"I have been interested in the ocean for a while now. My shadows hang all around the overworld, but down here, I only have a single connection and that is you. I want to expand my shadows down here, of course, with your permission, Empress," Charna jokingly took a bow.

"Whatever," Ethel smirked before rising from her throne. "I have been needing a break anyway. Any more management and I'm gonna go gray in a few months."

"I appreciate it. I promise nothing will get out of hand."

"It better not," Ethel's voice echoed through the water, the water around her bending and twisting as she stared deep into Charna's pitch-black eyes. "Even if you are my sister and comrade, I will not hold back."

"Sure~ sure~" Charna smiled.

However, before she went on vacation, she had to take care of a few things.

As Ethel activated her private teleporter, a shimmer of light wrapped around her form before vanishing in an instant, transporting her to the ocean's deepest reaches. She emerged into the absolute darkness at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the ocean pressing in on her from all directions. Here, near the very center of the Earth, the silence was so thick it felt alive, the weight of the void all-encompassing, swallowing any trace of movement or sound. Her expression was cold, unreadable as if the crushing depths mirrored her own unshakable resolve.

A crown of pure, radiant gold materialized atop her head, each point gleaming like a beacon. In her hand appeared a golden trident, its prongs glistening, casting a soft but penetrating light through the pitch-black surroundings. As the light expanded, hundreds of massive, eldritch sea creatures began to emerge from the darkness, their eyes wide and unblinking, watching her in absolute silence.

Around her, a morbid menagerie of creatures revealed themselves, looming in the water. Ten of the nearest beings stood out, each one grotesque, majestic, and ancient in its own terrifying way.

A colossal anglerfish, its body rough and scaly, with a bioluminescent lure hanging above its gaping, jagged maw. Its teeth were razor-sharp, curved inward like claws, and its eyes were pools of unblinking darkness, fixated on Ethel with an unnatural intelligence.

A serpent-like leviathan, over fifty feet long, its body a twisting mass of dark blue scales that faded to a deep purple near its underbelly. Rows of spiny fins lined its back, and its head was crowned with bony ridges, its mouth large enough to swallow a human whole. Yellow, glowing eyes followed her every move.

A massive, ancient squid, its tentacles spiraling around it like dark ribbons in the water. Its eyes were enormous and reflective, hollow, but somehow all-seeing. Its body pulsed faintly, and the shifting colors on its skin hinted at an intelligence that lay just beneath its alien appearance.

A bloated, monstrous jellyfish, its bell pulsating with a sickly green glow, casting eerie patterns onto the trench floor. Long, thick tendrils extended from its body, each one tipped with a glowing blue, faintly crackling with a dangerous energy. Its center pulsed with each beat, like a grotesque heart.

A pair of terrifying, oversized gulper eels, their elongated jaws hanging open to reveal rows of hooked teeth. Their eyes, small and beady, glimmered with a hunger that seemed to transcend time, their bodies coiling and uncoiling as they drifted around her like silent specters.

A monstrous, armored crustacean, its thick exoskeleton covered in deep, weathered grooves. The creature's claws were massive, each one ending in serrated edges that could crush even the thickest coral. Its eyes, set on long, segmented stalks, peered at her unflinchingly.

A vast, bloated blobfish, floating lazily yet ominously in the water. Its gelatinous form was lumpy, its mouth hanging open in a perpetual, downturned grimace, giving it a disturbing semblance of humanity as it observed Ethel.

A nightmarish fangtooth, with oversized fangs protruding from its jaw even when closed. Its rough, leathery skin was dark and scarred, its beady, glowing eyes piercing through the dark. This creature seemed to stare through Ethel as if sizing up the very core of her being.

A hulking sea spider, its body covered in pale, translucent armor that revealed veins glowing with faint bioluminescence. Its spindly legs moved almost mechanically, as though it were a machine driven by some ancient force, and it hovered near her, watching with an unblinking intensity.

A mammoth oarfish, its slender body shimmering with scales that caught and reflected the golden light of Ethel's trident. Its eyes, impossibly large and wide, were devoid of expression, a blank slate of curiosity and dread as it swayed in the water like a ribbon caught in the current.

Ethel raised her trident, the golden light intensifying, casting elongated shadows of these ancient beings against the endless walls of darkness. Her gaze was hard, emotionless, as she regarded the gathered creatures. Here, in the lowest reaches of the ocean, where even the light dared not reach, Ethel reigned supreme.

As Ethel's golden light expanded, it pierced the crushing darkness layer by layer, radiating out from her like an underwater sun in the heart of the ocean. At first, the illumination spread only a few hundred meters, revealing a multitude of strange, gargantuan creatures clustered around her in silent reverence. But as the light grew and surged out further, it reached a thousand meters, then ten thousand, casting its glow across a scene that seemed endless and ancient beyond imagining.

Beneath the softened golden haze, a hidden kingdom began to reveal itself. The very bed of the Mariana Trench was lined with massive, otherworldly structures rising from the seabed like sunken, forgotten monuments. Colossal pillars of iridescent black stone rose into view, their surfaces carved with intricate symbols and patterns, each one bearing marks of both beauty and foreboding. The architecture was unlike any other, a fusion of organic forms and monumental stonework. Some pillars twisted like the spiraling shells of long-forgotten creatures, while others were straight and imposing, their tops crowned with crystalline growths that pulsed faintly, as though breathing in sync with the life around them.

Massive archways of coral and basalt stretched across the landscape, interlocking to form roads and pathways that led further into this abyssal kingdom. Sprawling structures of coral and stone intertwined with veins of bioluminescent flora, casting ghostly hues of green, blue, and violet that complemented the golden light. At the base of the seabed, immense statues lay half-buried in silt, their forms resembling strange amalgamations of beasts, fish, and ancient gods with eyes that seemed to follow Ethel as she advanced.

All around, larger and even more monstrous creatures drifted in and out of view, their forms towering over even the ones nearest her. There was a leviathan-like creature, so vast its body coiled around the kingdom itself like a protective wall, its scales shimmering faintly under the golden glow. Enormous, luminous sea snakes slithered up along the towering coral spires, their bodies blending with the organic forms of the architecture as they watched Ethel with eyes that gleamed with an almost sentient intelligence.

An ancient octopus, its size rivaling the pillars themselves, draped its tentacles across a fallen tower, watching her with unblinking, knowing eyes. In the distance, an immense, glowing shark-like creature circled slowly, its vast, ancient body covered in scars and bio-luminescent patterns that pulsed in time with the energy of the kingdom.

Farther up, toward what seemed like the upper reaches of this trench-city, massive ziggurats rose like mountains, their steps lined with crystalline coral that gleamed as if alive. Each structure was adorned with coral gardens and kelp that swayed gently in the deep ocean currents, as though in silent reverence for Ethel's presence. Ancient carvings decorated the surfaces, depicting forgotten myths and battles, scenes of primordial sea creatures clashing with one another in cosmic struggles, eternally frozen in stone.

And at the very center of this underwater kingdom, towering over all else, was a cathedral-like structure carved from deep green jade and blue-black stone. Its spires twisted upwards like fingers reaching toward the surface world, the tallest of them adorned with a crown of bioluminescent algae that glowed softly, casting a holy aura across the expanse. In the heart of this cathedral, an altar made of gleaming obsidian awaited, its surface etched with an ancient, unfathomable language that seemed to pulse faintly in time with Ethel's heartbeat.

Here, Ethel's light had exposed not just an abyssal kingdom, but an entire civilization, ancient and dormant, as if waiting for a ruler powerful enough to awaken it from slumber. The sea beasts, towering above her, all watched in silent obedience, each knowing that they were in the presence of their new sovereign. Ethel stood, her golden trident illuminating the kingdom around her, her expression one of calm dominion over the forgotten depths of the world.

From the towering sea-stone palace at the farthest edge of the abyssal kingdom, a figure emerged, casting an imposing silhouette against the glowing bioluminescent architecture. Slowly, he descended, his powerful form moving gracefully through the darkened waters with a presence that seemed to draw the very currents toward him. He was the Emperor of the Sea, Ethel's husband—a figure of legend, rarely seen even by those who resided within the ocean's deepest realms.

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