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“I see. I understand what you mean.”

The royal chamber of the undersea palace was normally inaccessible to all except the king, Pisces, and his chosen female. Currently, four people were having a conversation across the table. No, more accurately, only three people were speaking. The mermaid named Suirat, who had been brought along because she was chosen by Pisces, didn’t seem to be keeping up with the situation and was merely looking on silently.

Libra and Aigokeros finished explaining the return of Ruphas and everything that had happened so far. Pisces merely acknowledged them and nodded.

“The return of Ruphas-sama is something to rejoice about. There’s no doubt about that. But why are the two of you here? Why not one of the others? Like Pollux, Aries, or someone who’s actually better.”

“I see. We seem to be unwelcomed. Would you prefer Scorpius and Leon instead?”

“Stop joking. If they had come, I’d have left them at the door. A berserk lesbian and a muscular idiot? No, thank you. Especially Leon, it’s too much to even look at him.”

Pisces basically judged people by their physical beauty. Was it only to be expected of the child of Alovenus, who was also called the goddess of beauty? He essentially hated ugly people and those who were excessive. Libra, who was merely a beautiful object, and Aigokeros, who embodied the negative aspects of the world, were not welcomed visitors.

If someone from the Twelve Stars were to visit him, he would rather it be someone comforting to the eyes like Pollux or Aries. Of course, this was assuming that Aries maintained his humanoid form.

By the way, the person whom he didn’t want here the most was a perverted horse that walked around with its lower body exposed. He had no good memories of that horse…Once, he met a girl in town and took a liking to her, but she turned out to be the perverted horse in disguise. Even now, that experience was still traumatic for him.

“Also, cease calling me Eros. Don’t you already have Taurus to mess around with by mistaking his name?”

“What are you saying? It’s completely different. Taurus’ name is so confusing that it’s natural to make mistakes without any malicious intent. In your case, we’re getting your name wrong on purpose.”

“That’s even worse!”

“Well, it’s not like we’ve made a mistake, right? After all, Eros is your real name. Isn’t that right, Eros?”

“That’s how it is, Eros.”

“********…”

Pisces grumbled while resting his cheek on his hand. He thought, This is why I hate these people.

The sensible Pollux and good-natured Aries would not have deliberately called him by his real name. Aries might sometimes do so accidentally, but at least there was no malicious intent.

However, these two were different, especially Aigokeros, who was full of malice. He didn’t know what Libra was thinking. It was rather strange for her to be malicious, yet she still called him by his real name.

Seriously, why are the Twelve Stars full of weirdos?

Pisces seemed to have forgotten himself as he became deeply lost in thought.

“By the way, why are you referring to yourself in the same way as Ruphas-sama? It’s rude to our master.”

“Ugh…”

Pisces grunted at Aigokeros’ reproach. As Aigokeros said, Pisces’ use of the first-person pronoun was in imitation of Ruphas. At least, Aigokeros and the others knew that, before Pisces had met Ruphas, he had been addressing himself as ore-sama. In addition, they had probably noticed that all of the females in the palace were similar to Ruphas in some way.

“Well, whatever. More importantly…”

Pisces quickly changed the topic as he was unwilling to continue this conversation. This was this and that was that. There was no need to let the goat tell him how he should address himself.

“I’d like to witness the return of Ruphas myself, but right now is a bad time.”

“Are you saying that there’s something that takes precedence over our master? That just shows how deep your love is.”

“Shut up. It’s so annoying how you twist everything that I say! Unlike you, I’m the king of the vast nation of the sea! It covers seventy percent of Midgard’s surface! As king, I’m different from you people who have nothing to protect!”

Pisces spread his arms wide as Libra and Aigokeros looked at him coldly. Their faces showed signs of exasperation and seemed to be saying, “Is it starting again?” However, Pisces didn’t seem to care what they were thinking.

“The unified nation of the great sea, Skíðblaðnir, consists of one hundred eighty territories, three hundred cities, and one hundred million people. In the history of Midgard, has there ever been a king who ruled over such a vast territory?”

“Ruphas-sama once unified the world.”

“Ah, my talent as a king frightens even myself! This king, who could do so much in just two hundred years, is truly a supreme treasure above everything else in this world. And this sea kingdom will be an engagement ring for my beloved. Do you understand the difference? You people are simply peasants, while I’m a glorious king. Don’t put me on the same level as you!”

“Yes, yes. Waros, waros.”

“Yes, yes. Eros, Eros.”

“You ********—!”

Although what Pisces had said sounded like narcissistic self-praise, what he had achieved was actually quite amazing. Purely in terms of territory, he was superior even to the Demon King.

Currently, the demons dominated over ninety percent of the world, while the humanoids lived in a small area that was less than ten percent of the land. But in the end, this only accounted for the land, which was merely thirty percent of the whole of Midgard. The remaining seventy percent, which consisted of the vast world of the sea, was under the rule of Pisces.

Certainly, this achievement could not be ignored. Bringing him back to Ruphas would mean that the sea kingdom of Skíðblaðnir would become her ally. In an instant, the spheres of influence of Ruphas and the Demon King would be turned upside down. The power balance would be completely reversed.

“But currently, my kingdom has a problem.”

“Is it because of your narcissism?”

“That’s certainly a big problem.”

“No, you fools! Currently, we are at war with the mutant invaders known as the deep ones.”

Hearing about the war, Libra and Aigokeros glanced at each other. That didn’t sound like something that should be troubling one of the Twelve Stars. Wasn’t that a problem that could be solved by any one of the Twelve Stars with their overwhelming combat power?

It didn’t matter whether the enemies were in the thousands or tens of thousands. One could simply use wide area annihilation magic to wipe them out by virtue of the absolute difference in level. The Twelve Stars, especially those members who were combatants, could certainly do so. There was only one combatant who could not because he was a crab that was useless except to serve as a shield.

“The deep ones…Are they the merfolk who look like deep-sea fish?”

“You’ve encountered them? Yes, they’re those ugly folk who dare to challenge me because they don’t know their place. They can’t be eradicated nor driven out of the sea. The beautiful kingdom that I’ve built is being ruined by them.”

“Then you should just annihilate them all. The ones I fought were just a bunch of worthless small fries.”

“Those were just the vanguard. The real problem is the one who’s hiding behind them.”

Pisces clicked his tongue sullenly and roughly brushed his hair.

“Their general is called…the evil god of the sea. I don’t know when exactly it came into being, but it seems to have dwelled in the deep sea for a fairly long time. To put it simply, it is a marine mutant that was transformed by mana. Aigokeros, it is a natural being like you. Just think of it as a monster whose birth was unintended by the Goddess.”

“Is it strong?”

“Yeah, quite significantly. Although we only had a little skirmish, its combat power is comparable to that of the Twelve Stars. When it comes to underwater combat, it may be on par with the Dragon King.”

Twelve Stars class—Hearing this, the look of contempt vanished from the faces of Libra and Aigokeros. A monster that formed naturally as a result of mana mutation was by no means an easy opponent to deal with. After all, the Twelve Stars and the former subordinates of Ruphas were a group of such individuals. Basically, Karkinos, Scorpius, Aigokeros, Phoenix, and Hydrus were all included in this group.

“Are the deep ones that same kind of being?”

“No, they are a new species that came into being in the last two hundred years. All sinners who violate the dignity of the sea kingdom are not killed and are instead generously banished to the deep sea. Over time, they transform into magical beasts who now serve the evil god.”

“Isn’t this problem completely self-inflicted?”

“Oh, is it only male merfolk who were banished?”

“You fools would never understand my passion.”

Since Pisces favored the females, it was mostly the males who were sent to the deep sea. Therefore, there were no females among the deep ones and they would become extinct if this situation persisted. In other words, this was a war for survival to them.

Simply put, the assaults were their way of saying, “Send us some females, you crappy harem *******!” This was such a wretched reason for war.

The evil god who got caught in the middle of this and had to play along was really pitiful. Actually, wasn’t it a rather nice magical beast for going out of its way to play along? At least, it was commendable that it had done nothing wrong despite having so much power at its disposal until now.

“I understand. In that case, let’s work together.”

“How troublesome. Let’s eradicate the deep ones quickly.”

It didn’t matter to Libra and Aigokeros what would happen to the merfolk. However, if this became part of Ruphas’ territory, it would be a different matter. It would be unacceptable to present the master with a ruined wasteland as a gift. Furthermore, if the evil god was left alone, it might get in the way of their master sooner or later. There was no reason not to help.

“Hmph, help huh? Regardless of your personalities, your combat power is still reliable. Fine. I, Pisces, will make a special allowance for you to help. Be thankful. Well, even if you’re not here, I’ll still manage somehow.”

“Right, let’s go back, Aigokeros.”

“We’ll just say that Eros is dead.”

“Wa—Wait, don’t go! I understand. I’m grateful. I’ll be grateful, so please help!”

At the sight of Libra and Aigokeros turning to leave, Pisces abandoned his arrogant mask and cried for help. After all, Pisces was desperate to deal with the situation and the assistance of two of the Twelve Stars was something he found irresistible. He had to resolve this matter somehow, otherwise he couldn’t return to Ruphas. This was basically torture for him.

“Alright. Then, let’s take the fight to the enemy immediately.”

“We—We’re going now? I haven’t even formed an army yet.”

“We don’t need something like that, right? We are sufficient by ourselves.”

When it came to war, quantity weighed more than quality. This was an absolute truth that had not changed since ancient times and would continue to hold true in the future. The side with more troops would be the victor. War was basically like this.

Of course, various factors like strategies, tactics, weapons, terrains, and weather could enable an overwhelmed minority to defeat the majority. However, the first thing that should be considered would always be numbers. The fact that a larger number was more advantageous would never change.

However, they were the walking disasters known as the Tyrannical Twelve Stars. The theories of war simply did not apply to disasters. No matter how large an army was, if three huge meteors fell, the country would still be easily destroyed.

“I wonder if your life as a king has become too long and dull?”

“Who are you talking to? I’m Pisces, the son of the Goddess. Something like that wouldn’t happen to me!”

Pisces laughed at Libra’s provocation and opened the palace’s doors. The surrounding merfolk were watching to see what was happening, but they wouldn’t have guessed that the three of them intended to assault the enemy camp by themselves.

“”We’re moving out! Don’t fall behind, peasants!”

“Who are you calling a peasant, Eros?”

“I’ll go ahead first, Eros.”

“Call me Pisces!”

Pisces snapped his fingers. The thin hagoromo that he was wearing earlier was instantly replaced by a golden, tasteless armor. He had a mantle on his back and a trident in his hand. In addition, a giant, thirty-meter long killer whale responded to his call to move out…The orvar cried and he got on its back.

“Hahahaha! Hahahahaha!”

The king of the sea laughed in a tasteless manner with his arms crossed on the orvar’s back. After that, the two followed after him with a stunned look. As the underwater city shrank away in the distance, the three of them entered the deep sea.

Several deep ones appeared to block their way, but they were just small fries. The ultrasonic waves emitted by the orvar enveloped them, causing them to bleed from every hole in their bodies. They were then preyed upon and torn apart by sharp teeth.

Pisces had raised his orvar pet to Level 500. At least, Pisces didn’t have to fight personally if they were just small fries.

Image from Light Novel Volume 7