Lazarus and An’as’s training continued for the next several days.
Neither one of the two skipped a single day. This was mostly because Lazarus wouldn’t give An’as a single day off, but their efforts were slowly starting to pay off.
An’as was now a lot more adept in the water.
He was almost like a completely different person.
He could now go in and out of the water and remain there without any problems. He could now also fight without any problems.
If the monster that he had encountered from before in the depths of the water showed up again, while An’as couldn’t guarantee victory, he was now a lot more confident in escaping it. His speed in the water had increased considerably.
The same was true for Lazarus, although his speed was slower than An’as’s.
He just wasn’t very talented in this aspect.
But what he had managed to achieve was enough.
“We’re going to be reaching land not far from now. The two of you should refrain from entering the waters for now.”
Anne’s face was serious as she looked ahead.
The waters were still calm, but they weren’t going to be like this for long.
They were about halfway through the journey to the Remnant South, and soon they were going to have to pass through the Sinful Strait.
Many islands lay scattered across the sea along their route to the Remnant South. These lands were dangerous, not just because of the towering waves, but because they offered the perfect hiding places for the other lords to lie in ambush.
In fact, many of the islands were used as bases for the lords.
Anne also had an island to herself, but it was a little further up ahead than the current islands.
To reach the islands, they had to navigate the Sinful Strait, a narrow passage just wide enough for their ship, and an ideal spot for an ambush.
It was a dangerous route, but one they couldn’t afford to avoid.
“This path is the fastest path that we can take in order to reach the Remnant South. If we deviate from our course, then there’s a high chance we’ll enter the siren’s territory, and I’d like to avoid that.”
Sirens were powerful [Mind] type monsters.
Their strength varied widely; however, among them were several Terror-Ranked Sirens, and even one of Destroyer Rank.
What made them truly terrifying was their music, a haunting, otherworldly melody that could hypnotize everyone on board. There had been chilling incidents in the past: ships found drifting silently across the sea, fully intact… but with no crew left to tell the tale.
They were the most enigmatic and scariest of monsters within the vicinity.
If possible, Anne wanted to avoid them.
Even if the merchant was present and he specialized in the [Mind] path, she didn’t feel comfortable encountering the sirens.
She believed they had a much better chance of surviving if they directly crossed the Strait.
Drying his hair with a towel, Lazarus walked towards her as he looked towards the distant sea.
It was calm for now, but he could also sense the noticeable shift in the atmosphere.
As the ship drifted in the sea, a certain tension started to rise in the air.
He moved towards the bow of the ship and narrowed his eyes, extending his hand as in the distance, the figure of an Owl appeared, landing on his hand.
Anne looked at the scene in surprise.
When did…?
“Did you find anything?”
“…No, nothing.”
Owl-Mighty shook its head, its eyes narrowing.
“There’s a Strait in the distance, but I wasn’t able to sense anything while looking through the area. Everything looked in place, and even when I completely hid my presence, I felt nothing. Human… the situation is very strange.”
“Why is that? Didn’t you say that you felt nothing?”
“That’s the problem.”
Owl-Mighty replied, its tone grim.
“Be it humans or monsters or any living creature. Nothing. I didn’t feel a single thing. It’s almost as if… all living things have been wiped out of that area. The situation is extremely dangerous. I would advise caution, human.”
“…..”
Lazarus covered his mouth, his head lowering as he fell into deep thought.
He had already been briefed about the situation by Anne. He more or less understood that they needed to cross this area in order to reach the Remnant South.
However, from the looks of things, the path ahead wasn’t so simple.
To go… or not to go.
Lazarus pondered over the matter for a while before he let out a long breath.
“I’ll go check things out.”
“What?”
Anne’s surprised voice echoed from behind him.
“You’re going? That’s extremely dangerous.”
“I know, but it doesn’t really seem like I have much of a choice. This is in order to minimize all risks. I’m now comfortable enough in the water to be able to outrun any danger.”
“Yes, but—”
“And I’m also not going alone.”
Lazarus’s head slowly turned towards a certain figure in the distance as he dried his hair with a towel.
Feeling the merchant’s gaze, An’as dropped the towel, despair starting to mar his features.
“No…”
“Yes, you’re coming.”
It wasn’t like Lazarus was doing this to spite An’as or anything like that. In fact, it was anything but that. It was mostly because An’as was actually quite capable.
Though he wasn’t strong, he was faster than him in the water, and was also extremely observant.
Bringing him would make the situation a lot easier for him.
“Do I even get a choice in this matter? Why are you doing this to me?”
“Blame yourself for being competent.”
Lazarus nudged towards the waters with his head as An’as opened his mouth to say something, but eventually closed his mouth and sighed.
By now, he was just used to the abuse.
His eyes grew dimmer.
‘O Goddess, if you could spare this one…’
His prayers always seemed to fail, too, as he moved towards the bow of the ship and jumped down.
He started to regret.
He started to regret ever taking money from this guy.
‘How I wish I had never met him.’
Lazarus shook his head while staring at An’as’s depressed expression. He was being overly dramatic.
Perhaps because he had suffered a lot, but it didn’t seem like An’as had yet to realize that he had grown considerably stronger since their first meeting.
Lazarus could also see that it wouldn’t be long before An’as developed his own concept.
By then, Lazarus was sure he’d stop complaining.
After all, this was one of the An’as’ greatest goals. He had to do this in order to become a Luminarch.
“Are you sure you’re fine going? Do you want me to come too?”
Listening to Anne’s offer, the merchant shook his head.
“No, it’s fine. You need to stay here and watch over the ship. If something does happen, at the very least, you’ll be here to keep things grounded. You can slow down the ship for now. I’ll come back as fast as I can.”
“…Alright.”
By now, Anne had long stopped considering Lazarus and An’as as strangers.
While she was aware that the two weren’t part of her crew, it almost felt like they were.
They were now all on the same boat, thus there was no need to treat them as strangers.
Even the remaining crew members got along well with the two, with An’as being the favorite due to how pitiful he appeared.
“Go, just be careful. In case something happens, use this.”
Anne threw a small cylindrical item to Lazarus, and he caught it.
He stared at it in confusion.
“It’s just a flare. If something does happen, you can use the flare, and we’ll come to your aid.”
“…I see.”
Lazarus pocketed the flare before glancing at the waters below.
He didn’t waste another second and directly jumped down, his foot pressing against the surface of the water as it rippled beneath.
An’as stood not far from where he was, his head hung low.
Lazarus’s lips curled just ever so slightly before he proceeded to rush ahead, his eyes focused towards the direction from which Owl-Mighty had come, ripples forming beneath each step he took.
An’as followed him shortly after, his speed not any slower than his.
‘I really do regret taking money from him.’
*
The Sinful Strait, once called the Sunda Strait, was a narrow and treacherous passage through the Indonesian Archipelago. It had earned infamy over the years, not just for its violent tides, but for the countless ships that vanished within its waters, alongside the numerous pirates.
Over time, the land had changed dramatically, the Strait had narrowed, its waters now funneled between cliffs that had grown taller and more jagged, like the jaws of a closing mouth.
It didn’t take long for An’as and Lazarus to arrive by the Strait, but the moment they did, they both paused, their expressions turning grave as they stared at the massive crimson waves, each one slamming against the cliff walls with a deafening roar.
The cliffs on each side stood towering above them as water splashed around, the distant Strait covered in a strange fog that prevented them from seeing deep into it.
BOOM! BOOM!
The waves continued to smash against the cliffs as An’as turned toward the merchant, his expression grim.
“We’re not entering that, are we?”
There was a subtle trembling in An’as’s voice as he spoke.
The more he looked at the Strait, the more unsettled he felt.
Lazarus also felt the same way as he did and pressed his lips together. His mind told him not, but at the same time, he also didn’t feel a single living thing within the Strait.
No life, no… nothing.
Something was off, but he couldn’t quite tell what it was.
BOOOM!
As another wave exploded by the cliffs, Lazarus looked back.
Eventually, he waved his hand and cast [Lament of Lies] on the two of them, obscuring their figures completely.
“Let’s go.”
He nudged his head towards the distant Strait and moved towards it.
Although he understood that something was off about the Strait, he didn’t really have a choice but to investigate.
In order to reach the Remnant South, this was the most optimal place for them to go.
He couldn’t afford to delay the situation.
As such, making up his mind, he increased his pace as he moved toward the Strait.
“If you don’t want to go, you can go back,” the merchant said without looking back, his figure moving closer and closer to the Strait.
An’as opened his mouth, but looking back and seeing the empty sea, his face sank.
He didn’t even know the way back…
Not only that, but going back alone somehow felt scarier to him.
In the end, An’as could only stare at the merchant with a defeated expression.
“Ahh, shitttt!”
Biting his lips, he followed the merchant from behind.
He regretted… so much.