715. Rough Seas Ahead

715. Rough Seas Ahead

The Underflow was a calm, tamed beast. But it could not be underestimated. Frost noticed a myriad of large creatures lurking beneath the waters as she went to take a closer look at the newfound world.

Rays of light cascaded through hundreds of sinkholes like a torch shone into a colander. It illuminated the darkness of the pellucid sea, reaching the sifting seabed where shipwrecks and jagged boulders moved like they had a mind of their own.

The seas of the Underflow could reach as far as two kilometers deep, with the average depth at 700 meters. Light typically dimmed past the 200-meter mark called the disphotic zone, or more commonly referred to as the twilight zone.

It was not a trick of Frost’s enhanced dark vision, but an anomaly in the waters that flowed here. The waveless sea carried them downstream at such a pace that Frost struggled to wrap her mind around how everything seemed so serene.

Oversized hermit crabs wore shipwrecks as their shells, and one look into the water revealed a gargantuan eye half the size of the ship. Frost’s eyes narrowed sharply as she returned the gaze, causing a school of hundreds of fish to break their eye-shaped formation.

“The Isolation Sphere is in effect.” Frost spoke to no one in particular, musing on how the horizon began to distort under the phenomenon of Terrel-Penrose rotation. “Dialed to one kilometer, so we’ll have just enough time to make adjustments if something appears inside of the Isolation Sphere.”

The aberrations of light startled those onboard. The world outside the influence of the Isolation Sphere contracted forwards in the direction they travelled, as if their field of view was narrowing.

Everything in front of them beyond the Isolation Sphere blue shifted as the world behind them decayed in a veil of red. Creatures unfortunate enough to enter the Isolation Sphere were forced to remain within their domain, unable to escape its confinements.

They were dragged along its edges like a giant net.

“Don’t be so alarmed, Captain.” Frost said to the sheep-girl. “All that matters is what’s happening on the inside. You can ignore everything out there.”

“Are we moving… faster inside of this place?” She warily asked.

“Is that even possible?” The fox-girl muttered.

“Let’s not question the obvious.” Autumn cut in from further away. The scholar in her was more impressed by the pale object in the middle of the ship than the anomalous behavior beyond the ship. “It’s happening right in front our eyes. Somehow, we’re moving at the same speed inside of the ship, but we’re moving faster on the outside. Garner at the waters. Look at how it eases in when it passes through the veil.”

Despite the waters moving quickly on the outside, it slowed down without a hitch when it entered the Isolation Sphere. In theory, the Isolation Sphere should have flooded immediately but it was able to expel the same amount of water. In fact, the water was not contained by the Isolation Sphere at all.

This was because the owner of the Isolation Sphere had the ability to choose who and what could freely pass through its boundaries. As a result, intruders needed to find the sole, hidden exit to escape.

“A time manipulation Gift?” The Ankou was humbled by Jury’s power.

“This is Atelier-Class magic, right? Stuff you only see with the deities and Atelier personnel. How does it –?”

“Some things are better left unanswered.” Frost kept her mouth sealed when it came to openly discussing Atelier secrets. “Deiman – Show me your injuries.”

She moved away from the edge of the ship and approached an injured Deiman. A thin, strand-like material stuck out from his right wrist

They were black and white, and clearly did not naturally belong inside of his body.

It was the first time Frost had noticed this on Deiman. She could have sworn she had already healed everyone on the ship alongside her Hired Arm, and yet blood continued to pool on back, drenching his pale, buttoned shirt that was taken from the ship’s storage.

By now his Corrupted Persona form had completely died out, and like Ber, he saw some physical changes. The first was that he now had two golden tails, one tipped white and the other black to match the small crystal stubs that grew from his upper back.

Furthermore, and most surprising of all was that the lance he possessed did not disappear even though his Corrupted Persona was unequipped.

It hovered before him, supporting his arm as he patiently waited for Frost’s help.

Deiman

Soul Rank: Blue | Association: The Golden Dawn

LEVEL : 50

ORIGIN : Demi-Human (Fox)

HP : 2,000

ATT : 40

MAG ATT : 600

ATT DEF : 100

MAG DEF : 100

MP : 5,000

RESIST : 20

AGI : 25

The Twilight Lance

ORIGIN : Chiaroscuro

AFFINITY : Hope/Despair

TYPE : Weapon

ATT : 1,600

MAG ATT : 1,600

//////// ////////

“Huh?” Frost blurted out as she crouched beside Deiman, tending to his wounds.

A Corrupted Persona isn’t just a suit people can wear?

“That’s what we used to know. But now, it seems that a Corrupted Persona is a broad definition. The Light works in mysterious ways, as do our minds and heart. I’ll never understand it, but the point is – should we be surprised when Corrupted can take the form of items?"

Now that you mention it, items can also be born from Corrupted. This might not be that different at all. In the end, it all comes from an idea, concept, or a person’s Ego. Or in a Corrupted’s case, an epiphany.

Frost was as stunned by this as the realization that Deiman possess mana channels. This explained why he continued to bleed despite Frost’s healing.

“We have no idea how we would classify weapons that are born like this, but it’s interesting to Lailah and the Arbiter. Keep in mind that the Nexus was born in a similar way.”

“… Sorry, Deiman.” Frost apologized, realizing that her healing magic couldn’t do much to repair his mana channels. “Healing magic isn’t compatible with mana channels or Demon physiology. This is completely out of my scope, but we have people in the Nexus who can fix this.”

Healing magic required knowledge of the body in the first place. The more extensive one’s library was, the more complex their healing magic became. Furthermore, Healing magic could only repair things back to their original state, but with the caveat that it needed to match the blueprint of one’s soul.

One could therefore infer that mana channels were not a part of this ‘blueprint’ at all. They were an unnatural biological existence that solely belonged to the Demons. It was unclear to Deiman how or why he had received them as implants, but it had greatly enhanced his magical powers despite what his stats claimed.

After wrapping his wounds with bandages and medical supplies found in containers around the ship, Frost’s mind went back to the anomaly of Corrupted Personas.

You’re telling me the Nexus is similar to a Corrupted Persona?

“Similar, yes. Is it? We have no idea. It’s just an idea that came to Lailah’s mind. But considering weapons can be born this way, who is to say that this is the limit?”

So even locations might be able to be born this way, just like how Corrupted Zones exist?

“That is a possibility. I imagine a building could represent one’s Corrupted Persona, or their very own kingdom. But it seems unlikely for it to form from just a single person. Emotions can catalyze many things, but it is the Light that allows this to occur in the first place.”

Just like how it can be used for a true resurrection. You’d probably need more Light for bigger things to occur, just like how the Advent of Desire can’t appear without enough desires.

“Precisely.”

We should start dabbling in it as soon as we can. The problem is – the Arbiter’s the closest person we have to understanding it, and her knowledge of it only goes as far as what was written on the tablet. Magus is the next candidate, but his memories are still missing.

“We’ll certainly find a way – Oh. I shall leave you now. The Star Child has come to visit our Library.”

* * *

Autumn, Deiman and a still-rattled Mae oversaw the mages on the deck. The reason for this was because they could organize them to erect small-scale defensive magic, such as [Barriers].

The ship was their weakest link. If it went down, then they all did too. It was here that Frost removed her CognitO Filter to make her gaze known to everything that dared to approach their ship.

Half as many people manned the stabilizer fins as they were now out on open waters. They took positions near the cannons by the First Mate’s command as a precaution when they passed a single, lone chain that ran from the depths of the sea to the ceiling.

One became two. Two to ten. Then, from ten to hundreds as far as the eye could see, interlocking like the threads of a complex web as they approached a reddening light that seemed to defy the blue shifting world ahead.

“What are those chains supposed to be?” Autumn asked.

“The only thing stopping all of the Bellum Empire from turning into minced meat.” Mae begrudgingly said, apologizing underneath her breath to Frost like a prayer. “The Subcut Layer. Ever heard of it?”

“The inferno? Only in fables.”

“Well, it’s a place that really exists far below the world. Even people like me couldn’t verify if it really did exist, outside of sinkholes so deep that you feel like you’d just fall forever if you jumped in. I was close once, right at the footsteps of the Zone of Avoidance. It was next to the bottom half of the Nexus.”

Mae didn’t have anything more to expand on regarding the Zone of Avoidance and the Bottom Half of the Nexus. It was not a place where Impuritas could freely visit to begin with, and Mae recalled being trapped in the maw of a jack-in-the-box, so she had no recollection of how she arrived there.

“And that’s where I met the white-haired traitor we called the Brightest Star.” Mae hissed, finally speaking in Frost’s language.

An hour had passed since they arrived in the Underflow. It seemed that the Isolation Sphere took care of their worries.

But the threat of death was a song and dance that only experienced sailors understood. The Captain never took her eyes from the horizon, and the First Mate’s lips were forever parted in anticipation; cracked by the salty air.

Then, at the split second the calm waters broke into waves – The Captain locked themselves with the wheel as the First Mate shouted with a thunderous roar:

“SYNDICATE SHIP AHEAD!”

A two-hundred-meter-long ship boasting the insignia of a white moon plastered across its black-painted wood like portholes emerged from out of the blue.

“GET YOUR HANDS ON A HARPOON CANNON AND FIRE BEFORE THEY TAKE NOTICE! Captain!”

“On it!”

Frost wondered if it was too rash to start shooting without confirmation, until she realized that a single lapse of judgement could result in losing everyone aboard. Furthermore, right as the cannons twisted to face the bow, hatches opened at the back of the massive ship ahead like eyelids.

The Captain spun the wheel, attempting to swerve out of the way, for she anticipated their attack.

“FIRE AS SOON AS YOU CAN!”

Frost’s foresight was all she needed to determine whether they were friend or foe. She saw spiked barrels spit out from the hatches, sealing their fate as she took aim and fired a single round.

*Bang*

A single bullet trail cleaved through the entire length of the Syndicate ship.

“BARRIERS! AT THE BOW!”

It exploded into a ball of shrapnel and splinters, leaving nothing behind as their ship ploughed right through its burning remains. They were luckily protected by a layer of green, transparent barriers. Flames were still able to slip through its sides, burning several.

That pain lasted for only a split second before they were healed with [Area Heal].

Their ship had heaved into the water by a full two meters due to the sheer recoil of De Jure. Had she fired a stronger bullet, then their ship would be in as much danger as her target.

“W-What kind… weapon…?” The Captain uttered.

“Starting to believe that she’s really the Head of the Nexus now?” Deiman asked a conflicted Autumn.

“Y-Yeah. No point questioning it now. Just one bullet…”

“CONCENTRATE!” The First Mate exclaimed, watching more newfound waves break against their ship.

It was an indicator that there were vessels ahead.

“MULTIPLE SHIPS AHEAD! THIS IS ENEMY CONTESTED WATERS!”

“The Ankou already said that it’s controlled by the Impuritas.” Frost loaded another round into the chamber of her smoking rifle. “Just keep the barriers up and let us deal with the ships! We’re two hours away now!”

“FULL SPEED TOWARDS WHERE THE RED LIGHTS GLOW!”

*Bang* *Boom* *Bang* *Boom*

*Bang* *Boom* *Bang* *Boom*

De Jure became hotter than a branding iron as bullets left its maw. It did not matter where Frost hit the ships; they’d all explode the same way. The sheer kinetic energy of the bullet and the violent vacuum it left behind caused most ships to implode upon impact.

Furthermore, it was never just a single bullet that came their way.

For every second that passed, a bullet hit its mark. People watched in utter awe as she plucked a crystal bullet from the thin air, loading her fire breathing weapon and accurately sniping a ship all in the span of a single second.

Twenty ships fell in a single minute. Survivors were dragged to the very end of the Isolation Sphere, churned by captured monsters and the accumulating island of shipwrecks behind. It would have been easier to let them pass through the Isolation Sphere, but Frost was not taking any prisoners.

The dead tell no tales.

At first, it was just Syndicate Ships. However, as they finally reached the reddened part of the Underflow –

“Something’s moving in the water!” Someone cried, pointing at a red, boat-shaped object in the distance.

“That… can’t be a ship. What is that?” Another said.

A crimson boat made from what appeared to be an amalgamation of flesh set sail. Giant limbs paddled it through the water as its eyes, which replaced the portholes of a regular ship, stared back like they had just spotted prey.

The bow of the ship was replaced with a battering ram in the shape of a humungous set of human teeth. It chattered as many tongues splurged out to lick its teeth in hunger. Frost didn’t need to see the stats to know exactly which Impuritas it belonged to.

“Hey – When did they get seafaring upgrades!?” Mae screamed.

Bone Voyage

Crimson Hunger

Soul Rank: Black | Impuritas: Crimson Hunger

LEVEL : 100

ORIGIN : Impuritas

HP : 25,000

ATT : 2,100

MAG ATT : 2,100

ATT DEF : 1,000

MAG DEF : 1,000

MP : 500

ESIST : 100

AGI : 100