"The Sea does not ask for obedience. It demands it."
Huo Yuhao couldn't move. His entire body was completely suppressed by the apostle.
That wasn't all. His perception slowed down to a crawl, his mind breaking apart.
His spiritual sea was being drowned!
Endless waves surged through his consciousness — cold, ruthless, merciless. His thoughts shattered like glass beneath the tide.
And right before his very eyes, space shattered like glass as an armored hand stretched towards Huo Yuhao.
Just as the Sea God's Apostle was about to grab his head, a flash of purple-gold flickered behind him.
A mysterious naked woman with cold ruthless eyes, brimming with boundless killing intent, appeared and attacked him.
The tear in space was abruptly closed, severing the arm. Golden blood flowed like molten lava.
"W-What was..." Huo Yuhao gasped, blood dripping from his nose and eyes. His breathing hitched, chest rising and falling in shallow bursts. The divine pressure that had pinned him moments ago dissipated.
However, the damage done to him was severe.
"W-What the hell was that?!" Keke cried out, her voice trembling as she clutched at Juzi's sleeve.
"Yuhao, are you alright?! That...what the heck that thing was! It almost grabbed you..." Juzi walked up to Huo Yuhao in worry. Her hands made to grab his arm but she stopped, remembering that they weren't alone, she only stood by him.
"T-That man's aura was unlike anything I've ever felt! What was that man? No, was that even a man?!" Xuan Ziwen was pale, sweat dripping down his temple. His entire body trembled as if he was in the Extreme North.
He had once felt the suffocating soul power of his teacher at full force and he feels that it was lacking compared to that mysterious stranger. Kong Deming was someone close to becoming a Transcendent Douluo!
For someone to be stronger than him by such a degree....
It can only mean that they...were at least an Ultimate Douluo!
'Or they could even be a God!!'
'Was that...a subordinate of the Sea God? So he's finally on the move.'
Huo Yuhao slowly calmed his heart and mind, his spiritual core revolving at full speed recovering his spiritual power and regenerating his damaged spiritual sea.
The Life Gold within his third eye trembled, exuding intense life energy and spread throughout his entire body to heal all physical injuries.
"I have no more time. I have to get stronger!"
He mumbled and ripped off the blindfold, his darkened eyes narrowing coldly. Without saying a word to the others he disappeared, leaving a flurry of ice and snow.
Meanwhile, in the place of what was once known as Oak City.
The Sea God's Apostle calmly looked down at his severed arm with indifference.
Without a single word, he raised his severed arm and with a strange sound, a new arm quickly regrew in a breath's time.
"Hmm. So, you finally revealed yourself. Demoness," Sea God's Apostle flexed his recovered forearm. He tilted his head, looking at the newcomer before him.
"Hissss!!" His loyal little companion hissed in anger and unfurled its wings.
From its jagged little mouth, a sharp, chilling dark-purple beam tore through the air and water like a spear of condensed annihilation. The pressure it released was enough to crush an ordinary Titled Douluo's soul and body.
The beam never reached her.
The moment it left the creature's maw, the ocean water rose abruptly, towering like a gigantic impenetrable wall. It twisted into a vortex around the woman.
The swirling column of seawater devoured the beam whole, swallowing its power with a deep, resonant hum that echoed through the depths.
Just as things were getting intense, the Apostle grunted. He spun the trident in his hand and turned, blocking the attack that was going after his head.
Behind him, the demoness's figure that was blocking his little companion's attack quietly turned into water. It quickly swelled violently as tons of seawater surged toward it, merging into the form until it looked like a massive, overfilled water balloon.
Then, it exploded.
A deafening roar tore through the air as the water sphere burst outward, releasing an overwhelming tidal blast. The pressure wave smashed through the land near the ocean and reduced the underground ruins of Oak City to dust.
The Apostle's wyrmling screamed, its sleek body flung backward like a leaf in a hurricane.
The Apostle remained unaffected. The tidal wave slammed against his back with enough force to pulverize mountains, yet it broke apart around him like a stream striking an unyielding cliff.
"A clone, huh. I see you've finally learned some new tricks since our last meeting." The Apostle locked eyes with the demoness, his gaze steady and calm.
"You! I'll kill you! I'll kill everything that belongs to that wretched Sea God!" The so-called demoness was a beautiful woman, with long deep-purple hair like a bellflower.
She has a body that many women would kill for; with an hourglass figure with well-endowed, perky pale breasts and voluptuous ass. Her flawless white skin was marred with numerous scars and eerie dark-purple markings, reeking of demonic aura.
To the rest of the world's population on land, she was a nobody.
But in the vast, boundless ocean? She was one of the most terrifying figures who holds an accomplishment that not even Di Tian had achieved!
A one million year old Demonic Whale!
The Wife of the legendary and infamous Deep Sea Demonic Whale King!
Demon Empress!
Ever since Tang San murdered her husband, she held deep resentment towards him.
It spiraled even further as her life had become hell, the sea soul beasts which respected her initially invaded her territory.
After her home was attacked and destroyed, she and her daughter luckily escaped. Otherwise, they would have died tragic deaths.
She wanted revenge.
But the fear of the Sea God descending down in the mortal plane to slaughter her and her beloved daughter had always made her lower her head and become low-key. She couldn't strike now, when she would be annihilated with just but a snap of his fingers.
She needed an opportunity.
And it arrived.
Unexpectedly, it was an interference set by the Douluo Plane's Will!
One has to know, that the Plane's Will is completely emotionless. It has no wisdom or advanced thought processing like most humans and ancient soul beasts have. Moreover, they were a bit biased against soul beasts.
Why? Well, just that soul masters have to hunt down soul beasts in order to have a breakthrough in their cultivation is damning enough.
It was reasonable that Demon Empress would be hesitant to just follow along with the Plane's Will.
Unfortunately, the vengeance within her heart and soul had tormented her for thousands of years. Her reasoning had deteriorated. Presented with an opportunity for vengeance, it didn't take long for her to be swayed.
"Boom!"
An explosion of high-pressure waters colliding occurred, ravaging what little land remained. The seas rumbled, waters rising and falling—!
Two supreme mortal beings fought for control over the seas.
One was the Apostle of the Sea God while the other was a one million year old Demonic Whale. They both hold dominion over the seas respectively. They were beings just a single step away from Godhood.
The pressure they exuded was so powerful that it collapsed the bottom of where they fought, deeper and deeper, becoming a bottomless sinkhole.
*Sreeekkk!* Xiao Zi, the Apostle's little pet, was not to be underestimated either. As his loyal companion for countless years, it knew how to support him.
Its beam of pure, concentrated power of annihilation shattered the surrounding space as it tries to shoot down the Demon Empress.
"Tsk. Annoying pest!" She clenched her hand, creating a thick water bubble around her to block the attacks of them both.
The bubble popped and several Demon Empress clones burst forth in all directions, every single one indistinguishable from the real one. From their flawless faces and scarred pale bodies to the seething, chaotic aura that radiated from them.
The Apostle didn't blink. He pulled back his hand holding his trident and raised his other, summoning the Qi of Heaven and Earth.
The waters below him began to churn violently and rose, forming into massive tornadoes that stretched for miles.
"My lord and savior, grant me strength to defeat my foe."
He let a deep breath, exuding a sliver of immortal Qi that enveloped the tornadoes.
The currents reversed, pressure spiked, and the whirling pillars of water began to change shape. Their twisting forms stretching, coiling, and condensing until they took on the form of massive serpentine water dragons.
Each one was dozens of kilometers long, their scales glimmering like ancient amethyst, their movements fluid and lifelike. As they looked down upon the Demon Empress with their glowing, yellow eyes, it was as if they were truly alive.
"By the Great Lord Sea God's Command — Descend!"
The water dragons roared in unison, their unison voices made the entire ocean tremble.
The dragons dove.
Like twelve celestial serpents, they tore through the water, leaving trails of purple light in their wake. Each movement warped space itself, the sheer pressure of their descent crushing the surrounding ocean into distorted layers of refracted light.
Almost all of the Demon Empress' clones were quickly decimated by the dragons' assault.
'How frustrating.'
The main Demon Empress frowned and she raised her hand.
The demonic aura around her surged outward like a hurricane, thickening the sea until it became black and heavy. Her long purple hair whipped violently as the dark sigils on her skin started burning up.
"Deadly Sea Water!"
Tens of thousands of tons of water droplets were condensed in the air and fell upon the dragons. Under her control, these sea water were no different from heavy hammers.
The impact of the heavy sea water falling from the sky caused the water dragons to roar in anguish. Each blow exploded with titanic force, generating shockwaves that tore apart the surrounding waters.
"Got you," The Apostle softly muttered, appearing above the Demon Empress with his trident poised to strike. Xiao Zi was also beside him, preparing to release a beam of annihilation.
"May your wretched soul find peace in the embrace of our great benevolent Sea God."
"You..." The Demon Empress clenched her hands, black blood spilling from the corners of her mouth and drifting upward like dark smoke in the water.
Her eyes glowed with pure hatred, their violet hue deepening until it nearly turned black. The sigils across her skin flared violently, veins bulging beneath her pale flesh.
"How fucking dare you!"
The very water around her rebelled. The demonic energy within it detonated outward, forming a dome of darkness that swallowed the surrounding light.
*Bang!*
The Apostle's golden radiance dimmed and Xiao Zi flew back once more.
Before he could drive his trident down, a surge of killing intent struck him like a tidal wave.
"This feeling?!" For the first time since their battle, the Apostle's expression drastically changed.
The Demon Empress' body warped—her outline flickering between woman and beast.
"Husband," Unexpectedly the Demon Empress' expression turned gentle and loving as she turned her head. Her eyes dripping with tears.
Behind her, the colossal shadow of the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King began to manifest, its gaping maw opening. The pressure it released shattered the seabed beneath them for miles.
"A remnant soul of the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King?! No wonder, no wonder! Even if lord Sea God's compassion is as boundless as the seas, he wouldn't just let a threat such as yourself roam freely in the mortal world." The Apostle's lips twitched, becoming a wide smile.
"I understand, I finally understand now. You were chosen as a divine trial for my Lord's eventual successor! Hahahaha!"
Hearing his words, the Demon Empress' eyes grew darker with hatred.
"Rejoice! The Sea God is magnanimous. As long as you kneel down and beg for forgiveness, you will be given a chance for repentance."
The Apostle floated in the air, looking down upon the Demon Empress. His expression turned calm and indifferent, as if he wasn't just hysterical a moment ago.
"Heh. Hehehe. Hahahahaha!!" The Demon Empress threw her head back and laughed.
The Apostle's expression turned colder.
"Repentance? You think I want his forgiveness? He doesn't even deserve mercy from this Empress!" she hissed, her voice distorting, reverberating in the water like grinding metal. Her body shuddered, expanding and contracting as demonic energy surged violently within her.
"A demon doesn't kneel before false divinity."
The moment those words left her mouth, the sea convulsed.
Her transformation sent out a pulse so powerful that the surrounding water turned into a vacuum for a split second before collapsing inward. The crushing force would have pulverized anything mortal within a thousand miles.
Before him, the Demon Empress loomed like a living mountain.
Her human body completely dissipated. She returned to her true form of a titanic whale. Its enormous body was over a thousand meters in length. Her golden eyes glared down upon him, filled with boundless hate and an ancient grief that transcended words.
The remnant soul of the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King behind her opened its enormous jaws. A terrifying devouring force erupted from it.
The terrifying devouring force twisted everything around them—currents reversed, space warped, and even light seemed to bend as it was pulled toward that gaping maw. Countless sea beasts within thousands of miles were instantly torn apart, their souls consumed before their bodies could even disintegrate.
'This is irritable. It was supposed to be a simple hunting mission, and it somehow turned into this.' The Apostle let out a deep and quiet sigh.
'I suppose it's to be expected of the Child of Destiny, their luck and fortune will work in their favor no matter the situation—just as long as they stay within the plane.'
'I have no choice. I have to borrow more of my Lord's divine power and end this before—'
Just as the Apostle was about to make a move, a terrifying aura permeated the area.
The Apostle's eyes constricted, his body trembling. His Xiao Zi, who had just got back, quickly hid behind him and started shaking like a leaf.
"No, it can't be! She's supposed to be in deep slumber, just like the rest of her kind!"
The Demon Empress' soul beast form seemed to make a smug smile on her whale face.
"Hahahaha! Did you really think I would be facing you if I didn't have a reliable backup?! You and that God of yours have really fucked up if "they" even went as far as waking "that" up!"
The Apostle's spiritual power stretched through the water and space, but every attempt to perceive the new presence ended in static and pain. His trident's golden light dimmed as if crushed beneath an unseen weight.
"The primordial mother of the seas! The first and true ruler of the boundless deep!"
From the darkness below, something stirred.
The sea itself began to tremble—not from force, but from fear. Every molecule of water seemed to recoil, as though aware of the being that now awakened beneath its surface.
The Demon Empress' whale form trembled in exaltation. Even her husband's remnant soul seemed to have a trace look of admiration.
Her voice, booming and warped, carried a reverence that bordered on worship.
"She who slumbered before the first humans ascended into Godhood... she who cradled the first ocean in her womb..."
The pressure spiked again.
Reality twisted, and the deep abyss split open.
A rift—ancient and vast—appeared beneath them.
From within it, a faint, glowing eye opened, large enough to dwarf mountains.
Its light was neither gold nor black, but a color beyond mortal comprehension—one that made the trace of divine power within the Apostle tremble.
"Tiamat, the Second Monster. The titan beast who bears the title of the Primordial Sea Monarch!"
...
AN: Hohoho~ A lot is happening! Wtf is going on? Who is the Apostle? The Demon Empress is here? And why the fuck is Tiamat here?!!
Stay tuned next week for—
D-Douluo Dalu2: Cursed Eyes!