[Vol. 7] Chapter 56: Light Dragon
"Hey, big octopus! Are you awake, or are you just sleepwalking? Can you even hear me? Uh… wait, you are an octopus, right?"
Just like the times she had encountered other gods, Violet attempted to communicate. But unfortunately, these tentacles showed no response. Just like when she had dived into the deep sea and found the fractured skull of the God of Truth. They didn’t seem to react to external messages or even damage.
It felt less like a living being and more like… a weapon, carrying out preset actions based on a fixed logic. Almost as if it were…
A pre-programmed "script"?
That bizarre thought flickered through her mind, but now wasn’t the time for deep reflection. She raised her weapon and braced herself for battle.
Though the royal palace of the Ghost Sea was still some distance away, meaning Anies and the others wouldn’t arrive immediately, it wouldn’t take them too long either. Whether to conceal her true strength or to prevent the fight from drawing them into a divine battle, if a fight had to happen, the priestess preferred to end it as quickly as possible.
Yet, something felt off.
The Evil God's tentacles weren’t launching an attack. They merely writhed in the air as if observing her, countless eerie eyeballs sprouting along their length, staring at her in a way that sent chills down her spine.
Maybe the presence of the Holy Spirit of Light at her back was too overwhelming. Maybe that last attack had served as a warning. Or maybe… the Evil God had other concerns.
After all, if it still had its sanity, it wouldn’t rashly engage in a full-scale battle against an opponent of equal power. Its real target was probably…
As the black-haired girl remained on high alert, analyzing the situation and debating whether to strike first, something from the depths of the sea suddenly set off her senses, making her heart skip a beat!
Wait… is it trying to—?!
Violet instinctively moved to stop it, but the Evil God was a true god. Her brief hesitation, caused by not immediately grasping its intent, cost her precious time.
She was a step too late.
With a deafening roar, a massive, razor-sharp tentacle shot up from the depths and struck the Ghost Ship!
The next moment…
"Boom!!!!!!!"
Because Violet had chained it in place, the eerie, almost living Ghost Ship had no way to dodge or fight back. The Evil God’s attack struck in an instant, piercing straight through the ship’s hull from below. The terrifying force ripped the massive vessel apart from the center, splitting it into two!
"Creak… Crack… Crrrrackkk…!!"
The fractures spread like a plague, consuming the Ghost Ship at an alarming speed. Indescribable dark energy burst into the air, scattering in all directions. The ship let out an unnatural, eerie wail, like the death cry of some monstrous entity rather than the groaning of a sinking vessel.
But instead of sinking into the sea like a normal ship, it began disintegrating on the surface. The spreading cracks caused it to collapse piece by piece, dissolving into countless fragments of ominous mist and strange energy.
"You…!"
Seeing this, Violet suddenly understood.
The Evil God’s real concern was the Divinity at the core of the Ghost Ship. A fragment of the God of Truth's divinity!
It didn’t want the ship to be captured. But since the priestess’s power had exceeded a certain threshold, one that made escape impossible, the Evil God chose destruction over surrender. Rather than letting the ship be taken, it obliterated the vessel completely.
And as soon as that goal was achieved, the monstrous tentacles immediately began retreating, writhing as they withdrew back into the depths. Even the one that had struck the final blow vanished within moments, as if obeying some unseen command. It was clear, the Evil God had no intention of continuing the fight.
It had arrived swiftly and disappeared just as fast.
As the waves gradually settled, the only thing left on the surface was the shattered, rapidly fading remnants of the Ghost Ship.
"......"
Realizing the battle was over, the black-haired girl let out a quiet sigh. The radiant Holy Spirit behind her dissolved into light.
She had been played. That damn thing had tricked her.
The Ghost Ship was gone. The Evil God had withdrawn back into the sea. Clearly, it hadn’t truly awakened. It had only stirred temporarily because some unknown condition had been met, forcing it to intervene.
“...Is this really as far as we can go?”
Even now, the true reason behind Octavier’s creation of the Ghost Sea and Sanctuary, as well as its repeated destruction and resetting of the Emerald Sea, remained unclear.
It refused to communicate, and any possible connection to this matter had been completely erased when the Eastern Calamity was personally destroyed by the Evil God. While this could be considered a perfect resolution in itself, and not exactly a failure for Violet and her group, it still left a sense of frustration. Every clue had been severed, leaving them without a way to fully understand the truth.
Of course, Violet could dive into the depths and lash out at Octavier, even turning the whole place upside down in retaliation. But given the situation, provoking the Evil God too much, or worse, triggering an all-out battle without preparation, was far from a wise choice.
So... what should she do? Swallow her anger for now and find another way to regain control later? Or…
Maybe it was that hesitation, that unwillingness to let things end like this, that stirred something. Or perhaps it was the lingering power of the Ghost Ship, slowly fading from the sea, that caused a sudden resonance.
Something she hadn’t felt in a long time, the Contract, suddenly surged within her, sending a powerful tremor through her heart!
It was as if a familiar voice echoed in her ears—
[You vile usurper!!! How dare you… do this to my Master…!!!!!]
Alongside that furious roar, a dazzling golden light burst forth from Violet’s chest!
"?!"
The completely unexpected surge caught her off guard. She had no time to react, let alone stop it. Just like so many times before.
Though this radiant glow shared the same light attribute as her own, it was far more intense, overwhelming, and domineering. It burned like a blazing sun, capable of piercing through endless darkness, radiating an unshakable, absolute power. Majestic, unstoppable, and filled with overwhelming force!
It wasn’t her power.
And yet, in a way, it was.
This power should have still been in slumber. It shouldn’t have awakened here.
It was coming from the other side of the Contract. From the one she trusted and cherished the most.
“Xiao Guang…?”
In response to her, the only answer was a majestic dragon’s roar, echoing across the skies!
“ROAR!!!!!!!!”
In the next instant, the blazing gold radiance shot skyward, expanding as it rose. In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a breathtaking, hundreds-of-meters-long golden dragon, its mouth opening to unleash a scorching divine breath, aimed directly at the fading Ghost Ship on the ocean’s surface… and at the depths of the abyssal sea below.
And then—
BOOM!!!!!!
The crimson-gold breath descended like a celestial star, crashing into the ocean with unstoppable force. Every trace of contamination, darkness, and anything that dared stand in the path of that golden radiance was instantly incinerated into nothingness.
The golden energy tore through the ocean, piercing thousands of meters down to the seabed, where it erupted again with terrifying force.
In an instant, hundreds of kilometers of the deep sea, along with every twisted eldritch tentacle and ghostly wraith lurking beneath the waves…
Were completely annihilated!
Wherever the divine power reached, even the seawater itself was vaporized, leaving behind an enormous, churning vortex. The ocean floor shook violently, waves raged uncontrollably, and the entire Ghost Sea trembled, as if it had reached the brink of apocalypse.
At that very moment, the people on the distant island finally arrived, only to witness a scene beyond words.
“This… what in the world…?”
Even someone like Anies, the leader of her people, could barely suppress the instinctive awe rising within her.
The eerie Ghost Ship, now reduced to nothing beneath the golden dragon’s roar… The once-polluted, dark sea, now cleansed in an instant…
For the first time, her ever-calm and wise eyes lost focus. The warriors behind her were also unable to withstand the overwhelming divine presence, they trembled and fell to their knees in reverence.
“A force that commands the very oceans, stirring the tides and shaking the skies. An unrivaled power that shines upon all living things…”
The Pirate King, a man once feared across the seas, bowed his head deeply. Before the storming waves and golden lightning crackling through the ocean, he dropped to one knee. His movements were not of fear, but of solemn devotion.
Without hesitation, he performed a ritual of reverence, his voice carrying an unwavering faith.
“Oh, supreme and sacred Primordial Light, the origin from which all things began… We give thanks for your grace and mercy.”