Dead.
All dead.
The Trench monsters, who had dominated the Trench Kingdom for thousands of years, were utterly silenced by Lothar's single strike.
Dust to dust, ashes to ashes.
Sacrificed themselves to feed the fish and shrimp.
Mera stared blankly at the golden, radiant figure, feeling an inexplicable dryness in her mouth. She wanted to drink water. Logically, as an Atlantean princess, she shouldn't lack water...
This was the first time she had been so profoundly shocked by Lothar's demonstrated power.
The sheer devastation of the sprawling, dark mass of Trench monsters turning to dust in an instant from Lothar's simple strike was far more shocking than merely watching Steppenwolf get beaten up.
At least, for Mera, it certainly was.
One was a complete one-on-one annihilation, the other was the destruction of an entire nation. The visual impact of the two was simply not on the same level.
"Now that the obstacles are gone, how are you going to find the Golden Trident?" Lothar's voice roused Mera from her daze.
"I, I mean... it should be..."
Mera's mind went blank for a moment after snapping out of it, not a single thought forming. "If what you and Woz said is true, then the Golden Trident should be hidden within the Trench Kingdom." She slapped her forehead, finally pulling herself out of the earlier shocking scene.
"But now, here's the problem."
"You destroyed the entire Trench Kingdom, Lothar."
Mera, who had studied Atlantean geography, stepped on the fractured plates beneath her feet, looking at the transformed terrain.
Comparing it to her memory of where the Trench Kingdom's palace should have been, she found she couldn't match it up anymore.
Arched mountains, shattered canyons, broken suspension bridges... Everything was so unfamiliar.
"You—"
Boom!
A violent explosion, like a sudden clap of thunder, cut Mera short. A milky-white vortex gradually formed over the vast expanse of the Trench Kingdom's territory.
"Lee~"
A giant blue and white whale let out a friendly, gentle sound, twisting its immense body as it swam out of the milky-white vortex, floating before Mera, blowing bubbles.
Mera: ???
"Lee~"
The giant whale opened its mouth. Right in front of Mera, it opened its gaping maw. Lothar naturally threw a punch.
"Wait, Lothar!"
Mera, fully aware that the giant whale's life would likely be over with Lothar's punch, immediately spoke to stop him. For some reason, this giant whale gave her a strange sense of familiarity.
"Lee!"
As if startled by Lothar, the giant whale's cry suddenly became incredibly sharp and piercing. With a flick of its tail, it seemed to disregard all relations.
Thud!
Lothar's descending kick instantly made it obediently lie on the ground, not daring to move.
"Lothar..." Mera didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"Please show mercy, child."
The wronged blue whale, which had been whimpering limply at Lothar's feet, suddenly had tears streaming down its face like a broken dam upon hearing a familiar voice.
"Lee~~"
A high-pitched whale song, filled with grievance. It was exactly like a child eagerly complaining to its parent.
"It meant no harm."
A woman in silver soft armor slowly emerged from the vortex. The fatigue written on her face could not conceal the unparalleled grace of her youth and beauty.
"Queen Atlanna?"
Mera froze instantly: "Is that really you, Queen Atlanna?"
The former Queen of Atlantis, Arthur Curry's mother. Queen Atlanna was scorned by the King of Atlantis for her illicit affair with a human from the surface and giving birth to the illegitimate son, Arthur Curry, and was ultimately sent to this place of exile.
"It's been a long time, Mera. In the blink of an eye, you've grown so big."
Atlanna smiled and took Mera's hand, her fingers brushing the latter's cheek. Memories from the past flooded her mind, adding a touch of sadness. Mera had grown so much, but what about her child?
"It really is you!!! This is great!! This is great!!" Mera, who had always believed Atlanna had perished in the maw of the Trench, was overcome with excitement.
Since childhood, she had traveled back and forth between Atlantis and Xebel.
The former Queen Atlanna was like a mother figure to her.
When she first learned that Atlanna had been exiled to the Trench Kingdom, she was heartbroken and protested for quite some time, but unfortunately, she still couldn't change the King of Atlantis's decree.
"Lothar! Come here, quickly. Let me introduce you, this is Atlanna, the Queen of Atlantis."
"The exiled Queen?" Lothar frowned, then was lightly nudged on the shoulder by Mera.
Lothar: ???
"I'm sorry, Queen Atlanna, Lothar he—"
"No, it's alright. That is the truth, after all."
"Compared to that, Mera, what just happened? Where are the Trench members?"
Atlanna shook her head. As someone who had "been there," she immediately understood what Mera's small gesture towards Lothar meant.
She was past the age for gossip. What she most wanted to know now was the cause of the recent tremor that had shaken the entire underwater world.
Because she was worried there might still be Trench creatures waiting outside, she had first sent out the blue whale she had tamed to scout, only to find it immediately pinned under Lothar's foot.
Seeing that a good beating was inevitable, Atlanna quickly revealed herself.
"The Trench has completely vanished from this world, starting today."
Mera pointed to Lothar, recounting the earlier events in detail, which filled Atlanna's eyes with continuous astonishment.
This destructive power, no matter how she heard it, seemed utterly fantastical. Such a large race, a race that even the other six underwater kingdoms found incredibly troublesome, just... gone?
Are the Trench monsters now extinct?
Most importantly... she was free?
"Mera, where are Arthur and his father? Did Atlantis make a move against them?"
Atlanna, having been cut off from information, eagerly sought news about her beloved son and husband from Mera.
"No, they didn't. Don't worry, Queen, they are both fine. Atlantis has always honored its agreement with you and hasn't harmed them."
"However..." Mera hesitated, unsure whether to reveal the other matter.
"However what?" Atlanna immediately grew incredibly tense.
"Orm is dead."
Mera spoke with a solemn expression, but Atlanna's reaction surprised her.
"Orm is dead? Who did it?"
Although her tone was one of concern, compared to her previous level of concern for Arthur and his father, this tone was almost devoid of emotion. It was as if she had just heard that a neighbor's son had died, asking with slight interest.
Mera felt a lump in her throat.
Not long ago, Lothar's deductions had completely overturned her long-held perceptions of Atlantis.
Now, she found that Queen Atlanna, who had taught her about "love and peace" in her childhood, didn't seem to embody that supposed "love and peace" herself.
Arthur was her son, so Orm wasn't?
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