The battle continues frenziedly; thousands of Mermaids and Nagas face hundreds of monstrous Krakens while Lucien and the Sins maintain the gigantic barrier protecting Crystal City.
As the Mermaids inside the city watch the fight with concerned expressions, the Mermaid army has never been stronger and more motivated.
Those brave soldiers fight with everything they have to protect their people, their home, and their King.
And the enemies fall one by one as Eve, Claire, Kamala, and Saria fight around Lucien and the Sins, protecting them from the smarter Krakens.
Lucien wanted to be able to fight alongside his family, but he has to maintain all concentration and energy in that barrier while watching his girls and army kill the monsters.
The battle continues for over an hour as more and more Krakens come out of the portals in the sky. Tyrion is sending all the monsters he has in his dark prisons over the Mermaid Capital.
But the soldiers, boosted by the power of Lucien and the Sins, keep fighting without any loss. That power not only makes them so strong but also connects their bodies intimately, increasing their synchrony in battle.
When the count of Krakens and other sea monsters corrupted by dark magic dead reaches one thousand, the rate at which they appear finally begins to decrease.
That battle seems to be coming to an end, but there are still many monsters attacking the city, and Lucien feels that his demonic energy is almost at its limit.
Out of all the seven sins and their hosts, Lucien and l.u.s.t are by far the duo with more demonic energy right now, so when he feels that his energy is already running out, Pride is already at the limit, and Greed doesn't even move anymore.
"Hold on a little longer..." Lucien has difficulty even speaking as he feels very weak.
Greed is really giving all from her to be able to charge max out Lucien afterward, but she already doesn't have any demonic energy anymore, not even to maintain her body.
One last golden sparkle pa.s.ses through her eyes before her body turns to a cloud of golden dust in Lucien's arms.
"No..." He tries to hold her back, but it's too late. He feels her energy disappear completely from his body, but of course, he doesn't blame her for that.
l.u.s.t is in a similar situation, though she and Lucien still have a considerable amount of demonic energy. Yet, she dematerializes her body to save every drop of energy for the barrier.
Only Pride remains in Lucien's arms. She also gave her all for him, but unlike Greed, she is generating a lot of demonic energy due to the respect of all those Mermaids around.
Even so, no matter how much demonic energy she is generating, having used so much of it at once has left her soul exhausted to the point where even maintaining a physical body is proving to be a challenge.
"I think I've reached my limit too..." She whispers as she lies her head on Lucien's shoulder.
"No..." Lucien makes Pride look into his eyes before kissing her lips. "Stay with me a little longer."
She smiles while enjoying his kisses so much. "My body will collapse soon... I need to get back to Eve's soul to recover."
"But I need you." Lucien doesn't know if he can hold the barrier any longer without Pride's energy.
Pride has been in states like this before, but she's never felt this weak before because being with Lucien is the thing she wants most ever.
She knows that her body will collapse soon and that returning to Eve's soul would be the right thing to do, but she ignores rational thoughts and remains in Lucien's arms, giving her all to him.
"Of course you need me." She comments in an arrogant and proud tone as she kisses him back.
Lucien runs his hands over her back, feeling the softness of her ebony scales, especially near her thick tail. Her exotic body is so different from any other woman, and, at the same time, that makes her so uniquely beautiful.
He continues kissing her sweet lips, sharing his demonic energy with her.
That way, they manage to maintain the barrier for several more minutes, enough time for the Mermaid army to defeat the last monsters around the city.
Lucien and Pride really push their bodies to the limit, using every last drop of demonic energy to keep a single Mermaid inside the city from being harmed.
And when the last Kraken falls under Eve's sword, Lucien breathes a sigh of relief.
He has never felt this tired before, and his vision begins to darken as he sees Pride's body turn to white dust.
Her body starts to dematerialize from the bottom up, and she manages to place one last kiss on his lips before her head turns into dust around his face.
"You really did your best, my dear..." Lucien whispers, then pa.s.ses out due to exhaustion and falls from the sky.
The other girls are far away and don't see him falling. Even l.u.s.t can't help right now because she is inactive due to the lack of demonic energy.
His body hits the tallest buildings in Crystal City and falls into a fountain in the central square in front of Nea's castle.
Lucien sinks into that magical water slowly while thousands of curious eyes are focused on him.
While his mind is in an 'off' state after not sleeping for so many days, he finally has a few seconds of rest.
But at that moment, he also feels alone.
'You are not alone...'
A voice sounds in Lucien's mind; a voice that though he didn't recognize at first, is strangely familiar to his whole body and soul.
'You were never alone...' The voice keeps talking in his mind while he cannot answer due to his state.
'Look at everything you've already got...' The soft, loving voice seems to be wondering rather than talking to Lucien.
'Grandma was right; this was always your greatest power...' That voice not only carries a deep affection for Lucien, but also a dark sadness.
'It's a pity that things couldn't be like this before... I guess it can't be helped; you're so stubborn...'
'Yet everyone loves you so much... see, right now, there are so many women willing to fight and die for you...'
'It's not time to rest; we are all waiting for you...'
'Wake up...'
'So we can be together again...'
'My beloved—'
"???" Lucien wakes up as he feels a soft touch on his arm.
He can only hear the last words of that voice in his head before it disappears, and he notices hundreds of Mermaids around him inside that fountain.
The person who is touching his arms is a young Mermaid, a cute little girl who is looking at him with sparkling eyes and a concerned expression.
In fact, all the Mermaids around had that same concerned expression, which becomes happy smiles when he wakes up well.
Lucien is still very weak; he can barely move, so those Mermaids gently carry him back to the surface.
Through their gentle touches, he can feel how much they care for him, and their looks make it clear how much they respect and admire him too.
There are many Mermaids appearing from all over to help their King, and Lucien can barely see the bottom of the fountain. Yet, he can't stop thinking about the voice that was in his head just ago.
[Was it her?] He wonders.
[That woman... the Water Spirit?? But how???]
[Why did she seem to know me... and why do I feel like I know her???]
Lucien is perplexed as thousands of questions pop into his mind.
But then the sound of thousands of Mermaids clapping saves him from thinking about that now.
A few lucky Mermaids lift his body while thousands of others smile and applaud him, happy and proud in their hearts to have such a good King.
"Hail the King!!"
"Long live the King!!"
Lucien is still dazed, but he smiles back at the so many Mermaids who smile so excitedly at him.
'What did I miss?' l.u.s.t's voice sounds in Lucien's mind, making him smile even wider.
'Looks like we're making some progress after all...' He responds in an excited tone.