Furthermore, the result of their struggle could lay on the best possible foundation for the new direction of the water realm.
While Diana slowly regained her consciousness after recovering from the painful shock of the Holy Providence's compatibility appraisal, it was Donna's turn to be tortured while Danna did her best to aid her sister's suffering.
It took quite longer compared to Diana's result but Donna also ended up collapsing in sheer pain alone.
"Oh my~"
"The two princesses have collapsed!"
"Just how powerful was the test? When the Holy Providence came to me, I wasn't even able to feel any pain. Am I that incompatible?"
"I remember when Lord Aghus accepted the power of lordship, he did struggle for quite a while but unlike the current situation of the princesses who were knocked unconscious, that bastard of Aghus was creepily smiling all the time back then as if he was just having a relaxing body massage!"
The whole merfolks crowd gasped and whispered at the result of the princesses' test. They have never actually expected that choosing the new lord would end up in such a knocking-out ending.
With this, two of the three princesses have failed the lordship test and they have only one last hope and that is Danna. The most composed and elegant of the three princesses.
Unlike Diana and Donna who were still young and unprepared, Danna's eyes were full of undivided determination. Not the slightest sign of wavering can be seen in her stance as she faced the proud ball of light fearlessly.
Ever since she last her father and mother in that unfortunate event by the space of elemental realms, she has steeled herself to take on her father's step as the next Lord of the water realm. Thus, she had taken all the responsibility as the eldest of the three and made decisions based on how her father would have acted.
King Mahar was a wise, calm and loving lord of the water realm. Whatever troubles reached his table, he would gladly receive them and provide a solution with the most positive and peaceful attitude.
But behind those warm and calming smiles was a firm and serious man that never backs down on his words. He was fearless in times of danger and made decisions based on the best possible outcome. Choosing to burn his life essence to save his family became Danna's moral vision of what a true Lord of the water realm is all about.
"Selfless love backed with power and courage is the best aptitude a candidate must have before receiving the power of the lordship." with a peaceful heart, Danna received the Holy Providence test into her and she closed her eyes in preparation of the pain.
***
It took more than an hour later as Danna has finally lost her consciousness. She weakly collapsed on the floor with her face covered in blood and sweat. She did her best resisting the overwhelming pain in her body while her mind suffered in terrifying pressure as if her head was being squeezed hard by two solid rocks.
Flying above her feeble body is the proud ball of light that seemingly shone brighter. The way it hovered above the air seems like it was looking for an even more challenging candidate.
"This is crazy! Not even the most suitable princess managed to qualify for the Holy Providence?"
"What will happen to the water realm now? It's just the human left!"
"Is it possible for a human to reign as the lord of the water realm?"
"This is absurd!"
"What will happen to us then?"
"I cannot accept this!"
The crowd expressed their dissatisfaction with just the mere thought of Elric receiving the Lordship. While it is true that Elric did liberate them from Aghus's ruthless dominance, having him take control of the entire water realm is a completely different matter.
Not to mention, they barely knew the human himself aside from the fact that he wields irrefutable strength above all in the water realm.
What if everything he was doing was just a ploy to make them believe that he was the only hope and suddenly abuse the power of lordship. Perhaps, he could be aiming for their precious golden pearls and was planning to rob all of them by force using the authority as the lord.
After all, humans are famous for having a destructive and abusive nature. The elementals knew, how humans treated the natural resources of the physical world. How the ocean became the biggest dumping sites, how the thousand-year-old trees being cut off for their agenda, how they burned the atmosphere itself with their pollutions and their never-ending greed of precious resources in exchange for money.
It doesn't matter who he was, as long as he was a human, the creatures and people of the water elemental realm had already branded him with the stigma of destruction, abuse, and greed.
Not paying heed to their obvious complaints, Elric faced the hovering ball of light.
Elric pretty much knew that their hate was not unfounded. While he was not that abusive to nature himself, the fact that he did benefit in some products that use precious natural resources makes him somewhat guilty as well.
Although he never had the slightest intention of becoming the lord of the water realm he was still surprised that the ball of light seems to be aiming for him as well. After all, Elric is not a native of the water Elemental realm.
Before the grumpy faces of the citizens of the water elemental realm, Elric suddenly spoke.
"People of the water realm, I understand your plight of having me as a possible contender of lordship..."
With these words, the citizens of the water realm glanced at him with doubtful disposition. Realizing that he had all their attention, Elric continued with an even more serious tone,
"While it is true that becoming the lord of the water realm is such a noble honor, I would like to inform you that I am not here to become your lord and am greatly unwilling to become one."
"What? Is he crazy? Doesn't he know how much becoming a lord of the water realm means?"
"I guess he doesn't need that power after all. He is pretty strong himself even without the power of the lordship."
"But still! Even the mindless crustaceans probably have a dream of becoming a lord, much less a greedy and deceitful human."
"Who is he trying to fool? He might be denying it now, but deep inside, he is probably sweating in excitement."
"Let's hear him more for now..."
"If he happens to have evil plans, let's all just work together and attack him. Its a do or die situation after all!"