Metafiction (BL)

13. sea-rious business

A/N: I've got 3 writing events lined up for the rest of 2023 so expect updates to slow down while deal with those. Thanks for understanding~ XD Slowly shifting emperor away from the marriage market because *cough* turns out he already had his perfect match tailored for him elsewhere, hehe. But no worries, his own love story won't take center stage while Dan is the protagonist here.[/author]

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When the light finally faded, dead silence took its place. Dan squinted desperately before him, trying to make sense of what he saw. The monstrous eel he'd punched had shrunk to a third of its size, its tiny bladed tail now floating dazedly in the ocean current. Over half of its body was still stuck on the other side of the barrier, but it was prevented from escaping to either side by King Gravensleuth, who had repaired the cracks to a point where the creature was trapped in place. Even the black seawater on their side had dissipated to nothingness in the process.

His head whipped towards the king, who subconsciously leaned backwards before coughing up another cloud of bloody water between them. His expression was a mixture of belligerence and doubt.

Ignoring it, Dan just grabbed his shoulder instead so they could talk.

((Sorry about that. Let me heal you—))

((I'm fine for now. What did you end up doing to that creature?)) The Brogian king turned away to stare at the eel.

Maybe clearing up the sea had something to do with it, but Dan went back to re-evaluate his handiwork with a critical eye. ((Well, it...shrank, didn't it? Is its tail supposed to be sharp like that?))

((These are a special species of eel with bladed tails. They're common in these parts of the sea.))

((I see.))

((The mutated versions are much bigger. Did you reverse its transformation?))

((Did I?)) There was so much going on at the time that Dan had only punched out of instinct. Privately, he was glad it didn't give the eel a power-up instead. ((Wait, so it wasn't originally some sea monster?))

King Gravensleuth stared at him silently. ((Apparently not. Most of the monsters I've seen are just ridiculously oversized versions of regular sea creatures with higher aggression and more teeth. I've heard the powers of Light can purify, so perhaps...))

((Perhaps the Blessing of Light cured it, you mean?)) Dan finished the exclamation in his head. ((Then, what about the other ones?)) He looked eagerly beyond the wall and its murky denizens on the other side. Curiously, they had backed away to make a wary circle around the trapped eel, who was thrashing weakly in the wall. 

Dan grew thoughtful. ((If I could purify the others like this guy...))

((Don't bother. There's too many of them,)) the king cut him off. ((Even if you could, we still don't know the source of these sea monsters. Are you going to purify them indefinitely?))

((You say that when the last Saintess created an ice barrier the entire width of the coastline?)) If they were talking about excessive actions, the other Saintess definitely stood first in line!

((The ice barrier is made from the sea itself,)) the royal corrected him. ((It can maintain its form as long as one replenishes its mana regularly. That's far less work than purifying the monsters one by one. Moreover, many of the monsters rarely head south, and mainly focus their attacks on Brog's shores as long as I keep them occupied.)) In essence, the king made himself a living target to keep the creatures at bay.

Not for the first time, Dan wondered why these creatures invaded their waters every year. The weather was too warm to consider it a winter migration, but it wasn't like they were here to mate, either. According to the books he'd picked up on the subject from the temple library, they only wrecked havoc with the local sea life and attacked ships when left unchecked, not hesitating to maim or devour the unlucky humans that fell into their clutches.