"King Ricou! We're here to discuss an alliance!"
A loud, ringing shout echoed from outside the palace hall. The moment Ricou recognized the voice, his brows pulled together.
"So soon…?"
Noticing his expression, Hal and Ben exchanged a glance and asked quietly, "Do we need to excuse ourselves?"
Ricou didn't hesitate for even a second.
He had no intention of changing his stance. In fact, he wanted this moment—wanted to reject Orm publicly, with a Green Lantern and an off-world guest as witnesses, and crush the war faction's legitimacy on the spot.
"No need. This is perfect. With Green Lantern here, and our visitor from beyond the stars as witness, I can refuse them outright and—"
He lifted a hand to summon attendants to receive the delegation—
—and then froze.
Because Orm didn't wait for permission.
He strode straight into the hall, with King Nereus and Vulko at his side, already speaking as though the outcome was inevitable, already selling his "glorious vision" as he walked.
"King Ricou! We can't sit idle any longer! The world has forgotten us for too long. It's time for the Atlantean Empire to rise again!"
Ricou's reply was iron.
"King Orm. King Nereus. I believe I have made my position clear. I will not allow my people to be dragged into war."
Orm's hands remained clasped behind his back—gripping the trident left to him by his father. His expression stayed composed, but his words sharpened into deliberate provocation.
"I admire your devotion to your subjects, King Ricou. Truly. But in my eyes… it's only a mask for cowardice and incompetence."
"Insolent!"
Ricou's temper flared. The trident in his grasp rose—
—and before steel met steel, Ben surged forward with Hal, dropping between them.
"Your Majesty, please—calm down. He's trying to provoke you!"
Orm's gaze slid over them as if noticing them for the first time. Disgust pooled behind his eyes.
"Surface filth… and an ugly fish-monster? You mongrels think you're fit to stand in my way?"
He kept his face controlled—too controlled.
Orm wanted the throne, and he wanted history on his side. If his enemies lost control first, if they swung first, then what followed could be framed as "necessary self-defense."
From behind Ben and Hal, Ricou steadied himself. Now that the trap was visible, he refused to step into it.
"Orm… you're nothing but a hypocrite."
He didn't soften the accusation.
"You think wrapping yourself in 'forced retaliation' will stop history from recording what you truly are—someone willing to murder and seize power? If you want war—then you'll have to step over my corpse!"
"That's what you want?" Orm's smile vanished. "So be it."
The mask dropped.
Orm twisted his trident and lunged, the weapon driving in from the right—aimed straight at Ricou's head.
"I'll stop you," Hal snapped, "and your ambition!"
The Green Lantern ring blazed. In an instant, a hard-light shield slammed into place and caught the strike.
Orm's attack stalled.
Nereus's eyes flickered—disappointed—but he didn't hesitate.
His own trident gathered deep-blue energy, which detonated into two shockwaves, blasting Ricou's guards off their feet.
Orm pressed harder.
He was strong—strong enough that the shield shuddered under the force. Beneath his scale-patterned silver armor, muscles bunched as he drove for a single brutal breakthrough.
Hal's jaw clenched. The pressure was immense.
But his will didn't waver.
Green light extended, reinforcing the shield while branching into bracing supports—shock absorbers that dug into the current and bled off Orm's momentum.
"This—" Ben muttered, already moving, "—is my kind of attack!"
While Orm and Hal were locked in a contest of force and will, Ben slipped around the shield, read the battlefield in one glance—
—and shot forward like a torpedo.
The next second, Ripjaws's jaws snapped shut.
CRACK.
Orm's trident shattered between Ben's teeth.
"One bite at a time—crunchy," Ben said through broken metal, then spat the fragments aside with clear distaste.
Ripjaws wasn't Upchuck. No mysterious pocket dimension stomach. Ben had absolutely zero interest in finding out what "Atlantean royal heirloom" did to alien digestion.
Orm stared at the mangled stump in his hands.
A flash of raw panic crossed his face—
—and then it drowned in rage.
"My trident… you bastard! I'll tear you apart!"
He hurled the remaining handle aside and swung a fist at Ben's head.
"Hey!" Hal barked, grinning despite himself. "Your opponent is me—"
He didn't get to finish.
A glittering shockwave slammed into Hal—Nereus's magic, again—knocking him back and disrupting his follow-through before he could form a construct cage.
Nereus watched the melee and, for the first time, doubt crept in.
Orm had lost his weapon and still couldn't quickly finish the fight. Worse—Ben's claws had already torn open splits in Orm's armor.
For a heartbeat, Nereus regretted his choice.
But he'd already committed. There was no walking it back now.
"Yield," Nereus declared, magic coalescing as a final warning. "My army is outside the Fisherman Kingdom. You cannot stop our advance!"
Hal shook his head, clearing the ringing in his ears. The ring's protective field had prevented real damage.
Then he heard the word war, and his expression hardened.
Green energy erupted—forming a massive fire-dragon construct that coiled protectively around Ricou and the others.
"You want war?" Hal said coldly. "Fine. By the name of Green Lantern, I swear you won't lay a finger on anyone in this kingdom."
Vulko stood slightly apart, watching the chaos with a tight, conflicted gaze.
When Orm's trident snapped, Vulko realized—too late—that he'd underestimated Arthur's allies.
He was loyal to Arthur. More than that, he was loyal to Arthur's mother.
And Orm… was also her son.
Vulko did not want Orm to die by a surface-dweller's hand.
"Your Majesty," Vulko said urgently to Orm, "I advise a temporary retreat!"
But Orm—bleeding, furious, humiliated—looked half-mad.
Pain and rage twisted his voice into something sharp and poisonous.
"Retreat?" Orm spat. "Do you think I don't see it? You're buying time for that half-breed, Vulko!"
Ben's claws flashed again—Orm slipped back, narrowly avoiding the swipe—
—and in the same motion, Orm ripped a guard's rifle away, aimed upward, and fired.
A brilliant flare of light shot into the water above the palace, a blazing signal to the forces outside:
The fight has begun.
Then Orm's eyes cut back to Vulko, and his smile turned vicious.
"I should thank you for catching that pirate for me. Without that, I might never have realized how much you've done… for my mongrel brother."
…
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 90)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 95)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 80)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter70)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter70)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter50)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter60)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 20
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 20
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