Chapter 430: The Echoes Of A Goddess

​Coming into view was a gigantic hall, an architectural marvel that defied the terrestrial origins of the Vatican Necropolis. The chamber was lavishly decorated with shining and sparkly gemstones and polished marbles that caught the ambient, bioluminescent light of the deep sea. Massive silver pillars lined both sides of the vast hall, reaching all the way to the grand entrance to the elevated dais at the far end. Arrayed in perfect, disciplined formations before the pillars were elite mermaids and mermen, their aquatic armor gleaming. As one, their gazes all fixed on Mirabella, their expressions a mix of hostility and curiosity as she swam inside with the guards.

​"My Queen!"

​The two guards escorting Mirabella respectfully greeted, bowing their heads in perfect synchronization, their tridents lowered in absolute submission.

​"Why did you bring a human to our city?"

​A melodic, yet deeply authoritative voice echoed through the cavernous space. It belonged to a beautiful mermaid resting upon the central diamond throne. She possessed long, flowing purple hair that drifted weightlessly in the water, and piercing silver eyes that seemed to look right through Mirabella’s God-class armor. She asked the question while staring intensely at the two guards, her aura heavy and oppressive.

​The one on the right answered without hesitation, his voice steady despite the suffocating pressure of his monarch’s gaze:

​"My Queen, the first law of our kingdom says once we find a human who speaks our language, we should lead them straight to the current Ruler." He said.

​"Yes, my father placed that rule, and we all will honor it." The Queen said, staring down at him, her silver eyes narrowing slightly.

​"My Queen, this here is a human who can speak our language." He said, gesturing respectfully to Mirabella.

​"...?"

​The Queen, the royal advisors, and everyone present in the throne hall were stunned. A collective gasp rippled through the water as they stared at the blue-haired human in pure shock. A surface dweller mastering the ancient tongue of the deep was a statistical impossibility.

​The Queen slowly rose from her seat. She raised the magnificent diamond scepter in her hand, and pointed it directly at Mirabella. The next moment, a visible wave of highly concentrated energy burst out from it, and struck her, moving past her body in a sweeping, invasive scan.

​"...?!"

​Mirabella blinked, completely stunned as the system alarms in her interface blared, registering the overwhelming power disparity.

​’A Mid-Divine Sovereign?! This Queen is actually stronger than me.’ Mirabella thought in profound shock, staring at the glowing scepter in the Queen’s hand. In all her battles, she had never encountered someone naturally resting at such a terrifying stage without the aid of a system or celestial mandate.

​’And that is a Supreme Class artifact.’ She realized, recognizing the world-bending quality of the weapon.

​WHOOSH!

​Mirabella only saw a brief, silver flash as the spatial coordinates in the room violently warped. The next moment, the fearsome Queen was right in front of her, hugging her tightly.

​"...?!"

​She blinked, stunned speechless, her combat instincts short-circuiting at the sudden, warm embrace.

​"Mirabella! It’s actually you!!" She yelled, her previous cold, sovereign facade entirely shattering as she hugged her even tighter, burying her face in Mirabella’s shoulder.

​"Huh? How do you know my name?" Mirabella asked, utterly stunned.

​Not only her, but the entire hall was dumbfounded. The elite guards nearly dropped their weapons, and the courtiers stared with their mouths agape, unable to process their ruthless monarch displaying such raw, unfiltered affection to an invading surface dweller.

​"Oh, you don’t seem to remember me."

​The Queen separated from the hug, and moved some steps backward. The next moment, brilliant silver light shone all over her body, aggressively rewriting her physiology. The scales faded, the tail split, and a beautiful human with silver hair and elegant, flowing terrestrial robes appeared in the water.

​"Aunty Seraphina!" Mirabella exclaimed shocked, the buried memories of her childhood crashing over her like a tidal wave.

​Seraphina was her mother’s closest friend on Earth. Back when she was just a young girl, before the apocalypse, before the system, and before the regression, this woman always visited. She would bring her countless gifts, and sea-related presents, like glowing gems, flawless pearls, and even exotic fishes. But once her mother supposedly passed away, her best friend inexplicably vanished... Mirabella had never forgotten her because this lady was like her second mother. When she lost both Genevieve and Seraphina, she had been truly devastated. And now, against all cosmic odds, here she was—the supreme Queen of a hidden sea kingdom.

​"Hahaha! You do remember me! I can’t believe it!! Your mother is something else entirely." Seraphina laughed, a bright, chiming sound that chased away the oppressive gloom of the deep sea.

​"What do you mean by that, Aunty?" Mirabella asked, snapping out from her shock, her mind latching onto the implications of those words.

​"Oh! Your mother said you will come find me when you’re ready." Seraphina said, her smile fond, but suddenly her mood dropped, a shadow of genuine sorrow passing over her silver eyes:

​"She also stopped me from visiting you all these years. I don’t know the reason behind that decision... Anyway, how is she doing?" She asked, throwing the bad emotions away with a wave of her hand, eager to catch up on the lost decades.

​"She is dead."

​Mirabella said the words flatly. Her words stunned Seraphina for some seconds. The silence in the throne room grew thick and heavy. But then, the Queen burst out laughing, the sound echoing off the diamond walls.

​"You are so funny! Your Mother is a peak Divine stage cultivator, a thousand times stronger than I am... She is a foot away from becoming the first Supreme Heaven stage cultivator, and finally reach the Primordial gateway! There is no way such a person will die." She said, smiling brightly, dismissing the claim as an utter, logical impossibility.

​"Really?! Then do you have any idea where she might be?" Mirabella asked, her heart hammering against her ribs, her blue eyes wide with a desperate, burning hope.

​"I don’t know, your mother is truly secretive. But if she wants to hide herself, she will most likely scattered her soul, but she will only resort to that if her life is in danger. Apart from that, I don’t know." Seraphina mused, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

​"I have met her soul fragment." Mirabella confessed, the pieces of the grand puzzle finally beginning to lock into place.

​"Oh? It means she shattered her souls..." Seraphina paused, the gravity of that tactical choice setting in. Genevieve only played such desperate gambits when the stakes were cosmic. Seraphina quickly moved her gaze around the stunned faces of her royal court, deciding the heavy talk could wait.

​"Oh! My people! This here is Mirabella, my God-daughter!! Please, help me host a feast!! Tonight, the whole city will celebrate, I am in a very good mood!! For now, I will show her around."

​Without waiting for any reply or formal dismissal, she grabbed Mirabella’s wrist with incredible, inescapable strength, and swam away, leaving the magnificent throne hall behind in a blur of silver and blue.

​Left behind in the echoing chamber, the two guards looked at one another, both completely speechless.

​’Who would have thought she is the Queen’s God-daughter?’ One thought in surprise, retroactively terrified that he had pointed a weapon at the beloved ward of the most powerful being in the sea.

​’The Queen is so cold-blooded, this is the first time I am seeing her this happy.’ The second thought, still struggling to reconcile the giggling woman who just left with the terrifying sovereign who ruled them with an iron fist.

​At this moment, the gears of fate turned, and the whole world was about to know a shocking truth. The legendary anomaly, the woman whose shadow stretched across the stars—is Genevieve still alive or not?