Blood spurted from Orm's mouth as he slammed against the rock-hard floor.
The building he just crashed through collapsed on itself, and a giant pillar fell on the back of the injured prince.
Bam!
"Ugh!" Feeling the impact, Orm groaned in pain.
Hidden underneath his skin-tight clothes and on the surfaces of his arms, the tattoos drawn on them glowed a bright blue.
Water surged around him as a blue energy beam condensed around his body, before exploding in all directions.
With a blast, the giant pillar on his back was shattered to pieces, freeing him from the ground.
"Quite capable".
Orm had barely regained balance when a voice uttered behind him.
He turned around to see the object of his nightmares walking towards him at a leisure pace.
Orm's body reacted instinctively.
He pushed both hands forward and fired a magic blast.
It was a direct hit.... Which did no damage whatsoever.
On the contrary, a vast telekinetic force surged forwards, slamming into his chest, smashing him straight into the nearby wall.
Numerous cracks appeared as the wall behind Orm barely withstood the impact. A deep hole had been formed with his figure etched into it.
"Argh!"
Orm felt terrible. He could feel his internal organs trembling, yet Amari ignored his plight and appeared before him, slamming his palm against Orm's chest.
"Urghh".
This time, Orm keeled over as if his lungs had momentarily lost oxygen. Blood emerged from his nose and lips. A blood cloud emerged, enveloping the surrounding water.
Amari looked on indifferently. The fight had barely started, and the Atlantean prince had barely taken three hits. Yet, he had suffered severe internal injuries.
Without magical healing assistance, even with his Atlantean physique, he would have to stay in bed for months. Maybe longer.
"For someone who wants to take over Atlantis, and then move on to the surface, your personal strength is rather weak". Saying so, he applied a little more force, his fingers instantly dug through Orm's skin.
"Arghhhhh!" He couldn't hold it in any longer and yelled in pain.
His rib cage trembled continuously. As if warning him, they would shatter if any more force was applied to it and nothing would stand in the way of the attacker and his heart.
The cracking noise was all the reminder he needed.
"So.....". Amari looked Orm straight in the eyes.
"Any last words?"
"Let go of him!"
At that moment, giant purple energy tentacles suddenly surged towards both of them.
Amari turned his head towards the source of the voice only to see numerous attacks rushing towards him.
The tentacles moved rapidly, but broke apart the moment they were within three feet of their target.
At the same time, a tentacle burst through the cracked wall behind Orm, wrap around his waist and pulled.
The wall shattered as Orm was dragged out of Amari's grasp and pulled away rapidly.
"Intruder! How dare you invade Poseidonis and attack its citizens?"
With a loud voice, a figure swam towards Amari.
Red hair, green revealing clothing and a royal gold crown on her head.
She had two streaks of blue lines on the sides of her face that extended behind her neck and twirled around her arms, a fair complexion and gorgeous features.
Her eyes sparked with extreme anger as multiple energy tentacles revolved around her floating figure.
"What an angry beauty".
Amari uttered, clearly not disturbed about Orm being retrieved.
Instead, he observed the Atlantean queen with interest.
He instantly noticed the second life force within her body. In other words...
"Oh! Looks like Arthur's been busy".
Seeing the other party's unscrupulous gaze, Mera's face grew colder.
"Identity yourself Human or bear the consequences".
Still, she refrained from attacking immediately.
Her previous attack was easily taken apart by the opponent. He didn't even move an inch, utter a word or blink when he did it.
Orm was of Royal blood. His physiology and talent for magic was one of the best among Atlanteans. Although slightly inferior to Aquaman in physical strength and battle prowess, his magical aptitude surpassed Orin's by several folds.
Yet even he was beaten to such a state. The horror of the person before her was just as Orm described.
Unless she used more advanced spells, she doubted she would be able to match this individual.
But that could lead to mass destruction. The citizens would certainly suffer for it.
"Consequences? Hehehe". What followed was the sound of soft chuckles.
Amari smiled naturally as if he just heard a funny joke.
The slight ridicule in his eyes and nonchalance in his attitude was particularly infuriating.
"Funny... Even Aquaman doesn't dare to utter such words. I am curious what gave you the courage to do so".
His plain ridicule was the last straw.
"Bold human". Numerous blue lines covered her body as the silhouette of a giant octopus with numerous tentacles appeared behind her.
"You will pay for your insolence".
"It's payday? Gladly".
Mera gritted her teeth and pushed her hands forward.
Multiple energy beams shot towards the stationary Deviant.
Meanwhile.
"Your highness". Tula quickly arrived at a nearby building with numerous guards behind her.
The miserable figure of orm sitting on top of a building while clutching his ribs with an obvious look of pain fell into their eyes.
Tula had dropped orm as far away as she could while she engaged Amari head on.
"Huh? Tula...".
The female quickly arrived beside him.
"You're hurt. You need medical help".
Tula quickly turned to the guards.
"Take the Prince to a safe location".
"No". Orm refused without hesitation.
"Mera is fighting the intruder. She requires support".
"Understood. Half of us will support the queen, while the other will.....".
"No, not half". Orm interrupted through gritted teeth.
"All of you. Queen Mera is pregnant. And she isn't strong enough to defeat the opponent. She won't survive in his hands without help. Transfer all available warriors to aid her. Go, Now!"
Orm roared.
"Yes my prince".
The Atlanteans and Merman immediately obeyed.
Tula was a bit at a loss.
But Orm wouldn't have her be idle.
"You... Tula. Help me out of here. Towards the conservatory. There should be something capable of contacting the King".
The guards would serve as appropriate fodder alongside Mera.
Now, his first priority was to get out of her while she bought him time.
"I.... Yes".
Tula put his arm around her shoulder and put hers around his waist. Then she kicked off and swam towards the Conservatory of Magic with all her strength.
Orm's face was grim. This was officially turning into the worst day ever.
Almost as bad as the day he discovered he actually had a half-brother. And that that Halfling would inherit the throne while he would be nothing more than a prince.
Tula swam fast.
Going at full speed, she could see the conservatory in the distance.
Only....
BOOM!
A giant blue shockwave expanded rapidly from the distance.
Orm and Tula were immediately hit away, their swimming bodies spiraling out of control.
Tula managed to stabilize herself before crashing.
Orm, wasn't so lucky.
However, before she could rush to his aid, her eyes widened as she saw a green clothed figure streak through the water like an arrow fired from a bow.
"My Queen!" Tula screamed.
The figure of Mera flew towards the distance before taking a downward trend and smashing against the floor of one of the conservatory training arenas.
The ground cracked as the Atlantean queen smashed against the floor, leaving a deep pit.
"Urgh!" Blood seeped through her lips as the metallic taste flooded her mouth, and she resisted the urge to spit out a mouthful.
Debris flew in all directions.
"My queen..... Queen Mera!"
Tula held Orm and swam rapidly towards the fallen Queen.
At that moment, the space beside Mera swirled and Amari's figure appeared on the spot.
Before she could react, the redhead felt a strong grasp on her throat, lifting her up from the floor.
"Ok beautiful.....". Amari raised her up to meet her eyes.
"... What was that part about consequences? I'm all ears".
"Ugh! Ugh!"
With eyes filled with horror, Mera gasped in pain.
"Unhand her you beast". Rage clouded Tula's eyes and she let go of orm. Her tattoos glowed as a giant pulse of electrical energy condensed into a ball before her and was thrown towards him.
'Telekinetic Field'
The mystical energy beam that gave off a lightning spark immediately dissipated.
What followed was the irregular stillness of the water flowing around them.
"Urgh!" Both Orm and Tula were unable to resist the change in gravity and were pulled to the floor.
The weight of a building pressed down upon their shoulders making them almost sprawl on the floor.
Orm's bones made desperate cracking sounds.
With the injuries he already suffered, the weight pressing on him was almost unbearable.
His skin cracked, and the water was stained with Orm's blood.
Orm who was an Atlantean of Royal blood, despite being injured was in such a state. You could imagine what Tula was experiencing.
Similar cracking sounds could be heard as the weight pressing on her was too great for the female sorceress to resist.
Amari's gaze lingered on the Aquagirl.
"Her loyalty to her Queen is admirable". Amari uttered plainly.
Turning his gaze towards the struggling Queen, he asked.
"Wouldn't you agree?"
"Who are you, surface dweller?" Mera asked coldly.
"Me?" Amari raised an eyebrow.
"Hasn't Orm filled you in yet?" And so, his eyes fell back on the Atlantean prince, who had an ugly expression.
"I'm here for the ocean master". Mera's eyes widened before narrowing in rage.
"Is that why you attack us. The Ocean Master is an enemy of Atlantis".
"Is he?" His eyes glowed with amusement.
"You certainly don't treat him like an enemy to me. Do they Orm?"
The question was met with silence. Mera's expression was one of shock and disbelief.
"Don't listen to him Mera". Orm yelled with an angry expression.
"He's lying".
The Atlantean queen had her face grow cold again.
"You expect me to believe this preposterous claim?"
Mera would never believe it. Her husband's brother was his sworn enemy?
"I don't. And frankly, I don't care if you do. It won't stop his death either way". He replied apathetically.
"You.....!" Mera's eyes burned with anger.
"You will not get away with this. Atlantis has existed for thousands of years. It will not fall easily. For everything you have done, you will receive retribution".
"I see". Amari replied with indifference.
"And who's going to give it to me? Arthur?" Amari chuckled and raised his head.
"Or is it them?"
Above him, thousands of Atlantean soldiers, all armed with their bidents rushed towards this location.
For a moment, their figures seemed to block the space above them.
To this, Amari didn't even smile.
With a thought, the range of the telekinetic field expanded rapidly.
The next moment, the rapid advancement of Atlantean forces suddenly came to a halt.
The stern faced warriors suddenly lost control of their bodies as they all plunged rapidly to the ocean floor.
The water was completely unable to stop their descent as they fell, causing destruction upon impact like meteors.
"No!" Seeing this scene, Mera exclaimed.
Amari continued.
"Or is it Garth hiding behind that pillar over there, waiting for the moment I let my guard down".
Hidden behind the pillar, Garth's eyes widened in shock.
The next moment, he gritted his teeth and charged forward while condensing a glowing water ball within his palms.
His location had been exposed, so he had no other option.
"I summon the power of the Tempest".
Garth roared as the swirling ball took shape, and he threw it out with Amari as the target.
However, Garth's ferocious expression suddenly paled at the sight of what happened next.
Amari watched the incoming energy beam and raised an eyebrow in amusement.
Then.... He moved Mera who was being held by the throat in front of him, directly bearing the brunt of Garth's attack.
"No!!!"
"Ugh!" The blast hit cleanly. Mera's eyes widened and her body stilled.
Then, those bright-green irises were covered by her eyelids as she felt the whole world grow blurry.
"My Queen!!!"
"Mera!" Orm and Tula yelled in shock.
Tula was filled with despair and tears welled up in her eyes.
She struggled to raise her head and she saw it.
In Queen Mera's abdomen, a gaping hole was present due to Garth's attack.
Blood flowed rapidly.
Orm was rather shocked.
He knew Amari could take that blast without any damage... Or even just destroy it completely.
Instead, he placed Mera to bear the attack.
This.... He definitely didn't see that coming.
Looking at Garth who was frozen in place and Tula who was on the verge of breaking down, he couldn't help but exclaim inwardly.
How ruthless.
This was killing with a borrowed knife. And it was the knife of a loved one at that.
"You wanted me to put her down?" Amari asked inquisitively, and then he shrugged.
"Ok".
And so, Mera fell from his grasp.
Her body slowly fell to the floor, laying there unmoving.
"My.... My Queen!" Garth's face was deathly pale, and he swam towards the body of the Mera.
Placing his hand on her head, tears streamed down his face.
He..... He just killed his teacher, his mentor..... his Queen.... And..... His king's unborn son.
Garth felt like his whole world was crumbling.
"You're better looking, but in terms of tactical ability, combat prowess and foresight, you're far behind your friend Aqualad".
"Still, don't feel bad". That bland, indifferent voice sounded in his ears again.
The sentence made his mind go blank before being filled with unchecked rage.
"You... You monster!'
He raised his right hand and condensed an energy spear.
However, the gravity field expanded towards him, causing his attack to dissipate and pinning him to the floor in the process.
"What?" Amari's eyebrows couldn't get any higher.
The telekinetic field on Garth's arm increased.
"Arghhhhh!"
The arm was crushed by the immense force, causing all the bones within to break.
"That.... is a warning. And I said, don't feel bad. After all, she isn't dead".
Once again, everyone's mind went blank.
The gaping hole in her stomach was clearly visible. What did he mean by she wasn't dead?
"Resurrect." Turning to the cold corpse, Amari's eyes glowed blue as he activated reality warping.
The blood disappeared, the gaping hole in her stomach disappeared, and the dead child in her womb was restored in an instant.
She was no longer a corpse, but an unconscious Atlantean queen.
Amari took a deep look at Mera. Or rather, at the fetus in her womb.
"Let her and your king know when she wakes up.... That they can thank her unborn child for her life".
Then, he turned his gaze to Orm.
"You however, are coming with me".
...
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