Murphy thought the most difficult part of communicating with the Deepsea Celestial Venerable had taken less than five minutes to resolve. The whole process had been surprisingly easy and pleasant, though mixed with a touch of inexplicable strangeness. But his extraordinary experiences today clearly weren't about to end so easily. As he left the Deepsea Divine Kingdom, he saw a mighty two-headed sea serpent covered in brilliant scales blocking his way.
A sea beast this enormous and imposing could only be Vikanos, the "Avenger," one of the Deepsea Celestial Venerable's two followers—and Maanis's former lover, whom he had seduced and abandoned.
The sea serpent coiled at the exit of the Deepsea Divine Kingdom, both imposing heads raised, all four eyes fixed on Murphy. The vampire felt a shiver of fear.
Mostly because he and Maanis were "best buddies," and the legendary Avenger was famous for holding a grudge. It was hard to say whether Vikanos might take out his anger over that bastard Maanis on Murphy with a single poisonous strike.
As it turned out, however, the Creator's Chosen did carry some weight.
Vikanos didn't attack. After staring at Murphy in silence for several dozen seconds, it bit a poisonous scale off its own brilliantly colored body with its two heads and tossed it to him. Then, without a word, it swam away with an elegant yet dangerous air.
Murphy stared at the shield-shaped scale in front of him, unable to figure out what Vikanos was up to. Even after being plucked off and tossed at his feet, the thing still shimmered with a purple glow.
It was obviously poisonous. Murphy didn't dare touch it.
"Don't be afraid! That's a gift the Celestial Venerable instructed us to give you."
As Murphy hesitated, old turtle Tritan's voice sounded beside him. Murphy