TuxedoTranslations

Chapter 96

“Why is O here?”

Albin’s mind went completely blank at the scene before him, unable to react for a moment.

And that blue-tailed adult sea demon—wasn’t he the one Albin had bought at the auction house and released back into the sea? How was he here? Had he been captured again?

But Albin didn’t have time to think further. Seeing the blue-haired sea demon about to be killed, he immediately moved to stop Ocean.

Ritual-like runes unfolded in the sky, forming multiple magic circles. From them, crimson chains shot out at high speed, instantly wrapping around Ocean.

The chains wound up his arms, clearly intending to mummify him completely.

“Damn it!”

Ocean’s expression darkened. He had no choice but to release his grip and deal with the chains first.

He tried to break free, but the restraints were incredibly sturdy—he couldn’t tear them apart in one go.

Albin leapt down from a broken wall, his hair flying. With a raise of his hand, he cast several healing spells, targeting the heavily injured Lalima and Hailan lying amid the ruins nearby.

Floating white healing magic circles poured restorative particles into their wounds, and their injuries visibly began to heal.

Ocean attempted several methods to destroy the chains, but they withstood his attacks.

These were chains Albin had specifically designed to restrain dragon-class monsters.

Ocean’s anger surged. He increased his power, and the chains binding him swelled outward, like a balloon about to burst.

The shockwave leaking from within the chains scattered debris across the ground. But before the two sea demons could fully recover, the “balloon” finally reached its limit and shattered.

Segments of red chains were flung out like splashes of blood, dissolving into magical particles as they fell.

Looks like if I want to restrain a dragon, I’ll need to reinforce them even further, Albin thought to himself.

As the chains fell away, Ocean glared darkly at his opponent—only to freeze when he saw an unexpected figure. His anger dissipated slightly in surprise.

“…Why is it you, brat?” Ocean’s tone carried no trace of rage.

Albin couldn’t gauge his identity or intentions.

Since Ocean had appeared here unscathed, and judging by the situation, Albin assumed he might be someone from the Sea God Temple who had only just arrived.

If Ocean were a noble’s guard who had been here from the start, things wouldn’t have escalated to this level.

From the documents he had investigated—and the fleeing servants he had seen upon entering the estate—Albin knew the incident had entirely stemmed from the nobles.

He shielded Lalima behind him and said firmly, “These are sea demons I bought at auction. If you want to deal with them, you’ll have to go through me first.”

Ocean glanced at the two sea demons being healed and immediately recalled Albin’s earlier words about wanting to live together with sea demons.

“You want to protect them?” he narrowed his eyes. “Fine. They’re just ornamental fish anyway. If you like them, take them.”

He had only intervened because those two sea demons had killed his backup vessel. He didn’t care about human lives otherwise.

Although he couldn’t even remember the Sea God’s Holy Son’s name, that body was still his backup vessel.

Something belonging to him had been damaged by ornamental fish—punishment was only natural.

But since the child he had his eye on wanted to protect them, so be it. He wasn’t about to quarrel over a couple of fish.

The little crab had already irritated him enough.

Albin, who had expected a long argument or even a price to pay, froze. The pressure he had been preparing softened, and he asked uncertainly, “Then what will happen to you? Will the Sea God Temple punish you?”

If they let the sea demons go so easily, the Sea God Temple would likely come after Ocean.

Albin was already thinking about how to get him out of trouble.

Unexpectedly, Ocean suddenly burst out laughing.

“Who would dare punish me?”

Albin suddenly remembered the intelligence report: the Sea God’s priest had also arrived.

“You’re the Sea God’s priest?”

“As expected of a foolish brat—you finally realized,” Ocean said lazily with a smile. Seeing that Albin still didn’t show fear or reverence pleased him.

He stepped closer.

“No matter which god’s church you belong to, how about becoming my Holy Son?”

He had long wanted to keep this child by his side.

He didn’t care about Albin’s original identity, nor did he think there was any need to investigate it. In his eyes, no human identity mattered before a god.

And since Albin would eventually become his “son” anyway, there was even less need. He could simply give him a new identity and the best treatment.

A Holy Son, though originally a backup vessel, had a much closer connection to the god than other believers and could even borrow some of his power. It was an identity countless people would dream of.

For now, Ocean had no intention of possessing him.

He reached out and touched Albin’s neck with his cold fingers.

“I refuse. I don’t intend to become the Sea God’s Holy Son.”

Albin didn’t understand why he was getting so close and instinctively leaned back, but Ocean’s fingertips still brushed his skin.

Ocean ignored his refusal entirely, his expression suddenly changing as he stared at Albin’s neck.

Albin blinked in confusion. “What is it?”

He rubbed his neck but felt nothing unusual.

Ocean murmured, “…The Holy Mark is gone?”

Albin suddenly remembered—the Sea God’s Holy Son Barny had a mark on his neck, a simple wave-shaped symbol.

“You’re not a priest. You are the Sea God!”

Only a god could bestow a Holy Mark.

He stepped back immediately, staring at Ocean with caution, his hands moving behind his back toward his bracelet.

“So you knew quite a lot,” Ocean said, unconcerned.

He had actually been looking forward to Albin’s reaction upon discovering his identity.

But instead of fear or awe, Albin only looked wary.

That displeased him slightly.

“…Since you already know,” Ocean said slowly, “are you going to refuse me?”

He fully released the aura of a god. Behind Albin, Lalima froze completely, his furious gaze snapping toward Ocean.

“Um…” Albin blinked innocently. “I’m already the Sun’s Holy Son.”

Ocean: …!!

Damn it—Sun actually got to him first!

Ocean clicked his tongue. “Of course you’re a troublesome little brat.”

He did not give up. On the contrary, this only strengthened his desire to obtain Albin—and that desire filled him with excitement.

He was a pirate, after all.

A profession built on taking what belonged to others. He had even stolen his godhood from the original Sea God.

Suddenly, he understood why he had found life so boring for centuries: there had simply been nothing left to steal.

And now—just the thought of taking this “Holy Son” from the Sun God made his long-dormant heart begin to beat again. The pirate he once was felt as if he had come back to life.

“I’ll handle the Sun God’s side for you. I can also remove his holy mark,” Ocean said decisively, not giving any room for refusal. “Come be my Holy Son.”

He was already prepared to go head-to-head with the Sun God.

Hearing that he could remove the holy mark, Albin’s eyes flickered.

If he could learn that method… could he prevent others from becoming divine vessels in the future?

His heart stirred with excitement.

He gestured for Lalima—already ready to attack—to stop.

His crimson eyes fixed on Ocean, and he asked:

“Were you part of the gods’ siege against the Love God back then?”

Ocean didn’t understand why he was asking this, but replied casually, “Of course.”

Albin clenched his fists, his gaze changing.

“Why did you do it?”

“Because she was an anomaly. Too naive.” Ocean didn’t elaborate further, but he could sense the emotions Albin was trying to suppress.

Why would a Sun Holy Son care so much about the Love God?

He narrowed his eyes, studying the white-haired youth’s red eyes. A figure suddenly surfaced in his memory.

The Love God, Lafu.

It clicked—why the boy had looked vaguely familiar from the first moment he saw him.

Albin’s features resembled Lafu’s. If his hair were red, the resemblance would be even stronger.

A coincidence…?

A suspicion formed in his mind.

Could Albin be Lafu’s child?

If that were true, then who was the father?

Among the gods, there were no white-haired deities. A human? He didn’t think Lafu would choose that.

An old god? Or the Sun God who made him a Holy Son?

He couldn’t find a clear answer. So he stopped thinking.

It didn’t matter anyway.

If he wanted something, he would just take it.

“You’ve got no more questions, then?” Ocean said. “Have you decided?”

Albin lowered his head and touched the “God-Slaying Spear” bracelet on his wrist.

Ocean… was one of the ones who had hurt his mother.

And for such a ridiculous reason.

He bit his lip, anger and sadness twisting together in his chest. He didn’t know what to do.

Even with the God-Slaying Spear, Ocean was only possessing a priest’s body. If they fought, Albin didn’t know what the outcome would be.

His father and brother should be arriving near Pearl City soon. He had already sent a message through his communication rune bracelet. If his father transformed into a dragon and flew over, it wouldn’t take long.

He just needed to stall.

“If I agree… you’ll let these sea demons go, right?”

“Of course. I don’t care about those ornamental fish at all,” Ocean said indifferently. “If you like them, you can even keep the ones in the sea.”

Behind him, Lalima gritted his teeth and clutched Albin’s hand tightly.

The Sea God who once cursed humans into sea demons was absolutely not someone to trust. If Albin fell into his hands, no one knew what would become of him.

“Alright. I’ll go with you. But send the sea demons away first.”

“No problem.”

Ocean raised a hand and cast a large-scale spell toward the sea.

The ocean surface erupted violently, as if a colossal beast were roaring. Massive waves surged toward the shore and flooded into the estate.

With seawater present, the captured sea demons could finally escape freely.

“That should do it,” Ocean said, arms crossed.

Albin turned and placed a vial of antidote into Lalima’s hand.

“I’ll be fine,” he said softly with a smile. “But you—don’t get caught again so easily next time.”

He walked toward Ocean.

Ocean looked satisfied. A wave rose up, carrying them both onto its surface. Their figures were carried into the distance before plunging into the sea, and the surface returned to calm.

Lalima pulled out the stopper, drank the antidote without responding to his sister’s calls, and immediately dove into the ocean.

His long tail swept through the endless deep sea as he desperately searched for the white-haired human.

—

After entering the deep sea, Albin thought he wouldn’t be able to breathe—but Ocean cast a water-breathing spell on him. He could breathe freely like a sea demon, and even see underwater.

He couldn’t tell direction, though. He touched the Sunlight Necklace beneath his collar, worried whether his father and brother would be able to find him.

Ocean brought him to a magnificent underwater palace filled with coral.

Inside, there was no seawater, and Albin could breathe normally again.

“I’ll remove your holy mark first. We’ll go back to the surface afterward,” Ocean said.

Albin obediently stayed beside him, watching intently as Ocean cast intricate ancient magic. He carefully memorized every step, rune, and flow of mana.

In truth, Albin didn’t even have a holy mark—he had randomly picked a location, making Ocean believe it had already been erased.

“Can we go up now?” Albin asked impatiently.

The underwater palace was beautiful, but cold and lonely, like a structure abandoned by the sea. He didn’t like it.

“Not yet,” Ocean said, glancing at him deeply. “I know you’re not sincere—you only agreed for the sake of those sea demons.”

Albin felt a bad premonition rise.

Surely the Sea God wasn’t planning to let him go?

And indeed, Ocean was not so generous.

The god—most skilled in water magic and mental magic, the Sea God whose cursed merfolk possessed mental attack abilities—said to him:

“I’m going to erase your memories.”

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