Magical Girl's Knight Brother

Chapter 657 Things from the Deep Sea

Inside the city lord's office, the air seemed to have frozen into ice.

The dark sky rolling outside the window, in Tang Zijun's eyes at this moment, was no longer just oppressive clouds, but more like the breath of some indescribable, enormous being.

I thought the wriggling creature in the Ghost Mist Forest, about to break free of its seal, was already a sword hanging over my head... but I never expected that the slumbering master of the deep sea would awaken first.

Scáthach crossed her arms, her dark purple eyes like jewels soaked in the blood of ancient battlefields. "Two Great Old Ones have simultaneously turned their gaze upon this area; this is no longer just 'trouble,' but the prelude to annihilation."

"The Great Old Ones," Tang Zijun repeated the word in a low voice.

I've lost count of how many times I've heard this term. These terrifying creatures, originating from the depths of chaos and marked as taboo, incomprehensible, and whose very existence is pollution, are abominable entities that have existed since the beginning of the universe or exist outside of the universe, completely beyond the scope of human understanding. Their form, will, and even their very way of existence are the most deadly poison to the mortal mind. These guys once fought with the gods for ownership of this world in the distant past, and the embers left behind on their battlefield can even corrupt the stars.

Scáthach calmly looked at Tang Zijun and said in a deep voice.

"Back then, even the gods who wielded laws and authority paid an unimaginable price in their battles against them. They were the embodiment of chaos and madness, an unhealable festering sore in the structure of reality. The awakening of these beings means that the space, time, and even the most basic physical and magical rules of this region... will begin to irreversibly distort and collapse!"

She abruptly changed the subject. "The death of the former city lord on the river front wasn't an accident or simply a fatal injury. The lingering aura on him... that deep-seated, soul-stirring mark, carrying the sweet, pungent smell of deep-sea silt and a suffocating sense of despair... was the unconscious whisper emanating from the awakened Lord of the Deep Sea. It was the aftershock of His existence, a prelude to twisting minds and igniting madness."

A cold, shadowy glint flashed in Scáthach's eyes.

"The ridiculous thing is that those so-called church healers, those pure beings who claim to be the eyes and ears of God, if they had done even the slightest duty, even just using the most basic purification prayer to examine the old city lord's remains, they would have been able to detect the glaringly polluted aura, like a campfire in the dark. And those nobles..."

"...They only saw the opportunity for a change of power, busy fighting for rotten flesh under the blood-stained scepter. They used the deadly source of the plague as a political bargaining chip, allowing the whispers that could trigger the end of the world to spread throughout the river basin, ultimately igniting the infighting and killing each other. They drove the first nail into their own coffins."

"As for those mermen who suddenly rushed ashore in a frenzy..."

""

Scáthach's tone carried a complex pity.

"They didn't come to wage war at all. Those little monsters, whose senses are far more acute than those of land creatures and who have lived on the edge of the abyss for years, are the first poor wretches to smell the scent of the 'Sleeping Lord of the Deep Sea' fully awakening."

"The terror that froze their souls dispelled their deep-seated fear of land creatures, and they rushed to the shore, not to kill, but to escape, desperately fleeing the sea that had become the feast of the gods."

Scáthach's words echoed in the silent office.

The anomalies in the Ghost Mist Forest, the internal strife in the river region, the truth behind the mermen's landing, the root cause of the fire dragon's escape... all the seemingly isolated fragments of disaster are strung together by Scáthach using two Great Old Ones to simultaneously awaken this invisible, bloodstained thread, forming a puzzle that points to ultimate destruction.

Tang Zijun stood in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window, with her back to Scáthach.

His figure stood out against the increasingly dark sky outside the window, which seemed to be churning with thick ink. He unconsciously stroked the time-space card that emitted a faint blue light between his fingers, feeling the power of order contained within it that seemed so insignificant in the face of the ancient existence.

Although the gods of the era are deities, the power they wield is far too weak in the face of the Great Old Ones.

The creatures of ecstasy are still struggling within their seal, while the slumbering lord of the deep sea has awakened. Black City, this fortress built on the edge of dreams, is now like a small boat in a raging storm, ready to be crushed at any moment.

The nobles made mistakes, the law officials neglected their duties, and human error exacerbated the natural disaster.

"You haven't mentioned any of this to anyone else yet, have you?" Tang Zijun's voice was low and calm, revealing no emotion.

"No." Scáthach glanced at Tang Zijun's profile. "This isn't a problem that a few magical girls can solve. Although they possess potential similar to demigods, this kind of being is beyond their ability to contend with."

As she spoke, Scáthach seemed to remember something else. "If we send that person from the Canopy Royal City over, perhaps we can guarantee the safety of Black City..."

"Forget about it. Trova isn't a true god, and she lent most of her power to me. Given her past experiences, sending her here would only risk her being corrupted by the worm-like pleasures." Tang Zijun shook her head, rejecting the plan.

A brief silence fell over the office, broken only by the howling wind and the fluttering of flags outside the window. Tang Zijun's fingertips unconsciously traced the cold windowpane, leaving a few fine traces of moisture.

Underwater combat is indeed a blank area in his experience map.

Previously, the battlefields against the Greedy Ones were mostly concentrated on land and in the Reverse World. The battles against the Heretics and Demons had never extended to the deep sea. Under the absolute darkness and terrifying water pressure that even light could hardly penetrate, how much of his power to move mountains and fill seas could he exert?

He looked at Scáthach, the queen of the Land of Shadows who had conquered countless dimensions and traversed countless battlefields, and she shook her head slightly.

Like Tang Zijun, Scáthach has never fought underwater, let alone in the deep sea. In ordinary ocean, her shadow power would be somewhat effective, but in a cursed sea, it's not so simple.

Beneath the ocean lies the domain of the sleeping masters of the deep sea; heaven knows what terrifying things you might encounter once you dive down.

In the midst of this suffocating predicament, a very subtle ripple suddenly crossed Scáthach's sculpted, hard face, as if she were retrieving something from a long-forgotten memory.

"Perhaps..." Her voice held a hint of uncertainty. "It's not entirely without a chance."

Tang Zijun turned her body slightly.

Scáthach did not answer immediately. She closed her eyes slightly, as if searching for a deliberately forgotten fragment in the ancient river of memory. When she opened her eyes again, deep within her dark purple pupils, it seemed as if a deep-sea whirlpool was swirling.

Have you ever heard of... Poseidon's trident?

Tang Zijun raised her eyebrows, a look of surprise and contemplation flashing in her eyes.

He was familiar with this name. It was vaguely mentioned in some fragments of documents unearthed in the real world, in a encrypted corner of the Bureau of Demonic Supervision's database, and even in some of the oldest mythological songs circulating in the dream world... This ancient god who controls the ocean, storms, and earthquakes was mentioned.

That was an existence far older than the existing lineage of gods in the Void Realm, and one that had perished even more completely in the war of gods.

"Poseidon's trident, according to legend, is the embodiment of the power of the sea god Poseidon, a supreme artifact that commands the seven seas, calms storms, and tears the earth apart..." Tang Zijun's voice was filled with a desire for confirmation.

"Yes, but it's much more than that." Scáthach nodded slightly. "It's not just a weapon; it's the embodiment of the ocean concept, the key to controlling the very essence of the sea. Holding it...theoretically, grants one power and home-field advantage equivalent to a sea god in any body of water, and even allows one to, to some extent, counter or suppress the power of other ocean-type beings."

This description made Tang Zijun's heart beat faster. If it was true, then this artifact was simply the perfect solution to break the deadlock right now.

In the home turf of the sleeping lords of the deep sea, if they could obtain maritime authority of equal caliber, they might not be without the power to fight back.

"You wouldn't happen to know where that thing is, would you?" Tang Zijun asked.

If I remember correctly, most of the Olympian gods did not survive the War of the Gods. They did not even come to the dream world, but died in the first wave of battles between Earth and the nightmare.

Scáthach saw through Tang Zijun's thoughts. She paused for a moment and said softly.

"I wasn't a participant in the battle where Poseidon fell, but I did hear about some of it; that happened after the fall of Mount Olympus."

"Poseidon... He did not perish naturally, but was completely corrupted and assimilated by a force unknown to us, and ultimately devoured." It is said that He used His great power to seal away some living, ravenous being from the dark abyss beyond the world. That thing was like a living, greedy parasite, constantly eroding the divinity and will of the gods. Poseidon ultimately failed to defeat it, instead becoming its puppet and nourishment, perishing in endless madness and pain. His divine kingdom also collapsed, but it did indeed seal away the other party, preventing it from posing any threat to the real world..."

Tang Zijun frowned. "According to you, Poseidon's trident should have perished outside the real world along with his fall."

"That's the problem."

Scáthach stepped forward, almost face to face with Tang Zijun.

"In fact, the trident did not disappear. Or rather, Poseidon seemed to have a premonition of his own demise before the battle, and he left his weapon behind instead of taking it with him."

"You mean—" Tang Zijun quickly grasped the key point. "Poseidon's trident wasn't lost; it's still in the real world!?"

"Most likely, yes." Scáthach nodded. "However, searching for the trident is tantamount to trespassing into a deep-sea tomb shrouded in ultimate corruption, where mad ancient gods are buried."

"Poseidon's kingdom has long since fallen apart, and his children have perished one after another in the subsequent wars. I cannot be certain where the trident is now, but the situation there is probably no better than where the Shadow Kingdom was before."

"And even if we were lucky enough to obtain it... wielding such a divine artifact wouldn't be a simple matter. I could use it briefly using my former authority as the 'God of War,' but..."

"To fully unleash its power, we still need the divine status of the sea god."

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