[Vol. 7] Chapter 55: Sudden Upheaval! The Great Evil God of the Deep Sea!
Creak… creak…
The eerie, hollow wooden ship rocked on the sea’s surface. It was nowhere near as vast as [Noah’s Ark], which stretched for thousands of meters. Instead, it was only a few hundred meters long, battered and ancient, with tattered sails barely holding together as they fluttered weakly in the cold wind, looking as if the entire ship could fall apart at any moment.
Violet didn’t fully understand why the embodiment of Surst’s resentment had taken on such an appearance, but there was no doubt. It was something close to a living being.
She could feel its twisted, unsettling gaze, like a wounded wolf, bleeding heavily yet still staring at its enemy with cruel, calculating eyes, deciding whether to rip them apart and devour them to regain its strength… or flee immediately.
She got her answer in the next moment.
“Hah, do you think you can escape?”
As the Ghost Ship was once again surrounded by thick sea fog and began to sink beneath the waves, the black-haired girl, who had been waiting for this moment, instantly raised her staff and pointed it toward the sky.
“[Holy Light Chains]!”
Clatter! Clatter! Clatter!
A brilliant radiance flared from the tip of her staff, illuminating the vast ocean. In an instant, countless golden chains surged out of thin air, layer upon layer, wrapping around the massive ship!
But as one of the Four Calamities, even after suffering such heavy damage, the Ghost Ship would not go down without a fight. The dark mist surrounding it rapidly condensed into shadowy chains, twisting and coiling to intercept the golden bindings, while the ship itself sank even faster into the Ghost Sea.
Violet felt an ominous premonition, as if something fundamental was shifting. If it managed to fully submerge, it might revert to an untouchable spirit form, becoming an entity that couldn’t simply be chased down underwater. This wasn’t just a matter of diving after it.
But just then—
“Ooooohhh~!!!”
A thunderous, resounding whale song echoed across the sky.
A colossal figure, over a thousand meters long, suddenly surged up from beneath the waves, slamming ferociously into the side of the Ghost Ship!
The ship, which had already been half-submerged, was sent hurtling into the air before crashing back down onto the ocean’s surface with a massive impact, unleashing towering waves that roared across the sea!
"Hmm?"
The priestess, who was about to cast an even stronger spell, paused in surprise.
There was no doubt about it, that was Rashid’s Azure Sea Whale attacking the Ghost Ship.
It was helping.
Perhaps in its prime, the Ghost Ship would have been far too powerful for this supposedly still-young creature to take on directly. But now that the Ghost Ship had been severely weakened, it was the perfect opportunity to strike while it was down.
Noticing the faint pure blue glow beginning to shimmer across the whale’s iron-gray body, the priestess suddenly understood something.
She shook her head with a wry smile. As the golden chains shattered the dark mist barriers, she seized the moment that "Ahei" had created and dove in.
"Ha... Gods are indeed gods. Even though they're completely ‘dead’, they can still create so many different remnants, and even help their followers clean up the mess they left behind in the dark. It seems that it wasn't entirely a coincidence that Rashid got that [Book of Truth]..."
"Ooooohhh~! Ooooohhh~!!!"
The golden chains wrapped tightly around the overturned, eerie ship, layer by layer. The Azure Sea Whale continued circling the area, its deep calls echoing as its massive shadow loomed beneath the waves, ready to launch another attack on its natural enemy at any moment.
The Ghost Ship let out a series of sharp, creaking sounds as dark mist and sea fog surged violently across its battered frame. It struggled to break free from the golden chains that shimmered like flowing light, but its efforts were futile.
Indeed, while Violet had the power to completely overwhelm it, the situation shouldn't have been this easy.
The trap that Queen Anies and her allies had carefully designed had inflicted far more damage on the Eastern Calamity than it appeared, forcing it into a tangible form. With the Azure Sea Whale’s assistance, the priestess was able to subdue the already-exhausted Ghost Ship with ease, landing the final blow.
Now that she fully grasped what had happened, Violet let out a small sigh of relief and lowered her staff.
She had expected a prolonged battle, but in the end, it had been much easier than anticipated…
Then again, this was merely a ghost born from a dead god’s lingering resentment. No matter how strange or eerie it seemed, once exposed in full view, it could never truly compare to the god it had once come from.
It seemed that facing too many powerful enemies in the Ancient Spirit Realm had made her overly cautious. At first, the priestess had assumed that the Ghost Ship was even stronger than Illusionary Cloud. Maybe even on the same level as monstrous beings like [Taotie] or [Immortal Withered Tree]. After all, it had demonstrated the ability to absorb faith, a power that only belonged to gods.
As she pondered, Violet turned her gaze back toward the massive, eerie ship that was still trapped, flipped on its side, and unable to move.
“Now that I think about it… I never really considered how to deal with this thing. Should I just destroy it? Or maybe I should wait for Anies and the others to arrive and discuss it first—”
Before she could finish her sentence, her expression suddenly changed.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!"
One by one, massive tentacles, each as thick as a tower and stretching skyward, suddenly burst out from the depths of the ocean. They came crashing down toward the golden chains that bound the Ghost Ship, striking at their ends with terrifying force!
"BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!!!"
The monstrous tentacles, filled with unimaginable divine power, slammed against the glowing chains. Even though the priestess had personally summoned them with magic, the chains trembled violently under the impact. While they didn’t shatter immediately, countless fine cracks spread rapidly across them, and their golden glow began to fade.
The [Holy Light Chains] was a genuine Tier 7 spell, far tougher than [Light Protection]. The fact that they were already weakening spoke volumes about the strength of the attacker.
And just from the appearance of those tentacles, it was clear who was behind this.
"The Great Evil God of the Sea, Octavier?! Wait, wasn't this thing supposed to be asleep? Why is it showing up now?!"
And more importantly… was it trying to rescue the Ghost Ship?
"Ooooohhh~!!!"
Like a fearless young warrior facing a mighty beast, the Azure Sea Whale refused to back down. The moment it sensed an intruder, it leaped out of the water once more. Its thousand-meter-long body twisting gracefully midair. Then, with all its might, it swung its massive tail like a warhammer, slamming it down onto the nearest tentacle of the Evil God!
At that moment, it looked as if a colossal airship was launching a full-speed ramming attack.
And yet—
"BANG!!!"
The massive whale, nearly equal in size to [Noah’s Ark], was so powerful that its movements could stir up tidal waves and tsunamis. Yet, in the face of the Evil God's tentacle, it seemed as fragile as a mere toy. Its full-force collision resulted in nothing but a loud boom, failing to inflict even the slightest damage. Before it could react, the tentacle coiled around it, binding its enormous body tightly.
"Mmmuuu!!! Mmmuuu!!!"
The whale let out agonized cries, its deep, mournful calls echoing through the sea. A shimmering, ocean-blue energy was visibly being drained from its body by the tentacle. It struggled desperately, but just like the Ghost Ship before Violet, it was utterly powerless.
"Whoosh! BOOM!!!"
A golden holy spear shot across the sky from afar, growing rapidly in size until it extended over a thousand meters, an unstoppable divine weapon. With a single, thunderous strike, it severed the tentacle constricting the whale completely. The impact sent a shockwave across the Ghost Sea, parting the waters all the way to the horizon and kicking up towering waves over a hundred meters high!
It was the holy spear of the Holy Spirit of Light.
At this moment, Violet had no time to worry about whether launching a full-scale attack would awaken the Evil God or bring catastrophe upon this sea.
If she had hesitated even a few seconds longer, the Azure Sea Whale, who had helped so much, would have been torn in half.
"SPLASH!!!"
The severed portion of the tentacle disintegrated in the holy radiance, melting away like ice in the sun. The whale, barely escaping death, crashed back into the sea. It let out a series of hurried, grateful cries before quickly diving into the depths, vanishing from sight.
Mythical creatures were intelligent. It understood that this battlefield was no longer one it could afford to be involved in.
"The Evil God..."
Floating in midair, the black-haired girl spread her white wings. Behind her, a radiant golden guardian spirit illuminated the entire sky. She gazed at the countless towering tentacles rising into the heavens, her brows slightly furrowed.
She wasn’t afraid of the enemy, but she couldn’t understand why Octavier had suddenly appeared now, let alone why it had actively chosen to help the Ghost Ship.
After all, that thing had spawned from the remains of its old rival, the God of the Azure Sea. King Willipol had even planned to use it against Octavier.
Even if they weren’t outright enemies, there was no way these two could be allies.
So why was the Evil God protecting it?