Chapter 58

Chapter 58: Atlantis

I lowered my gaze to check my gear.

The Red Sword was gone.

They'd taken it.

But the EX Revolver was still tucked into my waistband.

They'd probably never seen a revolver before—they wouldn't have recognized it as a weapon.

A small advantage.

A ray of hope.

I walked through the room and into a corridor.

The corridor led to a massive gate.

One of the squid mermaids pushed it open.

Bright light flooded my eyes.

It took a moment for my vision to adjust.

When it did, I carefully took in my surroundings.

A red carpet stretched ahead.

Mermaids lined both sides, holding spears aloft.

High ceilings. Chandeliers that dared my eyes to keep looking up.

Then I saw the flags. The throne.

The throne was shaped like an enormous clam shell. Instead of clam meat, there was a red cushion nestled inside.

And sitting at the center of that cushion, like a pearl in the shell's heart, was a mermaid.

She glowed. And she was beautiful.

Translucent skin.

The tentacles that had grabbed me... they belonged to her.

And she was the one who'd electrocuted me into unconsciousness.

"A squid and a jellyfish hybrid..."

A jellyfish mermaid.

Her skin and eyes shimmered with an eerie light.

Her tentacles, stretching out like strands of hair, crackled with contained electricity.

"Welcome to my kingdom, human."

Her voice was as soft and yielding as her body.

"I am Hari Bo."

This peculiar jellyfish continued.

"I am the Monarch of Atlantis. So you're the one who struck lightning into the lake."

She was the queen.

"Electricity."

She pointed one tentacle at herself.

Then at me.

"Human."

"How can you discharge electricity?"

Twenty-five seconds left on the clock.

"I'm not a jellyfish or an electric eel. I can't shoot electricity from my body."

"Human, show some respect," the squid mermaid snapped.

"That's your job. What crime have I committed that you drag me here against my will..."

"Crime..." Hari Bo's voice dropped.

"You committed the crime of striking lightning into the lake, human. Did you not kill the creatures of the lake?"

She was talking about that giant lizard.

And all the fish that had died with it.

"If I hadn't, I'd be dead."

"Using electricity to fish is forbidden."

That sounded familiar.

The Empire had the same law.

Using bombs or electricity to catch fish was strictly prohibited.

And the punishment for it was...

"Death."

"What...?"

"You came to Atlantis. You must follow the laws of Atlantis."

"Dragged here, remember? Get your story straight."

The green number read 15.

The soldiers lining both sides of the red carpet closed in on me, their long spears aimed at my throat.

"Will you offer your neck quietly? Or do you want a different deal?"

Hari Bo.

The Queen spoke as if she'd been waiting for this opening.

"Use your lightning for me."

"Is that the kind of thing a jellyfish queen says? Why don't you do it yourself?"

"I mean for you to act in my stead."

"In your stead..."

The Queen gestured to her soldiers.

They lowered their spears and unfastened the chains binding me.

My body was free now.

Time left: 7 seconds. 6.

"Give me your answer."

"If I'm dead, you can't use me at all." 5.

"Didn't you say you don't discharge it from your body? I suppose I could dissect you and find out your secret."

"Not getting turned into sashimi by a fish." 4.

I pulled out the EX Revolver.

Not aimed at the Queen before me.

But at the squid mermaid.

I spun the cylinder and cocked the hammer.

The Lightning Bullet inside pulsed with a blue flash.

Three shots left.

Plenty of ammunition.

But not plenty of time. 2.

"Hey, jellyfish. You might be immune to electricity. But your soldiers aren't." 1.

"That goes for you too, doesn't it, human?"

The spell duration ended.

My breath caught in my throat instantly.

From that moment on, I held my breath and faced the soldiers.

Before the spear tips could trigger my claustrophobia, I shut my eyes.

This was the third Lake today.

Which meant—

The last Lake.

The moment I lunged toward the throne, the spears came for my throat, just as I'd expected.

The water surged in the wake of the mermaid soldiers' thrusts.

White currents streamed toward my neck.

The motion felt strangely familiar, and I dodged it easily.

"The same type of mana..."

That was the same pattern as Un's martial arts.

I threw myself forward.

I knocked down the spear-wielding soldier and drove my knee into his chest.

Even that simple move was barely doable underwater.

I was so, so slow in the sea.

The Queen shook her head and flicked her fingers.

Green numbers lit up again.

Sixty this time. One minute.

"Huuuuh... Haah..."

"Remarkable."

"Huff..."

"For a human to dodge the second wave."

"I just saw something similar... a little while ago."

"Uwaaah...!"

Right on cue, beyond the great gate, down the corridor—

Un came running, free from his chains.

"I'm just ordinary here, you get that? Get me back to the surface, now!"

He bellowed and threw a punch.

His mana bullet turned into a watery shockwave that sliced through the water.

The squid mermaid dodged it without even trying.

"See? Even that tentacle-brain dodged it easily..."

He slumped to the ground, his face a mask of disbelief.

"All those years of training..."

He muttered the last part under his breath.

Now I understood why, back when he'd shown off that so-called special spinning kick, the mana rushing toward me had looked like a tidal wave.

The mana he manipulated was almost identical to shifting water currents.

Here, invisible mana became visible waves.

Even without sensing mana, I could see it clearly.

The soldiers of Atlantis used the exact same technique as Un. Here, it was second nature.

Being dragged to Atlantis might turn out to be a bigger score than I'd thought.

Not just for extending the countdown time—I might even learn how to move mana the way Un does...

"Seize him."

The Queen commanded.

The soldiers shot through the water like they were flying and grabbed Un.

He was dragged back, head hung in shame.

They forced him to his knees beside me.

"Are you two comrades?"

"No."

We answered at the same time.

"Hey, jellyfish. What do you actually want? What was all that about using my lightning in your place?"

I pressed.

"Curious, are you?"

"I've got something to do here. Let's talk."

"So I can assume you're willing to help me?"

"I'll decide after I hear it. Why do you need the electricity?"

"And the man beside you?"

She pointed a tentacle at Un.

"I'm not like this Crow over here. I've got no intention of helping you people. Whatever you want—just let me out right now. Nice meeting you, never want to see you again, good—"

"You really aren't teammates, are you? Can I kill him then?"

She asked me.

"Be my guest."

If she offed a traitor who'd turned his back on the Empire for me, I'd call that a bonus.

"Hey, Special Forces!"

Un snapped, furious.

"There's no point running. You saw how fast they caught us."

"This is a disgrace to the Imperial Army..."

"Imperial Army?"

The Queen perked up at those words.

"Yeah, Imperial Army. Got a problem with that?"

"Then this will be easier to explain. Saki, bring them in."

She ordered the squid mermaid.

So her name was Saki.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Saki left and returned shortly.

Two people were dragged in.

They, too, were bound in chains.

Not mermaids. Humans.

They had green numbers floating beside their faces as well.

Same generous Underwater Breathing Magic, same countdown.

Same hostage situation.

Two women.

"These are diplomats. The woman there is from Cutena."

The Queen gestured with a tentacle toward a woman dressed in sandy-colored clothes.

Cutena. That was Oscar's homeland. A military autocracy.

The other woman wore clothes I recognized from my visit to the Imperial capital, Venus. The same style as the secretary who'd been taking notes next to the Emperor during the Golden Lion Conference.

"As for the second one—you probably know this already—she's a diplomat from the Empire. Atlantis sent requests for aid to both Cutena and the Empire. Geographically, they're the closest."

"So that's why the Combat Division and the navy are mobilizing..."

"Correct, White Hair."

So they called me White Hair here too.

"Anyway, jellyfish. How about cranking up the countdown a bit more?"

"Human! Did I not tell you to show respect...?!"

The squid mermaid—Saki—snapped.

"Enough, Saki. The longer this drags on, the less breath they'll have to waste."

The Queen cut her off with a sinister remark.

She waved her hand again.

The green numbers before my eyes jumped to 600.

"A general of Atlantis has joined the Demon King's Army. He was given an Officer rank, I'm told."

Hari Bo spoke slowly.

Seven Demon King Army Officers.

Madam Anne was dead.

The next Imperial Knight Commander, Un, wouldn't become an Officer for a long time.

So that left five.

And one of them was that general from Atlantis.

That bastard Crayfish.

His ugly face flashed through my mind.

"He took most of the army with him. What's left—every soldier still in this kingdom—is all that remains."

"Is he planning to attack here?"

Un asked.

He'd changed his tone the moment the Demon King's Army was mentioned.

"No. He offered me a deal: preserve Atlantis in exchange for my surrender alone."

The Queen tapped herself with a tentacle.

"He said there's a Demon King's Castle in the sea too, and that it's fully operational..."

Moving castles. Two on land.

One in the sea.

In my past life, the sea castle belonged to this jellyfish queen.

Hari Bo had moved it herself.

And in the end, the Demon King's Army devoured her.

"So that's why you need the electricity. You were planning to hand me over in exchange for staying safe."

"Correct."

"That's pretty damn cheeky."

"You said the power comes from that strange weapon of yours. It looks like a Magic Tool. So you could hand that over instead."

"No chance."

"Then I have nothing more to say."

The Queen slowly moved her fingers.

I could see where this was going—she was about to threaten me with the countdown again.

"Any last words?"

I pointed at Un, still on his knees.

"This one here is a Division Commander of the Imperial Army. More specifically, the Imperial Knight Commander."

"Special Forces! Why are you dragging me into this all of a sudden...?!"

"Oh?"

The Queen's interest sharpened immediately.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm not about to help you people—I don't even want to be here. Hey, Cutena diplomat! Can't you help out instead?"

The Cutena diplomat shook her head.

"Cutena must prepare for the Demon King's invasion. We have no naval forces to spare for Atlantis."

"And that's exactly why I'm stuck here in Atlantis. Because I spoke freely."

The Queen shrugged, her body jiggling.

The Imperial diplomat picked up where she left off.

"We're in the same boat. If anything, our situation is more urgent than Cutena's. As you both know very well—after Akuella, the Empire is the next direct target."

"That woman said the same thing."

The Queen sighed.

"Are you two going to echo the diplomats?"

Her gaze flicked between Un and me.

"Obviously."

"No."

Our answers clashed.

"Special Forces, have you lost your mind? Who gave you the right to speak for the Empire?"

"I'm not speaking for the Empire. Not yet."

"Then why—"

"Jellyfish. I'm not handing over my Magic Tool. But I'm not abandoning Atlantis either. I've decided to make this place my second training ground."

"Then what exactly do you plan to do?"

"My duty is to strengthen military power through training. Like I said, I'll train here. And while I'm at it—if I stop a Demon King Army Officer in the process, a promotion is practically in the bag."

"Is that a statement as a member of the Imperial Army?"

"A personal promise."

"Personal? You're saying you'll face their forces alone? Don't talk nonsense."

"You said my Magic Tool could move the Sea Demon King's Castle."

"That's true, but—"

"There's no need to fight. After I extract the mermaids trapped inside, I'll take the Castle for myself. It's probably just a useless hunk of metal right now anyway—you have no way to move it."

"Steal the Castle..."

"Jellyfish. You lure them in. I'll take the Castle. Then we trade."

"Hmm..."

"On one condition: you teach me how to control water currents. Completely—so I can use it even on land. Like this guy here."

"Hah! Special Forces, my martial arts aren't something so simple—"

"Deal."

The Queen cut Un off.

"I'll teach you. But if you can't master it, I'll discard you without hesitation."

"Fair enough."

"And the man beside you?"

"I'm done with him. Send him back to the surface right now."

"Saki. Return them to land—the diplomats included."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The squid mermaid, Saki, signaled the soldiers, who led the three of them out.

Only Hari Bo and I remained.

"Jellyfish. I know how much the Sea Demon King's Castle means to you. I also know why Crayfish General betrayed you. He just wanted to survive."

"What exactly are you getting at?"

"Atlantis is going to be destroyed. A volcanic eruption will be the cause. That's why the Sea Castle is so precious to you—it can replace this entire kingdom."

"Human... how can you possibly..."

Even without recalling my past life, it was simple.

"I can feel the tremors from below."

"Oh... You really are like a reincarnated fish."

"Don't say disgusting things."

I closed my eyes.

Even after using all three of my allotted charges, [Lake] was still active.

The ocean felt like it was raining endlessly.

The same vibrations as raindrops struck me every single moment.

Endless vibrations.

Not just where raindrops touched—they resonated from everywhere.

I was still using [Lake].

Here, in Atlantis, it was like a perpetual rainfall.

And the duration had no limit.