Be careful, don't die...
(~˘▾˘)~Don't forget to send your power-stones! ~(˘▾˘~)
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"This is exactly why I'm here.
I managed to escape from the clutches of the Deep Trench Tribe and made it here."
Atlanna looked at Mera with a complex expression. The little girl who used to be like a mermaid had grown up. She wondered how her two sons were doing.
"You've been here alone for twenty years?"
Mera couldn't believe it.
Why didn't she leave? The people of Atlantis had long believed that their former queen was dead, but they had no idea that she was still alive and well.
"Getting out of this world is harder than coming in."
Atlanna shook her head. "Without the power of the Trident, there is no way to return to the surface."
To enter this place, she had to escape from the mouths of millions, even tens of millions, of sea monsters from the Deep Trench Tribe. And to leave, she would rather face ten times the encirclement and pursuit of the trench tribe.
At least the chance of success was not zero.
"How did you end up here?"
She had no choice but to flee into the depths of the abyss, but why had Mera been sacrificed to the Deep Trench Tribe by Atlantis?
"Who is he?"
She looked at David beside her.
Atlanna faintly felt a great sense of pressure emanating from this young man, as if a small fish in the deep sea had encountered a monstrous creature.
After this young man had arrived here, this little world where she had lived for twenty years seemed different.
She felt like she was in the mouth of a huge monster, and her life and death depended on its whim.
"He says the Trident of Neptune is here, and he came to retrieve that treasure.
As I... was taken hostage."
Mera stole a glance at David, who seemed to be sensing something with his eyes closed, and answered in a hushed voice.
"Hostage?"
Atlanna frowned, keeping a wary eye on David.
"He's right. The Trident of Neptune is here."
"Is it really here?"
Despite having a vague premonition after seeing this strange little world, (T/N: Should I use the word 'dimension' here? Or is it alright?) Mera couldn't help but be surprised to have it confirmed.
The lost treasure of Atlantis had been in the habitat of one of the Seven Tribes all this time?
Did this surface dweller really know where the Trident was and had simply chosen not to retrieve it?
"Regardless of his reasons for seeking the Trident, he won't get his hands on it."
Hearing Atlanna's slightly elevated tone, David knew that she was addressing him. He opened his eyes and looked at the current King of the Seven Seas and the future King's mother.
"The remains of the first King of Atlantis and the Trident of Neptune are guarded by the deep-sea monster, Karathen.
It's behind the waterfall in the canyon."
Atlanna pointed to a canyon where a waterfall tumbled down behind the island, and she lightly chuckled, exuding the poise and elegance befitting a queen.
"Only a true king can retrieve it."
She not only didn't conceal it but also helped David locate the Trident.
However, David had already sensed it through gravity manipulation a while ago – the Trident held by the remains of the first King of Atlantis and the creature behind the waterfall.
'Karathen, two kilometers in length, with the front half resembling deep-sea crustaceans and the back half featuring tentacles like an octopus.'
An unimaginably colossal creature, akin to an immovable mountain.
"What does the lady mean by a true king?"
David asked, seemingly interested.
"I don't know,"
Atlanna replied, her eyes flashing as she earnestly advised, "If you don't have the blood of the Atlantis royal family, I suggest you refrain from attempting."
"Karathen has killed anyone who sought the Trident in the past. Its power is beyond your imagination. Even the King of Atlantis with the Trident was not its match. No one can defeat Karathen."
Over the years, she had made countless attempts. If it weren't for her pure bloodline as the descendant of the first King of Atlantis, she would have long since died beneath those huge tentacles.
Mera was at a loss for words.
Did the first King of Atlantis never intend for anyone to possess the Trident?
If having the Trident of Neptune wouldn't help against Karathen, how could one obtain it by going through Karathen, and pass the test with bare hands(without a good weapon)? Do you still need the Trident??
"Land-dweller, you've heard it too. You'd better give up your ambitions," she looked at David.
"Well, since I'm here, do you think I'll leave empty-handed?"
David chuckled.
"A sea monster no one can defeat? I'd like to give it a try."
He looked beyond the waterfall as if his gaze penetrated it, but he remained motionless.
"Even if you give up now, no one will ridicule you, land-dweller."
Mera thought David was hesitating at this crucial moment, and displayed a slight fear on her beautiful face.
"After all, that's Karathen."
Although Karathen had disappeared for a long time, it had always been the nightmare of the Atlanteans, the protagonist of terrifying stories they told their children to not do naughty things. Living in the depths of the sea, it was a monstrous creature capable of sinking an entire island with a single blow.
Atlanna frowned and looked around. She had an eerie feeling that something was amiss, and the earlier sensation grew stronger, as if the invisible giant monster was moving.
Buzz!
The air hummed as an invisible force went into action, causing the stones on the island's surface to tremble.
Mera stumbled backward due to the sudden disturbance.
"Be careful, don't die at this moment. You're still useful to me," David said with a smile, then slowly ascended into the sky.
He had brought Mera here not only to unite the Ocean Master Orm and the King of Xebel and gather all the Atlanteans but also for another purpose.
After he ruled Atlantis, he couldn't stay at the bottom of the sea all the time. If he wanted someone to handle governmental and other affairs, the current King, Orm, would definitely not be able to do it. Mera was undoubtedly a better choice.
'A high-ranking princess, willing to accept a cold political marriage for her country and her people, marrying someone she doesn't even like.'
An excellent object for both threat and manipulation.
"What?"
Mera didn't understand what David was talking about. Wasn't he going to challenge Karathen behind the waterfall? Why was he warning her?
The next moment, Mera found out the answer.
Atlanna's pupils suddenly contracted, and she looked in the direction of the distant canyon.
Rumbling!
The earth shook, the waterfall reversed its flow, and the canyon seemed to be torn apart by two unseen colossal hands as if the entire island were about to be split in half like fragile paper.
A massive fissure was brutally torn open by unimaginable power, revealing the deep sea hidden beneath the island.
Looking up, the man hovering in the sky seemed like a god who controlled everything in the world. With a wave of his hand, he had torn the earth apart. This scene was etched deeply in the eyes of both Mera and Atlanna, causing waves of astonishment and fear to surge in their hearts, their mouths hanging open.
Beneath the deep sea, a resting and slumbering behemoth abruptly opened its eyes as if awakened from a dream. It looked around, and the seawater became restless as an invisible, immense force enveloped it.
Pulling it upward.
Roar!
Karathen emitted an angry roar, causing the entire ocean to boil. It attempted to break free from the force, swinging its mountainous tentacles, which sent a horrifying surge of power bursting through thousands of tons of seawater, creating a void.
Boom!
But the force was everywhere and couldn't be dispersed. It violently pulled Karathen from the seabed, breaking through towering waves until it breached the ocean's surface.
"Karathen!"
As the all-encompassing shadow cast darkness over the island, both Mera and Atlanna stared in disbelief at the deep-sea monster roaring and struggling under the open sky, still inevitably being pulled out from the depths of the ocean.
Their gazes turned toward the figure in the sky who had unleashed this earth-shattering power.
"Oh God!..."
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(~˘▾˘)~Is it only me or all of Atlanna's thoughts and sentences have double meanings?~(˘▾˘~)
(~˘▾˘)~Don't forget to send your power-stones!~(˘▾˘~)