Chapter 419 Voice-Cracking Scream

The party of four regrouped on the beach, but instead of setting off immediately, they turned back to pick up Colin.

Earlier, having smelled the pungent scent of blood in the air, Nick and the others had left the youth behind for his own safety; he would be utterly powerless in a Class Holder-level battle.

When Xia Nan saw him, Colin was hiding anxiously behind a massive reef, curled up like a quail as he occasionally poked his head out to cautiously scan his surroundings.

Seeing the party approach, Colin heaved a heavy sigh of relief. Then, pleasantly surprised by Xia Nan's presence, he visibly relaxed, unconsciously looking vastly more secure.

Xia Nan greeted the youth from a distance, but his brow furrowed unconsciously.

"It's dangerous here. Why did you bring him along?"

Although Colin had received some basic hunter training, he was still a far cry from a truly mature adventurer, let alone veterans who had already obtained their Class Levels.

Even his current sailor status still carried the "apprentice" prefix. Participating in a Class Grade adventure mission like this was little different from courting death.

Sensing the dissatisfaction in Xia Nan's tone, Nick's expression stiffened. He squeezed out a smile and lowered his voice to explain, "He was there when that monster attacked the village earlier. He was just knocked out by the shockwave, so he counts as an eyewitness. Leda has a Feat that can track the monster's whereabouts, but she needs Colin as a medium, so we brought him along."

Since things had already come to this, and they had delved deep into the middle section of the North Cliff on Cliff Rock Island—flanked by the stone cliff on one side and the ocean on the other—sending him back now would waste too much time and invite trouble.

Letting Colin return alone was also concerning. The path back was littered with sharp reefs, and a single careless slip could see him dragged away by dangerous underwater currents.

So they had no choice but to let him tag along with the party for now.

Fortunately, the two from the Silver Claw Osprey Squad were smart enough—or perhaps just lucky—to at least bring the halfling Alton along.

With this favored child of the Goddess of Luck in their ranks, nothing should go wrong.

Having been escorted by Xia Nan all the way from his remote home village to Barracuda Bay, Colin might have lacked experience in other areas, but he played the role of "dead weight" with unparalleled proficiency.

No matter how pale his face grew at the sight of the gruesome fishman corpses on the beach, he held back his fear without a single peep. Treating himself as invisible, he sensibly and silently followed behind the group.

Occasionally, when the half-elf leading the tracking paused her steps, he would step forward unprompted, using his own body to help her enhance her Perception of the monster's aura.

Whenever they encountered treacherous terrain that an ordinary person would struggle to traverse, he didn't try to play the hero; he simply let himself go limp like an accessory while Nick tucked him under an arm to carry him across.

It didn't take long—only about ten minutes or so.

Just as the monster's aura, sensed through the half-elf Leda's Feat, was about to hit its "half-hour" lingering limit, the group arrived at their destination.

It was a deep, gloomy cave cut off from the beach by tides and hidden reefs, seemingly embedded within the cliff face itself and connecting directly to the sea.

Because the terrain was slightly higher than sea level, it hadn't flooded, though the entrance was dotted with small puddles left behind by the crashing waves.

There was no doubt that when the tide came in, the entire cave would be submerged.

At this close range, Xia Nan didn't even need the half-elf's Feat to smell the heavy, fishy stench wafting from within.

Instead of rushing inside, Xia Nan turned around and instructed Colin at the rear of the group, "Find a place to hide around here first. Wait until we come out... or until dawn breaks tomorrow, then leave on your own."

Understanding his meaning, Colin nodded obediently and began searching the rocky shore for a suitable hiding spot.

"Right over there. It looks pretty high up, with a good vantage point," Alton said, standing on his tiptoes. He pointed toward a pile of rocks to the south, close to the cliff face. Several massive boulders were clustered together there, and hiding behind them would block off most lines of sight from the surroundings.

Watching Colin's figure disappear behind the rocks, the rest of the group pressed on.

Although a large stretch of shallow water littered with slippery reefs separated the cave from the beach, all four of them were Class Holders. By stepping across the exposed rocks protruding from the water, they easily reached the other side.

The moment Xia Nan's feet landed firmly on solid ground, a cold draft howled from the depths of the cave, carrying with it the thick stench of blood.

Unlike the coppery rust of human blood or the foul rot of Goblins, this bloody scent was mixed with a faint saltiness.

Xia Nan was very familiar with it.

It was identical to the smell of fish blood currently lingering on his own body.

Feeling suspicious, he warned his teammates to stay alert. The four of them formed up and slowly advanced into the hollow of the cliff.

The passageway was damp and spacious enough for Xia Nan and Nick—the party's only two frontline fighters—to walk side by side at the vanguard.

Alton trailed two steps behind. Facing unknown enemies in the dark, he had slung his buff-granting Lute onto his back, opting instead to wield a pair of small, curved blades. The Bard class he had chosen wasn't purely a Spellcaster type, and musical enchantments were only supplementary; if it came down to a hard-fought melee, he possessed decent dual-wielding skills as well.

Having reached their destination, the half-elf Leda—who previously had to use her Feat to lead the way—now gripped her longbow and brought up the rear. Her crystalline eyes refracted the silvery-white radiance unique to her Elf bloodline in the dim light.

Unsurprisingly, as the four ventured deeper, corpses of Sahuagin gradually began appearing in the once-empty tunnel.

The bodies varied in age; some were already rotting and foul, while others looked freshly dead, their skin still secreting the mucus used to retain moisture.

However, without exception, the wounds on all the corpses bore irregular bite marks, clearly inflicted by the very monster the Silver Claw Osprey Squad was hunting.

As for Xia Nan, who was searching for clues regarding Morton, he did indeed discover some lingering traces of past human habitation along the way.

But so much time had passed that the signs were faint, leading him to guess they had been left behind many years ago by Lyle Morton during his time living on Cliff Rock Island.

Just as he was pondering the likelihood of finding the [Dream Weaving Corridor] key here, he suddenly sensed something.

Xia Nan unconsciously focused his mind and raised a hand, signaling the rest of the group to halt.

In the silence, a "wulu" sound—much like a chant, carrying a bizarre rhythm—echoed from the gloomy depths of the cave.

They could vaguely distinguish it as the Sahuagin language, but none of them understood the meaning behind the recitation.

Feeling increasingly uneasy, the group lightened their footsteps and crept toward the source of the chanting.

Finally, after rounding a corner, a massive, cavernous space opened up before them.

The air was cold, damp, and viscous, permeated by a heavy, salty stench of blood. Moss growing in the crevices of the stone walls emitted an unnatural, ethereal blue glow that pulsed like breath. It provided scant illumination in the otherwise pitch-black environment, swallowing even more details into the swaying, flickering shadows.

At the very back of the cave lay a still pool of water. Not a single ripple disturbed its surface; it merely reflected the darkness and the faint blue glow like a mirror.

In front of the pool sat an incredibly crude and primitive altar.

Its main structure was cobbled together from a few dark brown reefs—rough but passably polished—and the wreckage of a sunken ship salvaged from the sea. Strange, inexplicable runic patterns could faintly be seen carved into its surface.

The half-orc Guka... or rather, Guka's corpse, lay quietly upon the altar.

Even though his race and class granted him a physique far surpassing that of ordinary men, given his Class Level, losing a third of his body—including his right shoulder and half of his neck—to a savage bite meant he stood absolutely no chance of survival.

His blood had long since drained dry, turning into rusty, reddish-brown stains across his skin. Only a pair of lifeless, ashen eyes remained, staring blankly up at the stone ceiling.

This former member of the Silver Claw Osprey Squad had been turned into a sacrifice.

And the priest presiding over the Sacrificial Ritual was a grotesque Sahuagin.

Its frame was noticeably taller and more slender than the ones Xia Nan had just slaughtered.

Two pairs of long, scale-covered, slimy arms stretched out in entirely different postures. The upper pair reached high above its head, sharp claws tightly gripping a crude staff fashioned from fish bones and conch shells. The lower pair angled downward, crossing over one another in a complex, twisted hand seal aimed at the half-orc's corpse.

Its bloody maw, lined with hook-like fangs, was wide open, emitting a continuous, low-pitched trill. The "wulu" sound Xia Nan and the others had heard earlier was coming right from it.

One sacrifice, one Sahuagin priest.

And...

Below the altar, nearly twenty adult Sahuagin groveled on the ground in a dense, prostrate mass, as devout as true believers.

Without a shred of hesitation, as if driven by pure instinct.

Acutely perceptive, the moment Xia Nan's gaze swept over the staff in the four-armed Sahuagin priest's hands, the creature instantly became his primary target.

"Drip."

A droplet of water fell lazily from the stone ceiling, splashing a small cluster of crystalline spray across the glassy surface of the pool.

Ripples spread outward.

The chanting echoing off the cavern walls abruptly ceased. The Sahuagin priest slightly raised its head, its pitch-black, lusterless fish eyes reflecting the blurred silhouettes at the distant entrance.

Their lines of sight clashed in an instant.

Time seemed to freeze.

He could see the contours of the squirming muscles on the Sahuagin priest's face. Its open maw contracted slightly, the pitch of its chant twisting and preparing to warp into a word of warning. Magical particles surged at its fingertips, turning into a spectral blue light that rapidly gathered and flowed toward the tip of its staff.

But at the exact same moment all of this happened—or perhaps even a split second before—

The instant it locked eyes with those pitch-black pupils...

The howl of a wolf had already rung out.

"Awooo..."

Mane swaying, the profound Winter Wolf flickered out like a shadow amid the howling gale, wrapped in biting astral winds.

His reaction was too fast!

The exact instant Xia Nan realized the enemy had spotted them, he translated the hostility and intent in his mind into explosive physical action.

At that moment, even his teammates hadn't yet reacted.

They only heard a wolf's howl detonate by their ears and felt a fierce gust of wind whip their cloaks. Xia Nan had already vanished from where he stood.

Against this kind of staff-wielding, obvious Spellcaster-type enemy, the youth from Rivervale Town never held back his combat power.

Just like that young mage on the pirate ship who had been the first to lose his head.

Hum—

[Gravity Etching] + [Heavy Tide].

Ochre-red light gathered like runes on the surface of his dark grey longsword, causing the surrounding air to blur and ripple, resembling the bloodstained fangs of a roaring black wolf.

[Gravity Control] activated soundlessly. The staff in the Sahuagin priest's hands had only just begun to gather mana when it was violently yanked downward by some invisible force. As its arms trembled, the half-solidified spectral blue light shattered into scattering motes.

A distance of several dozen meters was crossed in a flash under the charge of [Fang Hunt].

Before the four-armed Sahuagin priest could even recover from the magical backlash of its interrupted spell, Xia Nan's feet had already slammed down onto the altar.

Aiming at the enemy's neck, his arms surged with power.

A completely ordinary [Spinning Slash]—imbued with a "slight" bonus effect—was unleashed in a horizontal sweep.

The interrupt effect of [Heavy Tide], combined with the gravitational pull, rendered the creature's attempt to dodge completely futile.

The force field energy from [Gravity Etching] detonated before the blade even touched flesh. This pure kinetic force—acting much like "true damage"—preemptively obliterated the tough scales covering the Sahuagin's body, clearing the way for the straight sword.

By the time the dark grey blade, wrapped in ochre-red light, struck the base of the Sahuagin priest's neck, its throat bones had already been mostly pulverized by the force field energy.

His waist twisted halfway, and his wrists flicked.

"Squelch."

A dazzling arc of sword light flashed through the dimly lit cavern.

Fluorescent blue fish blood geysered upward, launching that ugly, scale-covered head high into the air.

When the Sahuagin prostrated closest to the altar was jolted by the wolf howl and blankly raised its head...

The blood of its priest splashed squarely across its face.

And so, terror erupted.

The fleeting surges of shock, rage, and sorrow were instantly swallowed by a tidal wave of dread under the influence of [Night Mother's Gaze].

Leaving only bottomless, boundless panic and fear.

It grabbed for its weapon, dropped it, and scrambled backward until it practically collapsed onto the floor. Propping itself up with its hands, fish tail thrashing, its thick legs pedaled frantically against the ground, desperate to crawl as far away from the altar as possible—like prey fleeing an apex predator.

But as its fingers scraped against the ground, it felt something thick and sticky.

It instinctively turned its head to look.

Without it noticing, the companion who had just been praying alongside it in the chant was now reduced to a horrifying, mangled lump of flesh, convulsing and twitching in a pool of blood.

"Slash! Slash!"

Two more sounds of a swinging sword rang out from the front.

As if drained of all independent thought, the Sahuagin instinctively followed the sound and looked back up at the altar.

It saw its grand priest—whose severed head was still spinning through the air—have its body carved into three separate chunks by two flashing arcs of sword light.

"Gah... Gaaaru!"

It was the Sahuagin's voice-cracking scream.

(End of Chapter)