Chapter 414: The Chosen of the Deranged Goddess
Chapter 414: The Chosen of the Deranged Goddess
This fool was clearly lying. Someone had definitely ordered him to marry Ariel.
There was no other possibility. He didn't even know Ariel; why else would he intend to marry her?
Even now, Aiolos was still smearing Thanos's name. Would Thanos really need this kind of roundabout maneuvering to get Ariel married off? Whoever was behind this had chosen an absurdly clumsy approach, and throwing Thanos's name into it was a particularly low move.
Still, Ambrose didn't expose the lie. No point in making the fool defensive.
"Fine. Everyone has their secrets. I won't press."
Aiolos looked at him with profound gratitude. "Thank you. There are things I genuinely cannot talk about!"
Ambrose very much wanted to roll his non-existent eyes. The man had practically just admitted he'd been lying.
What kind of god sent a follower this unreliable?
Ambrose was starting to suspect Blobdilpulp, goddess of the kouto. Rumor had it that the goddess hadn't originally existed at all, that she had been collectively imagined into being by the kouto, and as a result had also absorbed the kouto's defining trait: chaotic, instinct-driven logic that could charitably be described as impulsive and uncharitably as deranged. Her methods were wild, her reasoning non-existent.
Ambrose wasn't simply speaking ill of her. Madness was literally one of her divine domains.
She really was a deranged goddess.
Blobdilpulp had publicly declared herself an ancient deity, the primordial god of all races dwelling in the deep ocean, keeper of ancient magical knowledge unknown even to the Goddess of Magic.
She had never, however, provided any details to support this claim, nor shared any of this purported knowledge with anyone. The general consensus was that she was simply talking out of thin air, as was her habit.
This fit Aiolos to perfection: he was dim and erratic, capable of lying with complete ease, and yet incapable of constructing a lie without holes in it.
Deranged or not, however, Blobdilpulp was a goddess of significant divine power, even stronger than Ambrose's former master at full strength. Creating a chosen with formidable control over seawater was well within her reach.
All signs pointed to Aiolos being the chosen of Blobdilpulp, goddess of the kouto fishfolk.
And this deranged goddess wanted to pick a fight with Thanos?
How did she dare attempt such a feat? Thanos was a greater divinity. One bolt of lightning from Thanos, and Blobdilpulp would be charred through to the bone.
Then again, she had a screw loose. That explained everything, actually.
A lunatic's actions required no further justification. Satisfied that he had figured out the situation, Ambrose turned back to Aiolos. "Anyway, since you want to find Ariel, we'll ask around as we go."
Aiolos's face lit up. "Really? That's wonderful. You've helped me so many times now. I genuinely don't know how to repay you."
Ambrose smiled. "We'll find a way eventually. No rush."
He sent a quick soul-link to Phil, who understood immediately and made himself scarce.
From that moment on, the Silent Sea Pirate Company reached a collective understanding: Ariel? Never heard of her.
The priority was to keep the fool trapped on the ship.
Aiolos didn't seem suspicious of Ambrose's motives whatsoever. He was already wandering around the ghost ship with open curiosity, as though he'd never encountered anything quite like it.
Ambrose used the opportunity to quietly assess Aiolos's abilities in full. Back when they first met, the man had claimed that, as long as the waves never ceased, he would not truly die. It hadn't been an empty boast. As long as the ocean churned with waves, he could regenerate indefinitely.
This ability made Catherine's moonlight invulnerability look modest by comparison.
But that was the nature of divine blessings—mortals, at their absolute ceiling, could only brush against what the gods could give.
A divine blessing operating in the material plane often produced something resembling a fundamental rule, an exception written into reality itself. Immunity was guaranteed as a matter of course.
As long as Catherine was illuminated by moonlight, even the Silvermoon Knight's strongest attack would leave no mark on her, not so much as a white impression on her skin.
Ambrose benefited from this kind of rule-bending himself. That gold coin of his, capable of converting the nature of things, was a form of reality modification too.
This was the true nature of divine power, real and absolute.
And the only thing that could counter it was divine power in return.
Only a god could strip Aiolos of his infinite regeneration, by revoking the blessing entirely or introducing some limiting condition in the effect.
In short, until some deity specifically moved against him, the man was genuinely unkillable. Even if Ambrose crushed his soul entirely, he would simply resurface somewhere in the ocean.
Aiolos was a complication. But in the right hands, he would be a devastating weapon.
Ambrose treated it like looking after a child, chatting and swapping stories with Aiolos as they traveled. The bond between them grew steadily. And by then, the Silent Sea Pirate Company had passed through shagin territory entirely and was drawing close to the domain of the mermaid goddess.
Aige sought Ambrose out to discuss her approach.
"Our goal is to negotiate with Ezdolo about lending us her faith. My own suggestion would be to not arrive with an entire armada. Ezdolo is a goddess of absolute neutrality, and she won't move against us unprovoked. The ixiray we killed along the way should make for a reasonable opening gift. The merfolk will receive us."
Ambrose agreed. Ezdolo had only one genuine enemy: Demogorgon. That made the ixiray, Demogorgon's devoted followers, sworn enemies of the merfolk.
The merfolk were accomplished in water magic, but in the open ocean, water magic was hardly a distinguishing trait. The real threat the ixiray posed was their venom. These creatures were cunning enough to cut themselves deliberately and use the ocean currents to carry their toxic blood into the merfolk's coral reef settlements below. There was almost no defense against that kind of poisoning.
The merfolk despised the ixiray for it, and Ambrose had been collecting ixiray bodies throughout the journey specifically for this purpose. As a pledge of goodwill, the gesture would carry real weight.
Aige agreed. They were there to seek cooperation, not to plunder. A peaceful approach was preferable.
And Aige alone was more than sufficient for this kind of meeting. Her ability to phase shift and move at will meant she could enter and exit freely under any circumstances. Bringing more people would only create complications.
With the plan decided, Ambrose left Aiolos aboard Phil's ship and had the Silent Sea Pirate Company hold position at the outer perimeter of merfolk territory, under orders not to advance until signaled.
Then Aige brought Ambrose to the nearest fishfolk settlement.
The worshippers of Ezdolo were merfolk and roca fishfolk, with the merfolk generally being sharper-minded. Every tribe was accordingly led by merfolk, with the roca playing something of a supporting role.
The moment Aige's enormous ghost ship came into view, a cluster of roca fishfolk took notice.
They were round-headed, blunt-toothed, and far more approachable-looking than the shagin, though the weapons in their hands were no less sharp for it. They trained them on Ambrose at the prow and called out in challenge.
"This is land under the blessing of the Dreamer of the Deep! Undead, begone! Undead, begone!"
For most living creatures, the undead were unwelcome at best. Ezdolo herself, as a goddess of absolute neutrality, held no particular bias against them, but the roca fishfolk were considerably less open-minded. They would probably stop short of attacking unprovoked, but wariness was another matter entirely.
Fortunately, Ambrose had come prepared. He produced several ixiray corpses, tossed them across, and said, "I represent the Silent Sea Pirate Company. I request an audience with the high priest of your tribe."
The ocean's peoples had no unified kingdoms. They were organized as tribes, and since only those tribes under divine protection could survive and grow, their governing structure was simple: the gods decided everything.
The priest who communed with the goddess was therefore the effective leader of the tribe, with no one able to challenge that authority.
Ambrose's plan was straightforward. He intended to find the merfolk high priest who could commune with Ezdolo, and open negotiations through them.
The situation with Aiolos made for a natural opening. Blobdilpulp's scheme against Thanos would be precisely the kind of development Ezdolo would want to know about. The deranged goddess stirring up trouble with the Lord of Storms was a recipe for chaos that threatened the stability of the whole ocean, and absolute neutrality was no protection against consequences like that.
The plan was good. The ixiray corpses worked as intended: the roca fishfolk accepted the gift with obvious pleasure, took the bodies, and disappeared into the vast coral thicket ahead. Before long, they returned with a tall merman warrior.
Merfolk were considerably better-looking than fishfolk. Their upper halves resembled humans, with well-defined muscle built from a lifetime of swimming.
This particular specimen was male, carrying a trident wound with fresh sea kelp, and handsome in a cold, reserved way—the kind of face that showed up in fairy tales specifically to deceive young women.
"Honored guests," he said, with measured courtesy. "I am Nephrys, priest of the Blue Algae Tribe. What brings you here?"
Nephrys's tone was polite enough, but his hand never left his trident. And he had not come alone. A dozen more roca fishfolk materialized around him. No encirclement, but they weren't standing down, either.
It wasn't a problem. Ambrose replied with equal courtesy, "The captain of the Silent Sea Pirate Company, Lady Aige, requests an audience with your high priest. We carry information of considerable importance that concerns the goddess Ezdolo."
"I see. I happen to be on good terms with the high priest. You're welcome to share whatever you know with me, and I can pass it along."
Ambrose gave a small smile. "That's a very convenient offer, Nephrys, but we've traveled a long way to deliver this in person. It would be a little strange to hand over information this significant, turn around, and ask nothing in return. We're undead, not charitable paladins."
Hearing that, Nephrys actually relaxed slightly. The Silent Sea Pirate Company's reputation was formidable enough that Nephrys was under no illusion about his tribe's chances against them. He had been braced for something far more alarming.
If the lich had said they were here out of pure goodwill, Nephrys wouldn't have believed a word of it. But delivering information in exchange for something was entirely consistent with how pirates operated. Believable, and even reassuring in its own way.
"In that case," Nephrys said, "please follow me."
He swept his trident in an arc. The coral thicket behind him parted, opening up a passage, as Nephrys led Ambrose into the world of the merfolk.