The moment the ship set sail, the wood creaked loudly as if it was sluggishly trying to resume activity after not being moved for years. The ship swayed left and right before it balanced itself on the water and started cutting its way through the divine river.
Arthur stood near the edge, looking down at the ship’s outer layer, making sure no cracks or damages were there. His worry was that the lower part of the ship was the one with the most damage due to its constant contact with water.
However, luckily for them, the ship was as intact as it could be and there was no threat of it breaking down.
Slowly, the ship moved down the stream, unperturbed by the strong wind as the water gently carried it toward its destination.
“Keep an eye on our surroundings and tell me if you notice anything weird. I don’t care if it’s the most insignificant thing, we have to stay focused and ready for anything. These next few hours will be crucial.”
“Yes!”
The group then quickly dispersed across the deck, each one taking a position to look at the river and the area surrounding them. None of them had sailed through the Great Akora River before so they didn’t know what to expect, however, they were ready for anything no matter how outlandish it was.
Meanwhile, Arthur decided to climb up the main mast of the ship and sat down on top of the sails to have a better view of the area. The scene was magical and quite beautiful, but Arthur didn’t let himself get swayed again.
‘This time I might actually jump into the water.’ He mused as he adjusted his position and stared ahead. It was still dark and very windy and the snow was slowly accumulating on the ship.
“Can you see anything from up there, Arthur?” Deka asked.
“Hmm, nothing so far.” He said. ‘My senses aren’t detecting anything odd so far. Maybe the monsters haven’t detected our presence yet.’
The tension on the ship was still very high and there were no conversations going on except the occasional checks from Deka to see if there was anything weird happening. Time slowly passed and before anyone even noticed, an hour passed.
Nobody could relax even though so much time had passed. They felt as if the river was simply waiting for them to put their guard down before things went completely haywire.
Arthur spent that entire time gazing into the distance, searching for abnormalities. ‘It’s taking quite long for the sun to rise. If anything, it’s getting darker and darker. But I guess as they say, the darkest moments of the day are the ones that come before dawn.’
Arthur’s vision was quite strong and using Wretched Crawler’s Eye, he could easily see dozens of meters into the distance. But, for some reason, he felt like his eyes weren’t as strong as they are normally.
The darkness around him was quite strong, almost too strong. However, Arthur didn’t feel anything weird so he didn’t say anything. However, the lack of vision wasn’t optimal for him and he felt almost as if he was… restrained.
‘Should I get down from here?’ He asked himself. ‘But, that way I won’t be able to look in every direction.’
As he was contemplating his next move, Arthur’s ears caught a faint noise coming from afar. Immediately, his mind snapped back to the real world and it looked directly at the source of the noise. It was extremely faint, to the point where he couldn’t even identify it. However, it was far from normal.
“Deka, I’m hearing some noise coming from somewhere ahead of us.” He said.
“Noise? What kind?”
“I don’t know. Get ready for anything.” He said as he pulled his sword out, ready to leap down in case of emergency.
But, he didn’t immediately make a move and instead waited silently. His ears focused on the noise and he realized quickly that it was getting closer and closer. Then, at some point, Arthur’s eyes widened as he realized what it sounded like.
“Are these… humming noises?” He muttered as his face darkened.
The others still couldn’t hear it so they didn’t react as quickly as he did. However, it didn’t take them long to also catch up as they noticed the weird humming coming from afar.
“What the hell is that?” One mercenary asked as they held onto their swords tightly.
The humming noises were faint and very soft, sounding closer to someone singing than to emotionless hums. The more they got closer, the stronger they became, and the more the squad was stunned.
The hums… were very beautiful and very human-like. The wind stopped completely and all they could hear was those noises.
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“…” Arthur looked left and right, feeling a very chilling coldness run through his body. Something gravely wrong was happening.
“Don’t put your guard down, bastards!” At that moment, Deka yelled, trying to get her group back on the edge.
“Hmmmmm~”
Then, Deka ran to the edge and looked down at the water, trying to locate where the source of the noise was. ‘We’re in the middle of the river, there is no way there is another human around. These hums are coming from some kind of a monster.’
“Deka… Are you ok?”
“What?” The woman turned around and stared at the group.
“We aren’t being attacked yet,” Sergi said. “But, it’s definitely getting closer.”
“…”
Then, the entire ship was submerged in silence again as the hums became almost the only thing they could hear with their ears. Even their thoughts were slowly getting drowned in the beautiful voice.
Then, in a moment of pure surprise, the hums spread all around them and they started hearing them from left and right and even behind them.
‘It’s playing with our heads. Pleasant singing… Why do I feel like this is very familiar.’ Arthur clenched his teeth as he immediately leaped down with a loud thud.
“Nobody stays silent! We are being attacked by some kind of mental ability! These hums are dangerous!”
Arthur had already noticed the dazed looks of the group and how they were clearly being swayed by the singing. If it wasn’t for his strong mental power, Arthur was certain he would’ve also been swayed by it. Something about the voice was inherently charming to an incomprehensible degree.
“As he said, everyone… Gather in the middle of the deck and grab into one another.” Deka ordered.
Luckily, their voices brought everyone back to their mind and they quickly rushed to the middle. Their hearts were still listening to the hums and their minds were experiencing a lot of pleasure from these noises. However, that alone kicked their instincts into work and brought them immense fear.
A pleasure that nobody wanted to experience.
“Grab tightly into me, man!”
“You too!!”
As they merged into one cluster, they all stared around them. The hums surrounded the entire ship from every angle and kept approaching them gradually.
“What even is this?! What is happening?!”
“I almost felt like closing my eyes and enjoying the voice!”
“This monster is no joke…”
A//N: Thank you all for the gifts, golden tickets, and PS. Let’s keep it up!