WHOOSH

He felt a tremendous pressure crushing down on him from all sides, threatening to crumple him into a shapeless mound of flesh. The light he was surrounded in a moment prior was replaced with darkness.

The roar of the ocean rang in his ear as he felt his nerves tingling with danger.

What drew his attention was the giant serpent head in the distance, warping the entire ocean with the gravity that it radiated from a head the size of a planet and eyes the size of moons.

He could feel Jormungandr's attention converging upon him.

"Hey," he began with a light tone, as if he were just greeting a friend. "I think you know why I'm here."

The black slits in the serpent's eyes glinted knowingly. 'You seek my army. My domain.'

"Yep," Rui replied. "Can you give them to me?"

His voice was distorted by the ocean, but the serpent heard him clearly nonetheless.

His answer was equally clear.

'I will not. The marine life of my domain are not mercenaries that I can lend out to you,' the serpent's tone was one of displeasure. 'I will not allow you to turn them into weapons to fuel your own greed and ambition.'

Rui gazed at him with a composed gaze.

He had spoken to the serpent enough times that he no longer allowed the immense sense of danger that the gap in their power evoked in him to leave him nervous.

Still, that didn't mean that the serpent was his friend by any means. It was not willing to do him great favors that were exclusively to Rui's benefit. Thus, Rui knew that he would have to offer something that was also to the serpent's benefit.

Thankfully, Rui knew exactly what he needed to offer.

"Negatron matter has the power to allow us to free you from your prison, Jormnugandr."

RUMBLE…

The world shook as the slightest tremor passed through the serpent's body.

Rui could feel the impact those words had on him.

He was not lying.

Up until the negatron mines emerged, Rui could not think of a single solution that would allow them to possibly remove the serpent from the ocean without causing an extinction event across all of Gaia. It was likely that even the serpent himself thought it was impossible and had likely resolved itself to remaining paralyzed its entire life.

And yet, such was the miracle of negatron matter. Previously impossible events could now be conceived as plausible with this miraculous form of matter.

The serpent sensed he was telling the truth.

His heartbeat grew more intense, much to the detriment of the environment.

RUMBLE!!!

His excitement alone caused tsunamis around the world to emerge spontaneously, a feat that required the full power of the Dragon Emperor.

'You… you mean to say that if you succeed, you can… You can remove me from this planet without destroying it and all life on it?'

Rui nodded. "Correct. It's still going to be extremely difficult, but it's still very much within the realm of possibility. But we need negatron matter for that. Lots of it. Mountains worth of it. I only have negative five hundred grams of it in my body, for reference. But as long as we get the needed negatron matter. Make some preparations regarding complications such as ocean levels collapsing; it should be entirely possible."

It was fortunate that snakes couldn't shed tears, lest the world be drowned in a flood that consumed all land. However, words could not even begin to describe the joy it experienced.

'If you can truly live up to your words, then… You will have my eternal gratitude. I will lend you my army if you are truly able to solve my greatest curse. However… whether you will be able to wield them is entirely up to you.'

Rui raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

'Unlike the beasts and monsters you command upon land, the monsters of the ocean still have their quasi-Transcendents. Your Authority of Alpha is a copy of the eldritch chimera which failed to fully control the quasi-Transcendent creatures of the Beast Domain.'

"True…" Rui recalled how the quasi-Transcendents never joined the Beast Incursion. Human civilization would have been destroyed if they did, of course. "So you're saying that… I won't be able to control them once you let go of your authority over them…"

His eyes sharpened. "In the worst-case scenario, they will simply reject my authority and try to devour me."

Rui wasn't sure if he could win in such a circumstance. Although his Enlightenment of Water had allowed him to become extremely proficient at aquatic combat, it didn't mean that he was comparable to actual aquatic lifeforms that had evolved to live and fight in such an environment.

Similar to how he couldn't compare to monsters that had beasts.

'All Emperors must resist those who seek their throne.' The serpent's eyes glinted. 'Are you willing to face this burden, Rui Quarrier?'

Rui's smile sharpened.

"I was born willing."

The serpent's eyes bore deep into the darkness within his.

'Very well.'

RUMBLE!!!!!

The world shook violently as it hissed violently, unleashing a minor shockwave that spread through all waters across the entire planet. The monsters and beasts within the Great Nam Ocean quivered as their eyes changed, growing more alert.

They had been set free.

The countless monsters that orbited the Dragon Emperor shifted their attention towards one and only one target.

Rui Quarrier.

A bountiful source of Water.

A single remark escaped him as his eyes glowed red.

"Bring it on."

RUMBLE!!!!!

The world shook as marine life from across the Great Nam Ocean converged upon Rui, threatening to consume him alive in an attempt to reach for the empty throne.

Rui breathed in deeply before roaring with all his might.

"R̸̢̟̗̺͇͚̅͊̽̓͗̏̃̈́͆͆͘̕͜͝Ô̵̮̹̘̮̝̪̬͉͖̥̬̆̄̏̉̔͌̈́̎̉̆͝Ó̷̬̜͇̼͎̯̓͋̑͂͊̓̀̀̉̍͘͠͠͝Ö̸̡̲͕͎̰̯̖̟͙̫̟̼͈̺́͛̈́̚͝ͅA̸̧̧͚̗͚̳̗̫͙͉͖͂̆̔̕͝A̸̻̗͎̺͕̰͇̓͐̈́̈́̽͌̀͑̔͠Ä̸̧̟͕̱̳̠̺̳͎̝̻̱̩̺̓̓̓́͑͂̃R̵͚̟͇̼̻̻̖̼͊́̏̇͝R̵̡͔̦̙̞̠̯͈̮̍̈̓͂̂͝Ŗ̵̹̣͉̠͉̼̲͔̥̦̀̀̋̊͝Ṛ̵̝̲̥̥̽̓̂̄̂͑̂̽̓̆̐̀͛̕͝R̵̝̗͚̤͒̌̈́R̷̯͈͉̋̎͐̽̉R̸̨̛̪̝̬͕̀̏̀̊̈́́͑̒R̴̠̗͎̩͔̆͠!!!!!"

RUMBLE!!!!!

The world shook violently as Rui exerted his Authority over them, struggling to reign their minds in even as they charged in to devour the would-be Emperor before he could take his seat at the throne.

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