Doris seemed to have guessed what Catherine was referring to, and waited silently. Sure enough, Catherine untied her waist guard, took off the Sea Emperor's crown hanging from her belt, and held it in front of Doris with both hands.

"This is the Sea Emperor's crown that was hidden during the mission, and it belongs to Lord Khaleto's artifact. Catherine said with a solemn expression: "It's a pity that it didn't work in the mission, and now I will return it to you Storm Temple, which belongs to you." ”

Doris nodded, took the crown of her head with both hands and looked at it in front of her eyes, and said with a sigh of relief: "No wonder Matthew told me before that you didn't use it, it turned out to be the reason." ”

"Well?" Catherine asked, puzzled, "What's the reason?"

"It's broken. Pannis said behind Catherine's back: "It has long since completely lost the function of the crown. ”

"Broken?" the girls stared at Pannis, as if they were depressed by the guilt they had added to the others, "How do you know it's broken?"

"I've checked. Pannis felt puzzled for a while, and asked rhetorically, "Haven't you checked this kind of possible use?"

"Don't talk about it. Catherine coughed a few times and said: "I remember this mistake, I didn't see the possible usefulness of the items around me, in the end, I still lack experience and vision, and I won't make such a low-level mistake again in the future." ”

"Hmm, I see. Pannis, guessing what was going on, said nothing that might make the girls even more embarrassed, and asked Doris, "Have you figured out why?" I've tried a few times, but I can't activate the crown at all, let alone the Poseidon realm you mentioned. I suspect that the crown was damaged by the Great War, or that the crown was taken away and sealed by the enemy. ”

"It was my mistake. Doris sighed and said, "I didn't come here before, I didn't find out the problem with the crown, and I heard Matthew say that it caused you to die once? That curse is really powerful, it can really reverse life and death." But it's a good thing that the curse is gone, otherwise...... I really don't know how to deal with those old friends anymore. ”

"Don't worry about things that haven't happened, can you?" Pannis rolled his eyes and said, "What the hell is going on with this thing?" I declare first, we didn't break it, if you want compensation, don't look for us, go to the church of Timos. ”

"Over the years, you haven't improved in other areas, but you've become more and more scoundrels. Doris laughed out loud at Pannis's words, and said angrily: "The crown is not broken, but it activates the self-protection function and closes itself." This is also the original function of the holy weapon, when the user encounters a strong enemy, may not be able to protect the holy weapon, will consciously activate this function, so that if the holy weapon falls into the hands of the enemy, it will not help the enemy in turn. It's normal that you can't handle it, only the High Priest of the Sea God can remove the protective function, and no one else can do it. Alas, I should have thought that this would happen, and I should have let you come back without putting you in danger. ”

For a while, the atmosphere became a little heavy again, Pannis blinked, and suddenly said: "Our task is to solve the problem of the sea clan being controlled in the devil's sea, but it does not include this crown, and now that we have an additional harvest, we can't give it to you for free." ”

As expected, Pannis received several vicious glances at the same time. Doris said with a smile: "I know, I know, I'll fix the crown first, and I'll talk about the bargain later." ”

Under the curious gaze of the girls, Doris slowly let go of her hand after holding the Sea Emperor's crown flat in front of her, and the crown defied gravity and floated strangely in the air. Doris's eyes were fixed on the crown of her head, and her mouth whispered an inaudible prayer, and the girls could feel that special energy was constantly converging from the surrounding ocean to the crown, forming a powerful energy field around the crown. The energy around the crown became stronger and stronger, and Doris's prayer became more and more urgent, and finally, when the energy intensity reached an astonishing height, a dazzling burst of light suddenly burst from the crown of the head. It was as if another sun had risen on the island, and the bright light made everyone can't help but close their eyes, and when the bright light dissipated and people opened their sore and tearful eyes, the crown of their heads had fallen smoothly to the ground. However, to everyone's surprise, including Doris, there was a strange blonde mermaid standing in the original place of the crown.

The merfolk who suddenly appeared were very tall, standing more than two meters tall in their ocean form, much taller than Panis. But although she is tall, she does not look bulky, and her well-proportioned figure gives her a different kind of charm. However, everyone soon noticed the difference between the blonde mermaid, she didn't seem to be a living person, just a remnant of a soul, her body was as unstable as a cloud of mist, and it looked like it could dissipate out of thin air at any moment.

"Are you...... Amphitri ancestors?" Doris was the first to wake up, guessed the identity of the blonde mermaid, and said in surprise, "Lord Amphitri, are you still alive?"

Amphitri didn't reply, her eyes scanned around, staring straight at the high-ranking priest behind Doris with the special chest in her hand, or rather, at the box she was holding. After staring for a few seconds, Amphitri spoke, his voice as cold as the cold waters of the deep sea, almost without a trace of mortal temperature: "The matter is settled?"

"Yes. Doris replied with great respect, "With the help of several human adventurers, the Nightmare Artifact has been completely destroyed. ”

"Adventurer, what's that?" Amphitri visibly relaxed, his figure faded a lot, and although his voice was still cold, his tone softened: "Forget it, I don't need to know anymore. How many years have passed now?"

"According to the records inside the Temple of the Storm, three thousand six hundred and fifty-five years have passed. Doris replied.

"It's okay, it's not too long. Amphitri's answer made several human girls feel very weird, but for the lifespan of the mermaid race of 1,500 years, more than 3,000 years is indeed not too long, and from a human point of view, it is more than 200 years, four or five generations. Amphitri smiled a rare smile on her cold face, and said softly, "Fortunately, the matter has been resolved, and I can go to my lord's divine domain with confidence." ”

"Are you leaving now?" Doris asked with some reluctance, "I haven't taken a look at the situation of the Sea Clan yet." ”

"I'm running out of time. Amphitri shook her head: "By the way, is Nina okay?"

"Nina?" Doris asked, puzzled, "I haven't heard of this man." ”

"Nina is with me in the battle against the sea beasts. Amphitri explained: "The longest-lived monster in the deep sea, with a lifespan dating back to the First Age, is more than 200,000 years. ”

"I'm sorry, Ancestor. Doris bowed her head gloomily: "We found a large and amazing skeleton next to your bones, maybe ......"

"It seems that Nina did die in battle. Amphitri interrupted Doris with a wry smile: "Before I died, I felt that Nina had also been mortally attacked, and I only had a little hope when I asked her. ”

"My lord, what happened back then?" Doris asked, "Is it possible that your soul has been trapped in the Sea Emperor's crown?"

"It's not like I'm trapped, but I'm lucky to be it. Amphitri explains: "Before I died, I activated the protective measures of the crown and closed the crown. The moment the crown was closed, I was completely dead, and as soon as my soul left the body, I was enclosed inside it along with the crown. Fortunately, my soul is sealed, the power of that artifact is too strong, under its suppression, I can't go to my lord's divine domain at all, if it is not sealed, I am afraid that my soul will completely dissipate, and there will be no chance to stand by my lord's side. So it's my luck, but it's a little uncomfortable to stay in it for a long time. ”

"Have you been awake in there?" Doris asked in horror, "for more than 3,000 years, you have been ......"

"Yes, awake all the time. "Amphitri is light-hearted, but after more than three thousand years of darkness and solitude, no one dares to imagine this maddening horror. On the contrary, Amphitri still said calmly: "Don't be surprised, I think it's worth it, looking at your current situation, you know that my pain over the years is not worthless." ”

"Indeed, your death, Lord Ancestor, has ushered in precious time for all of the Sea Clan. Doris nodded vigorously: "It is precisely because of your battle back then that we have the opportunity to solve the problem once and for all today." ”

"That's enough. Amphitri smiled, the smile on her cold face was like a thawing glacier, her gaze turned to the five members of the adventure group, and said softly, "A few of them are the humans mentioned earlier, thank you very much for your selfless help." I don't have time to say any more thanksgiving, but in the coming time I will pray for a long time in the Kingdom of God of our Lord and wish them all the best. ”

In the face of the gratitude of this hero of the Sea Clan thousands of years ago, the five of them only bowed down together to greet the deceased hero. Despite their racial differences, Amphitri's sacrificial spirit is enough to earn everyone's respect.

"It's time. Amphitri looked up at the sky, "It's time for me to go." ”

"Why don't you say hello to an old friend?" In the crowd that had stopped not far away, two people followed Doris to the sea tribe who had come to this island, and walked out, "I didn't expect to see you again, Amphitri." ”

"Badia?" said Amphiteri, a little surprised, "and Byer, it's great that you two are still alive." ”

"Are you really leaving?" Badia asked regretfully, "I still want to talk to you again, it's ......"

"Gotta go. Amphitri wanted to pat Badia on the shoulder, but the illusory hand passed through his body: "Look, there's no way around it. But don't grieve for me, I will be reborn in the realm of my gods as a god's servant, and everyone should ...... for me."

Before he could finish speaking, Amphitri had already turned into a cloud of mist, dissipating as abruptly as it had appeared. Several humans and sea tribes were stunned for a while before they showed bitter smiles together.

"Anyway, it's nice to see your ancestors. Doris barely perked up and smiled, "You brought me this opportunity, Catherine, as I said before, let's celebrate the successful completion of this mission with a grand feast." ”

"It's our pleasure. Catherine also deliberately avoided the question about Amphitri, smiled and stretched out her hand, let Doris pull her, and walked towards the large group of sea tribes together. (To be continued.) )