I am the Sea God

Actually, Rhode and Lilia had gone back to the Farm to rest first.

Oh, and Lilia's pet, Bumpelba, had come along too.

There was no rush to take the little Murloc home. No need to go when it was pitch-black everywhere.

Of course, after a night's sleep, Rhode rather regretted that decision. He really ought to send Bumpelba back to the Murlocs as soon as possible!

The little fellow was terrifying when he slept!

He didn't even lie down, and those two huge, bulging eyes seemed to stay open all night! How could he sleep like that?

In the moonlight streaming through the window, a bleary-eyed Rhode had suddenly spotted two enormous light bulbs that even seemed to be moving. The fright had jolted him wide awake.

So, first thing the next morning, Rhode grabbed Lilia and took Bumpelba to the beach.

The location was a little different from the game. The Murloc village was quite a long walk along the beach, even farther away than the Jade Mine.

It made sense, really. That was a game, after all. If the Murlocs lived right beside Southshore's docks, wouldn't there be fights every day?

With a little more distance between them, they could leave each other in peace most of the time.

But when Rhode followed Bumpelba to the Murloc settlement, he immediately came upon a brawl.

Was this some kind of civil war?

Group after group of Murlocs were engaged in "fierce" combat!

There had to be hundreds of them. The sight was truly...

Truly hilarious.

Hilarious?

Yes, hilarious.

Murloc combat upheld their time-honored, admirable tradition of "fight if you can win, run if you can't."

When two encountered one, the lone Murloc turned and ran, then found two companions, making it three against two.

Then it was the pair's turn to run and find reinforcements. Once they had more numbers, they promptly turned around to strike back. No, to chase back.

You chased, I ran. I chased, you ran again.

And so this brawl involving hundreds of Murlocs on the beach looked more like a massive game of hide-and-seek.

Besides, Murlocs looked particularly comical when they ran. Despite their two stubby little legs, they scurried faster than rabbits, crying "Wulalalalala!" as they went.

Watching them left Rhode feeling rather pained.

Still, he could more or less tell that the Murlocs in this brawl were divided into two factions.

On either side of the beach stood a jutting rock, each with a Murloc perched atop it, apparently directing the battle.

No, there wasn't really anything to direct in a fight between Murlocs.

They were trading insults. Yes, they were clearly shouting at each other from a distance.

These had to be the leaders of the two sides, right?

"Ga-wo-oh-oh-la-oh-wa-wa-ye-lu-lu-la!" (All you traitors must die! When our masters return, you'll be sorry!)

That was the dark-skinned Murloc on the left shouting.

"Oh-la-oh-la-la-wo-oh-oh-la-oh-wa-wa!" (Those monsters are not our masters! They have too few hands!)

That was the little white Murloc on the right.

After hearing that, Rhode could pretty much work out how this battle had started.

The black Murloc's side had to be the surrender faction, loyal to the Naga.

The white Murloc's side was the freedom faction, opposed to the Naga.

The two sides clearly held different beliefs. When the Naga were around, the freedom faction could only submit to their tyranny, not daring to resist. But presumably, they hadn't seen any Naga these past two days, so they had risen up.

Of course, that was just Rhode's speculation.

And what the hell did "they have too few hands" mean?

Whatever the case, he should get them to stop fighting-or playing hide-and-seek-first.

"Ah, so many adorable baby Murlocs." Lilia had already begun to feel sorry for them. "Rhode, make them stop fighting, please."

"Le-er-le-er!" (Yes, yes!)

Bumpelba chimed in too.

Hmm... I suppose I'll be the "advent faction."

"Wa-ga-la-ge-la-mu-lu-lu-lu-da-ga!" (Ladies and gentlemen, please hear me out!)

Rhode shouted, and the beach immediately fell silent.

Almost every Murloc turned to look at the uninvited guest.

Oh, two uninvited guests, plus one local Murloc.

They promptly stopped fighting. Perhaps all that running back and forth had tired them out.

"Mu-le-le-er-wa-mu-ga!" (A human. Who are you?)

The black Murloc leader asked.

"Wa-la-mu-wa-wa-wa-le-le-le-wa-ga-la-mu-le-la!" (Never mind who I am. I have already wiped out all your Naga masters.)

As soon as Rhode said that, the white Murloc's faction erupted in a chorus of "Wula, wula!" cheers.

"Mu-la-wa-le-le-le-le-mu-ah-la-wa-ga!" (I don't believe you! They are the Sea God's emissaries, possessed of supreme power!)

The black Murloc leader roared. The Murlocs under him looked equally outraged.

Rhode really had no idea who this Sea God they spoke of was.

Could it be Poseidon? He clearly belongs to a different mythology.

The Naga often use tridents as weapons. Could that be why?

Surely it can't be N'Zoth? That old god who's always hiding deep beneath the sea shouldn't have time for these ridiculous Murlocs with next to no fighting ability, right?

Forget it. I'll just ask.

"Wa-le-wa-ga-ga-wa-ah-la-la-le!" (How do you know they are the Sea God's emissaries?)

"Ga-la-ge-la-mu-lu-lu-wa-ye-lu-lu-la!" (They have many hands! The Sea God has many hands!)

Holy crap. That's it?

Put that way, this "Sea God" really did sound a little like N'Zoth. He had plenty of tentacles, after all.

So the white Murloc's side wasn't really a freedom faction either. They just thought the Naga didn't have enough hands to rule them?

This is way too absurd!

In that case...

I happen to be able to conjure plenty of hands too. Doesn't that mean I can be the Sea God's representative?

Let's give it a try.

So Rhode casually pointed at the sky.

"Gu-da, ah-ba-ba-da-mu-ma, wa-wu-oh-wa-wu-ma!"

(Look! There's a flying Kodo Beast over there! And a Goblin three stories tall!)

Every Murloc turned to look up at the sky.

But they found nothing there except drifting clouds.

The Murlocs turned back toward Rhode, ready to settle accounts with this lying human, when suddenly a deathly silence fell over the entire beach.

A moment later, cries of "Ga-wo-wa-la!" rang out endlessly as swathes of Murlocs dropped to their knees and bowed.

The reason was simple.

They had seen the Mage Hands Rhode had conjured.

This time, there weren't two, or four, but eight.

Eight white palms glowing blue hovered in the air behind Rhode's back as he struck the pose of Thousand-Armed Guanyin.

"Ga-wo-oh-oh-la-oh, wu-oh-wa-wu!" (So you are the true emissary of the Sea God. We Murlocs submit to you.)

"Oh-la-la-oh-la, ba-ba-da-mu-ma!" (Mighty Sea God! Please grant us your blessing!)

Whether it was the white Murloc, the black Murloc, or the hundreds of Murlocs under them, every last one dropped down and bowed to Rhode as though he were a god. The sight was truly... comical!

That's all it took?

So they'll submit to whoever has the most hands, right?

Rhode could hardly believe it.

In that case, eight hands aren't much of a guarantee.

If some Spider Demon or Centipede Monster suddenly shows up, my position as the Sea God's emissary will be in jeopardy.

So Rhode spread his hands and cast again.

This time, he divided his mana evenly, then conjured more Mage Hands. It didn't matter if they were smaller, as long as there were plenty!

In an instant, more than a hundred Mage Hands shimmering with azure arcane radiance hovered neatly in the air in the formation of a pair of wings.

These are Angel Wings!

Then Rhode roared at the Murlocs lying on the ground, staring up at him with wide eyes.

"Wu-oh, ga-wo-ga-wo-la-la-oh, wu-oh, wo-ga-wo-la-ba-da-mu!"

(I am no emissary of the Sea God. I am the Sea God himself!)

PS: Murloc language reference: Concise Murloc Language Tutorial, by Troll Warrior Santi, published in 2016 by Azeroth National Geographic Magazine.

PS2: I only referenced a small section about subjects. I made up everything else. It was just too hard to understand!