“…What nonsense!”

After a long and tedious argument, someone finally brought up ‘combat.’ The suggestion proposed capturing Hecate by force to make her find a way to break the spell without sacrificing the tail.

It was a foolish idea born from desperation. The Tritones who still maintained their reason strongly opposed it, calling it unthinkable. Harsh criticism followed, describing it as a stupid method that would create an even bigger crisis to overcome the current one.

“Then what other way is there? We only have two days left, what are we supposed to do? D*mn it! If it’s going to be like this, just take my tail instead! That would be better!”

As the stalemate continued, someone shouted in an exhausted voice. A sudden silence fell over the meeting hall above the night sea where the morning star twinkled.

In that moment, a light flickered in the eyes of the Tritones as they stared at each other.

“Now that’s not a bad idea.”

Starting with that casual remark from someone, voices began to spread like wildfire.

“Why didn’t we think of such a good solution before?!”

“Right, this seems like an excellent method!”

“It’s much more realistic than trying to threaten Hecate through combat.”

The idea suggested that a mermaid’s tail – even a Triton’s tail with divine blood – could work just as well regardless of which Triton it came from.

Judging it to be a fairly good proposal, the Tritones who had been raising their voices unanimously now brightened up, seemingly having found a solution. At that moment, a Triton named Phorkys was the first to volunteer.

“Not all tails are equal, are they? I will cut off my tail. At least I have enough divine power to have received a name, so I would be better.”

“What? Are you saying those without names aren’t qualified?”

“That’s not what I meant. If we’re going to substitute for Triton’s tail, shouldn’t we at least have inherited some divine power?”

“In that case, I would be better than you, Phorkys. You received the twelfth name, but I received the eighth. Triton! Take my tail! It would be better to take our tails than sacrifice your own!”

Though they couldn’t tire from mere days of discussion, being descendants of gods, the situation made them grow fiercer as time passed.

Triton looked down at his enraged reflections with bored eyes and let out a quiet sigh.

While their willingness to sacrifice themselves was quite moving, he couldn’t honestly say it was reliable.

As someone had mentioned, receiving a name meant that their divine power had been acknowledged to some degree. However, even those with names still lagged far behind Triton. Very far behind.

Even Tartan, who received the second name, couldn’t dare to be compared to Triton, so how could the other brothers possibly substitute for him?

Unfortunately, this couldn’t serve as an alternative. While the Tritons showed enthusiasm, Triton thought it was hopeless. Such was the gap in divine status between Triton and the Tritones.

Swallowing a bitter smile, Triton suddenly noticed Tartan, who had been quiet for a while.

In truth, no other Triton could match Tartan’s brotherhood and loyalty to Triton, yet he had remained strangely quiet for some time.

He appeared to be thinking about something, but what could it be? Just as Triton watched him with interested eyes, Tartan, who had been looking down at the floor with a contemplative face, raised his head, seemingly finished with his thoughts.

“Brothers. I have thought of a good method.”

When Tartan raised his hand to speak, all the murmuring Tritons’ gazes fixed on him at once. Tartan was the most prudent and extraordinary among them, so everyone had high expectations of him.

“Regrettably, none of us can substitute for Triton. Even if it were me, it would be the same.”

At his quiet words, groans of despair could be heard here and there. Triton carefully observed Tartan, who had reached the same conclusion as himself.

Even though Tartan knew that not even he could substitute for Triton, he had thought of another way.

“However… if it were all of us together, that might be different.”

Tartan spoke in a quiet but firm voice. However, most of the Tritones who didn’t understand his meaning began to murmur intensely.

“Are you saying we should all sacrifice our tails?”

“That’s both right and wrong.”

“What exactly do you mean? Explain more clearly.”

At the Tritons’ demand for explanation, Tartan stretched his hand toward the sea. A massive water barrier rose up, and a whale shark swimming nearby floated up inside the water column.

“If this represents Triton, we would be like these small fish swimming around.”

At first they weren’t visible, but inside the water barrier were schools of fish too small to even serve as food for the whale shark, scattered about in apparent confusion.

At that moment, as Tartan gestured again, the small fish began to gather together in perfect unison, apparently following his command. What seemed to be forming a circle suddenly began to take the shape of the whale shark floating with them. As the small prey fish came together to mimic the appearance of the massive predator, the Tritones’ murmuring grew louder, and then Tartan spoke.

“We all tear off pieces of flesh. If one isn’t enough, wouldn’t combining work? I’m suggesting we each cut off a part of our tails and create one tail. So that all our divine qualities can gather in one place!”

Tartan’s words echoed powerfully through the center of the Atlantic. At his wise and bold statement, thousands of Tritones began to get excited.

“Yes, that might actually work…!”

“Instead of sacrificing one whole tail, we sacrifice a part from everyone!”

His words indeed made sense. It was the most plausible solution to come out of the long meeting. Tartan immediately looked at Triton.

His eyes asked what Triton thought of it. Triton, who had been lounging casually on his throne, slowly looked over all the Tritones.

His brothers and reflections… beings desperately trying to prevent Triton’s downfall…

For the first time, Triton felt grateful to Amphitrite for leaving him with so many brothers. He had always thought he alone was the greatest pillar and support of this sea, but they too had proven themselves to be guardians of the ocean.

As Triton’s lips curved into a smile, his appearance changed instantly. Transforming from human form to mermaid form, he declared while using his trident to cut off a part of his own tail first.

“Infinite thanks to my wise and brave brothers.”

As soon as Triton finished speaking, the Atlantic shook greatly. The Tritones, all simultaneously changing into mermaid form, raised their spears and shouted.

“The sea will never stop and flow eternally!”

“The sea will never stop and flow eternally!”

“The sea will never stop…!”

The thunderous voices of the merfolk shook the heavens and earth with their intensity. The Tritones generously cut off chunks of their scaled flesh.

The pieces of flesh that rose up began to gather as one. The gleaming mermaid scales reflected the moonlight and starlight, shining brilliantly.

Tartan was the last to contribute his flesh, and he too generously cut off a piece of his tail, adding it to his brothers’ pieces as he stood before Triton.

Toward Tartan, who held thousands of scales, Triton commanded.

“Take these immediately to Hephaestus and request him to forge them into a single tail. I will send a messenger to him in advance.”

“Understood. I will depart at once.”

As Tartan struck the ground, his body shot upward and disappeared instantly. A wave of relief washed over the meeting place above the sea that had been like thin ice for the past few days. Even Actius, who had been standing guard by Triton’s side, momentarily relaxed his tense shoulders.

“They finally found a way.”

He whispered to Triton in a small voice. It contained infinite affection and admiration for the Tritones.

Triton merely responded to Actius’s joyful words with a brief nod. He showed no particular signs of excitement or relief.

With Hephaestus’s touch added, those scales would return as one perfect tail. And yet…

‘Why does this corner of my heart feel so uneasy?’

Was it because I left Livia alone for too long? Or was there some trick woven by a goddess of fate that I didn’t know about? Whatever it was, this unsettling feeling kept growing. The kind of emotion that humans usually called anxiety.

‘…Anxiety? Why?’

Had he learned such human emotions from Livia? Self-deprecating, Triton quietly turned to look in the direction of the golden palace.

Whatever was making him anxious, he hoped it had nothing to do with Livia.

…Yes. It couldn’t be.

The witch who had bewitched Livia was captured and in the underground prison, and Livia passionately loved him. There was still time left in the promise with Hecate, and they had found a solution within that time.

So it couldn’t be.

It shouldn’t be.