BOOOM!
The waves crashed violently, rising several meters into the air before slamming down with explosive force. Water sprayed over the surroundings, drenching the merchant and An’as, who both instinctively slowed their steps, as if the sea itself was trying to push them back.
“This is craaazy!”
An’as covered his face with his arm as he looked ahead, trying his best to see through the dense droplets of water that sprayed in the air.
Each time a wave crashed against the rock, a thunderous boom echoed through the air, and the expressions on An’as and the merchant’s faces grew increasingly grim.
Eventually, An’as’s head lifted towards the massive jagged black cliffs as he thought of something and suggested, “Instead of going into the Strait, why don’t we just directly climb up and see how the situation there is? We can also overlook the Strait from above.”
The idea was good, and it made sense.
It also felt a lot less dangerous.
“Plus, if the other lords are trying to set up an ambush, I’d say that would be the perfect place to do it. I would certainly set it up there.”
An’as felt that his reasoning was good. And thus, as he looked at Lazarus, he hoped that he’d agree, but..
“No.”
The merchant didn’t even hesitate to shake his head while staring at the Strait.
An’as immediately protested.
“What? Why? If—”
“The boat won’t be going from up. It will be going directly into the Strait. There’s also the fog present that makes it hard to see what is happening below. Going up would simply be a waste of time.”
“But…”
“There’s also no need for us to go there directly.”
Lazarus raised his hand as an Owl appeared.
An’as’s face sank as Lazarus raised his hand and the Owl shot in the air.
“I’ve got someone else who can take care of this job perfectly.”
“….”
Staring at the Owl, what could An’as even say?
He… just really wanted to go up.
It seemed a lot better than whatever was inside the Strait.
‘I really can’t have a moment of peace with this guy…’
“Let’s go. There’s no time to waste.”
And so, An’as could only begrudgingly follow the merchant toward the Strait, residual waves splashing over them as they moved forward, unfazed by the crimson water that splashed towards them.
BOOM! BOOM—!
The relentless roar of the waves grew louder and more overpowering the closer they drew to the Strait. By the time they crossed its threshold, the booming was nearly deafening, like someone pounding a drum right beside their ears.
It felt uncomfortable, but the two were able to ignore it as they entered the Strait, letting the fog slowly consume them.
Then—
Darkness.
Everything turned dark, with An’as just barely capable of seeing ahead as he made out the faint silhouette of the merchant.
“Stay close. Don’t stray too far from me.”
As the crashing sound of the waves grew muffled, Lazarus’s voice became more audible.
“…I wasn’t planning to.”
An’as moved cautiously as the fog grew thicker with the steps that they took, the water rippling right beneath their feet.
A certain chill spread through making An’as shiver slightly. The cold was followed by an uncomfortable smell that lingered in the air.
It was different from the usual iron-like scent.
This smell…
It felt more rotten.
But what exactly could this smell be?
An’as looked around, but had a hard time seeing much ahead as the fog was incredibly thick.
The darkness also swallowed them from all sides.
He had just taken another step when Lazarus stopped, his hand waving in the air as he doubled the intensity of [Lament of Lies].
While Lazarus didn’t notice anything yet… something about the environment left him completely unsettled.
He couldn’t quite describe it, but the sensation sent an involuntary shiver through his body, each breath leaving as a faint plume of mist, as if the very air around him echoed the unease settling in his bones.
“….”
Lazarus looked around his surroundings, his eyes narrowing as he bent over slightly to touch the water.
‘It’s cold…’
Much colder than the water outside the Strait.
His lips pursed as he looked ahead.
He didn’t sense any presences as well.
Though the fog was thick, it didn’t prevent his [Mana Sense] from working. As such, he was acutely aware of the lack of living organisms nearby. Be it humans or monsters.
He… couldn’t feel anything.
‘Is it possible that they are hiding their mana?’
That was one way to make it hard for his skill to detect anyone. It had happened with the strange monster he had found lurking beneath the waters…
Maybe a similar case was playing out here?
Lazarus’s eyes narrowed further at the thought. If that were really the case, then he had to be more careful and make sure to take in everything around him without missing a single detail.
Drawing a silent breath, Lazarus continued forward while An’as followed from behind, and Owl-Mighty followed from the top as it communicated with Pebble, who relayed everything to Lazarus.
Like that, Lazarus and An’as walked through the Strait while keeping an eye on everything around them.
The deeper they went into the Strait, the more silent it became.
The silence…
It was so dense, it pressed against their ears, broken only by the unnaturally loud ripples of their footsteps across the water.
The two found themselves unconsciously slowing down.
The entire time, Lazarus maintained [Mana Sense] while also sending out threads around him to scout the path forward.
It wasn’t until the two walked for a little bit more that An’as’s eyes dilated as he spotted something in the distance, and he pressed his hand over Lazarus’s shoulder.
“That… Do you see it?”
“….I do.”
Lazarus nodded his head quietly, his breath pausing for a moment.
Tensions grew from that point, with the two staring towards the distant water where they spotted something floating above it.
The two stopped as they stared into the distance, trying to make out what the object floating on the water was.
“Should we…”
“Wait.”
Lazarus held An’as back as he used his [Mana Sense] to detect anything. However, it didn’t appear like it contained any mana. As such, he used his threads to gently move them around the water and coil around the floating object before bringing it to him.
As he began to reel it in, the water parted smoothly.
The soft scrape of the object dragging across the water echoed eerily, and An’as’s body tensed without thinking.
Eventually, arriving before them, Lazarus pulled the object up.
Splash!
The moment he did, An’as’s face changed.
“…..!”
An’as took a step back, his face turning pale as he stared at what appeared to be the hand of a person, dangling by the thread as the grotesque image of the severed limb imprinted itself in his mind.
An’as felt his heart thump wildly within his chest as he looked at the merchant, who showed no emotion at the sight.
…And it made sense considering that they had seen much worse during their fight prior.
However, the reason why An’as grew tense wasn’t because he found the image repulsive, but because of the location they were in.
Looking at the severed hand, it still seemed fresh, meaning that whatever had caused the situation was still present.
“We should go. I think—!”
An’as was never able to finish his words as he saw the merchant stare into the distance, his expression extremely grave.
When An’as turned his head, his face similarly changed as he spotted several ‘objects’ floating across the water surface in the distance.
The more they walked, the more they appeared, and as Lazarus leered them in, An’as felt the breath leave his body.
That was because…
‘Another arm. This time a leg… Another arm.. It’s different. A head…’
They all appeared to be the remains of people.
There were so many of them, and all so fresh… Staring at the scene, the sense of unease grew more and more as An’as looked towards the merchant, his sense of urgency now impossible to hide.
“We have to leave. Something about this entire situation is off. I think that—”
Splash!
As Lazarus retrieved another ‘object’ from the water, An’as stopped.
His face… No, not just his face.
His entire body froze.
Staring at the head that was being lifted by the merchant, An’as blinked his eyes slowly, hoping that what he was seeing was just an illusion.
However, as he blinked his eyes and the face remained the same, the sense of dread that had been creeping before him heightened to an extreme as he quickly turned around, grabbing the merchant by the shoulder and pulling him.
“We have to go, now!”
The fear in his voice was all too evident, his tone trembling as well as his body.
“Go as fast as you can, hurry!”
Ripples formed on the water surface as he dashed towards the entrance of the Strait with all his might.
‘We have to run, we have to run!!’
An’as’s panic was unmistakable, his breaths rough, every hair on his body standing on end as an invisible weight pressed down on him.
The sense of dread crept forward like cold fingers slithering up his spine, reaching from behind, invisible but unmistakably close, as though something just out of sight was leaning in to grasp him.
‘There’s no doubt that’s him! I’m sure that’s him!’
Running forward, An’as thought about the head, and then all the bodies that were scattered throughout the water.
He was unsure at first, but now he was certain.
Those bodies.
They belonged to the Vulpoon Raiders, one of the seven major pirate crews that roamed the Crimson Seas, led by the infamous Deadbolt Vulpoon.
And that very last head he saw…
That one belonged to none other than Deadbolt Vulpoon, one of the seven lords of the sea.
‘O-oh, no…’