Primordial Villain with a Slave Harem

Chapter 1948: Battling Underwater

"Aye," Brokk admitted, her hands resting in her belt as she watched them.

The thought brought some comfort to those remaining on the sand. They had entrusted their peoples to this man, and he was spending the afternoon sharing his impossible new freedom with their families.

"Aunt Lilith, not fair!!" Felicity was jumping beside her father. "Dad! We have to go too!"

"I heard you the first time, Felicity. Give me a moment to take my boots off."

"Feng! He said yes!!"

"Only little girls wait for their dads!" Feng had picked up a board.

"Rude!!" Felicity shrieked, rushing after the oriental girl from another world.

Alexios left his boots and coat on the sand, then followed the girls into the water with a board under his arm.

Felicity climbed onto Feng’s board and grabbed her shoulders. Feng used her Tidebreaker magic to redirect the incoming current beneath the wood, nudging its nose toward the next wave.

"Left! Let’s go left!"

"Then stop leaning right! Wait, why are you on my board to begin with?"

"Why not? Hehe!"

Quinlan eased them onto a gentle wave, and Alexios followed on his own board. The old geezer seemed to have gotten into the mood, for Quinlan knew he normally never would’ve partaken in such a silly act.

But bringing down the Heavenly Restriction? For a man who spent a millennium under its oppression?

It deserved a proper celebration.

’What a cool dad.’ Quinlan grinned inwardly, fully approving.

"Father!" Kitsara called to Vargis. "Don’t let the other dads outshine you."

"Yes, darling..." Vargis sighed tiredly, resigned to his fate of wet fur. "I’m coming."

Vargis carried a board down to Kitsara, who clasped his hand as he stepped aboard. Rosie grew a broader one for Gorruk from the roots in the sand, and the other lords followed them into the surf.

When the bearkin got moving, Skarn and Rajah were racing.

Brokk left her formal coat beside Alexios’s boots and joined them with the Obsidian Circle. Maelstrom lingered in the shallows to help the Mediator onto his board.

"Just hold it still," the old man said, gripping the general’s shoulder. "For a moment, just..."

Quinlan steadied the wood with his magic. The Mediator got his feet under him, stared down at the water passing beneath the board, and began to laugh through the tears in his beard.

Myrasyn chose a board and waded out after the others, holding her white dress above the water. She stepped onto it just as Black Fang sped past her on a rising wave.

"Wait for me!"

The Venomborne Terror glanced back at her friend. Myrasyn leaned forward to follow, her ears lifting as her board picked up speed.

"Oh! I think I’ve-"

Its nose dug into the next swell, and the governor pitched headfirst into the sea.

"Kyaa!"

*Splash!*

Myrasyn surfaced with wet strands plastered across her face, blinking away seawater. "I spent my entire morning on my hair..."

Quinlan smirked as he drew the water from Myrasyn’s dress, then from her dripping strands. She gave him a mortified look before climbing back onto her board, determined to follow Black Fang on her next attempt.

His submerged net tugged for his attention, reporting movement along its outer curtain. Quinlan checked each disturbance, then sent the next swell toward the people calling his name.

"Papa! Everybody’s coming!"

Rosie was ecstatic.

Quinlan peered up at his daughter. Rosie hugged his head and cheered for her mommies, oblivious to her father’s gaze.

He held her legs closer and allowed himself to enjoy what they had done for these people.

...

Quinlan felt his outer curtain bend around a long, heavy body approaching from below the shelf.

He faced the disturbance at once. The inner curtain remained undisturbed, and he guided the waves beneath the surfers back toward the shallows before the creature could reach them.

"Something’s rising from deeper water," he called. "Stay nearer the beach while I take a look."

"Daddy, Rosie will-"

"-take a break." Quinlan finished the sentence for her, taking the girl off his shoulders, then flinging her toward the shore with a gust of wind.

"Eh?"

His daughter had the look of utter betrayal.

"Ehhhhh???"

She folded her arms and crossed her legs in midair, pouting furiously at him as she sailed over the waves.

Rosie grew a thick branch from the sand and curled its leafy tip beneath herself. It bowed under her landing, then lifted her into a seat overlooking the water.

"Hmph!"

"> Ayame was already turning toward the others. <We’ll keep them here.>

But Black Fang was heading in the opposite direction of the shore, listening with her head angled toward the deeper water.

Quinlan eased his board beside hers and peered down. The pale seabed ended below them, dropping into blue, and a huge serpent was rising along the drop.

He pressed a current against its flank, turning it away from the swimming area. The beast fought the pull, its body bending around the resistance, and Quinlan increased the pressure until he could force it back below the shelf.

It was strong, incredibly so, but not enough to overpower Quinlan. He felt the force of its muscles against his magic as it twisted free, then searched the neighboring water for anything following behind it.

The serpent was alone.

When Quinlan looked back at Black Fang, she was regarding him with a hunger he knew very well.

She wanted to kill it.

Quinlan checked the currents between the serpent and his family once more. Then he grinned at her.

"Let’s do this."

Black Fang was already in action. She filled her lungs and dived off her board.

He drove a current after her, catching her straightened body and sending her hurtling down through the water with a trail of white bubbles behind her.

"Oh no, Master is going full psycho mode." Vex shook her head.

"It was bound to happen," Ayame sighed. "I’m honestly shocked she held back until now."

Synchra flowed up Quinlan’s legs as he stepped off her board form. Her plates smoothed against his body, sealing at the joints until the sea slid over an unbroken black surface.

Quinlan used his wind magic to pack fresh air around his head.

The helmet closed over the trapped air, and he dived. Synchra flattened the ridges along his limbs as he accelerated, letting him cut through the water with his arms held close.

He caught the Soul Reaper as it dived after him and sent a current down his back to catch up with Black Fang.

...

Quinlan reached Black Fang as she unsheathed her serpent-patterned blade. Dark venom welled along its edge, shedding black threads into the sea.

He curled a narrow current around the steel, holding her leaking poison against the blade as she aimed it at the serpent’s eye.

The beast rose to meet them, blue-black plates grinding together along a body longer than a river barge. Jagged spines lined its back, and its open mouth was big enough to swallow either of them whole.

"Sashimi time." Quinlan grinned inside his helmet.

Black Fang lunged. He swept toward the opposite side of its head with the Soul Reaper held high, driving water against its flank to angle it toward her.

The creature’s gills flared, releasing a pressure wave.

*BOOM!*

The pressure hit Quinlan hard enough to crush the breath out of him. Synchra braced his ribs as he tumbled backward, pain ringing through his chest beneath the sealed plate.

"Ngh!"