Magical Soul Parade - Chapter 224: A Familiar Place?

Chapter 224: A Familiar Place?

She paused, her gaze boring into him. “There’s only one ship that has successfully crossed that ocean that I know of.” She gestured around the cabin. “And that ship is this one. The Tidebreaker.”

Silence stretched between them. Vara stared at Finn as if waiting for his rebuttal.

He simply smiled.

Then his entire demeanor changed. The casual, playful air evaporated, replaced by something more dangerous. More real. He walked calmly to the seat opposite Vara and sat down, meeting her eyes like an equal rather than someone being questioned.

“I apologize,” he said, his tone formal now. “But people like me must always be cautious.”

He leaned forward slightly. “The fact that you can point out, from your own words, that only the Tidebreaker has successfully crossed the ocean separating the two continents… means you definitely know about ’that place.’”

Behind him, Slick Jones shifted on his feet, tension radiating from him.

But Vara simply stared without reaction.

Finn continued, his words measured and deliberate. “Let me reintroduce myself properly. I am Arros, follower of the Flaw in All Things, servant of the God Who Walks Between Cracks, devotee of He Who Should Not Be…” He paused. “The Errant.”

That seemed to pique Vara’s attention. She raised an eyebrow and leaned back slightly in her seat. “The Church of Shadows could have your head for that. Serving another God in secret, especially one so obscure even I’ve never heard of Him.”

Finn didn’t laugh. Instead, he met Vara’s gaze directly. “I thought we were done with false pretenses.” His voice remained calm, steady. “Aren’t you the same? A follower of another God entirely?”

Vara said nothing.

Finn rolled his eyes and started explaining his reasoning. “What brought me here to Hoshin Bay was discoveries I made from various logs and records. Ancient texts that I traced all over the world, searching for the way to ’that place.’” His voice took on an almost reverent quality. “The place said to be the grave of many forgotten Gods. The place that supposedly holds the key and secret to how the first Gods came to be.”

The sound of a blade being drawn cut through the air.

Slick Jones placed his weapon at Finn’s neck, the edge pressing against skin. “Give me the word, Mistress Vara. Let me end this fool who dares speak such heresy against the sanctity of all Gods.”

Vara stared at Finn, who showed no fear at all. His eyes remained locked on hers, calm and certain.

She raised a palm immediately, and Slick Jones withdrew the blade with a frustrated grunt.

Vara leaned forward again, her expression intense. “You truly are bold to speak such blasphemous words. By your statement, are you questioning the divinity of the Gods? Are you saying Gods can be born from mortals?” Her voice carried genuine curiosity beneath the accusation. “How can you be a servant of this… Errant God you speak of, yet also accept that Gods could be made from men?”

Finn wiped away the trace of blood that had trickled from the light cut on his neck. “There’s no conflict there whatsoever. Knowing that fact only makes me more fervent in my attempt to restore the Errant to His glory. My faith is unbreakable.”

He smiled slightly. “And it’s the same for you, isn’t it?”

He paused, letting the words hang in the air. “You’re not the only one who can sense the trace of the divine on this ship.”

Vara’s expression flickered visibly.

Finn’s smile widened. “It’s nice to meet someone cursed with the same burden as me. Having a superior soul. One more powerful than mere priests. One more powerful than even Paladins.” He gestured between them. “One that gives people like us the capability to sense what others cannot, even without the blessing of any God.”

“Soul Sight…” Vara said quietly.

She smiled for the first time, genuinely intrigued. “I knew my feeling about you wasn’t wrong.”

She looked to Slick Jones and waved him away with a subtle gesture.

He hesitated, clearly reluctant to leave his mistress alone with Finn. But when Vara looked up at him again, he bowed slightly and left the cabin, the door closing firmly behind him.

When he was gone, Vara sighed then spoke almost to herself. “It’s a shame that comrades like Slick Jones simply lack the ability we have. The Soul Sight that lets us perceive what others can’t.”

She gestured vaguely toward the deck outside. “No one has ever sensed the uniqueness of the Tidebreaker. Not my father. Not any of the workers. Not even the priests of the Shadow Church.” Her voice carried a mixture of frustration and resignation. “People respect my father because he comes from the lineage of the man who conquered the vast ocean. But no one has done the same since. Most sailors stay within the oceans of the Night Gods’ territories, following pre-charted routes.”

She stood and moved to the small window of the cabin, looking out at the harbor. “Even while moving in familiar waters, ships can inexplicably get lost at sea. The ocean is treacherous, unpredictable, deadly.”

She turned back to face Finn. “Do people think my great-grandfather’s achievement was natural? By his own hands alone?”

She stared at him intently. “No.”

Vara walked to one of the portraits on the wall, the picture of the weathered man who resembled both her and her father, then traced the frame gently. “My great-grandfather was a servant of a foreign God. The Tempest Lord, the True Storm-Bringer, He Who Commands the Depths…” She paused. “The God of Seas, forgotten by people. Forgotten by sailors who worshipped Him in ancient ages, because the God of Storms stole His pathway, usurped His domain.”

Her voice grew passionate. “He is the true and rightful ruler of storms. The legitimate sovereign of all waters. And He’s the reason my great-grandfather was able to cross that place.” She looked at Finn. “The place said to be the resting ground for all forgotten Gods. Where the secret to divinity can be found…”

She spoke the final words with almost religious reverence.

“The Fog of No Return.”