Chapter 144

< 143. Bait and Bait >

*

It had been three days since boarding Leia’s flagship, and Fernandez had now completely gotten used to the ship swaying in the open ocean waves. However, Kirhas was still barely able to swallow thin porridge, and she kept running off somewhere, retching.

-*Squeak*.

Every time a wave hit the side of the ship, the sound of the deck twisting could be heard. The heavy winter sea was shaking the ship. The cabin below the deck wriggled like a snake’s intestines, and if you didn’t look outside, your sense of gravity would be thrown off.

“You’re getting used to it pretty quickly. Humans usually suffer for about half a month.”

Leia laughed coolly, crossing her legs as she sat. Guimerin’s flagship had been completely destroyed and was stranded in the waters off Infernur, and due to the sheer size of the massive hull, salvage operations were out of the question.

Thus, her flagship was smaller—though still overwhelmingly large by human standards—but still far too small to be called a “castle on the sea.”

Leia had been living in the captain’s quarters, which was equipped with weapons, a compass, and nautical charts. She sipped tea while looking at the charts.

“Join me, Inquisition Officer. Tea is hard to come by in the open ocean.”

“Thank you, I’ll drink it.”

“Haha, good. Have you sailed before?”

“First time.”

“Impressive adaptability. Is it because of Diemonica’s body?”

Leia chuckled and set down her teacup. She pointed to a finely carved wooden board. The engravings on the board were constantly changing.

It was a powerful ancient relic. Fernandez narrowed his eyes as he looked at the board.

“This is a nautical chart of the North Sea. No matter where or what it is, if I want to find something, it will show me its location. Constellations, currents, and destinations. If you don’t know the ancient Elven language, it’s useless to you.”

“Is this Malerun’s flagship?”

“…I feel like I just leaked classified information.”

Leia’s eyes sparkled as she looked at Fernandez. This human always said unexpected things. Whether it was in the audience hall of the Eternal King Guimerin or now.

“Isn’t that a bit too scholarly for casual conversation?”

“I happened to learn it.”

“You *happened* to learn ancient Elven?”

Fernandez sipped his black tea while looking at Leia, who was smiling. During his time as Faijashi, he had studied the magic of the [Vereilde School]. The magic of the ancient Elven Five Kingdoms, including the dawn of Melisildur and the secrets of the Elves.

That was back then. His obsession with learning more magic and gaining greater power had gone beyond reason, and the result was that he became the grandmaster of the Ensoari School.

-*What’s the point of all that now?*

Faijashi grumbled. Powerful magic, countless spells, great incantations, and astonishing reflexes. The strongest in modern magical combat. Such a reputation was left in a distant future, a timeline that would never come for the current Fernandez.

Fernandez smirked as he looked at Leia, whose eyes were glowing with suspicion.

“If you ever enter the Inquisition Office’s grand archives, you’ll find some astonishing knowledge. The Inquisition Office also seals forbidden books from the continent.”

“Ah, right. I knew you could use Vereilde School magic. Not surprising.”

Maybe she should have expected him to know. Leia grumbled as she let her guard down. She nodded and pointed to a towering structure on the nautical chart.

“You’re right, Inquisition Officer. Malerun’s flagship is here. They’ve been anchored in these waters for days now. Our patrol fleet has probed their frontlines a few times, but with little success.”

“Because of the flagship?”

“What else? Guimerin’s Golden Fleet is still the strongest on the seas. Among the Elven Triarchy, they have the largest population and fleet. Except for Malerun’s flagship, the rest are just pyramids.”

On the chart, small dots were moving around the massive tower. Leia growled as she watched the dots.

“Look at their movements. They’re up to something in that area. That’s probably why they came to the North Sea. No matter how much we attack, they only counterattack and never try to turn the tide.”

If Malerun’s flagship had actively taken the offensive, Leia would have changed her strategy to a prolonged war of attrition. While Malerun’s flagship was invincible at sea, the crew aboard were ordinary Elves who needed to eat, sleep, and rest.

By continuously probing, irritating their nerves, and occasionally countering their attacks while avoiding a full-scale battle with the flagship, there was a chance of victory.

But Malerun’s flagship remained stationary, seemingly preparing for something.

And that was terrifyingly unsettling.

“Their goal has always been one thing: hunting gods. But as far as I know, there’s no being in these waters worthy of being called a god. Except for me and Melisildur, who stands with our people. There’s no divinity in the North Sea.”

“No, there is.”

“What?”

Fernandez stroked his chin as he looked at the North Sea chart. This was his first oceanic expedition, and he hadn’t paid much attention to maritime affairs, but theology was one of his specialties.

“There’s the son of the Sea God MacLaren. The Grand Duke of Waves, Kian. His residence is somewhere on the seabed here.”

“…How do you know? I find it hard to believe you have more accurate information about the North Sea than I do.”

“Priests are also theologians. Kian, the Grand Duke of Waves, is the only one of MacLaren’s three children to survive to this era. But he’s not a god who would die in this age…”

The Grand Duke of Waves, Kian, was a sea god who waged war against the Franzrit bloodline, which had dominated the seas centered around Infernur after the disappearance of the Elven Triarchy. Though not part of the main pantheon, he was one of the minor gods with divine status.

The Elves’ divine hunts were famous even in past lives, but Elves lacked the ability to dive into the seabed. It was the Undead, who neither suffocated nor froze in the deep sea, who awakened Kian from his slumber.

Kian awoke as the final great war of the material world approached, and he waged war against the Franzrit bloodline and other vampire lords…





The god who perished gloriously, taking his clan with him.

This meant there was no reason to get caught in the Elven Triarchy’s search network during this period.

‘Where did things start to change?’

-Is predicting even meaningful? There are too many reasons to consider.

‘At least someone leaked Kian’s existence and location to Malerun. How? Who could have known Kian’s existence and location so precisely and advised Malerun?’

-At least it couldn’t have been an elf.

‘Nor a vampire.’

Fernandez frowned as he glared at the map. This was information the elves of his past life could never have known. He didn’t know how many gods they had hunted, but at least Kian wasn’t among them.

If the elves of his past life had only realized this information now, it must have been one of the variables that occurred as the timeline changed after his past life. At least, a variable caused by a non-elf entity.

There were too many possibilities to consider. Information was severely lacking, and he couldn’t even tell if they had succeeded in awakening Kian.

This uncertainty was one of the things Fernandez hated the most. He stared at the nautical chart with the sensation of looking at a foggy chessboard.

“Assuming what you say is true. They want to kill Maclaren’s son, huh?”

It was quite amusing that a clan living on the sea would do something to anger the sea god. Leia sipped her tea.

“They must be planning something worth that risk.”

“If their goal is to lift the curse on their race, then yes.”

“Do you think that’s possible? Answer me as a theologian, a mage, and, well, a young human who knows a lot.”

“Without knowing the extent of Malerun’s abilities, any assumption is meaningless.”

Fernandez swallowed his words for a moment, then came up with a new assumption. The elves of his past life had vanished from the surface in an instant. There were stories of them being cursed by the gods, or departing to the land of the gods, but…

‘The three Eternal Kings once directly invaded the Elven Temple of the Gods.’

What if their goal wasn’t to lift the curse? What if it wasn’t such a simple, intuitive goal… but to open a door to another dimension?

To cross this horizontal dimension and head to another. To step on a land free from the continent’s curse?

‘The problem is… that dimension might be the one I came from.’

If they open a door to that worldline where hell has already triumphed, the world is burning, and the atmosphere is polluted with hellish magic…

‘Vaitas’s counterattack will inevitably fail.’

Vaitas and the Elven Temple of the Gods’ counterattack plan only makes sense as a surprise attack. The core of the counterattack plan is to act when the great demons of the homeworld haven’t noticed this horizontal dimension.

If they break down the dimensional wall created by the temple using the divinity they’ve gathered so far, and even if the door to this world opens for just a moment… the demons of the homeworld will surely notice.

“Leia. How long will it take to reach Malerun’s flagship?”

“At average sailing speed, it’ll take at least three more days. If they’re still there.”

“We need to hurry a bit more.”

“Is there a need to rush?”

“We need to check. The flagship’s defense level, ways to destroy their protective spells. And their goal…”

-Krrrrr!!

Just as he said that, lightning flashed across the windows of the captain’s cabin. The sound of thunder striking in the distance was heard. In the snowstorm raging over the night sea, a bright flash erupted for a moment.

-Screech. Screech!

The sound of waves crashing against the ship grew louder. The cabin shook, and the ship tilted. It always felt like this when riding a large wave. Just as Fernandez frowned at the sensation of the earth twisting—

“What the…?”

Leia gasped as she looked out the window. After a brief pause, she narrowed her eyes and quickly pulled out a telescope from her waist. Moments later, she jumped up and shouted.

“Get down, Inquisition—!!”

-Kwaaaaang!!!

With a massive impact, the furniture in the cabin tilted, and books scattered everywhere. The teacups and teapot on the table spilled onto the floor, and Fernandez quickly rolled to regain his footing.

-Kwaang! Kwaang!!

The ship shook violently, blurring the lines between walls and floors. Before they knew it, they were rolling on the floor, half-tilted. All sorts of items floated around, bouncing and breaking.

-Kwaaaaang!!

“Enemy attack!!”

Leia, with astonishing reflexes, kicked off the floor and leaped to regain her balance. It wasn’t just about physical ability; it was the unique movement of someone who had spent more than half her life at sea. Fernandez barely managed to steady himself and looked at the window, which had now become the ceiling.

A black sea surged like a mountain, with storms, hail, and wet sleet scattering everywhere. And—

-Krrrrr!!

Lightning struck the sea, illuminating the deep abyss for a moment. Down there—

It must have been Diemonica’s unique visual acuity. Or perhaps it was his near-divine physical capabilities that discovered it.

Deep in the sea. In the black abyss. The small afterimage left in his retina as the lightning struck. Red eyes and a massive mouth like a deep-sea anglerfish. Rows of razor-sharp fangs lining the gaping maw—

‘A vampire.’

-Franzrit!

The puzzle pieces fit. Franzrit, who lost Infermur and their base, and Malerun, who wants to hunt gods. Their interests aligned—

If Malerun promised Franzrit the revival of their clan and Infermur in exchange for the location of a powerful, dormant divinity.

“Kirhas—!!”

“Yes, Your Excellency!!”

-Crash!

The door shattered as Kirhas burst in, throwing a greatsword. Fernandez leaped up, twisting his body mid-air to align with its trajectory—

‘Using the Guimerin Dynasty as bait!’

Kian’s existence? The plan to awaken him and steal his divinity? That was a secondary goal. What they were really after was Leia and the soul of Melisildur that her clan possessed!

And what Franzrit wanted was control over the Northern Sea and the revival of their clan.

‘To defeat the strongest naval force, you need a force of the same level.’

During the Infermur incident, Franzrit’s strategy was to incite a civil war. That failed, and due to Fernandez’s intervention, the clan itself was on the brink of extinction.

But the vampires didn’t give up. They spread like a plague, growing rapidly. They devised a new plan. Not a civil war within the dynasty, but a civil war within the race itself!

“Didn’t I tell you, human.”

A sinister voice seemed to echo from the depths of the sea. Fernandez locked eyes with the being staring at him from the abyss. It was magic. A message, a simple spell that whispered briefly—

“No one can escape death.”

The Fang Duke of Serpent’s Isle. Richter von Franzrit laughed from the depths of the sea as he whispered to him.