Desharow Merman Chapter 36

Translator: Jade
Editor: rad_pigeon, Cheonsa

Chapter 36

"Wait Agares! Your injuries!" 

Even though I knew the chances of stopping him were low, I still subconsciously went to grab his arm. It was only then did I realize that Agares's back, hidden behind his long silky hair, was dyed heavily in blue blood. Even half of his hair had been stained by it. It was obvious that anyone could naturally tell the manner of the wound. I couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. Out of nowhere, the pain on my back that was originally expelled from my mind due to the  overwhelming situation began to stir again. An extremely sharp pain spreaded throughout my backbone, causing me to bend down and use my fingers to dig into the flesh of my shoulder blades. 

Damn it, why is it so painful?! 

I gritted my teeth, fully aware that I had to endure it. I couldn't look at Agares for help because he would probably suffer from losing if he attended to me. So, when Agares turned his head around, I sank myself deeper into the water, only revealing my head. The wound that was now soaked with the seawater made it seem as though my wounds had been rubbed all over with salt. Due to the stimulation, my body that was immersed in the water trembled violently, yet  I still pretended to be unaffected by pressing my lips tightly together and looked straight into Agares's eyes that shone with a dim glow. Taking a deep breath while exerting great effort to stay level-headed, I calmly said, "Hey, you're seriously hurt. Can you and that guy who is neither male nor female…and negotiate in peace ?"

I was aware that what I said was ridiculous. The idea of using human negotiation did not exist in the population of wild beasts. However, I was hoping that at this moment there was a better way to resolve this matter, because I did not want, or at least do not want, Agares to lose his position as a leader because of me. God only knows that it was against the natural order for humans to intervene and influence the relationship between the life of two beast species!

Agares attentively watched  me, and hidden beneath his feather-like eyelashes were unpredictable surging waves. One of his webbed hands softly  pressed the back of my head as though he was holding onto a precious piece of glassware. I nervously directed my gaze down at the flowing stream of reflecting lights on the waves between us. Trying to guess his thoughts was similar to grasping sea water into my hand; it was futile and in vain. It seemed as though he was carefully considering my suggestion and was using his eyes to suggest that my idea was too naive. I was unable to look him face to face, worried that my expression would become distorted by the pain and would unintentionally expose my flaws. I furrowed my eyebrows and said, "Hey, were you able to understand what I said?" 

The red-haired mermaid's provocative high voice echoed once again, causing me to look up at find him closing in several meters. His tail, midway out of the sea's surface, created a high wave ridge. His face was paving towards Agares but his slender, upturned eyes were actually staring longingly at me. Lifting up an arm, he had spread out his fingers before folding them back in one by one, creating an alluring hand gesture as though he wanted to seduce me. His scarlet red lips drew open faintly where his tongue extended out. Clearly interested, he licked the side of his lips while holding an unbridled expression as though I was already in his arms.

Fuck… Goosebumps rose all over my body, the sensation was as if a perverted demon had molested me. I don't know if all merfolk's eyes held magical deceptive powers like Agares because, even though I felt rather disgusted, I wasn't able to tear my eyes away from the red-haired merman and hastened my breathing. 

At this time, the back of my neck was tightened. My line of sight was soon overshadowed by Agares's lowering body and before I knew it, my lips were harshly pressed. His tongue then dove straight into my mouth, prying open my teeth, and began to suck heavily as though it was flavourful.

Ngh! Feeling suffocated, I was unable to hold back an unintentional, smothered moan. The pain of my tongue nearly sucked to the point of being swallowed woke me up to reality. Out of reflex, I began to struggle from Agares's shackle. He unexpectedly didn't linger for too long, and, instead,turned his head with a narrowed, deadpan stare towards the covetous aggressor. Like a king, he silently warned him—I was his trophy that no one was entitled to touch.

The sharp contours on the side of Agares's face made him look strong. His eyes were dark and gloomy, his white, sharp teeth shown at the corner of his lip, dripped with murderous intentions that could make anyone tremble in fear. 

"I… Will… Come back… Desharow.." 

His moist webbed hands swept past my cheek, leaving behind traces of ice-cold water. He not-so fluently mulled over the Russian syllables while his long eyelashes fluttered in the wake of his half-open eyelids, casting a thin but deep shadow. His hand grabbed a hold of my own and then he lowered his head onto my palm, taking in a deep sniff. The moment my palm stroked against the edge of his angular contour, the pit of my stomach tightened painfully for no reason, like how leather shrinks when mixed in water. It was so tight that there was a tingly, dull pain left behind.    

"Wait… for me," I heard Agares murmuring against my palm.

I suddenly felt an unspeakable terror. I swear I had never experienced such a sensation to this extent before. I was bewildered and entirely numb on the spot. It was only until Agares had released my hand that my soul returned back into my body. A sudden impulse came out of nowhere and I extended my hand in an attempt to grab a hold of Agares's arm, yet only managed to grasp the empty air. My fist ended up in the sea, still clenching tightly. 

Desharow, what's wrong with you? There's no need for you to worry so much!

My mind was an indiscernible mess as I looked on helplessly at Agares's strongly built figure diving head first into the sea. His long, black tail resembled  the rising of a large bow, streaking an arch across the moon, followed by a swift, splitting of a large wave, before completely disappearing into the darkest parts of the sea. The red-haired merman on the other hand merely gave me a single glance, harboring some sort of malicious intent before penetrating the surface of the sea, like a dart, as though he didn't want to fall behind. 

In an instant, the calm sea started billowing, it was as if a tsunami was about to strike as the waves rolled, creating series of layers where even half of the moon ended up being covered by it. 

I hurriedly looked around for a shadow underneath the water, but my body was being tossed around by the high tides making it difficult. The vast sea made it seem as though I was the only living thing around. Both the pain and the cold were slowly tearing down my mental states making it unbearable for me to stay in the sea anymore. If I were to stay any longer, I fear I might go into shock by the loss of blood or the smell of my blood may attract sharks or other dangerous predators in the sea.

Who knows! Maybe there will be more merfolk or, perhaps, another sea creature like that giant eel popping out of nowhere before Agares is done dueling that other merman. Just the thought of it caused shivers to crawl all over me. 

But where's the ship? How far has it sailed?

I looked in the far distance from every direction and, just as I was at my wit's end, I unexpectedly spotted a faint light passing from the distance in the night fog. I immediately broke out in cold sweat thinking it was the eyes of some sort of big fish, but I soon came to realize that it was a flashing light coming from a light source. If it wasn't, it wouldn't have penetrated through the fog. Plus, the glow of the lamp was sweeping in all directions, obviously looking for something.

That's a lifeboat!

I was overjoyed and had immediately set out to swim towards its direction. The more I swam, the more certain I was about my speculation. As soon as I heard several  hollers of men from afar, I was filled with adrenaline to where even the wound on my back didn't feel painful anymore from the vigor of my motion. Even my back wound didn't seem to hurt anymore. It must be Rhine and the others! They must have taken advantage of the chaos to get control of the situation, excellent!

"Hey! Guys, I'm over here!" I treaded through the water towards their direction with both my hands and feet at an incredible speed. Oh God, it was hard to believe that my speed was just as fast as a yacht's! When I swam right in front of them out of nowhere, they were nearly scared half to death.

"Desharow!" The instant Rhine saw me, he let out an excited shout and extended his arm, pulling me fiercely up from the water and bringing me tightly into his embrace. His body was shaking fiercely, his sturdy body was similar to that of an iron hoop, binding me tightly and making it impossible for me to breathe. "Hey, enough man. I'm alive aren't I? If you put in any more strength, you're going to crush my bones."

It was only after I complained weakly that Rhine finally released me from his hold. My body could finally loosen up and sit down. Rhine settled atop of the ship's prow and began changing the boat's direction. The motor came to life with a rumble and he quickly steered the ship towards another direction. For the first time, I felt so comfortable sitting on a boat, even though the months-long voyage had already exhausted me. The sailors beside me draped a raincoat over me and even handed me a lit cigarette in consideration.  

I shivered and sucked on the cigarette like an addict, I was so touched that I could barely say anything. 

“Hey, it's good to see that you're alright, our little Wallace." 

One of the sailors patted me on the shoulders, and nervously looked behind me into the distance before continuing. "I saw quite a big wave just now, it couldn't be that strange fish could it?! How did you even escape?”

My breathing became tense and the words that Agares had said before he went into the sea flashed in my head. I couldn't help but blank out for a moment. My heart suddenly felt stuffy as if a big sponge was covering it, making it hard for me to breathe. My shoulder was once again patted and I promptly shook my head. “No… nothing, it wasn't that fish. It…was just the wind.”

"That merman…" 

“Where!?” I subconsciously turned my head to look, but the sea was too foggy. Besides the sea waves and the full moon, nothing else could be seen.

"I mean, did that merman escape?" The sailor asked. 

I awkwardly turned my head and sucked in another mouthful of the cigarette. My heart was in a mess, feeling as if it was pricked by thorns.

“I don't know. Wait till we get back and talk.”

I tried to keep my eyes at the sea in front of the boat, resisting the urge to turn around and look back. However, Rhine presently turned his head to look at me with a complicated expression. 

I pretended that I didn't notice him and spat out another mouthful of smoke as I followed the direction of the fog into the distance of the sea.

That night, when we arrived back at that pirate ship, the one in control was no longer the pirates, who had gotten killed or injured while fighting the sea monster. We had now regained our initiative. The pirates definitely didn't foresee that by taking us as hostages, they turned themselves into scapegoats. Destiny is indeed hard to predict. Using our bordering country saying, "Fortune rises and falls". 

We took a bunch of those unlucky pirates and threw them into the bottom cabin to return what they did to us before, then we separated ourselves into a few  cabins on the ship to rest. My injury was somewhat grave, but luckily, Rhine had found a first aid kit on the vessel. I had intended to apply the medicine myself, but unfortunately, the wound was located on my back and beyond my reach. I could only let Rhine, who was not heavily injured, to do it for me.

"Bear it just for a little bit. Your clothing and the wound are stuck together." 

He spoke in a low voice as he stood behind me. I nodded my head and, like a damn dog, I obediently lay on the bed with my back facing upwards. I bit onto the pillow and I pretended to be relaxed as I gave an OK sign.  

A searing pain tore through my back when I wasn't fully prepared. My fingers immediately dug into the bed sheets as I sweated furiously. I scolded him, "Fuck! Can't you go easier on me?"

As a response, Rhine didn't say anything. He merely peeled away the clothing that was attached to the wound and used fresh water to clean it up before proceeding to use bandages that were soaked with liquid medicine to wrap around the upper half of my body. I was so sore, I was practically paralyzed as I laid there. He had looped his arm around my underarm in order to tie the bandage with nimble movements. However, his arm didn't leave after he finished and, instead, held me in his embrace.

The pain filled my mind with distress and I was too occupied to understand what Rhine was doing. I only felt his chin resting on my shoulder before hearing a heaving sigh. "Desharow… For what happened during the day… In the cabin.. I'm sorry…" 

Rhine's apology was unusually sincere. Ever since the day I first met him, I had never seen him with such a serious demeanor. Even during school, he was very popular with the students due to his playful nature. However, the Rhine right now wasn't the teacher I placed my trust in. In addition to that, I recalled that he once took advantage of me and tried to sexually assault me. I immediately felt a little embarrassed and sat up from his embrace. 

"No, no, no, Rhine." I turned around and held his shoulder while forcing myself to squeeze out a few words through gritted teeth. "You don't have to apologise to me, you've been my mentor for three years, right? You've always aided me, so I should be the one to repay you. But listen, what happened in the cabin… Pretend as if you never saw it, alright?" 

Rhine looked at me, the expression he was wearing stiffened, as though he wanted to say something but hesitated. I was able to guess what he wanted to say. What had happened back at the lower cabin made him really irritated. No doubt the reason why he wanted to apologize, was due to me compromising with Agares that I'd be obedient. Indeed, because I wanted to protect Rhine's life, I had persuaded Agares. However, I didn't want Rhine to misunderstand anything—he probably thought that because I cared for Agares, I turned myself into a bargaining chip. Damn, this was one heck of a humiliating misunderstanding. 

In order to break this ambiguous atmosphere, I immediately squatted down and arranged the medicine in the kit. With fast motions, I treated the gashes on his shoulder and chest that was caused by Agares's tail. Pretending to be undisturbed, I asked. "Rhine, I want to know just where this boat is going? Since I've already been dragged along in your plan, I have the right to know. Please tell me." 

Rhine sucked in a mouthful of air and was silent for a moment before finally replying, "A place called Lemegeton." 

My hands couldn't help but tremble, "Come again?" 

"Legends say that it's a place where merfolk inhabit. Have you heard of it before, Desharow?

I creased my eyebrows and stared at him in disbelief, "What are you guys going there for?". 

My thoughts trailed back to that one day where a rifle with an engraved USA military's factory symbol was found on it, and my heart skipped a beat. "Rhine.. Don't tell me the merfolk research project was a military operation? Why was the US navy impersonating pirates and attacking our ship?" 

Rhine's entire complexion changed. "You actually found out?" 

I let out scoff and laughed bitterly, "I'm a student who scored full marks in the military theory course. How could I not recognize that symbol? Just tell me what's going on. Don't even think of leaving me in the dark." 

Rhine was startled by the sharpness of my tone. He stared at me, examining me as if I had morphed into a total stranger. After a long moment, he shook his head, face resembling an ice sculpture with cold sweat, and said, "Only the core operations personnel knows about it, other than that, it was kept a secret. That's an order from the military, Desharow, but I assure you that you will not come to any harm, I…" 

He grabbed onto my wrist, pupils looking like he was recalling a certain scene that he couldn't bear, thus making his breathing somewhat rough and heavy. "I won't let that beast hurt you again…" 

"Shut up!" Like an animal having its tail being stepped on, I was angry. I clenched my fist and put it atop Rhine's head. I furiously glared at him, "Continue to say that if you dare!" 

Rhine pursed up his lips as he stared, his eyes rested on me for a few seconds before extending his hand to securely grasp onto the front of my coat. He pressed me down onto the bed beside him and firmly kissed me without any regards. I sat up against the wall, clutching the torn coat and stared at him like a trapped animal while panting angrily. 

"Get the hell out!" 

Rhine just sat there like an immobile mountain. I couldn't stop myself from leaping out of bed to shove him outside before harshly flinging the door shut in an uncivilized manner. After that I switched off the light and threw myself back onto the bed.  

I buried my face into the pillow in an attempt to fall asleep without thinking too much. Both my mind and my body were exhausted having finally reached its limit. However, my train of thoughts were unable to stop running, making the battle in my mind chaotic. Still, my eyes couldn't help but drift towards the outside window into the pitch black darkness of the sea. My mood was akin to the bubbles being swirled around in the whirlpool in the abyss of the waves. My mind was still lingering on the words Agares had said. 

Maybe from that beast's point of view, it was counted as though… I broke my promise. 

But… I didn't even promise him anything! 

I'm actually feeling troubled over this matter! What's the matter with me? Is it possible that my heart have been somehow tempted by this sex-demon?!

It was absolutely absurd, simply ridiculous!

Even though I said this to myself, in reality, I was not laughing one bit because, although this idea was absolutely impossible to be true, it almost drove me crazy when it came out of my mouth. Unable to withstand it, I grabbed onto my head that was in utter chaos and banged it against the pillow a few times as if it was a hard rock that could make me break me open at any given time. Unfortunately, it didn't make me faint at once nor did it get rid of the strange thoughts in my mind. It could only provide me a place to bury my head to conceal my distress that had nowhere to vent out

Rumble…

As if to match my mood, the dark sky suddenly rolled with thunder followed by a flash of lightning. I knew that there was storm brewing. 

Damn it… 

I lifted up the blanket and dove my head into the warm hiding place, shutting my eyes. As the surroundings around me were sealed off, my consciousness quickly became fuzzy. I felt muddleheaded, however, I suddenly smelt a not-so-unfamiliar hormonal scent, coming from my body. This smell was emitted from the inside of my bone marrow and traveled into my flesh as though it was an unending stream. It dug into my nostrils, through my chest, down my lower abdomen, to… 

A peculiar current omitting from the unspeakable place left me sweating and feeling breathless as my hands fumbled around restlessly on the bed sheet beneath me. At last, I was unable to resist the temptation of male instinct and extended my hand into my trousers while eagerly spreading apart my legs for further exploration.

Being in a dark space made me feel a sense of privacy which seemed to hide away any shame, but it made my desire intensify. My fingers moved cautiously beneath my upper body while biting onto the pillow to prevent myself from making any shameful sounds. I couldn't help but admit that the reason for doing such lewd things with my hand was because I wanted sex. Not the way a normal man would want to pleasure himself, but instead, I wanted to use my fingers to play with my back door. 

I was also unable to deny that my mind was full of Agares, I was… longing for this beast. 

I had bitten onto the pillow tightly as I hastened the movement of my hand while simultaneously digging the other one into the sweat-soaked mattress and repressing a sense of shame. However, just as I was reaching my climax, a sudden ear-splitting thunder clapped from outside the window, sending my whole body into a quiver before I could reflexively raise my head.

At that moment, white light from outside the window allowed me to see a long black figure, similar to a ghost passing through the glass, reflecting a shadow onto my bed.

Say hi to our new editor! <3
Honestly, if he hadn't kick Rhine out from the room, imma commit murder fr like Desha made me so mad at times ><
Hope you all enjoyed reading nonetheless. :'D

Chapter end