Chapter 174: Chapter 174: The Dusk of the Sea God
Golden light covered the sky.
The particles that had formed the clone rose slowly, spinning like a storm of stars searching for their home.
Jax extended his hand, and the flow of light entered his body.
For a moment, his mind flooded with images, pain, and pride.
It was his other self — returning to its source.
Inside his consciousness, a familiar voice echoed, tired and mocking.
"Finally..." whispered the clone. "What took you so damn long?"
Jax smiled faintly.
"Sorry. I was busy."
"Yeah, sure," the clone replied dryly. "Fucking your wives could’ve waited, don’t you think?"
A warm laugh escaped Jax.
"You’re right. But I had my reasons."
And with those words, he shared a memory.
When the Ancient Kings appeared, Jax felt the shift.
The mountains trembled, the air grew heavy, and the magical forest that hid him whispered warnings.
Without wasting a second, he took off — soaring across the ocean that stretched beyond the horizon.
The sea roared beneath his feet.
Then... something rose from the depths.
A colossal figure, wrapped in blue light and crowned with a trident.
During their last battle, he hadn’t seen her clearly, but now... now she was impossible to ignore.
A perfect figure, large breasts, wide hips — if not for the fish tail, Jax might’ve actually considered fucking her.
"Poseidon..." Jax muttered.
Beside her floated another mermaid — smaller, younger, but no less breathtaking.
Her skin shimmered like coral, her hair flowed like rivers of silver, and her body defied the balance of the world.
Next to her was her daughter — the mermaid princess.
Younger, innocent... yet her gaze burned with the same curiosity as her mother’s.
"Why the rush, traveler?" Poseidon spoke with a deep voice, the waves obeying her tone. "Does the ocean not deserve your respect?"
Jax lowered a little, his hair whipped by the wind.
"I don’t have time. My clone’s in danger. I have to go."
Poseidon raised a brow.
"You should stay. Talk a bit."
"I can’t," Jax replied coldly.
The elder siren smiled, her lips curling with mischief.
"See, daughter?" she said mockingly. "Didn’t I tell you? All men are the same — a bunch of shameless fools who ignore beautiful women."
Jax stopped.
Something about her words made him turn.
His body felt strange... heavy, as if part of it no longer belonged to him.
Poseidon lifted her hand.
In her palm glowed a translucent seashell — pale pink, shining with an iridescent gleam.
Jax recognized it instantly.
The same shell the princess had once given him, long ago, as a sign of friendship.
"That...?" he muttered.
"Yes," Poseidon smiled darkly. "My daughter has fine taste. Shame you didn’t appreciate her gift."
The shell pulsed, humming softly — a high, sweet tone that echoed like a lullaby.
A pink wave spread through the air, reaching Jax.
Inside his mind, another shell — identical — began to resonate, humming like hundreds of bells ringing at once.
His eyes clouded.
His breathing stopped.
The sea god smiled, satisfied.
"Much better," she whispered. "Now... kneel before your new master."
Jax obeyed.
Emotionless.
Willless.
The elder siren clapped softly, amused.
"Oh, what a well-trained toy..." she purred, wrapping her watery arms around him. "No wonder he was so confident on land — my magic’s weaker there, so I waited. But here... here, you’re in my domain. There’s no escape."
The princess watched in silence, her eyes a mix of sorrow and fascination.
"Mother... is this really necessary?"
"Every power must be tamed, daughter," Poseidon replied, her voice like thunder. "And this mortal... must learn his place."
The sirens laughed, playing with their new servant, delighted to see the golden hero reduced to a doll under the will of the sea.
But then... something changed.
Deep inside his mind, a voice called out to him.
Soft. Strong. Familiar.
"Jax... wake up."
It was the voices of his women.
The souls bound to his own.
Their bond ignited — burning away the pink threads that chained his will.
The shells around Poseidon’s neck began to shake violently.
And Jax’s eyes... opened.
"What—?" Poseidon took a step back, feeling a force she couldn’t comprehend. "Impossible!"
Jax lifted his gaze.
His eyes were golden abysses — cold, merciless.
"You dared... touch my mind."
The entire ocean shuddered.
Waves rose hundreds of meters high, disobeying even their god.
The elder siren tried to speak, but her voice drowned beneath the thunder.
Jax didn’t look at her.
With a simple gesture, the sea around them began to evaporate.
Poseidon roared, summoning her trident, the ocean surging back under her command—
But Jax was already there.
His golden fist shattered through the barrier of water, air, and divine power.
The impact was brutal.
Pure.
Absolute.
Poseidon barely raised her weapon before being blown miles away, her body tearing through the waves.
"You’ve awakened something you can’t control!" she screamed, summoning serpents of water and dragons of foam.
Jax moved forward, destroying them with each step.
His blows carved golden scars across the sea.
"I won’t hold back," he said coldly. "Not after what you tried to do to me."
The sea roared.
The sky burned.
Jax’s fury was beyond anything Poseidon could restrain.
He called upon the Power of Faith.
Unlike his clone — who only possessed the strength of a mid-tier Emperor and could barely touch the faith-energy — the true Jax commanded it.
The clone had always struggled; faith required connection, devotion, permission from the true vessel.
It was cumbersome, fragile...
And in battle, hesitation was death.
That was why the human emperor had crushed his clone so easily — because Jax had been asking for power instead of owning it.
But now... this was different.
This was the true Jax.
And he was going to show Poseidon the difference between them.
[The emperors who once ruled the world grew so used to their thrones that they believed no one would ever dare challenge them.
They shaped words, history — even the will of men — just to bend the world to their filthy desires.
But they forgot one simple truth:
There will always come someone who doesn’t like the board...
and instead of playing by their rules—
breaks it...
to create a new one.]