As they leapt through the portal, Alex found himself trapped inside a giant tornado. Raging water spirals surrounded them from every direction, roaring like living storms. Beneath them, a massive whirlpool spun endlessly into darkness while Perseus fell through it without a trace of worry.
"WHOOO! Grandpa, do something! We can't even use magic!" Alex shouted.
Perseus only nodded calmly. "It's fine. Hold your breath and follow me!"
In the next instant, Alex crashed into freezing water.
His body twisted violently as he struggled to understand what was happening around him.
Perseus swam ahead toward the center of the whirlpool where the current was strongest. Darcy burst out behind them, transforming into her massive dragon form. Her long body sliced through the water with terrifying speed as she followed Perseus deeper below.
Then Alex saw it.
An underground valley beneath the ocean itself.
Darcy surged forward at insane speed. Around them, colossal sea beasts drifted through the darkness — creatures so massive they looked like moving mountains beneath the sea.
Perseus accelerated even faster.
Darcy followed.
Alex's lungs burned.
His vision blurred.
Darkness slowly crept into the edges of his sight.
Through telepathy, Alex muttered weakly, "Darcy… I'm reaching my limit… go faster…"
Darcy nodded.
The water around her exploded as she pushed forward with monstrous force.
Then they saw it—
A glowing blue portal hidden deep within the ocean.
And it was slowly closing.
Perseus disappeared inside first.
Alex's eyes widened.
"Damn it! Darcy, faster! The gate's closing!"
At the edge of death, both Alex and Darcy unleashed everything they had.
They shot through the portal just before it sealed shut.
Alex stumbled onto the other side, coughing violently.
To his shock, Perseus was standing there casually, breathing and talking normally.
Alex immediately sensed it—
The water here contained an overwhelming amount of mana.
Barely conscious, he created a thin bubble barrier around himself before collapsing onto the ground.
"WOW…" Alex gasped between breaths. "I seriously thought I was dead for sure… Old man, you better start explaining!"
Perseus burst into laughter.
"Congratulations, kid! You've earned the right to enter the Water Realm. The ruler of the seas, Poseidon himself, acknowledges you!"
Alex groaned loudly. "Damn! I don't care! Just send me home already. I'm seriously pissed."
At that moment, a half-fish, half-human being swam toward them and bowed respectfully.
"Holy Lord requests the presence of Prince Perseus."
Alex stayed flat on the ground.
"Please, old man… go visit him without me. Come find me later. My muscles are cramping."
The fish-man hesitated before speaking again.
"The Slayer of the Ocean Demon has also been summoned."
Alex stared at him in disbelief.
"Fantastic. You people really won't let me live peacefully, huh?"
He pulled out an elixir and injected it into his chest without hesitation. Then he casually took out a roasted chicken and started eating while walking, drinking juice stolen straight from Ruby's kitchen.
Ahead of them stood a colossal palace, large enough to make mountains look small.
Alex stopped before the gigantic gates.
"So… how exactly are we supposed to open this thing?"
The gates slowly groaned open on their own.
Alex and Perseus walked inside.
"Gramps," Alex muttered, "please tell me this place has food."
Countless ocean beings moved aside as they entered. Creatures of every shape and form watched them silently.
Behind Alex, Darcy observed everything carefully, her massive eyes glowing with curiosity.
Alex stepped out of the chamber, the scent of saltwater still clinging to his skin. He dried his hands on his jacket sleeve — still damp, barely intact — and looked toward the shimmering pool beyond.
There, Darcy danced.
Not splashing or paddling like a beast at play, but weaving through the water as though she had been born from it. Her long scaled body coiled and stretched gracefully, her antlered head rising and falling in elegant serpent curves. No wings. None were needed.
She flowed like a living river.
Like something ancient monks would paint beneath moonlight onto forgotten temple scrolls.
Alex stood there silently, watching her spiral upward before diving again, her mane drifting through the water like silver smoke.
She looked ancient.
Even in joy.
"You always had a flair for drama," he muttered with a smile.
Then Darcy froze.
Something flashed inside her eyes — instinct, mischief, perhaps a challenge.
Suddenly she darted away, zigzagging across the pool so quickly the water bent behind her like a comet tail.
Alex grinned.
"Oh… that's how it is?"
His hand closed around the golden trident.
The ocean answered instantly.
Water trembled beneath him before rising upward in a spiraling current that lifted him effortlessly into the air. The sea didn't resist him.
It obeyed him.
The trident hummed softly in his hand, as if remembering a master from long ago.
Laughing wildly, Alex shot forward atop a crashing wave, chasing after Darcy.
They danced through the palace waters.
Darcy twisted through pillars and bridges like a living ribbon of silver and emerald light. She moved less like a beast and more like a myth — half dream, half god.
Alex followed behind her, bending entire waves to his will as laughter escaped from deep within his chest.
"C'mon, you oversized water noodle!"
Darcy coiled high into the air as water spiraled around her in breathtaking slow-motion beauty before she crashed back down with thunderous force.
Alex surfed straight through the explosion like a mad war god.
He leapt from the wave and landed perfectly on her back.
Golden light erupted around them.
For one perfect moment—
Everything became still.
Then Darcy growled playfully and flipped him straight off her back like a dolphin tossing aside a toy.
Alex crashed into the water laughing.
"Alright," he muttered while floating on his back, exhausted. "Round one goes to you."
Darcy swam around him triumphantly in lazy circles, graceful and untouchable — an ancient sea serpent basking in victory.
Far above them, royal ministers stared in horror as an entire tidal wave slithered through the palace halls like a flood wearing jewels.
Alex exhaled slowly and tilted his head.
"Hey, Brave," he said, gripping the short white sword strapped to his back. "Anything you wanna tell me about Darcy's seal?"
The sword answered in its usual smug tone.
"Yes, Master. You've unlocked the advanced soul-sync stage. The rune… it's blooming inside your mind now."
Alex narrowed his eyes.
He could feel it.
An ancient symbol pulsing deep within his consciousness like a whisper echoing through time itself.
He closed his eyes and focused.
The rune twisted and coiled inside his mind — massive, ancient, burning with the same untamed power that lived within Darcy.
Then—
Click.
Something aligned.
Like a lock opening somewhere deep inside his soul.
Darcy paused mid-swim, sensing the change immediately.
Alex bit down hard onto his finger.
Blood dripped into the water below, staining it crimson.
With precise movements, he began carving the rune into the air itself using mana and blood together.
Power formed.
Then shattered.
Again …
again …
He hissed softly, wiping the sweat from his brow.
"Looks like your mother wasn't kidding," he muttered to Darcy with a faint smile. "Even in death, she still doesn't want you unleashed. Just like she was…"
Darcy's golden eyes narrowed silently.
Alex tried again.
Giving up had never been something he understood.
He drew the rune once more, pouring three-star mana, blood, and raw willpower into it. The air around him cracked violently. Reality itself rippled like disturbed water.
Then—
The seal completed.
Silence followed.
Alex exhaled slowly.
"Darcy," he whispered, "this is going to hurt. Like hellfire ripping your soul apart. But… we don't have a choice."
He pressed his palm against the rune.
Golden light exploded around them like a sun erupting beneath the sea.
And in the next blink—
They vanished.
They awoke inside a place that felt beyond space itself.
A void stretched endlessly around them, shimmering with millions of floating golden stars. Each one pulsed softly, drifting in slow silence like forgotten souls breathing through eternity.
The rune split apart.
Two symbols emerged — twin spirals of golden light.
One drifted toward Alex.
The other curled toward Darcy.
The moment they touched them, the symbols dissolved like wind entering lungs.
No resistance.
Only acceptance.
Then came the memories.
Alex saw dragons.
Dead dragons.
Sacrificed dragons.
Fallen gods wrapped in chains and betrayal.
Their voices echoed across the stars in whispers older than kingdoms.
He saw where Darcy came from.
The mothers.
The hunted.
The caged.
Meanwhile, Darcy saw him.
His scars.
His battles.
The endless nights training alone beneath freezing skies.
The demons.
The sword.
And one memory above all—
A small boy screaming while holding Ruby's dying mother in trembling arms.
Every wound.
Every grief.
Every lonely second.
And then—
They returned.
Alex gasped violently, coughing pool water from his lungs.
His head buzzed like someone had carved galaxies into his skull.
Beside him, Darcy surfaced silently.
Watching.
Waiting.
Alex blinked repeatedly, trying to clear the fading stars from his vision.
"I wish I could talk to them," he whispered quietly. "To all those dragons…"
Darcy blinked once.
Then nodded.
Alex froze.
"…Wait."
He stared at her.
"Did you just understand me?"
Another nod.
Calm.
Like she had been waiting for him to finally realize it.
Alex slowly backed away, looking genuinely horrified.
"Hold on. Hold on. You can understand me?"
Darcy nodded again.
Alex looked like someone had just informed him his dog secretly wrote poetry at night.
Then Darcy lowered her head and nudged him forward.
An invitation.
Climb on.
Without thinking, Alex climbed onto her neck and settled between her antlers. He closed his eyes and imagined flying.
The world answered instantly.
Water spiraled upward around them.
Then Darcy rose.
Together, they surged through the palace halls like living chaos.
Alex and Darcy spiraled through the air, magic trailing behind them like a comet forged from rebellion itself. Water twisted through corridors. Ministers scattered in terror. Marble statues cracked apart beneath crashing tides.
And through it all—
Laughter echoed.
They were only playing.
Until Darcy lost control.
She slammed through a gilded chamber wall with a deafening crash.
Smoke and shattered stone exploded outward.
Then—
She stepped through the dust.
Alex forgot how to breathe.
She emerged like a forgotten goddess walking out of myth itself.
Her skin was pale as sea-starlight.
Her eyes carried the weight of ancient oceans.
Her midnight hair flowed behind her like moonlight drowning in darkness.
Even her silence made the world hesitate.
Alex's nose immediately began bleeding.
His heart didn't beat.
It surrendered.
Then her eyes locked onto the glowing golden-white runes spread across Alex's back.
Something inside her shifted instantly.
Recognition.
Then fury.
"I—I'm sorry," Alex stammered weakly.
But tears welled in her eyes — not tears of sadness, but the rage of a humiliated goddess. Embarrassment and fury crashed together across her expression as she stormed toward him.
Alex panicked.
With a desperate wave of his hand, ice magic sealed the shattered wall behind him.
"Darcy," he whispered in absolute terror, "run."
Darcy didn't hesitate.
She bolted away in full dragon form at terrifying speed.
Moments later, Alex stumbled before Poseidon and Perseus, pale as death and still struggling to breathe.
The sea god narrowed his eyes.
"What happened, boy?"
"I-I'm sorry!" Alex blurted instantly. "I didn't mean to peek! I crashed into the bath chamber and she was there and she got angry and I apologized but she looked like she wanted to drown me in fire!"
Perseus blinked slowly.
"…You peeked?"
"It wasn't on purpose!" Alex cried. "She had the same mark! The trident mark — just like mine!"
Poseidon's expression darkened.
"…Wait. You saw it? On her back?"
Alex nodded miserably while scratching his head, his face red enough to cook eggs on.
"I wanna apologize," he muttered quietly. "But she probably hates me now."
Poseidon suddenly burst into booming laughter.
"Did heaven teach you nothing about respect, child?" he thundered. "What exactly were you thinking?"
Then he turned toward Perseus with visible disappointment.
"You really let this boy run around unsupervised?"
Perseus only grinned lazily.
"He's sixteen. If he wasn't attracting disasters, I'd be worried."
Poseidon smacked him across the head.
Then his expression turned serious again as he looked at Alex.
"Remember this, boy. Honor and ethics come first. Always."
Alex raised both hands helplessly.
"I didn't WANT to peek! What am I even supposed to do now?!"
Poseidon's gaze deepened.
Ancient.
Heavy.
"If she bears the same mark," he said slowly, "then she is tied to the sea's legacy… just like you."
He paused.
"And if she believes herself dishonored…"
Alex swallowed.
"You may have no choice but to marry her."
Silence.
Alex blinked once.
"…M-Marry?!"
Perseus nearly collapsed laughing as he slapped Alex across the back.
"Relax, kid!"
Even Poseidon chuckled, his laughter rolling like distant storms.
"It's fine," the sea god said. "As long as you don't fall for her."
Then his voice changed.
The humor faded beneath something older.
Something painfully real.
"Listen carefully, boy."
The palace grew quiet.
"You should only marry someone when you're ready to leave the entire world behind for her."
His eyes softened slightly.
"When she has seen the real you — the foolish you, the stubborn you, the broken you — and still chooses to stay beside you…"
Poseidon looked toward the endless sea beyond the palace walls.
"…then never let go of her hand."