Zhihao who was almost bitten once again by a siren seemed to reevaluate his decision to fight them. Captain Wilbert with inhumane powers had made it seem too easy by crushing their throats, but for normal humans like Zhihao, sirens who are this fast and strong—How could it be easy to kill them?
It was easier said than done.
Zhihao equipped his favorite gun along with the dagger, although it may not kill the Siren, It could still stall them some time. To be honest, he still found that the best option would be to blow the entire thing up, but since the Gamemaster had already warned him against it—he dare not do it.
With a "bang" he blew the approaching siren's head and this method indeed seemed to work; The Siren took almost half a minute to compose itself in order to prepare for its next attack. This half a second was more than enough for the Gamemaster to swoop in and stab the Siren's glowing green heart.
The two soon found a steady method to cooperate with each other and exterminate all the sirens more efficiently while Captain Wilburt just stayed behind them and watched them work in perfect harmony.
A Siren with its mouth wide open—sprang straight at Zhihao from the side, but the gamemaster reacted faster and threw his dagger aimed at the creature's throat, while he did so—another bold siren attacked him from behind, but before it could even get to touch a single hair on the gamemaster, Zhihao had already shot it down. Them working together was like the most beautiful dance with the best coordination and trust; that no matter what—the other had their backs.
The melody never stopped but it wasn't the Sirens that attacked them that were singing.
Captain Wilburt, "Huh? That's new."
Zhihao didn't have enough time to get distracted so he responded shortly, "What?"
"The lyrics are different."
"..."
The gamemaster, "Can you translate for us?"
"It's unclear at certain parts." The man warned beforehand, "My name is... I'm a legendary god. All the creatures fear me, except for that one that lived on land... She who never betrayed me, stole away my precious treasure... My son who've I've never met... Now returns to my side since he'll be my descended, the prince who rules this land... Fear me not, I mean no harm... Follow my voice and come back to your father..."
Both Zhihao and the gamemaster shared a look as they understood who was singing; The father who lost his child, The king of the sirens.
"Gamemaster, What are our chances against the king?"
"Zero." the gamemaster answered without needing to think about it at all.
Goosebumps rose on Zhihao's skin as he heard the melody of the powerful king; This voice alone was much different from all the other sirens, It was way stronger and had a blood-chilling sense of authority to it. If it wasn't for the gamemaster who was still holding onto Zhihao's hand—he would've long lost control over his game character.
As if Zhihao wasn't spooked out enough, the gamemaster spoke, "The King of the sirens is more powerful than 100 adult sirens combined. He can speak the human language and has the ability to shapeshift. This is the big boss of this level."
Horror. Zhihao remembered the time he was licked and swallowed up by an adult Siren, Just how powerful must this so-called king be to be considered more powerful than hundreds of that creature combined. The thought was horrifying and Zhihao hoped to never meet such a nemesis, but so far his wishes hadn't been going so well so how could god hear his prayer this time?
"Not The King." This time Captain Wilburt did not need to translate as the voice spoke in perfect human tongue, "I'm the God! The God of sirens!"
As Zhihao heard the man's voice, he immediately wanted to drop to the ground on his knees and beg for his life, but how could he lose face in front of the gamemaster like that? He most certainly would fight that instinct to death.
The gamemaster, "Ah! I seem to be wrong. It was the god of sirens."
"My son, I have long awaited your return." Someone appeared from the shadows; this someone was the man who considered himself the god of the sirens. As soon as the man made an appearance, all the other sirens stopped attacking the small group and retreated into the shadows. The man had an appearance that resembled that of Captain Wilburt's but much older and oddly more handsome. This was certainly not the man's real appearance as the creature didn't look like a Siren at all but had two legs and resembled more like a human than Captain Wilburt.
[New character: God of the sirens. He is a sea god and is the only Siren who can transform into a human at will. He is not interested in playing with humans or eating their meat and on the contrary; he is intrigued by humans. He had fallen in love once that too with a human maiden who—when they first met—was almost drowning in the sea. Although the two loved each other deeply, their love story was one that ended in sorrow as the woman was accused of being a witch by the human society and was burned alive at the stake right after secretly giving birth to the young Siren prince, Captain Wilburt who was a half breed; born to a human and a siren—containing the blood of both. He never knew of his child's existence until now so be cautious of this character that is prone to act according to his emotions.]
[Congratulations on pushing the scenario forward! +50 T-points gained.]
[Mission changed]
[New mission: Escape the wrath of the Siren God.]
Zhihao wanted to curse, he was definitely not happy with whatever unfolded itself in front of him, he'd rather survive on this ship for three days than escape the wrath of this siren god. This man was called god for a reason. How could he be defeated? And If Zhihao wanted to flee, how could he keep his life intact with a god attacking him with murderous intent?
"Was this supposed to happen? Aren't secret missions only in non-ranked levels?"
The gamemaster looked to be just as shocked as Zhihao as he responded, "I don't know. I don't remember. This might have something to do with us contacting Captain Wilburt before time."
Zhihao told himself: Look on the bright side. We gained extra 50 T-points.
"Who are you?" Captain Wilburt questioned after recovering from the initial shock. Zhihao couldn't imagine what he must be feeling at the moment; To be met with a man who claims himself to be a god to those vicious creatures and his father at the same time, Just how could a sane person believe it? But how could Captain Wilburt be considered completely sane at the moment? He had already noticed his hands and skin slowly turning into something inhuman, For a moment he believed he had gone completely insane as well, that maybe he had long fallen into the mouths of those creatures and this was all a dream his mind conjured up to stop him from seeing the ugly truth.
"Son, I can understand your shock. I was shocked as well. I never even knew you existed until I got a whiff of your blood; It's the same blood that courses through my veins." The man spoke as he stepped closer to them, "I thought she had left me here, alone, and with nothing to remember her by but it seems I was wrong. She had left behind a part of her that lies within you. She had left me an heir. Come, my child, let me take a closer look."
Captain Wilburt was visibly shaken, he dare not move; What if this was also a spell? What if he was lying—trying to trick him?
The gamemaster blocked the path between the pair of father and son.
Zhihao didn't approve, "What are you doing?! Seeking death? Let The pair reunite and we can use the time to sneak away."
"I don't remember what happened after the reunion, but I know one thing; None of my characters had a happy ending."
This sentence changed the whole situation. Zhihao remembered the gamemaster's cruel methods of making up character stories, it was his signature to make tragic stories so how could he let the two happily reunite with each other? It was natural for the gamemaster to forget what happened exactly, after all, how could he remember all of the story arcs he created? But this couldn't be the case of an imposter since the system had already certified that this was indeed the Siren god. So what was happening?
"Young man, have some pity on this old man, I just want to embrace my long lost child. What enmity do we have between us?"
"What exactly are you planning?!" It was Captain Wilburt who yelled, he had lived as an orphan, his entire life, to be told that he was only half-human and was born to this creature who clearly had something vicious planned for him? He didn't want to believe it at first, but how could he turn a blind eye towards all the evidence pointing straight at the horrifying truth? What was he supposed to do? Thankfully; he had these two young men who were ready to protect him even after knowing that he was not one of their kind.
"Are you really going to turn away from your father like this? What am I supposed to have planned for my own son? I only want to see you ascend my throne after me." The man took a step forward and Captain Wilburt instinctively took a step back.
Captain Wilburt, "The voices... That's not what they are saying though."
Zhihao hadn't realized it because he got used to the siren's enchanting melody, but now that Captain Wilburt had pointed it out, he was shocked to know that those creatures were still singing. Their voices were certainly faint and less in number but it was still there and only Captain Wilburt could understand what they were saying.
"Umm... Translate please."
"How could you?" Captain Wilburt wasn't looking alright as he straight out ignored Zhihao's request, "You're worse than them. How could you?! Why?!"
Zhihao was completely clueless just like the gamemaster who was silently analyzing the situation.
The gamemaster, "Mastermo... We can't let our guard down."
Zhihao was shocked to see the complicated look in the gamemaster's eyes. This man seemed to know more than he let on or maybe he had recovered his memory of this scenario.
The Siren God moved forward, his eyes now glaring at his son, Captain Wilburt, "Don't listen to the lies they tell you. I have no evil intentions."
"You're the one who is lying!" Captain Wilburt cried out, "To eat your own son's heart—how... How could you think of doing such a thing?!"
Zhihao, "Gamemaster don't you have something that could help translate the siren's voice?"
[Activated skill: Gamemaster's insight]
As soon as the skill was activated, the distant voices that were previously indecipherable suddenly became clear, haunting whispers, "Don't be fooled by the fake love he shows... He ate your brother, ripped his heart apart... That's what keeps him alive to this day... For hundreds and thousands of years; we lived through this cruel curse, He was our king who ruined our lands and our people. Your mother tried to escape from his claws and she paid the price... We cannot run, but you must... Don't let him fool you like he fooled her... "
"System, what is going on?"
[Answering players question: The voice is only a memory; a message left by Captain Wilburt's mother for him.]
[Congratulations on uncovering more of the story! +50 T-points gained.]
[New Character: Maria. This woman was thrown off a ship and left to drown, but was saved by the Siren God who at the time tricked her with his human form to seduce her. She was too young and innocent in love due to which she was easily fooled. She gave birth to his first child who within one year of delivery was eaten by his father. When she later came to know of this, she was already pregnant with his second child, but with the help of another adult siren, she managed to escape and safely give birth to Captain Wilburt. Through the Siren that helped her, she recorded a message for her son warning him about his father's true intentions, knowing that her days would be short-lived and she won't be able to stay with him for long.]
[Congratulations on unlocking the secret side story: The curse of the Sirens. +50 T-points gained.]
It seems it's raining T-points when I'm with the gamemaster.