Chapter 193: Submechanophobia And Sub-Waifus?
Chapter 193: Submechanophobia And Sub-Waifus?
Diving into the ocean depths, I didn't hesitate to trade my human legs for my sky-silver merman tail. My sky-silver scales sliced through the water with a hypnotic, rhythmic sway, completely eliminating the crushing drag of the deep sea. I briefly weighed my options for navigating the waters surrounding this massive, monotonous island. Ultimately, I opted for my Fire, Air, and Life magic cores for this leg of the trial, keeping my Hidden Gu ready in case I needed to slip past any roaming sea monsters. I could have rolled with my Death, Ice, and Time core to call upon the Corpse Refining Coffin, but a stealthy, adaptable approach felt right for now.
Based on the positioning of the Secret Realm portal against the island's coastline, I designated this western stretch of open water as my primary grid.
As a Half-Merman, my Swift Knight toolkit was fully unlocked underwater: Fast Attacks, Fleet Movement, Elusive Movements, Heightened Awareness, Vital Strike, Triple Strikes, and Blink Teleport.
I kept Heightened Awareness humming in the background. It was a dirt-cheap aura ability that required virtually zero aura upkeep, functioning like a supernatural sixth sense if the visibility turned murky. Combined with my innate merman physiology, my baseline speed was already absurd. The moment I triggered Fleet Movement, the water resistance vanished entirely. I tore through the abyss like a supersonic torpedo, flying through the ocean depths exactly the way Superman streaks through the open sky.
To my right, the sheer, endless stone wall of the mountain island plummeted straight down into an ink-black void. Even with my terrifying velocity, an oppressive, primal weight settled over my chest. Staring out into that vast, empty vacuum, the raw, suffocating panic of submechanophobia threatened to claw its way into my mind.
Then, the graveyard appeared.
Resting precariously on a jagged shelf of the underwater mountain lay an ancient fleet of sunken airships. These weren't standard wooden galleons.
They were massive, rusted hulls of industrial steel and copper, standing eerie and upright in the current like rotting, skeletal skyscrapers. Monstrous pipes—thick as castle keeps—protruded directly from the mountain face behind the wrecks. They thrummed with a low, unnatural vibration that rattled the marrow of my bones, spewing streams of superheated, bubbling water into the freezing darkness.
My eyes narrowed. At the very epicenter of the rusted graveyard, wedged deep inside the hollow eye socket of a colossal stone statue carved into the mountain cliffside, a brilliant azure light pulsed.
Neptune’s Trident.
I couldn't believe I’d stumbled onto it this fast. Clearly, those blasted Mermaid Tears were still working their magic behind the scenes, keeping my passive luck stat entirely through the roof. I could feel the thrumming power of the artifact radiating across the shelf—a pulse so profoundly primal that it resonated with the ancestral legacy of every mermaid and merman who had ever ruled the shifting currents of Myst.
This artifact wasn't just a weapon; it was the crown jewel of the sea. It was the ultimate key to a legendary bloodline, an absolute authority that would grant me complete dominion over the waters and make me the undeniable master of every gorgeous, silken-scaled mermaid woman inhabiting the vast oceans of Myst. Winning this trial meant winning their eternal devotion, their hearts, and their breathtakingly supple, exquisite bodies.
But a trial of this caliber was never going to let me just walk up and claim the prize.
The water pressure violently shifted. My Heightened Awareness flared like a hot iron against my skull, screaming a warning of immediate danger.
From the gaping, pitch-black cargo holds of the sunken airships, a massive, cloud-like shadow erupted. Thousands of glowing, razor-finned Demonic Beast Piranhads swarmed toward me, their metallic teeth snapping with terrifying, mechanical speed.
I grinned, my knuckles whitening around the hilt of my Black Iron Heavy Sabre. I couldn't call upon my standard Summons for this trial—the ambient pressure and prolonged breathing restrictions made it a death sentence for them—but my own martial prowess was more than enough to even the odds.
Locking into my Air, Fire, and Life magic cores, I braced myself.
Let's see how you bastards handle a sudden spike in temperature, I thought, the words dissolving into silent bubbles.
I didn't slacken my pace. Channeling a massive surge of mana, I unleashed Radiate Scorching Heat, a devastating 6th Circle Summoner spell. Instantly, the water within a ten-foot radius of my body began to boil violently, ignited by the sudden eruption of my supernatural blue flames. A massive shroud of superheated steam bubbles encased me, expanding rapidly outward.
The frontline of the Demonic Beast Piranha swarm slammed directly into the boiling barrier like suicidal moths drawn to a blue campfire. They were cooked alive in a fraction of a second, their pale, bloated underbellies instantly carpeting the current.
Yet, the sheer, relentless volume of the swarm was staggering. I finally understood why even the early Emperor had struggled so damn hard here. The back half of the school pushed ruthlessly right through the cooked corpses of their kin, biting their way through the supernatural, scalding steam.
Seamlessly, I shifted into my Vanguard Knight abilities. Harden Flesh activated, coating my skin in a dense, wooden Life aura, followed immediately by a defensive Thorn Wall. A thick, glowing barrier of ethereal, jagged briars manifested around my silver-tailed form, sealing me off from every direction but up. The surviving predators tore themselves to pieces against the supernatural thorns as I rocketed straight through the center of the bloody cloud.
Cutting a path of absolute death, I left a trail of diced predator fish in my wake before executing a clean Blink Teleport to escape my own thorn prison.
Suddenly, a monolithic shadow loomed overhead. The colossal stone statue—the Drowned King built directly into the mountain cliff—shuddered to life.
"Motherfucker, it's an 8th Circle Mechanical Puppet!"
The ancient, buried machinery inside the mountain ground together with a deafening, metallic screech. The stone giant’s massive, barnacle-encrusted hand, easily the size of a multi-story apartment complex, came crashing down through the water column, aiming to swat me into a red paste. The sheer displacement of the current felt like a falling mountain range.
I didn't panic. My mind cleared as I instantly swapped my magic cores the second the boss fight commenced. The warm, vibrant aura of Air, Life, and Fire vanished from my veins. In its place, a freezing, oppressive weight settled over my soul as I cycled to my 8th Circle Death, Ice, and Time-Space magic core.
As the massive stone hand threatened to crush me like an insect, I focused entirely on the open water just beyond its monolithic fingers. Blink Teleport!
In a flash of displaced spatial energy, I vanished, reappearing directly above the statue’s stone wrist. The titan—which looked suspiciously like an ancient Greek God—was already recovering, its hollow stone eyes igniting with a malicious, radioactive green light.
From the rusted airship wreckage nearby, thick, spectral chains forged from corrupted energy shot outward like striking vipers. They wrapped tightly around my torso, pinning my arms to my sides and dragging me backward toward the dark, vibrating intake valves of the mountain refinery.
Think you can hold me? Blink Teleport! I snarled, nothing but irritated bubbles escaping my lips.
I triggered the Swift Knight ability again, tearing free from the spatial anchor of the chains. A surge of pure, unadulterated willpower exploded through my muscles as I out-swam the animated, ghostly restraints. Free from the trap, I kicked off the mountain wall, drawing my Heavy Sabre in a fluid, deadly arc.
I channeled the full, terrifying weight of my active Death and Ice aura into the blade, stacking them into my Dual Ability skill to manifest the Nether-Ice aura. The Black Iron Heavy Sabre coated itself in a dark, absolute-zero glaze that didn't just freeze the surrounding water—it seemed to freeze the very light passing through it.
My target was the statue's massive stone neck. With Fleet Movement still burning hot, I was nothing but a streak of silver lightning cutting through the dark. The Stone Mechanical Puppet tried to raise its opposing hand to block the trajectory, but I was already weaving through the water with Elusive Movements, dodging the slow, heavy arc with effortless, mocking grace.
I closed the distance in a heartbeat. Stacking Fast Attacks and Triple Strikes simultaneously within my mind, I unleashed hell.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
My Heavy Sabre struck the reinforced granite of the neck three times in less than a millisecond. The absolute-zero aura of the Nether-Ice instantly flash-froze the ancient stone on impact, rendering the dense structure incredibly brittle and weak.
To finish the job, I channeled the raw, crushing power of my Vanguard toolkit into a final, devastating blow: Vital Strike combined with a Bull Rush Stun.
My Heavy Sabre descended like a guillotine. The frozen stone neck shattered into millions of tiny, drifting pebbles. The massive, mountain-sized head of the colossus detached from its torso, drifting slowly and silently down into the bottomless abyss below.
With the guardian Mechanical Puppet destroyed, the oppressive green energy draining the area dissipated into nothingness. I swam up into the hollow eye socket of the now-headless statue of Poseidon. Resting on a pedestal of pristine white coral was my prize.
Neptune’s Trident was forged from a flawless, deep-blue metal that looked exactly like solidified ocean water. Three jagged prongs crackled with arcs of pure, golden lightning, completely unbothered by the surrounding sea. I reached out, gripping the smooth, cool haft of the artifact weapon, and held my gaze skyward like a chuuni retard, laughing underwater at how ridiculously easy this was—well, as a Merman, anyway.
A shockwave of pure, oceanic majesty surged through my silver tail, instantly clearing away every ounce of my lingering fatigue. The weapon accepted my bloodline on contact, restoring my body like a perfectly timed Second Wind. The dark, terrifying depths of the mountain island no longer felt like a suffocating trap; they felt like my personal kingdom.
As the absolute sovereign of the depths, a sudden, vivid realization hit me. This trident didn't just command the currents—it broadcasted a primal, irresistible pheromonal pulse through the ley lines of the ocean. Across the entire world of Myst, from the hidden abyssal palaces to the sun-drenched coral reefs, every single mermaid woman would instantly feel the awakening of their true master. Their lush, trembling tails would ache to wrap around me; their heavy, perfect breasts would heave with sudden desire, and their soft lips would whisper my name in a collective, breathless surrender. I had just unlocked an unconditional ticket to conquering the ultimate aquatic harem.
I raised the trident high, the golden arcs of lightning illuminating the entire graveyard of airships, signaling my absolute victory over the trial.
I examined the strange weapon, realizing it was less of an artificial item and more of a natural, primordial treasure. It felt entirely like cold metal when I closed my eyes, yet it looked like true, solidified water. The golden arcs dancing along the tips honestly reminded me of an overpowered taser or cattle prod. I suddenly thought it was a shame Thorin hadn't found this item first—
Slap!
I comically slapped my own face underwater, instantly scolding my own stupidity.
"Holy shit, how could I even think of giving Thorin a literal key to a few-thousand-strong harem! I went soft for a second, haha... Sub-Waifus, here daddy comes!"
Buzz~
With a single thought, the Trident melted into a streak of vibrant blue light. To my immediate annoyance, it bypassed my other channels and forced its way directly into my damn Death magic core again.
"Well, my Life Core already has a lot of Gu living there, and Love Gu at that, while I have the trapped Love Gu in my dark heart, haha... Wait for me, Sara, here comes your husband!"
As I neared the surface of the water, I manifested Neptune's Trident once more, activating one of its most utility-heavy built-in abilities.
"Come forth, Soaring Sky King!"
Poof!
Like a true Summoning spell, a massive, 300-foot-wide, pitch-black Sky Soaring Ray materialized from a cloud of displaced mana. It looked absolutely menacing, sporting glowing red eyes and a jet-black complexion designed to be completely invisible in the deep ocean or the night sky. This behemoth was an 8th Circle creature bound directly to the trident, treating the artifact itself as its Summoner. In essence, I had just scored a free, high-tier Summon that operated a lot like Bubbles, functioning with the raw speed and capacity of a military airship.
Standing proudly on the Soaring Sky King's back, we slowly broke the surface of the water together, facing the island coastline like a pair of absolute badasses.
Standing on the shore, both Frigg and Sara stood frozen, their eyes wide with sheer, unadulterated shock as they took in the massive Sky King, the crackling Neptune's Trident, and my smirking face.