Chapter 30
Gerard’s face darkened, and he opened his mouth, seemingly about to accept the challenge.
At that moment, as if sensing the atmosphere on the ship, the previously clear sky over the sea suddenly gathered a large patch of dark clouds. The waves were still calm, but they held an ominous tension.
“Not good! It’s the Demon King making trouble again. There’s going to be a storm!” the first mate suddenly reported.
The captain immediately made a decision. “Turn, thirty degrees southwest!”
The sailors who had been watching all skillfully returned to their posts.
Melissa pulled Nelly and started walking toward the cabin. “Kal, let’s go down. A storm is coming.”
Kal gave Gerard a cold look, pulled his hood over his head, and indifferently turned to go down to the deck first.
Just as they entered the cabin, the ship began to shake violently, causing the door hinges to creak.
Nelly and Melissa sat silently on one side of the small cabin, their hands braced against the wall to maintain their balance. Kal was curled up on the opposite side, his knees drawn to his chest, his hood pulled down to his chin, and his face turned to the corner, completely hiding his expression.
The three of them maintained a tacit silence. Not only that, but everyone’s gaze was lowered, and a uniquely somber atmosphere spread.
Everyone has a past of their own, one they cannot and will not share with others.
The roar of the waves, accompanied by the slight creaking of the ship, actually had a harmonious rhythm.
Nelly was the first to lift her head from her thoughts and unexpectedly met Kal’s gaze.
At some point, the white-haired mage had taken off his cloak hood and was looking intently at a point behind Nelly and Melissa, his gaze so serious it was a little creepy.
Nelly felt that something was wrong, but before she could ask, Kal suddenly stood up. “The ship is sinking.”
Melissa looked up in astonishment, her voice rising unconsciously. “What?”
“Up.” Kal had no intention of explaining further. He pushed open the door, his hand on the wall, and walked out. Nelly and Melissa followed closely behind. They didn’t expect to run into Gerard from the opposite cabin. The green-haired young man sneered at Kal without a smile. “Looks like our luck isn’t very good.”
Kal glanced at him faintly and didn’t bother to reply.
After struggling to push open the thick wooden plank leading to the deck, raindrops the size of beans immediately slanted down from the cracks. Braving the heavy rain, they struggled to climb out of the cabin, all of them already soaked to the bone.
The wind howled, and their cold, wet clothes clung to their skin, a damp, uncomfortable chill seeping into their bodies. Looking out from the ship through the heavy curtain of rain, there was only a thick fog and smoke, and nothing could be seen.
At that moment, the ship suddenly tilted to one side. Nelly almost lost her footing, but Melissa grabbed her hand.
“Melissa, a sea monster will probably appear soon.” Nelly broke the rule of not revealing the plot in advance and warned the hero to be careful.
She nodded seriously, one hand tightly gripping the mast, the other drawing her sword, ready at any moment.
Another huge wave hit, and the Siren trembled at the crest of the wave before plunging down with the current. Seawater flowed wantonly across the tilted deck.
The fog in front of them gradually dispersed, revealing a huge and ugly form. A sea monster, five times the size of the Siren, blocked their path, spewing columns of water and mercilessly extending its long, powerful tentacles to strike.
With a loud crash, the bow of the ship shattered in the attack, and the foremost mast fell with it, a destructive force, bringing down ropes and white sails.
Melissa reacted quickly, pulling Nelly and Kal to safety just in time to avoid the falling debris, while shouting, “Is the captain alright?”
There was no response. Her question was drowned out by the sound of splintering wood and the cries of the sailors.
The tentacle, covered in suckers, skillfully coiled around an innocent victim, lifted him high, and brought him to its gaping maw. The man’s screams, which had been getting higher and more urgent, were quickly cut off, as if he had been choked. Then, the sound of his struggles ceased, and everything fell silent.
Then, the sound of flesh and bone being crushed and the flow of mucus was heard, every detail surprisingly clear, and nauseating to the ear.
Melissa’s face was a little pale, but she gripped her sword. Before she could find an opportunity to charge forward and fight the monster, the sea monster attacked the ship’s hull again.
The Siren was like a paper model, completely vulnerable in front of the monster. The ship’s hull, which was already taking on water, simply broke apart in the middle, and seawater rushed in, gurgling around them.
“A whirlpool!” Gerard shouted in a low voice, clinging to a mast.
Kal expressionlessly raised his quill and, with a few waves, the wooden planks floating in the increasingly deep water came together to form a simple raft. Kal, Nelly, and Melissa struggled to maintain their balance on the raft, trying their best to find a way to break through the encirclement of various floating debris.
Before the whirlpool formed, there was still a chance to live!
Kal coughed, and with another wave of his quill, the rotten sail blocking their path vanished.
Nelly shouted worriedly at the frail mage, “Are you alright?”
His expression was unclear in the storm. He seemed to smile. “I’m fine.” This time, he pointed behind the raft, which was teetering at the top of a wave, and a gentle wind immediately pushed them forward steadily, until…
The sea monster’s tentacle came crashing down on the raft with unerring accuracy.
Melissa let out a loud cry, straightened up, and met the attack with her current ultimate skill.
The monster sensed the killing intent and quickly changed its momentum, temporarily halting the attack.
Her movements were swift, and the raft immediately lost its balance. Kal, his back hunched, was unsteady and was about to fall out. Nelly’s body moved faster than her mind. She leaned over and tightly grabbed his arm, her other hand clinging to the edge of the raft. Rough wooden splinters dug into the pads of her fingers, but she didn’t feel any pain.
Kal gritted his teeth and gasped for breath. He grabbed a crack in the slippery wooden plank with one hand, and despite the blood from the cuts on his fingertips, he coughed and used the leverage to climb back to Nelly’s side from the edge. He opened his mouth, and a pool of crimson appeared in front of him. Nelly tremblingly handed him a healing potion. He drank it down, then turned his head to look at her. “Please help me maintain my balance.”
Before Nelly could react, the young man’s cold, wet palm covered hers, and their fingers intertwined, but he didn’t look at her, still holding his chin up with a cold and coy air, and in a disheveled state, he cast a spell with the most composed posture. Two orbs of light flew out and hit the sea monster.
But a bolt of light was faster than Kal’s, and it hit the monster swiftly and gracefully. The sea monster let out a long hiss, and it slapped the water and temporarily stopped its attack.
Looking back, Gerard was clinging to a piece of wood with great difficulty, muttering to himself, his clear yellow eyes like molten gold, staring intently at the target through the fog.
Kal’s grip on Nelly’s fingers seemed to tighten. He suppressed a cough and waved his quill again, and three orbs of light flew out at the same time.
At that moment, Melissa also saw her chance and hacked at a tentacle floating on the water.
A strange blue blood spurted high into the air and turned into a mist.
The sea monster was instantly enraged. Disregarding its wounds, it attacked the raft with all its might, blocking Melissa and the others at the edge of the whirlpool. A powerful force dragged the raft, which had just managed to break free, back.
Time was running out. Bolts and orbs of light flew wildly, actually illuminating the dark fog. The sound of swords clashing was heard, and the sea monster let out a sharp roar.
Nelly looked back and shouted a reminder, “The whirlpool is forming!”
Before she could finish, the immense force of the current caused the raft to lose its balance and drift against the current toward the rapidly spinning center.
Kal hastily recited some incantation, and a ball of red light immediately enveloped the three of them on the raft. The surrounding scenery gradually distorted and blurred. Nelly’s eyes widened, and she clearly saw Gerard swimming toward them with all his might, but he was always just a little short…
The green-haired mage from Naxier had lost his composure and was reaching out to Nelly for help in a panic.
Without thinking, she reached out her left hand and grabbed him.
Kal’s fingers, intertwined with hers, suddenly tightened. The surrounding scenery spun faster and faster, and finally, nothing could be seen.
They seemed to have risen into the sky, and then they suddenly fell into the water.
A multitude of bubbles rose up, and her vision was a blur. A salty taste filled her mouth.
It was only at that moment that Nelly belatedly remembered: This isn’t the same as the game’s plot! A shipwreck has never happened before!
A wave crashed over her, extinguishing all her will.