As Yeonhwa continued chewing on the sandwich brought by Menelapie, she was exploring the government database with her drone.
The information she sought was about mermaids and the Deep Sea Flower.
In fact, she had already been blocked from accessing the database multiple times, but Yeonhwa was the daughter of the Yeon Family, the most powerful family in Korea.
The database access restrictions and temporary authority settings were just a delay tactic.
“Ha, it’s already the 17th time… They really don’t want to show me these records, do they?”
[I’ll unlock it right away, young lady.]
“Thanks, Yeonju Unnie. By the way, do you know who’s trying to freeze my authority?”
[Tracking… Outsourcing to an Awakened One with hacking and tracking abilities… Ah, it seems Yeonseo is handling it personally.]
“Grandma?”
[Yes.]
Yeonhwa had already discovered that the name of the dungeon located in the South Sea, where mermaids lived, was [Deep Sea Palace].
As Menelapie suggested, it became easy to find information when “Deep Sea Flower” was used as a keyword.
The Korean government… To be precise, it looked like the members of the Industry-Academia Cooperation Group were quite guilty of something, as Yeonju was interfering with the data access in real-time.
They were part of specific political factions that were the backbone of resource research and weaponization in the Hunter era, closely tied to this strategic resource known as “Deep Sea Flower,” which a new generation of political powers had monopolized and utilized to build their influence.
“If the records show that a considerable number of Deep Sea Flowers have been buried in the South Sea since the past, then it’s only logical that no one, not even neighboring countries, knew this important strategic resource lay underwater… It all boils down to money.”
According to top-secret information, the government had known since 2043 that numerous Deep Sea Flowers were buried in the South Sea, reported to be found only in mermaids’ habitats.
But until then, there was no major issue.
Mermaids hadn’t harmed humans. Records even suggested that, back then, mermaids were classified as a different tribe rather than monsters.
However, by 2070.
Though it wasn’t clear when exactly, at some point, the government classified mermaids as monsters.
[I found out that there was a report of casualties caused by mermaids recently, and a document to request extermination from the Hunter Association has been confirmed.]
“I see. What about the people who sent the order to my sister?”
[The Industry-Academia Cooperation Bureau, the Hunter Resource Control Management Bureau, the Non-Human Response Agency’s director, and several others. They all seem to have something suspicious going on. They also have multiple cooperative relationships with the San Guild.]
“…The San Guild again?”
[I understand what you think of the San Guild. However, being the world’s largest guild, it could be that they maintain a relationship merely for business cooperation… but… ]
“Could it not be?”
[Yes, it could not be. Looking at the accounts and financial flow of the officials, numerous slush funds received from the San Guild were confirmed.]
Hearing Yeonju’s words over the phone, Yeonhwa bit her lip.
Borrowing Menelapie’s words, it seemed like those lowlifes were up to no good again.
People blinded by profit had brought hyenas from outside, and the mere thought of such shady activities thriving under the surface was unsettling.
Moreover, if they were politicians in this country, they likely knew that Yeonseo and the San Guild had an animosity with each other.
From the first Great Rift until now, Yeonseo and the San Guild had never had a good relationship, and that feud had reached its peak recently.
Yeonseo often concealed herself, citing work, to operate behind the scenes against the San Guild, and according to Yeonju, she had collapsed several of their illegal research facilities rather than just launching political attacks or responses.
Yet, while the members of the National Assembly were merely parasites clinging to the peace Yeonseo had cultivated, Yeonhwa’s teeth ground together at the thought of them conspiring and exchanging money in such a shady manner.
“Should I kill them…?”
This country could function just fine without such individuals.
She had already found them irritating, and the fact that they even sent something called an “order” to Shia Unnie was starting to spark genuine murderous intent.
Yet, no matter how powerful Yeonhwa was, these were still politicians—directors and high-level officials forming the cooperation group.
Even with her immense power, this was not an age where one could just decide to bury someone because they wanted to kill them.
“Heh, don’t worry.”
“Ha!? Oh, when did you arrive?”
At that moment, Yeonhwa was unable to hide her surprise as she heard a voice beside her.
Menelapie had quickly approached and was reading through the database Yeonhwa had set up, her Golden Eye glinting.
“I have a better idea.”
“…..”
And Yeonhwa realized.
This hero was emanating a much deeper murderous intent than herself.
○○○
The Deep Sea Palace, where mermaids resided, was a closed society.
Though it was referred to as a closed society, it did not mean that a proper community or organization was formed.
The Hollow-eyed Mermaid Princess was solely looking after her innocent children, making her the only sentient being protecting this Deep Sea Palace.
When she suddenly heard the word “Demon King,” she couldn’t grasp its meaning.
‘What on earth is this nonsense?’
Moreover, Shia was an outsider.
The Hollow-eyed Mermaid Princess hated and despised humans at their very core.
From the princess’s standpoint, a suddenly intruding outsider spewing nonsense sounded like nothing more than a joke.
“What? I’m a Demon King?”
Sure, say whatever you like.
What will you do if I really am the Demon King?
The Hollow-eyed Mermaid Princess quickly reached a conclusion with a simple and straightforward reaction.
Eliminate.
A minimal courtesy to ask you to leave.
And if you reject even that?
“I’ve given you a chance.”
I’ll tear you apart.
—Crack!
As the Hollow-eyed Mermaid Princess opened her hand, the physical force of the ocean current she had been holding exploded outwards.
A noise like something breaking ripped through the silence of the deep sea, and sensing the crisis, Shia’s tentacles immediately responded, wrapping around her to protect her.
‘Ah, how nice it would have been if everything could have been solved through conversation…’
Shia thought with a regretful and sorry heart.
It couldn’t be helped.
She had felt this many times in the previous world, but if everything could have been solved through conversation, she would never have had to become the Saint of the Dead in the first place.
As she felt the hassle of dealing with a problem, her tentacles swelled up.
Shia’s physical prowess exceeded that of steel.
And nothing could penetrate her body wrapped in divine power. The same went for the corpse of the god that cohabited her body.
—Boom!
“…..!”
“Is that your answer?”
Shia slowly shook off the tremendous pressure of dozens, if not hundreds, of tons of seawater that pressed against her.
Invisible water tried to crush her from all sides, but if she were to die from such pressure, she would have been dead long ago.
“Sorry, but I’m not going to die this easily.”
The Hollow-eyed Mermaid Princess bit her lip at the fact that a human had withstood her attack barehanded without any protective barrier or equipment.
In the past, when beings known as Awakened Ones invaded her Deep Sea Palace, she had easily repelled them.
“……”
“Just as you gave me a chance, I’ll give you one too.”
Yet the Saint of the Dead, who introduced herself as Shia, was an existence of a different caliber than mere Awakened One.
“Are you a Demon King?”
“Shut up.”
“Is that the point? If I’m missing the cues, that’s for sure.”
“What if I really am the Demon King?”
“Then…”
“What if I’m not?”
“I’m going to save you.”
“Hah!”
At Shia’s words, the Hollow-eyed Mermaid’s closed eyes twitched.
Black mud from curses and malice surged from the princess’s eyes, and as dark ink flowed out between the blindfold’s seams, it gradually began to engulf her surroundings.
“Save me? You?”
You’re an outsider and a human.
The very beings I detest.
Shia’s words acted like a trigger switch for the Hollow-eyed Mermaid Princess.
“Hah… Well, you wouldn’t understand anyway.”
The recently arrived outsider wouldn’t know anything.
And she had no intention of informing her either.
“I know that you humans never try to understand us…!”
The Hollow-eyed Princess had no expectations of humans or outsiders.
“I knew, now and forever, that neither you nor anyone else would understand. I know. I know. I understand. You’re all always the same.”
Having experienced too many betrayals and disappointments already, the princess no longer believed in anyone.
Not in humans, not in mermaids, not in children, and not even in herself.
You’re a human.
An outsider.
The beings I find most cursed.
Don’t come here.
I told you to leave.
Yet, you won’t go.
Creek-Creak-Creak-Creak
The princess’s head bent at a 90-degree angle.
No, it wasn’t just her head.
Her arms, legs, fingers, and elegant fins twisted unnaturally.
Flesh tore, scales broke, and bones shattered repeatedly.
Inside her hollow chest, a terrible emptiness and malice writhed, and soon the malice reached its limit and exploded from the body of the mermaid.
The malice that blended into the seawater was so potent it even stimulated Shia’s nose.
‘It’s been a while since I’ve seen a being emitting such intense malice that isn’t a fragment.’
While she couldn’t be sure, it was a well-known fact that a mermaid possessed something akin to a Demon King’s fragment or equivalent.
Normally, Shia would have tried to erase it if it were a fragment of the Demon King.
However, Shia lacked certainty.
Was that red-haired mermaid truly a Demon King, or was she merely a child yearning for salvation?
Demon King’s fragments live off the host’s dark emotions and strong desires.
Yet that mermaid had not been consumed.
To emit such thick malice, her soul and flesh must have been entirely engulfed by the fragment, leaving her to lose her ego.
While not in a normal state, the mermaid princess still maintained her identity. Anger and resentment remained, but she had not been swallowed by the fragment.
No, perhaps there simply was never a fragment to begin with.
[Don’t come. Don’t come. Don’t come. Don’t come. Don’t come. I’m sick of it. Please, please get out.]
The mermaid’s mouth seemed broken as she chattered, capturing the malice oozing out like ink with her hands.
The once beautiful red hair turned murky. Cracks appeared in her skin as if the ground had shook, and through those cracks, the black malice festered, gnawing away at the Hollow-eyed Mermaid Princess.
[I’m not afraid of you. I’m not afraid. No one can come here. No one can enter the ocean. We cannot see the sun. We will forever be stuck at the bottom of this abyss… So don’t come here. I beg you. Please, no one should enter. But here you are.]
And then the mermaid raised her hand, shedding black tears.
[Ah, ah, ah, ah. I beg you. Please.]
‘Alright. I guess I have to do some beating first before hearing her out.’
[Please, please, please.]
By the way, the broadcast was still airing.
Shia thought it would be a good idea to let the viewers know about the Demon King’s fragment and show them an awesome battle scene while she was at it.
Saving her as a saint would be good, but it wouldn’t hurt to score some broadcast points…
[Please, please, it’s scary…!]
At that moment, Shia turned her head to the chilling presence she felt behind and below her.
[Swallow.]
“…..!”
And then the deep, dark sound shaking the deep sea slammed down upon Shia.
Before she could react, her tentacles swiftly shot out and smacked away the shadow that was about to engulf her.
The shadow was easily pierced by her tentacles.
[Swallow.]
“Ugh!?”
But, despite being impaled, it didn’t stop its movements and proceeded to devour Shia whole.
Shia’s waist was caught in a beast’s maw, with some sharp teeth resembling a giant cheese cake piercing through her.
It began to pull her deeper into the dark depths of the sea.
‘What’s going on…!?’
Quickly adapting to the pain, Shia looked down to identify what had bitten her.
‘Bone…?’
It was bone.
Teeth.
Rotten scales, and a twisted spine.
A boned fish possessed sharp teeth and a massive size, yet Shia couldn’t fathom why such a corpse would suddenly bite her.
Her tentacles quickly fired toward the heart of the thing that was trying to attack her, but instead of penetrating a heart, they pierced through empty seawater.
The reason her tentacles failed to kill the fish was simple.
What bit Shia was a giant fish that was nothing but bones.
It was already a dead corpse.
There was no heart left to pierce.
“This is…!”
Snap!
Shia didn’t need to go far as she smashed the jaw and teeth of the boned fish with her bare hands.
She was startled when it had suddenly dragged her into the deep sea, but its durability shattered like a snack, and as Shia crushed its jaw, it helplessly began to sink deeper into the ocean.
[Get up.]
And as the Hollow-eyed Mermaid began to weep, Shia realized she had unintentionally looked upward toward where she was.
‘What is this? I just reflexively looked up…’
The phrase “I reflexively looked” did not fit at all.
Because the moment the Hollow-eyed Mermaid’s words, [Get up], struck her mind, Shia found herself momentarily losing control of her body, moving toward her.
What’s with this feeling…?
It was seriously unsettling…
[Get up…!]
As the Hollow-eyed Princess’s screams echoed again in the deep sea, Shia realized this wasn’t a hallucination.
She had momentarily lost control of her body.
Why was that?
[I’m scared…!]
As the third cry resonated, Shia sensed numerous presences squirming amidst the deep darkness.
It was bones.
Fish bones.
And the decaying flesh.
Corpses of giant Kraken with massive tentacles.
Corpses of deep-sea anglerfish with nothing but bones.
Corpses of giant sea spiders with hundreds of eyes.
Corpses of parasitic starfish adhering to carcasses of giant sharks.
And the massive sea serpents dropping their rotting flesh into the deep sea.
Yes, it was strange.
Shia realized the reason why the vast and infinitely large sea dungeon had only mermaids dwelling within it.
Even if other life forms existed, they only consisted of ordinary fish like salmon or mackerel that wouldn’t disrupt the mermaids.
The monsters capable of killing mermaids had already been defeated and turned into corpses, buried at the bottom of the sea by that mermaid princess!
[Ah, I’m scared. Unnie.]
Countless corpses of sea monsters slowly approached her. And every time the hollow-eyed princess’s scream echoed in the depths, Shia, losing control of her physical body, finally realized what the mermaid princess’s ability was.
‘Ah, this…’
A necromancer.
To desecrate corpses. To command corpses. To lead the dead.
‘A necromancer mermaid…’
Of all things, Shia had encountered the type she detested the most.
Because she was dead, had perished, and was…
The Saint of the Dead.
