Chapter 855

Blinking, Miguel turned toward the starboard railing as well. It wasn’t difficult to find what Palmer was staring at.

Beyond the swarming sea creatures pursuing the smuggling ships, a blaze like a signal fire had erupted in the middle of the darkness. One of the sea creature-fused ships had become a floating inferno.

At that exact moment, another explosion erupted from a different demonic ship farther away.

Looking toward it, Miguel slowly broke into a strange smile. "Ah, so he’s in that state now...."

He had spotted golden light flickering amidst the flames. It looked almost like a figure with enormous wings spread wide.

Palmer’s hesitant voice followed. "Is that... the Demigod’s true form?"

As a beastfolk, Palmer could likely see Ian far more clearly.

Miguel glanced at Nehat, whose eyes had widened, and the surrounding beastfolk, whose mouths hung slightly open. "There’s a reason he’s called the Golden Demigod," he said. "Though, to be precise, it’s closer to saying he’s become an avatar of the great Platinum Dragon."

Thanks to countless prior experiences, Miguel hadn’t been especially worried even after watching Ian leap into the sea.

He had simply thought, Here we go again.

He had even been the one reassuring the shocked fairies and beastfolk.

"I told you already. He definitely had a plan. From the looks of it, he intended to turn the rear lines into complete chaos before flying back."

"Fly back... I see."

"So much really must have happened on the mainland...." ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Palmer and Nehat murmured in admiration after Miguel’s explanation. Neither could tear their eyes away from the burning sea-beast ships.

Just as Miguel swallowed a dry laugh, his shoulders suddenly stiffened.

Rimuta’s voice echoed across the fog-covered sea. "What in the world? Is that power also something obtained through a dragon’s relic?"

The creature sounded just as shocked as the beastfolk.

Wait, was it quiet not because of me, but because it was trying to figure out what was happening back there?

The thought suddenly crossed Miguel’s mind, and he unconsciously smacked his lips.

Almost simultaneously, Palmer and Nehat blinked as though snapping back to their senses and lifted their gazes upward.

"Huh?"

A figure tracing a curved trajectory had just launched skyward from the Black Wave. It shot across the heavens at incredible speed, weaving between the blue trails of incoming harpoons.

It was Diana, the only fairy who hadn’t reacted in shock to Ian.

"She’s heading to the Great Chieftain...."

Having delivered Lily and relayed the situation, she was now switching ships as Nehat requested.

Miguel belatedly followed her with his eyes as she descended toward the deck of the Silent Storm. Simultaneously, a blinding flash exploded behind the Black Wave with a deafening roar.

Boom!

A massive bolt of lightning had slammed diagonally into the fog-covered sea.

Crackle, crackle, crackle!

The lightning spread like a giant spiderweb while blasting the fog apart. The sea creatures and pirates caught in it convulsed violently before sinking beneath the surface.

Zap!

Near the Silent Storm, sprays of water erupted upward as streams of golden lightning burst outward in every direction.

Charlotte, a rope tied around her waist, launched herself through the air while raising her twin fang blades overhead.

She had likely activated one of the spells engraved into her relic armor.

Swoosh—

Before long, both smuggling ships had begun turning their bows diagonally toward them. They were clearly trying to pass as close as possible.

Miguel’s eyes narrowed slightly. He suddenly felt as though the ships themselves were being pushed sideways.

An instant later, he realized the movement wasn’t coming from them.

"What?"

"Priest. Something’s wrong."

That was likely why not only Nehat and Palmer, but even the beastfolk lined beside them, had all turned toward him.

Blinking sharply, Miguel spun around and shouted, "Captain! Didn’t you say we dropped all the anchors and moored the ship?"

Terrified sailors were climbing onto the deck in long lines.

Yalo, who had thick ropes wrapped around his waist, answered without looking over, "Yes. We dropped four of them. Ordinary waves won’t move us an inch."

"Then why the hell is the ship mov—" Miguel couldn’t finish his sentence.

The deck suddenly tilted sharply toward port, revealing the sea that had been hidden beyond the railing.

"Moving? What do you mean, moving?" Yalo lifted his head as he asked the question back, only to furrow his brow moments later.

His gaze followed Miguel’s toward the opposite railing. "You’ve got to be fucking kidding..."

Shock quickly spread across even the gaunt captain’s face. And understandably so.

Swoosh—

The bluish, fog-covered sea was rotating like a giant whirlpool.

The center, hollowed out like a funnel, was growing deeper and wider by the second. It looked almost as though a passage leading straight into the abyss had opened beneath the sea.

And right now, they were being dragged directly toward it.

Rimuta’s laughter-laced voice spread ominously across the sea. "But nothing will change, Purifier! No matter how strong you may be... You cannot fight the ocean itself!"

"E-Everyone, get back below deck!" Yalo’s shout immediately followed.

Smacking the frozen sailors across the arms to snap them out of their stupor, he desperately raised his voice. "Raise the anchors and grab the oars! We have to get out of here! Terua— Pull every anchor back up! Now!"

"Y-Yes, Captain!"

The sailors hurriedly scrambled back below deck.

Miguel, who had unconsciously stopped breathing, finally let out a hollow laugh. "Fuck me... so he never even needed to show himself after all...."

He had finally realized that the sea itself was the corrupted creatures’ greatest weapon. Sitting motionless in the middle of it, they were nothing more than easy prey.

Turning toward Nehat and Palmer, along with the fairies and beastfolk waiting at the bow and stern, Miguel forced out a bitter smile and added, "Sorry, everyone. This is all because of me."

As though sensing death approaching, Nehat and Palmer clenched their teeth tightly. The other beastfolk exchanged grim looks as well.

Meanwhile, Miguel strode straight toward the starboard railing and leaned over the edge while shouting at the top of his lungs, "Don’t come this way— It’s a trap! Turn your ships around right now!"

He waved the ax wreathed in sacred flames high above his head while shouting toward the approaching smuggling ships.

If he were being honest, what he really wanted to do was scream for help. However, he couldn’t drag the others into the trap as well.

"Well, at least we got to witness the Demigod’s greatness before dying."

"I’m not planning to die easily. I’m making sure I land at least one hit on that bastard somehow."

"Good thinking, Nehat. Guess we’ll have to hook the railings."

Nehat and Palmer merely shrugged at one another while talking calmly.

The other beastfolk had also begun talking about their deaths, none of them taking their eyes off the massive blue whirlpool steadily growing larger as it swallowed them in.

By now, the ship had tilted completely onto its side. Of course, not everyone was reacting so calmly.

"God fucking damn it!"

"You’ve gotta be kidding me! I didn’t follow you people just to die in a place like this!"

"This is all your fault, you disgusting animals!"

Several fairies had begun screaming hysterically. Some even swung punches at the beastfolk approaching them in an attempt to calm them down.

"Well, dying while fighting pointy-ears isn’t the worst way to go."

"Come here, pointy-ear. I’ll at least make it painless."

One by one, the beastfolk began drawing the swords at their waists.

However, it wasn’t Miguel who stopped them.

"Quit screwing around and hold on!"

The shout came from afar, amplified with magic. It was Diana, standing at the bow of the Silent Storm.

With her mask pushed up to reveal her face, she urgently shouted again, "Yog! Yog said to keep going! It said keep going!"

"What?" That alone was enough to make Miguel’s eyes fly open.

Turning toward the stunned fairies and beastfolk, he immediately roared, "Stop whatever you’re doing and get down! Grab onto something tight! It’s an order from the Demigod! Now—"

Only then did the confused fairies and beastfolk hurriedly crouch down.

Palmer, who had already dropped down beside the railing with one arm casually hooked over it, muttered, "Who the hell is Yog supposed to be?"

"The Demigod’s familiar! Brother’s familiar, I mean! I don’t know what the hell it actually is either—"

As Miguel rambled frantically, Rimuta’s voice suddenly pierced his ears.

"What? How!"

A colossal pillar of water exploded upward beyond the bow of the Crimson Coral Reef immediately afterward.

Splat— Splash!

Within the spray, intertwined flashes of blue and violet suddenly became vividly visible.

The first thing to burst out of the water was the gigantic ray-like sea creature cloaked in blue chaos. A long, massive maw biting deep into the center of it emerged immediately afterward.

A sea dragon?

Reflexively dropping into a crouch, Miguel stared blankly up at the gigantic shape shimmering with violet light across its surface.

The long jaws, lined with countless jagged teeth, and the glowing violet eyes beyond them looked like nothing else in his mind.

"What the hell is that crocodile?" Nehat’s voice brushed past his ears.

The colossal crocodilian creature soared across the sky amid exploding spray, still biting down on the ray beast, before plunging back beneath the sea.

Whoosh—

Another violent eruption of spray exploded far in the distance. The very next moment, a tremendous shockwave ripped through the ship alongside massive tremors.

Boom, boom, boom!

Miguel wrapped both arms around the railing and clenched his teeth. The whirlpool that had formed moments earlier was already collapsing rapidly.

Sailors swept away by the impact were flung outward while fairies and beastfolk clung desperately to one another.

"What have you done, Purifier? How did you corrupt Ahena’s sea creature with chaos?" Rimuta’s horrified, furious scream continued echoing across the sea.

However, Miguel couldn’t even pay attention anymore.

Crack... crack...

An ominous sound was spreading through the deck beneath him. It was the cracked hull finally giving way and tearing itself apart.