Baby System: I'm the Beast World's Only Hope!-Chapter 273: Episode 271: So he is the one?

Roxy froze. Her hand, which had been resting on the heavy, pearl-inlaid handle of the sanctum door, trembled.

The image of her tiny, beautiful Mer-Prince flashed behind her eyes, the way his little fists used to curl into her hair. An ache ripped through her chest, so profound and agonizing it physically stole the breath from her lungs.

Every biological, maternal instinct she possessed screamed at her to turn around, to hold her baby just one more time.

"I can’t," Roxy choked out. She rested her forehead against the cool, hard surface of the door. "Nerissa, if I hold him... if I smell him and feel his little heartbeat against mine... I won’t be able to let go. I will stay. And if I stay, my pack on the surface will die. I have to be a Queen right now, not just a mother. I can’t see him."

Behind her, the massive, elegant tentacles shifted softly across the mossy floor. Nerissa did not offer empty platitudes or try to change her mind. The older woman understood the devastating, necessary cruelty of a Queen’s sacrifice better than anyone.

"You are stronger than I ever was, Roxy," Nerissa murmured.

Roxy felt a cool, gentle touch against the back of her neck. She opened her eyes and turned her head slightly.

Nerissa was hovering just behind her, holding out a delicate, intricate necklace. The chain was woven from silver silk, and hanging from the center was a jagged, diamond-shaped shard of pure, pitch-black abyssal obsidian.

"Wear this," Nerissa instructed, lifting the necklace and fastening it securely around Roxy’s neck. The moment the black stone settled against her collarbone, the lingering, throbbing headache caused by the System’s violent glitch entirely vanished.

"What is it?" Roxy asked, her fingers brushing the smooth surface of the stone.

"It is an anchor," Nerissa explained, her dark eyes entirely serious. "A piece of the deepest bedrock of the Spires. It will not stop Him, but it will ground your mind when the interface tries to blind you again. The times are only going to get worse, my child. You must prepare yourself."

Roxy’s grip on the stone tightened.

"I don’t even understand what I am fighting against, Nerissa," Roxy confessed, her voice thick with fear. "How do I fight the sky? How do I fight the rules of the world?"

Nerissa offered a faint, sad smile, her hand coming up to gently cup Roxy’s cheek. "You do not fight the rules. I failed to shatter His prison because I was fighting for the wrong things. But looking at you... if I failed before, I am absolutely sure you can win. You will soon know exactly what it is you must do."

Roxy didn’t fully comprehend the cryptic warning, but the absolute, unwavering faith in Nerissa’s eyes fortified her fractured resolve. She gave a firm, determined nod.

With a final, silent exchange of understanding between the two transmigrated Queens, Roxy pushed the heavy doors open and swam out of the sanctum.

The hallway was dimly lit by glowing pearls, but the shadows were immediately banished by a massive, towering presence pacing the corridor.

Caspian.

The Merman King hadn’t gone far. The moment Roxy emerged, his sharp, predatory eyes locked onto her.

"I am leaving," Roxy said softly, not breaking her stride as she swam past him toward the main ascension currents.

"You are not going alone," Caspian declared, his powerful tail flicking as he instantly fell into pace beside her. "The leviathans have been agitated. The deep currents are shifting. I will escort you."

"Caspian, you don’t have to—"

"I am not asking for permission, Roxy," Caspian growled, his voice vibrating with a fierce, overprotective authority. He reached out, grabbing her arm and spinning her around to face him.

Before Roxy could protest, Caspian pulled her flush against his hard, scaled chest. His hands tangled in her dark hair, tilting her head back, and he crashed his mouth down onto hers.

It was a goodbye, a plea, and a territorial claim all rolled into one devastating moment. Roxy melted against him, her hands clutching his broad shoulders, letting the intoxicating, familiar taste of her Abyssal King wash over her.

When he finally pulled back, both of them were breathing heavily, their foreheads resting together in the dim water.

This big merman she didn’t want to remain with.

Roxy looked over his shoulder, her gaze accidentally drifting down the long, arching corridor that led to the royal nursery. The ache in her chest flared into a violent, screaming agony. Just one look, a treacherous voice in her mind whispered. Just peek inside the door.

She squeezed her eyes shut, forcibly burying the urge beneath a mountain of duty.

"Lead the way, Your Grace," Roxy whispered, her voice cracking.

Caspian saw the direction of her gaze and the heartbreaking sacrifice she was making. He didn’t say a word. He simply intertwined his long, webbed fingers with hers, holding her hand in a crushing, iron grip.

Together, the King and Queen of the Deep swam out of the castle.

They left the glowing, neon warmth of the Spires behind, propelling themselves upward into the crushing, pitch-black void of the midnight zone. Caspian’s powerful flukes beat in perfect, synchronized rhythm with Roxy’s iridescent pink tail. The visual contrast between them was mesmerizing. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

For hours, they swam in silence. Caspian’s terrifying aura acted as an impenetrable shield; not a single leviathan, not a single shadow, dared to approach them. He held her hand the entire way, his thumb constantly stroking the back of her knuckles, as if terrified she would vanish if he let go.

Eventually, the absolute blackness began to lighten, bleeding into a beautiful blue. The crushing pressure of the deep sea slowly began to ease.

Roxy slowed her ascent, her heart picking up a frantic rhythm. This was the depth limit for Surface dwellers. This was where she had left him.

"Syris?" Roxy called out for him, scanning the jagged, shadowed walls of the underwater canyon.

For a moment, there was nothing but the rushing current.

A massive, sleek form uncoiled from a hidden crevice. Emerald-green scales shimmered in the faint, filtering light from the surface as the Snake Beastman glided forward into the open water.

Syris had waited exactly where she told him to. His body was stiff from the freezing cold, his movements slightly sluggish from the immense atmospheric pressure, but his vertical green pupils were razor-sharp.

The moment Syris emerged, Caspian stopped dead in the water.

The Merman King’s grip on Roxy’s hand tightened to the point of pain. His scales flared, the finned ridges along his ears pinning back in aggressive, territorial display. A deep, vibrating snarl rumbled in Caspian’s chest, churning the water around them. He recognized the scent. He recognized the aura.

This was one of Roxy’s surface mates. One of the men who got to touch her, hold her, and keep her in the sun while Caspian was trapped in the dark.

Syris did not flinch under the crushing, murderous weight of the Abyssal King’s glare. The cold-blooded Snake Beastman hovered in the water, his long, green hair drifting around his pale, impossibly calm face. He slowly crossed his arms over his chest, his emerald tail giving a slow, calculated swish.

Syris’s eyes swept over Caspian, taking in the sheer, monstrous size of him, the regal, devastatingly handsome face, and the desperate, white-knuckled grip he maintained on Roxy’s hand.

A slow, knowing smirk touched the corner of Syris’s lips.

"So," Syris hissed softly. "He is the one."

A/N: We welcome a new month, with a juicy twist, see you <3