Chapter 519 - 404: Black Sails Set Sail and the Broken-Winged "Dragon Seeker
Chapter 519: Chapter 404: Black Sails Set Sail and the Broken-Winged "Dragon Seeker
Two vastly different approaches to life. Neither is better than the other, only a matter of choice.
WHOOOO—
A long, deep horn blast echoed out. Under the sailors’ control, the massive sails of the *Deep Sea Throat* slowly rose, like unfurling black wings.
The warship began its slow departure from the pier, its enormous hull carving a white wake through the water.
The cheers from the docks reached a crescendo.
Avril watched the warship recede into the distance and asked softly,
"Do you think he’ll really find the treasure?"
"Perhaps. Perhaps not."
Raylo’s gaze, however, wasn’t fixed on Aurum’s ship. It swept over the other parts of the harbor.
As the *Deep Sea Throat* departed, the clamor on the docks gradually subsided.
The crowd began to break up, people drifting off in twos and threes to resume their daily lives.
Just then, Raylo’s eyes narrowed.
He noticed that in a few inconspicuous berths on the far side of the harbor, several ordinary-looking, single-masted sailboats were hastily weighing anchor, doing so almost the instant the Black Sails warship had completely cleared the channel.
Like sharks that had caught the scent of blood, the ships eagerly set off in the direction of the *Deep Sea Throat*, heading for the vast, open sea.
Clearly, these schemers were after the Treasure Map in Aurum’s possession.
A smirk touched Raylo’s lips.
’It seems this treasure hunt was destined to be turbulent from the very start.’
’Aurum was the hunter, but in the eyes of those lurking in the shadows, wasn’t he also a fat, juicy prize, carrying immense wealth?’
’A bloody game of cat and mouse was about to play out upon the azure sea.’
’Aurum must have seen the risks. His flamboyance could only stem from supreme confidence in his own power.’
Raylo had no intention of getting involved.
The foundation of the Black Stone Territory was on land. His goal was to become a powerhouse in the entire Duchy, and eventually, the entire Continent.
Until he had built a navy powerful enough to dominate the seas, he would not rashly pour his energy into the unknown dangers of the ocean.
"Let’s go."
Raylo withdrew his gaze and said softly to Avril.
Just as Raylo and Avril turned to leave, the clamor on the docks having mostly faded, a strange, intermittent roar suddenly echoed from the horizon.
The sound was like an old bellows being worked frantically, or perhaps a dying Giant Beast gasping for air.
Everyone remaining on the docks instinctively looked up, their gazes following the sound to its source.
A Magic Airship was lurching through the sky, flying crookedly from the southern horizon toward Baisha Port.
To call it an airship was being generous.
Its massive envelope, which should have been oval-shaped, was now riddled with large holes, like a piece of cheese gnawed on by rats. It was steadily leaking the magical gas that kept it aloft.
Of the magical propellers on either side of the hull that provided propulsion, only one was still spinning feebly. The other was belching thick black smoke, obviously a complete wreck.
The airship’s hull was covered in vicious claw marks and gaping holes. In some spots, an eerie blue Flame still burned, unextinguished by the sea wind.
It was like a battle-scarred veteran who had just escaped a brutal battlefield, struggling with its last ounce of strength to return to a safe harbor.
"Gods! What is that?"
"It’s a Magic Airship! How did it get so battered?"
The crowd on the docks began to gather once more, pointing at the sky and crying out in alarm.
"I recognize it! That’s the *Dragon Seeker*!"
A well-traveled old sailor suddenly shouted.
"It’s the Magic Airship that goes to Flying Dragon Island in the South to ’hunt’ for dragons!"
"Hunt for dragons?"
A young Mercenary nearby asked curiously.
"You can hunt for dragons?"
"What do you know!"
The old sailor shot him a glare, his face holding a trace of awe.
"They hunt Flying Dragons! A powerful type of Tier Four Magical Beast! The people on the *Dragon Seeker* are all true powerhouses. They go to Flying Dragon Island to capture those adult Flying Dragons and sell them to high nobles as mounts!"
"A single adult Flying Dragon can sell for the astronomical price of over ten thousand Golden Dragons!"
At his words, the surrounding crowd gasped.
Of course, the people who could capture Flying Dragons were no ordinary folk.
Clearly, the *Dragon Seeker* had encountered an unimaginably brutal battle on its journey.
Under the tense watch of the crowd, the battered Magic Airship finally struggled its way into the airspace above Baisha Port.
Instead of attempting to land on the crowded docks, it headed for a relatively open stretch of beach.
BOOM!
The airship crashed heavily onto the sand, throwing up a massive cloud of dust.
Its massive hull skidded for a hundred meters across the beach, carving a deep trench before grinding to a halt with a sickening screech of twisting metal.
The airship’s hatch was kicked open from the inside with tremendous force.
Seven or eight figures stumbled out.
When the crowd got a clear look at them, they let out another collective gasp.
Each of the seven or eight individuals radiated the formidable, heart-stopping aura of a Domain Level Powerhouse.
But now, every one of them was a wreck. Their Armor and Magic Robes were in tatters, caked with blood and filth.
One of them, a powerfully built man, had half his body burned to a char. One arm was severed clean at the shoulder, and the wound itself still flickered with that eerie blue Flame.
Another, an elderly man who looked like a Mage, was as pale as a sheet. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, a clear sign of severe internal injuries.
They had escaped with their lives, but they had paid a terrible price.
A squad from the Baisha Port City Guard Army hurried over.
"What on earth happened? What did you encounter?"
The captain of the City Guard Army squad stepped forward and asked cautiously.
The one-armed man caught his breath, an indelible terror still lingering in his eyes.
"A storm... On our way back, we were caught in a storm at sea... one like we’d never seen before."
His voice was hoarse with exhaustion.
"A storm?"
The captain looked confused.
"A mere storm did this to you?"
"That was no ordinary storm!"
The man suddenly grew agitated.
"In the center of that storm, we... we encountered a monster!"
"A monster?"
"Yes, a... a Catastrophe Level Giant Beast!"
Catastrophe Level!
Those two words struck everyone present like a physical blow.
Everyone was stunned speechless by the news.
Catastrophe Level. An existence of terrifying power spoken of only in legends, said to rival the gods themselves.
A walking calamity. An absolute Power that Mortals could not hope to resist.
"What kind of Giant Beast was it?"
Avril, beside Raylo, couldn’t help but ask softly.
The injured Mage, having recovered some of his strength, took up the story. His voice was filled with a mixture of terror and awe.
"We... we couldn’t see its full form."
"It was too massive. Its body was hidden within the thunderclouds that blotted out the sky. All we could see was its serpentine form, vast as a mountain range, coiling in and out of view within the clouds."
"It seemed to be... a creature akin to a great serpent or a Giant Dragon, its entire body covered in scales formed from the storm and Thunderbolt. Its every breath stirred the sea into monstrous waves. Its every blink summoned a thousand bolts of lightning."
The Mage’s voice trembled slightly as he recalled the terrifying scene.
"We never even got close. We were merely grazed by the shockwave of its awakening, and the *Dragon Seeker* nearly disintegrated on the spot. We exhausted all our strength and sacrificed over a dozen of our comrades just to barely escape that storm of death."
Watching these powerhouses who had narrowly escaped death, Raylo was struck by a thought.
’This world is far more dangerous than I ever imagined.’
Raylo and Avril did not continue to watch.
All that remained was for the City Guard Army to handle the aftermath, and for the nobles of Baisha Port to offer condolences to—and attempt to recruit—the surviving Domain Level Powerhouses.
None of this had anything to do with them.
The two of them returned to Baisha Castle and enjoyed a lavish, pleasant lunch with Marquis Orlando.