I felt a vague impact against my Interdiction, something bouncing off impotently and uselessly. A hidden Formation down below the Court, coincidentally shredded by my earlier Reprisal, pulsed, flared, and shattered as Dark Mana flashed and burned en vivus.
I took a moment to Assay the Immortal Clam’s Resistance, fed that information to The Sea Emperor, and abruptly Its magical defenses against The Sea Emperor’s attacks plummeted. Acres of cerebral tissue began to blow apart, burn en vivus, and the Immortal Clam’s defenses faltered as an exponentially-more driven assault raged through It with nigh-divine fury, only accentuated by my following Shards doing much the same thing.
Its death was not a lingering thing, because I wasn’t going to allow It to linger. I didn’t want It to be Animated by the Dark Mana still inside it. I focused my attention on the Pyramid, flattened and spread the stone as I evoked multiple layers of Runes into the flowing Saltstoned Earth. The resting Shell slowly began to close over an internal vivic wildfire and bloody pool of blasted and scattered flesh.
Death. The Psychic wail of despair cut off, I felt Its spirit jerk, and Dark Mana grab it.
The Shell sighed and settled closed, which didn’t stop at all the very sudden and heavy flaring of The Light inside it.
A massive amount of Dark Mana surged up... and promptly exploded into vivic obliteration. I watched on three levels as the spirit of the Immortal Clam was consumed and annihilated, and the Dark Mana It had built up to finally kill The Sea Emperor became the instrument of Its oblivion.
No, I didn’t want to face an Undead or Shade Immortal Clam, thank you. Let’s just head that off at the pass, shall we? The Honey Badger Ruler had taught us a good lesson about that...
With Its death, the active magical reinforcement and power of the Immortal Clam’s Shell instead became a massive weakness to the vivus eating away at it from inside and out. Yeah, that Shell would have been worth a lot, but since I heavily doubted I could take it away, it was completely better for me that it be Burned.
Bits and pieces of it began to crack and fall into its interior with startling speed, but there wasn’t time to enjoy the sight of the massive Clam’s pearly Shell imploding and being consumed.
I let my Holy Water Seed’s Domain evaporate, and suddenly the surrounding Waters were all in the control of The Sea Emperor again. A massive stream of Water that bent space swirled around us, and we were abruptly outside and floating at the edge of His Courtly domain and Demesne.
Leviathan Emperor was munching down the wailing Writhing Dreams Emperor contentedly, while His Vassals were consuming the Wicked Will Sea Hag Emperor, the Enthralling Song Emperor, and Deep Clouds Emperor in their turn.
Opportunity knocked, and True Emperors were the best meals for True Emperors. The Shark Emperors were going to be so jealous their chance was taken away.
In the distance, looming Presences coming in fast slowed abruptly, and then came to a halt. They were still over a hundred miles away, converging from several directions, but even I could feel the Dark Mana on them with The Sea Emperor here magnifying the power of the Waters.
The High Emperor Sea Dragon was also floating next to a hole in space, and thus to the Nine-Tailed Silver Fox reclining casually on its other side. A Fox who casually reached out with His Will into that distance, brought it down on a Low Emperor of a Reefcutter Moray Eel there, and snuffed out its mind instantly.
In the same heartbeat, all the corrupted Sea Emperors, as well as the Rulers they’d brought with them, turned and fled in frantic haste.
Leviathan Emperor just glanced at Thunder Depths Cachalot Emperor, who finished up the Wicked Will Sea Hag Emperor He’d bitten in two and kind of flicked off in that direction, as gracefully as any fish.
Watching something that big move that quickly and gracefully was always a treat. Looked like he’d be chasing his Sea Hag meal down with some Eel. Might even be enough for Him to break through!
I met the eye of Flowing Silver Emperor, who actually arched one eyebrow in a very Human gesture as He regarded me.
“CALL DOWN THE MOON AND STARS ON THE WOUNDED WHILE THIS JUNIOR AND I HAVE A TALK,” He ordered me lightly.
“Yes, my Emperor!” I acknowledged, turning and heading back down towards the Court below. The Sea Emperor just watched me go, thinking His own thoughts on why I was still obeying the will of a High Emperor I did not have to.
The countless brain-dead Aquatics were not beyond the Restorative power of The Moon and Stars, but I did have to gather the floating bodies up.
“If the Emperors who can act can gather up the brain-struck and soul-smashed, I will begin the process of Healing them,” I Sang into the waters, and something deep and profound began to build in the depths again.
The True Emperors paused only a moment at hearing the Worldsong begin to rise once more, and there was no counter-command from The Sea Emperor, who I was basically moving away from. Waters and currents began to move and flow, and the floating bodies began to tumble and float and drift together as conjoined Wills reached out and gathered them.
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
The bioluminescent lights of The Sea Dragon’s Court began to fade into the background as the dark of the ocean depths opened up. The Starry Heavens surged on display above, bearing a vivid wonder and glory none of the True Emperors had ever imagined possible.
Tears fell from a sky that was not there, and a Healing the Aquatics did not even imagine was possible began.
------
They had no idea how they came back, or that Healing power of that degree even existed.
The lucky ones would have been comatose or incapacitated for days. Those with lesser Wills, for weeks, months, or even years. The unlucky simply had their minds wiped away, brain-dead shells floating there uselessly, destined to be eaten by those who would succeed them, possibly, or by the victorious forces of the Tainted Beasts, helping them take control of the Oceans.
But The Moon and Stars were Brought Down, sparkling Tears of magic washed over the minds, bodies, and souls of Emperors, Rulers, and even Commanders and lesser denizens of the deep, and brought them back if they had not died.
Even the lesser Corals and drifting Plankton whose light had irradiated the area, swept away into darkness by the Psychic fallout that had plunged the whole Imperial Court into darkness, slowly lit back up as The Moon and Stars easily and rapidly did its work on the lesser creatures.
As such, it was the least powerful creatures present who recovered first, stunned and amazed as they awoke to the Sublime Chord, thundering along with Whalesong of the most profound depth. Far, far under the surface, they looked up in rapture as The Moon and Stars shone down and returned them to life and thought once again.
Without outside encouragement and effort, Beasts, even the Aquatics, were not duplicitous, and they always acknowledged debts. They might be savage, they might be gluttonous and always hungry, but now, every single one of them in the Court knew they owed me a massive debt, and The Sea Emperor, if anything, owed me an even bigger one.
Gigantic forms gathered above and around me protectively parted as The Sea Emperor slowly slid into place around me, encircling me and joining His vassals beneath The Moon and Stars. The four great Whales took up station outside of Him, and naturally none dared rise above Him or them at this time.
He also owed the Whales a debt for coming to His defense without His command or desire, even if they would never speak of it.
I felt the Tears splashing down across Him. Countless faint scars on mind, body, and soul were being washed clean, injuries He might not even have been aware of, save for the most recent ones from the ambush here. No lesser magic could possibly have done anything for Him, and The Sea Emperor, for the first time in uncounted years, relaxed and bathed in Healing energies that flowed over Him in a soothing balm, watching as The Moon and Stars came down and restored His Court and Demesne, such as they could.
The dead were still dead. Vivus in the magic soon ate them away and dispersed their power into the waters of His Court, while I made sure none coalesced as Soul Crystals... save the one collapsing and imploding on His throne. The Sharks were annoyed I took their free meals away, but they stuck around regardless.
There were still rumbles of Psychic communication going through the area, centered on the Sea Dragons. Their rage was unmistakable, even if they were bathing in Healing Magic. This level of disloyalty truly enraged them, while I just shook my head.
The rebels had shifted their loyalty to the truly strongest and worked as ambush predators in the best traditions of the Sea. Even the Immortal Clam had hidden Its Curse Magic deep within its Shell, hidden from the Obelisk’s power, and the Sea Hag and Krakenoid Emperors hadn’t even developed Dark Magic, probably promised to be gifted with vast amounts of it once their ambush succeeded.
Alas for them, they had failed, and now they were Whalefood.
“I WILL TRADE FOR YOUR INFORMATION,” The Sea Emperor’s thoughts washed past me, seemingly lazy, in the same way the seas are still before a great storm, or a tsunami about to strike. “TELL ME WHERE THEY HAVE FLED.”
Maintaining The Moon and Stars, even with its massive consumption of Mana, didn’t take much of my attention. I gestured up a two-hundred-foot Holo of the planet, and the sites of the Netherworld Conduits ignited against its glowing light like black stars.
One of them was only a thousand miles away to the north, in an area that even now He could reach out to and assure Himself that nothing was there, while a big one glared at the border of His territory with The Ice Emperor, unseen by both of them.
Most of them were out in the Pacific, which was larger than the other oceans combined, and really where He should have had His Court if He was serious about ruling all the seas... but no. The Atlantic was much easier to watch over and control, and delude Himself into thinking He was in command, while the Pacific was the barbaric wilds of the domain He had thought He ruled.
“YOU CAN BREAK THIS WARDING ABOUT THEM, AND SEAL THESE CONDUITS.” It wasn’t a question, Flowing Silver Emperor had likely confirmed it, even if the Caster Level on my magic was totally beyond Him. “I WILL TRADE YOU FOR THE AID YOU GAVE THE EMPERORS OF THE BEAST WORLD.”
Flowing Silver likely wasn’t happy with Him, probably another galling rebuke to the ancient Sea Dragon. If Flowing Silver Emperor had told me to help The Sea Emperor, I would have done so, and they could have favor-traded between them.
Flowing Silver had obviously not ordered me to do so, which meant The Sea Emperor was basically being punished for being an indolent blockhead of a Dragon. What I had given the Beast Realm was part of my duty to the Emperor who had taken me in, but The Sea Emperor would be trading for it!
“Show me your teeth and fangs, Elder,” I requested of Him calmly.
Curious, He opened His mouth and exposed diamond-hard ivory longer than I was tall, while the two sets of claws spaced far apart on His body opened up in a deadly display, space itself vibrating around their tips.
I began to drop Chained Vivic Eternal Icefires at water temperature on all of them, as well as along the razor-keen scales of the double crests down His back, and even along His horns.
It took only a flicker of will to show Him how to suppress the effect of the spells without destroying them. He just waited, watching as did all of His vassals, as He quickly began to light up with streaming unwhite vivic fire down the thousands of feet of His body, promising a deadly fate to anything of the Netherworld...
As for the great Soul Pearl coalescing on His throne, I would be taking that with me as well...