Chapter 137
Chapter 137
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 137
Chapter Title: Coral Sahar's Storm 5
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“Azadin! We can’t stop this ship! The wind’s too fierce—if we try to anchor, it’ll be dangerous!”
Sion, gripping the helm, issued the warning.
“Keep her going, Sion! We’ll handle the ones coming aboard! Damn it, I’m tied up dealing with the sails myself.”
Azadin called out to Sion like that as he furled the sails completely. At that moment, the nagas climbed onto the gunwale.
“What the hell are these?”
“You lot. Orcs! And that woman over there?”
The nagas immediately saw through Scott’s illusion magic and Shati’s transformation.
“To be honest, we’re your allies.”
Azadin bluffed coolly, but an unexpected reaction came. The flustered nagas turned to what appeared to be their leader.
“Bullshit! Even if they’re Heralds, the order is to kill anyone approaching from outside!”
“What?”
Azadin flinched in surprise at those words. So these bastards had struck some kind of deal with the Heralds?
“I’ll have to hear the details on that!”
Azadin tied the sail ropes to the ship’s railing pins and freed up his hands. But on a small vessel like this, fighting along the gunwale wasn’t easy.
The path was narrow, yet the nagas charged at Gibek first.
“Hyah!”
“Hup!”
Gibek drew his longsword, parrying the naga’s curved sword while simultaneously thrusting at the naga’s throat for a clean hit. He’d blocked the attack and landed a perfect counter.
And he didn’t stop at a single throat stab—he executed an effective pivot step even on the rocking gunwale, shifting his angle for a powerful john-how, a diagonal slash that battered the naga.
The lead naga sprayed blood as it plummeted into the river, sending up a splash.
“Huh?”
The momentum of the aggressively charging nagas faltered.
‘Gibek fights damn well. His swordsmanship is top-notch. Scalabes is a common surname among northern nobles, but maybe there’s a story behind it?’
That was when Azadin had those thoughts.
-Boom!
A waterspout suddenly erupted right beneath the hull.
While Azadin’s group focused on the nagas boarding the gunwale, other nagas had fired air cannon shots that struck the ship.
The vessel rocked violently, and Gibek was swept off the gunwale by the rainwater.
“Argh?!”
“Damn it!”
Shati, who’d been holding a rope and playing prisoner, lunged forward and grabbed Gibek as he tumbled toward the river.
“Ugh! Th-thank you!”
“What the? That bitch?”
The nagas scowled as they watched what they’d thought was a prisoner dive to save Gibek.
“Looks like one of the dry-land folk.”
“Typical lowly dry-lander.”
“We’ll make her a slave if we catch her!”
They eyed Shati, plotting to enslave her.
“Might as well smash ‘em all!”
Shati shrieked, and Azadin snorted.
“You don’t have to tell me!”
Azadin loosed an arrow.
“This puny arrow…”
-Thunk!
The arrow flew straight into the open mouth of a gaping naga.
“Huh?”
“You’re all dead! You water serpent scum!”
Shati had apparently given up on the act entirely as she shouted that, and in that instant, Azadin fired another arrow.
-Splat!
“Wh-what?!”
The naga, who’d raised its blade to guard its vitals, watched in shock as the arrow sliced through the rain, curved amid the spray, and hurtled toward it.
“Gah!”
“Guess I’d better earn my keep.”
Scott grabbed a fish from the fishing basket, stabbed it dead with his dagger, enchanted it with magic, and released it into the water.
The corpse fish charged at the nagas who were shaking the ship with repeated air cannon blasts.
“Ghoulify!”
As Scott cast the spell, horns, spines, and razor-sharp teeth sprouted from the fish’s body.
“Berserk!”
“Grah! What—what is this?!”
The fish slammed into the naga and tore at it madly. Of course, it was just a small fish—the naga panicked, yanking it off its body…
“Self-destruct!”
At Scott’s gesture, the fish corpse exploded, splattering the naga’s eyes and face with gore.
“Tch. Looked like a tasty one.”
Scott lamented wasting the fish on necromancy.
“Wh-what the hell are these guys?!”
-Thunk!
An arrow punched through another naga’s skull.
Unlike arrows from other Heralds, Azadin’s flew with terrifying power and speed—nagas who fancied themselves skilled couldn’t even react.
To make matters worse, it was dark, with rain and wind howling, making the arrows nearly invisible.
You’d think accuracy would drop in this weather, but no—every shot hit true, inflicting massive wounds each time.
“N-no… Let’s retreat!”
The nagas began to fall back.
*********
“All right, then.”
Azadin had captured one naga as a prisoner. It was the commander naga the others had turned to.
“Grr. You warm-blooded filth!”
Bound to the mast, the naga commander spewed curses.
“I’d expect that from warm-bloods, but you! Dry-land bitch! You dare betray the great Cobra Queen?”
“No, I still don’t really get what’s going on.”
Shati clicked her tongue as she said that.
“We dry-landers aren’t exactly buddies with you water serpents, are we? I don’t even know what you’re up to—how’s that betraying the Cobra Queen?”
“Shut your hole. Go lay an egg in your cloaca while you’re at it.”
“How can you curse like that!”
“What’s that even mean?”
Azadin, listening in, was stunned. It must’ve been an extremely vile insult among nagas.
“Hey, naga pal. You mentioned the Heralds earlier. What deal did you strike with them?”
“You think I’ll tell you?”
“Tell me, and I’ll let you go.”
“What?!”
“Eh?!”
The captive naga and Shati both yelped in unison.
“Wait, you’ll let him go?! No way! What am I supposed to do then? Keep slaving away for you bastards?”
“Slaving away? Someone might think we’re gonna boil you up.”
“Boil me and eat me, then. You pricks.”
“Boil you up? If we get hungry enough, maybe we’ll consider it.”
“…You’re joking, right?”
Shati snapped out of her shock at Azadin’s response and pleaded with the nagas tied to the mast.
“P-please spare me. I’m not cooperating with them willingly. They’re forcing me, controlling me. So even if you let me go, don’t call me a traitor…”
“You take me for an idiot? Lay an egg in your cloaca. Make it two.”
“No, you bastard. Why’s it two eggs now?”
Azadin chuckled at the sight.
“Doesn’t seem like he’s got any intention of talking.”
“We could kill him and use spirit binding to ask.”
“That won’t do. Forcibly extracting info from the dead with spirit binding is deeply evil and disrupts causality itself. It crosses a line we can’t abide.”
When Scott suggested necromancy, Gibek recoiled. Even Azadin, who wasn’t overly averse to it, opposed this.
“Isn’t that spell way too dangerous? Soul-binding risks spawning a vengeful spirit on the surface, and manipulating the dead brain for info would leave madness in you, Scott.”
“Surprisingly knowledgeable about necromancy.”
Scott was impressed that Azadin understood both methods of extracting info from the dead.
“Well, yeah. Hm?”
“It’s the Sahar Gate!”
Sion, at the helm, shouted. Near Coral Sahar stood a massive bridge—that was the Sahar Gate.
Normally, soldiers and gate staff manned it, taxing merchants crossing atop and controlling vessel passage below with nets.
But now, trash piled up under the bridge, and massive wooden debris swirled on the surface.
“We get close, we’ll be smashed to bits. Rapids are brutal, floating junk everywhere. Plus, something’s scraping the hull.”
With buildings collapsing and getting swept away, the water was a nightmare. Honestly, sailing here in this weather was a feat. Only possible because Sion, at the helm, was a highly skilled navigator.
“There should be people up there, but nothing.”
The Sahar Gate should’ve had staff and soldiers on top.
“Maybe they took shelter from the storm? One slip on that bridge in the rain, and you’re in the drink.”
Ismail said that, but Azadin shook his head.
“Even so, it’s weird there’s no one at all. Not even troops nearby.”
“You’re right.”
It was suspicious. A major city—the capital of a kingdom—and no one at the gate?
“Let’s go overland from here. Get the ship to shore…”
“Looking for a spot to beach her.”
Sion steered while scanning around. Even the docks were fully flooded—no safe landing.
Still, Sion found a hillside and maneuvered there, dropping anchor into the depths.
“Swim for shore! Can’t get any closer!”
Everyone panicked at Sion’s words.
“What about these nagas?”
Midiam asked, and Sion sighed.
“If they won’t talk, we kill ‘em here.”
“Wait.”
The naga, silent until then, finally spoke.
“Y-you really mean it? If I talk, you’ll let me go?”
“Yeah.”
“Yep.”
“That’s right.”
Azadin, Sion, and Gibek answered simultaneously. Empty promises, but the naga had no choice but to believe they’d keep their word.
“So, our water serpent tribe’s been rivals with the sea serpent tribe. Fighting sometimes, allying others… Then one day, a Herald woman showed up, introduced by the sea serpents.”
“What was her name?”
“She called herself Jenis.”
“And? What did she propose?”
“She said she’d briefly extinguish the King’s Radiance here in Coral Sahar, and told us to seize the Royal Throne.”
“What?”
Gibek was stunned.
The Royal Throne of the Yaegas divine tribe wasn’t just a chair. It was a massive font of magical power, a pivotal nexus of fate encompassing all peoples.
When the rightful king sat upon it, the King’s Radiance protected the world, and the king received the Tome of the Divine New King, transforming him into a mage more powerful than any other… It was the very creed of the King’s Church.
And Kurt divine tribe followers aimed to claim it outright?
“Is that even possible?”
Azadin asked out of curiosity.
“Dunno. Our water serpent tribe doesn’t know much. But the sea serpent bloodline agreed… They killed our chieftain and took our families. The sea serpents changed somehow. Got stronger, fiercer, uglier overnight.”
“Uglier, huh. Well, nagas look kinda gross to begin with, in my book.”
Everyone stared at Scott.
“Don’t get too enchanted by orc beauty. Get used to my hot bod, and you’ll lose all lust for your own kind.”
Scott struck a muscle-flexing pose, then tsked.
“Flexed too hard there. Gotta watch it. Gains incoming.”