Colossus

But as a mature king, war was merely a means to an end.

If he could win easily, Nereus would not mind crushing the land.

But there was no guarantee of victory!

And after all this time, Nereus had calmed down.

He had agreed to send troops for Orm because he and his pet whale had been attacked by a human whaling fleet and pirates at the time.

But now that he thought about it, there seemed to be a chance that Orm had deliberately arranged the whole thing.

He simply had not considered before that Orm might have connections with humans.

Continuing this war was highly meaningful for Orm. If he won, then as the instigator of the war, his power and prestige would make him the greatest ocean lord after the ancient King of Atlantis.

But it did not mean much to Nereus and Xebel.

After all, they had already taken their revenge and demonstrated their strength before the land dwellers. Their subsequent demands could be achieved entirely through diplomatic means.

If they lost, they would only suffer casualties and losses.

Nereus understood all this, but Riva, King of the Saltwater Kingdom, might not.

Although the Saltwater Kingdom was known for the individual ferocity of its people, their brains seemed to be developing in the direction of the Trench. Nereus felt it was necessary to talk some sense into King Riva.

"Let’s fight first and see what happens. Kardan, let’s go!"

King Riva ignored the advice. He slapped the giant crab’s feeler, raised his trident, and charged out.

"Ah…"

Nereus sighed helplessly and followed.

He had to keep an eye on things, lest King Riva be beaten to death and forge an irreconcilable grudge with the land dwellers.

"This crab is seriously huge…"

Shimizu floated in the air, clicking his tongue in amazement as he looked at the colossal creature ahead, whose head was not much lower than his current position.

It was far larger than the mutated Killer Croc he had encountered in that parallel world of Cthulhu Batman.

It perfectly fit people’s fantasies of a deep-sea leviathan, even if it was scientifically implausible.

The deeper the seawater, the less oxygen there was. The larger the body, the greater the pressure it had to endure.

Shimizu felt that this crab might be even larger than a complete Susanoo. Could breathing oxygen alone really sustain the energy demands of something this huge?

"Haah!"

Wonder Woman leaped high into the air, let out a thunderous battle cry, and swung her sword down at the head of the giant beast called Kardan.

Riva tried to block her, leaping forward to meet her head-on, but the Sword of Vulcan cleaved his bone trident in two.

Fortunately, Kardan swung its massive claw at that moment, knocking Diana from the air.

The enormous carapace crushed down on Diana like a mountain. She raised her shield with one hand and twisted aside, narrowly evading it.

Frozen explosive rounds rained down from above, only to be caught by transparent giant hands rising out of the seawater. They detonated in midair, transforming into enormous hands of Ice Crystal.

Shimizu glanced to the side, looking at the old man nearby, who rode a large seahorse and wore armor and a golden crown.

"Let them fight. Do not expand this war and hatred any further. We only want the land dwellers to see the ocean’s demands, not pursue a pointless war. I will have my troops stand down. We can wait here until they decide the victor, then negotiate. How does that sound?"

"You are…?"

"There are four kingdoms beneath the sea. I am King Nereus of Xebel. The one fighting that amazon warrior is King Riva of the Saltwater Kingdom."

Nereus tugged the reins and moved two steps forward.

"You said you do not want to expand the war any further. Then can you make this battle stop first?"

Shimizu swept his Transparent World across the battlefield spanning thousands of meters.

The British army’s combat effectiveness was difficult to describe.

Though its strength had weakened over the years and it no longer possessed the glory of the empire on which the sun never set, it was still worthy of its name as one of the five permanent members. Its overall military strength did rank among the top nations on this planet.

But it had never been a nation renowned for the combat power of its army.

More than half of its navy had been rendered useless as well. Though it still had some elite forces, the situation did not look good. If Shimizu had not used a large number of frozen explosive rounds to alter the coastal battlefield, turning vast stretches of sea into icy plains that were even less suitable for Atlanteans, and if Diana had not slain large numbers of sea monsters, the British army would not have lasted until now.

But the Atlanteans had only deployed those seafood troops from the Saltwater Kingdom so far.

The soldiers of the Kingdom of Xebel, equipped with high-tech weapons, would certainly be more suited to fighting on land than these crabs and lobsters, even if their combat strength was somewhat weakened there.

By then, the Atlanteans’ combat power would increase by more than double. These British troops would absolutely be no match for them.

"Other than those sea monsters, not all my soldiers have been deployed. As for the Saltwater Kingdom soldiers still fighting, only Riva, as King of the Saltwater Kingdom, can make them stop."

Nereus shook his head.

"Fine, then."

Shimizu shrugged.

Those British troops could hold on for a while yet, anyway.

But why had these Atlanteans targeted Britain?

What about France? Spain? The other coastal nations of Europe?

Wouldn’t the Netherlands or Belgium be much easier to attack?

With that thought, Shimizu asked Nereus.

"It is very simple. We wanted to use this island nation on land as a springboard for attacking the continent. It was also a test, to test the strength of you land dwellers."

Nereus spoke bluntly.

Fine.

In other words, Britain was simply unlucky because of its location.

But not too unlucky.

Because aside from Shimizu, it also had Wonder Woman, a powerhouse who stood at the top even among superhuman combatants.

During the few moments Shimizu spent talking with Nereus, Diana and the King of the Saltwater Kingdom had already decided the victor.

The giant crab called Kardan, the latter’s mount, was indeed extremely powerful.

Just as Shimizu had guessed, such a colossal beast did not rely entirely on breathing oxygen for its energy supply.

Perhaps because the Saltwater Kingdom had lived beneath the sea year-round, some of its lifeforms had evolved geothermal systems. Kardan was the same, and had evolved even further, able to store high-temperature magma within its body to power itself and use magma to attack in battle.

But half of this Titan beast’s eight clawed legs had been severed, leaving it crouched helplessly on the ground.

King Riva of the Saltwater Kingdom was also kneeling on one knee, with Diana’s Sword of Vulcan held across his throat and his two claws tightly bound by the Lasso of Truth.

"Stop now, Riva. And you, Amazonian warrior, it is time to end this war."

Nereus shouted.

"Make the land dwellers stop first, then I will give the order."

Riva was quite tough, but he respected a strong opponent like Diana, who had defeated him in direct combat. Otherwise, he would not have agreed to stop.

Ahem, it’s the end of the month. Shamelessly asking for monthly votes. I’ll save up some chapters over the next two days. If we can reach a thousand votes this month, I’ll post extra chapters in a few days.