"I am not complete."
The low, hoarse voice seemed to draw closer, but the person on the steps, with his back to them, hadn't moved. Combined with the rocking boat and the sound of the thunderstorm outside the planks, the horror of this scene was far greater than the monster that had made Xia De drink soup earlier.
"But I crave completeness."
The words continued, and the light on Xia De's fingertips grew faint. The surrounding darkness was suppressing it, so he could only increase his spirit output.
"So."
The air within the cabin, which had seemed frozen, actually began to flow at this moment. Miss Princess, who was closer, felt a breeze from behind her, and the hoarse male voice appeared directly behind her:
"You come and make me complete!"
A deadly sense of crisis surged into Miss Princess's heart. She instinctively wanted to turn around but stopped herself forcefully:
"Xia De, is there something behind me?"
"Don't turn around, there's nothing behind you!"
All the shadows were at the stairwell. Miss Princess, facing the enemy at this moment, absolutely could not turn around.
"Alright, then I understand."
A smile appeared on the pale young woman's face:
"So that's how it is."
She raised her right hand and gently touched the ruby earring on her ear. As her fingertip touched the gem, a faint red halo rippled out from it. Her slender fingers manipulated the halo, and as her fingers moved, they drew a long, thin red light trail in the air.
Then, with a gentle flick forward, that red "ribbon" flew towards the guy with his back to them. After smoothly binding him, the stiff sailor sat motionless, no longer speaking, and even the sound of dripping water disappeared.
"Hurry, I can't control it for too long."
Miss Princess immediately turned to Xia De behind her, her condition looking even worse.
"This sage-level relic, besides preventing curses and Miracles, can also temporarily imprison a target; that's too strong."
As he pulled the girl, whose hair was almost entirely red, down the stairs, Xia De couldn't help but sigh with emotion. He didn't immediately ask about the relic's function but planned to wait until they left the boat.
【Think about this boat, which is also Sage-level. Think about the necklace the Witch lent you. Think about that gift box that contains any abnormal object.】
"Oh, actually, it's normal for it to have this effect."
After passing the third step, the chilling wind and eerie atmosphere also slightly lessened. Xia De and Miss Princess both kept their mouths shut, breathing heavily through their noses. They resisted the urge to look back, instead quickly descending the wooden stairs, which were dilapidated from decay.
They both knew the sailor was definitely watching them from behind. Fortunately, the ruby earring's restraint lasted long enough that no strange sounds came from above until they turned the corner of the stairs.
After moving away from the dripping sailor, the cabin seemed to return to normal. It was just that the stairs seemed a bit too long. They stopped to rest for a moment, thinking they would see the captain soon, but then walked down the stairs for a full five minutes before finally hearing a noisy sound from further below.
Going further down, they could already see a faint green light emanating from the bottom. This unexpected adventure didn't seem long at all.
"Hmm?"
After stepping over a certain step, Miss Princess suddenly frowned and looked at Xia De. Xia De, enduring his hunger, belatedly stopped and looked down at his arm.
On the exposed back of his hand, his skin slowly cracked inch by inch, and golden light trails shimmered beneath the cracks, reflecting the silver light on his fingertips. Rolling up his sleeve, the cracks extended from his hand to his entire body. In almost the blink of an eye, his entire body was covered in golden cracks, and even his clothes showed cracks.
He swung his arm, and the golden light trails created afterimages, leaving golden specks of light in the air like sparks. Brilliant golden light radiated from within the cracks. It was warm and gentle, yet exceptionally sacred and solemn.
The feeling of fullness and warmth of power greatly diluted Xia De's current hunger. It was like slowly immersing his body in hot water during a shower in the washroom. The oppressive feeling he had since arriving on this unfamiliar sea vessel seemed to dissipate with the appearance of these light trails.
These golden lights were also reflected in Miss Princess's eyes. The sacred light soothed her spirit. Although the person in front of her was only a Second-Circle Arcanist, looking at him gave her a feeling of being breathless.
"This is... Divine Radiance."
As long as Xia De possessed divinity, the Divine Radiance state would continue. However, for this phenomenon to appear on the surface of his body, there were only two situations: one was when he fell into a deep dream, exposing the essence of his soul, such as the dream of the Joyful Dream Pen; the other was when he encountered an environment related to a god, where the power of divinity would automatically appear to protect him, such as when he saved the little girl's family last time.
If he were in a dream at this moment, Xia De would be very happy, but now it looked like reality. Which meant...
He looked at the pale green light projected upwards from deeper in the stairs:
"Everyone is on a boat, but the boat is not unique; only the captain's cabin is unique. There... is the power of an evil god."
The good news was that, at least this time, only the power of a god existed on this boat that hunted for him. The situation was far better than being watched by an evil god last time.
He covered his stomach to stabilize his mind. Seeing that the girl beside him was fine, he whispered:
"Don't worry, this is just a decoration; it will disappear after we leave."
Miss Princess covered her mouth in surprise but didn't ask further. Xia De then asked in his mind:
"Confirm, do you feel any traces of an evil god watching here?"
【Absolutely not.】
Xia De breathed a sigh of relief and then said to the girl beside him:
"Miss Princess, we are about to meet the captain. No matter what happens later, I will handle it."
The area below would be more deeply permeated by the evil god's power, and the power of a Five-Ring Sorcerer would be further compressed.
"I can accept your suggestion, but you need to explain."
The red-haired girl was still very rational. She bit her lip and tugged at Xia De's sleeve, as if direct contact with the golden light trails could soothe the pain in her heart.
"The situation below is even worse than above. With the evil god's power present, how much strength can you still exert?"
Xia De shook his hand, his expression serious:
"I've experienced more dangerous situations. What we've encountered today isn't even as bad as at Lakeview Manor."
"I understand."
She whispered:
"You go ahead, but if you can't hold on, let me. I'll always be by your side."