Chapter 182

Chapter 182. Offspring (1)

Somewhere ‍​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌‌​‌‍on the abandoned island where the Barbaroi Cult resided.

Paat-!

A ‍​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍flash of light burst through the air, and Anagin, the subordinate woman, Sphinx, and Horse-head appeared as though falling onto the ground. A small amount of seawater came with them as well.

Drip, ‍​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍drip!

They ‍​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍had used a teleportation scroll underwater and been dragged along with it.

“Urgh...!”

After tearing the teleportation scroll and arriving on the island, Anagin clutched the right side of his chest and groaned.

The flame implanted within his chest had flared up once more.

He was beginning to lose count of how many times this had happened.

“Brother, are you okay?”

Still maintaining her cat form, the soaking wet Sphinx asked worriedly.

“I’m fine. I’m used to it now.”

As mentioned before, he had experienced this so many times by now that he had grown accustomed even to the pain. Thanks to that, he was also gradually learning how to calm the flames rising within his chest.

“Huuup.......”

Anagin steadied his breathing with practiced familiarity. Slowly, the flames inside his chest began to settle down.

“That’s a relief. No, wait, is it really a relief?”

Watching Anagin recover so quickly, Sphinx muttered in confusion. After all, it meant he had gone through situations this dangerous many times before.

Honestly, Anagin felt the same way.

They had successfully arrived at the abandoned island where the Barbaroi Cult had built their nest as planned, but whether this should be called fortunate or unfortunate was difficult to say.

Because just now.......

Hoo. To properly evaluate the situation, Anagin replayed the events that had just occurred in his mind.

Not long after boarding the rowboat led by Horse-head and heading toward the abandoned island, they had been discovered and pursued.

Well, up to that point, it hadn’t been a major problem.

It was a problem, yes, but not one beyond their ability to handle.

After all, thanks to Horse-head’s efforts, they had managed to break through the fish-men blocking their way and shake them off.

The real problem was the fisherman mage who appeared afterward.

‘His appearance definitely.......’

Had changed.

Though his body carried a strange salty smell, he had clearly looked human before. But now, fins had sprouted where his ears should have been, among other changes.

Just like the ugly one when she had imitated a mermaid.

It could have been dismissed as insignificant, but the power he displayed afterward proved otherwise.

Setting aside the bizarre ability to twist a fish-man’s form into a horse, the gigantic trident he created from seawater was overwhelmingly powerful. Powerful enough to overpower Longbald that Anagin had swung.

‘If that’s the case, then one of our biggest advantages is gone.......’

Longbald.

The club forged from the Energy(Γι) of Periphetes, an executive of the Forest Brotherhood.

After stealing that club during his battle with Periphetes, Anagin had named it Longbald and made extremely good use of it ever since.

It was a weapon capable of delivering a decisive blow.

And in this battle, Anagin had placed tremendous importance on Longbald.

Though he didn’t know why, he had discovered that swinging Longbald underwater produced more than ten times its normal power.

Merely the shockwave created from swinging it through empty water had been enough to instantly take down numerous Barbaroi Cult priests at once.

A fact he had learned entirely by accident. Naturally, he had no idea why it produced such tremendous power.

Nor did he understand the strange phenomenon where the sea displaced by the attack temporarily remained frozen in place.

What mattered right now was that the overwhelming power had led Anagin to conclude this battle was winnable.

The fisherman mage had betrayed them, and they could only fight for a limited amount of time on the sea, but Anagin had believed that the devastating blow would somehow let them win.

Yet just now, that assumption had been shattered.

Anagin had swung Longbald to stop the charging fisherman mage, but not only had he failed to block him, but he had also actually been pushed back instead.

Even though Longbald had displayed the same overwhelming power as before.

‘Is that all you’ve got?’

The trident created by the fisherman mage tore through the shockwave, drove Anagin back, and destroyed the rowboat.

They had been completely overwhelmed in a contest of strength.

The only reason they had escaped safely at all was because Anagin had quickly dragged everyone nearby with the giant’s hand before tearing open the teleportation scroll and escaping.

Even thinking back on it now, it had been an extremely cold and swift judgment.

But that did not change the fact that Longbald had been overpowered. The situation had become quite serious. Their chances of victory had dropped dramatically because of it.

While Anagin had been preparing to head to the abandoned island, the fisherman mage had grown incomparably stronger.

‘It doesn’t seem like he completely defected to the Barbaroi Cult though….’

Despite his shock, Anagin forced himself to analyze the situation as calmly as possible.

The fisherman mage had betrayed them and sided with the Barbaroi Cult, but he was not the type to truly join them. To begin with, that had never been part of the conditions offered to persuade him.

‘First, we need to clarify that part.’

As he reviewed the recent events, Anagin made a decision internally.

While organizing his thoughts, the flames rising in the right side of his chest had finally calmed, allowing him to move immediately.

“Ah, damn.......”

After getting up and approaching the subordinate woman, Anagin unconsciously let his frustration show.

Because Horse-head’s injuries were severe.

“......Huff, huff.”

Horse-head’s entire body was made of water.

Normally, no matter what kind of blow he took, he would always return to his original form, but not this time.

One arm had been blown off, and a large wound pierced through his chest remained unhealed.

The subordinate woman anxiously supported him from beside him, though there was little she could actually do.

Having lost her power, the subordinate woman was apparently unable even to touch Horse-head’s body properly.

“...Did the fisherman mage do this?”

“.......”

As always, Horse-head answered with silence.

That wasn’t bad. Silence could usually be interpreted as confirmation.

As long as they understood each other, the form didn’t matter.

“This is your fault. If you had blocked it properly.......”

The subordinate woman, who remained beside the injured Horse-head, suddenly blamed Anagin. It seemed she was being cornered emotionally again.

Sphinx released her cat form and returned to normal, then spoke in an unusually sharp voice.

“Excuse me? No matter what, that’s not fair. If Brother hadn’t stepped in back then, this wouldn’t have ended with just—”

Sphinx could not finish her sentence.

Because Anagin raised a hand and stopped her.

“.......”

Sphinx, who had regained her senses after getting heated, stared at Anagin. Her eyes revealed unfamiliar and complicated emotions, as though surprised that Anagin was the one stopping the argument.

“Getting worked up and running the mouth recklessly is my role, not yours. Your role is staying calm and solving things in a headache-inducing way. Don’t covet my role.”

“Since when did we decide that?”

“Starting now.”

As Anagin shamelessly replied with a thick face, Sphinx backed down a step. It seemed she had calmed her emotions.

After stopping the argument, Anagin looked down at the injured Horse-head for a moment before speaking.

“Looking at it, those aren’t wounds that’ll heal on their own, right?”

“......Did you come here looking for a fight?”

Horse-head finally opened his mouth. Anagin smiled as he answered.

“That’s a relief. Judging by the way you’re talking, I guess you’re not about to die immediately.”

“You...!”

“Ah, ah, I’ll talk first. You’re not the only one pissed off right now.”

As the subordinate woman tried to say something else, Anagin raised his hand and cut her off.

“Honestly speaking, you two are partly responsible for this situation too… What exactly is the fisherman mage?”

Anagin asked under the assumption that Horse-head and the subordinate woman knew the answer. Once again, they tightly shut their mouths.

Just as he was about to criticize them for being so damn cowardly, the subordinate woman spoke first.

“Before I answer, there’s something I want to ask first.”

“...Go ahead.”

“That club.”

“Longbald?”

“Yes, that....... How did you come to obtain it?”

* * *

The subordinate woman suddenly asked about the origin of Longbald.

Anagin answered the question without resistance.

After all, he also had questions about Longbald himself.

Why had it displayed such bizarre power underwater.......

The subordinate woman clearly seemed to know something, but there had never been a good opportunity to ask before, so he had postponed it until now. Since the chance had presented itself, he decided to ask directly.

“Where should I even begin explaining this.......”

Though Anagin started like that, his explanation flowed surprisingly smoothly.

He described the process of fighting Periphetes, an executive of the bandit group known as the Forest Brotherhood, and taking Longbald from him.

“...I fought him head-on with my fists and eventually took it from him. Then I beat Longbald to death with the club I stole and gave the club the name Longbald as a memorial.”

After hearing the entire explanation, the subordinate woman gave a brief response.

“That’s impossible.”

“I went through all the trouble of explaining, and that’s your reaction?”

“You think stealing the forged Energy(Γι) of another person is easy?”

“You know that much about Energy(Γι)?”

“It’s a matter tied to the laws of the world. When it comes to things like that, I know more than you do.”

Even in the face of Anagin’s sarcasm, the subordinate woman did not back down and reacted with deadly seriousness. Perhaps because she claimed to be a god herself, it didn’t seem like she was making a needless fuss, but regardless, Anagin couldn’t really sympathize.

What was so amazing about taking Periphetes’ club?

Sure, it had been somewhat difficult, but it wasn’t something worthy of this much awe.

“You’re the one who doesn’t understand. Forging Energy(Γι) isn’t something achieved through mere training.”

“Then what is it?”

“It only becomes possible when the years one has lived, their deeds, and their merit are melted together upon the foundation of their personal nature. What you did was... stealing that merit itself. What kind of trick did you pull?”

At the word merit, Anagin flinched slightly.

At the Temple of Delphi, he had learned how the gods stole merit. He now understood that merit was not something trivial.

‘Forging is connected to merit too?’

For a moment, Anagin doubted his ears, but strangely enough, this explanation made more sense.

Forging did not necessarily have to be connected to merit, but even if it was, that wouldn’t be strange either.

Practitioners had to accumulate merit to reach higher ranks, while the gods tried to reap that merit without effort.

So it did not seem strange at all that merit would influence the forging of Energy(Γι).

As his thoughts reached that point, even Anagin started to feel that something was off.

“I’ve got a lot of questions, but let me ask just one first. Is stealing merit supposed to be impossible? If you defeat someone with desirable merit, shouldn’t you be able to take it?”

Anagin asked while recalling Orpheus, who had once attacked him.

“When a hunter kills a lion, he gains fame. He doesn’t become the lion itself. Those are two different things.”

“Ah.”

Anagin understood immediately. Thinking about it calmly, if merit really were something that could simply be stolen freely, the gods would never bother using blessings to create transactional arrangements. They would just take it outright.

But if what the subordinate woman said was true, then Anagin had somehow managed to steal merit itself. Why? How?

“......So what do you want me to do about it? I genuinely don’t know either. I just took it.”

Right before his head became too complicated, Anagin chose to act the way he always did.

He decided to simply accept the facts before him and let go of the parts he didn’t understand. It wasn’t as though racking his brain alone would magically produce answers.

“Whether you believe me or not, that’s everything I know. At least as far as I’m aware. I didn’t like how that Longbald bastard kept swinging his club around all arrogantly, so I fought him with my fists and took it. After that, I could just use it myself.”

“There’s no way something like that is possi—”

“You can tell me all that, but I’ve got nothing to say in response. What am I supposed to do about it? Maybe I’m just an absurdly incredible human being.”

“.......”

Faced with Anagin’s utterly unreasonable stubbornness, the subordinate woman could no longer say anything. She had realized this conversation would go nowhere.

“Now answer my question. Why does Longbald become so powerful underwater, and why did the seawater I pushed aside stay frozen like that for a moment? You know, don’t you?”

It was something he had truly been curious about, but until now there had never been an opportunity to ask. Finally, Anagin voiced the question he had kept bottled up.

As expected, the subordinate woman knew the answer.

“Because it is a weapon forged by one of Father’s offspring.”

“? Offspring? Whose offspring?”

“My father’s. Poseidon’s.”

“.......”

Anagin’s mind stopped working for a moment.

After forcefully digesting the incomprehensible information, Anagin cautiously asked again.

“So....... The Longbald bastard I beat to death was Poseidon’s offspring? One of the Great Twelve Gods?”

“Yes.”

“And how do you know that?”

“Because I too am one of Father’s offspring. Though the form differs from that of Longbald’s, I can still sense the same energy.”

The subordinate woman decided to reveal everything at this point.

“From the very beginning, it was strange. You carried none of Father’s energy whatsoever, so how were you holding a weapon infused with Father’s power?”

At last, Anagin understood why they had constantly been wary of him and kept hiding information.

It felt as though pieces of a puzzle were finally falling into place.

“Don’t tell me, the fisherman mage too.......”

“That’s right. He’s also one of Father’s sons.”