Roman was completely defenseless against Leviathan. A simple breath of smoke was all the monster needed to melt Roman’s body and soul, which then entered the monster’s nostrils.
Upon seeing the terrifying sight, all sailors on the ship had their legs buckled as they sat down and sobbed in fear. Like a spreading disease, the dread soon took control of all people on The Limpet.
“Keep your voices down, or you’re going to alert that thing.”
Angor’s words reminded the sailors that, with Roman dead, there was only one “mighty wizard” left on the ship. Even if this one wasn’t from the association, they couldn’t afford to anger him, or the ship wouldn’t end up well.
While still trembling, people grasped their mouths to muffle their uncontrollable moaning as best as they could.
Leviathan’s appearance caused uneven tides that affected The Limpet. The tides weren’t as deadly as those during storms and hurricanes, but they were enough to make everything bumpy.
Helen, who was still standing on the observation platform, tried her best to remain steady by holding onto the ropes nearby. But soon, her mortal limit gave out as she was thrown off.
A translucent hand caught her before she fell into the ocean, and it placed her back on the ship’s front deck.
“Thank-thank you for saving me, sir.” Helen looked at the man who just helped her. She was glad that she didn’t need to see her past life flashing in her mind for too long.
“You’ve thanked me for the third time, and I don’t think I need to repeat my purpose again,” Angor replied casually.
Helen calmed her breath and noticed that the floor was stable when it shouldn’t be. She looked down and saw her feet covered inside a thin layer of “gray fog”. No matter how the ship shook and rocked, it was like she was standing on solid ground.
She felt jealous all of a sudden. So this is the power of a wizard...
“Sir, how should we proceed? Should we turn back? Leviathan’s going to find us.”
Helen’s question attracted everyone’s attention. They also would like to know Angor’s suggestion.
“There’s no need. I’ve used an illusion to cover the ship, so we won’t alert the monster as long as we don’t bump into it. Keep the ship in place for now.”
While speaking, Angor kept his gaze on the giant shape several kilometers away.
The magazine did a very good job of describing how hideous a Leviathan was, but there was still a limit as to how one could express the true terror of it using words and pictures.
The Leviathan Angor was looking at was similar in size as a cloud whale. But unlike a cloud whale, which was usually gentle-natured, every feature on the Leviathan showed viciousness and cruelty.
There was only a small part of the monster shown above the water, which already looked horrid enough.
Scaled hide, serpent-like neck and a pair of glowing, predatory eyes, with mini storms and whirlwinds following each of its movement and breath...
Even with the illusion protecting him, Angor felt his legs shivering.
After making sure it devoured every trace of essence left by Roman, and that there was nothing else to eat in sight, the monster slowly moved toward the Silver Palm Isle and went down into the water.
The sea settled down and regained its fake peace.
No one could imagine the great menace lurking below had they not witnessed what came about just a minute ago.
Angor let out a deep breath of relief and leaned against the railings, while the mortals with weaker mentality all collapsed to enjoy the fact of being alive.
Erwin slowly walked to Angor’s position on his trembling legs to ask their next course of action.
“Move around the island and keep some distance. It’s fine to enter the monster’s detection range, but make sure you don’t directly approach it.”
Erwin shivered again when he realized that they would still use the same route. “Are-are you sure it’s safe to do so, sir?”
“Trust me. The illusion will keep us safe. Like I said, we only have to make sure we don’t get TOO close.”
The truth was, Leviathan was a lot more “stupid” compared to monsters of the same level. Otherwise, Angor was sure the ship wouldn’t survive this day.
Erwin faltered for a brief moment and decided to heed Angor’s words. He didn’t know much about Angor’s character yet, which meant it was best for him to be obedient.
“Hold on, take this with you, Captain Erwin.” Before Erwin headed to his command room, Angor took out a crystal ball.
Erwin looked at the item, which had faint rays of light swimming on its surface.
“This is...?”
Angor tapped the crystal ball with a finger, and the item glowed and began to replay the conversation between him and Roman.
Starting from when Roman admitted that he stole the nightmare stone, to how he was devoured by Leviathan, the crystal ball recorded everything in detail.
“You’ll need to explain Roman’s death to your association sooner or later. You can show them this,” Angor explained.
Erwin nodded and gratefully accepted the crystal ball.
While it was true that they were not responsible for Roman’s peril, it was likely that the association needed to find SOMEONE to blame. But with this evidence, they could prove that they were the victims.
When Erwin and Helen headed to the command room together, Erwin asked his partner in a small voice, “Tell me, what do you think of Mister Padt?”
Helen looked down. “I do not know. But I can tell you that he’s not our enemy. He came to our ship because he can’t travel to Ferran Land alone. We have a common goal right now, which is to get to the destination in one piece.”
“I know what you mean, but is it really fine for us to move ahead? We can always return and take another way...”
“Rest assured, Captain,” Helen said and smiled. “I believe Mister Padt knows about the monster better than us, and he knows how to make the correct decision. He needs us to take him to Ferran.”
Erwin sighed. “Alright. We’ll all entrust our lives to him then.”
Upon arriving at the command center, Erwin began issuing orders to the terrified sailors, who managed to momentarily suppress their fear and start working, because they all knew their lives were still at stake.
Erwin just told them to move to the east side of the Silver Palm Isle and leave from there. The area had gathering clouds, which suggested bad weather, but they didn’t have any other choice right now.
Under the cover of illusion, The Limpet quietly moved past the island.
When gazing at the giant shadow not far from their position, Erwin almost felt his heart halting. Thankfully, the ship moved away without provoking the monster, as Angor had predicted.
It took half a day for the ship to enter the Dwarf’s Brine and left the Leviathan well behind, and everyone on the ship finally escaped from their mental stress.
The nightfall had arrived. After ordering the sailors to change shifts, Erwin left his post and headed to Helen’s cabin.
“We’re almost at the next waterway junction. Should we ask Mister Padt which route to take?”
“I don’t think Mister Padt knows well about Devil’s Water. But you’re right, that we should at least ask for his opinion...” Helen considered.
...
“You want ME to decide where to go?” Angor looked at the two captains who just came to him, confused.
“Yes, sir. Starting from Dwarf’s Brine, we have a total of 13 charted tracks...”
Angor raised a hand to stop Erwin from explaining the routes thoroughly, which might take forever. “No no, you two can talk about it. I checked Roman’s room just now, and he took everything including his maps and flew away. And I don’t have anything to help you determine directions right now.”
Erwin and Helen exchanged a look.
“Let’s follow the eastern boundary of Dwarf’s Brine then, which takes us near the Gearwheel Grave. In our records, this path has a very low accident rate, but with one small problem.”
“What problem?”
“The fog.”