Under the water.
Ariel tightly held onto Lioro's waist and swam straight towards her kingdom.
She felt it was a little weird when Lioro said he couldn't swim, so she needed to carry him.
'There are things even wizards can't do.....', Ariel thought as she tightened her grip around Lioro's waist, making her chest deform and press completely against his back.
Feeling the soft sensation, Lioro couldn't help but inwardly praise his own intelligence.
Meanwhile, Cid, who was following behind, gave Ariel a disdainful look.
'This guy can part the ocean like Jesus, and you seriously think he can't swim???'
'Not to mention, he even has a god damn water spirit!'
'Just how gullible are you???'
'Hell, just look at his satisfied face! He's clearly doing it deliberately to enjoy your boobs!'
'How the hell did I lose to a piece of shit like this???'
Cid spewed out several curses in his mind while using magic and controlling his slime suit to swim underwater.
Following Ariel's lead, it didn't take long for them to arrive at their destination.
Hiding behind a big rock, the three of them peeked out like thieves and carefully observed the palace before them.
"I know a secret passage from the left tower.....", Ariel quickly said in a hushed voice.
"....After a few turns, we can avoid the guards and reach my sister's room..."
Listening to her detailed plan with several contingencies, Lioro and Cid couldn't help but give each other a weird look.
'She does know we're raiding her home, right?'
'This is the result of bad parenting.'
RIP Triton.
After offering a silent prayer to the poor Triton, Lioro placed a finger on Ariel's mouth.
"...also—? Hmph?"
"Calm down, Ariel. I might have a better way....."
Seeing her confused expression, Lioro pointed at Cid.
"9th Tier magic: Perfect Unknowable."
The space around Cid flickered before he vanished without a trace.
"What!"
Ariel exclaimed in surprise.
"Who's there?!"
Of course, her loud shout alerted the guards.
Ariel instantly panicked.
Lioro shook his head and said in a small voice.
'I'll attract attention. You go and see if there's anything interesting....'
Cid, who was staring interestingly at his invisible body, grinned widely after hearing his words.
'This bastard knows so many interesting spells... Hehehe, it makes me feel excited for the future...'
Without wasting time, Cid took a step forward and ran at a crazy pace.
Several mermen carrying weapons came before Lioro and Ariel.
"Princess Ariel? No, wait! Who's that??"
"Human! It's a human!!"
The mermen started whispering in voices filled with shock and disbelief.
They couldn't understand why there was a human underwater.
Ariel, panicking like crazy, quickly tried to think up a solution.
Unfortunately... she wasn't the brightest person out there.....
Unable to think of a solution, Ariel clenched her fists and decided to run away.
And just as she was about to turn around and take Lioro with her—
Lioro took a step forward and stopped in front of the mermen.
Then, under their confused gazes, he raised his hand and pointed straight at them before saying in a righteous tone.
"People of the sea, I, Lioro, have come here to beat your king and save my friend from his demonic clutches!"
'King Triton?? He's here to beat King Triton???'
For a moment, the mermen didn't know what to say.
If it were anyone else, then they would have attacked the trespasser directly for challenging their king.
But this human... was with Princess Ariel.....
While the mermen fell silent, Lioro, with his finger still raised, couldn't help but feel a little awkward.
'Why the hell aren't these guys attacking me??'
He couldn't help but complain in his mind.
He planned to beat up a few guards, attract Triton's attention, and give Cid time to look around.
Then he would fight Triton, take his trident, understand how it works, then give it back and leave.
He had it all thought up.
So how come these guys weren't following the script??
And excuse me, but how long did he have to keep pointing???
It was getting a bit embarrassing now...
As Lioro was feeling awkward, Ariel suddenly came beside him and hurriedly asked in confusion.
"Lioro! You're really going to go that far for my sister??"
Lioro paused, then turned his face and said with a smile.
"Of course. Anything for my friend."
Looking at the heroic smile on his face—
Ariel fell into a daze, her heart beating like crazy.
He would fight the entire kingdom?
Just to help her sister?...
This..... this was just like a fairytale!
For a moment, Lioro's image seemed to coincide with that of a prince from a heroic tale.
While Ariel was busy in her own delusion, the guard captain suddenly came to a conclusion, pointed his weapon at Lioro, and said.
"Capture the human."
"Yes!"
Instantly, all eight mermen rushed towards Lioro with their weapons in hand.
Ariel's face turned pale while Lioro smiled widely.
----
Inside the underwater palace.
"Intruder!"
"A human is attacking!!"
"The human is too strong! He's beating every merman with a wave of his hand!"
"Quickly! Call King Triton!!"
"Princess Ariel! He's taken Princess Ariel hostage!!"
'Hey, don't lie! I haven't taken anyone hostage!' Lioro complained in his mind while glancing back at Ariel, who was clearly following behind him with stars in her eyes.
She was clearly enjoying it more than him!
Ariel!
These are your own countrymen we're beating up!
So please stop smiling!
Ariel suddenly placed her arms around Lioro's neck and shouted in an excited tone.
"You can't stop us! We're the heroes here to free the princess!!"
"Mind control! The human is mind-controlling Princess Ariel!!"
"Hey, stop throwing baseless accusations! Go, Nokk, throw them away!"
The water spirit Nokk controlled the water and sent away any merman who tried to block him.
Just as Lioro and Ariel were causing a mess
A golden carriage driven by several seahorses circled above them.
Controlling the carriage was a ripped old man with a majestic floating beard.
'Triton!'
Lioro exclaimed in his mind, his eyes locked on the glowing trident King Triton was holding.
"F-father!"
Ariel also saw him, and almost instantly all excitement drained from her face.
She quickly grabbed Lioro's waist and hid behind him, trying to hide.
King Triton narrowed his eyes and shouted.
"I see you, Ariel! Come out!"
"Oh-no! Father saw me! Lioro! What now??"
Ariel panicked and asked in a hurry.
'I mean, we're literally right under him. He'd have to be blind not to see us.....'
Lioro ignored her and stared at the majestic merman before them.
Ruler of the underwater kingdom!
King Triton!
"King Triton, I have come to—"
"Human!!! How dare you kidnap my precious daughter!!!!!!!"
Lioro's words were cut short as King Triton shouted like an enraged beast.
The surrounding waters started raging, thunderclouds forming in the sky with rumbling sounds.
"How dare you infiltrate my kingdom and beat up my people!!!!!"
Seeing his anger reach heights she could have never imagined, Ariel held back her fear and said in a hurry.
"No, father, wait! You've got it wron—Mufah?"
Lioro placed a hand on her mouth and said.
"Shhh! Stop, Ariel. Don't say anything."
Everything was going great; he didn't even need to say anything to pull aggro. King Triton was already fully pissed off.
While Ariel's eyes widened in confusion, King Triton's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
"HUMAN! GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF OF MY DAUGHTER!!!!!"
-------------
Ps: Yup I'mstill alive.
Where was I? Well drove 2000 km across places for the whole month before coming back.
And I was also occupied by a new horrornovel I found called 'mysterious resurgence'
If u known any good fanfic of it then tell me.
Also I'm going to decrease word count from 2k words to 1k words each chapter since its easier to write and maybe I can be more consistent that way.