The leader of the merfolk, Micro, was in a state of deep despair.
His bronze-colored skin had lost its luster. It had become dry and cracked, resembling parched land struck by drought. This was because he had been unable to enter the sea for an extended period.
It had already been three months since they were unable to enter the sea. If this continued for much longer, their skin would crack further, their flesh would begin to fall off, and eventually, they would rot to death.
“Damn it…”
All of this was because of that man!
Micro buried his face in his hands, bowing his head deeply.
Three months ago, some visitors arrived at the merfolk’s island.
It was the Pope and two of his close confidants.
They lured the merfolk, who lived isolated from the mainland, with sweet promises of integrating them into human society. Since the merfolk revered priests who followed the words of God as if they were family, they did not doubt them in the slightest. Yes, that was until they coveted the blood of the merfolk.
No sooner had they been guided to the central part of the island than they revealed their true colors. They beheaded Micro’s son and collected the blood flowing from his body into a bottle.
— You shall become my ingredients.
Only then did the merfolk realize the true intentions of the Pope’s party: to kill the merfolk and steal their power.
The merfolk fought back with all their might. After all, no matter how powerful the Pope and his high-ranking priests were, there were only three of them. We are the mighty merfolk! We can defeat them with ease!
But their expectations were utterly shattered.
The Pope and his party wielded an unfamiliar and sinister form of magic, and as a result, they claimed the lives of 200 merfolk.
After a grueling battle that lasted day and night, they barely managed to drive the intruders off the island. However, the damage was catastrophic. Moreover, it wasn’t even a complete victory, which was a critical oversight.
This was when Micro made a colossal mistake.
He cast a protective barrier over the entire island.
It was a barrier so impenetrable that even beings as powerful as the Pope could not enter.
Only then were the merfolk able to breathe a brief sigh of relief.
But that barrier had a fatal flaw.
The same way it prevented anyone from entering, it also prevented anyone from leaving.
As a result, the merfolk became prisoners on their own island. Deprived of their need to spend half of each day in the water, they were slowly dying.
‘Should we have fought to the end, even if it meant everyone would die?’
If they had done so, they wouldn’t have faced this miserable death.
Dying of dehydration without even putting up a proper fight…!
Micro alternated between blaming himself for his incompetence and recalling the image of his son, who had been killed by the Pope. He despaired over and over again.
At that moment, something happened.
“Ch-Chief!”
Micro’s close aide, Frosch, burst through the door. His face looked so urgent that Micro felt his heart drop. What could have happened? Could it be that the Pope had returned for another attack? No, that shouldn’t be possible…!
“What is it? What’s going on? Is it the Pope again? Really?”
“Ah! No, no, that’s not it. But it’s a similar problem.”
Frosch hurriedly waved his hands.
“There’s been an intruder.”
“An intruder?”
Micro’s face twisted into a scowl.
Just moments ago, he had been marveling at the greatness and impenetrability of the barrier he had created. A barrier that allowed no one in and no one out. No one could possibly break through it. No one but the Demon King himself!
“That’s impossible. This barrier doesn’t let anyone in!”
“Y-Yes, I thought the same. But it really was an intruder! Two children and two adults. And one of the adults was a priest!”
“A p-priest?!”
Micro felt his vision turn red. A priest. A priest! Those damned beings who killed his child and slaughtered his people!
“These… these lunatics…!”
Seeing Micro overcome with rage, his body trembling with heat, Frosch ran toward him.
“No, stop! If you exert your strength like this, your body will only suffer more! Please, calm down! Calm down, Chief!”
“How do you expect me to calm down now?!”
“You must calm down!”
Frosch shouted, gripping Micro’s arm as he continued to speak.
“That priest was strange. Not only was it a face I had never seen before, but he even saved the soldier, Andre, who had collapsed from dehydration. On top of that, he didn’t resist at all when we took him to the prison.”
“That could still be a ploy! Have you learned nothing from what happened with the Pope and his priests?!”
“Still, he was too docile, and he didn’t seem to know anything at all.”
Frosch spoke firmly.
“If he had been lying or scheming, I would have noticed it.”
Micro hesitated for a moment, knowing full well of Frosch’s ability to discern the truth. He began to think back. When the Pope first set foot on the island, he should have dived into the sea and sought out Frosch… If only he had done that back then…
Micro released the tension in his body and let out a long sigh.
“Bring me that priest.”
He glared fiercely.
“I need to figure out what that man is planning myself. If he even thinks of harming us, I will—!”
At that moment—
BOOM!
A thunderous sound echoed as the ground beneath them trembled violently. The ceiling cracked with a loud crack, crack before collapsing, sending down a rain of debris and rubble.
“Wh-What is this?!”
“Watch out!”
Rocks fell directly toward Micro’s head. No, I must protect the Chief…! Frosch stretched out his hand with all his might, but he missed by just a hair’s breadth.
Chief…!
A scream stuck at the tip of Frosch’s tongue when, at that moment—
“Oh. That was close.”
A voice, as fresh and innocent as that of a young child, echoed through the room.
Frosch, who had shut his eyes tightly to avoid seeing his Chief’s end, slowly opened them. There, he saw boulders suspended motionless in mid-air. Micro, too, was floating in the air as if weightless. And standing there were—
“Prisoners?”
The very people they had escorted to prison just moments ago were now standing before him.
They were looking down at Frosch with their arms crossed.
C-Could it be… Was my instinct wrong after all?
Are they truly villains? Did they come here to kill us all?!
Frosch gritted his teeth as he got to his feet, preparing to charge at them.
“Ah, ah, wait! Wait! We’re not bad people!”
From among the group, the smallest child stepped forward, waving both hands frantically.
“Can you explain what’s going on here?”
The child smiled brightly at Frosch.
“Looks like we can help you.”
***
Just before they escaped from the prison, Yuriel made a shocking realization.
“B-But… Th-This island… I-I can f-feel the Pope’s presence strongly here… H-How could that be?!”
The moment Yuriel spoke, Shekina’s mind began to piece together the situation.
The merfolk, known to be so devoted to priests that they would rush to their side even in their sleep, had treated Yuriel with nothing but suspicion.
The reason for that was obvious…
“It must be Lucifer.”
That was it. Lucifer had already been here.
“This is getting more tangled than I expected.”
Shekina let out a sly grin.
“We need to figure out why he came here and what he’s planning, Boss.”
Hearing this, Lucart narrowed his eyes.
“You want me to do it?”
“Nope. If Boss shows his face, the merfolk will probably faint in fear.”
“…………”
What’s wrong with my face… Lucart felt a bit wronged.
“Sh-Shall I do it instead?”
Yuriel raised his hand, gathering his courage.
“But since you’re a priest, the merfolk will probably be afraid of you too.”
Shekina shook her head firmly.
“Dehan.”
She reached out her hand toward Dehan, who was standing at a distance.
“Let’s do it ourselves.”
“Ourselves?”
“Yup. It’s a universal truth that babies are seen as cute by all beings.”
The plan was simple — approach them while exuding maximum innocence and harmlessness.
This was the plan Shekina devised, and now, here they were.
Face-to-face with Frosch, who was trembling in fear.
“Wanna talk? We’ll help you.”
“Th-That…!”
“For real. We can help.”
Shekina widened her eyes, gazing at Frosch with big, round, glimmering eyes. Her expression was as cute and as harmless as she could possibly make it.
However—
“Just look at the faces of the guys behind you! You expect me to believe you want to help us?!”
Frosch shouted as he looked past Shekina, his eyes darting toward Lucart and… Dehan.
He might have expected this reaction from Lucart, but even Dehan?
Dehan, who had just been singled out, was startled. He touched his face, confused.
“Ah…”
He scratched the back of his head, letting out an awkward laugh.
“Well, I was a bit mad earlier because he pointed his finger at Lady Shekina.”
Get out.
You’re no help at all. None of you.
