"Can I ask you a few questions...?" she asked softly, almost as if she were asking for permission to speak. "W-Where are we going...? Why... why do you want me to be your woman...? And why are you helping me?"
Shirahoshi's voice was low and trembling, but not out of fear... rather because of the weight of the emotion fluttering in her chest.
Her huge eyes cautiously lifted to him with shyness, as if afraid to annoy him by asking too much. Yet, at the same time, there was a spark of childlike curiosity in her gaze.
There was something about Tiberion that disarmed her fears.
He didn't seem evil.
There was no harshness in his gestures. His presence was imposing, yes—but not hostile. And that alone was enough for her, even with her heart pounding, to dare raise her voice.
If she had felt even the slightest dark intent from him, she would have shrunk back in silence. But no. There was something in him… something warm, strong, different.
Tiberion responded with indifference.
"You are the woman I've chosen. Therefore, you are my woman. I need you now... so you will come with me."
Shirahoshi fell silent for a moment.
Her face turned bright red—so red it was like a tomato. Her enormous hands pressed over her chest, trying to calm the wild beating of her heart.
"Ah...!" she gasped unconsciously. "T-That's... very direct…"
But there was no trace of fear in her eyes. On the contrary. There was something akin to gratitude, mixed with an emotion she couldn't quite process. She lowered her gaze, unsure, and then murmured,
"I... I know you won't hurt me... I feel it in my heart. To me... you're definitely a good person."
She took a deep breath, as if trying to gather the courage to go on. Then, with a shy smile, she added:
"I won't be hunted by that guy anymore… I won't have to hide again. I thought that fear… would never go away."
She paused briefly, then looked straight into his eyes, more firmly this time.
"My mother always said that when someone truly helps you, you must repay that kindness from the heart."
Her voice was soft, but now carried a different tone. More resolved. More mature, even if she was still the pampered princess who had spent her whole life locked away.
"And since you need me… I can't say no. If... if that means being your woman… then I accept."
Then she lowered her gaze again, gently biting her lip, and added clumsily:
"But... it's just that... suddenly I feel so embarrassed…"
Her cheeks burned. She covered her face with both hands, hiding like a child who had just said something inappropriate. But even so, as if pushed by a spark of pure innocence, she let out one last question:
"T-Tell me… being your woman, would it be… like my mother with my father?"
?
Tiberion blinked.
He didn't expect that kind of comparison, but his expression remained impassive, even if inside he already anticipated where the comment was going.
"What exactly do you mean?"
"..."
Shirahoshi took a while to answer. Her fingers twisted nervously, and when she finally spoke, her voice was barely audible.
"I mean... having children…"
Saying that, she covered her face again with both hands, completely embarrassed.
"M-My mother told me that after she became my father's woman, they had my brothers... and then I was born…!"
She didn't dare look at him. Her whole body was trembling slightly, not from fear, but from sheer embarrassment. Her mind had wandered far—far beyond what Tiberion had anticipated.
Internally, he was baffled.
'How…? I haven't even thought about that, and she's already talking about children?' he thought, surprised.
But outwardly, his face remained as calm and composed as ever.
He knew Shirahoshi was naïve, yes… but this went far beyond what he had imagined.
She was a pure creature, innocent to the core.
There was no malice in her, no strategy, not even a hint of calculation. She simply spoke from what she knew: her small world, filled with love stories and maternal teachings.
"Correct," he said calmly, as if speaking of something obvious. "As my woman… it's natural that, sooner or later, you'll bear my children. You can have as many as you want."
His words, though firm, carried no aggression. But to Shirahoshi, they struck like a sudden lightning bolt.
"Kyaaa...!" she let out a muffled squeal, covering her face even more with both hands, which now seemed far too small to hide her overwhelming shame.
Her cheeks burned, her neck too, and her shoulders shrank in as if she wanted to disappear from the world.
She couldn't look at him. She just couldn't.
Her entire face was flushed. Her heart was pounding—not out of fear, but from that strange, new, confusing feeling… could this be love?
But… she had absolutely no idea how children were actually "made."
She only knew the story of her parents. She knew her mother slept in the same room as her father, that they shared meals, walks, secrets, and laughter. That they hugged and said sweet things to each other. And then… her brothers were born. And eventually, her.
To her innocent heart, that explanation was enough.
'Then… if I'm his woman… does that mean we'll sleep together too? And eat together every day? And that he'll hug me like my dad hugged mom when she was sad…?'
That idea moved her more than she could put into words. She stayed quiet for a few moments, taking deep breaths, trying to calm the mixture of hope and modesty spinning inside her stomach like a whirlwind of giant butterflies.
And finally, after a long pause, she slowly lifted her head and looked at him with those big, shining eyes. Her voice sounded sweet and gentle again, like that of a girl who still believes in fairy tales:
"Tiberion-sama… will you ever go to the surface?"
She looked at him with hope and shyness, as if afraid to seem selfish.
"I'd like to see it… I always dreamed of that. My mother used to say the sun was beautiful. Could you… could you take me there someday?"
Tiberion nodded without hesitation.
"Of course."
"Hehe…" The laugh that bubbled out of Shirahoshi was small. She brought one hand to her lips, trying to hold back the giggle that surged from her chest like foam, "Thank you, Tiberion-sama… You're very kind to me."
She fell silent for a few seconds, and then, with a sudden decision born from the heart, she exclaimed:
"Then… take me with you now!"
She looked him straight in the eyes, full of excitement. The idea of going with him felt magical, as if the world had just opened before her, and her voice rang out louder this time.
"Please, Tiberion-sama! Take me with you!"
!
But just as that wave of emotion swept over her, a shadow of concern crossed her face.
She lowered her gaze, her expression became troubled, and her fingers nervously started playing with her hair.
"But... but I can't just leave like this..." she murmured. "My father… he… he'll worry. And my brothers too… if I disappear without saying anything, they'll think something happened to me."
She paused, then looked up again with pleading eyes.
"Can I go back for a moment to see my father...? Just to let them know..."
"…"
Tiberion watched her for a few seconds, then nodded calmly.
"Of course. I have some matters to attend to anyway. You can go back through this path."
Shirahoshi nodded… but something in her expression shifted. A doubt crept in, and her lips trembled slightly. She stayed still, as if something inside her didn't want to move.
Then, in a quiet voice, she asked:
"Tiberion-sama… won't you come with me?"
Her eyes filled with a different kind of light. It wasn't fear of the path—it was fear of being alone.
She took a small step closer, lowering her head. "It's just that… I'm still really scared to go out alone at night..."
Her gaze searched for his, desperate. There was something pleading in her expression. Such pure, transparent vulnerability. It was clear she was struggling with the idea of parting from him, even for a short while.
Tiberion looked at her silently for a few seconds.
"…"
Then he sighed. A long sigh, surrendering to her tenderness.
"Then close your eyes," he finally said. "Don't move from here. I'll go take care of something first."
Tiberion had already noticed.
Many Fish-Men with strong killing intent were hiding nearby.
It seemed the New Fish-Man Pirates had arrived.
"Mm, okay… Tiberion-sama."
Shirahoshi nodded immediately. She sat on the ground, carefully adjusting her massive tail, and closed her eyes with absolute trust.
Despite her innocence, she wasn't entirely unaware.
She had been born with exceptional Observation Haki—something that, even untrained, allowed her to sense the changes in her surroundings. And right now… she could feel it clearly.
There were many dark presences surrounding them. People she didn't know. And even if she couldn't see them, she could feel their intentions.
They weren't like Tiberion. They weren't kind. They were cold, violent… and dangerous.
'Mmm… those "bad guys"… they're close, aren't they…?'
With her eyes closed, she clenched her hands on her lap, and waited, trusting that he would make them disappear.
"Jahahaha!"
A shrill, venomous laugh shattered the moment.
From the darkness of the towering seaweed in the Sea Forest, Hody Jones emerged, his face twisted into a grotesque mocking grin.
Then his gaze locked onto Tiberion.
"No wonder Ryugu Palace was in an uproar," he continued, stepping forward shamelessly. "It all makes sense now! The entire army went out searching for the princess… and turns out someone already took her."
Behind him, a black tide was spreading.
Thousands of them: armed Fish-Men, mermen of all shapes, and even a few humans.
"Captain," growled Daruma, eyes narrowed, "That guy's the one who killed Dosun. And a bunch of our men too. He's strong. Don't underestimate him."
Hody didn't even turn to look at him. His grin widened as he caught sight of Vander Decken's head out of the corner of his eye—still fresh, tossed aside like garbage.
"I know," he replied coldly, then took another step forward. "But it's no use crying over a dead ally. It's time to make new deals."
He turned his gaze to Tiberion and, with a slow voice dripping with venomous diplomacy, said:
"Human friend… it seems you and I have something in common: the same goal."
He stopped just a few meters from him, close enough for everyone behind to hear his voice.
"How about we cooperate?" he whispered with a scheming tone. "You already have the princess. King Neptune wants you dead. But I can help you... I can distract the army, arrange an escape route for you. Even open the gates if needed."
"I ask only one thing in return. Just one."
A crooked smile spread across his face.
"Let me use the princess… just once. To blackmail Neptune. That's all. You can keep her afterward if you want. Just let me get a little use out of her. What do you say?"
"…"
Tiberion didn't respond immediately.
And a thick silence settled between them.
Without a word, he slightly lowered his head. His shoulders trembled… as if he were holding something in.
Then he burst out laughing like a madman. A crazed, unhinged laugh.
"Worms like you… want to use my woman?"
His laughter stopped abruptly as he lifted his head.
His gaze was pure fire. Hard. Absolute.
"You're even dumber than I thought."
He took a step forward, and the rock beneath his foot cracked with a dry thud.
Then another.
And another.
With each step, the pressure around him grew denser, heavier, more suffocating. The air seemed to compress, as if the entire sea were closing in on them.
The closest Fish-Men began to back away without realizing it, a collective chill running through their ranks.
But Hody did not move.
"Tsk… how arrogant," his voice sounded tenser this time. "Do you really dare turn me down?"
With a simple hand signal, the shouting began immediately.
"Don't come crying when we tear you to pieces!"
"If we kill him now, the princess will be ours!"
"GYAHAHAHAHA! Everyone, go!"
"Charge! KILL HIM!"
Like a massive wave, five or six thousand soldiers charged all at once. A whole horde lunged at a single man.
But Tiberion didn't move.
His lips curved into a cruel smile, full of disdain.
And then the massacre began.
The first strike wasn't a punch—it was thunder.
An explosion of flesh and bone. Tiberion's fist crashed into the first Fish-Man with such force that he was pulverized on the spot.
His body vanished, turned into red mist. Blood and organs splattered onto those rushing in behind him.
And Tiberion didn't stop.
He spun like a cyclone, his leg slicing through three torsos as if they were wet paper. The screams didn't even reach their throats—they were dead before they could react.
Every punch and kick carried the force of 15,000 tons.
This wasn't a fight. It was a mass execution.
One strike, five shattered bodies. One step, ten lives gone. It didn't matter what weapons they used—swords, spears, bullets—nothing could harm him.
Blades bent against his skin. Bullets bounced off like rubber. Claws shattered against his chest.
The blood of Fish-Men covered the ground like a crimson carpet.
And in the midst of it all, Tiberion… was smiling.
A cold, savage, inhuman smile.
His eyes showed no compassion. No rage. Only pleasure and power.
A power that crushed without mercy.
…
Elsewhere…
The sound of hurried footsteps echoed through the corridor.
"Urgent report for Prince Fukaboshi!" shouted a burly Fish-Man, his body marked with black stripes like a tiger from the deep. "Our scouts have detected a massive concentration of New Fish-Man Pirates around the Sea Forest! They're gathering there in huge numbers and won't stop!"
Fukaboshi turned instantly, his face tense. His jaw clenched and his eyes sharpened like blades.
"Inform my father immediately!" he ordered without hesitation. "I'll leave at once. I'll lead our forces personally to the Sea Forest."
"Yes, Prince!" his men replied in unison.
Without wasting a second, Fukaboshi turned on his heel and raised his hand to signal the march.
In mere minutes, he and a division of soldiers were swimming at full speed toward the Sea Forest, leaving behind the safety of the palace to plunge into the growing threat beneath the surface like a spreading tumor.
His heart was pounding hard. But not from fear.
It was intuition.
A deep feeling. The kind of premonition one only gets once in a lifetime.
Shirahoshi was there.
He knew it with the certainty of a brother who senses something is wrong with his sister, even from miles away.
But not even in his worst nightmares could he have imagined what he would find.
When he reached the outskirts of the Sea Forest, and shortly after was joined by his brothers Ryuboshi and Manboshi, followed by their father King Neptune and the reinforcements he had brought…
They all came to a halt.
The air was hard to breathe.
The sight before them was simply inconceivable.
Everything was dyed red. The sand had vanished beneath a thick sea of blood. And the bodies… the bodies were piled like mountains. Mermen. Fish-Men. Humans. All mixed together, all lifeless, all crushed, gutted, or torn in half.
It was like standing in a slaughterhouse.
"Dear god…" Ryuboshi whispered, his voice trembling. "W-What… is this?"
But before they could even process what they were seeing, their eyes landed on him.
A single man.
Standing in the middle of that field of death.
Upright, as if nothing could touch him.
His body was drenched in the blood of others, yet his face showed no signs of fatigue or fury. Only a terrifying calm… and an unbearable power. As if what they had just witnessed had only been a warm-up.
Tiberion.
Invincible.
And in front of him, as if he still couldn't grasp the difference between reality and the fantasy he had built in his head, Hody Jones kept throwing desperate attacks. Spinning kicks, punches fueled by rage. Drugged to the bone, his eyes bulging with broken veins, sweating and foaming at the mouth.
He screamed with fury. With madness and desperation.
"I'LL KILL YOU! YOU'RE JUST A HUMAN! A HUMAN!!"
But every strike bounced off. Every technique was absorbed by Tiberion's body as if they were mere caresses. He didn't even bother to block them.
And not because he couldn't.
But because he didn't need to.
From a distance, the princes and their father watched without daring to intervene. Something in their bodies told them there was no room for outsiders in that battle. That field no longer belonged to ordinary mortals.
And then, it happened.
Tiberion showed a bloodthirsty smile, stretched out his right arm… and swung it as if swatting a fly.
Boom
With a single motion, Hody Jones's head exploded.
There was no final scream.
Only a dry sound, like a watermelon bursting as it hit the ground. His blood and skull disintegrated.
Hody's body collapsed like a broken puppet.
"Aah…! Father, I'm scared!"
Ryuboshi's high-pitched voice rang out above the frozen silence, and it wasn't exactly full of bravery. The middle prince took a step back without realizing it, his face twisted in fear. He was so tense that for a second, he thought he might literally wet himself from the shock.
Fukaboshi, however, didn't take his eyes off the human.
Manboshi swallowed hard. No one said a word.
And among them, King Neptune was staring at one particular point… one that instantly tightened his heart.
His daughter!
Shirahoshi.
There she was. Sitting, hands folded in her lap, eyes firmly shut, and a calm expression on her face. No tears. No trembling. She didn't look scared. Not even the slightest sign of injury—physical or emotional.
And that… was unexpected.
Neptune narrowed his eyes. He looked at the man standing beside her. That lone human who, apparently, had executed thousands like they were dry straw. And yet… his daughter was there, unharmed—and above all—trusting.
Could it be that this man had actually saved her…?
None of it made sense.
And yet… everything seemed clear.
Neptune was not impulsive. He had seen wars. He had lost a queen. He knew that power must be respected, and that sometimes the enemy was not the one holding the sword...
That man had eliminated the greatest threat Fish-Man Island had faced. Alone.
And now he stood there, calm. Standing amidst the remains of a massacre. Not even breathing harder than usual.
Neptune clenched his teeth. He couldn't make mistakes. Not now. If they provoked that man—if they took one wrong step—the price could be the total annihilation of Fish-Man Island.
That's why he didn't give the order to attack.
…
Tiberion raised his gaze.
His eyes swept slowly across the thousands of soldiers who had arrived from Ryugu Palace, surrounding the perimeter, forming a ring around the blood-soaked battlefield. But none of those soldiers could hold his gaze.
Not out of cowardice. But because what they saw in his eyes… was not human.
It was the gaze of a predator at the very top of the food chain.
And that was enough.
One by one, the soldiers stepped back. They couldn't help it. Their legs moved on their own. Their skin bristled, their hearts pounded hard. It was a reaction from the deepest part of their being. As if their bodies were screaming at them—not to get in that human's way.
And then, Tiberion spoke.
"Come take care of the corpses."
But it wasn't a suggestion.
It was a command.
The tone, the presence, the way he said it… left no room for discussion.
And Neptune reacted immediately. He raised a hand and shouted:
"You heard him! Begin collecting the bodies!"
The soldiers obeyed at once. No one dared to question anything.
Within minutes, dozens of corpses were removed.
Once everything was cleared, Tiberion slowly turned on his heel and walked toward the young mermaid who was still sitting.
He looked at her and said:
"You can open your eyes now."
Shirahoshi exhaled quickly, as if she had been waiting for that phrase just to breathe again.
"Yes, Tiberion-sama!" she replied cheerfully, opening her huge eyes with a radiant smile. "I didn't peek even a little, I swear!"
She lowered her gaze, happy, with a slight blush on her cheeks and her heart pounding with excitement.
"Good," Tiberion said, nodding. "Your family is over there. Go and say goodbye."
"Yes, Tiberion-sama!"
And without wasting a second, Shirahoshi—the same girl who had lived a decade locked away, the same girl who trembled at the mere thought of going outside—ran joyfully toward her family.
Her voice rang out even before she reached them:
"Father! Big brothers!"
She stopped in front of them, completely happy, without a trace of fear, wearing the purest and most carefree smile they had ever seen on her.
"I'm now the woman of Tiberion-sama!" she declared, placing both hands proudly on her chest.
"…"
A deathly silence fell over everyone present.
"I must be by his side, Father," she continued with total innocence. "And very soon, I'll be going with him to the surface!"
King Neptune's eyes blinked slowly. Fukaboshi stood there, speechless. Manboshi felt a spasm in his neck. As for Ryuboshi… well, he simply fainted in silence, collapsing backward like a sack of seaweed.
"I've always wanted to see the surface," Shirahoshi went on, completely unaware of the emotional chaos her words were causing. "This time, Tiberion-sama promised to take me, and I'm so happy!"
And with a smile that lit up the entire place, she said:
"Father! Brothers! Don't worry! Tiberion-sama will protect me!"
King Neptune: "…"
Present soldiers: "…"
________
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