People always have to deal with anxiety; no matter their power level, social class, or race, at some point, everyone meets such a merciless feeling.
That feeling mostly comes when people are waiting for something to happen or someone to make that thing happen; be that as it may, such desire corrodes their peace and makes every second an agony.
To contain anxiety, people look for different methods, some very peculiar, but it is not the case with eating. Feeding satisfies the body and can give a false sense of relief to the mind as well.
Eating was the way the Mermaid army found to contain the anxiety generated by the uncertain future of their people, the sinister storm that came out of nowhere, and especially Lucien.
But due to the influence of Gluttony, which is out of control due to Naomi's emotional state, the Mermaids' situation got out of control. There should be a limit to how much they could eat before their bodies refuse more food, but that limit doesn't exist as long as Gluttony is around.
Now those cute and brave Mermaids are literally devouring everything in front of them; supplies are disappearing, and the hunting parties that once shared all the spoils with the whole army now eat their prey far away from the camp.
Without someone trustworthy to tell them everything will be okay, those Mermaids are going insane into a gluttonous madness, and Greedy's influence has them fighting for food like wild animals.
That situation is bad enough and is getting worse fast, which led Ramla to the Sea Devil. But now, what was once a brave general, looks like a scared kitten in front of the terrifying Eve.
"Is the situation that bad?" Eve ignores Gluttony's accusations and asks Ramla.
"I've already ordered a party to bring more provisions from the nearest town, but I'm afraid all the food will be gone before they get back." Ramla quickly responds.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"And the less food we have, the more conflict happens." She explains before blushing and hesitating, but she still lets it out. "Also... even if our metabolism is very fast, eating so much food will have a negative effect on the soldiers' bodies..."
"Oh..." A strange thought came to Eve's mind. "Soldiers will inevitably become less efficient if they're out of shape, although Luci wouldn't mind them more curvy..."
"..." Eve thought that comment was just in her mind, but the girls' shocked reactions make it clear they've all heard that. [What the hell is happening to me?!?!]
Naomi and Claire try to contain their laughter while Ramla is very confused, so she pretends she didn't understand what Eve said. "Excuse me?"
Eve throws Gluttony a reproachful look. "Can you stop causing so much trouble?"
"Come on!!!" Gluttony exclaims childishly, and her appearance makes her look even more like a real kid. "I'm not the only one to blame here!"
While Naomi just laughs, Gluttony points at her. "I can't control my power alone, so we need hosts, you now."
"Ehh??" Naomi makes a fake surprised expression. "I have nothing to do with it."
"You do!" Eve speaks in a firm tone, causing everyone around her to bow their heads and go silent. Then she looks at Claire too. "You both have to control your Sins and feelings."
Despite Eve's aura being more powerful than ever, Naomi's teasing personality can't be stopped, and she smiles at her big sister. "Just like you are doing with Pride??"
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})Eve's eyes turn back to pure white, and Ramla starts to shake in fear as even Maya takes a step back. But instead of Eve scolding Naomi, Pride leaves her body like a ghost or her own soul and stands beside her.
Visually, they are still completely different people, but their auras are the same; that is the goal of the soul contract, to unite two souls and make them become like one. And while Lucien has already achieved it with Lust and some of his other wives, Eve seems to be doing it with Pride.
"Eve's word is also my word because we agree on everything." Pride speaks in her usual arrogant tone.
"And our words were clear, right?" Eve asks her sisters.
"Yeah! Sure, sis!" Naomi and Claire respect Eve a lot, so they quickly nod like chickens pecking corn. So do Gluttony and Greed as they fear Pride. "Naturally. We're going to try to contain our influence."
Eve turns her attention to Ramla, who deeply regrets boarding the Sea Devil. "That's the best I can do right now… but that doesn't change the fact that everyone is tense because Luci and your Queen went to find out what's going on with your world."
"I understand..." The sacred Mermaid sighs. "The troops are freaking out due to this damn storm, and our Queen might be running towards danger without her army..."
"Nothing bad will happen to her while Luci is there," Eve speaks in a totally confident tone.
"Hmm..." Ramla can feel how powerful Eve is, and her aura makes everyone around her respect her a lot, which makes her a perfect leader, yet Lucien seems to be the true leader of the group. [Why is this so??]
Eve wishes she didn't care about the Mermaids, but since Lucien cares about them, she can't help but do the same, so she tries to advise Ramla. "In difficult situations like this, that's when the troops most need a strong and reliable leader, and since Nea left you in charge, it's up to you to keep the troops steady."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})"I know, I know," Ramla speaks twice to confirm, but then she bows her head again. "But I'm just a General... I'm used to relaying my Queen's orders to troops and leading them into battles, but this... it's out of my qualifications."
Ramla hears Eve's footsteps approaching her, but instead of feeling fear and respect, she now feels a powerful inspiration fill her heart and soul. [What...]
She looks ahead and sees Eve reach out in front of her and touch her shoulder, making her feel more powerful than ever. That incredibly powerful aura can influence her as much as Lucien's lustful aura.
"You can do it," Eve speaks few words, but that phrase makes Ramla more confident than ever. She feels that she can move the world as long as Eve supports her.
"Yes, my Q-" She almost says something she would regret, but Ramla's loyalty is also very powerful. "...my Lady; I'll deal with that."
Eve finally smiles, making Ramla want to smile too. "I know you will; after all, Luci trusts your people, so I al-"
Ramla is overjoyed to be getting a compliment from Eve, but she stops before finishing her words, and her smiling face goes back to being cold as before. In fact, that's also different from before because now Eve looks really stern.
"???" The girls are confused about what made Eve that way, and even she doesn't fully understand the feeling that took over her body as it doesn't come from herself but from Pride.
Pride looks to the west with that same stern expression. "Something is coming."
"???" The girls look in that direction and don't see anything unusual at first.
But then they notice the lightning in the sky getting more intense, and the storm gets even louder.
*RUUUMMMMMBLE*
A loud thunder echoes for tens of miles, and strong winds begin to create a cyclone in the sky, also drawing the attention of all the Mermaids.
"What the hell..." Valencia exclaims as an instinctive fear washes over her; in her mind, she begins to wish Lucien to come back right now.
Not only she, but all the Mermaids feel such instinctive fear as the Sins warn the sisters that trouble has arrived.
A loud horn blast sounds from the north, and the girls look in that direction before seeing hundreds of creatures swimming toward the Mermaid camp. Those creatures are quickly recognized as the Nagas loyal to Mira and Lucien; they were camped a little further north so as not to get in trouble with the Mermaids.
Leading the Nagas is General Ritika, who swims as fast as she can while pointing at the cyclone in the sky and yelling something Eve soon understands. "IT'S A PORTAL!! IT'S A DAMN DARK PORTAL!!!"
"A portal..." Eve thinks aloud, but it's too late to do anything…
Once the cyclone becomes a perfect circle of two hundred meters in diameter, Its interior is covered by a layer of a black, watery substance similar to a magic portal.
And from such a portal, right on top of the Mermaid camp, something comes out; large tentacles make it clear that this is a monster, not just any monster but a huge Kraken, which falls from the sky right on top of thousands of Mermaids. Even if that is a small portion of the whole army, the death of thousands of Mermaids would still be horrible.
"NOOOOO!!!" Ramla screams as she finds herself helpless to protect her troops. Everything happens very fast, and as much as the Mermaids quickly try to get out of that place, most of them can't due to being caught off guard by such an attack.
The powerful barrier made by the Mermaid mages above the camp is immediately broken by the Kraken's weight and strength, and thousands of Mermaids are about to die from the imminent impact.
The bravest among them make room for the others to flee while accepting their fate; the mages among that group try to create other barriers and use their best treasures to protect their sisters.
But it all seems to be in vain as the brute force of that Kraken is beyond any they have ever seen. They don't realize it at first, but there are dark chains throughout the creature's body as it has been a victim of countless evil experiments in Tyrion's sinister prisons.
When hope seems lost for those Mermaids, and they wish more than ever that their Queen were there to protect them, something unbelievable happens.
[HOW???] Everyone wonders when the Kraken stops in the air; the creature simply stops falling as if an unseen force is holding it back.
"KYAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Eve's pain cry echoes along with the Kraken's roar, and everyone aboard the Sea Devil looks at her.
That scene is confusing for many of them, but Naomi, Claire, and especially Pride understand why Eve's eyes are bleeding as she uses all her power and will to hold the Kraken in the air with her gravity ability.
Maya also understands that Eve is holding the Kraken, so she doesn't think twice about summoning a beautiful red-yellow dagger and stabbing it in her own heart.
"Burn!" She exclaims as her eyes become like living flames before her body bursts into fire, from which a gigantic fiery bird emerges.
"*Scheeeeeee!!!*" Releasing her true form again after hundreds of years, Maya quickly flies towards the Kraken.
But Pride had already started her attack either. Holding her bright white scythe, she immediately rematerializes her body above the Kraken and brings her fury upon the creature.
"YOU BASTARD!!!"
In the midst of that sinister storm and when thousands of Mermaids hang in the balance, the confused Kraken is attacked by a white and a red-yellow lightning bolt; and even such a creature having limited intelligence, it knows how screwed its life is.
