Agitation sets in in the capital of the Naga Empire; in the last ten days, the Naga people have not stopped commenting on a possible revolt, and not even the fear of the King and his cruel troops have stopped citizens from showing their support for the Queen.
But now that a considerable troop gets in position in the eastern part of the great barrier and rumors of the princess, and especially of the new prince consort leaving the city, appear, fear starts to take over the population again.
It was because Mira got a supposed High Demon as her defender that people believed she actually had a chance. But now that he is apparently leaving, people are wondering what will happen.
Will he come back? Will the Queen continue the revolution alone? Will she show up all injured the next day after the King unleashes his fury over her? These questions make everyone apprehensive.
Not even the revolution leaders, the soldiers most loyal to Mira, can answer those questions because, for Lucien's plans to work, Tyrion cannot find out that she is leaving the city with him.
Everything Mira tells her people is not to give up hope and be prepared, which is enough to motivate a significant part of the population but not everyone, of course.
As soon as Tyrion's messenger contacts Lucien, he goes to Kamala's bedroom and finds Mira looking out the window with a concerned expression.
"Is everyone ready?" Kamala asks.
"Yes, they are waiting for us at the east exit." He answers.
Mira sighs. "Since that terrible encounter with the Leviathan, I have not left the protection of this barrier. I always told myself that I was doing it to protect my people, but the truth is that I was just afraid of the creature."
"One thing does not exclude the other." Lucien comments as he approaches Mira and hugs her from behind, giving her body, mind, and heart so much comfort.
"Hehehe..." She giggles. "Maybe it was a little bit of both."
"Don't worry." He says as he kisses her neck and caresses her waist. "We are getting closer and closer to freeing your people of Tyrion, and whatever the Leviathan wants, it has to do with devouring me to absorb the knowledge of soul power and not to do you any harm."
Mira tilts her head and gazes at Lucien with a slightly annoyed expression. "Devouring you is certainly doing me harm since I'm your wife now."
He can't help but smile. "Then don't let her devour me."
She smiles lovingly at him, and at that moment, she begins to realize that his safety is becoming more and more important to her in ways she cannot control.
The romantic atmosphere between Lucien and Mira quickly begins to spread, leaving Kamala both happy and jealous. Then she approaches and joins their embrace.
After a few kisses, Lucien sends Mira to the purple world while l.u.s.t uses her demonic energy to create a barrier around them, leaving Tyrion and Tanu's spies confused.
Then he and Kamala head to the east exit of the city. Even though all the cities in the Naga Kingdom are set deep into the ocean, especially in the area known as dark waters, where sunlight doesn't reach, the Naga people still like to build big walls around their towns.
In the capital of the Naga Empire, the walls are behind the great protective tree barrier, as the Nagas are sure that nothing would pa.s.s through that barrier. But in other cities, where there are only weaker barriers, supplied by fragments of the protective tree, the walls stand in front of the barriers as an extra layer of protection.
A crowd of people follows Lucien and Kamala to the east gates, where black guards open a part of the barrier for them to pa.s.s.
Only people who have the fruit from the protective tree can make the barrier open, and of course, Tyrion only lets his most loyal soldier have those fruits, just like Mira and Kamala.
Outside the city, Lucien sees about 5,000 blackguards and 2,500 ferocious mystic sharks. Those creatures have a power equivalent to the Sky Realm's middle stage, and their intelligence is already similar to that of normal people, although they don't have a demi-human form as it wouldn't bring them any advantage inside the sea.
Seeing Lucien's curious expression, Kamala quickly explains. "We use these sharks to travel large distances down here; they are as fast in the water as Immortal Realm people, so we don't get tired swimming for many hours."
"Hmm…" Lucien can't help but wonder what kind of mounts would be suitable for his army of women. "I bet they are good companions in battle too."
She nods. "Such creatures are as intelligent as people, but they are much more loyal. And they are not aggressive because they know they benefit from being under the care of our people."
As soon as Kamala finishes speaking, a guard brings a huge white shark to her. The creature looks much bigger and powerful than the other sharks.
"Bina!" Kamala exclaims and quickly pets the white shark, which looks pretty excited to be reunited with her Master.
The blackguard tries to appear as neutral as possible, but only Lucien notices when the man quickly winks at him, making him somewhat uncomfortable as well as certain that he is one of Jai's friends, the Nagas loyal to Mira.
"The King had us prepare her for you, Princess." The guard reports to Kamala respectfully.
Kamala ignores the guard and talks to Lucien while hugging the white shark. "She's my best friend, and I just didn't take her to the surface with me because I would deal with those pirates, and it wouldn't be safe for her there."
"She is beautiful." Lucien smiles and approaches the white shark, who is without a doubt one of the most ferocious creatures of her species, but instinctively likes him.
He pets Bina, shocking everyone around. But Kamala already expected that as she knows how everything about him is extremely attractive to any female, especially the smart ones.
Lucien can't help but look at Bina's saddle and wonder how the Nagas, who have no legs, ride on sharks.
Kamala starts laughing when she realizes that. Then she points to one of the two handles on the side of the saddle. "We travel holding these handles, and each mystic shark can carry up to two people like that without losing speed."
"I see." He smiles.
Then he looks at the blackguard. "Is everyone ready to go?"
"Yes, sir." The guard quickly nods. "The King wanted to come in person to say goodbye and wish you a good journey, but he is too busy with Kingdom issues."
Lucien looks at the crowd of people behind the barrier as l.u.s.t comments in his mind. 'Busy? That bag of s.h.i.+t can't even leave the castle because everyone is supporting the Queen, and he doesn't want to start slaughtering his own people and end up without a Kingdom to rule.'
'Anyway, we have to get back as soon as possible, or he might actually end up killing everyone who disagrees with him.' Lucien comments.
Then he looks at the guard again. "So, let's not waste any more time."
The guard bows respectfully before returning to the formation. Then Lucien holds on to one of Bina's saddle handles while Kamala holds the one on the other side, and the white shark obeys their command, going to the front of the troops.
"Let's go!" Lucien speaks, and the blackguards follow his command as Tyrion ordered. But half of them already follow him out of loyalty to Mira.
Kamala guides Bina along the way as Lucien doesn't know that place, and all he sees is a vast infinity of darkness. There are still luminous plants everywhere, but the number is much lower than in the Naga city, and there are no magical lighting artifacts around.
Yet, he can see better than any Naga in the dark waters of that region due to his super senses. And there are still l.u.s.t's magical senses to complement, so along the way, the party is never caught off guard by dangerous sea creatures.
The mystic sharks can travel for an entire day before needing to rest for a few minutes, but after fifteen hours, Lucien stops the group, still deep in the dark part of the ocean.
Kamala literally knows his thoughts, but the blackguards are confused, and that guard who winked at Lucien before, approaches him with a very respectful posture.
"Is there any problem, my Lord?" He asks.
Lucien looks at those five thousand soldiers with a severe expression, which already makes them all, even those loyal to Mira, tremble in fear. The scene of him slaughtering those blackguards who were disrespectful to her is still clear in the minds of many of them, as are the rumors of him being a ruthless and cruel devil.
He doesn't say anything but starts to open the purple world portal, shocking the guards, especially when they see Mira come out of it and stand beside him.
Lucien wraps his arm around Mira's waist, not hiding their relations.h.i.+p, something that many people have already speculated on. Yet, that greatly infuriates the guards loyal to Tyrion, or rather, makes them fear the King's fury due to that betrayal.
But those loyal to Mira smile, happy that she has someone to support her, unlike the way Tyrion treated her for so many years.
Lucien looks at Mira, and his next words make fear take over most of those soldiers, especially those not loyal to her.
"We have to clean up the trash."
"Indeed." She agrees.
-----------------------------------
Unlike the cold darkness of the ocean bottom, above it, the sky is clear, and the sun is s.h.i.+ning. Well, it was like that a few minutes ago, but dark clouds appear on the distant horizon, leaving the Sea Devil's crew concerned.
"Is that a normal storm, or..." Scarlett wonders as she starts to veer the course of the s.h.i.+p.
"The Leviathan?" Olivia completes her thoughts with the question that the other girls also have.
"That's not the creature." Maya quickly speaks. "That's a place we call the central region."
"Central region?" Envy sarcastically asks because as the Blue Star is supposed to be a globe, Its central region should be a very specific point in the deepest part of the ocean.
"Yes." Maya nods and quickly explains. "There is a powerful sea current that runs through the whole Blue Star, from one side to the other, creating on both sides a mystical area where there are always storms."
She continues. "Only the most powerful people in the Blue Star can explore that mystical place and find precious treasures there. However, that place is very dangerous, as are the storms around it."
"I'm already changing the course," Scarlett speaks. "We're going to have to get around this storm."
"Won't that make us waste a lot of time?" Donna asks.
"Maybe just a day or two, but it's better than risking getting into that storm and not leaving with an entire s.h.i.+p or even our lives." Maya speaks despite the fact that she wouldn't actually die, even in the worst cases.
The girls understand that the storm is dangerous, but only they know that more than two days away from Lucien would be like years of torture.
As they work out a solution, Valencia approaches the helm with a determined expression. "We don't need to miss these two days, nor are we going to take any risk by crossing the central region in this s.h.i.+p."
Maya rolls her eyes, but Valencia gets Pride's attention. "What are you talking about?"
"As I said, this s.h.i.+p can take us through any storm safely." Valencia explains.
"Are you sure about that?" Sloth asks.
"Yeah." She nods. "This s.h.i.+p was made especially for me, and only I know its true potential, as well as how to use it in the best way."
The girls wonder if they can really trust Valencia, something that Maya is clearly against, of course.
"Is she telling the truth?" Wrath thinks aloud.
"I'm sure she does." Envy responds. "I mean, you know she'll do whatever it takes to find Lucien again."
The girls can't disagree with that, and Scarlett quickly lets go of the helm, giving control of the s.h.i.+p to Valencia. "Anything to get us back to Hubby as soon as possible."
"Nothing will stop us from reaching him!" Valencia smiles as she tries to contain the desperate desire that overwhelms her body, mind, and soul, driving her closer and closer to madness but also more determined to find Lucien.
And so, she activates the flight engine, taking the Sea Devil above the dark clouds while also activating Its maximum barriers and other functions that the girls would take months to figure out on their own.