As Mira and Kamala meet their new sisters within Purple World, the mood at the Sea Devil seems to grow tense.
Lucien just mentioned that he offers the Mermaids power in exchange for loyalty, but that doesn't mean much to Nea. "Look, boy, I can't thank you enough for bringing Kaisa back to me..."
She looks at the cursed sword in her hand before sighing. "My daughter sacrificed her own life for the sake of our people, and if I accept putting these same people at risk because of her, I would be ruining her memory."
"I get it." Lucien increasingly admires Nea's firm and frank personality. And that only makes him more sure that she and the Mermaids are the people who most deserve his help to become stronger.
Then he smiles at her. "I know my offer seems very vague and dubious but I am willing to explain to you all about how I can make the Mermaids the strongest people in the universe. That way, Kaisa's soul could rest in peace, knowing that her people are growing stronger so that one day, no Mermaid need sacrifice their lives anymore."
Lucien's offer sounds too good to be true, and even though she feels good intentions from him, Nea can't accept that. It's as if someone appears out of nowhere offering something extraordinary in exchange for a promise of friends.h.i.+p; there has to be something wrong.
"I really want to believe-" She starts to speak but feels Saria nudge her shoulder. She looks at her daughter and sees her make an embarra.s.sed and curious expression like never before.
"Mom..." Saria whispers and magic blue threads appear between them, making it difficult for even the Sins to hear her words. "I think we should give him a chance to explain how his offer really works."
"Why?" Nea smiles at her daughter's embarra.s.sed expression.
Saria feels like her mom is teasing her, but she still tries to stay focused. "I've fought him, and he has abilities... well, they are peculiar, I would say; perhaps he has more to offer than we can see."
Nea moves her hand among those blue magic strands and dissipates the sound-blocking enchantment so that everyone can hear her words.
Then she points to Lucien. "Look at him; he was made to seduce, everything about him fascinates women and even men, so it's natural that you want to give him many chances. But he's still a demon, and worse... he's with the Seven Great Ones, those involved in the greatest wars between races of all time."
Lucien doesn't like Nea judging him for his race and using the past of the Seven Deadly Sins as an argument. But he cannot deny that if he thinks about his own actions, he will quickly realize that in his first year with l.u.s.t and the Sins, he got involved in major conflicts and wars in Argerim before coming to the Blue Star and getting involved in more disputes and wars.
It cannot be denied that conflicts and wars are linked to the feelings of the Sins as they are mainly motivated by greed, envy, pride, anger, or gluttony; laziness and l.u.s.t are usually related to such conflicts directly or indirectly either.
At the end of the day, Demons are synonyms of problems for all other races, and the Seven Great Ones mean even more problems... or the solution; no one cannot easily discern them.
"Alright, Nea, you have some good points," Lucien speaks. "You have to remain a responsible Queen and good mother, but I also think you owe me at least a chance to prove that what I offer you has nothing to do with demons or anyone but myself."
Nea tilts one of her eyebrows. "Is this your request for bringing Kaisa home??"
He shakes his head. "No. You've already noticed that Kaisa is connected to my soul, and the only energy that soothes her is mine, so we're going to stay together inevitably, whether you want you or not."
Her expression turns cold and thoughtful, so Lucien continues. "But that's another question. I say you owe me a chance now because I'm working to rid your world of a plague that threatens both the Nagas and Mermaids."
"A plague?" Nea doesn't need to think too hard to understand who he's talking about. "Tyrion? Are you telling me you're going to kill him??"
"Exactly." Lucien nods. "No Mermaids are going to get hurt because of his greed anymore, so I'd say I'm doing you a huge favor, right?"
"Indeed..." Nea comments but then makes a dubious expression. "Yet, you and your group have recently arrived in our world... I admit that the Seven Deadly Sins are famous for their power, but I know that you are still at the beginning of your journey, and even together, you don't have the necessary strength to kill him alone."
Before Lucien can say anything, Nea continues. "Also, this brings us to the same question as before, why? Why would you get involved in a problem that is none of your business?"
He smiles and then raises his right arm in front of the purple world portal. "Because that is my gift to my new wife."
As Nea is confused, Mira and Kamala come from the portal, and the Naga Queen holds Lucien's arm as she makes a happy and proud expression.
The atmosphere seems to get even tenser as the Queens look at each other.
Their royal auras put enormous pressure on everyone. The Sins, Lucien, and his sisters can easily handle those auras, but his wives don't have the same advantages.
Ca.s.sidy, Angela, and Ghalenna also come from royal backgrounds and therefore don't feel that pressure the way people from humble origins do. Yet, Lucien's other wives also do well due to sharing the same energies as him, as well as being positively influenced by Eve and Pride.
"Mira..." Nea is the first to speak, with her serene and confident tone. "It's been many years..."
For many years, Mira felt inferior to Nea. She always respected the Mermaid Queen for her strength, especially after losing a daughter while facing the Water G.o.ddess alone.
But now, next to Lucien, holding his hand as his wife, Mira feels that she should be the one envied there, so her expression and tone grow even more confident. "Yes, it's been a long time since we last met, Nea."
Nea knows that Mira has suffered a lot because of Tyrion and doesn't blame her for any harm done to the Mermaids. But she can't help but think that by allying herself with Lucien and the Sins, Mira has tried to choose the better option between two bad paths, but only the future will reveal whether it was worth accepting the help of demons.
"I'm sorry things turned out this way, my old friend…" Nea looks at Mira with a sorry expression. "Perhaps it was my fault for not seeing that Tyrion's greed would bring both of our races to ruin... I wish I had done something sooner, but..."
"You mean you could have done something about that?" Pride interrupts Nea and speaks in an arrogant tone. "You just said that we don't have a chance against this idiot Cosmic Realm, but do you??"
"Humpf!" Wrath makes a mocking sound. "No one doubts that you are a powerful person of the Immortal Realm peak, but you cannot beat any opponent of the Cosmic Realm with just your royal bloodline abilities."
'I think she can.' Greed speaks mentally to the other Sins.
"There is a way," Nea responds, and Saria quickly panics, yet her mother continues. "It requires a great sacrifice like my Kaisa once did. I thought my people weren't prepared for it yet, but..."
While Saria shakes her head in denial, Nea strokes her face. "Now that you are ready to bear the responsibility for our people, I am going to finish off Tyrion as my last act as Queen."
"No, mom, please!" Saria doesn't want to accept that.
While few people know what's going on, Lucien is confused. "What's this about?"
Nea looks at him with a friendly but firm expression. "That means the Mermaids won't bow to demons. Tyrion is a problem I'll solve myself."
"I see..." Mira comments and then explains to Lucien. "She must be talking about the fruit of the sacred tree. While the sacred tree of the Naga has fruits with defensive capabilities, the tree of the Mermaids has fruit that greatly improves the power of any creature."
"Exactly." Greed comments. "And the older these fruits are, the more energy they have, however... when they get very old, the energy of these fruits is like the energy of the b.l.o.o.d.y Rose, a lot of power along with a chaotic energy that kills those who eat them quickly."
While Mira makes a sorry expression, Lucien respects Nea's character even more. "So that's your plan? Let me guess, you're going to attract him out of the Sacred Tree's barrier, and when he's confident of beating you in a duel, you're going to use those rotten fruits and take him into the afterlife with you?"
She smiles. "Yeah, that's a good plan, don't you think? Well, at least I think it's better than risking the souls of my people in exchange for the help of kids, especially an arrogant boy who isn't even twenty-one yet."
"Hmm..." Lucien makes a thoughtful expression. "If that's the problem, we can fix it when I turn 21 in a few weeks."
"Tsk." Nea shakes her head. "That's the problem here, you demons don't take anything seriously... my people, millions of mothers and daughters... they all count on me to protect them."
"But you don't have to die to do it!" Saria begs. "There has to be another option! See, there are so many people here who hate Tyrion; I'm sure if we cooperate, we can kill him."
Nea strokes Saria's face. "He is not just a Cosmic Realm person... In addition to having absorbed the power of many powerful people, including Mira, he has armies of creatures in the shadows. And he won't come to me if I don't go alone."
Strength, honesty, courage, and kindness are qualities Lucien increasingly admires in the Mermaid Queen. "Wait, Nea. Your plan doesn't look bad, but I'm sure we can come up with something better."
"My brother is right; things don't have to end like this." Claire tries to persuade Nea because she already likes her and Saria a lot.
But Nea looks at them with a cold expression. "Don't talk to me like you're really my friends... I can feel you guys only came here because you need something. I don't know what it is yet, but it's just for you guys alone."
"What about their good intentions?" Saria quickly asks.
Nea sighs as she looks at Claire and Lucien. "I know how you feel, my daughter. I can also feel good intentions from them, and I don't think they are deceiving us about it..."
Saria smiles. "I feel it, mom... they don't intend to do us any harm or deceive us."
"But that's not the problem," Nea comments while remembering some of the things she heard the Sins and Lucien's sisters say. "Actually, I think their intentions are pure because they are naive and are being manipulated by someone else."
"Bulls.h.i.+t!!!" Wrath complains. "Anyone trying to manipulate us will soon have my weapons through their hearts!"
Pride would have liked to say something first, but even she doesn't know what's really going on in the shadows. She won't admit it, but she knows a mysterious woman is manipulating everyone around them, and they don't really know what she wants.
"Really?" Saria is confused. "How can anyone manipulate the Seven Deadly Sins?"
"They can try..." Pride comments. "But that will only lead them into the same end as all our enemies."
"And that doesn't have to affect our relations.h.i.+ps," Lucien comments as he smiles at Nea. "Forget about the Sins or anyone else… we, you and I, can do great things together."
With so many influences around and so many feelings messed up, everyone there can't help but feel everything more intensely. And when Lucien suggests that he and Nea can do great things together, every other woman around has the same jealous thought.
[What about me???]