Level 1 to Infinity: My Bloodline Is the Ultimate Cheat - Chapter 653

Chapter 653: The Sacred Emissary Who Refused the Title

Ethan had also realized that the Merfolk weren’t a species limited to those strange squeaking sounds.

In fact, the voices of the pure-blooded Merfolk were remarkably melodic—soft, flowing tones that seemed to ripple through the water like music.

He noticed something else as well. All the soldiers in the Merfolk army were female, while the guards stationed around the palace were male. It was clearly a society where men tended to the home and women commanded the world beyond it.

The four Merfolk they had first encountered, and the countless others who had surrounded them upon entering the city, were a different case entirely. Those ones communicated only with those squeaking noises.

The Third Princess had served as their interpreter, explaining that those Merfolk were of mixed blood—the Battle-Thralls, the result of generations of intermarriage between the Merfolk and other sea tribes.

Ethan listened and nodded, beginning to understand.

So, he thought, these are the dull offspring of crossbreeding between species.

Even so, he couldn’t help but admit that Merfolk genes were incredibly dominant. Any female Merfolk, no matter what creature she mated with, would always give birth to a child that looked unmistakably Merfolk.

Humans were the sole exception, the Third Princess had added.

By that logic, Ethan mused, the human gene must be the most powerful of all.

“Squeak-squeak… Report! The twelve-tribe coalition is now twenty miles from the city!”

As the Merfolk army gathered, a scout rushed in with the news.

Ethan’s senses were heavily suppressed underwater. Inside the City of the Whale Fall, he could still perceive things clearly enough, but out in open waters, his awareness was sharply limited. He hadn’t even detected the enemy twenty miles away.

Still, earlier scouts had warned them that the twelve sea tribes were advancing toward the city. They were demanding that the Merfolk hand over the few humans who had recently arrived—the same ones the Dragon of Consumption had devoured the vanguard of—or else they would flatten the City of the Whale Fall.

Ethan understood immediately that this was still about him.

When he asked, the Third Princess explained that the real cause lay with the Merfolk he had disciplined earlier. The mothers of those twelve youths were women from a collateral branch of the royal family who had married the leaders of the twelve sea tribes.

Because they carried traces of the royal bloodline, they had been granted positions of honor—Elite Royal Guards—after proving their strength upon entering the city.

There were thirty-two Elite Royal Guards in total, and those twelve were among them. But because their fathers were the sea tribe leaders, they had grown arrogant within the city walls. They behaved properly only before the true royal family, and bullied nearly every other Merfolk beneath them.

“Such spoiled brats. I should have crushed them when I had the chance,” Ethan said flatly, his tone calm, as if he were discussing the swatting of an insect.

The Third Princess’s eyes flickered. She could feel the cold, genuine intent behind his words.

It wasn’t a bluff. His heartbeat hadn’t even changed. He spoke with such chilling normalcy that a faint tremor passed through her.

At that moment, she knew—the twelve sea tribes were doomed.

Given the decree carved into the Sacred Bone by the Merfolk Sovereign, if Ethan were to order the extermination of those tribes now, her father would send the troops without hesitation.

The thought of such a war darkened her expression. The sea tribes were powerful, and an all-out conflict would bring devastating losses to the Merfolk. The idea of her people dying like that filled her with real sorrow.

“By the way,” Ethan said, turning his gaze back to her, “you mentioned that you let Lyla and Astrid go, which is how they were captured. Why did you let them go in the first place?”

The Third Princess hesitated before answering. “My brother told me that even if it was the will of the Merfolk Sovereign, it was still wrong to bring people here by force. I thought about it, and he was right. When I saw those two women, even though they were free to move about and not truly imprisoned…”

She didn’t finish her sentence, but Ethan understood perfectly.

Every day, those two women would gaze upward, toward the shimmering surface of the sea.

“I never spoke to them,” the Third Princess continued softly, “but I could tell. They were longing for something. I can’t say I understand a woman’s heart, but… seeing them like that made me feel uneasy. So, one day, I took a chance. Behind Father’s back, I asked the Old Sea Turtle to take them away in secret.”

Her voice faltered. “But… the Old Sea Turtle never returned. When I went to look for him, I found only his shell. He’d been killed by the Megalodon Clan.”

She said it with complete openness, tilting her head slightly, her expression as innocent as ever.

“Your brother told you all this?” Ethan asked, frowning.

“Yes. My brother is wonderful. He cares for our people as though they were his own children, and he’s always been kind to my second sister and me. I don’t know why, but Father seems to dislike him very much…” The confusion in her eyes seemed genuine.

Ethan watched her carefully, his instincts sharpening. The golden-haired Merfolk Prince she spoke of… sounded like a manipulative schemer.

He had a feeling that whatever had happened to Lyla was tied directly to that prince. The Third Princess had likely been nothing more than a pawn.

If that was the case, Ethan thought dryly, he wouldn’t mind helping the Merfolk King reroll for a better heir.

A deep voice suddenly rolled through the waters, shaking the city itself.

“Move out!”

The command echoed from every coral wall and shell-covered archway of the City of the Whale Fall. The Merfolk King’s body might have been small, but his voice carried the weight of an entire ocean.

In an instant, Ethan saw the city transform. The army was fully assembled—an entire host of Merfolk warriors clad in armor, each holding a trident that glimmered faintly in the deep-blue light. The artisans and laborers who had filled the streets moments ago were gone, replaced by soldiers ready for war.

Even the wide plazas felt strangely hollow now, emptied of life except for the tide of armored figures. Massive sea turtles and other colossal creatures floated among them, carrying strange, shell-shaped siege weapons—giant conches engraved with glowing runes.

Ethan blinked, trying not to smirk. He could only hope those conches weren’t meant to serenade the enemy to death.

“Sacred Emissary, shall we proceed together?”

The Merfolk King drifted toward him, bypassing the front lines with a calm, almost playful air.

Ethan froze. Sacred Emissary?

His face darkened immediately. “Your Majesty, please just call me by my name. Don’t call me that.” He grimaced. ‘It sounds awful.’

The Third Princess tried—and failed—to suppress a laugh, covering her mouth as her eyes sparkled.

Ethan shot her a look that said I know you heard that in my head.

“Haha!” The King’s laughter rippled through the water. “Then how about a more human title? I shall call you my Great Nephew. How does that sound?”

For a moment, the entire court fell silent. The Third Princess blinked in shock.

Ethan’s expression twisted slightly. This old man… is he seriously trying to claim seniority?

Technically, given the King’s ancient age, it wasn’t unreasonable. But the sly glint in his eye made Ethan certain the old fish was doing it on purpose.

Seeing Ethan’s silence, the King simply laughed again.

He extended a tiny, clawed hand—barely larger than a bird’s foot—and caught hold of Ethan’s sleeve.

“Come then, Great Nephew! Let’s go watch the battle. Ah, and this is my third daughter, Star! You two should spend more time together.”

Before Ethan could react, the King grabbed Star with his other hand.

In the next instant, an immense power surged from the old man’s palm, a force completely at odds with his small, fragile-looking body.

Ethan barely had time to resist before he was pulled forward through the water, dragged helplessly along by a creature the size of a coconut.