Chapter 261 [End] [He Who Shouldn't Exist] [3] [Principalities]
Chapter 261 [End] [He Who Shouldn't Exist] [3] [Principalities]
"THE ISLAND IS NEAR!!"
General Svaty of the Mizraim Empire bellowed as he looked forward.
Fifteen huge ships moved, following behind the one he led.
Carrying thirty thousand trained soldiers from the human domain towards Moshel's Tomb.
The restless night had taken a toll as they moved non-stop since last night.
Vice Captain Bret gritted his teeth, the muscles in his back and shoulders screaming.
A wave lifted their ship high, the front pointing at the sky.
He felt weightlessness in the pit of his stomach, losing balance and almost slipping from the ship.
Then the ship surged down, cutting into the waves.
An explosion of sea spray crashed over the bows, the wind whipping it across Bret's back like hailstones.
"How are you liking the sea!?" Svaty asked, slapping his back. He had an old wrinkled face.
"Not nice, sir!" Bret replied, removing the strands of blonde hair from his face. "We were called in on too short notice."
Svaty nodded as he moved, Bret following behind. "Indeed."
"...Are we going to die, General?" Bret asked, looking back at the island.
"We signed for our death when we joined the army," Svaty replied with a chuckle, shaking his head.
"Though death from fighting monsters till your last breath doesn't sound too good."
"We should at least tell them," Bret suggested as he looked around, soldiers laughing happily about reaching the island.
"Don't," Svaty denied firmly. "They will lose their morale if we tell them."
"Yes, sir," he nodded quietly, not arguing with him.
Svaty looked back from the end of the deck where the other huge ships followed behind them.
The Mizraim Empire has a history of ruling the sea, and even though the trip was short between the Pargoina Empire, where they were teleported to, and here...
...They still took the lead.
Beyond the ships was an endless sea, with nowhere to return.
"Hm?"
Bret looked at Svaty, who started to laugh, his greyish-black braid of hair whipped by the wind.
"Never thought I would see this day in my life," he said, smiling as he turned around. "....Humans working together."
Lumina is an old place with history going back to millennia, and even then, one can count on their hand when humans were united together.
"PULL!!"
Svaty yelled again, and soldiers started to slow the engine as they carved their way through the waves.
The ships slowly made way towards the island while many moved towards the edge to look at the scenery.
"A TREE?!!"
A voice cried from the front deck, earning the gaze of curious soldiers.
"Did someone say tree?"
Svaty confusingly looked at Bret.
"I believe so?" Bret replied, reflecting his confusion.
They both walked towards the front deck, the soldiers making way for them as they moved.
".....What?"
Svaty mumbled, his brows knitting together as he looked in front.
In the endless sea between them and the island stood a tall tree, its top vanishing within the clouds, marked by the crimson veins of fire that glowed.
The tree seemed to breathe, pulsating with life, the restless assault of sea waves leaving no mark on it.
"Was that always there?" Bret asked in confusion.
Just now he saw the path, and he clearly remembered there was no such thing.
The ships trembled violently as if something grazed them from below.
Bret looked down in the deep sea, noticing something crawling underneath them.
He felt the sea calm down around them, as if obeying some spell or something beyond their understanding.
The sailing became easier as they swept into a natural harbour, waves gently guiding them towards the tree.
"Is that....?"
"No way."
The murmurs of soldiers looking at the tree started to fill the deck.
Svaty squinted his eyes, looking at the centre of the tree.
Even though from afar, he could see an outline of a throne engraved on the tree.
....A man sat on it.
Svaty stepped back in horror, his breath caught in his throat.
"RETREAT!" Svaty bellowed, turning around towards the man in charge of the wheel.
"General, what happened!?" Bret quickly got a hold of the panicked Svaty.
"T-that ghost...."
His words trailed off as the ship shook, there was a crunch of timber, and sea water splashed.
"AHHH MONSTER!!"
A soldier yelled, making Bret's head snap to that direction.
"Huh?"
He let out a startled voice as a branch of the tree, thicker than a normal house and glowing crimson, started to coil around the ship.
"What is happenin—?"
His words abruptly halted as his body got thrown in the air.
Chaos erupted in a single instant.
The sound of metal crunching echoed as the coiled branch lifted the entire ship in the air.
"General!!"
Bret shouted as he got a hold of himself, grabbing onto an edge to stop from falling into the sea.
The rest weren't so lucky, half the soldiers falling into the bottomless sea.
His head snapped back to the rest of the troops, and much to his horror, every single ship was in the same situation.
"Arghh!!"
He groaned, the ship suspended to its side, high in the air away from the calm sea.
"Bret!"
Svaty yelled as he balanced himself at the edge of a pillar, his breath shallow from what he saw before.
Digging his feet on the pillar, he took his sword out.
BOOM!!! But before he could try to cut the branch coiling the ship, a thunderous sound echoed.
His head abruptly turned to look at the humongous tree.
Two figures rushed towards them.
Their sturdy bodies moved, gliding through the air.
"BRACE!!!"
Bret yelled, alerting the soldiers who had yet to recover.
BOOM!!! Their bodies crashed hard on the ship's side, shaking it violently.
"Hahahaha, this is going to be fun!"
The broad-shouldered man wearing thick black armor laughed heartily.
His bright blue hair, styled in spikes, rose along with two onyx horns on his head.
"You are too loud, brother."
The man beside him spoke, their faces exactly the same, with the same onyx horns sticking out of his head.
But unlike his brother, he had blue hair cascading down his shoulders, blood-red eyes staring at the ships. n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om
They clenched their fists as a war hammer materialized in both of their hands.
"I will take the left!"
Khokan, the spiky-haired Asura, one of the leaders of Principalities, announced as he jumped, making the ship underneath him crack.
Without any problem, he landed on the deck of the ship suspended in the air.
"Hahahaha, look, humans!!"
Khokan laughed, raising the hammer over his head.
"Your death is here!!"
BOOM!!! The hammer hit the ship with full force, breaking a huge chunk of it.
The screams of the soldiers echoed, filling the quiet sea with sounds of horror.
Khokan laughed as he rushed towards the surviving soldiers.
Some battle-hardened soldiers raised their hands with determination. Magic circles formed as he was inches away from them.
BOOM!!! An explosion occurred, flames engulfing Khokan at point-blank range.
"Pathetic!!"
But he batted out of it with no damage, sneering at them.
He spun the war hammer over his head before crashing it down.
There was a booming crack, and the soldiers who stood in front of him turned into a pool of blood and flesh.
Another maelstrom of spells attacked him from a different ship.
He turned to look at them, not even trying to evade the attack.
The attack slowly died down as the tens of soldiers on the other ship noticed him unharmed.
Khokan flashed a jaunty grin towards them as he pointed upwards.
Boom!! And before the soldiers could look up, someone collided, crushing them instantly.
Vikoka, his brother, coldly looked at the crushed humans, holding a broken part of the sinking ship he stood on.
Without delay, he rushed towards another ship while Khokan did the same.
"...M-my g-god."
Bret trembled violently as the destruction reflected in his eyes.
His body gave up, knees buckling.
The fifteen ships that the three rulers of the human domain sent to protect the Tomb were getting decimated without a chance of fighting back.
Flames rose, smoke covering the sky, another ship sank into the endless pit of the sea.
"Are you enjoying it?"
Bret's head slowly turned to his side.
The man stood tall, black robes flowing around him, exuding an air of ominous authority.
His face was pale, framed by jet-black hair that fell back, accentuating his sharp features.
His eyes, a void-like black, seemed to pierce through Bret's soul, unblinking and heavy with disdain.
"Tell me, human, are you enjoying this?" He asked again, a scowl gracing his lips.
Bret's eyes slowly drifted towards the headless body beside him.
He recognized the body...
...General Svaty.
"M-monster." Bret stammered, slowly crawling away from him.
"Looks like you aren't." He said before gazing back at the remaining ships. "Let me show you something good."
He raised his hand, chains poured from it like serpents, writhing and snapping.
Each chain moved as if alive, slashing through the air and coiling around the massive ships.
He raised his hands above his head, the ships rising with it.
And....
CRACK!!! The massive ships cracked under the pressure, shattering as the chains crushed and tore through wood, iron, and sails alike.
The ships shrank into crushed balls along with those residing on them.
The sea splashed as the chains vanished and the distorted ships sank down.
...Humanity's greatest soldiers died without a chance of fighting back.
Teivel glanced beside him.
Only to find Bret with hollow eyes.
"Weak humans."
He whispered, his tone dismissive as he kicked Bret off the ship.
The coiling branch holding the ship slowly loosened its grip, sinking it like the rest.
The branch, a few meters in width, suspended beside Teivel as he moved, standing on it.
The branch retracted back to the huge tree.
"Hey, Teivel!!" A loud voice echoed, making him turn around.
"It was our turn to fight!!" Khokan yelled as he walked on the branch closer to him.
"You were taking too much time." He replied, turning around.
"We had just started!" Khokan grabbed his shoulder, forcefully turning him.
"Where is Delwyn?" Vikoka asked as he walked towards them.
"Within the island." Teivel replied.
"Who made that weak person leader of the human domain!" Khokan growled in frustration.
"Leader did." Vikoka shrugged.
Khokan grinned. "Ha! Finally, that bastard made a wrong choice—."
His words halted abruptly as a sharp chain stabbed his heart.
"Do not badmouth him."
Teivel ordered coldly, retracting his chain along with his thumping heart and throwing it into the sea.
Blood burst out of the opening as Khokan stumbled.
Vikoka quietly glanced at his wound.
In an instant, the wound healed up, and a new heart replaced the previous one.
"You pest—!"
"Leave him be, brother." Vikoka advised calmly.
"Humph!"
Khokan snorted, looking away.
The branch finally stopped right in front of the tree where a throne was engraved.
Teivel knelt in front of the man sitting on it.
Mana around him adorned the man as if being happy with his every breath.
"...We have taken care of them, my lord," Tevial said, bowing to show utmost respect.
The man opened his eyes, looking down at him. ....The throne moved to face towards the island.