Chapter 542: Leaving the First Island, Domain Information

After explaining the purpose of the [Enchantment Altar] to the players in each village, a huge number of them immediately rushed toward the beach.

Many had spent years living on the island, gathering Eternal Coins in the hope of eventually purchasing one of the enchanted boats sold by the natives.

Now that they knew they could use the altar themselves, there was no reason to waste another moment.

"How do we use it?" one of the players asked Leon as he approached with several others.

"I’m guessing you need to make a boat first. That would require wood, and luckily, there’s enough wood on this island to last for generations," Leon shrugged. "Then you use the altar... on the boat...?"

He wasn’t entirely sure about the actual process, since he hadn’t bothered investigating how the altar worked.

To be honest, Leon didn’t particularly care about the details.

He had already found the item, brought it to the surface, and made it accessible to everyone.

That was more than enough. The players could figure out the remaining steps themselves.

"Let’s go now," Leon said as he turned toward Violet.

She immediately understood what he meant and began transforming into her dragon form.

Her body grew rapidly, her enormous wings unfolding as she towered over everyone gathered on the beach.

The players instinctively stepped backward, their expressions changing as they looked up at the terrifying creature.

Although they had just witnessed Leon and his companions eliminate the natives responsible for controlling the island, seeing a gigantic dragon appear right in front of them was still quite frightening.

Leon, Celeste, and Emilia climbed onto Violet’s back, and she spread her wings before flapping them powerfully.

A strong gust of wind swept across the beach as she rose into the air, quickly carrying the group higher and higher until they were far above the island.

Only after Violet had disappeared into the distance did the players finally relax.

"That was terrifying..." one of them muttered.

"I’ve constructed a small boat before," another player suddenly said, looking toward the altar. "Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t even be able to travel a few meters before being devoured, so... maybe we can try using the altar on it?"

"Let’s do that," an orc-raced player nodded. "Bring the boat over."

The players quickly gathered around the small vessel. It wasn’t particularly impressive, and its size meant that it could carry at most three people at once, but that didn’t matter anymore.

If the altar worked as Leon had claimed, even a weak boat like this should be enough to cross the sea.

They placed it near the altar and prepared to activate it.

Ding!

[Do you wish to enchant this boat?]

"Yes!"

The players confirmed immediately, their eyes widening when they realized there was no cost attached to the process.

They had initially assumed that the altar required Eternal Coins to function, which would explain why the natives had collected so many offerings from them.

However, there was no payment required at all.

The altar could be used repeatedly without any apparent drawbacks.

Almost immediately, the small boat began glowing. A purple light spread across its frame, strengthening the wood and covering the entire vessel with a faint protective barrier.

The players watched in amazement as the enchantment settled into place.

"Does it actually work?"

"There’s only one way to find out."

Three players climbed aboard and began rowing toward the open sea.

They continued moving farther away from the island, keeping their eyes on the water as they waited for the monsters to appear.

Normally, a boat that small would have been destroyed almost immediately.

The sea monsters surrounding the island were powerful enough to devour ordinary vessels without difficulty, which was why the natives had been able to control sea travel for so long.

However, this time, nothing happened.

Several monsters approached the boat, but they didn’t attack. They simply watched as the vessel passed through their territory, seemingly unable to get past the purple barrier protecting it.

The three players continued rowing, and after traveling a considerable distance without encountering any problems, they finally understood that the enchantment was working.

"HELL YEAH!"

Their celebration quickly spread across the beach as the other players realized what had happened.

They could finally leave.

For some of them, it had been years since they had arrived on this island.

They had spent countless hours every day gathering Eternal Coins, following the natives’ orders and trying to save enough money to purchase an enchanted boat, yet they hadn’t even come close to reaching the required amount.

Now, all of that was unnecessary.

They could simply construct their own boats, use the altar, and travel to the next island.

"Thank you, Celestial!"

Several players shouted toward the sky, although Leon and the girls were already far away.

...

It only took a few minutes for Violet to carry Leon and the girls across the sea.

The next island was considerably larger than the previous one, and the first thing that caught their attention was the enormous city occupying a large portion of its coastline.

Unlike the villages they had encountered before, this place was clearly a major settlement, with countless buildings and two large port areas visible from the sky.

Ding!

[You are crossed the sea and arrived at the second island: "Ashenreach Island"]

[Recommended level: 70.]

"So the first island is for players between Level 50 and 70, while this one is for those above Level 70," Leon mumbled as he read the notification. "As I thought, this Higher Domain is very weird."

The arrangement was quite different from what he had expected.

If each island was intended for players within a certain level range, then the entire domain might consist of only four or five major islands.

That would make it considerably smaller in terms of progression areas than some of the other Higher Domains he had visited.

Of course, the size of the islands themselves was another matter.

Violet descended toward the shore and landed, allowing Leon, Celeste, and Emilia to jump onto the ground.

"Just like before, we’ll check whether anything is wrong, and if not, we’ll move on," Leon said. "We also need to get some information about the [Heretic King]."

He remembered the information he had received through [Divine Answer].

[The Heretic King is in Higher Domain #2 at the very furthest island from the spawn area, ask for the "Heretic Village" until you find it, and then ask its inhabitants a way to the Heretic King.]

"At this rate, we might kill everyone who knows about the Heretic King or the Heretic Village," Emilia laughed.

"That’s why we’ll ask them for information before doing anything," Leon replied.

He had no intention of repeating the same mistake if it could be avoided.

The previous island had been full of natives serving the gods, but that didn’t mean every settlement in this domain was the same.

They approached the city, which was even larger than the [Requiem Stronghold], suggesting that it had a considerable population.

Two enormous port areas stood on opposite sides of the island, with numerous boats constantly arriving and departing.

As they got closer to the entrance, Celeste looked back at the port and noticed something unusual.

"Where are they going?" she wondered, looking toward the boats. "They’re coming and going from directions where there’s nothing."

"There’s other islands," one of the guards near the entrance casually replied.

He was a fish-raced individual, with visible scales covering parts of his body and several features that distinguished him from ordinary humans.

"We call the biggest ones the [Main Islands], and there are five of them. Beyond those, there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of smaller islands, with dungeons, treasures, and other stuff."

"Hm..." Leon nodded. "Thanks for the information. By the way, I have a question."

"Sure."

"Does this city worship the gods?"

The moment Leon asked, the aura around him became noticeably colder.

His expression hadn’t changed much, but the sudden shift was enough to make several nearby players and natives look toward him with unease.

The guard, however, simply scratched his chin.

"I don’t really know. I certainly don’t, and I don’t think most people in power here do either. Why would we worship the bastards who made this domain this way?"

Leon raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

"I heard this domain was once a single mass of land, much like the others. But after the [God of the Sea], [God of Soul], and [God of Light] battled, it turned into what you see now."

"Huh."

"There are legends about that battle, but to be honest, I don’t really care."

The guard shrugged before adding one last piece of information.

"The people who worship the gods here are many, but they’re mainly located on the first island, which you came from, as well as the fifth one and... the [Heretic Village]."

"...Heretic Village!" Leon immediately spoke up. "Do you know anything about it?!"

This might be his chance to quickly find out more, so Leon took it.