The luminous glow of bioluminescent algae cast an eerie light on the golden scales covering his muscular and long fish-like tail and fins, which only served to accentuate the cold determination in his hazel eyes.
His plan was finally coming to fruition, a plan that would see him rise to power beyond his wildest dreams.
Alistair had long envied the Leviathan King of the Seven Seas, Nereus Leomaris Tritanus Azr.
In his closest form to a Mer he was still a colossal beast of a merman of unmatched might and majesty.
The King, in his true form, was even more of a sight to behold—a titanic creature with scales that shimmered like molten obsidian sapphire, each movement radiating ancient power.
Even his eyes, a deep, glowing blue, looked as if they held the wisdom of ages.
These were all superiorities that he was quite envious of, however he understood that as a Mer the gap in physiques & abilities between himself and a leviathan was truly insurmountable.
It would be the same circumstance if you compared any Mer to those mythical sea beasts who originated in the days of yore.
Those terrifying existences like the Leviathan, Megalodon and Kraken clans, even in their closest forms to a Mer, were all truly in leagues of their own.
As such he thought instead, if he could not have any of his innate superiorities that made Nereus such a formidable existence, he would instead go after his throne and the power that came with it...
In a dark and discreet corridor within the heart of the palace, Alistair met with his co-conspirator, a shadowy figure from the human kingdom of Eroglasia cloaked in a skin tight bubble exosuit.
Such an exosuit was only possible through highly complicated (what the humans called) magic.
'Hm seems like no expense has been spared for this mission' Alistair thought intrigued as he looked at the bubble-like exosuit that allowed humans to operate underwater for a set amount of time.
Alistair had only heard from Nereus of such ingenious yet highly protected human magic tools and had thought there capability was greatly exaggerated but seeing it up close and personally underscored the utility of such a tool, along with the underscoring of the human king Cartwright Eroglasia's high regard for this mission.
That and of course the fact that Cartwight had promised Alistair wealth and dominion over the seas in exchange for his betrayal.
It was a tantalizing offer, and evidently one Alistair could not refuse.
The human leaned in, his voice a whisper that carried the weight of sinister intent. "Everything is prepared. Your Queen and her unborn child will not see the light of another day. Our mages have crafted a quick acting magically enhanced poison, one that can end the life of even the offspring of the Leviathan King. It will be coated on to the edge of this dagger, one stab to the heart of the Queen is all we will need. Are you ready to see this through?"
Alistair's lips curled into a cruel smile. "Of course, I have waited far too long as it is. Rest assured, now that we are sure that The King trusts me implicitly we can make our move tonight. He will never see it coming."
At that moment the shadowy figure slowly nodded before handing Alistair the poisoned dagger and taking his leave.
"It's now or never" Alistair said looking down upon the daggers' seemingly inconspicuous visage before moving with purpose to complete his mission.
The Queen's chambers were heavily guarded, but Alistair's authority granted him easy passage.
The Queen, Amelia, a serene mermaid with long flowing black hair and gentle sky blue eyes, looked up in surprise as Alistair entered.
"Alistair? What is it?" she asked, her voice filled with concern.
Alistair approached, his heart a cold stone. "My Queen, there is no time. The humans are attacking. We must get you to safety."
"Attacking?!" she questioned startled.
The Queen's eyes widened with fear for her unborn child. She rose quickly, but before she could take a step, Alistair's expression turned sinister.
"B-but how is that poss-"
SQUELCH
With a swift, brutal motion, he plunged a poisoned dagger into her heart. Her gasp echoed through the chamber, a sound that would haunt the palace forever.
As the life quickly drained from her and that of her unborn child Amelia was only able to utter a single word,
"Why?" she whispered, her voice fading as the light was extinguished from her eyes.
"For a future where I rule" Alistair hissed, watching her collapse.
He left her lifeless body and made his exit with with deadly efficiency, ensuring no witnesses noticed he was ever there.
By the time the palace guards did discover the scene, Alistair was already on his way to meet with the human king, the waters around him a whirl of treachery and ambition.
(2 Days Later)
The march to war was a somber affair, the weight of the Queen's death heavy on Nereus's and his troops hearts.
His massive serpentine form cut through the water, leading his troops towards the surface.
His sorrow hidden behind a mask of resolute determination.
Today, they would avenge the Queen and defend their kingdom.
He had initially been wary of waging this war as he knew the humans to be quite treacherous and crafty beasts but the assassinations of his queen and heir by the land dwelling foes proved to be a provocation that could not go without response.
Leading the way, the Leviathan King's appearance in his beast form was simply awe-inspiring.
His massive bestial body, a marvel of nature's might, was adorned with scales that glimmered in hues of blue and obsidian.
His eyes, burning with a fierce azure light, reflected his unyielding resolve.
As he moved, the water itself seemed to part in reverence, like the ocean was bowing to its king.
His warriors, an impressive array of merfolk, sea monsters, and sea creatures, followed with unwavering loyalty.
They wore armors forged from the strongest shells and enchanted coral, their weapons sharp and gleaming. Though the mood was grim, their spirits were hardened by the loss of their Queen.
Alistair swam beside the King, his golden scales catching the light like a glorious morningstar.
To the King, Alistair was a pillar of strength and support for him, a trusted confidant in these dark times. As such the King had no reason to suspect the treachery that festered in Alistair's heart...
As they ascended towards the surface, the waters grew colder, the anticipation of battle heightening the tension. The first signs of the human fleet became visible—dark shadows against the lighter waters above.
It was evident even from below, the humans had come prepared, their ships bristling with weapons designed to kill.
The Leviathan King raised his clawed webbed hands, as a massive wall of water rose before him, this was the signal for battle. His voice, a deep, resonant command, echoed through the waters. "For Nepturion! For our Queen! We fight to the last breath!"
A chorus of battle cries rose from his warriors, their resolve firm.
At that moment the wall of water itself seemed to pulse with the energy of their determination before rocketing forwarded as if urged on by the mystical light and sea essence blazing from the The King himself.
As the tidal wave of water reached it's targets and destroyed a sizable chunk of the assembled forces, Nereus and his troops similarly breached the water's surface.
With the two sides finally facing off the battle quickly erupted into chaos.
BOOM
ARGH
CLANG
Cannon fire boomed, harpoons sliced through the water with deadly precision, and the clash of steel rang out.
Nereus's massive form was a whirlwind of destruction, his tentacles, pincers, and claws tearing through the human defenses like a knife through warm butter.
The water churning with the violence of combat soon became a pool of blood and fury.
The King's warriors fought with a ferocity born of grief and rage, their movements an ornate and deadly ballet of precision and power.
The sea creatures and sea monsters, loyal to their king, joined the fray, their primal instincts unleashed upon the human invaders as all manner of sharks, whales, titanic eels, and other denizens of the deep took out vessel after vessel.
Alistair fought right beside Nereus, his strikes seemingly aimed at the enemy.
Yet, beneath the surface, his true intentions lay hidden, waiting for the moment to strike.
The humans, emboldened by their secret pact with Alistair, fought with a tenacity that matched the Nepturion forces as each side failed time and time again to fully gain the upper hand over the other.
After a while of fighting in the heart of the battle, Nereus felt a strange unease.
He glanced at Alistair, whose movements seemed too calculated, too deliberate.
But Nereus dismissed his doubts, focusing instead on the fight at hand.
The enemy was relentless, their magically enhanced attacks and defenses more coordinated than expected.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting an ominous red glow over the battlefield, the stage was set for the final act of betrayal.
Nereus, unaware of the treachery that surrounded him, fought on with unwavering resolve.
Suddenly, a sharp pain exploded through Nereus's side.
He turned, his massive body writhing before forcible shrinking to humanoid form as he locked eyes with Alistair.
The traitor's trident was buried deep in his flank, its enchanted prongs glowing with a sickly green energy.
"Alistair..." Nereus's voice trembled, disbelief warring with fury. "W-What have you done?"
Alistair sneered, his once-loyal gaze now alight with malice. "What I should have done long ago. Your arrogance left unchecked has nearly doomed us all."
"You dare!" he bellowed, his tail thrashing as he tried to dislodge the trident. But Alistair danced backward, a cruel smile on his lips.
"Tsk tsk tsk it simply wasn't enough to betray you, my king." His voice dropped to a venomous whisper as he then added. "Did you truly think the deaths of your wife and unborn heir were accidents?"
The revelation disguised as an implication struck harder than any weapon.
Nereus's roar of anguish shook the sea, sending tower tall waves crashing into multiple ships and even distant shoreline fortifications.
"Your suffering is only beginning," Alistair spat.
At his words, three rippling spatial portals opened in the water.
From each emerged a figure cloaked in ethereal light and an intimidating aura—the Three Great Saints.
These were no ordinary mages.
Each represented a kingdom aligned against Nereus, their combined power second only to archaic paragons like Nereus himself.
"Surprised, Nereus?" sneered the Saint of Emberhold, Alar a wiry man wreathed in flames that burned even beneath the waves. "Did you think the surface kingdoms would simply let you drown them one by one?"
The Saint of Frostholm, Sylvana a woman encased in glacial armor, stepped forward, her voice as cold as her magic. "We're here to end this once and for all."
The third Saint, Maelior, the Stormbringer, with his staff crackling wildly with arcs of electricity grinned wickedly. "And we're just getting started."
Nereus roared, blood trailing from his mouth. "You have betrayed your own kin, and for what? The scraps from a human's table?!"
"Shut up!" Alistair could only bellow back in response.
At that moment, the Three Saints attacked in unison.
Fire, ice, and lightning force lashed out, their spells interweaving with deadly precision.
Nereus met them head-on, his form glowing as he tapped into the full might of his Leviathan heritage, commanding the elements of water, earth, lightning, and ice to cloak over his form like a regal gown.
His elementally enhanced claws then met the Saint of Frostholm's icy blades with a deafening CLANG, while his sharp whip-like tail and squid-like tentacles swept through the fiery torrent unleashed by the Saint of Emberhold.
To and fro the mighty existences battled so fiercely that their mortal like allies and subordinates had to retreat from the friendly fire.
This dance continued for three days and three nights.
But even as he fought valiantly, their combined strength began to wear him down little by little.
For every blow he struck, another spell soon found its mark.
And soon blood—the Leviathan King's sacred and royal blood, glowing faintly in the dark—began to cloud the water...
On the morn of the fourth day, the maelstrom of chaos that was the battlefield reached a climatic crescendo.
"DIEEEE"
Nereus lashed out, his claws skewering the Saint of Frostholm through her armor and chest.
"AHHHHH"
She screamed, the sound muffled by the sounds of battle, but her allies continued to press the attack.
In the midst of this, King Cartwright's voice rang out above the din. "Hold him there! It's time!"
The remaining Saints though quite fatigued and injured then moved in perfect synchronization, their magic coalescing into a single, devastating spell.
Chains of molten fire and crackling lightning then wrapped around Nereus, binding his limbs as he thrashed violently.
King Cartwright took this moment to begin chanting, his words resonating with dark power, and soon a blackened orb began to form in his hands.
"No!" Nereus roared, straining against the arcane bonds.
His bioluminescent glow flared brighter as he began to take control of the very lightning binding him, but just as the Saints' power was about to break.
Cartwright unleashed the forbidden death affinity spell, an ominous and numbing surge of energy that struck Nereus square in the chest.
The pain was unimaginable.
The spell didn't simply wound—it unmade.
His scales began to crumble, disintegrating into shimmering azure dust.
Nereus's cries echoed through the ocean, but he fought on, his claws rending the Saint of Frostholm Sylvana in half even as his body rapidly dissolved.
"You think yourselves powerful?" Nereus bellowed, his voice a mix of pain and unrelenting rage. "You are insects playing with forces beyond your understanding!"
However the forbidden spell continued consuming everything in its path.
The three Great Saints channeled their remaining strength into sustaining it, their faces contorted with agony.
Alar's fiery hair dimmed to an ashen gray as his life force too rapidly waned.
Maelior's lightning fizzled out, his body and muscles visibly convulsing with the strain as his final scream was lost in the torrent of magic.
Even the bisected and deceased Sylvana's body was used as fuel as it began dissolving into nothingness.
As the last of the Great Saints perished, the spell faltered for a heartbeat.
Nereus seized the opportunity, his body surging forward despite the disintegration spreading through his limbs.
His webbed claws, now skeletal and decaying, reached for the human king, who too was left with only skeletal arms from the spell's tax as he stared in horror as the Leviathan King's burning eyes bore into him.
"You dare to defy the depths?" Nereus snarled, his voice a guttural growl. "You will not live to see your victory."
But before he could strike, Alistair moved in one final act of treachery.
With a shout, the merman drove his sea essence into the spell's focal point, forcing his power inward and providing the last bit of power the spell needed to seal Nereus's fate.
WHOOSH
The energy backlash then tore through Alistair's body, with the scales on both of his arms peeling away as his flesh disintegrated and his muscles were fried in a fiery burst of sea essence and mana.
Nereus's body began to crumble even faster, his once-majestic form now reducing to fragments of glowing azure ash faster than the eye could follow.
Yet, even with his final moments within sight, a defiant light ignited in the Leviathan King's azure eyes.
His body, now half-destroyed, convulsed once, and then from the center of his still intact chest erupted four glowing azure scales, each shining with an cerulean glow that for just a moment was brighter than the very sun.
They painted the scene in a color that was every shade shot of blue imaginable before shooting off in four different directions underwater, vanishing into the ocean's depths.
"Mark my words," Nereus growled, his voice a fractured echo. "I will return, and the sea will drown your world and your souls."
With one final, earth-shaking roar, the Leviathan King Nereus Leomaris Tritanus Azr collapsed.
His massive form disintegrating into motes of colorless light and dust, and finally leaving the battlefield eerily silent.
Though the cost was great.
The human forces had won the battle.
With the ocean itself seeming to mourn the loss as the currents whispered promises of vengeance and war yet to come...