Julian Solo, who had been sitting blank‑eyed on the throne, suddenly changed from his vacant, dazed state. A terrifying light flashed in his eyes.
"Please forgive me, Your Majesty Poseidon!" Sorrento stammered in terror, drenched in cold sweat.
Julian did not press too hard. He soon closed his eyes again. "Enough. In light of your years of loyal service, I will absolve you of guilt."
"If you are in such a panic, what exactly has happened?"
Only then did Sorrento remember his purpose and hurriedly said, "Your Majesty… the Sea Dragon—no, Kanon—that wretch is a traitor. He is Athena's Saint, an undercover agent planted in the sea realm."
"Oh?" Julian paused for a moment in thought with his eyes still closed. "I understand."
Julian remained calm and unhurried, but Sorrento was truly anxious. He was one of the few Sea Generals genuinely concerned for the Sea Emperor's safety. "Your Majesty, aside from myself, there is only one other Sea General left—Chrysaor, gravely injured and missing. All the other Sea Generals have been eliminated by the Saints who invaded the sea realm with Athena. Right now Athena is personally leading her Saints toward Your Majesty's location. I beg Your Majesty to…"
"Let them come. What can a few Saints do to me?" Julian opened his eyes and cut him off. To him, this was only natural.
"Th‑this…" Sorrento was at a loss for words. Of course—Poseidon was a great god on the same level as Athena. Even if he had not fully awakened, there was no need for him to fear a few mere Saints.
No matter how powerful those Saints might be, the gap between man and god was far from small.
Between them yawned an unbridgeable gulf.
Perhaps only in humanity's long‑vanished Golden Age had there been humans who could stand shoulder to shoulder with gods.
But that sort of human had long since vanished in the river of history.
"In that case, we'll wait for them here. It has been some time since I last saw Athena." With that, Julian closed his eyes again.
He entered a state of quiet meditation.
This was the critical moment of Poseidon's awakening. He would not easily leave, and the Undersea Temple was his domain.
Strictly speaking, in terms of seniority, Athena was still his niece.
"Sorrento, His Majesty is right. They're just a few Saints. We Sea Generals have never feared death." A man of somewhat pale face but dark skin stepped out from the shadows, holding a brilliant golden spear.
A pale‑skinned black man… cough, so what color was his face supposed to be?
Seeing him, Sorrento exclaimed in joy, "Chrysaor, you're alive? The Sea Dragon—no, Kanon—that wretch said you'd been gravely wounded!"
"That traitor may have ambushed me, but my chakra barrier isn't so easily broken. Damn that traitor—if I hadn't been caught off guard, how could he have hurt me?" Chrysaor roared. Even a stoic ascetic like him had his features twisted with fury. What exactly had Kanon done?
"Oh? So you're saying a demi‑god like me couldn't hurt you, not even a little? How about you come out here and we go another round?" A cocky, thuggish voice rang in their ears.
With blue hair, a Cosmo overflowing with aggression, and a gorgeous battle suit on his body, Kanon made a flashy entrance.
He had already shed his former Sea General Scale and was now clad in a crystal battle armor custom‑made for him by Meruem.
Its appearance was seven or eight parts similar to the Gemini Cloth.
Kanon looked at Chrysaor with naked provocation. Chrysaor glared back but didn't dare recklessly charge forward.
"The so‑called Sea Emperor's son is nothing but a timid coward, all bark and no bite," Kanon taunted when Chrysaor refused to rise to his bait. Although disappointed, he continued to press the advantage.
Before Chrysaor could answer, Kanon finally drew Poseidon's attention. "So you're the human who dared deceive me? Impressive. But do you have any idea what kind of sin it is to deceive a god?"
An overwhelming Cosmo burst from Poseidon's body, nearly forcing Kanon to his knees.
Divine power was never something humans could compare with—especially not that of a top‑tier god like Poseidon. Even Kanon, who called himself a "demi‑god," could not withstand the Sea Emperor's pressure.
"As expected of Poseidon…" Kanon gritted his teeth and endured with difficulty. The Sea Emperor's strength exceeded his expectations. He had not thought that even a not‑yet fully awakened god would be this far beyond a top Saint's ability to gauge.
"How impressive, Sea Emperor Poseidon." A different, equally mighty and irresistible Cosmo flared up, cancelling out Poseidon's oppressive aura entirely.
"Who's there?" Julian's eyes snapped wide open, his pupils shrinking sharply. This Cosmo was one he had never sensed before, but from its sheer magnitude, it had to at least be at the level of a god.
Yet… besides himself and Athena, what other god could be in the Undersea Temple?
"Hahaha, Kanon—what a rare sight, seeing you in such a sorry state." A teasing voice sounded as Meruem and Saori led the Saints into the chamber of the central Black Pillar.
"Lord Meruem…" Kanon actually flushed at the teasing, an expression rarely seen on his face.
"Hmph." Seeing that the other man ignored him and instead went straight to that Saint who had dared deceive him, Poseidon's displeasure grew. He surged his Cosmo again, sending it crashing down toward Meruem and the others, intending to teach them a lesson. But he seemed to have forgotten that standing right there was another god as strong as he was—Athena.
Even without Athena, his plan would have failed. The strange Cosmo flowing from Meruem's body also rose in turn, cancelling out Poseidon's pressure once more.
This time, Poseidon had already unleashed ninety percent of his Cosmo. In raw quantity, even in his unawakened state, he was in no way inferior to an ordinary Second‑tier God.
The reason this man felt so different was that Meruem was using "Source." Though it was still fundamentally Cosmo, the Source applied in more mysterious ways. In essence, though, they were similar.
Poseidon was certain: the stranger before him was definitely not any god he knew.
"Who exactly are you?" Poseidon asked coldly.
"Just Athena's humble guardian, nothing more," Meruem said with a shrug, then even glanced at Saori with a playful waggle of his brows.
Only to earn a massive eye‑roll in return.
"So arrogant. Athena, have you no dignity left as a great god? Or will you shelter these blasphemers?"
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