As the ship sailed quietly through the river, the humming noises enveloped the entire vessel in a cacophony of sorts. The outside noise was completely isolated from them and all they could hear was the beautiful singing.
That made it harder and harder for the mercenaries to even think properly. They didn’t even realize that the illusory effect of the singing was slowly taking their minds away. They were trying not to listen and enjoy the heavenly sounds, but their bodies were being swayed.
“*Gulp* What should we even do?”
“… I don’t know…”
“These voices are coming from somewhere close by. There is no other explanation.”
As the group discussed their situation, Arthur’s eyes kept scanning the area, searching for the source. However, for some reason, whenever he tried to locate the sound, his senses would have a hard time doing that. It was almost as if something was blocking him from detecting abnormalities.
‘These noises aren’t just trying to control our minds… It’s making it hard for me to locate the source.’ Arthur clenched his teeth annoyedly. He didn’t like the feeling of being restrained in such a way.
A minute passed then two minutes and the humming only kept on increasing with every second.
Then, out of nowhere, they all heard a sudden splashing sound through the beautiful humming that broke their entranced state. Immediately, they all put their swords up, ready for the monster to attack. However, unlike usual, they didn’t look as convinced or determined as they would be in such a threatening situation.
Their subconscious minds were completely captivated and it affected their will, making it shake and waver.
A second passed after that and then, they heard it…
“Hmmmmm…”
“There!!”
One of the mercenaries yelled as he pointed at a place on the deck. Immediately, everyone looked there and much to their shock, someone had appeared in that spot.
A dozen meters away from them, sitting on the ship rail was perhaps the most beautiful woman everyone there had ever seen. She looked so beautiful that almost everyone lost their breath the moment they caught a glimpse of her.
She was a beauty that completely transcended what they even thought was real. Everything about her, from her perfect face to her seductive, naked body and down to even her white, porcelain skin was completely mesmerizing.
The woman’s black hair was wet from the water and her skin was glistening under the faint light of the sky. She had a mischievous smile on her face as she eyed the group seductively.
Without even uttering a single word, they all stared at this newcomer in pure awe. All their fear, hesitation, and will to fight vanished from existence as if it was never there. If the humming was making them struggle to keep their wits together, then this woman’s appearance shattered whatever resistance they had left.
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As she sat there, she started humming with the same voice that they had been hearing for the past several minutes, and the effect was immediately amplified ten times due to her awful proximity.
Like frozen statues, nobody thought of attacking her or even alerting the others. Well, except for one person.
“Hey, everyone! Snap out of it!” Arthur yelled as he grabbed one of the mercenaries from his shoulder. At the same time, he looked left and right. Everyone was frozen in their place with blank expressions.
‘Shit, did that woman get them?!’ Arthur clenched his teeth as he shifted his gaze to the eerie creature on the other side. Nothing about her, apart from her human appearance gave him the feeling that he was staring at a human.
The sheer danger it inflicted on Arthur’s heart made him immediately realize that this woman was indeed a monster and she was the source of the humming.
“Hey! Deka! Snap out of it!”
He called for everyone there and yet no one responded. As he was like that, the woman slowly raised her hand at the group, and then with a seductive, move, she beckoned for them to get closer.
The moment she did that, all the mercenaries, including Deka, sprung into motion as they started walking toward the woman. They took slow steps at first before they quickly started running toward her.
‘What?!’ Arthur’s eyes widened. ‘You have got to be kidding me! They’re running to their demise!’
Without wasting another second, Arthur quickly dashed forward, chasing after the mercenaries before they could reach her. The way they ran, it almost looked like they were simply being dragged by a rope while they tried to keep their balance on their feet.
Arthur pulled his sword out as he channeled his mana, activating the frost mode. Then, with a precise swipe, he created an ice arc right in the path of the group. A second later, they all smashed into it and stopped.
Then, with successive slashes, Arthur contained the group with ice walls, not allowing them to leave. The mercenaries kept walking aimlessly into the ice and getting knocked back.
“Fuuh, that was awfully close,” Arthur muttered as he stood on top of the ice wall with a deep frown on his face. “These bastards were going to kill themselves without even knowing it.”
Then, his eyes shifted to the woman still sitting on the rail. Aiming his sword at her, he said. “You sure have some audacity to do this to some people, huh?”
His tone was cold and threatening. Even though Arthur couldn’t feel any aura from the woman which was something that worried him deep down. But, he knew he couldn’t back down there.
The woman stared at Arthur with the same smile as if she was amused by what he did.
“I don’t know why your dumb seduction won’t work on me. But, that doesn’t matter.” He muttered. Channeling his mana, Arthur readied himself for the fight. He didn’t want to even bother waiting for the woman to come up with some other nonsense to make it harder for him.
Jumping down from the ice wall, Arthur glared at the woman. Then, without any hesitation, he dashed forward at top speed with his sword to the side.
Closing the distance between them, he got ready to swing his sword. In the meantime, the woman didn’t move a single finger as she eyed Arthur. That alerted the boy, but he also couldn’t waste the opportunity as he slashed horizontally, cutting through the woman’s neck swiftly.
Except, when Arthur’s sword passed through her flesh he felt… Nothing.
“Huh?” Arthur’s eyes widened in shock as his sword completely swept through the air to the other side while the woman stood there, untouched and unfazed.
‘What the hell?! Why did my sword not cut her head?!’ His mind raced in a split second.
Then, as if things weren’t already bad enough, the woman moved her hand forward and simply touched Arthur on the forehead once. For some reason, the boy felt his reaction speed completely halt the moment she moved.
*BING*
The touch sent ripples through the air and right into Arthur’s face and that was all it took.
A//N: Thank you all for the gifts, golden tickets, and PS. Let’s keep it up!