Red alarm lights flashed across the infirmary walls like a rhythmic nightmare. The screams of the sirens outside fused with the density of the water, turning into a deafening roar. The palace was descending into absolute chaos.

  Hope gripped his scythe tightly. His mind calculated thousands of different scenarios within seconds, but right now the most important thing was the safety of the people he had left behind. He looked at Lypin sitting on the bed. The determined expression in the girl's eyes gave him at least a fragment of strength. Then his gaze shifted to the trembling blue slime crackling with electricity—Mira.

  Hope reached out and gently patted Mira's gelatinous head."Protect Lypin, little one," he said, his voice firm and commanding. "She's entrusted to you. Do not leave this place."

  Mira chirped as if she understood and pressed closer to Lypin, the yellow electric veins inside her blue body glowing brighter.

  Hope turned and rushed out of the infirmary into the corridors ruled by chaos. Palace guards were running in every direction, Scale-Skin soldiers preparing their spears as they attempted to descend toward the dungeon sector. Moving against the crowd, Hope advanced unseen using [Shadow Step]. His main focus was not the Prince or Octavia.

  His main focus was Princess Elara.

  That girl had betrayed her own family just to help him and Lypin. He could not leave her alone in the middle of this chaos.

  He had just turned toward the East Wing where Elara's chambers were located when—

  BOOOOOOM!

  Another massive explosion rippled through the water and shook the palace foundations. The force made Hope's ears ring; fine cracking sounds came from the surrounding glass domes. He looked up. The green flames in his eyes flared.

  The explosion had come directly from the East Wing. From the very block where Elara's room was.

  "No…" Hope whispered. His heart skipped. He was not ready for another loss.

  He poured all his speed into his legs and activated [Flame Spirit: Propulsion], shooting forward through the water like a torpedo. Within seconds he reached the East Wing.

  What he saw froze his blood.

  Elara's room and the entire connected block had been completely destroyed. Massive coral pillars lay shattered, gold-inlaid walls reduced to rubble. A cloud of dust and debris slowly drifted upward through the water like a heavy fog.

  Elara was nowhere to be seen.

  Hope's breath caught in his throat. Judging by the severity of the destruction, it was impossible for anyone inside to have survived.

  "Elara!" he shouted, swimming toward the wreckage. "Elara, answer me!"

  There was no response.

  Hope thought she had been killed in the attack. The gray-white flames within him flared violently with guilt and rage.

  Then he noticed a silhouette floating directly above the wreckage, suspended in the water as if gravity held no authority there.

  Octavia.

  The Octopus Princess drifted with unnatural ease, broken pieces of torn chains still hanging from her wrists. Thick purple tentacles extended from her back, moving through the water as if she were dancing. A pure, sick pleasure shone on her face.

  She was the one who had destroyed the building.

  Hope's eyes narrowed. He spun his scythe in his right hand and extended his left palm outward. Green flames gathered within it, hissing and spiraling in the water. He was ready at any moment to unleash a lethal flame strike or launch forward with his scythe.

  "How did you get out of there?!" Hope roared, his voice muffled but furious in the water. "And what did you do to Elara?!"

  Octavia slowly lowered her head to look at him, her wild grin widening further. Her voice slipped back into that sadistic, sensual, unsettling tone.

  "Aaa… is that how you greet me, darling?" she said, licking her lips with her long, forked tongue. Her tentacles moved gracefully as she drifted closer to him. "I came out for you. I left that dark hole only for your beautiful green eyes. Won't you give me a welcome kiss?"

  Hope did not yield a single millimeter. The green flame in his palm grew larger.

  "I was going to rescue you," he said through clenched teeth. "That was the plan. Elara wanted it too. Why did you attack her? Where is she?"

  He paused for a second and glanced back at the massive rubble.

  "I hope… I truly hope she isn't under that wreckage, Octavia. Otherwise, the consequences for you will be very unpleasant."

  Rather than fear the open threat, Octavia seemed to enjoy it even more. She giggled and shrugged.

  "That angry look of yours… excites me even more, darling," she whispered, her eyes gleaming dangerously. "Do you want to fight me? Do you want to burn me with those flames? I love men as hard as you."

  When she realized Hope was truly about to attack, she suddenly sighed theatrically and rolled her eyes.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  "But unfortunately," she said with a pout, "…that little princess is alive. She didn't die. When I noticed that idiot assassin following you, I threw her into a hidden passage. Killing someone who risked everything to reach my cell wouldn't suit me."

  She brushed her hair back with one of her tentacles.

  "After all, I am a princess too, darling. I have a few principles of my own."

  Hope felt the crushing weight on his shoulders lift. He exhaled deeply.

  Elara was alive.

  In that moment of relief, he unconsciously lowered his scythe slightly. His guard dropped for a single second.

  He closed his eyes for a single second.

  Only a second.

  But that was enough for Prince Nereus.

  BOOM!

  A terrifying pressure wave descended from the upper levels of the palace, splitting the water in two.

  [ANCIENT SUMMONING: SPIRIT OF MOSASAUR]

  The massive, ghostly prehistoric beast manifested from nothing without warning. Its jaws were as wide as cathedral gates. The Mosasaur shot downward like a bullet and swallowed Octavia whole in a single motion. The sound of its colossal teeth clashing echoed like thunder at the bottom of the ocean.

  Prince Nereus descended gracefully through the water until he was level with Hope. His face was expressionless. His eyes were cold.

  "What were you talking about with her, Architect?" Nereus asked, suspicion in his voice.

  Hope immediately composed himself and gestured toward the ruins behind him.

  "Elara's chamber was destroyed," he said, layering his voice with fabricated concern. "I asked whether the one she attacked was Elara. I was assigned to protect her."

  He glanced at the enormous Mosasaur silhouette suspended in the water, attempting to digest Octavia.

  "Why are you attacking her? What harm does her freedom bring you? You were keeping her imprisoned for no reason."

  Nereus smirked faintly as if the question were laughably shallow.

  "Forget it, Architect," he said dismissively. "This is not something your superficial mind can comprehend."

  But at that very moment…

  Strange distortions rippled through the Mosasaur's enormous ghostly body. The creature began writhing as if in agony, thrashing its colossal tail.

  Then—

  From its throat toward its mouth, immense pressure pushed outward from within. Ghostly flesh tore apart. Blue, spiritual blood scattered through the water. The Mosasaur's jaws split open from the inside.

  And from between those split jaws burst Octavia—covered in blood, yet looking as if she was savoring every second of it.

  "IS THAT THE BEST YOU CAN DO, YOU PATHETIC PRINCE?!" Octavia roared. The force of her voice created sonic waves through the water as she tore apart the Mosasaur's remains with her tentacles. "IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANYTHING ELSE TO ENTERTAIN ME WITH, I'LL SUMMON THE KRAKEN AND FUCK ALL OF ATLANTIS! COME ON! ATTACK ME!"

  Her face was a twisted mixture of pure psychopathy and the ecstatic joy of an overexcited child. Years of bottled fury had finally been unleashed.

  The arrogant expression vanished from Prince Nereus's face. He clenched his teeth.

  "Fall back, Architect," the Prince said without taking his eyes off Octavia. "This is my prey."

  Hope did not know which side he should support. So he obeyed and withdrew.

  Nereus spread both arms wide. Blinding golden light burst from his palms. The water seemed to boil under the sheer magnitude of the energy. The light slowly solidified into a massive single-headed spear in his hand. Its tip gleamed as if forged in the sun itself. It was clearly one of the royal treasury's most precious relics.

  Octavia laughed when she saw it.

  "Ooo…" she clapped mockingly. "So you were deemed worthy of one of Atlantis' treasures. Is that the reward your father gave you for orchestrating my mother's death and stabbing my people in the back?"

  She tilted her head and looked at the spear with disdain.

  "A single-headed spear? Is that all? Not even close to your father's legendary Trident, is it, pitiful prince?"

  The words were a poisoned arrow straight into Nereus's ego.

  He said nothing.

  He simply drew back his arm and hurled the golden spear with a force that completely ignored the resistance of the water. It moved too fast to follow, leaving a golden streak behind it.

  Octavia merely tilted her head slightly to the side. The spear passed within millimeters of her ear and embedded itself into a coral tower behind her, blowing it apart.

  "Hm," she shrugged. "Better than I expected. But not enough—"

  Nereus raised two fingers of his right hand and gestured.

  Come.

  Before Octavia could comprehend what was happening, the golden spear shot back from where it had landed.

  By the time she sensed the danger, it was too late.

  CRACK!

  As it returned, the spear severed Octavia's right arm cleanly at the shoulder. The severed limb drifted downward, spilling black blood into the water.

  "AHH!" she screamed.

  But it was not a scream of pain.

  A second later, she began laughing. The sound echoed wildly.

  "Good! Good! Good! Good!" she shouted, staring at her torn shoulder. "NOW WE'RE STARTING TO HAVE FUN!"

  The black blood erupting from her shoulder instantly hardened. Bones and muscles reconstructed within seconds. Her arm regenerated completely as if it had never been severed. She flexed her black nails.

  Nereus caught the returning spear. His eyes narrowed.

  "How did you escape that dungeon?" he asked, his voice a lethal whisper.

  Octavia rolled her eyes.

  "I don't owe you an answer," she said. Then she tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Actually… you did just rip my arm off. I wasn't expecting that. To be honest, you surprised me. So yes… you deserve one answer."

  She spread her arms wide, a demonic triumph glowing on her face.

  "I escaped the cell…" she said slowly, "…because you tore my arms off."

  Nereus frowned. "What?"

  "If you're too stupid to follow, I'll show you."

  And then she did something unimaginable.

  With her right hand, Octavia grabbed her newly regenerated left arm and, with a savage scream, tore it off her own shoulder.

  Hope's stomach churned. She was completely insane.

  Black ink-like blood poured from the severed limb and spread through the water.

  But it did not disperse.

  It did not mix.

  Every droplet froze in place. They formed a line. Then, as if controlled by a single consciousness, all the blood began moving in synchronized patterns, spinning and drawing complex geometric shapes around her.

  [Ink Blood: Blood Manipulation]

  "I can control my blood, Prince!" Octavia shouted, staring at the black halos swirling around her. "For years, while you tortured me in that cell, while you cut into my flesh, you were actually forging me a weapon! I was only waiting to accumulate enough blood to unlock every seal from the inside. And for my family to gather the great army that will destroy Atlantis!"

  For the first time, real shock appeared in Nereus's eyes.

  With his own hands, through his own cruelty, he had given his enemy the key to her escape.

  How had he been so blind?

  But there was no time for regret.

  Nereus brought his fingers to his mouth and let out a sharp, piercing whistle.

  At the sound, hundreds of fully armed Scale-Skin Atlantis soldiers emerged from the surrounding shadows of the palace. All of them aimed their electrified spears at Octavia. An entire army surrounded a single girl.

  Octavia smiled mockingly at the sight.

  "Are you that much of a coward?" she asked, deep disappointment in her voice. "Are you really going to hide behind an entire army, Nereus?"

  She yawned dramatically.

  "You Sirens are all the same. Weak. Cowardly. And… BORING!"

  Octavia threw her head back and released the most horrifying, shrill, and abyssal summoning scream ever heard.

  It sounded like the birth cry of a monster.

  With that scream, the clear, glowing waters surrounding the palace suddenly turned venomous black. Atlantis was plunged into pitch darkness. The lights went out.

  Within that vast ocean-devouring darkness, the only source of light was Octavia's bloodthirsty, violently glowing purple eyes.

  Her voice echoed from the void like thousands of demons whispering at once.

  "If this is how you want to play… then I'll play by your rules, Prince."