LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 127
“What’s this…”
I was running in the direction the Sea God had disappeared when I, riding on my Nightmare, had no choice but to come to a halt. The biggest reason was that, despite running for a while, I couldn’t spot the Sea God, but more than that, I couldn’t just pass by the white bone graveyard that filled my view.
“What’s going on?”
Runox arrived late and approached me, silently gazing at the scattered white bones around us.
“Aren’t those human bones?”
“Well…”
I dismounted from the Nightmare and crouched on the ground. What looked like the spine of some creature was stuck in the mud, surrounded by large and small bone fragments strewn about. It didn’t stop there; beyond the human-like bones, there were also bones of giant marine monsters scattered around.
“It has arms and legs, and even fingers. But the head…”
“Could it be a Goblin?”
“A Goblin wouldn’t have such a long snout. And it’s split into several branches at the end. It’s definitely a monster I haven’t seen before.”
“It seems a new monster has been born under the influence of strange mana…”
“Your reasoning is sound, but… doesn’t it seem a bit too strange?”
I silently looked at the place Runox was pointing to. There, I spotted human bones. The large bone looked to be leaning against a rock, showing less damage than the others.
However, the size and shape were problematic. It was far too big to be called a human bone. The long bone stretched between its legs was certainly a Beastman’s tailbone, but even that was excessively large. Just looking at it, the tail seemed to measure over two meters.
“That snout is long too.”
As Runox pointed out. The snout of what seemed to be a giant Beastman’s bone was littered with what looked like elongated finger bones. It seemed far more evolved than the small creature we had seen before.
“Here’s a scripture from the Sea God Church too.”
Runox, wandering through the white bone graveyard, said as he pulled out something buried in the dirt, which indeed turned out to be a scripture from the Sea God Church.
The contents of the scripture had become unreadable from being soaked in seawater. Stuck in seawater and mud, when I opened the book, the pages tore, making it difficult to dry and examine.
“It’s about time we should go back.”
“Go back? Already?”
“Who would have thought the Sea God would disappear so quickly? Rather than wandering around searching for what we can’t see, it seems better to return and learn more about the Sea God Church. We can also take some of these bones with us.”
“But we’ve come this far; we can’t just turn back easily.”
When I couldn’t sense the presence of the Sea God, I couldn’t use some magic, but now that I firmly recognized its existence, things were different. I conjured a small star in my heart and lightly flicked my finger.
[Ta-daak!]
My personal little star that guides the right path. The one that had shone brightly in the desolate desert showed itself again.
“What’s that…”
“It’s a spell called Guiding Star. It always helps me find what I want.”
“That’s not a magic in the Mage Tower’s library.”
“It’s my own magic.”
To be precise, it was magic I had reborn as my own after studying the spells left by the Dwarves, but I didn’t feel the need to mention that fact.
At that moment, the little star began to move as if hesitating. It flew forward, continuing over the long expanse of bone graves.
“Does that light really indicate the direction of the Sea God?”
“Didn’t you say magic begins with belief? I believe that star will guide us to the Sea God…”
“Hmm. Alright, let’s go.”
The moment a user of magic loses faith, that magic loses its power. That’s why there can’t be a shred of doubt. I followed the shining star, imagining the back of the Sea God.
The colorful coral area looked beautiful at first glance, but a massive death was approaching around it. Because all the seawater essential to marine life had drained away.
I passed by huge creatures wriggling helplessly. They looked pitiful, gasping as if they couldn’t breathe, but there was nothing I could do.
I passed by giant islands one by one. The sight of Dawn Castle that had been visible behind us was no longer seen. Yet, the Guiding Star did not stop, and we mindlessly followed behind it.
I wondered how much time had passed. When the hazy clouds began to cover the sky, the long underwater terrain came to an end.
“What’s this…”
The end of the path. Below it spread a jet-black sea. It was murky to the point where it was impossible to see what lay beneath.
“Is the Sea God down there?”
“That’s what the Guiding Star indicates.”
The Guiding Star had entered the murky seawater. The star sank beneath the dark water and soon vanished from sight. It wasn’t that the magic had been undone; it was simply that the seawater was so murky that the starlight was obscured.
“I don’t really want to go in there.”
“Is this the so-called realm of the Sea God mentioned in the scripture, where another sea lies beneath the sea?”
I squinted, glaring at the dark seawater. Judging by the absence of any special mana, it didn’t seem like the seawater had been altered by mana.
At that moment, Runox, who had been silently looking down at the water, took out an empty potion bottle from his pocket and started to scoop up the dark seawater.
As the water filled the bottle, black bubbles began to rise. Just then, a faint movement caught my eye. It was bizarre to see something swimming freely in the dark water. I quickly reached out and grabbed the nape of Runox’s neck.
“Whoa!”
Runox, startled by my sudden action, flailed about. At the same time, a smooth arm pierced the water’s surface, splattering dark seawater everywhere.
In that fleeting moment, I closely observed the figure emerging from the water. The arm that had risen above the surface bore a striking resemblance to a human arm. However, between the spread fingers were webbed appendages, and instead of smooth skin, there were fish-like scales tightly packed.
In that moment, Runox, who had been hanging from my grip, began to gather mana. After quickly assessing the situation, it seemed he was preparing to unleash magic on the unidentified monster that had attacked him.
The mana spilling out carried a chilling cold. As the gathered chill took the shape of a long ice spear, it was fired towards the monster.
[Purrrk!]
[Shreeee!]
Direct hit. At the sound of a rough explosion, the freezing air starting from the ice spear froze a portion of the dark sea.
At that moment, I threw Runox, whom I had been holding, back and retreated with my Nightmare. I had just taken down one monster, but many more auras were detected nearby.
Sssss—
Small waves began to rise over the black sea. Those waves were also a signal announcing the emergence of monsters.
“What’s…”
Gurgle—
One by one, bizarre-looking monsters began to peek out of the black sea. They looked something forcibly created by mixing humans and fish. Their elongated faces had bulging eyes that moved in different directions, with fins sprouting on top of their heads that wriggled like waves.
“I-I knew this would happen! As expected… the Sea God was creating an army of monsters here…!”
Runox gasped, drawing mana as he saw the numerous monsters. Several long ice spears floated around him.
I couldn’t just stand still either. Dismounting from my Nightmare, I drew the Ice Dragon Sword, which shimmered with a chilling aura.
Swish—
The moment it was drawn, the aura of the Ice Dragon Sword surged outward. The surrounding temperature dropped in real time, and the monsters that had been glaring at us slowly began to retreat in fear.
Though unintentional, the flowing aura naturally dominated all living beings. That was the power of a dragon. Of course, there were those who did not back down. There was one creature that was much larger than the other common ones.
It looked similar overall to the small monsters, but its snout was elongated and split into dozens of branches. Instead of a head, it appeared to have something akin to an octopus or squid dangling there.
“Huuh…”
A chilling breath escaped lowly. Right after, the Fire Dragon Sword strapped to my waist was forcibly unsheathed and floated behind me.
Having little experience with dual-wielding, I devised a method to work with these twin swords. One sword I wield directly while manipulating the other with mana. It was a clumsy imitation of a swordsmanship technique.
At that moment, as the giant creature moved, the rest began to crawl out of the sea.
Sssss—
Waves crashed in. The black sea was beginning to reclaim the underwater area where the seawater had disappeared.
Gurgle—!
I sliced through an approaching fishman monster with remarkable speed. As the cyan flash that erupted from my fingertips drew seven stars, the seven monsters closing in on me were frozen and shattered into white fragments.
Unlike the Ice Dragon Sword, which allowed me to showcase clear swordsmanship, the Fire Dragon Sword just acted relatively simply, being shot and swung before being recalled again. This was my first time using it in an actual battle. It felt like having four or five hands at once, each doing something different.
“Are you really a magician…?”
I didn’t respond to Runox’s question. I was too busy strengthening my physical body with magic, launching dozens of Magic Missiles, wielding my swords, and controlling my Fire Dragon Sword.
Individually, the monsters weren’t very strong. However, their sheer numbers were overwhelming. Even at this moment, new ones were continually being added from beneath the murky sea. Furthermore, the black water encroaching even further was concerning.
The seawater that had vanished was returning. The Sea God was moving. I bit my lip and swung the Ice Dragon Sword widely.
Sssssss—!
As the expanse of frost mana froze dozens of monsters, the Fire Dragon Sword flew in to collide with the swinging strike.
[Shazzam—!]
The two blades that had once been one resonated. The resulting dragon’s roar was vastly different from what an ordinary sword would produce.
[CRAAAWK!!!]
Beyond the low growl, a roar erupted. Immediately after, the mana swirling in the air trembled violently, and a spark of blue lightning flared up.
Crack—!
When the lightning that had colored the entire world disappeared, nothing could move. Time seemed to have stopped.
Keeing—!
The circle of my heart started spinning. As the circle revolved at an extremely high speed, it amplified the mana, and atop it, shining starlight rose.
In that moment, the mana swirling in the air gathered behind me, forming a new mana circle. The circle wrapped in blue lightning began to emit a rough light.
It was the authority that had originally belonged to Storm Bringer forming an external mana circle.
Right after, a ring of blue chill rose above the Ice Dragon Sword, and a ring of red flame appeared above the Fire Dragon Sword.
As these four circles resonated while spinning, a massive amount of mana gathered beneath my chest. I frowned. The speed at which the mana was gathering was far too fast. At this rate, I would surely surpass the mana limits I could handle before my physical body could transform.
I needed to expel it like this.
Using a wide-open mouth, I immediately vomited the massive mana that had been accumulating beneath my chest.
Kwah- Aaaahhh—!
A flash filled with blue starlight shot out in a straight line. Just as lightning wrapped around it, the dark clouds gathering above the black sea split in two.