“I'm just stating the facts,” Aurianna shrugged, a wry smile playing on her lips. “I even have to hunt some monsters to eat myself,” she added, patting her tummy.

She immediately spotted a sea monster swimming from afar and aimed at it, provoking the creature into a furious charge towards her.

Once the monster was within reach, she swiftly slashed it with her sabers, causing blood to spill and the creature to float lifelessly in the water. With deft movements, she carved through its flesh and began to eat it raw.

“How can you enjoy those things? They taste utterly horrible!” Kiana blurted out, her face contorted in disgust as she watched Aurianna eat.

“They do, but does it matter?” Aurianna asked, raising an eyebrow as she continued to eat.

Kiana suddenly recalled Aurianna's earlier words and sought clarification. “Hey, wait, what did you do to my eyes? What do you mean I became a servant?”

“If you don't answer my questions, I won't answer yours,” Aurianna replied coolly.

“You…” Kiana seethed, her face flushed with anger.

“Fine! I'm Kiana, a mermaid, as you can see!” she declared proudly, displaying her shimmering beautiful long tail.

“And?” Aurianna asked, unimpressed, having encountered a being like Aquarius already.

“Well, every thousand years, a mermaid is thrown into the belly of this leviathan to sing it to sleep until their death. Strangely enough, the Leviathan doesn't have ears outside its body but inside its belly,” Kiana explained.

“What a strange monster,” Aurianna mumbled.

“And mostly mixed mermaids between a siren and a mermaid are thrown here because your kind has beautiful voices, making it easier for the monster to sleep. However, it seems the monster has become very erratic lately. When I woke up, it was crying a lot,” Kiana said with a worried tone.

“Oh…” Aurianna murmured, avoiding Kiana's gaze and continuing to eat.

“What do you mean by 'oh'?” Kiana asked, her hands on her hips, noticing Aurianna's avoidance.

“Well, I thought if I attacked inside the belly of this monster, I could get out,” Aurianna sheepishly admitted.

“Are you crazy? No wonder it's been crying! Don't do any more of that. If it starts roaming the seas and attacks my home... Just don't attack it, okay!” Kiana pleaded, tears welling in her eyes.

“Why not?” Aurianna asked with a huff.

“It's impossible to injure or kill this thing! It's the second strongest sea monster in the entire dark seas!” Kiana revealed, causing Aurianna's eyes to widen.

“I see no reason to leave, so I'll just stay here forever until I die. As long as I can protect my kingdom,” Kiana said with a sad tone, rubbing her arm.

“And it's quite pathetic of you,” Aurianna spat.

“What do you mean?” Kiana asked, hurt evident in her voice.

“Everyone else is busy enjoying their happy lives, while you're stuck here as a pathetic sacrifice,” Aurianna said mockingly.

“You... I'm doing something honorable for my kingdom!” Kiana yelled, her voice cracked a bit.

“Then why didn't they choose an outcast from your kingdom to sing? Are you telling me there wasn't anyone with better voices?” Aurianna inquired.

“Actually, no. I was the best singer in the entire kingdom,” Kiana admitted.

“The kingdom didn't have any elders who could sing? And from thousands of years, none of you found a solution to deal with this monster?” Aurianna pressed further.

“Um, no. But that's because this monster is incredibly powerful! As strong as a Primordial being. The only ones who successfully slayed such creatures were heroes and the Sacred of Light!”

“A hero, huh?” Aurianna mused.

“But that was over 300,000 years ago during the first world war and the last days of the world war 100,000 years ago,” Kiana sighed. “The other royal humans from different races wouldn't help our Primordial Human,” she added, clenching her fists knowing the reason why.

“We only have one Primordial Human, the Sacred of the god of Water,” she said, though Aurianna noticed her lack of enthusiasm when mentioning her god's name, unlike most religious people she'd encountered.

‘Why am I easily admitting everything to her?’ Kiana wondered before fixing her gaze on Aurianna.

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“Now, you answer my questions!!” Kiana demanded, pouting.

“I killed you for your voice box and singing skill,” Aurianna admitted calmly, causing Kiana to tremble.

“That was fast…” Kiana said nervously, eyeing Aurianna. “But why?”

“You had a beautiful voice, so I just had to have it, you know?” Aurianna said with a cruel grin.

“You're crazy!!” Kiana shrieked.

“I hear that a lot,” Aurianna chuckled.

“And about the sign in your eyes, you're wondering if it will harm you, don't worry it won't. Making you my servant means you'll never be able to betray me. But if you die, I can always revive you. Well, that's how far my skill has reached,” Aurianna explained with a smile.

‘I’ll never know when I might need her someday,’ Aurianna thought.

“Is this some sort of Saintess skill or a slave skill?” Kiana wondered. ‘Because if she revives me, she definitely has to be a Saintess!’

“Depends on what you believe.”

“You're not going to ravage me, are you?!” Kiana shrieked, and Aurianna gave her a disgusted expression.

“Why do you have such a disgusted expression?” Kiana wondered, feeling offended.

“I feel like talking to you would give me brain rot!” Aurianna huffed.

“How dare you??!!” Kiana yelled, her face flushed with anger.

“And also, what race are you? And what church do you belong to?” Kiana asked, trying to calm herself down. ‘Only sea beings can survive underwater.’

“As you can see, I'm somewhat like a human,” Aurianna said, ceasing her eating and swimming away from the dead sea monster.

‘She's lying,’ Kiana thought, having an extremely bad feeling in her gut.

“And as for the church I belong to...” Aurianna pondered, her hand resting on her chin, “I'll say the Church of White,” she declared with a mischievous grin.

“Church of White? I've never heard of it,” Kiana blurted out, confused.

“You'll hear about it one day,” Aurianna said with a strange expression, further unsettling Kiana.

“Well, it was nice chatting with you, but I'm going to try to escape today!” Aurianna suddenly declared.

“It's impossible to escape from here!! I've tried for more than 59 years!” Kiana exclaimed.

“I thought you were willing to sacrifice your life for your kingdom. But it seems you aren't so selfless,” Aurianna chuckled, causing Kiana to bite her lip in frustration.

“Hadina, I summon you,” Aurianna commanded, and a portal appeared before her, distinctly different from her knights' portals.

‘This pressure!!!’ Kiana thought, feeling a sickening pressure emanating from the portal, rendering her unable to move.

“Hmm, it seems that my powers are being suppressed, but that's fine,” Hadina remarked dully as she swam out.

“What would you like me to help you with, master?!” Hadina asked excitedly, picking up Aurianna with her hands and wearing a happy expression.

“I want to escape this sea monster,” Aurianna stated.

“Oh, this is the one you were talking about?” Hadina asked curiously as she surveyed the surroundings, and the portal behind her closed.

“It's quite strong. And it hasn't even developed intelligence yet. If it were Aquarius, I'm sure he could easily kill it,” Hadina speculated with a frown.

“Also, master, in that space I got teleported to, I met some strange lady called Eva. My mother used to tell me about her, but I actually never met her. She's quite bossy. Master, I deserve justice!” Hadina cried as she hugged Aurianna's waist.

“Aurianna, don't pamper her!!” Eva yelled.

“Eva, you mustn't bully Hadina,” Aurianna sighed.

“Who's the second person she's talking to?” Kiana wondered, as she noticed no one before Aurianna, making the human before her look mad.

“Humph, I'm just giving the newcomer some advice,” Eva huffed, arms crossed. “I don't want to share my void space with her. Luckily, the space is large enough for her to be several kilometers away from me,” she added, eyeing Hadina.

“Eva, aren't you supposed to be the mature one?” Aurianna asked, with a light laugh.

“Humph!” Eva huffed.

“So, Eva, if I use Hadina, would it be possible for me to escape?” Aurianna asked curiously.

“It could be possible with her strength and speed. Queen can make an opening, and you and Hadina can swim through,” Eva stated calmly.

“I can kill it though, but it seems my powers have been greatly reduced. Why is that?” Hadina wondered.

“There are some limits I have with my summoning abilities. And it seems you can only last for a few more minutes. So let's do this quickly!” Aurianna said with excitement.

“Alright! Get on my back!” Hadina stated, and Aurianna did just that, a few of Hadina's tails wrapping around her.

“I summon you, Queen!” Aurianna immediately tore off one of her arms and threw it before her, a portal appearing, and her hand immediately disappearing.

“What, you're really escaping?” Kiana blurted out, surprised because she assumed Aurianna was bluffing.

“Of course, I have better things to do than stay here!” Aurianna said with a grin.

“But if you do that… the monster would go into a frenzy, and it could attack…” Kiana choked on her words, imagining the monster attacking her kingdom.

“You think I would care about people I don't know?” Aurianna asked with a displeased look.

“That's because your family isn't the ones to suffer! Would you do the same if it was your own family?” Kiana yelled with a frustrated expression.

“Of course I would. Their lives are worthless in my eyes,” Aurianna answered nonchalantly. “The most important thing to me is my own life. Now then, bye-bye, little mermaid,” she said with a wave.

“Hadina, let's go!” Aurianna told Hadina, and they both sped off along with Queen.

“How can someone be so selfish? Why doesn't she care if other people die?” Kiana mumbled to herself, feeling frustrated. But the human was right. Why was she to die while others enjoyed their lives?

Kiana then had a flashback of when she was selected to be sacrificed. “Kiana, I'm so sorry, but please, could you be the sacrifice?” Kiana watched as her own mother said that to her.

“Why me, mother?” Kiana wondered with trembling eyes.

“Because you have the most beautiful voice,” her mother told her.

‘You're lying, there are so many people!’ Kiana thought as she stared at her mother, but she couldn't voice her opinions due to meeting her mother's loving eyes.

“Please do it for the sake of our people, Kiana,” her mother pressed forward. “For the sake of your elder sisters and brothers. Finally, a skill you have can be useful to us all. I can't do it because my people need me, so please do it for all of us Kiana,” she said with a kind smile. But to Kiana, that wasn't the smile of a mother; it was the smile of a monster in her eyes.

‘Why must I be the sacrifice? I'm the youngest; I have my whole life ahead of me. I haven't even gotten to experience life yet. I don't… I don't want to die here!’ Kiana thought as she bit her lip and sped after Aurianna.

‘It was supposed to be the right thing to do, but is it actually true? What's the point of self-sacrifice if, at the end of the day, the actual problem is never solved? What's the point of dying if there's no end to the cycle? I know it's selfish of me for wanting to live. I know it's selfish, but I don't want to die here and just sing to my death!’ Kiana told herself as she managed to swim behind Hadina.