Chapter 672: The New Princess

"Take me there."

Loren released his grip, and the outdoor captain collapsed to the ground, unconscious by now, her life or death unknown.

This move clearly intimidated the other merfolk. The way they looked at Loren had grown considerably more wary, and filled with much more fear.

"What are you standing around for? Move."

"Yes..."

The merfolk guards numbly led Loren toward the royal palace. Loren remembered how arrogant they had been when he first arrived, but now their faces were full of fear.

"Lord Observer..."

Korali was a little scared. As a merfolk born and raised here, she knew very well just how strong these guards were.

She had been captured by these very guards before.

"You should go first. Things might get dangerous soon. You've already completed your mission by bringing me here."

As long as Korali left now, she would be safe. Loren wasn't worried about anything happening to her afterward either. Now that he was here, he was definitely going to consolidate the merfolk's forces.

After today, the merfolk would most likely have a new ruler.

Walking along the path, Loren casually swung his blade. They were underwater now, so swinging a blade wasn't very smooth, but it didn't make much of a difference.

If this were a fight between equals, Loren might have been hindered by this, but this was a one-sided slaughter. Loren didn't need to care about such things.

The guards grew even more frightened when Loren swung his blade. Their fear wasn't unfounded, after all. Loren really had secretly cut them a few times.

Next, he only needed to release the energy stored in the Justice card to cut them down directly.

"I want to stay with you... If they try to kill us, I can still carry you and run."

"Alright. If it's just you, I should be able to protect you.

"If it's not necessary, I'd still rather not start a conflict."

Loren already considered these merfolk his own troops. Every one that died was a loss to him.

Besides, Loren didn't need them to be particularly loyal. They could serve as cannon fodder just fine.

Along the way, every merfolk they encountered avoided Loren. Soon, the group of guards led Loren into the royal palace.

"The palace on the seabed is this luxurious too? This isn't the Dawn Princess's style. I'm afraid her people are no longer what she hoped they would be."

Loren spoke bluntly, and the surrounding guards still dared not voice their anger.

After arriving here, Loren was received by the people inside the palace, which made the guards breathe a sigh of relief.

The moment he entered, Loren sensed killing intent. The elders really had stationed quite a few assassins here in ambush.

Prolonged comfort had eroded their wisdom. They actually thought they could kill Loren with such a method.

"Where are the elders?"

"You'll need to wait a moment. They'll be here soon."

The attendant in the palace wore a haughty expression. She somewhat looked down on Loren, truly treating him as some fame-seeking fraud.

"They made me wait? Do you know who they're making wait? The Perpetual Observer, a true god, a true god who stands above the Orthodox Gods, a Primordial God!"

Loren knew this was a tactic by the elders to suppress his momentum, but since they disrespected him, Loren naturally wouldn't give them any face either.

"I declare that they are all guilty of blaspheming against the gods... Korali, what is the punishment for blaspheming against the gods?"

"Death... the death penalty..."

This was Korali's first time in a place like this. The palace's magnificent decorations were so oppressive she could barely breathe, but she still tried her best to answer Loren's question.

"Good. I hereby declare in the name of the Perpetual Observer, all elders are sentenced to death."

There was no throne in the palace. Loren stood at the highest point and made his announcement.

"Ha..."

The merfolk receiving Loren had just started to laugh when she shut her mouth, because Loren had drawn the Requiem.

In an instant, a pressure that struck directly at the soul spread through the entire palace. The assassins hiding in the corners collapsed unconscious on the spot.

Since they were on the seabed, their collapse didn't make much sound. Instead, because Loren had stirred up the water currents, they floated out into view.

"You think people like this can kill me? Don't you find that ridiculous?

"I overestimated you before. I was so cautious. Turns out you're just a bunch of Clowns.

"I held back against the merfolk because of Mara. I never expected Mara was already the peak of your entire race..."

"Mara..."

The name Mara was the Reverse Scale of the merfolk race. After all, the merfolk Mara killed alone nearly surpassed the total number of merfolk killed by humans over the past century.

When Loren brought up Mara, this merfolk's fury briefly surpassed her fear.

"Am I wrong? If you had kept Mara back then and properly cultivated her, maybe you really would have produced a Top-Tier powerhouse by now."

Mara had been abandoned by her own mother. That actually had little to do with the merfolk as a whole. Loren was just casually throwing accusations.

Just as Loren said this, the elders finally appeared. At their head was a young merfolk woman. She wore a haughty expression, her brows full of confidence, as she slowly swam up before Loren.

"Princess..."

The merfolk who had received Loren lowered her head and paid respects to this so-called Merfolk Princess.

Loren looked at the top of her head. She was wearing a crown, the same crown Melody had worn before, and there was also an Inverted Cross Pendant on her chest.

She frowned, her eyes full of dissatisfaction as she looked at Loren. She showed no particular fear over Loren having just knocked out the assassins.

Loren ignored her and continued speaking his own words:

"Given the situation within your merfolk race, even if Mara had truly been loyal to you, you would have frantically suppressed her and kept her from rising.

"Just like how you suppressed Melody. She found me, yet you stripped her of her title as Merfolk Princess..."

The Merfolk Princess wasn't angry when she heard Mara's name, but when she heard Melody's name, her brow furrowed deeply. Her fury was written all over her face.

"This is exactly why you've been hiding on the seabed like bugs all this time. No ambition, closed-minded and stagnant. You don't even dare seek revenge against the Church. All you do is guard your little patch of territory and amuse yourselves.

"The merfolk finally produced someone as capable as Melody, and yet..."

"Shut up! Don't you dare mention that bitch!"

Loren brought up Melody again, and this Merfolk Princess could no longer hold back. She cursed outright.

The next moment, Loren's slap landed across her face.

"Insolent! Is the Merfolk Princess someone you can insult?"

Loren's slap left a bright red handprint on the Merfolk Princess's face, and the crown on her head was sent flying.

"I! Am! The Princess!"

The first thing she did after being struck wasn't to clutch her wound, but to grab hold of the crown.

"Who do you think you are? Melody's title as Merfolk Princess was granted by me. Who has the right to revoke it?"

Before this princess could get back to her feet, Loren kicked her down again.