Bonus Chapter [3] - 480 Power Stones
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The fall wasn't comfortable, but it didn't have to be, Rigel sighed as he looked around, wiping his dirty, wet robes with his wand, his eyes never leaving the place, his curiosity evident.
"Wow." Rigel sighed, this place was truly impressive.
While he was thinking, Rigel was suddenly thrown to the ground by a brutish figure.
Falling face down, Rigel groaned in pain from the weight on him, Dalma's voice followed immediately. "Sorry."
Rigel groaned in pain, not responding, yet he didn't seem to hear any genuine apology from the goddess's lips.
"Get off me." He finally managed to say.
Dalma chuckled softly, getting off of him, and as Rigel was about to stand up, another figure fell on top of him, making him groan even more.
"Oops, sorry, Captain!" Elizabeth said, truly feeling sorry, quickly getting off of Rigel.
Rigel groaned in pain, feeling his ribs creak, but he remembered that Will was still missing, so he quickly rolled to the side, thankfully, because Will fell back into his position soon after, complaining of pain.
Rigel stared at the sky bordered by the sea with evident irritation, but even more exasperation, he sighed, rising with difficulty.
Soon the four of them were walking forward, Dalma seemed increasingly restless, but Rigel paid no attention, looking around at the fish swimming in the sea with evident fascination, Elizabeth and Will weren't much better off either.
Dalma glanced before looking away, just kidding, she was 'the sea', this view was extremely common for her.
Instead, she finally perked up at the sight of the trident, a smile quickly spreading across her lips.
She wanted to run to him, but she knew Rigel would stop her with that snake of his, she could only hold on, just a little longer.
Rigel also saw the trident, smiling and quickening his pace. Will and Elizabeth also focused on the trident, looking at it with evident curiosity.
Rigel was the first to arrive, he stood before the Trident, his excitement evident, he picked it up, feeling that power again, the same as his sword, but different, the sea around him seemed to vibrate, the winds calmed, he felt as if he could truly influence them this time.
As soon as he pulled it out, the adventure book opened rapidly in front of him, but just as he was about to read, he heard the sound of swords being drawn, his eyes widened as he threw himself to the side.
Behind him, Will was shocked when Dalma pulled his sword out of nowhere and waved it toward Rigel, but Dalma pursed her lips, annoyed that she had missed.
She wasn't aiming at Rigel, but at the trident!
"Dalma, what do you think you're doing?" Rigel finally stood up, trident in hand, his eyes burning with fury.
The smile returned, but it wasn't Dalma's usual smile, it had diminished and seemed to hold no seduction, only a hint of madness in the depths of her eyes.
"Rigel, let me destroy the Trident. If you do that, when I'm freed, I promise to help you three times over." She spoke, looking directly at the Trident with evident desire. "The shell, the location of Atlantis, even the tears of the mermaids, I can help you get them. Just let me break the Trident!"
Rigel blinked, his anger giving way to momentary confusion, then he seemed to think of something.
"Is your sealing... a curse?" Rigel concluded quickly.
Dalma smiled, this time appreciatively. "Clever boy, yes it is a curse, using the fragment of Poseidon's trident as a means, that infernal pirate court really managed to seal me away." Her voice slowly grew colder.
"I was drawn to him, part of Poseidon's power still remained within him. I should have become stronger!" She exclaimed, opening her arms, her expression reverting to that madness, only for anger to return to her gaze. "However, it was only when I touched it that I realized my mistake. That fragment carried a powerful curse. When I came to, I was already in human form. I had to use my last powers to escape."
Rigel looked at the woman with a frown, anger giving way to genuine curiosity. "So you believe that breaking the trident, besides breaking all the current curses of the sea, would also free you from your human form?"
"Exactly." Dalma said with conviction. "I didn't tell you everything when we arrived on the island. This place is indeed a location to resurrect Poseidon, slowly gathering faith from the sea. It's far from enough to resurrect Poseidon, but it's strong enough to break all the curses of the sea, including the curse using Poseidon's own power. So I need to break this!"
Rigel was no longer angry, he probably would have made the same choice as Dalma. "Didn't we have an agreement? I could help you get free in another year or two."
"Yes? Who knows what might happen in that time?" Dalma huffed irritably. "Besides, humans aren't trustworthy."
Rigel rolled his eyes. "And are the gods?"
Dalma remained silent for a moment, her silence was answer enough.
Finally, Rigel laughed, shaking his head. He looked at Dalma and said. "What you did was truly pointless."
This made Dalma anxious, thinking that Rigel would prevent her from breaking the trident and even that he wouldn't help her get out of her human form anymore. For a moment, she hated his impatience, but Rigel's words shocked her even more.
"From the beginning, I always planned to destroy this." Rigel shrugged, gesturing towards the trident.
It was true, although the trident was powerful, it was very fragile, even if he carried it away, it could end up breaking in the future without giving him any reward. It was better to break it now and at least receive a reward for it.
There was a good chance of receiving a hefty reward for it, after all, breaking that thing would end all the curses of the sea, so it should be a Gold reward, right?
"You... want to break it?" Dalma asked, shocked.
"Correct." Rigel nodded.
"Why?" Dalma frowned, not understanding why a human would give up such power, but then her eyes lit up and she smiled. "You really fell in love with me?"
Rigel stared at her with dead eyes, if it weren't for the fact that he hadn't seen any desire on Dalma's part to hurt him, only wanting to break the trident, he would have already used Diabolus to swallow her.
No, Rigel's goal wasn't just the reward from the Adventure Book, but how legendary the story of the man who freed the goddess from her curse, the pirate beloved by the sea, would become.
Thus, even though he found Dalma's behavior irritating and offensive, he showed no displeasure, because he wanted Dalma to remember Rigel positively when she reverted to being Calypso.
His legend would grow, he would receive rewards and the favor of a sea goddess, all for breaking the trident.
Of course, he had wanted to leave breaking the trident for the future, thinking that the power to control the sea could be useful while he was in this world, but seeing Dalma's anxious eyes, he knew that the woman didn't want to wait even a second longer, hesitating now would only diminish Calypso's favor.
"Alright, let's finish this, but first, let's get out of here. I don't want to do this while we're still at the bottom of the sea." Rigel shrugged.
Raising the trident and controlling its power, Rigel made water surge from both sides, acting as a platform and rapidly pushing them upwards. Eliabeth and Will were shocked by all the events, but remained silent while Rigel negotiated with the goddess.
Now that they seemed to have reached an agreement, the pair could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
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A/N: For readers who want to know the current voting status on P_treon:
Harem, but without Calypso -> 4%
Single Female Lead -> 17%
Harem and add Calypso -> 70%
(Calypso) Single Female Lead -> 9%