Chapter 154.2

"Are you sure that the owner of that land has the Jade Mirror?"

"It is already common knowledge among us. Why would I lie when my life is on the line?"

About two hundred kilometers from Ophen, on a battleship in the North Sea.

At the question of a mermaid with a sinister face, a young human man answered in a somewhat trembling voice.

Just from that, it was clear who held the upper hand between the two.

"Fine. If, as you say, he is sheltering the traitor of our race... I will keep my promise and spare your life. Your family's too."

Not long ago, House Carmine had been defeated by the Great Sea Serpent mermaids in battle, abandoning their capital, Avacha, and retreating inland.

The man was one of the few Carmine nobles captured alive by the mermaids during that battle.

The demand of the mermaids who captured him was simple.

If he knew about the existence of the traitor, Armania, who had disappeared with the Jade Mirror, he would be spared.

Naturally, the Carmine nobles who knew nothing about it expected death. However, unexpectedly, one solid clue emerged.

The fact that the traitor had absconded with the ancient relic used by mermaids for spatial transfer.

Coincidentally, had there not been rumors about House Parsha possessing a Sacred Relic for spatial transfer?

It was too timely to be a mere coincidence, and even the mermaids, after hearing it, seemed convinced.

Above all, when they heard the name of the Parsha family head, they became certain that he was hiding the traitor.

"Turan, that was definitely the name."

"Was he not one of those undying kinds too? If this continues, would we not just be creating another enemy?"

"We've already destroyed one of his cities, so he'll come looking for us. We can negotiate properly at that point."

The mermaid royalty sat chatting on the deck of the battleship they had taken from Carmine.

Just looking at them, it would be hard to imagine that below the deck, they had locked up hundreds of humans to serve as their snacks.

With his head deeply bowed, the Carmine noble could only hope that these mermaids would negotiate with the Parsha family head, retrieve the traitor, fight, or whatever it took, so that this dreadful time would finally end.

"Well, although they were quite strong, if we threaten them now, they will have no choice but to listen. After all, we already crushed one of the great noble houses they are so proud of."

As one of the mermaid royals boasted, the power of their clan, who had awakened as priests of the Great Sea Serpent, had reached an entirely different level from before.

Even one of those fallen gods, who had once commanded the devils with the Blue Coral Crown, could not withstand their repeated attacks on Avacha and was forced to retreat.

Of course, if they went too deep inland, they would surely be hunted down, so the mermaids themselves had no choice but to maintain a stalemate.

According to the human, the only port under the rule of Turan Parsha, the devil who was once Armania’s friend, was the one they had recently laid waste to.

Considering that ports and maritime transport hold significant importance in human cities, Turan would have no choice but to negotiate with them.

While they were still talking, the mermaid royals suddenly frowned and looked around.

"What is this?"

"Something feels strange—"

"Transform!"

At someone's urgent shout, the three mermaids immediately transformed into the form of Great Sea Serpents.

Naturally, the battleship they had been sitting on was instantly crushed, and all the humans aboard were crushed between the massive bodies of the three serpents, turning the sea blood-red.

The Carmine noble who had been their informant just moments ago, his family brought as hostages, and even those who had been captured as food, all were obliterated.

Of course, the mermaids had no time to care about such things.

The moment they transformed, a flash and a wave of heat erupted from nowhere and came flying toward them.

The beam of light that erupted from the empty air pierced the waist of one serpent and smashed half the face of another, producing an astonishing result.

[Khaaaak-!]

[Who—are you—!]

The cries of the enormous creatures, slightly smaller than the undead Great Sea Serpent that had once descended upon this ocean, but still so large that from a human’s perspective they appeared more like natural disasters than living beings.

Their roars whipped the surrounding waters into waves and storms, yet still no answer came.

[What the hell.......]

The mermaid whose body had been pierced murmured in a slightly thin voice, then flinched and looked up.

That subtle sense they had felt earlier was stirring once more.

Without needing to say a word, all three dived underwater simultaneously, just as another flash split the surface and vaporized a massive amount of seawater, sending up a great plume of steam.

If they had remained above water, they would have been hit again, just like before.

[Attack... completely unseen. Could it be them?]

[Zahar.]

They knew well about the existence of the devils who possessed Concealment abilities.

They had also heard rumors that Turan, whom they had provoked this time, was one such being.

What astonished them was the destructive power of the attack.

Even after taking the form of Great Sea Serpents, their scales had been shattered so easily?

Even during the previous battles, when they had been struck with massive boulders, the damage had not been this great.

Had their enemy grown that much stronger in such a short time? Or was it a hidden technique?

[Ah.]

Their thoughts were cut short as they widened their enormous eyes, sensing a familiar presence approaching from the distance.

Armania.

Once the one they had placed the greatest hopes in, but now the one who had betrayed their race and fled, was approaching.