After the whole fiasco, the princess arranged for me to have sleeping quarters in the castle. She announced she would personally lead me to the room after it was prepared. I assumed she was going to be alone once the guards left, but unfortunately for me, the wolf fishman I fought had [Auto Regeneration] and was back to full health in no time.We were currently swimming through the hallways. They were large spaces that could felt a bit too big to be mere hallways. All around, there were corals erupt with glowing orbs fixed on them, acting as some sort of lightbulb all the while acting as surveillance cameras. The magic tool Magic Orb. A multi-functional tool that served various purposes depending on the situation.In this situation, it was security detail as well as an aesthetic. A nice way to monitor everyone without their knowledge. Maybe this was why the princess wasn’t really scared about escorting me to the room without any more security detail. There were no guards on standby an
Day 53The princess left me alone in the room to go speak to her brother. It didn’t take long for Kawaii to come back to normal. When she did, she wrapped herself around me while screaming. She explained to me what happened which led to me pampering her. After, I explained the situation to her and she reluctantly agreed to my plan. Kawaii really was not a fan of the princess.She later explained that she was actually capable of using magic, unlike me. I felt that was very odd, so I would have to inquire further from the princess later. In the end, I had Kawaii sneak out of the room to go investigate further for me, leaving me alone in the room with my other minds.We simulated the fight with Osveta over and over again, coming up with better and easier ways to beat up someone on his level. It ended up developing the skill [Battle Simulation], where we created an imaginary battlefield with a set list of abilities. It would normally take in-real-world-time to complete a simulation, but w
The princess summoned me from the quarters I had been given. I wasn’t really psyched to be working for her, but I reminded myself that it was only till after we stopped the invasion. I had managed to get a decent amount of information from Kawaii till this point, but she was still out scouting for more information.The princess had led me to a part of the palace where I could sense incredibly dense mana. There were several people with large quantities of mana practicing magic or doing research. The agent theorised that this was the source of the leylines. It said this generated the basic magic structure, but them powering it at all times was unlikely, meaning there was another source that powered their magic circle and allowed for the leylines to be active at all times.‘Why are we here?’I asked the princess, but she ignored me and kept swimming. Her mind was completely blank, meaning she was still on-guard around me. Although, I hadn’t seen the guard from the day before around. He q
“Come now, lady Hinotori.”He directed me towards a crystal-clear orb that sat on a pedestal in the centre of the room.[Item name: Mana Appraisal Orb][Item Rank: High Rare][Item Description: An orb made out of appraisal crystal. With it, one’s magic power can be measured into numerical values]Effect #1 – Changes colour based on mana densityEffect #2 – Records magic power as a number][Value: 20 gold coins | 5 store points]‘A mana appraisal orb?’‘That’s what he meant by testing our magical output?’‘T-this should be a breeze then.’‘I thought he was going to make me fight some monster or something. Phew.’“Please put your hand on the orb.”He gently requested of me.‘Hmm, if she’s the same as Vermillion, then this should shatter.’I honestly had no idea who this Vermillion person was and I had the urge to ask, but I would push that to later. I put my hand on the orb, but nothing happened.‘Am… I supposed to do something?’>‘Oh, I see.’‘Dumbass.’‘Sh
In a dark alleyway on the streets of Yorul, a person wrapped in a cloak moved silently.It was very hard to find a place as dark and filthy as this in Yorul, which was the capital city of Atlantis, named after its founder. Since it is the chosen ground of the highly exalted founder, the residents try their best to ensure that it was safely and cleanly kept. It was seen as a sort of Holy Land that the purest and wisest of the 3 original merfolk, Yorul had decided to set up his kingdom to ensure his people flourished.Eventually his followers became so numerous, they had to create additional cities chosen by Yorul himself, which began the five nations of Atlantis. Since his death, the residents refused to create an additional city since they assumed it would be an offense the first king.So, they ensured that their cities were clean to the best of their abilities. They monitored the increase in size population and came up with magic for that problem. The monitored the increase in crime
After delivering a lengthy speech at the beginning point of the city, the princess made us go to several different locations across the city, just to do the same thing. It really must have been a pain in the ass being unable to simply project herself through some sort of crystal or screen.Couldn’t she do that though? This was the city of magic and so a simple projection spell should have been easy enough for them. Well, I understood the reasons she gave me, but to be frank, it was completely redundant. The same results would be ensured through a projection spell and ending out people to do surveys.In the end, I still couldn’t understand her true thought process. This princess couldn’t just be the genuinely kind-type all of a sudden, right?Fortunately, there was an incident during one of her speeches that gave me time to stop thinking about it.>Quickly, I identified a needle shooting through the water like a bullet. Even with my [Super Tho
I returned to the others after finishing off the assailant. They had surrounded the princess and put up a magic barrier to prevent any further attacks. Maybe they should have done that while she was giving her speech.“When did you-”Sunalla approached me to ask some questions, but now wasn’t the time in my opinion.‘I know who did this. Is it alright if I go handle them?’I looked at the princess for confirmation and she mauled over it for a while.“Who did this?”‘The Sikari Guild from what I gathered.’“Huh? If it’s someone from there, I doubt you would have gotten any answers.”‘I can read minds.’I gave her that simple excuse. It would probably be a bad idea to tell them I eat souls to acquire information I’m seeking. Just imagine you had been insulting someone who could kill you at a moment’s notice without blinking. You’d put your guard up around that person, no?“Even if you know who did it, what good does it do us when we don’t know where the Sikari guild is? For all you know
“Gate keeper.”A robed assassin appeared before the seemingly drunk old merman. The Gate Keeper, as he was called, looked up with a ditzy expression.“Varim der har iz groys.”“Did the Needle Master pass by?”The assassin impatiently asked; however, the Gate Keeper was not going to entertain this sort of attitude from the assassin.“Varim der har iz groys.”“I apologise. Varim der har iz groys.”He quickly realised his mistake and tried to clear it up. The Gate Keeper looked at him with a stern warning, before drinking from his bottle.“Did the Needle Master pass by? I don’t think it was him.”“A false needle master, you say? Interesting.”“You haven’t seen him then? We may still have time then. I have reason to believe he was eliminated. They will be coming here, so we need to change the portal’s location- wait... you’ve never referred to him as Needle Master.”The assassin was immediately on guard. His mind went back to how quickly the person who took down Needle Master moved. It wa
‘It’s so booooorriiiiiiiiiingggg!’I was bored out of my mind surveying the edge of the dome for enemies. It was practically a ghost town at this point. And the only thing that used to be interesting was the notifications I kept receiving from my shadows about catching bombers. So far, we found three dozen pairs of people planting the bombs.It was shocking how many people had been coerced into doing this. And I still hadn’t tracked down an actual member from the invaders. What if the invaders actually weren’t coming? What if the princess was lying about this entire thing for a completely different reason?‘This princess is giving me a headache.’‘I know right? It’s like talking to a brick wall.’‘A-An overly in-intelligent one.’‘Hey guys!’‘Ah!?’‘New guy?’‘I-I have a j-junior now?’‘What will we call him?’‘Call me Hyakkiyago.’He told us out of nowhere. We were all stunned, since everyone who came so far didn’t even know that they were now sharing a mind with someone. Yet, this g
NANEK POVThe prince looked at the meal set before him. Skewered tentacles, seaweed wraps, jagged oyster shells, lunaris and so on, all in bountiful amounts. He felt like gagging from the mere scent of the food. Nanek never liked such food, and as such this was strictly removed from the meals his siblings served him regularly.This event was different. It was before the entire city and it was a meal that the goddess had chosen for this year’s feast. Him not eating it was an insult to the goddess and would make the people think less of him.He looked at his mother, the priestess, sitting blindly next to the king and being fed her meal by some of her personal assistants. She had no concern whatsoever when it came to this and he found it terrifying, since he had been told by the older generation that she hated these kinds of meals.Several years in service to the goddess must have changed her. Maybe if he spent several years trying to overcome his distaste for the meal, he would overcome
SUNALLA POVThe storm spirit had left off towards a chamber in the palace to enact the final plans of the princess. To be honest, she wasn’t expecting the princess to tell her what her final plans were, but after hearing them, she was completely stunned. For the princess to have planned all of this for just that, it was beyond her imagination.However, for something like that, she knew her father would give up his life in a heartbeat. At least, she could rest easy knowing that he died for a cause he had been fighting for all his life. Still, it hurt that she couldn’t even see his corpse even though it was delivered to them. Did they think she was so weak that she’d break down from seeing the body?She had definitely seen worse, so why wouldn’t they let her? Was this the royalty’s way of showing consideration to the Captain of the Royal Guard’s kin? If so, the royals really had no idea what people actually wanted in such situation.While swimming, a stray guppy came in front of her. Sh
King Zigruk ElrIek Sox Anon Den Yorul II waved at the people who were gazing at him admirably from outside the hall. After a considerable amount of praise appreciation and greeting, he sat down on his seat and dropped his trident.The trident floated by itself at his side. Strange enough, this weird sight was ignored by most of the onlookers. All of them except the candidates for the throne that knew the true value of the trident, all of them shocked by how carelessly their father handled it. Then again, if you were built just like the Zigruk Elriek Sox Anon Den Yorull II, you wouldn’t think too much of the trident.Once again, trumpets sounded thunderously, drawing the attention of everyone to the overly massive ship that was approaching them. Dubbed the Neptune, the largest piece of magical machinery ever made in the history of all the three kingdoms.One mermaid, much bigger than the rest emerged from the Neptune. She was dressed in a simple peplos, wearing a golden crown of leaves
OSVETA POVThe feast hall, the biggest part of the royal palace that went unused for many years till there was an important ceremony taking place. It was so large it could take in half the number of royal family members that lived. And that was saying much given the fact that there were over a thousand of them with each being at least three times as big as the average merman.The hall was a space next to the palace grounds shrouded in hardened Atlantean styled glass to prevent any peaking or breaking. Due to the occasion, the styled glass had been removed, revealing a large beautiful platform with a marble table in a U-shape set down. The table was big enough to occupy at the very least 20 members of the Royal family.However, today, only four members sat on opposite ends, with two extra, grander seats, being reserved for the most important guests. The King of Atlantis and the Chief Priestess of the Sea Goddess Temple.The current members were Rondel, the eldest son of the King, repre
Inside of Hinotori’s mind, somewhere deep in her subconscious where she would never notice anything happening, there was an announcement.[The Exclusive Skill [Legend of Pandemonium] Chapter 1, Act 1, Part 1: Army Drafting has been completed]-Hidden Events> Fight Against the Apostles of the Sea Goddess Temple (Completed)> Kill over a dozen members of the Sea Goddess Temple (Incomplete)> Enslave the members of the Sea Goddess Temple (Incomplete)> Establish friendly ties with the members of the Sea Goddess Temple (Incomplete)> Become an official member of the Sea Goddess Temple (Incomplete)---- Insufficient events completed to receive any rewards+[The Exclusive Skill [Legend of Pandemonium] has unlocked a new section]Chapter 1 - #@$^&!Act 1 – Battle For AtlantisPart 2 – Preparations--- Preparations for the incoming invasion have been set up. Hopefully they will be enough for the coming storm. ---*Rewards for creating this scenario will be delivered at the end of this Chapt
On the day of the Royal Feast, in the princess’ quarters, several mermaids about her size were attending to her. Brushing her hair, applying make-up, and carefully fixing ornaments in her hair. She was dressed in the most elegant lilac-coloured chiton that had silver lacings on it and a triangular pattern over at the bottom over her tail. Over her left hand, her peplos that was a whitish-blue with a similar design, but more transparent. The peplos also managed to serve as a sort of hood for her head.As the princess observed her features in the mirror, she couldn’t help but think along the likes of,‘Would Hiro like this appearance?’‘Maybe it’s too much make up for his taste?’‘Is this even enough to cover my blemishes?’Of course, Hiro was not going to be partaking in this event. In fact, he wouldn’t even know that it was happening and neither would he know about it. Still, a maiden in love could only dream, right?“You are looking absolutely stunning, your highness.”The one attend
The hell did I just hear? Did she just confirm that she was the mastermind? No way, right? There was definitely no way that she did it, right? No.I couldn’t doubt the possibility of her having done that. Knowing her, it was highly likely. And from what Sunalla said, the princess didn’t like it when things happened out of her control. A surprise invasion from an enemy nation definitely doesn’t sound like having everything under her control.Still, for her to go this far just for the throne. She was the worst kind of person. They’d do anything to achieve their goal, even if it negatively affected those looking up to her for support. She was worse than scum.I had several things to tell the princess, but no one else in the room heard our conversation. The princess simply said vague things in their eyes and ears. Maybe Sunalla and Osveta would believe that princess did something like that.The problem was if they gave a shit. They’d known her for sometime now so it was possible that they
That was completely sudden and out of nowhere for me. I never imagined to hear such a thing, least of all from an old man in a city that was thousands of feet underwater. Of course, after hearing such a thing I was intrigued in finding out more, but he kicked me out with the promise of trying to find a way to Minerva for me. He stole more strands of my hair though. Turns out he didn’t need the first strand for anything. He simply wanted it for his private reasons… creepy pervert.On the way back, I could tell that the princess was beaming with excitement. I asked why, but she told me not to think too much about it. In times like this, it was really annoying not being able to read her mind. The only solution was to keep pressuring her till she spoke, but she was tight lipped. In the end, I decided to ask if she knew about Vermillion.According to her, there wasn’t any concrete text about Vermillion, but her father had once told her that there was an individual named Vermillion who came