"I never thought the day would come when you'd ask me for a favor, Eva," remarked Aquarius, a blue-skinned teenage merman seated upon a throne of pearl, his shimmering tail swaying languidly. His arrogant grin was fixed as he gazed at Eva, his head resting casually on his arm.

"Watch your tone, old man. You should count yourself lucky that I'm being nice," Eva replied coldly, her eyes locked with his.

"What if I refuse to train them?" Aquarius retorted, his expression crazed.

"You know that won't work in your favor, Aquarius," Eva stated firmly.

"Heh, do you really think I care? Why would I want to assist the goddess who imprisoned me here, treating me like a mere study subject? And you have the audacity to approach me and act as it none of that ever happened?" he asked with a cold tone, his jet-black eyes piercing into hers. "Do you take me for a fool?" he demanded, suddenly appearing before her, his hand clenched as his short hair flared.

"You are a fool, or else you wouldn't have been captured by me," Eva replied with an arrogant smirk, further provoking Aquarius.

"You wretch!" he hissed, his face flushing with rage as he glared at her. Overwhelmed with anger, Aquarius summoned a deep blue sword and swung it at Eva, but she easily blocked the powerful attack with her shield, causing the sea around them to tremble.

"Attacking me would be a foolish mistake," Eva warned, her golden eyes sending shivers down Aquarius's spine.

"I'll never know unless I try," Aquarius chuckled coldly, retreating a few meters away from Eva's presence.

"Never forget, in this realm, I am the ultimate ruler. Now prostrate yourself before me," Eva declared, her words immediately exerting a powerful pressure on Aquarius, who felt a wave of overwhelming fear wash over him. His body tremble as he felt and thought there an invisible weight forcing him to move his body against his will.

"Father!" a siren cried out, reaching towards Aquarius with fin-covered hands, but didn't dare to leave her position and stayed behind the protective walls of an underwater structure.

"And change that form; you're no child, old man," Eva scolded, releasing her skill on him, allowing him to move freely once more.

Complying with her command, Aquarius transformed into a gigantic merman, his size equivalent to that of a sea monster. However, Eva appeared before him, her arms crossed, and stared him down.

"I'm not asking you to train them; it's a command, Aquarius," Eva stated firmly.

“You think I'm afraid of you? You're just a weakling, if you were strong your daughter…!" Aquarius spat out, but before he could finish, the entire sea began to rumble uncomfortably. Eva's body glowed with rage and she immediately distanced herself from him. On her face was an expression not typical of her, as ten thousand mechanical colossal guns materialized around her. Her face was twisted with fury, and her clock-like eyes rotated as though they were out of control.

Her arms immediately transformed into cannons, and blasted a massive beam of laser and barrage and explosive attacks towards Aquarius. Reacting quickly, Aquarius swiped his sword, barely noticeable in his swift swimming movements. Once his sword countered the attack it redirected them back at Eva his power causing and increased on the attack pressure by several folds. However, Eva countered back, swiping her cannon hand that caused the attacks to miss her and land at the opposite side. Creating a massive explosion that evaporated the water in the area, as well as torching the sea bed before it filled up again.

"You shouldn't have dared to provoke me, and I won't let you speak of my daughter in such a manner," Eva stated coldly as she glared at Aquarius.

"Youuuu…" Aquarius hissed, his hand trembling from the previous attack. 'I’m sure I felt her aura weaken, so why is she still strong?' he wondered.

"Let's end this meaningless quarrel. It won't benefit either of us. One of us will die if this escalates further, and it won't be me," Eva declared coldly, her gaze unwavering.

"Tch, fine. I'll consider your proposal to train those brats, but what I want in return is a chance to fight you with my full power, without the limitations of this damn prison," Aquarius offered with a grin.

"That's acceptable. Just train those two girls well. They'll come here, and I want you to provide them with challenges like killing certain monsters, teach them skills to survive underwater, and to defeat sea monsters. They are fast learners, so your job won't be difficult," Eva explained and swiped her normal hand, causing all the guns to disappear.

"I wonder who those brats are to make you care so much about them," Aquarius snidely remarked. "The great ruthless Eva cares about two mere children? The one who destroyed my world has a heart to care for others besides herself?!"

"Don't you care for your family as well?" Eva asked softly, unperturbed by his statements.

"Please, I'm not like you. My family are disposable. The weak get eliminated, and only the strong survive," he proudly proclaimed, to which Eva simply shook her head.

"Now then, I hope you can leave. I don't particularly enjoy sharing space with you," he said.

"Changing back into a child, are we?" Eva observed as Aquarius reverted to his former form, with his hollow black eyes staring at her, unease clearly on his face.

"I believe I look utterly cute and adorable. Sometimes cuteness hides one's true nature, you know?" he replied with an angelic voice.

"Whatever. I'm going to talk to the other sea rulers," Eva stated, turning her back to him.

"Well, good luck with that, because they all hate you as much as I do. Unless you give them an interesting proposal," he snickered.

"Oh, I will. There's no need to worry, old man," Eva shot back before disappearing.

"I hate it when she calls me an old man," Aquarius grumbled to himself.

"Father, who was she?" a siren asked as she swam closer to Aquarius.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"A very unpleasant acquaintance. One whom I wish to kill."

______

"Dominique…" Eva sat silently in her chair in the void space, holding a small paper toy in her hand as tears streamed down her face.

"I'm so sorry. I was weak, I couldn't protect you. If only I was stronger and made you stronger as well, maybe you'd still be alive," Eva cried as she broke down.

She closed her eyes and remembered the memory of her half-mecha child hugging her in a picture they took together. The scene then shifted to seeing Dominique trapped on a crystallized spider web. Eva flew closer to Dominique and saw the young child barely breathing.

She immediately removed Dominique from the restraints and gently held her in her arms. Around them, thousands of Regals were ready to release their attacks.

"I'm sorry, Eva, Mum, it's a trap. Leave me here!" Dominique warned, raising her broken mechanical arm.

"Your soul…" Eva blurted out, tears streaming down her face. Once a person's soul is damaged, there's no hope for them, as the soul is the core of their being.

"It's damaged, so there's no hope for me," the young girl replied, her weak purple eyes meeting Eva's golden ones.

"So please, Mom, get out of here. It's a trap for you. They intentionally did this to get to you. Please, …. leave me here," Dominique pleaded, but Eva shook her head, refusing to abandon her.

"What kind of mother would leave their child's side when they are in their last moments?" Eva asked, her expression filled with pain, yet her eyes filled with love as she calmed the young girl, causing her to burst into tears.

“Mom, I love you…” Dominique managed to say her last words before her system shut down, making her a lifeless broken robot.

"You're surrounded! Surrender Gray Gemaris' clock and we may make your death less painful," a regal declared as others around him in the skies and space snickered with evil smiles.

“I really hate how you bastards laugh,” Eva said coldly as the meteors and planets around trembled. “I'll kill every one of you today!”

___________

Opening her eyes, Eva watched Aurianna and Leila through the screen and reached out to touch it with a solemn expression before slumping down in her chair.

“I should have never left you alone, Dominique. It was a foolish mistake that I shall forever regret and remember. Regals!” Eva's eyes burned with hatred as she bit her lips till they bled.

Eva then took a deep breath and sighed, calming herself down. “I have to get my wings and clock back. Aurianna and Leila, you both must get stronger, because I can't always protect you.”

“I don't want such a tragedy to be repeated,” Eva blurted out as she gripped her palms tightly.

_______

“Leila, are you ready to swim?” Aurianna asked as she stretched her body, both of them standing at the water's edge.

“I guess I am,” Leila answered.

“Wanna race and see who finds Aquarius first?” Aurianna asked, her eyes gleaming. “It won't be fair since I'm the weaker one, but I'm really interested in trying, you know?”

“Since you don't mind, then I won't take it easy on you, sister,” Leila said calmly with a smirk.

“Before you two race, do either of you know the location of Aquarius's territory?” Carol asked, her hands resting on her hips.

“No,” both girls said with blank expressions.

“You idiots! Are you telling me both of you were going to race blindly in the sea without knowing his location?” Carol asked, and Aurianna and Leila had guilty looks plastered on their faces.

“Well, yeah,” Leila blurted out nervously.

“Hah, sometimes being your teacher feels like a chore,” Carol dramatically complained, and Aurianna and Leila rolled their eyes at her.

“Well, we're dying every day, so we might as well have fun!” Aurianna declared with a thumbs up.

“Well, I guess so. Just do whatever you want. I'll watch you two from above and hunt some sea monsters for you girls. We'll meet back at the shore in thirty years, alright?” Carol said, and Aurianna and Leila nodded. “To find Aquarius, just swim straight west for four days before diving deep into the sea. I hope you can understand,” Carol added, and Aurianna and Leila nodded again.

"Thanks, now we're off!" Aurianna yelled before diving into the sea, followed closely by Leila.

"Better keep up, Aurianna!" Leila shouted as she swiftly passed Aurianna, who was swimming.

"I won't lose to you!" Aurianna declared, puffing up her cheeks and increasing her swimming pace.

‘Damn, she's fast. Wait a sec, she's using wings underwater?? That's so not fair!’ Aurianna realized, seeing the red wings on Leila's back propelling her through the water, meanwhile she didn't have any.

"Aurianna, wait!" Leila warned telepathically, coming to a stop. Aurianna halted, looking around with a vigilant expression.

“Hmm, sea monsters. Numerous ones are gathering around us,” Leila stated, and Aurianna nodded, sensing them too.

“There's probably a sea king or leviathan around controlling the lesser ones,” Aurianna said.

“Well, are you ready?” Leila asked with a smile.

“Of course, I am. What kind of question is that?” Aurianna replied, clearly annoyed.

“Oh, well,” Leila shrugged.

Suddenly, a loud, deafening roar pierced their ears, causing the sea around them to tremble.

“These water vibrations, this is definitely a Sea King,” Aurianna concluded, keeping her eyes open. From afar, heading towards them, was... “A black, spiky ball?” Aurianna blurted out in confusion, staring at the creature.

Before them loomed a 72-foot ball-shaped monster filled with spikes, its mouth lined with rows of jagged teeth.

The monster, after sizing up Aurianna and Leila with its small eyes, immediately charged towards Aurianna, spinning in the water and creating a whirlpool around it.

Seeing the incoming monster, Aurianna materialized her blades and attempted to block the attack, but once she came in contact with the monster she was pushed back and, with an extra force, thrown against a nearby sea mountain.

Seizing the opportunity while the monster was distracted, Leila rushed towards it from behind, using her broad sword to slash at it. However, despite her sword clashing with the monster's body, she couldn't injure it, and her sword recoiled, sending shockwaves through her body.

She frowned as she stared at the monster. It opened its large mouth and roared so loudly that the sea shook.

“Aurianna, are you okay?” Leila asked telepathically as she distanced herself.

“Of course, I am, but what is that thing?” Aurianna wondered, staring at the monster.

“I'm wondering myself,” Leila blurted out. Suddenly, they both received a notification from the system.

[ New creature identified - Bestiary updated.]

[ | Level 5500 Adult Stage Sea King Urchin. Has high defense and is extremely agile underwater. Their spikes are highly poisonous as well as strong. Can control a group of monsters to do its bidding as well as shoot blasts of ice. They are extremely territorial and would attack anything that it finds unfamiliar. | ]

“Blast ice?” Leila mumbled as she heard that word and suddenly panicked.

Suddenly, the Sea Urchin opened its mouth wide as a blue light condensed inside and was immediately released at Aurianna and Leila, while it spun around them, turning everything around into cold ice statues, even the creatures around spectating were not spared.

Seeing the incoming attacks, Aurianna's body was immediately covered in a crystal shield shaped like a cocoon, while Leila shielded herself with her dragon wings, which turned into a crystal form.

The ice from the Sea Urchin’s attack crept upon their shields, and the two sisters soon noticed that due to the pressure of the ice, their shields began to crack until they eventually shattered. Luckily, the Sea Urchin stopped its blast attack and remained still.

Sensing this as an opportunity to attack, Aurianna and Leila rushed towards it once more, their weapons glowing. But suddenly, the Sea Urchin trembled uncontrollably, causing Aurianna and Leila to halt their advance.

“Aurianna, let's move away from it instead. I can't predict its attacks,” Leila warned as she began to distance herself from the Sea Urchin.

“Same here. But I think we should try to get used to its attacks,” Aurianna suggested as she followed suit, increasing the distance between them.

“True, but I want to be more cautious.”

“Alright,” Aurianna conceded as she and Leila moved a bit further away from the Sea Urchin and observed it cautiously.

The Sea Urchin then released the spikes on its body, sending thousands of spikes flying around. Unfortunately, they moved too swiftly for Aurianna and Leila to see, resulting in each of them being pierced by one spike.

Aurianna coughed up blood upon feeling the spike in her stomach, causing her to wince in pain. But before she could reach out to remove the spike, it began to spin inside her like a drill, ripping her body to shreds.

Reviving once more, Aurianna and Leila stared at the Sea Urchin cautiously, watching as it regrew its spikes in a matter of seconds.