Chapter 38: Threat From The Deep

The gang booked a hotel first and they started looking around the festival.

They met up with Emperor and his entourage again so everybody could catch up together and tour the city leisurely.

Ash was full on tourist mode, already wearing a hat. Khaki shorts and a flower printed shirt. "Hmmm, I feel like I'm in Hawaii or something. Come to think of it, I did want to take a vacation there and observe the volcanoes."

He reminisced about his not so pleasant previous life that was only research and labs.

With a map on hand, the girls were looking at the side and they were thinking of where to go.

"We just checked in from Herman hotel, so where do you guys wanna go?" He asked them with a smile.

"Oooh! Let's go and find a place for my films!" Nian was excited to make a film at Siesta because it looked like a tropical paradise. Unlike the deserts everywhere that is filled with gigantic originium crystals.

"Nian, we already told you. You won't be the director, you'll be an actor or a special effects person or something." Kjera sighed.

"Un, Nian's movies suck." Narcissa agreed and Nian flinched.

"So I'm just going to be a prop now? You ungrateful fiends." She started mumbling about she was the number one factory of Paradiso now.

"Shh, how about you Narcissa? Have any place you're interested in?" Ash patted her head and she took a look at the map.

"Here." She pointed at the Garrison amusement park. Narcissa read about amusement parks once, so she wanted to go.

"Okay, bring Alastor and Astaroth with you. Don't kill anybody alright~" He called for them and they went to the amusement park while carrying a wad of LMD.

Fearlessly, they went ahead and displayed their millions in cash on hand. Not like anyone can do anything if they tried to mug them anyways.

"Kay wants to go here! There's stalls there! I read that there's food there!" Ceobe wanted to go to the Civic square.

"Is food all in your head missy?" Degenbrecher smiled wryly and Ceobe started drooling.

"There's beer stalls and rock parties there right about now. Doesn't the former tickle your fancy?" Margaret chuckled and Degenbrecher blinked at that.

"Let's go! A cold one for the girls is the best in this heat!" Degenbrecher pulled Ash and so the entourage followed.

When they arrived, Ceobe immediately went to the food stalls. But she didn't have cash on hand because she would just waste it or get tricked.

"Hah? You don't have any money? Piss off then!" The stall owner for some squid yelled at Ceobe.

"Muuu! My master is rich! He'll buy me lots! Ash! This bad guy isn't selling me any food!" Ceobe sulked and she was subconsciously emitting flames on her.

Ash sighed and he walked up to the stall owner. He took a wad of cash and smacked him on the face. "Give her everything she wants mongrel. Be honored to serve an emperor."

Lappland saw it and something tingled in her insides. "Ahhh~ Ash, can I have some more money? I think I want to do that." She was blushing a bit.

He gave her another wad of cash and she slapped the stall owner with it too. "C-can I do it again? Just one more time?" She looked at Ash.

"Damnit! Ash you better stop her, she's awakening something." Texas shivered. Margaret and Degenbrecher pulled her over to the side so she won't do anything funny.

They got some skewered squid without any more hassle. Ash and Ceobe competed at eating as much food as possible and tons of food were floating beside him while he ate them one by one.

"Ash is cheating! Kay wants to do that too!" Ceobe imagined all the food just levitating towards her like an assembly line.

"Then practice your arts Kay." Margaret chided her and she was as strict as ever.

"Come on, Cellinia. Say ahhh~" Ash gave pointed a chocolate covered churro to her mouth and she bit it deliciously. Curious about what it tastes like because it was similar to her Pocky.

"Ahhh! Me too! Me too!" Ceobe bit on his flying food and she was truly blessed as a foodie.

"Ahhh, are they like that? I don't know if I'll be jealous or not. And who will I be jealous of?" Sora was in a dilemma.

She admired both of them and wasn't sure who to be jealous of.

"Hey, hey, Ash. Can I have some capital, I have a pretty good idea for a business." Croissant tried to get permission for her to use the LMD he gave them for her small businesses.

"Sure, use it all up. Here's an extra for luck." He gave her a bar of originite prime which was several times more expensive than gold. It was her salary for several years.

"Ash, you're spoiling Croissant." Texas sighed and he shrugged. "It's just collecting dust anyway Cellinia. Don't be such a worrywart. Besides, Croissant might turn into a business partner."

But while they were enjoying the festivities and stalls. Both Nian and Kjera suddenly froze. "What's the problem guys?" Ash squinted his eyes.

"You can't locate them just yet... But there are Feranmuts here. Four of them." Kjera frowned and Ash's eyes widened.

"Quickly, patrol the surroundings and put this place on soft lockdown." Ash ordered and the operators quickly surrounded the area.

Ash went with Kjera and Nian to where the Feranmuts were and they found them at a preparation room for the bands and musicians.

"Sorry sir, Alive Until Sunset are not seeing fans right now." A guard stopped them.

"I'm a performer too, Asmodeus Naumann. Call them here, they'll know me." Ash used his fame in music and the guard asked the band members.

"What are they doing here? This is going to be troublesome. Kjera, prepare for battle. They might be feisty." Nian formed a massive sword to her side and a metal shield.

The blue stones of Kjera appeared and they were going to have to take the Feranmuts to the volcano or ocean if they don't want massive collateral damage.

"Ahhh, we didn't know that Asmodeus is a fan of ours..." A pink haired girl appeared and she immediately knew that Kjera and Nian are much older Feranmuts. (pic)

"W-what brings you here madames and sirs?" She immediately got nervous because they were pretty young. And the aura of the three of them were intense.

"Nian, Kjera, slack. It seems they're not hostile." Ash raised his hand and they slowly relaxed.

"You, what's your name?" Ash asked her and she sighed in relief. "I'm Aya, don't pick a fight with us please. We're just young Feranmuts from Aegir." She bowed deeply.

"It's alright, you're not a threat. Aya huh? Where's Aegir located? You feel like... The ocean?" Ash tried to get a feel on her.

"Aya, what's the matter?" A platinum blonde appeared and was yawning. She then got into a defensive stance after seeing Nian and Kjera. (pic)

"Alty! Calm down, they're older than us... Except him, they're friendly." Aya sighed and didn't at all expect that there would be others like them in Siesta at the obsidian festival.

"Call Dan and Frost, this might be their territory. We have to talk to them for permission." Aya ordered and they were invited inside the back room.

A blue skinned blonde and a woman with long black hair and green highlights welcomed them. (pic)

"The blonde is Dan, the one in glasses is Frost. Say, uh... Is this your territory perhaps? Sorry, we didn't know." Aya got nervous and they can't really retaliate against them.

"No, it's fine. Our territory is further east at Leithanien and Kazimierz. We were just having a vacation. So, can you tell us more about Aegir and why you left?" Ash sighed.

"Ohh, that's a relief." Aya put a hand on her chest and sighed. "I thought you guys were here to kill us or something. With that girl carrying a huge ass sword." Alty pointed at Nian.

"Well, you are Feranmuts. I've never encountered one outside Yan." Nian shrugged.

"We're from Aegir you see, it's a nation far east of here. Away from the mainland of Terra. It's under the deep ocean near Iberia." Dan explained.

"Ohh, so what's the reason you guys escaped?" Ash thought that Feranmuts were more like Kjera. Quite reclusive and didn't want any attention. Nian is a special case, even her sisters are shut ins.

"I'll get to that... A few years ago, the seaborne started to get really active for some reason. And our habitat got encroached by them." Frost fixed her glasses and winced.

"Seaborne? Aren't those guys just underwater monsters?" Ash raised a brow and they all collectively shook their heads.

"They aren't like that at all. Those guys are highly adaptable freaks that are silently waiting to invade the land." Frost furrowed her brows.

"What? An invasion?" Ash rubbed his chin and thought about it immediately. If they can drive Feranmuts from the ocean to land, they're a massive threat for sure. Even if he didn't know how strong the four are.

"Yes, we're pretty young so we don't really know how to use our powers that well. And they're really aggressive. A couple of Aegirian cities already fell to them." Aya expounded and the trio frowned.

"So there is a threat at the far east too? Isn't this a bit too much? Terra's mainland is already almost at a breaking point of world war." Kjera sighed.

"Frost here can control a small amount of them, but there are millions, even billions of those things in the deep." Alty squinted her eyes.

"That much? What does the Aegirians do about them?" Ash furrowed his brows.

"They created the abyssal hunters. Aegirians that are genetically modified with seaborne blood. Half and half basically. Monstrous warriors of the deep. Though there are only a few of them left." Alty knew about how they were made.

"Abyssal hunters? What do they look like?" Ash was interested and thought that he needs to up the ante.

"They have white hair and red eyes. There are things down there that are really dangerous, the behemoths. They managed to kill one, Ishar-mla. But the Seaborne are still active." Alty sighed.

"Ishar-mla? Does it control the Seaborne?" He clicked his tongue and thought that they were unstoppable on land. But there are things out there like that.

"They're a hive mind. They killed Ishar-mla, but it doesn't truly die until the Seaborne are still there." Aya explained and they were shocked.

"Do you know when it will encroach the mainland?" Ash wanted to make fortesses at the east.

"A few years at most. The abyssal hunters are wiped out too. There's at most a few if we're correct." Dan shrugged.

"Wait a minute, white hair and red eyes... I have a subordinate like that. She uses a giant buzz saw?" Ash wondered if they knew her.

"A part of squad two. Her name is Laurentina if I'm right?" Frost tried to remember.

"So she's an abyssal hunter... Though she's in pretty bad shape right now." Ash sighed and thought it was a waste, Specter would definitely have tons of info.

They went quiet for a moment and Ash stood up. "What are you gonna do for now?" He thought that an alliance with them would be good.

"We went here to land in order to avoid them. And it's pretty enjoyable here. So roam around and collect information about the situation at the deep?" Alty thought of their next move.

"Then have this, you can contact us if you're somewhere near Ursus, Kjerag, or Kazdel. Thanks for the information, I'll fortify the east later." Ash gave them phones and chargers.

"Thank you about this, but are you sure? I thought you're a businessman." Aya was expecting him to expect some kind of payment.

"Not really, I just did business for capital. I'm gonna turn Terra upside down. If you see or know any of the Abyssal hunters, tell them that they should go to Paradiso." Ash requested and left.

"So... What are we gonna do next?" Nian didn't know what should be prioritized.

"We continue what we do. And Nian, create as many bullets as you can. We will have to prepare for an unprecedented war." Ash massaged his temples.

"Ash, calm down. We have time, we're on vacation. Let's enjoy Siesta for now, you'll just stress yourself out." Kjera put a hand on his cheek and he felt her cold palm.

"You're right... I guess we should just enjoy the festival for now." He sighed and they called back their operators.

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Thanks for reading everyone. Big thanks to LoL_DxD for the swimsuits too, honestly I was too lazy to try and find them lmao.

And bow down to my super gacha luck peasants! What color is your Texas Alter and Penance? Muahahaha!