Sitting on the captain's bed, her back hunched, Meg had the oddest expression on her face.
It had happened just after Andrik had mentioned the Drowned God and the Storm God, and Kai being the favored priest of the former.
There was a mixture of disbelief and terrified apprehension on her face as if some hidden memory was trying to burst out of her shocked eyes. But before Meg could turn the memory into words, some unknown and complex magic spun its gears in her mind, making her forget it in the very next moment.
Kai was too busy with the sudden opportunity that his extraordinary mind had birthed for him to notice those expressions. Neither did he try to consult with Meg and Petyr, nor did he let them know what he was about to do next.
He stood up, his facial curves mimicking the fanatical aura Meg always had for him.
He must be not only practical now but also prudent and calculative with his words, as he knew nothing about the Drowned God other than what his Item had told him. Ordinary words were not enough to convince a true devotee. He must rely on the supernatural show he had already shown to Andrik that night, he concluded.
"You are right," Kai said, looking out of the windows, towards the open sea. "You are wrong, too."
Kai was building a foundation around this word; a practice common among many fraudulent cults and religions, he had learned. "I am HIS favored, yes," Kai continued, noticing the bewildered look on Meg's face for the first time, his eyes narrowing. "But I am not some mere priest, Andrik. For I have been to a place where no man could have been to, even in their dreams, and return alive to sing the songs of those unearthly vistas."
Kai turned around and approached the giant whose head was almost touching his chest despite kneeling. He whispered, his voice echoing in the unnatural silence of the cabin, "I have been to HIS watery halls."
Andrik shivered, tears running dry on his face. He gawked at Kai and didn't dare to question the absurd proclamation with his mortal mind and will.
Bullshit was working, Kai thought, laughing derisively in his mind. "You have seen how I thwarted the Storm God's fury," he said, his voice high and eerie. "That was not a happenstance, but a true power of the Drowned God, materializing through me. Now, Andrik, I will give you the same chance.
"A chance to let go of your past and serve the Drowned God's purpose through me. A chance to go beyond the ordinary scuffles between Houses and Kingdoms. Oh, Andrik, the Unsmiling, a chance to visit HIS watery halls and discard your mortal self for undying piety and immortality. Dare you bow your head and kneel in acceptance?"
Once more Kai's voice boomed, "Answer me!"
There was a mystery in Kais' words apparent to all listeners.
A watery shiver had run down both Meg's and Andrik's spines, unknown to Kai, and now both were looking at him with such intense fervor that made him think as if he had overdone it a bit. Nonetheless, the effect, though in the same direction as he had intended, had gone beyond his imagination and out of his hands.
"I do." The words came by themselves out of Andrik's mouth.
Steam was already rising off Kai's body, and Meg had stood up in shock. "Then close your eyes," he told Andrik, motioning Meg to stand down. "Let me baptize you in HIS waters afresh, washing your past sins away, and giving your life a new purpose and meaning."
Andrik shut his eyes, steeling his nerves, and taking a deep breath as if knowing what was about to happen next.
A sizzling heat seared Kai's surroundings momentarily before Selene sent out a burst of chill, making it disappear. This brief event followed the morphing of Kai's body into a blue-skinned demon, a tail swishing and flailing behind him as if it had a mind of its own. Once again Kai had taken the Golduck form, and from the appalled look on Meg's face, he could tell that if Andrik were to open his eyes now, no supernatural explanation would be enough to save him from the cruelest fate known to Contestants.
It did not faze Kai at all. Risks were a part of his life as much as anything.
His instincts were sharp and meticulous enough to let him know he had this man figured out long before. Andrik was a warrior who lived by his words and blade. A proud and skillful seafarer who bowed to no one other than the God he worshiped, not even to the Lord he served. For the same reasons, this man would never open his eyes unless told so by Kai.
Kai used Hydro Pump to spit out a bucketful of water, but he did not aim it at anything. The moment it left his mouth with a gurgling noise, the bean-sized mind gem shone bloody on his forehead. The thinnest layer of red covered the water from all around like smoke. With his teeth clenched hard, Kai controlled the direction of the water current and sent it hurtling towards Andrik's head, who flinched as the water drowned his head.
Yet, the man didn't open his eyes.
2 minutes. 3 minutes...
Only at the end of the 5th minute did Andrik show signs of struggle, his head shaking, as his monstrous lungs grasped at escaping breath. Bubbles rose into the water sphere, and the struggle increased. Now, even Kai's hands were shaking, and his face had crumpled in a hideous scowl, a thin trail of blood running down his nose.
Suddenly, the last traces of air abandoned Andrik, and the man lost consciousness, his eyes on the brink of getting shut forever. Kai knew the time had come, and he canceled his transformation.
Meg had told him about this ritual where the priest of Drowned God drowned the followers and then revived them, following a process called Kiss of Life. Kai was replicating the same, knowing well that this Kiss of Life was nothing but cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
As he pumped Andrik's chest and breathed air into his mouth using his strength, it only took a few seconds before the giant man returned to life, coughing out water and gasping for air.
Kai laughed. "Rise," he told Andrik, standing up. "You have drowned in HIS waters and been returned to us. What is dead may never die!"
Andrik rose, his muscles pulsating with power. "But rises," he said, growling like a beast. "Rises again and again. Harder. And stronger."
"You do not belong to House Drumm now," Kai proclaimed, looking up into his dark eyes. "Nor do you have any obligation to any Lord. You belong to the Drowned God. Now kneel once more, but not as Andrik the Unsmiling. Henceforth, you are Andrik the Twice-Drowned."
"Yes, Captain," Andrik spat, his knees bending once more. No longer he was trying to look away from Kai's eyes, and no longer there was any meekness in his voice. He was once again the fiercest warrior from the Iron Islands, but now his loyalty was for Kai and Kai alone.
The stagnated black color of the Abnormality Limiter bar shot up, becoming full instantly.
It didn't come as a surprise to Kai as he knew Andrik must have equated all supernatural scenes he must have seen three days ago to the power of Drowned God that was backing up Kai in his struggle with Storm God's fury.
Then the notification appeared in between Kai's hazel and Andrik's dark eyes like a divine message.
Congratulations Contestant Kai Stormborn
You have unlocked a New Title
Title: Dimensional Leader
Specification: Make 3 main storyline Characters follow you voluntarily and unconditionally
4. Skill: Dimensional Summoning
Note: Only 1 Title can be equipped at a time
*********************
Bonus Chapter Deal (applicable for both NovelHub and ScribbleHub readers):
1. 70 Power Stones per day: +1 Bonus Chapter
2. 90 Power Stones per day: +2 Bonus Chapters
3. 750+ Powers Stones (at the end of the week): +3 Bonus Chapters (can stack over the 2nd point)