!” Elaine saluted and returned to her seat obediently, a smile still hanging on her beautiful face.
“You’re quite happy, huh?” Holly whispered.
“Of course I’m happy! It’s Trixy! TRIXY!” Elaine nearly shouted but held back her voice to not garner Rob’s annoyance. “She’s the rising star of the music world, whose voice can resonate with the hearts of a million souls effortlessly. Her music is not just music… it’s goddamn art!”
“Well, her music is great, I’ve listened to a few of her recordings-“
“No, her recordings couldn’t even capture a minor fraction of her essence!” Elaine wanted to slam down her hand on the table, but doing so would once again interrupt Rob from working, so she just figuratively slammed down on the table by banging her hand in the air. “When you listen to her singing live… When you’re there, bathing in her presence and soul-shaking music… You’ll understand just how great she is!”
“Her songs are not just made for entertainment… Her songs are made with the intent to change the lives of countless, no matter what species you are, whether you be human, elf, mermen, beast men, or whatever else! “
“Oh wow…” Holly was already beginning to feel overwhelmed by Elaine’s passion regarding the masked singer.
“Trust me… When she starts singing in the dance, your life will change!” Elaine said with a resolute tone.
“Yeah, Elaine’s right!” Rob chirped in as he looked up to stare at Holly right in the eye. His dark brown eyes gleamed with a golden ray of light as Holly’s heart skip a beat. “It would change forever after that song, after that dance, and it would change along with mine.”
“Haha… Wow, I guess it must really be life-changing…” Holly laughed awkwardly and took a sip of her tea.
…
“Damn winds…” On the vast Merson Sea, a lone ship crossed along the surface of the seemingly endless ocean, with its sails and engine churning and flapping from the strong torrents of winds constantly changing its direction. In one moment, the winds were facing north, and a while later they heading west, causing the ship to constantly shift and adjust to head to their desired location.
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It has been a few days since the sudden shift in temperature and winds, with stronger and bigger waves encountered in general by those traveling the area. The aquatic life that lived in the sea showed signs of fervent activity as if the whole Merson Sea was brewing with chaos and unrest.
Now, the place was more restless and more dangerous than ever before. Numerous news spread all across the land and sea about sightings of S-Rank sea monsters roaming near the surface of the Merson Sea, attacking various ships and killing their passengers, or battling one another as if to assert their dominance over the other.
Researchers noted that the aggression of monsters in the sea had abruptly grown this past few days, with constant battles and underwater wars occurring all across the area. Some monsters even went on land to attack those near the shores which caused numerous human lives to be lost.
On the lone ship mostly made out of metal, tons of humans roamed around the deck, with the captain of the ship being a dark-skinned, fat yet muscular man with curly, unruly black hair and light blue eyes. If you saw him out in the sea, the first thought that’d immediately come to mind is either a pirate or some sort of criminal with no good intentions.
And if a person had those thoughts, then they wouldn’t be wrong. This person here, along with everyone else on the ship, was a group of slave poachers, but they don’t just sell any normal human slaves, they sell something a little more special—Mermen!
As the captain of the ship, a man whose name amounted to nothing, opened a door leading to the insides of the ship, he entered a dimly lit room where a ton of skinny, shackled, and powerless mermen retreated in fear upon seeing him.
“Ahahaha, how pitiful that these sea dwellers fall pray against the might of us humans!” He laughed and his belly jiggled like jello. “As always, any other race is just inferior to us humans!”
The mermen felt their rage bubble upon hearing the words of the xenophobic bastard, but they clearly knew that if they dared as much as glare at him, they’d receive a fate worse than death. So, they all looked away and let their rage simmer, unable to be shown nor be let out.
That was the plan anyway, that was the plan until the whole ship suddenly started to shake. From outside the ship, through the thick metallic walls, they heard the sound of roaring waves and howling winds, with the whole room rocking and trembling as if it were about to be submerged in a chaotic storm.
“What?!” The captain murmured, shocked by the sudden sound and disturbance.
The mermen were also alerted by the shaking and the mess ongoing outside, but the slave poachers keeping them captive bashed their spears against the metallic bars of their cage, causing them to keep quiet and remain meek like good little slaves.
The captain of the ship hastily rushed out of the room, leaving the door wide open in his hastiness.
As they heard the ruckus outside getting louder and the light of hope beaming out of the open door, every mermen in the room gave each other a certain look, with their eyes shining with hope—with the hope of escaping!
It seems like the moment they had been looking for all this time has finally arrived, and they could finally put their plan into motion.
As soon as the captain arrived at the deck of the ship, he was met with a horrifying sight that sent shivers down his spine.
Massive, grotesque tentacles covered the sky, with a gigantic eye staring down at them, emotionless as if it was looking at mere ants. The tentacles of the ginormous sea monster wrapped around the entirety of his ship, yet it didn’t move and just continued to restrict their movement.
If that was all, then the captain was confident that he could still escape using the magical trinkets that he had gathered all these years, but when his eyes met with the tyrannical gaze of the humanoid creature that stood on top of the head of the giant squid, all notion of escaping disappeared from his mind.
A tyrannical aura descended on everyone in the shape, with its incredible soul-shaking nature causing everything that felt the pressure to freeze in utter fear. Whether they be the humans manning the ship or the mermen who just burst out of the door. Even the invisible spirits governing the world couldn’t help but remain in place as it descended the giant squid by using the tentacles as a makeshift staircase.
The figure in question had a humanoid appearance, with two legs and two arms, standing upright. It had dark blue scales covering its whole body, protruding and taking sharp, jagged forms to the point it appeared like armor. Its face was rather featureless, with no distinguishable mouth, nose, or ears, but it did have one thing… eyes, eyes that belonged to a being who was undeniably an apex predator.
The way it gazed at them, from both giant squid to human to mermen to spirits, was as if it was looking down at specks of dust on the ground, beings he could trample on without much thought. No matter how strong they were, in its eyes, the difference was as large as heaven and earth, and no matter what they did, it would, and WILL win.
The ship’s captain stared at the humanoid being with shaking arms and legs. If one looked closely, they’d even notice a trail of yellow liquid leaking down his wet pants. But, he couldn’t care anymore. The moment his eyes met with that of the creature’s, he felt as if he was engulfed by a raging storm and his soul trembled from the sheer pressure.
“So… That’s what you call a human,” the thing spoke with a warp, gravelly voice. This caused further shock because being able to speak the widespread language of humans meant one thing… this creature was sentient, with intelligence and wisdom on par with them.
“And that is what you call a merman…” the creature turned to look at the group of mermen unmoving on the deck of the ship, unable to move due to the tyrannical aura of the creature in front of them.
“Intriguing… Intriguing!” It laughed and snapped his fingers. Immediately, sharp blades of wind broke all of the chains and shackles binding the mermen. Then, all the weapons on the ship vibrated at a unique frequency, crumbling into dust in mere moments.
After that, it clapped his hands, and a certain monster with the general appearance of a seahorse jumped out of the sea and sprayed a rain of water onto the ship. All of the mermen found their strength returning to their bodies, with their skinny bodies regaining their muscles from nowhere.
Upon seeing that both humans and mermen appeared to be near optimal shape, it nodded its head and, with one jump, leaped back on top of the giant squid and crossed its arms like a king ready to watch something interesting.
The tyrannical aura quickly receded to the point they could finally move, but it still caused their souls to tremble constantly from his presence alone. Glancing at him confused, the creature seemed to have realized its mistake and laughed loudly once more.
“My apologies, it seems I have forgotten to say what I had to say.” Uncrossing its arms, its ocean blue eyes released a frigid blue light, and it then said slowly, “Whichever group survives… gets to be my subjects!”
Everyone was confused and they stood in place, unmoving. They felt scared to ask, but eventually, the creature’s piercing stare finally forced one of them to speak out their confusion.
“Survive…?” One human asked.
“Did I not make myself clear enough? Worry not, I’ll reword it so your brains can understand my words.” It chuckled to itself and then pointed its arm forward as if it was pointing at them simultaneously. “Human. Mermen. Fight to death. The winners become my subjects.”
“See? Simple, right?” The creature smiled and clapped its hands. “Now, fight! Unless… you guys want to die?”