Chapter 116

The place where all sea currents begin, where all waters converge, and the deepest part of the ocean.

However, no one dared to even gaze upon it with their eyes, nor touch it with their hands.

These meaningful epithets all referred to the palace of the God of the Sea, Poseidon.

Everyone at least once wished for the goddesses of fate to guide their destiny, just like in the myths of Zeus’s Olympus.

The kingdom of Hades, which everyone feared but ultimately found their way to.

And Poseidon’s domain, which no god or hero could step foot in unless invited by Poseidon himself.

Even in the myths I had heard, this place was barely mentioned, and the actual myths surrounding it were almost non-existent.

Yet, I was graciously guided by Poseidon’s hand, and I had the honor of looking down from the highest (?) point.

How far had I drifted on the currents, thrown by Poseidon’s hand into the sea?

As the sunlight gradually ceased to penetrate the depths, the surroundings grew darker, and my heart tensed.

Deep in the ocean, a massive light flickered.

The current, driven by Poseidon, seemed to head towards that light, and as I strained my eyes to see, a vast city in the dark ocean depths slowly came into view.

“…Atlantis?”

That’s right, Atlantis.

The ancient underwater city that those Sunday morning mystery shows always claimed was discovered all around the world.

There was no other way to explain it.

Have you ever been to an amusement park or a water park?

After escaping the rush of crowded streets, the bus fumes, and the oppressive gaze of skyscrapers, those places felt like a dream world—a fantastical escape that recreated human imagination and fantasy.

And myths, the starting point for such fantasies, are no different.

Poseidon’s kingdom, a part of such myths, was incomparable to something like a human amusement park.

“Wow…!”

In the middle of the vast deep-sea plains, the city was encircled by gleaming white marble and unknown gems.

Above and below, giant seahorses and fish swam busily, pulling carriages, or rather chariots, as if flying through the sky.

On the wide streets, giant sea turtles swam in rows, their shells serving as platforms for vendors busily selling unnamed street foods, fruits, seaweed, and miscellaneous goods, while people haggled with merchants or leisurely walked pet sharks and alligators.

And those people had gills instead of ears, and webbed feet, resembling merfolk or the mermaids I was familiar with.

Compared to the humans I was used to seeing, they were quite different in form, yet they laughed and chatted energetically, moving through their city just like any other people.

And above all, the most mysterious aspect was the city itself.

A 20-story insula carved out of a massive rock, domuses comparable in size to the Namgung family’s manor with gigantic corals or sea anemones as their main structure, and mysterious stone temples covered in barnacles and luminous moss.

Above all, the most remarkable thing was the gigantic palace overlooking such a kingdom from a high place.

And even from a dizzying height, there was an enormous statue of Poseidon that seemed immensely large.

The jewel on the trident that the statue held high emitted a subtle light, brightly illuminating the surrounding area with intense energy.

“Amazing…”

It truly was a magnificent sight—a city of the sea, a kingdom of the sea.

“Ah! You have a discerning eye. That jewel is none other than the Heart of the Abyss, a jewel among jewels, gifted by Gaia to Poseidon. It is a fusion of immense powers, divine energy, and technology that demonstrates Poseidon’s majesty to the entire ocean, serving as the city’s protective barrier, temperature regulator, light adjuster, and more. It is also called Poseidon’s Lighthouse, as the residents of the sea follow the light of the heart whenever they come to see the Lord of the Sea.”

“…?”

Now, as we slowly approached our destination, the speed of descent, or rather, submersion, gradually decreased.

A chatty voice bombarded my ears with rapid-fire TMI.

As I tried to focus on my genuine admiration, I turned my gaze to the intruder.

A dolphin was flapping its fins while looking at me.

“Oh! No wonder you smell like the land. Goodness! These days, land dwellers only go back and forth between Olympus and the courts of the affluent. Coming to the beautiful and noble palace of Lord Poseidon, it’s indeed a very, very excellent choice. Even the scent of your noble soul. Surely, you must be of an extraordinary lineage. Meeting such a great hero, I, Delphesius, am just honored! Truly honored!”

“No, no, wait. Hold on a second. Is this…?”

I had seen every kind of creature from the world of myths, but now a dolphin was talking to me?

And not just any dolphin—a very talkative one?

“Uh…?”

At least Chiron and the Centaurs were half human.

“Aha, are you surprised? Well, on the mundane earth, you wouldn’t have seen a finned Delphini as knowledgeable, erudite, and splendid as me. Thanks to Hermes for guiding our meeting! Delphini, Delphesius, the external affairs minister of Poseidon’s court and master of hospitality, greets you. Poseidon’s court welcomes you, brave one from the land.”

“Uh… nice to meet you. I’m Dianes.”

The entire view of the kingdom was barely visible as we still had a long way to land, and the guide, mythical and even allegorical, intrigued me.

I decided to quietly listen to the dolphin’s chatter.

Perhaps I might hear something about Neri.

The dolphin, or rather Delphini, who introduced himself as Delphesius, greeted me with a rather amiable attitude.

The excessive, or rather extremely excessive, talking was a bit overwhelming.

Anyway, according to his explanation, those highly spiritual dolphins were a species called Delphini. Long ago, when Poseidon courted Amphitrite, they provided great assistance to him. As a result, the dolphins themselves were placed among the constellations, and the descendants of the brave dolphin Delphini were now held in high regard in Poseidon’s palace.

“Ah~ Amphitrite and Poseidon quarrel almost daily. Just from the aftermath, massive storms often rage at sea. If their simple quarrels cause that much, imagine the chaos when they competed for courtship in the past… We, the descendants of Delphini, always admire the courage of our ancestors who saved Amphitrite and prevented Poseidon’s mistakes amidst that majestic war. And a hero guided to this kingdom by such a great Poseidon must surely be an incredible person, right?”

“Haha, I still have a long way to go.”

“Wow~ So humble! However, I, Delphesius, have lived many years as the host of Poseidon’s palace. Since Lord Poseidon personally invited you to the kingdom and sent me as your guide, you must be an extraordinary hero. Could it be that Lord Dianes is also permitted by Lord Poseidon to become a suitor for the treasure of the sea, Lady Nesneria of Oceanus? Indeed…”

Amid the chatter of Delphesius, there was a statement that couldn’t simply be ignored.

A suitor for Nesneria?

“What did you just say…?”

“Well, Lord Poseidon did offer Pegasus as a dowry, and Lady Amphitrite and Lady Thetis, along with their sisters, offered all kinds of jewels, artifacts, and elixirs. It’s worth a try for anyone.”

“No, wait, forget about that trivial stuff; what did you just say? A suitor for Nesneria?”

Suitor.

In other words, someone who had applied for marriage.

But Delphesius spoke as though I wasn’t the only one seeking Neri’s hand.

“Um… why are you suddenly asking so insistently? I thought you came to this deep sea with the blessing of Poseidon to attend the marriage proposal ceremony of Nesneria…”

“So, Neri is receiving proposals?”

…Oh, Neri.

What on earth are you getting into in just a day?n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Amphitrite, the Queen of the Seas, the Ruler of the Deep, the Mistress of Storms and Tidal Waves, the Bringer of Wrath and Calamity.

Her titles spoke for themselves—she was incredibly beautiful and incredibly dangerous.

With long, navy hair flowing like a tidal wave that covered the sky, and a sensual brown body shimmering with a blue hue.

Her cold beauty couldn’t hide her fiery nature, as evidenced by the long scar crossing her brightly shining right eye.

The past rejection of Poseidon’s courtship and the conclusion of their decade-long battle.

It was only after Poseidon finally landed a blow, that she reluctantly allowed him to take her as his wife.

Poseidon, who hadn’t intended to go that far, was shocked and flustered immediately after his attack, but a defeat is a defeat.

She calmly entrusted herself to him, acknowledged Poseidon afterward, married him, and continued ruling the seas together.

The earthly raconteurs and Olympus’s fledgling Sun God claimed she was caught by Poseidon while escaping, thanks to a dolphin’s tip-off, but who cares about the nonsense of a wet-behind-the-ears Sun God?

“Grrrrr….”

Anyway, Amphitrite was extremely upset last night.

To the point that even Poseidon, the rightful owner of this palace and kingdom, ran away at her sight in the morning.

Well, Amphitrite was always as furious as Hera due to Poseidon’s endless affairs.

But today’s anger was on a different level from such usual rage.

“Uh, sister… no matter what…”

“Neri, I told you. You can’t just talk to those beasts carrying something between their legs.”

The reason was her lovely youngest sister standing before her in a beautiful custom-made dress by Athena.

It was because of Nesneria, who came crying to her private palace, not even their mother Tethys’s palace.

‘Huhuhu! Big sister!’

‘Neri?! What happened?!’

Her youngest sibling came to her office late at night, crying.

According to Galatia, unlike her foolish sisters who only waited for a prince, clever Neri confidently caught her man with her own hands.

For someone like her to come crying, it was truly a matter that could turn the Deep Sea Kingdom upside down, beyond the Storm Palace.

And the full story of the incident she spoke of was even more absurd.

The audacious tale was that her precious sea treasure of a lover, a so-called hero, seemed to be embracing another woman.

Enraged, Amphitrite immediately prepared a revenge plan to completely overturn that damned man’s doing.

It was none other than Nesneria’s courtship festival.

“B-but I’m still with Dia…”

“Too soft, our little droplet, way too soft.”

If a man had made his lover cry, it was the world’s truth that he should be made to bleed from those very eyes.

But this overly kind younger sister, even after seeing her man looking elsewhere, still seemed reluctant to let go of him.

“No matter how much it’s in a man’s nature to spread his seed everywhere. There are limits. Leaving behind the wife he should cherish all his life, and already looking away?”

“But, to me…”

“Sigh…”

After crying in her older sister’s arms all night long, despite her eyes being swollen, the youngest still thought only of that bastard.

As someone who knew how deeply and tenaciously Nymphs loved, Amphitrite could only sigh.

“I can’t take it, sister; I’m going to go meet him for a bit. I need to have a talk…”

“Neri, no.”

“Whyyyyy?! I-I might have misunderstood!”

In fact, Neri’s words were quite right.

What Neri saw was that bastard who came back in the dead of night and fell asleep in the bathtub.

However, the strong scent of another unfamiliar woman lingered on his whole body, shocking her tender heart and leading her to run to her eldest sister.

‘Honestly, it was lucky for that bastard.’

If, by any chance, the news that Neri cried because of a man reached their father’s ears…

‘…Oh dear.’

A massive wave, enough to cover Greece, would sweep from the kingdom of the deep sea to Olympus.

All just to catch that bastard. Just that one bastard.

‘Perhaps Neri knew that and came to me…’

In the unlikely event that later on Neri cries because of that bastard, and the news reaches her father’s ears, the Queen of the Sea, Amphitrite, needed to prevent such a mishap in advance.

At the same time, she needed to engrave in that insolent bastard’s head who the true wife was.

“Neri, listen carefully. What do you think deepens love?”

“Love?”

At the single word ‘love,’ Neri’s eyes widened in an instant.

At that sight, Amphitrite’s head throbbed, but she mustered all her patience to endure it.

“Yes, the bond between you and that bastard… ahem, the guy named Dianes has been long-standing. But you don’t know if he loves you as much as you think.”

“No, Dia also loves me…”

“That’s why. You need to test how much he cherishes you, and how far he would go for you. Listen carefully…”

When the sisters’ conversation was slowly heating up with tension.

It happened.

-Boom!

“Eek?!”

“Neri!”

A powerful shock that shook Poseidon’s palace, and simultaneously, a massive aura began to be felt.

A historic event in the deep-sea kingdom where no threat existed except for the wrath of Poseidon and Amphitrite disrupted the sisters’ argument.

“How dare… what god shows such disrespect in Poseidon’s palace?!”

“Oh… this aura…?”

Amphitrite gritted her teeth while holding her sister, who almost fell, and her aide hurriedly reported the situation.

“Your Majesty! It’s an intruder!”

“Who on earth dares to invade Poseidon’s palace?! Have their numbers and affiliation been confirmed?”

“Th-that is…”

The mermaid, who had lived almost her entire life as Amphitrite’s lieutenant, hesitated as if she couldn’t even believe herself, then spoke with difficulty.

“Th-The intruder is just one person! A-A human invited by Lord Poseidon!”

“What…?!”

Since an intruder had entered from the outside, the most precious treasure had to be evacuated first.

“Neri! Come here immediately—Neri?”

However, the precious, dangerous little water drop had already disappeared.

“…Pontus, heavens.”

With a dizzy heart, only Amphitrite’s lament remained softly in place.

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