Chapter 143
Chapter 143
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 143
Chapter Title: Bait and Bait
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*
It had been three days since boarding Leia's flagship, and Fernandez had now fully grown accustomed to the ship rocking on the open ocean waves. Kirhas, however, could barely swallow down her porridge before retching and dashing off somewhere.
-Creeeak.
Every time the waves crashed against the hull, the deck groaned as if twisting. The heavy winter sea battered the vessel. The cabins below deck writhed like the guts of a serpent, disorienting one's sense of gravity if one didn't keep eyes on the outside world.
"You're adapting remarkably fast. Humans usually suffer for a fortnight."
Leia laughed heartily as she crossed her legs and sat. Gaimeirn's flagship had been completely shattered and run aground in the seas before Infermur, its enormous hull too massive for any hope of salvage.
Thus, her own flagship was smaller by comparison—still overwhelmingly large by human standards, but far too modest to be called a "castle on the sea."
Leia handled her meals and rest in the captain's cabin, where weapons, a compass, and sea charts hung on the walls. She sipped tea while gazing at the chart.
"Come join me, Inquisitor. Tea is hard to come by on the high seas."
"I'll partake gratefully."
"Haha, good. Have you sailed before?"
"It's my first time."
"Impressive adaptability. Is it thanks to your Demonica physique?"
Leia smirked and set down her teacup. She pointed to a delicately carved wooden panel. The engraving on it shifted moment by moment.
It was a powerful ancient relic. Fernandez narrowed his eyes and peered at the panel.
"This is a North Sea chart. No matter where it is or what it is, if it's what I seek, it reveals its position—constellations, currents, even the destination. Without knowledge of ancient Elvish, you can't interpret it, so staring won't help."
"Is this Maleyrn's flagship?"
"· · · Feels like you've breached some classified intel."
Leia's eyes gleamed as she stared at Fernandez. This human always uttered the unexpected. It had been the same in the presence of the former king, Eternal King Gaimeirn, and it was the same now.
"Not something to call 'well-read' over."
"Coincidence in my studies."
"You coincidentally learned ancient High Elvish?"
Fernandez sipped his black tea while regarding the smiling Leia. Back in his Feizashi days, he had delved into the magic of the [Bereilde School]. The spells from the era of the five ancient Elven kingdoms, including the visions of Melisildur's Dawn.
That had been back then. His obsession with mastering more magic and wielding greater power had veered far from the norm, ultimately making him the grand master of the Enssorcery school.
-What's the point of all that now?
Feizashi grumbled. Immense magic, countless spells, grand incantations, astonishing reflexes. The pinnacle of modern magical warfare. Such a reputation lay in a distant future he had left behind—a timeline that would never reach this Fernandez.
Fernandez chuckled softly at Leia, whose eyes now shone with wariness.
"If you ever enter the Inquisition's grand archives, you'll find astonishing knowledge. The Inquisition also seals away the continent's forbidden tomes."
"Ah, right. I knew you could wield Bereilde school magic. Not surprising."
I should have assumed she knew that already. Leia grumbled as she lowered her guard. She nodded soon after and pointed to a massive tower rippling on the chart.
"You're right, Inquisitor. Maleyrn's flagship is here. They've been anchored in these waters for days, just waiting. Our patrol fleets have probed their lines several times, but no major gains."
"Due to the flagship?"
"What else? Gaimeirn's Golden Fleet remains the strongest on the seas. Among the Elven Trident, they hold the largest population and fleet. Without Maleyrn's flagship, the rest are small fry."
On the chart, tiny dots shifted slowly around the massive tower. Leia growled as she watched their formation.
"Look at their movements. They're scheming something in that sector. That's probably why they've come to the North Sea. No matter how we press, they only counterattack without committing to turning the tide."
Had Maleyrn's flagship pressed aggressively, Leia would have shifted to a war of attrition and delay. The flagship was invincible at sea, but its crew were ordinary elves who needed food, sleep, and rest.
Keep prodding, irritate them, handle their occasional counterstrikes, and above all avoid a full frontal clash with the flagship—that held winning odds.
But Maleyrn's flagship sat motionless in place, preparing something.
That, terribly enough, was unnerving.
"Their goal has always been one thing since ancient times. Hunting gods. But as far as I know, there's no being worthy of the title 'god' in these waters. Except for me and Melisildur, who stands with my people. The North Sea holds no divinity."
"No, there is one."
"What?"
Fernandez stroked his chin and eyed the North Sea map. His first deep-sea expedition, and he held little interest in naval matters, but theology was one of his main fields of study.
"The son of the Great Ocean God MacLaren resides here. Grand Duke of Waves Kian. His lair must be somewhere in these depths."
"· · · How do you know? I can't believe anyone has more precise info on the North Sea than I do."
"Priests study theology too. Among MacLaren's three children, the only one surviving to this era is Grand Duke Kian. But he's not a god fated to die at this time · · · ."
Grand Duke Kian of Waves—a sea god who warred against the Franzrit bloodline, which dominated the seas around Infermur after the disappearance of the Elven Triad Kings. Not part of the Holy Pantheon of Good Gods, but one of the lesser gods with true divinity.
The elves' god hunts were infamous even in his past life, but elves lacked the ability to dive the ocean depths. What awoke the slumbering Kian in the depths were the undead—beings needing no breath, immune to the deep's chill.
Kian had awakened as the final great war of the material world loomed, perishing gloriously in mutual destruction with the Franzrit bloodline and other great vampire nobles.
That meant there was no reason for him to fall into the Elven Triad Kings' detection nets at this time.
'Where did things diverge?'
-Is predicting it even worthwhile? Too many reasons, that's the problem.
'At the very least, someone leaked Kian's existence and location to Maleyrn. How? Who could know Kian's position so precisely and advise Maleyrn?'
-At least not an elf.
'Nor a vampire.'
Fernandez scowled and glared at the map. Information the elves of his past life could never have known. He didn't know how many gods they hunted, but Kian wasn't among them.
Realizing now what the past-life elves never learned till the end meant this was a variable born from timeline shifts post-reincarnation. A variable caused by some non-elf entity.
Too many possibilities. Information was woefully insufficient, and he couldn't even confirm if they'd succeeded in awakening Kian.
Such uncertainty was one of the things Fernandez hated most. He glowered at the chart like a chessboard shrouded in fog.
"Assuming you're correct, they want to kill MacLaren's son?"
For a sea-faring folk to enrage a sea god was quite the joke. Leia sipped her tea.
"Must be worth it."
"If their aim is lifting their race's curse, that tracks."
"You think it's possible? Answer as a theologian, mage, and young human who knows much."
"Without knowing Maleyrn's capabilities, speculation is pointless."
Fernandez held his tongue briefly, then conceived a new hypothesis. In his past life, the elves had vanished from the earth's surface in an instant. Tales spoke of a divine curse or departure to the gods' realm · · · .
'The three Eternal Kings once invaded the Elven Pantheon directly.'
What if it wasn't about breaking a curse? Not some simple, straightforward goal · · · . What if they sought to open a gate to another dimension?
Crossing this horizontal dimension to another. To tread lands free of the continent's curse?
'Trouble is · · · that dimension might be the one I came from.'
If they opened a gate to a world where Hell had already triumphed, the globe ablaze, the atmosphere tainted by hellish mana · · · .
'Beitasser's counter-invasion will surely fail.'
Beitasser's and the Holy Pantheon's counter-invasion plan held meaning only as a surprise assault. Its core relied on the great demons of the prime world remaining ignorant of this horizontal dimension.
Expending gathered divinity to shatter the pantheon's barrier on this dimension, opening a gate to this world even briefly. Even a fleeting instant. The prime world's demons would surely notice.
"Leia. How long to reach Maleyrn's flagship?"
"Three more days at average speed. If they stay put."
"We need more haste."
"Why the rush?"
"Need to confirm. Flagship defenses, ways to breach protective spells. And their true goal · · · ."
-Rumble!!
As he spoke, lightning flashed across the captain's cabin window. Distant thunder rolled. Amid the blizzard-lashed night sea, a pure white flash erupted for an instant.
-Creeeak. Creak!
Waves slamming the hull grew louder. The cabin rocked, the ship tilting. It always felt this way cresting massive waves—like the earth itself warping. As Fernandez frowned at the sensation—
"What the · · · ?"
Leia peered out the window in shock. She paused, then narrowed her eyes and swiftly drew a spyglass from her belt. Moments later, she sprang up and shouted.
"Down, Inquisitor—!!"
-Kaboom!!!
A massive impact hit, furniture tilting, books spilling everywhere. Teacups and pot shattered on the floor from the table. Fernandez rolled swiftly to steady himself.
-Kaboom! Boom!!
The ship shook violently, walls and floor blurring into one. They tumbled across the half-upended cabin. Utensils floated, bounced, shattered, and splintered everywhere.
-Kaboom!!!
"Enemy attack!!"
Leia kicked off the floor with astonishing reflexes and righted herself mid-leap. Not mere physical prowess, but the unique movements of one who'd spent over half their life at sea. Fernandez barely steadied himself and gazed at the now-ceiling window.
Towering black seas pressed in like mountains, storms, hail, wet sleet scattering everywhere. And—
-Rumble!!
Lightning scorched the sea, briefly illuminating its profound depths. Down there—
It was thanks to Demonica-enhanced dynamic vision. Or perhaps the near-divine performance of his body.
Deep in the ocean. In the black abyss. The fleeting afterimage on his retina from the lightning strike. Red eyes and a massive maw like a deep-sea anglerfish. Between gaping jaws, razor-sharp fangs lined like blades—
'Vampire.'
-Franzrit!
The puzzle clicked. Franzrit, stripped of Infermur and their base. Maleyrn, hungering for god hunts. Their interests aligned—
In exchange for revealing the location of a slumbering potent divinity, Maleyrn promised Franzrit Infermur and their clan's revival.
"Kirhas—!!"
"Yes, Silver Light!!"
-Crash!
The door splintered as Kirhas burst in, hurling a greatsword. Fernandez leaped, twisting midair to align with its trajectory—
'Dragging in the Gaimeirn dynasty was · · · the bait!'
Kian's existence? Plans to awaken and strip his divinity? That was Plan B. What they truly targeted was Leia and the soul of Melisildur borne by her people!
And what Franzrit desired: dominance over the northern seas and clan revival.
'To topple the seas' strongest force requires equal power.'
During the Infermur incident, Franzrit had schemed civil war. It failed, and Fernandez's intervention nearly exterminated their bloodline.
But vampires were like plagues—spreading easily, growing swiftly. They devised a new plot. Not civil war within the dynasty, but war between entire races!
"Didn't I tell you, human."
From the sea depths, a sinister voice seemed to echo. Fernandez locked eyes with the being glaring from the abyss. Magic. Telepathy, a mere whisper at that—simple spell.
"No one escapes death."
Serpent Isles' Fang Grand Duke, Richter von Franzrit, laughed from the deep and whispered to him.