Two days later, Occhanos Inland Sea.
Glistening white dolphins and azure Monoceroses, each enveloping a figure, cleaved through the waves, speeding through the ocean.
Behind them, the sky was a sheet of crimson, with expansive blood clouds spreading on the wind, in relentless pursuit.
At the same time, the mingling of blood and seawater infiltrated below, turning into multicolored sea snakes in the crimson water, slithering toward their prey ahead.
Seeing those "spicy strips," all vividly colored warning signals and aggressive tattoos, Luo En didn't hesitate to accelerate, using special ocean environments like reefs, islands, and whirlpools to increasingly widen the gap.
However, before he could breathe a sigh of relief, a warning from Thetis reached his ears.
Up front, within the colorful corals, dozens of blood-transmuted sea snakes camouflaged by the coral's colors lay in ambush, motionless on their inevitable path, waiting for prey to fall into their trap.
Luo En was inwardly startled, a trace of doubt flickering in his eyes.
Hadn't they just shaken off these divine beings? How did they get ahead on their path and set an ambush?
Thetis had obviously realized this too.
"Something's off, these past two days we've managed to shake them off several times, but soon after, they'd catch up again. Neither changing our appearance nor using [Blessing of the Sea] to erase our scent seems to work,"
Combining this with the sea snakes ignoring detours and disguises, taking shortcuts to block their path, they exchanged a glance and immediately realized a certain possibility.
They spoke in unison, arriving at roughly the same conclusion.
"No matter what, we have to find that thing first!"
Luo En said with a grave voice, while the Great Whale behind him shook its head and tail, pushing the power of the Ocean Authority to the extreme.
Tens of thousands of tons of seawater surged forward, crushing both the coral thicket and the divine sea snakes ambushing within, clearing a safe path ahead.
The two of them, having gradually built a rapport amid their flight, immediately moved swiftly through the devastated coral, their divinity pulsing as they meticulously inspected every inch of their skin and flesh.
Soon, Luo En opened his eyes and shook his head.
In a subdued reply, Thetis bit her lip, a complex expression crossing her face as she pulled down one side of her gown's strap, revealing a red and black mark on the left side of her back.
Three entwined serpents formed a circular outline, with a cluster of flames representing vengeance burning in the center.
Upon seeing the scarlet brand on the Ocean Goddess's pale skin, Luo En felt a heaviness in his heart.
The Mark of Vengeance—the Divine Mark of The Furies, a secret art used to hunt those sentenced.
The catch was, this mark rooted itself in the subject's sins, and unless one was utterly innocent, it couldn't be removed at will.
And considering the moral standards of the Greek gods, well, who didn't have a skeleton in the closet?
To put it severely, even a zygote hardly qualified as truly innocent.
Therefore, without the corresponding means, he really had no way to deal with it.
"When did this happen?"
"It must have been that time we first met..."
Thetis gazed at the ominous crimson mark with frustration.
"It seems a few droplets of strange blood splashed on my back, I didn't pay it any mind at the time."
Luo En brought a hand to his forehead, his face showing helplessness.
He had truly misled Thetis once again.
The Ocean Goddess had been hiding on an isolated island in the Primordial Ocean to lay low, sunbathing on the beach at that time.
Who would have thought disaster would fall from the sky, as Luo En, with blood-red skies in his wake, crashed straight onto the island.
As a result, not only was Thetis's new home gone, but because she was unguarded, she was branded and marked by the divinity of The Furies, leaving a disgraceful imprint.
You have a beef with him, grab him, what's it got to do with me? I was just sunbathing at my doorstep, and I got dragged into this mess?
Thetis looked back at The Furies and a certain red-haired Goddess relentlessly pursuing her, her eyes filled with indignation as she glared at a certain culprit.
"I was making eyes at you, if you didn't see and blurted out anyway, can you blame me?"
Luo En was also helpless, upon seeing Thetis for the first time, he wanted to act as if they didn't know each other, to avoid dragging the unfortunate Ocean Goddess into trouble again.
But he clearly underestimated Thetis's grievances.
Before she could understand the meaning in Luo En's glance, the Ocean Goddess began voicing her sorrows and cursing the troublemaker.
Moreover, the script she used was ambiguously that of a wronged woman.
Now, Eris, freshly snubbed and humiliated, took tons of blowback, becoming furiously convinced they were adulterers and decided to bury them together.
Unwilling to be the accidental scapegoat once more, Thetis looked toward the menacing red-haired Goddess in the sky behind, asking hesitantly.
"What if we try to explain?"
Luo En's eyes held encouragement as he gestured freely, adding quietly,
"But just a friendly tip, that one behind is Eris, Goddess of Discord, sister of Ares..."
Thetis's face twitched involuntarily, her eyes growing even more resentful.
Ares's sister, the Goddess of disaster in the war and catastrophe domain, what more was there to say?