Under Valencia's command, the Sea Devil flies into the storm around Blue Star's most dangerous and mysterious area.
The girls can't see anything amid that furious storm, and neither can the Sins feel the presence of any creatures within several miles due to how high Valencia takes the s.h.i.+p.
Due to strong winds, the Sea Devil loses more than half its speed; however, the rainwater is converted into energy for the s.h.i.+p, and Valencia does as promised, getting everyone safely through the storm.
Eight long hours later, the s.h.i.+p emerges from the storm, and the girls see a beautiful open sky alongside the infinite blue and calm sea ahead.
"Phew…" Valencia wipes the sweat from her forehead as she steps away from the wheel and sits on the deck sofa. "This was harder than I thought."
Scarlett quickly takes control of the s.h.i.+p again as she looks at Valencia with an expression of grat.i.tude. "You did a great job."
"Don't praise this snake, or you'll regret it later," Maya comments as she gazes at Valencia. Due to her naturally naive personality, she has believed in Valencia in the past, only to be deceived by her, not once but three times.
"Hehehe..." Valencia smiles at her. "Now everything is different. I'm no longer a pirate leader but just a woman in search of her man."
"Who is your man?!?" Amelia makes a mocking expression. "I wonder who is really naive here..."
Pride shakes her head. "This is no time for this s.h.i.+t; control your wet p.u.s.s.ies because there are dozens of people coming our way, many in the Sky Realm, and even a few ones in the Immortal Realm."
"Enemies?" Wrath thinks aloud.
"Probably the mermaids." Maya comments. "We are in their territory, and they must think we are Nagas, attacking them again."
"Stop the s.h.i.+p!" Eve orders as she flies in front of the Sea Devil after Daisy deactivates the barrier. "I'll talk to them."
Sophia flies after Eve on her floating pillow and takes Amelia and Donna with her. They fly about half a mile before seeing a figure emerge from the water.
That person is a woman with short blue hair. Her upper body skin looks covered in organic armor, and her demi-human traits, as well as her fish-kind long tail, swinging underwater, make it clear she's a mermaid.
Seeing that Eve is human, the mermaid speaks a common language and in a neutral tone. "Who are you? Pirates??"
Before Eve can say anything, Maya reaches her side and speaks to the mermaid. "They are allies of my Rising Phoenix Clan."
Maya's look is unmistakable, and the mermaid quickly recognizes her. "The Rising Phoenix Clan matriarch..."
"Our peoples have been allies for hundreds of years, so there's nothing to fear," Maya speaks.
That mermaid sighs as other mermaids emerge from the water beside her, everyone holding weapons and ready to fight. "Times are strange now... we are under severe attacks, so it is not easy for my people to trust others easily."
"I completely understand you," Maya responds. "But your Queen sente me a message after my daughter was captured by Nagas when she tried to help your people. I am here to cooperate with you for mutual benefit."
That mermaid makes a thoughtful expression as she looks at her friends. "That sounds reasonable, but what about these humans with you? And that s.h.i.+p... it looks like the Sea Devil, the s.h.i.+p of the d.a.m.n pirates who kidnap mermaids for years..."
"My brother took that s.h.i.+p and killed the pirates," Eve speaks in a proud tone. "But we parted ways next, and now we're looking for help to find him again..."
Maya nods. "We are all allies here."
"Hmm..." That mermaid actually believes Maya and Eve's words, but then another mermaid comes out of the water and whispers something in her ear.
She makes a confused and shocked expression. "Are there two vampires in your s.h.i.+p?? What does that mean???"
Although the races of the Sven Stars are supposedly allies, their relations.h.i.+ps vary widely. In the case of relations.h.i.+ps with Vampires, things are even more complicated as they constantly try to persuade other races to accept them as the leaders of their alliance with policies and even some obscure methods.
So it's normal for the Mermaids to get apprehensive when they notice Daisy and Rose's presence in Sea Devil.
Eve notices that and quickly thinks of something. "We don't respond to any particular race. We're just a family linked by one person and loyal only to that person."
The mermaid makes a dubious expression. "What person is capable of making humans and vampires live together?"
"Our husband." Astrid speaks in a proud tone as she flies to Sophia's side, followed by Angela, who brings the other girls onto the floating platforms.
The group of mermaids can't help but notice how varied the group of girls is. But they make strange expressions when they see Anne and Else among the girls.
The Sins notice those expressions, and Envy mentally comments to her Sisters. 'I thought the Fox people had good relations with the Mermaids...'
'It looks like something has changed.' Pride comments.
'Does it have to do with Adeline's past and those cursed swords?' Sloth wonder.
'Anyway, Greed must know more about that than we do.' Gluttony also partic.i.p.ates in the conversation.
Meanwhile, the leader of that group of Mermaids looks again at Eve and Maya. "What exactly happened to your husband?"
Without losing their proud posture, they blush, and Maya quickly shakes her head. "He is not my husband."
"He is my brother." Eve complements and quickly continues. "And I prefer not to talk about it with anyone but your Queen."
The mermaid thinks for a few seconds before sighing. "Alright... but I can't take you to my Queen directly. Let's go to a fort, thirty miles from here, where we can send a message to her."
Eve and Maya look at each other before nodding to the mermaid. "Okay."
Then the group of Mermaids escorts the Sea Devil to the fort they mentioned. It's easy to see that something big is happening in the Mermaid Kingdom as only a hundred soldiers make up the group that defends an area of a thousand miles in that part of the border.
Lucien's wives only see a tall tower in the middle of the sea, but the Mermaid Fort is a large submerged castle. Marie and Lena are curious about the place, but they ignore the urge to explore it as all they want now is to find Lucien.
The Fort Captain orders the other Mermaids to watch over Eve's party as she sets up a magical mechanism to send a quick message to the capital of the Mermaid Kingdom.
The response of Nea, the Mermaid Queen, comes back in just a few minutes, ordering the Fort Captain to escort Maya and Eve's party to the capital immediately and to treat them with all possible respect, making it clear that they are already her honored guests.
As apart from Angela and her daughters, the other girls don't have any advantage in the water, the Fort captain joins the Sea Devil crew, and together they head to the capital of the Mermaid Kingdom.
Away from Lucien, everything seems extremely boring for his girls, and that, added to the fact that they can't satisfy their female needs without him, makes the journey excruciating for everyone.
And in that sad and concerned atmosphere, the girls resist for a whole week. That time should be much longer, even for Immortal Realm people from sea races.
Still, with Valencia's advice, Scarlett and the other girls manage to make the Sea Devil cross that vast distance with extreme speed, turning air and water into energy to recharge magic crystals.
At the start of the eighth day, the Fort captain approaches Eve and Maya on the deck. "No one will believe we made a journey of usually a month in only a week..."
Eve is confused as she looks at the horizon but sees only water. "Are we there yet? I don't see anything."
"Maybe the city is submerged since they are a sea race." Marie comments.
"In part." The Mermaid Captain smiles. "Half of our cities are underwater, but the other part is above the sea as we like fresh air and the warmth of the sunlight."
"So why can't we see anything???" Donna is impatient. In fact, her mood is getting worse the longer she is away from Lucien.
"There is an illusory barrier ahead." Pride explains as she and the other Sins can see the giant city behind that barrier.
After being surrounded by a large group of Mermaids, the Sea Devil moves on and crosses the illusory barrier, allowing the girls to see that city as well.
Made with very detailed and refined architecture, tall crystal buildings create a beautiful image of the ocean.
These crystals seem to be made of running water that magically moves between buildings just like columns of water rise up to beyond the clouds.
"The water seems to be alive!" Lena exclaims as she likes that place more and more.
"It's really magical..." Ghilanna comments, also impressed, as well as all the other girls.
Even concerned about Lucien, the girls cannot help but be fascinated by the beautiful capital of the Mermaid Kingdom. And they all wish he were there to enjoy that view with them.
The Mermaid people are also very curious about the group as it is very rare for a s.h.i.+p to enter their capital, especially with humans.
And as a commotion quickly rises up, big creatures emerge from the front of the great royal castle. However, those creatures are not made of flesh and bones but just water.
Drawing everyone's attention, those creatures fly around the Sea Devil, announcing the arrival of the Mermaid Queen. Dolphins, whales, stingrays, and other peaceful sea creatures made only from crystal clear water make a beautiful show.
Then Nea emerges from the water in glowing armor that only covers small specific parts of her body but creates a powerful protective barrier over her skin.
She holds a beautiful crystal blue spear in her hand and maintains a neutral posture as she gazes at Eve's group. She doesn't try to do anything special; however, just her normal way of standing already radiates grace like a real Queen.
And Nea doesn't contain her aura as she notices the presence of strange energies coming from Lucien's girls. She doesn't feel any hostility from them, but she also doesn't want to show any weakness in front of outsiders.
'Immortal Realm peak.' Pride mentally comments to Eve and the other Sins while keeping her presence hidden. They have no intention of hiding anything special but revealing that they are the Seven Deadly Sins could create problems, making it difficult for them to find Lucien faster.
'She is really powerful by a medium world's standards.' Wrath comments.
'She is probably one of the oldest people in this world.' Sloth responds.
While most of the Sins are focused on Nea's strength, Envy is more interested in the treasures on her body, especially the beautiful jewelry she has.
'Look at those jewels... I bet Greed is around.' Envy comments.
'It's very likely.' Gluttony comments. 'Since she wasn't with the pirates, she must be with the Mermaids because the other option would be with the Nagas in the dark part of the ocean.'
While the Sins speculate about their Sister, Lucien's other wives look at Nea in the face. Many of them also have that royal aura of a Queen; though, they have the advantage of being influenced by the aura of Pride.
A strange silence makes everyone confused, but then Nea's neutral expression quickly turns into a gentle and friendly smile, just like Maya's.
"Welcome to Crystal City, Maya, my friend!" Nea exclaims as she flies towards the Sea Devil's deck.
"Nea!" Maya also greets the Mermaid Queen as she flies towards her and they hug in the air like close friends.
The Mermaids are extremely gentle and naturally peaceful creatures, so it's natural that they get along very well with someone kind and loving, like Maya.
By seeing that scene so sweaty, the hearts of most of Lucien's wives also get warm. But the smartest among them, especially the Sins, are perplexed by that.
'How did they survive for so long being like this???' Envy asks her sisters.
'Well, the Phoenix can reborn from her ashes...' Sloth comments.