Ellie didn’t fully understand the meaning behind the old man’s words. After finally hearing news of her grandfather, she could no longer suppress her anxiety and fear. Eagerly, she asked, “Have you met him? Is he still alive?”
“Perhaps,” Sharp Sigmond shook his head, offering no definite answer. He didn’t look at Ellie, whose face had fallen with disappointment. Instead, he turned to speak to the natives, who were still glaring at Luca and the others.
At Sharp’s words, the natives hesitated noticeably. The young man with the stone bow babbled urgently, as though trying to reason with them, but Sharp waved him off impatiently.
Luca noticed that the hostility from the natives had visibly diminished, although they were still clearly unwelcoming.
Sharp, struggling to mount the blue wild boar, addressed them, “In light of my past dealings with Levin, I’ll give you a little help. Follow me.”
Without waiting for a response, he turned away, tapping his cane against the boar’s rear, and began to move deeper into Ghost Island.
The young man no longer obstructed their path. He merely cast a cold glance at them, his eyes seeming to say, “I’ll keep an eye on you. You’d better behave yourselves.”
The sudden change in attitude caught everyone off guard, and they exchanged looks. Ellie’s face flushed as the others regarded her with curious expressions. It seemed that her grandfather had some reputation here in the Sea of Mist.
“Let’s go,” Luca said, patting Ellie’s shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. “We can ask him more about your grandfather later.”
Ellie’s mood visibly improved. Hearing her grandfather’s name here, in this desolate place, was already a significant gain for her.
The group followed Sharp deeper into the island.
Aside from the Clear Spirit Grass, Ghost Island was covered in dark, unknown rocks, with not a single tree in sight, giving it a barren and desolate appearance.
It wasn’t until they had walked several kilometers that Luca realized there was, in fact, a village on the island.
The village wasn’t large, only housing a few hundred families. All the houses were made from the same black stone, blending seamlessly with the rest of the island, which was why they hadn’t noticed it earlier.
As they entered the village, Luca observed that despite the simple and rudimentary construction of the homes, they were arranged in a well-organized manner. The streets were neatly paved, and some houses even had dried fish and clothes hanging from the stone doors, as though they had been freshly prepared.
Enjoy new tales from empire
Along the way, they saw many villagers going about their business. People from various races populated the village, most of them dressed in plain, tattered clothes. Some even wore old pirate garb, likely survivors who had been stranded here after getting lost in the Sea of Mist.
Upon seeing Sharp lead them back, the villagers were clearly surprised. Some of them showed fear in their eyes, while others picked up weapons, ready to charge. However, Sharp quickly stopped them, preventing the situation from escalating into a violent confrontation.
“Seems like the people on Ghost Island are afraid of outsiders?” Luca observed, his gaze fixed on Sharp ahead of him. He was puzzled. Normally, even if they weren’t exactly welcoming, their reaction shouldn’t have been so extreme.
Sharp didn’t turn back. “They’re not afraid of you, they’re afraid you’re monsters wearing human skins. The village has suffered too many lessons because of that.”
After a pause, he looked over his shoulder at Luca, seemingly surprised. “Haven’t you encountered those ghostly creatures before?”
Monsters wearing human skin? The words sent a shiver through everyone’s hearts.
Luca thought for a moment before shaking his head. “We haven’t encountered the creatures you’re talking about. Maybe it has something to do with our warships.”
Indeed, they had encountered a variety of strange creatures on their journey, but most were crushed by the Black Thorn and Windrunner Ship. The few that had managed to breach the ship’s defenses were swiftly dealt with by the soldiers. He had yet to come across the kind of creatures Sharp was referring to.
“Maybe you just haven’t noticed them,” Sharp sneered suddenly. “If you think those two Superclass warships are enough to protect your safety in the Sea of Mist, I suggest you check your numbers when you head back. See if anything strange might have slipped aboard.”
His words made everyone, Luca included, change color instantly.
“What do you mean by that?” Luca asked sharply.
Sharp answered calmly, “Just what you think it means. Maybe you’ve already encountered those creatures, but they just haven’t revealed themselves yet. You’d better check quickly.”
With his words, Luca’s expression shifted. He immediately thought of Sophia. Without another word, he shot a look toward his companions and then sprinted away, his figure shooting into the air like an arrow, heading straight for the outer edge of Ghost Island.
…
Meanwhile, aboard the Windrunner Ship, in a luxurious cabin, Sophia slowly woke from a restless, murmuring dream.
Her face was pale as she pressed her hand to her head, beads of sweat forming on her forehead. The strain from suppressing Zenobia had drained much of her energy. Although Luca had given her some magical medicine, she hadn’t fully recovered. Right now, Sophia was battling a severe headache, feeling as though the blood vessels in her brain were throbbing.
The incessant whispers that filled her ears only amplified the pain.
Sophia exhaled deeply and slowly sat up. Reaching for the water cup on the nightstand, she was surprised to find that the water was still warm. A faint sense of comfort spread through her as she grasped the cup.
After drinking the water, Sophia’s once foggy mind and thoughts finally began to clear a little.
She set the cup down, lay back down on the bed, and slowly closed her eyes.
Her breathing became steady again, and a wave of drowsiness washed over her.
In her groggy state, Sophia faintly felt like she heard rustling sounds by her ear.
But it was different from the usual noisy mumblings from Zenobia.
The sound at times was sharp, like metal clashing, and at other times, it sounded like something heavy thudding against a wall, making it difficult for her to fall asleep.
Then, a faint voice, broken and intermittent, came into her ear: “Quick… notify… the ship… I’ll hold them off… ah!”
Instantly, Sophia’s eyes snapped wide open!
No! Something’s wrong with the ship!
She got up from the bed, intending to check what was going on, but her legs felt weak, and she had to lean against the wall, pushing the door open with effort.
The soldiers outside saw her emerge barefoot and rushed to her in a panic. “Miss Sophia, Lord Luca instructed…”
Sophia seemed not to hear them. She furrowed her brow and asked, “Did you hear any sounds just now?”
The two soldiers exchanged glances, confusion and uncertainty in their eyes. Clearly, they hadn’t heard anything unusual.
This caused a slight doubt in Sophia’s heart. Could it be that she was just hallucinating due to her exhaustion?
She listened carefully for a moment. Apart from the wind and the sound of waves crashing against the rocks, there was nothing else.
“Maybe I really did hear it wrong,” Sophia muttered, rubbing her forehead. She felt like she really should get some proper rest.
She was about to return to her room, but just as her hand rested on the doorknob, something suddenly occurred to her. She turned back to the two soldiers and asked, “What’s the lower hold used for?”
If the noise she had heard was real, the soldiers outside should have noticed something. But they clearly hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary. If it wasn’t a hallucination, the most likely source of the noise would have come from the hold beneath her room.
The soldiers answered honestly, “It’s the food storage hold.”
Food storage… Sophia’s eyes flickered, and after a brief hesitation, she finally closed the door again and decided to check it out for herself.
The sound had been too real, and it left her feeling uneasy.
However, Sophia also knew her current state wasn’t ideal, so she called the two soldiers to accompany her.
The Windrunner Ship was different from the Black Thorn. Most of the ship’s space was used for storing cargo and living quarters, with only a small portion allocated for magical weapons.
The three of them crossed the deck and descended the spiral staircase. Soon, they arrived at the hold at the bottom of the Windrunner Ship. The silver-white corridor was lined with neatly arranged rooms, each door leading to a storage area or a soldier’s quarters.
Sophia, with the two soldiers, began checking the rooms one by one. Since Luca had taken most of the ship’s soldiers with him, and with some soldiers still on patrol, the rooms on the ship were mostly empty. Before long, they had checked almost everything, with only the last hold left to inspect.
Sophia finally let out a sigh of relief, thinking that perhaps she had been overly anxious after all.
However, the moment she opened the last storage room door, her expression changed instantly.
A strong, overpowering smell of blood rushed toward her!
“Go get help!” Sophia’s gaze turned icy, and without hesitation, she ordered the two soldiers.
The two soldiers immediately noticed something was wrong. One of them rushed out of the hold. The other gripped his longsword, his eyes scanning the dark ship’s hold warily. “Miss Sophia, please step back. I’ll handle it here.”
Sophia didn’t respond but simply shook her head, stepping forward into the hold. A true leader should stand in front of their soldiers, not cower behind them like a coward. That was one of her father Ryan’s favorite sayings, and the source of the Howard family’s pride.
The soldier who had been watching her walk in, however, lost the wariness on his face. A cold, murderous intent flickered in his eyes, and his skin seemed to swell as if something inside him was trying to break free.
Sophia did not notice this at all.
As she entered the hold, the stench of blood was overwhelming, making her stomach turn.
A gorgeous longsword, forged from crystalline ice, materialized in her hands. She walked carefully toward the source of the smell, her senses alert.
As she got closer, the sound of a bone-crunching, gnawing noise echoed through the silent ship’s hold. There, in the middle of the room, she saw two sailors’ mangled bodies carelessly discarded on the floor. Thick blood had stained the ship’s boards and walls a deep red, and entrails were scattered around.
Sophia’s eyes lifted to the dim corner of the hold. In the shadows, a monster with scaly skin, bruised and battered, crouched on the floor, devouring its prey with ravenous hunger. Its sharp teeth easily shredded the hard bones, and blood dripped steadily onto the floor.
The sound she had heard earlier had come from it.
