The moment Poseidon finished speaking, the enormous, terrifying sea monster began to glow with a soft, gentle light.
Under everyone's astonished gaze, its massive body rapidly shrank and condensed at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Within just a few breaths, the horrifying creature that had nearly unleashed a catastrophe upon the deep sea transformed into a tiny octopus no larger than Ritter's palm. Its body was translucent pink, its round eyes wide and innocent.
Ritter: ????
You already turned a majestic eldritch beast into a clueless college student once. I complained about it already, but I feel the need to say it again.
Poseidon, this really isn't your job!
The miniature octopus waved its tiny tentacles and let out a series of soft chirping sounds.
Chiu! Chiu!
It bounced clumsily twice before landing in Poseidon's open palm, rubbing its head affectionately against her fingers.
Ritter: Hold on. My palm-sized means my palm-sized. It's not even big enough to rub against her whole finger, you little brat!
The creature looked unbelievably adorable. Its bright, intelligent eyes were filled with dependence and affection toward Poseidon.
It was completely different from the life-devouring monster from moments ago.
Then again...
Do octopuses even count as fish?
Ritter stared at the little creature rolling around and acting cute in Poseidon's hand.
Then he looked down at the ominous Black Tide greatsword in his own hand.
Then back at the harmless-looking octopus.
Suddenly, the epic battle that had nearly overturned the deep sea felt like it had completely destroyed his cool factor.
According to the script in his head, he was supposed to absorb the monster dry in front of every fish-man and merfolk on Fish-Man Island, then dramatically announce:
"Fish-Man Island! Your emperor... your hero... has arrived!"
"Good grief..." Ritter muttered. "The art style changed way too fast. We went straight from Deep-Sea Cthulhu to adorable mascot pet."
The war was over.
Well... mostly.
Looking around, the outer districts of Fish-Man Island were in ruins. Buildings had collapsed, coral formations had shattered, and much of the damage had come from Ritter and Joy Boy's earlier performance as villains driving civilians away, along with the aftershocks of their battle against the sea monster.
If someone actually ranked contributors to the destruction:
MVP: Ritter and Joy Boy.
Sea Monster: Carried to victory without doing much.
Joy Boy, meanwhile, remained completely carefree.
Now that peace had returned, he happily twisted his body into bizarre shapes to entertain the children peeking out from Noah after confirming the danger had passed.
The destruction around him didn't bother him in the slightest.
As for Ritter?
He felt absolutely no guilt.
He had abandoned the concept of shame a long time ago.
Heh heh heh...
Resting Black Tide on his shoulder, his crimson eyes swept across the surrounding wreckage.
His heart remained utterly unmoved.
"What are you all staring at?"
"If we hadn't shown up, you'd all be dancing inside that monster's stomach right now."
"We're the heroes here, got it?"
At that moment, High Priest Rakis slowly swam over from Noah.
His expression was extraordinarily complicated.
There was relief from surviving the disaster.
There was awe from witnessing a miracle.
But more than anything, there was exhaustion... and acceptance.
He stopped before Poseidon.
His gaze lingered briefly on the tiny octopus playing with its own tentacles in her palm.
Then, this stubborn old man, who had spent his entire life believing his prophecies protected the island, bowed deeply before the young princess.
"Princess..."
"This old servant... was wrong."
In that instant, he seemed to age decades.
The man who had once stood as the unquestioned High Priest of Fish-Man Island now looked like nothing more than an elderly man approaching the end of his journey.
"I allowed myself to be blinded by a fragment of prophecy. I became stubborn and convinced of my own correctness."
"I nearly led Fish-Man Island into an irreversible abyss."
"Had Your Highness not persisted..."
"Had these two guests not given everything to help us..."
"The consequences would have been unimaginable."
"I have failed the former king. I have failed His Majesty. I have failed Your Highness. I have failed every citizen of this island."
"I became far too obsessed with the future I foresaw."
"I trusted my own vision too much."
As those words left his mouth, the king swam over and gently supported his old friend's trembling shoulder.
"Rakis, everything you did was for the island..."
But the High Priest slowly shook his head and interrupted him.
When he raised his head again, fatigue remained in his eyes, but there was also a clarity that came from finally seeing through the fog.
He had truly earned the title of Fish-Man Island's wisest man.
"Your Majesty, there is no need to comfort me."
Taking a deep breath, he seemed to reach a long-awaited decision.
"I have remained in the position of High Priest for far too long."
"So long that even I could no longer tell whether I was using prophecy to protect Fish-Man Island... or allowing prophecy to bind me while I attempted to control its destiny."
"The truth is, I realized this long ago."
"I was simply too confident in myself to admit it."
His gaze swept across the gathered citizens and the homeland that now needed rebuilding.
His voice became firm.
"A healthy kingdom does not need a prophet who can constantly influence the king's decisions, or worse, bring disaster through obsession."
"When calamity arrives, Fish-Man Island needs unity in its leadership."
"It cannot be governed by two competing authorities."
"Even if that authority is Rakis."
Turning toward the king, he spoke solemnly.
"Your Majesty."
"Once this crisis has passed and our home has been rebuilt..."
"I request permission to step down as High Priest."
"And after my retirement, the position itself should cease to exist."
"The future of Fish-Man Island should be guided by you and Princess Poseidon."
"By your wisdom, your compassion, and your trust in both the people and the sea."
The king looked into his old friend's eyes and saw only resolution and peace.
"High Priest..."
"Your Majesty," Rakis said softly, "there is no need."
"My existence has already begun to interfere with the authority of the crown."
"I will continue to serve Fish-Man Island."
"I still remember our promise."
"I will continue dedicating my strength to the dream of seeing our people live beneath the sunlight."
"But I can no longer hold this power."
The king knew his friend had already made his decision.
At last, he nodded heavily.
A crisis that had threatened the survival of Fish-Man Island had also brought about the rebirth of its ideals and balance of power.
And the turning point of it all had come from a timid yet kind-hearted mermaid princess, and her miraculous power as the Ancient Weapon Poseidon, a power capable of communicating with all life beneath the sea.
Poseidon looked down at the now-peaceful little octopus resting in her hand.
Then she looked toward the reconciled king and former High Priest.
Within her ice-blue eyes, a new understanding began to emerge.
She was finally starting to grasp the responsibility she carried.
And how that power ought to be used.
Of course, her strength was still far from complete.
The true power of Poseidon had yet to awaken.
Even after witnessing what Poseidon could do, Ritter still couldn't help feeling that among the Three Ancient Weapons, Poseidon had the least intimidating style.
Pluton?
A terrifying weapon that countless people had spent centuries trying to uncover.
Uranus?
Potentially an endless-energy superweapon capable of devastating the world.
And Poseidon?
Apparently, her strategy was:
"Friendship!"
"Bonds!"
"Let's all get along!"
Then an army of Sea Kings would come charging in.
Ritter could only stare at the scene and sigh.
"Seriously..."
"How did the Ancient Weapon with the strongest emotional support end up being the one named Poseidon?"