My Goddess is Good at Pretending

Chapter 234: Cruelty of the Wild

Under Elysia’s blessings that she learned from the Sea God in the past, everyone entered the deep ocean without needing a diving respirator or anything, just like the fish.

All warships and submarines dived into a particular seabed, a spot that Xentia identified as the most suitable place to build the mermaid’s stronghold, the roots for the Mermaid Kingdom.

"Empire is not good. The most likely to be realized is a kingdom, the city within a stronghold." Elysia inspected the surrounding areas.

"Then, it’s also good. The Mermaid Kingdom. We can build the stronghold after saving the mermaids and showing our dominance to enemies." Miko nodded in understanding.

"Pardon the interruption. If so, will you leave a defensive formation for this Mermaid Kingdom, master?" Dory dared herself to ask.

She knew that Elysium couldn’t protect the mermaids forever. Still, her master and friends would give the mermaids a chance to grow until they were strong enough to defend themselves.

"A dragon vein is buried deep down there in a dormant state. Once I trigger it to activate, this place will become a high-tier cultivation spot. The city will be protected by the defensive walls and formation arrays. The mermaids will rule the sea from here. However, you still need to achieve more accomplishment with your efforts." Elysia gently reminded the mermaids. The conquest would never be easy.

"Understood! Thank you for your generosity, O Supreme Goddess of Laws." An orange mermaid clasped her hands in prayer.

"What’s your name?" Elysia saw Kirara’s vibe from this orange mermaid. She looked at the nearby nun, but Kirara just smiled innocently.

"This humble servant is named Yun." Yun bowed respectfully.

"Alright, Yun. I appoint you as the mermaid priestess. In the future, my oracle shall descend upon you to guide all the mermaids." Elysia stretched out her hand, imprinting a soul mark onto Yun’s soul.

"With my body and soul, this servant shall obey all your teachings." Yun knelt down, receiving the blessings with great respect and reverence.

Once the matter was done, the warships and submarines were divided into two groups. One was led by Xentia, but guided by Dory, to pick up the mermaid revolutionary army, and the other one led by Luna to rescue some pitiful mermaids from the surrounding cities.

"Mama, then what about us?" Miko pointed to their small group as she was also included there. She knew that they would do something else.

"This deep-sea expedition is also everyone’s training arc. They will fight powerful enemies, take on the challenges of underwater combat, and uphold our justice. We will help when enemies above the 10th Rank interfere in their battle. Also, we need to visit someone down there." Elysia pointed in a particular direction.

"Underground monster? Will we conquer that monster to become the mermaid’s guardian beast?" Miko dropped her fist onto her open palm.

"It’s the local overlord in his deep slumber. The mermaids will be threatened if he is here. We will give him a good offer for his relocation. Mermaids will take over this region, and he will move to the better place in the new Artificial Hell." Elysia replied with a wink.

"O-oh~" Miko nodded in understanding.

"Everyone, the underwater battle will be challenging. Use this opportunity to hone your abilities to the best of your capabilities. This place is our camp. Return immediately in three days. Understand?" Elysia came forward in front of everyone, announcing the event’s start.

"Roger!" Everyone answered in unison.

They received the blessing and honor from their Goddess Master. They boarded the warships and submarines immediately, and then the two fleets went in different directions.

Elysia, Miko, Megami, Fortuna, Yuuki, and Amy remained in the empty camp, watching the two fleets move away. Zera and Ai were still in Elysia’s shadow, observing everything in tranquillity.

"Alright, they will give a distress signal if they find an enemy they can’t handle. Let’s greet the local overlord first." Elysia invited everyone and went to a spot right above the slumbering overlord.

Elysia made an underground hole easily and quickly. Everyone swam inside and arrived at a massive underground chamber near a non-active volcano.

It was a massive deep ocean volcanic worm. This overlord resembled Noir black-red magma color, and with a super long form with a mouth full of multi-layered spiraling razor-like teeth.

"This volcano used to be active, but this big boy absorbed it years ago. Is the dragon vein you mean this volcano inactive?" Fortuna crouched down to examine the volcanic soil.

"No, but a dragon vein nearby. I’ll activate that later. We need to awaken this big boy first." Elysia glanced at her divine avatar.

Megami replied with a subtle nod, then swam closer to the head of the massive volcanic worm.

*Bam*

Megami unleashed a gentle blow to the slumbering overlord’s head. The impact was small from the outside, but the resonance was huge inside. It could even cause shock to one’s spirit and soul.

*Boom!*

"Graa!" The slumbering overlord woke up, confused and angry because something had just disturbed his sleep.

<| 10th Rank | Volcanic Giant Worm | Muckga | Male (4,203) | HP: 15.1M / 15.1M | MP: 102K / 102K | SP: 21K / 21K |>

<| Talent: 5 Stars | Ultra Rare |>

Elysia measured the massive worm’s status screen but didn’t bother expanding it to the detailed statistics. She immediately cast a gentle halo-like magic above the angry worm’s head to calm him down.

"Pleased to meet you, Lord Muckga, the overlord of deep-sea volcanoes long buried by the ages. We do not mean to disturb your slumber, but this place no longer suits you. I offer you a good deal for your relocation to our realm." Elysia spread her arms wide for attention.

"..." Megami returned to Elysia’s side right away.

"???" Muckga had a lot of questions in his mind. Those tiny underwater humans knew his name and were strong enough to change his mood with just her words.

He then looked around. Like that underwater human said, his home volcanoes had dried up and were no longer suitable for him.

"What’s your offer, underwater human? But that doesn’t make sense. Does it bring benefits to you?" Muckga considered several things.

Those tiny creatures before him might be as big as one of his teeth, but his instincts screamed that any one of them could kill him.

"Yeah, we have several good overlords in our new realm. If you join us, we shall give you a territory as your new home. You just need to obey our rules, but worry not. We are reasonable and won’t force you to do something against your will. Let’s say it’s a mutual benefit."

"So, that’s your offer... It’s quite tempting, but I need to see the territory you promised."

"Then, please take a look and experience it yourself."

Elysia signalled Miko, and a realm portal immediately opened, sucking the massive volcanic worm into the Artificial Hell Realm.

"What do you want to do to that monster, my lady? Please don’t say you want to capture some overlord monsters and build an army of monsters." Amy scratched her head. She tried to understand what the Supreme Goddess was going to do.

"That sounds good. Let’s catch them all. The Artificial Hell Realm is vast and could become a pocket dimension for some good monsters." Elysia clapped her hands with Miko’s.

"Yup, our pocket monsters, pockemon!" Miko was excited to imagine their future super monster armies.

Elysia brought everyone out.

"Will it be okay..." Amy muttered as she stared at the dim sea that looked a bit eerie.

The underground chamber was completely buried with soil with Elysia’s magic. Then Miko blew a spirit whistle, emitting a special sound frequency to summon the nearby nature spirit.

*Plop*

A small water spirit popped out of nowhere. It spun and bounced as if dancing. It then landed on Miko’s palm.

"Hi, deep-sea spirit. You see, we encountered some sea monsters attacking the village on the eastern peninsula of the continent a few minutes ago. We want to find that sea monster tribe to discover why they attacked and kidnapped many people from the mainland. Can you help us to find them?" Miko greeted the deep-sea spirit. She stated her request and the deep-sea spirit saluted in reply.

The deep-sea spirit also paid its respect to the nearby Goddesses due to their pleasant divine spiritual aura. Then, it created an undercurrent to carry everyone away.

---

In a particular region in the ocean at a depth of a thousand meters below sea level, a location about fifteen kilometers from the peninsula, an underwater village was present among coral reef cliffs.

The coral reef houses were inhabited by several human-like sea monsters. At first glance, there was nothing wrong with them. Some male sea monsters were sharpening their hunting weapons, and the female ones were busy making dinner.

However, apart from some little fish and invertebrates, those monsters included humans on their dinner menu.

"..." Miko paled at that sight. She had already predicted the kidnapped humans would be eaten by those monsters. Still, it felt different when she saw it with her own eyes.

"That is the chain of life. All living creatures on this planet have the opportunity to attain a higher rank. Humans do not always hunt fish, but fish can also hunt humans for dinner. What would you do, my lady? They never offended you, right? Or do you want to do something for those dead humans?" Amy tried to measure Goddess Elysia’s fairness and point of view regarding this matter.

"Is that so? Yes, it’s just the difference between who is the predator and who is the prey. The strong eat the weak... Let’s leave." Elysia closed her eyes. She hugged Miko and turned around to leave.

"Hmm..." Amy felt somewhat strange. She guessed Goddess Elysia would be biased and do something because of those dead humans, but would they just leave like that?

However, Elysia suddenly opened the Artificial Hell Realm’s portal. It turned glassy, revealing the volcanic worm on the other side.

"Are you satisfied with your new territory, Lord Muckga?" Elysia asked.

"Whahaha! Yes, contract binder. I will gladly accept your offer. So, what are your instructions?" Muckga was unusually satisfied with his new territory. He swam in the sea of lava happily.

"You’ve been asleep for hundreds of years. Don’t you need to prepare anything? Your new territory doesn’t have any food yet. You need to look for some prey in the outside world first."

"Now that you say it... my stomach is incredibly empty. I need to find food reserves and livestock before cultivating my new territory." Muckga looked at his belly. He was so thin, and he had to fix that soon.

The other overlords in this realm were scary and powerful. His pride wouldn’t allow him to beg for some food, let alone fight them blindly. Thus, he had to secure his food stocks, resources, and many things before returning to his new home.

"Go and do what you need to do. Come back in three days. You’ll know where I am." Elysia took out the massive volcanic worm and stroked the deep-sea spirit. "Please speed up the current. Back to square one."

The deep-sea spirit saluted, and the undercurrent swiftly took everyone away from the vicinity.

*Boom!*

There was commotion and turmoil in the background, but no one looked back, except Amy.

"Why..." Amy wanted to say something, but she swallowed back her words.

She didn’t care about those fish’s fate but didn’t understand why the Supreme Goddess would let that monster out just for it.

The 10th Rank monster was sent out to forage for food, and those fishkins became prey instantly! Even the coral houses were eaten. It was the hungry massive overlord looking for food...

"I don’t know why you ask. It’s a seaworm looking for food. A stronger monster eats weaker monsters like a normal food chain in the wild. What else?" Fortuna shrugged her shoulders and sighed.