Chapter 859

All his senses returned in an instant, yet the sensation of being hurled backward remained.

Whoosh—

A dense blue explosion, clearly from Rimuta, erupted before Ian, the shockwave sweeping him away through the air.

Instinctively, he raised the Platinum Barrier to shield his head and wrapped his magic wings protectively around himself.

Thankfully, he hadn’t let go of the Black Sword of the Third Apostle either.

—I was hoping your chaos would devour it all... shame something interfered.

Yog’s whisper continued leisurely.

There was no need to ask what it meant: at the center of the raging explosion, a dark blue symbol flickered faintly.

It resembled the mark used by beings from the void.

"If it means making the invaders pay the price...."

A resonant voice echoed from beyond the explosion just as Ian spun himself around to regain balance.

It was Rimuta. Even though the body had vanished, the consciousness remained.

Crack, crack, crack!

Lowering his stance, Ian slammed the Platinum Barrier into Yog’s back and skidded backward. Several more damaged pieces of equipment broke apart and flew away from the force of the explosion.

Then the symbol glowing at the center of the blast flared brighter, as though boiling over.

"I gladly offer everything I have... for eternity...."

The voice faded like dying last words, and the symbol dissolved into a thick blue fog that spread outward in expanding circles. ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Swoosh—

Ian lowered himself behind the Platinum Barrier as the wave of fog washed over both the shield and him.

—That thing from earlier is reclaiming the soul of the slave it branded, before you could take all of it for yourself.

As expected, Ian hadn’t merely glimpsed Rimuta’s memories. His essence bead had apparently begun devouring Rimuta’s chaos on its own.

Whoosh...

The waves of fog faded away as though sinking back into the sea. Closing the completed quest window floating before his eyes, Ian finally rose to his feet.

His brow furrowed as he staggered slightly. A sharp headache hit him, and his vision spun violently.

It wasn’t surprising. Even though he hadn’t shown it outwardly, he was already utterly exhausted. And once the Avatar of Platinum ended, the backlash would probably be brutal.

Still, that wasn’t the only reason Ian clicked his tongue.

Another thing I actually liked... gone.

Rimuta hadn’t been the only thing that vanished without a trace. The dagger embedded in the creature’s maw had disappeared as well.

It had clearly been blasted into the sea alongside the shattered remains of equipment scattered nearby.

Bwoooooo—

At that moment, a deafening shriek thundered from far off to the right.

In the distance, the colossal beast fused with the command ship let out a deafening scream as blue light blazed across its body.

—It must have realized its master had died.

Judging from the towering sprays of seawater and fog erupting around it, the creature was thrashing violently as well.

As Yog continued whispering mockingly, Ian muttered, "That might not be the only reason."

His gaze swept across the demonic beast fleet spread before the massive creature. Not only the ships he failed to destroy, but even those already burned out or still burning, were now glowing blue.

And they were rapidly drawing closer.

"Raskagin knows I discovered the sanctuary’s location."

After all, they had connected through Rimuta. Just as Yog had sensed it, Raskagin likely knew exactly what vision Ian had witnessed.

—So now it’ll desperately try to stop us from here on out? Sounds fun.

Yog snickered. It sharply turned its head and spat out the ray-like beast it had still been holding in its jaws.

The creature, now devoid of chaos, sank limply beneath the sea.

"Then let’s move. I’m exhausted. I need to regroup with the smuggling ships before I hit my limit," said Ian, deactivating the Fangs of Heaven Defier. His eyes never once left the fleet.

Yog began gliding forward smoothly.

—Then how about leaving things to me for a little while, Friend? You should recover at least some stamina. And conveniently enough, we even have the perfect place for it.

Ian’s brow twitched as he instinctively looked behind him. The fused Ahena ship on Yog’s back came into view. Though half-destroyed, it was still usable enough to ride.

Smacking his lips lightly, Ian finally asked, "Can you handle it alone?"

Yog curved gently through the water and laughed.

—Of course. I can sense where that coward Pointy-Ear is. Besides, I’m actually overflowing with power right now. Enough that I almost want to go wild.

Ian’s mouth twisted. Having absorbed the chaos, Yog clearly wanted to enjoy its newly gained body to the fullest.

Once they neared Kalinso Island, sea monsters supposedly couldn’t approach the area anymore, which meant Yog would probably have to abandon this gigantic body once they got there.

Though I’m planning to leave it behind to guard the ships.

Turning around, Ian started walking toward the ship and said, "I’m warning you now—don’t forget I’m riding on you. Which means no flipping over or diving underwater."

He tossed the black sword into his pocket dimension and dismissed the Platinum Barrier as well. The only reason he hadn’t deactivated the Avatar of Platinum yet was to endure until he settled in properly.

—Of course, my friend. Though even so, hold on tight. I can’t exactly promise we’ll travel calmly.

I’ve got a better idea than that.

Ian reached toward his waist. A rope woven with sea creature tendons remained wrapped around his waist and thighs.

The hook portion snapped off, and parts corroded, but it was still more than enough to tie himself down somewhere securely.

"Once I’m inside, I’m going to meditate. Wake me up when we arrive," said Ian, untying the rope.

Yog immediately began wagging its tail side to side and sped up as though it had been waiting for those words.

—Understood. Get some rest, my friend. By the time you wake up, those hopeless idiots will be beside you again.

It sounded eager to put Ian to sleep as quickly as possible; Yog clearly wanted to rampage freely without being watched.

Ian let out a low chuckle. "Just don’t sink any more smuggling ships."

Yog’s promise to be careful wasn’t particularly reassuring.

***

Swoosh—

Beyond both sides of the railing, small islands had begun appearing throughout the fog-covered sea.

Yet despite that, not a trace of relief could be found aboard the Silent Storm cutting through the center of it all.

"Don’t stop! One—"

"Put your backs into it, you beasts!"

"Use all that strength you brag about! Already tired?"

The dwarven first mate and the cluster of fairies beside him continuously shouted toward the lower deck.

And understandably so.

Screech— Screech—

The sea creatures were still pursuing them from behind, shrieking monstrously.

Ever since Rimuta’s dying scream had echoed through the fog, the creatures had become even more frenzied, as though driven mad.

Whoosh—

Even with some of the beastfolk helping row, the distance between the ships and the sea creatures was slowly shrinking.

The extra passengers weighing the ship down likely played a part as well.

At the center of the rear deck, Charlotte, standing with her arms crossed while glancing toward the Black Wave sailing nearby, slowly flicked her tongue across her lips.

Looks like Lily really collapsed from exhaustion

From the outside, the situation aboard that ship didn’t look much different from theirs. But in truth, its situation was far worse.

According to Palmer, Miguel wouldn’t be able to use that brilliant strike again for quite some time. And if Lily was out as well, then the ship would have to rely entirely on the fairies and beastfolk to defend it.

I can’t just leave it like that....

Quietly reaffirming her resolve, Charlotte glanced at the hooked rope slung over her left shoulder.

Miguel and Lily had already done more than enough. Now it was her turn to take responsibility for the situation. As Ian’s lieutenant, it was only natural.

An irritated shout suddenly rang out from behind.

"How much longer is this going to take? Are we still not there yet?"

Diana had come running up onto the stern deck. She clearly couldn’t contain her impatience anymore.

"Wait," the barbarian captain Nikau, leaning against the stern railing, answered without even looking at her. Frowning deeply, he merely stared at the talisman in his hand.

Pushing her mask roughly up onto her forehead, Diana said, "You said that earlier too! Don’t tell me the talisman’s broken?"

"It’s overheated," Nikau answered curtly once again.

Glancing at Diana as though annoyed, he jerked his chin toward the Black Wave. "They’re probably in the same condition over there. And Yalo already explained everything below deck, didn’t he?"

The talisman had overheated after being activated once using an essence bead, then again using a magic stone afterward.

Since then, they’d been forced to move manually by rowing just like this.

Diana walked over beside Charlotte and added, "Right. He also said it could probably still be used in that state."

"And then the talisman would shatter. After that, we’d definitely get caught."

"At this rate, we’ll get caught anyway. Better the talisman breaks than the ship, right? Hand it over. I’ll take a look myself—"

"That’s enough, Diana." A low voice cut through the argument.

Diana stopped mid-step with her hand outstretched. It was Palmer, leaning against the railing by the central deck.

Meeting Diana’s gaze, he calmly shrugged. "No point getting impatient. It won’t change anything."

"So what? We just sit here and prepare to fight those monsters?"

"Yeah."

This time, it was Charlotte who answered.

Diana turned toward her with wide eyes, lips parting slightly. "Charlotte, not you too!"

"You heard it earlier. Ian definitely killed their leader and is coming this way. We just need to hold out a little longer," Charlotte answered evenly.

Palmer nodded in agreement.

Diana’s eyes narrowed slightly before she whipped back toward Nikau. "Captain! How much farther to the destination?"

"Not very far. Maybe an hour or two."

"That’s still way too damn long...." Closing her eyes tightly, Diana let out a long sigh.

She then lowered her mask back over her face and muttered, "Fine. Let’s just survive this somehow."

"When the fighting starts, I want to move to the other ship. Can you help me?" Charlotte asked.

Shrugging slightly, Diana answered in a subdued voice, "No promises. But at this distance, I can probably carry you across a few times. There’s still magic left in the relic, and I’ve got plenty of magic left myself."

"Then I’ll leave it to you. Palmer, get ready."

At Charlotte’s glance, Palmer turned away, adjusting the hooked rope hanging over his shoulder into one hand.

Charlotte turned toward Nikau and continued, "You should stay back too, Captain. It’d be best to save that talisman until after the Demigod rejoins us."

"Understood." Nikau nodded readily and stepped away.

Meanwhile, Diana stepped toward the starboard railing and shouted, "Everyone, prepare for battle! We'll hold out until the Demigod rejoins us!"

Her magic-infused voice spread across the ships. It was far more efficient than physically running back and forth between them.

"Understood!"

Charlotte could hear Miguel’s trembling shout even through the sea monsters’ screeches.

The curses of the one-eyed captain and the roars of the beastfolk warriors followed soon after.

"Damn it..."

Letting out a sigh, Diana returned beside Charlotte. Her listless hands checked the leather straps wrapped around her.

Charlotte was licking her lips with a low chuckle when her ears suddenly twitched upright.

Bwoooooo—

She suddenly realized that the sea creatures’ cries had taken on a strange tone. At nearly the same moment, Diana came to an abrupt halt, and the two of them turned toward the rear almost in unison.

Charlotte’s orange eyes widened.

Beyond the sea creatures frantically churning through the waves, a faint violet glow had spread through the fog.

Swoosh—

The next instant, a gigantic sea dragon burst upward amid an eruption of seawater, scattering violet trails in every direction.