Having packed all their belongings, the two joined Ziyuan downstairs and headed to Mirror Lake together.
The lake surface remained clear and tranquil as the three stood by the lake, encountering a bit of trouble.
Unlike the previous situation, although Thrett and Ziyuan could break the barrier to enter, this would render Ellyad unable to breathe underwater. Allowing Ellyad to go down alone was not an option—firstly, the Demon King would never agree, and secondly, Ellyad would drown if he attempted it. The last option was for Ellyad to wear the magical wedding gown from before. However, just thinking about putting on that embarrassing cross-dressing attire again made Ellyad awkwardly rub his forehead without uttering a word.
Ziyuan and Ellyad were both troubled, grappling with this contradictory and troublesome issue. Only Thrett, with a calm demeanor, chuckled a few times and said, “Do we really need to worry about something like this?” As he spoke, he used his fingers to draw a complex symbol on Ellyad’s chest. The symbol flickered a few times and disappeared on his chest.
‘What is this?’ Ellyad couldn’t clearly see the runic inscription, so he asked Thrett.
“Just a simple barrier spell that can block the water in the lake. This way, you don’t need to wear that outfit that doesn’t suit you and can still breathe underwater. Honestly, it doesn’t look good on you at all.” Regardless of the kind of magic he cast, Thrett always described it as “simple magic.” The only person who could understand that the “simple magic” mentioned by the Demon King was actually advanced and specialized spells was probably Ziyuan.
The runic inscription drawn by Thrett was recorded in documents from the era when the Holy Beast still existed. Ziyuan had only seen that symbol in ancient literature and had never heard of anyone using it practically.
‘Of course, after all, it’s women’s clothing. How could it look good on a man?’
“When I say it doesn’t look good, I don’t mean that kind of thing. It’s because you look uncomfortable wearing it.” Although Thrett wasn’t sure if this explanation was too redundant, he still shared his thoughts with Ellyad. Ellyad had previously expressed a desire for Thrett to understand him better, so regardless of the matter, openly sharing thoughts with him should be the simplest way. Moreover, Thrett felt pleased to be understood by Ellyad.
Ellyad approached the lakeshore, and the water remained dark and impenetrable due to the defensive barrier. Ellyad’s face reflected in the water as he reached his hand into the water and stirred it a few times. Suddenly, a hand shot out from below the water’s surface and grabbed him, pulling him into the lake before he could even exclaim in surprise.
Turning his head, Thrett saw the scene of Ellyad being dragged into the water again. He roared angrily at the lake surface, “Damn it, being so arrogant in front of the Demon King!” Although he had already cast a spell on him that allowed him to breathe and move underwater, Thrett lost control of his anger at the sight of him being taken away right in front of his eyes.
With a roar, the upper layer of the lake exploded instantly. Unlike the last time when the barrier shattered, this time it seemed as if torpedoes had bombed the lake from the inside, causing the upper layer of the lake to be scattered by the impact. The deafening explosion accompanied by a massive water column shot straight into the sky, scattering water droplets like the blood of Mirror Lake. However, the area of the lake that Thrett exploded belonged to the magical barrier layer, and it did not harm the actual territory of the mermaid kingdom in the lake.
Ziyuan, still at the shore, was affected by the force of the explosion, almost unable to stand. Meanwhile, Thrett had already jumped into the water.
“Too chaotic, isn’t it?” Ziyuan looked at the water level of the lake suddenly dropping several feet. The explosion just now even frightened the birds and beasts in the forest, causing them to panic and flee. The commotion could probably be noticed even several kilometers away.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
He hurriedly jumped into the water as well. It could only be said that Thrett, after all, was the Demon King. Although he only made one strike, he managed to destroy the entire barrier at once, not to mention his current state with seven hundred and seventy-seven seals. Ziyuan could never be sure about the Demon King’s minimum magical power limit.
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—
“You really didn’t bring Rasi and Sai back. It seems like the two of us are destined to get married,” the excited Lance exclaimed while carrying Ellyad and swiftly swimming through the water.
“No, listen to me first… Ah, my voice.”
“That’s the magic I cast on you earlier. It automatically lifts when you return to the water. After all, if I didn’t return your voice, we wouldn’t be able to sing love songs together at the wedding ceremony.”
“Please listen to me—”
Lance had no intention of listening to what Ellyad had to say. He just forcefully swam towards the palace. In no time, he brought Ellyad back to the Palace, where his brother Lausus and Wei Yu had been waiting in the grand hall.
Wei Yu was still wearing the pitiful backless wedding dress. This time, he was even more extravagant, with a sky-blue veil and a sunflower bouquet. Compared to last time, the magnificence had not only doubled but also escalated the embarrassment. Ellyad couldn’t help feeling dumbfounded. Wasn’t this a form of indirect torture?
“Ell, great! You finally… came back empty-handed?” Wei Yu noticed Ellyad’s situation, indicating that the mission was not successful.
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t bring them back no matter what.” Ellyad didn’t want to destroy the love of the mermaid sisters. He couldn’t explain his stubbornness and whimsical behavior, so he kept apologizing.
“It’s okay. As long as you marry me!” Lance once again wrapped his hands around Ellyad’s waist, hugging him intimately. However, Ellyad felt a clear sense of disgust churning in his heart. He didn’t want to be treated like this by the merfolks. Unlike the last time, he fiercely pushed away Lance’s chest and swung the Hero’s Sword with one hand.
“Please let me finish speaking,” Ellyad sternly spoke, staring at the panicked Lance with sharp eyes.
“Yah!” Lance, faced with the blood-red giant sword, was frightened. All his irrational behavior was suppressed by Ellyad’s imposing aura.
“Neither I, nor Wei Yu, nor the sisters will marry you. The sisters said that you shouldn’t…” Ellyad was cut off mid-sentence as the castle suddenly erupted in a massive explosion. Walls, decorations, and stone columns were instantly destroyed.
Shattered stones and beams fell, and many mermaid soldiers hurried to evacuate, leaving only a few behind to protect the prince.
“Wow! What’s going on?” Wei Yu, dodging falling rocks, ran towards Ellyad. Fortunately, the falling stones in the water had a slow speed, allowing him to safely evade the sudden chaos.
“I don’t know either.” Ellyad, using the broad blade of his sword as a shield, dodged the falling rocks while heading towards the main gate.
“Chase them! Don’t let the brides escape!” As the collapse of the castle gradually slowed down, the brothers immediately ordered pursuit while also hastily escaping the palace.
As they approached the main gate, two familiar figures stood there – it was Thrett and Ziyuan. Seeing them, Ellyad and Wei Yu involuntarily slowed their pace.
“Ugh!” However, at that moment, his neck was suddenly constricted, a scarf violently pulled from behind, and Ellyad was dragged to the ground.
“Ell!” Turning around, Wei Yu saw him once again captured by that stubborn mermaid.
“Don’t go over there.” Just as Wei Yu was about to quickly turn around, Ziyuan was a step faster, pulling him towards himself and preventing him from rushing back to save Ellyad.
“How dare you escape! We agreed that you must marry me. How can you escape! How can you escape!” Lance, pulling on Ellyad’s scarf, dragged him in front of his face and shouted. Ellyad could only struggle desperately to break free from Lance’s grip. However, fearing that the scarf would be damaged in the process, he dared not make any reckless moves.
“Hey, mermaid.” Thrett stood not far away. His gaze and words were not directed towards the younger brother holding Ellyad captive but towards the older brother, Lausus.
“It’s you…” Lausus, without even thinking, knew that the terrifying demon who destroyed the palace was the powerful and terrifying member of the demon race before him. Therefore, he did not dare to be negligent in his attitude towards him. Looking at his younger brother on the side, Lausus understood that this demon simply wanted to retrieve his companion, and his younger brother would not give in.
“Let’s have a fair competition.” Thrett said to Lausus.
“Fair competition?”
“Through a duel, you can set any competition conditions and choose participants. I will be your opponent. If I win, you must return that person to me.”
“But we agreed earlier. If you can’t bring back Rasi and Sai, they must marry us. Moreover, you just destroyed the merfolk clan’s castle. What are you going to use to compensate?” Lausus retorted to Thrett’s proposal. He could clearly judge that under any conditions, he would never be able to defeat this cruel and powerful demon. Therefore, he felt disdain for Thrett’s seemingly kind and fair proposal, which was, in fact, a predetermined outcome.
Thrett remained silent, just looking at the yelling Lausus. Behind him, Ziyuan couldn’t help but chuckle. Wei Yu couldn’t understand why Ziyuan was laughing so lightly. Nothing from start to finish seemed worthy of laughter.
Thrett calmly raised his hand and lightly flicked it. His younger brother, Lance, flew out like a powerless doll, hitting the remnants of the castle. Then, Thrett immediately pulled out three daggers from his leg and shot them towards Lance.
“Ah! Ahhhhh!” The three daggers respectively pierced his right hand, abdomen, and fish tail. The dagger in his hand was deeply embedded, pinning the merman to the wall, forcing Lance to let out a piercing scream.
“Lance!” His older brother, Lausus, mourned in distress, glaring at Thrett.
“Shall we continue? Or not?” Ignoring the resentful gaze of the Merfolk King, who seemed ready to charge over with bloodlust the next second, Thrett asked in a casual tone.
“This is not fairness! You’re simply a demon!” Lausus gritted his teeth, veins popping on his neck, and shouted angrily at Thrett.
Ignoring his yelling, Thrett once again drew out a dagger and shot it towards his younger brother, Lance.
“Yaaahhh!” The dagger hit the left shoulder socket, a little more to the side, and it would have hit the throat. Lance couldn’t endure the pain and could only scream incessantly.
“Stop it!”
“Thrett, stop this!” Almost simultaneously with the merman’s shout, Ellyad, who had already broken free, hurriedly ran to Thrett to intervene.
Thrett glanced at Ellyad and said, “No one is allowed to take you away from my side without permission, let alone hurt you. That’s why this is my duel.” Then, he turned to Lausus and said, “Merman, this is my ‘fairness.’ I’ll ask again, shall we continue? Or not?”
Now, Wei Yu finally understood the meaning behind Ziyuan’s smile and couldn’t help but feel fortunate that he had managed to escape the clutches of this cruel demon before.
“I agree, I agree!” Lausus immediately nodded frantically. As he listened to his younger brother’s wailing by his side, he trembled with heartache.
“Then let’s begin. The judgment is in the hands of your merfolk. However, I advise you to set the time before that merman takes his last breath,” Thrett sneered and drew the sharp sword from his waist.
I have absolutely no sympathy for them, they asked for it 🤷♀️
Thank you for the regular updates! 🥰
ˁ•ᴗ•ˀつ～ 💞