As everyone knows, fish don't drown in the water.

And neither do mermaids.

But in the moment Fremay fell into the water, Herbert couldn't help but... chuckle a bit.

"Hehe."

Darn it, that Divine Gold made me laugh.

Mainly because her falling posture was just too comical.

Falling forward, leaning back, swaying left and right... she did an entire set of self-rescue moves before finally falling into the water completely out of balance.

During this whole process, Herbert was silently watching—not intentionally laughing at her, but really just didn't react in time.

Ahem!

Really, truly.

Blub——blub——

Watching the bubbles rise from the water, Herbert scratched his head and walked over, reaching down into the water to fumble around.

Then skillfully grabbed the slender wrist, and fished out a dispirited mermaid from the water.

"Haha, folks, this fish is drowning, let's save her—"

"Pfft!"

Before he could start teasing, an annoyed and embarrassed mermaid sprayed a mouthful of water right into his face.

!!?

Surprised by the sudden attack, Herbert was sprayed head-on by the powerful stream of water, almost tumbling backward, and could only reluctantly let go of the big catch in his hand.

"Pft! What are you doing?" He wiped his face and looked speechlessly at the still-furious mermaid across from him.

Ouch, what are you up to!

I'm trying to save you out of kindness, but instead of being grateful, why are you repaying kindness with malice?

You wicked Sea Siren!

Fremay cast a sidelong glance at him and snorted, "You have the nerve to ask me what I'm doing? What were you doing just now?"

"If you're not going to help me, fine, but why were you just standing there laughing!?"

I saw the whole thing!

You could have reached out to pull me, but instead, you just watched me fall into the water!

You bad person!

Herbert hesitated for a moment, then defended himself, "I wasn't laughing at all, you know, I naturally have smiling lips."

"Not laughing? Nonsense! You were laughing the whole time, you never stopped!"

Fremay rolled her eyes completely and flicked some water splashes with her tail at him angrily.

Splash!

"Yes, I was laughing, so what? You're funny, aren't you letting people laugh at that?"

Herbert got splashed again and got annoyed, then splashed some water back toward Fremay's face.

Splash!

"See! You admit it!"

Splash——

"If you want to fight, let's fight! Are you scared of me or something?"

Splash——

The two kept bickering, splashing water at each other.

But, like every small game between friends that gradually gets more intense...

Either emotions rise, or physical temperatures rise.

The moment someone starts using more force without sportsmanship, the nature of the game subtly changes.

Nobody knows when it started, but the playful water splashing between the two gradually turned into a full-on battle.

From "a splash here, a splash there" to "a wave here, a wave there" of water slap.

Splash! Splash! Splash!

But it's obvious that no matter how high a human's affinity with Water Element is, there's no way they could match a Legendary Sea Siren.

Herbert was getting splashed with waves that felt excruciating, each wave pushing him onto the surface of the sea.

Like a lion's mane being pounded onto the cutting board.

Whap! Whap! Whap!

Finally, after fooling around for a while, Herbert was the first to give up resistance and raise the flag of surrender.

"Stop, I said stop! I'm afraid of you, alright? I surre—"

A wave came and mercilessly swallowed Herbert's surrender proclamation back into his stomach.

"No surrender!"

And damn it.

Imprisoned by an alien race alongside a wretched mermaid princess, high attack, thick blood, strong like a monster, can't be defeated no matter how hard you try!

After completely realizing this truth, Herbert started to give up.

Alright, go ahead.

I've given up resisting, do whatever you want to do with me...

Not like one would suffocate in water anyway, so he let the other party push him below, blowing bubbles in the water.

Blub——blub——

He stopped resisting and floated weakly on the surface, rising and falling along with the waves.

In fact, with the comfortable temperature, gentle patting, and the embracing water pressure... combined, it was really somewhat pleasing.

Drifting like that for a while, the waves subsided at some point, and Herbert felt a bit sleepy, slowly closing his eyes.

"..."

I feel kind of tired, somehow.

On this journey to the Frost Crystal Kingdom, he had avenged many grudges, and seemingly prosperously, but deep down, he always felt somewhat exhausted.

This fatigue didn't stem from the body but from the spirit.

The first time he took someone's life.

The first time he ended his own blood relative.

He truly understood that what he did was right, and believed their deaths were necessary.

His mind truly had been altered, not only not repelling against flesh and blood but even having a strange craving for it.

But... it was, after all, his first time killing.

As a Giant Dragon who has fought all its life, Valentina didn't notice the hesitation in his heart, didn't think there was anything wrong with doing so.

Nenasha was even more so, thinking those things were no big deal in the eyes of an Evil God, just the way things should be.

No one else realized...

No, this isn't their fault; it's because Herbert never showed any hint of it to outsiders.

This is weakness.

It's a vulnerability that shouldn't be shown to outsiders.

But now...

Suddenly, Herbert felt his head bump against a smooth, warm reef, bringing his aimless drifting to a stop.

He slightly opened his eyes and saw a pair of calm and gentle eyes.

"Rest for a while, you are already very tired, it's time you took a break now."

Fremay raised her hand, gently covering his eyes, letting the water lift Herbert up, rocking him like a cradle.

"Sleep, sleep."

"When you wake up, all your worries will disappear without a trace."

She sang softly like a lullaby.

Herbert tried to resist the sleepiness, but another soothing voice rang in his ears.

["I've overlooked this, didn't notice your fatigue."]

Nenasha seemed a bit apologetic and said softly, ["Have a good sleep, it's what you deserve."]

Herbert remained silent, wanting to shake his head, but was getting sucked deeper into this warmth.

If even you say so....

Alright.

Finally, resigned, he closed his eyes.

Since everyone is saying so.

Let's take a nap.

Herbert closed his eyes, allowing his consciousness to sink continuously into the tenderness.

At the same time, behind him, those wings with the Holy Mark that had stopped halfway were starting to grow again.

Slowly, yet resolutely... they joined together.

The golden wings with a hint of crimson appeared sharp and eye-catching.

But they still lacked a bit of agility, not fully formed yet.

Just a bit of detail left.

Just a little more needed...

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