Some time ago.
After killing all the Black Guards who didn't swear loyalty to Mira, Lucien led the group to the northeastern border of the Naga Kingdom as planned.
Mira was concerned that many soldiers still loyal to Tyrion had just bowed their heads to keep alive, but Lucien's draconic aura prevents people with that low soul power level from lying to him out of fear and respect.
That is, of the five thousand soldiers in that group, the four thousand who remain with them are genuinely willing to fight and die for Mira and the future of their people.
And they also already recognize Lucien as not only Mira's protector but also her husband, so they follow his orders just like hers.
Although the distance to the northeastern border is about many thousand miles, the group manages to get there in just six days, surprising not only Lucien but l.u.s.t as well.
She insists that only creatures from the Immortal Realm late stages could travel that distance so quickly, but the mystic sharks really did that and carried two people the whole time.
The point is that their race focused the entire evolutionary process on perfecting their bodies underwater. So giving up on more intelligence and the ability to gain a demi-human form, those sharks have reached a level where they move very fast in the sea, especially in the deepest and darkest waters.
However, for the Nagas, the journey was not exactly comfortable. They didn't have to make any effort, but except for a few minutes of rest each day, they spent the entire time holding on to the sharks' saddle while traveling at high speed.
Kamala, on the other hand, enjoyed the time alongside Lucien, having him only for her while Mira spent time inside Purple World.
At the beginning of the sixth day, she said that they would need to start traveling towards the sea surface, leaving the waters dark because although the Mermaids also live well at that depth, they prefer to stay closer to the sunlight.
And only after ten hours did the group really leave that dark part of the sea, making it clear that they were several thousand miles away from the surface.
And an hour later, Lucien finally saw the sunlight again. He can't help but swim to the surface and fly across the sky, flapping his wings without the weight and pressure of water.
"Ahh..." He takes a deep breath of fresh air. "I feel so much better like this."
Kamala flies to Lucien's side while Bina, the white shark, swims below them. Then he opens the purple world portal for Mira, Oya, and Helena to join them.
Helena and the other girls can fly freely due to their power level, but Oya has to stay in Lucien's arms, which she likes a lot, by the way.
However, since they are far away from Envy and Amelia, Oya can't maintain her demi-human form much longer. She's been using what's left of that demonic energy for the moments Lucien goes to the purple world, but she can't waste that now.
Luckily, Mira has more of that magical herb that allows any creature to breathe underwater, as well as move faster in the sea. She gives one of those magic herbs for Oya and Helena as they will surely stay in the ocean for longer.
Wasting no time, the group heads further east. They pa.s.s through the ruins of a defensive outpost in the Naga territory that has been deactivated for many years as all the border troops are already in the region of the Mermaid Kingdom.
In less than an hour, they arrive at the first Naga outpost in Mermaid territory. As usual, above the sea, it is possible to see a tall tower because all the other buildings that make up the outpost are submerged.
From away, it is already possible to see hundreds of Naga swimming around the place, and they seem to be looking for something. l.u.s.t also warns Lucien that there are about thirty thousand Naga soldiers in formation; they look ready for battle.
A group of Nagas patrolling the area notices Lucien's group approaching the outpost and swims towards them. A tall and muscular male Naga looks at the group with a strange expression, especially when he notices Lucien's presence.
"Who are you?" That male Naga is only in the early Sky Realm, which is enough for him to lead a regiment of up to three thousand Earth Realm Nagas. And due to the size of Lucien's group, that man thinks he can act arrogantly in front of them.
"Are you the backup-" He barely gives Lucien time to speak before continuing his questions, but then he feels the powerful aura generated by those Naga from the Immortal and late Sky Realm, which makes him have a hard time breathing.
The most impressive aura comes from Lucien, who looks at the same time the most handsome and attractive person he has ever seen, as well as the n.o.blest and most imposing creature of all.
"Don't make trouble for yourself." Lucien smiles as he continues to swim forward.
As soon as the other Nagas notice Mira and Kamala swimming alongside him, they all open their way to the main outpost building.
As simple soldiers are unaware of most of the superiors' orders, all Nagas who see their Princess and Queen get shocked, which creates an even bigger commotion in the place.
And before the group arrives at the main building, another male Naga, quickly approaches them. That man is in the early Immortal Realm and wears glowing armor with various adornments that make it clear that he has a high rank among the troops.
"My Queen! My Princess!!" He exclaims in an apprehensive but very respectful tone as he bows to them, but ignores Lucien, which makes both Mira and Kamala upset.
"Who are you, soldier?!" Mira asks in a reprimanding tone, which leaves that man confused.
"I-I-I..." He starts to stutter, mostly due to the aura coming from Lucien. "I am just a humble colonel... Your Majesty, forgive me for not giving you a proper welcome."
"Didn't my father say we were coming?" Kamala asks.
The outpost's colonel is even more confused and afraid. "I... well, I was just told that your highness would bring reinforcements personally, along with the new prince consort, but... there was no way I could have known you would come so quickly and also with the Queen herself."
"Now we are here." Lucien cuts to the chase as he hears something that makes him increasingly angry. "Report the situation."
"Oh... It's... that..." The colonel starts to stutter again as he looks at the group of blackguards with a worried expression. "It's just that we were expecting more reinforcements... we're suffering many attacks from the Mermaids, and..."
'She won't last much longer.' l.u.s.t comments in Lucien's mind.
He wastes no time and starts swimming towards a smaller building next to the main outpost building.
"Hey!" The colonel shouts towards Lucien. "You can't enter ther-"
*BAM*
Before he can finish speaking, Mira lands a powerful punch onto his face, breaking his jaw as some of his teeth come out in the water along with his blood.
Rumors of Queen being weak and ill were common throughout the whole Naga Kingdom, but that colonel is now sure she is as strong as any other late-stage Immortal Realm person.
While he is perplexed, she speaks in a firm tone. "Do you really think that a mere soldier can tell where the future leader of our race may or may not go?"
[Future leader of our race???] That colonel and all the other Nagas outside the blackguard group are very confused by those words.
Before explaining to them about the revolution going on in the Naga Kingdom and doing one more 'cleanup,' Mira looks at the building Lucien just entered with a curious expression.
"What's in that place??" She asks.
The colonel tries to ignore the pain in his head as he responds. "Nothing special... is that... well, General Ritika is interrogating a spy there."
"General Ritika?" Kamala thinks aloud as she hears the name of an old friend. "But where are her troops?"
A colonel commands an entire outpost, generally consisting of a large number of soldiers varying from fifty to two hundred thousand, while a General leads a combatant command made up of many colonels, that is, from one to four million soldiers.
But that place only has a maximum of fifty thousand Naga soldiers, which leaves Mira and Kamala confused.
The colonel quickly starts to explain. "Our eastern outposts were attacked by Mermaids, so General Ritika took a huge group there with a million soldiers..."
He doesn't need to finish speaking to make it clear that those one million soldiers have died, which is quite common in large wars but shocking for their current situation.
"Have they all died?" Kamala still asks.
The colonel nods. "Yes... we are not sure what number of Mermaids troops were attacking, but there were thousands of elites soldiers led by Saria personally... General Ritika survived, but they are slaughtering our people in the east."
Mira can't help but be saddened by the death of so many Nagas, just as she is sorry for the death and suffering of the Mermaids as well. "I feared that war was inevitable between our peoples..."
Kamala holds her hand, and then Helena smiles. "Don't worry, if this war is disturbing to Hubby's plans, he certainly won't let it go on."
"But…" Mira somehow feels that Lucien can do anything, but at the same time, she doesn't see how he could erase all the harm Tyrion did to the Mermaids, preventing them from taking that war forward.
"There are no 'but' for him." Helena continues. "If this is something that bothers any of his wives, he'll find a way to fix it, just trust him."
Hope grows like an out-of-control flower in Mira's heart as she looks at that building, wondering what Lucien will do next.
And inside that building, slap sounds echo as a water block barrier creates an atmosphere similar to the surface in that place.
*PAH* *PAH* *BAM* *PAH*
Lucien walks through the dark corridors of that building made of dark stones and with several cells, which added to the bad smell, makes it clear that the place is a kind of dungeon.
The sounds of a Naga torturing a Mermaid make him a little upset because although he usually doesn't feel sorry for people who don't have any connection to his wives, he understands the plight of those people.
He knows how cruel Tyrion and his soldiers are and that they have been attacking the Mermaids for a long time. But when they just try to fight back and retake their territory, the Nagas see it as an act of war and treat them like villains.
But he cannot let that war go on, not because he is a benevolent person who loves peace, but because it makes no sense to let the two most powerful peoples in a world destroy themselves while they could together serve the same master.