Inside the sleeping hall, Black Horn Luo lay on a half-collapsed bed. Not far away lay the dying Shadow Dive, partially transformed into a shadow, black smoke drifting from his entire body.
Both Luo and Shadow Dive had once been the Sea God's trusted aides. As combat-oriented subordinates, the Sea God had left behind means of controlling them.
After Luo pledged himself to Conrad, Conrad paid a tremendous price to remove the 'Drowning Soul Seal' from his body. Unfortunately, the Sea God had kept one card up his sleeve. Besides the 'Drowning Soul Seal,' which brought swift death, Luo also had a 'Life Soul Seal' that would erupt after a delay.
Luo was dead. As for Shadow Dive nearby, he had remained hidden within the Sea God all this time. He had never had a chance to remove either the 'Drowning Soul Seal' or the 'Life Soul Seal,' yet he had still chosen to stand with Conrad.
"Fur, are you all right?"
Conrad crouched beside Shadow Dive and picked up one of his semitransparent hands, within which black strands of smoke swirled.
"Conrad, we succeeded..."
Shadow Dive smiled. He had met Conrad when he was twelve. At the time, he had fought Conrad, who was sixteen, beaten him up, and even thrown his shoes into the river.
Fourteen years had passed in the blink of an eye. Of the comrades who had once decided together to overthrow theocracy, only he and Conrad were still alive.
"Yes, we succeeded. But we failed to overthrow theocracy."
Conrad lowered his head and looked at Shadow Dive. Sea-blue light appeared in his eyes, vast and mysterious like the ocean.
"In the end, we became the evil dragons people feared, too. Shadow Dive, we were too naïve back then. We thought heroes could slay evil