Bella carefully studied the traces of divine power Calypso had left in the seawater. By now, she had encountered quite a few gods. Leaving someone like Odin aside, she had met both Thor and Loki. Objectively speaking, Calypso was weaker than either of them, but fusing with a sea monster had been an unusual idea. The creature had transformed the Sea Goddess in some way, producing an effect greater than the sum of its parts. Whether that change was good or bad in terms of divinity, however, was impossible to say.
She had become more sinister, and her methods more deranged.
There were so many gods in the world, yet she was the only one constantly stirring up trouble in the ocean. Not killing her would almost be an insult to all the effort she had put into causing chaos.
Both sides had already discovered each other, so an ambush held little value. Besides, this was the ocean, the Sea Goddess's home ground. Bella did not believe the Flying Dutchman could deceive her senses.
Namor had not arrived yet. Bella decided to launch an attack first and test Calypso's strength.
A physically fragile mage like her obviously could not perform the probe herself, so she swept her gaze over the several powerful subordinates under her command.
Pyramid Head and the Nun were both unsuited for underwater combat. O'Rin of the Water had been born in Mibu Village, but her skills beneath the water were mediocre. Smaug had to be reserved as their trump card. In the end, there was only one choice.
"Jason, go test her."
Jason Voorhees, wearing his hockey mask and carrying a large blade, plunged from the deck into the sea with a splash. Half an hour later, he silently walked out of the cabin.
"I still didn't get a clear look at the enemy... You'll have to go again," Bella said awkwardly.
She had been slightly distracted before, and Jason had been attacked so suddenly that she never saw what happened. Her naval general had simply been killed and sent back.
Jason remained silent. With another splash, he charged into the sea once more.
This time, Bella watched through his eyes and stared fixedly ahead.
As he approached a vast pit fifteen nautical miles to the front-left, a black tentacle suddenly shot out. Jason was prepared this time and immediately swung his blade to chop it apart.
The tentacle struck with tremendous force, but it seemed unable to sustain its momentum. Jason dodged repeatedly, and the tentacle's attack speed grew slower and slower.
Then its tip abruptly opened like a flower bud. A streak of black radiance split the seawater, and in the blink of an eye, Jason was killed in one blow and sent back again.
This time, Bella saw clearly. In the dim water, Calypso's body had taken on an unnatural ink-black hue.
The Sea Goddess, fused with a sea monster, stood more than a hundred meters tall—even taller than King Kong.
Her upper body still retained a woman's shape, only magnified dozens of times.
Bella and Calypso stared at each other across the distance. The Sea Goddess had a pair of deep-blue eyes. Her once-beautiful features were now completely consumed by viciousness. Scales covered her cheeks, the bridge of her nose, and her forehead. Her skin was rough all over, and bone spikes of varying lengths grew from her elbows and shoulders. Between her breasts, a head resembling an enormous piranha protruded grotesquely.
Below the abdomen, the Sea Goddess looked somewhat bovine. She had four deformed, twisted legs firmly rooted into the ocean floor. Calypso mainly supported her body with numerous tentacles emerging from her abdomen. Every tentacle was covered in suckers, and each sucker contained a sharp-toothed mouth. They chewed constantly, as if ravenous.
Calypso roared at Bella from afar and suddenly whipped her head. A god's hair should have remained eternally lustrous, yet hers thrashed like a nest of frenzied snakes. Dense strands surged toward the Flying Dutchman. On closer inspection, Bella saw that monsters resembling Deep Ones dangled from the ends of the Sea Goddess's hair.
They had lead-gray skin, fishlike heads, and webbing between their claws.
The Deep Ones' legs were connected to Calypso's hair. Bella did not know whether the Sea Goddess's hair had mutated into Deep Ones or whether the creatures had fused themselves into her hair like parasites. After seeing their disgusting appearance, she had no desire to learn the answer.
"That's fucking disgusting! Retreat!"
Bella could not be bothered to shout slogans. All her subordinates were undead. By fantasy rules, they were units without morale and required no encouragement whatsoever. They could not feel fear either.
When foes met head-on, the braver one won. But not right now. She was not fighting alone. She would let her allies take a few swings first and see how things went.
"Die, evil god!" Namor, wielding the Trident of Neptune, was the first to sense the disturbance in the seawater and followed it all the way there. He knew nothing about magic either. The ghost ship passed not far from him without him noticing anything, yet he spotted the hundred-meter-tall Calypso at a glance.
In ordinary terms, Namor's mutant ability amounted to physical capabilities far beyond those of a normal human. In theory, his strength could reach one hundred tons.
That was terrifying. Spider-Man's maximum strength was only around twenty tons, while Bella, even after enhancing herself with psionic power, could bench-press merely one ton. There was no comparison.
Namor's condition, however, was always unstable. On land, factors such as poor leverage and his body weakening the longer he remained away from water prevented him from displaying his full physical ability. Underwater, none of that mattered. With Namor striking at full power, the first Deep One in his path was reduced to paste by a single punch.
The five Atlantean soldiers each drew a spear. Their weapons were similar to those of Asgard and Wakanda: they looked like spears, but could actually be used as laser rifles. The five fired wildly into the dense mass of Deep Ones and then... turned around and fled.
Namor drew Calypso toward Nick Fury. He personally guarded the rear, swinging his trident and slaughtering the endless Deep Ones.
Bang, bang, bang. Gunfire sounded muffled in the deep sea. Nick Fury seemed highly experienced at sniping large monsters. He had moved to higher ground in advance, and while Namor led the Deep Ones in circles, he fired.
The green bullet radiating gamma rays ignored the current and struck Calypso's arm amid the chaotic battlefield.
It penetrated deeply. Even the Sea Goddess's divine body could not stop the high-tech round. Deadly radiation spread from the point of impact, and a broad ring of burn marks appeared around it.
Bella swam to Nick Fury's side and gestured repeatedly, telling him to keep shooting. If he could kill Calypso outright, that would save them a great deal of trouble.
Nick Fury glared at her. His meaning was equally obvious: stop standing around and use whatever tricks you have.
"Fine, fine. Behold my Grand Summoning Spell!" Bella waved her hands theatrically, taking advantage of Nick Fury's ignorance of magic. Then she "summoned" the vicious-looking ghost ship and issued the order to attack.
Boom, boom, boom. Every gunport along one side of the ghost ship opened. All forty-nine cannons, arranged in three rows, fired in unison under the control of the Snake Eyes Clan.
The Ghost Cannonballs were shrouded in vengeful energy. They were invisible and intangible in flight, completely unaffected by the seawater. One shell after another exploded among the Deep Ones.