<12 human and beastman followers lost>
“Nordor Style: Silver Dragon’s Skyfall!”
Remembering exactly how that move had taken out that colossal rachonoid queen back when we first met in Cedaraille, I ran the hell away from the epicenter of Yorshka’s attack. For some reason, Neill was screaming “Ahhhhhhhhhh!” as she sprinted towards one of the B ranks with a glowing fist surrounded by her black flames instead of retreating.
[“Neill, get away!”] I tried to warn her, but she didn’t listen!
[“You run away, then! Take a breather, sis!”]
Was it [Battle Frenzy (Moderate)]? Most likely, since even with my control over [Battle Frenzy (Minor)], I still felt compelled to fight. The higher the intensity of the effect, the more you had to keep it in check. I could only imagine how much it was influencing Neill, to the point she willingly went into a dragoon’s crashing site.
Regardless, it was a bit too late as both Neill’s and Yorshka’s attack landed at the same time. The silver dragon’s head illusion created from Yorshka’s mana crashed into the ground, causing it to explode, blowing everything around it away. With the earth shattering before my eyes, I saw Tasianna fly over to me with her giant ice sword, blocking the shockwave from hitting me.
With her standing by my side, she gave me a short bow and smile, looking like she wanted to say “I am back.” Considering I probably scared her since [The Light] could inform my retainers of my health status, meaning she probably knew I was outside of Peolynca for two days, I was glad she looked alright.
It was then that I noticed her overall appearance; sure, her hair and clothes looked immaculate, as if she had the time to groom it all, however, what caught my eyes were the fact her right ear was cut in half, she was missing three fingers, and how her two braids was reduced to one.
[“Too many B ranks, sea serpents and merfiends, my lady. Don’t forget, I am a fae, they will regrow back over time,”] Tasianna explained. [“I… was careless. High stats matter a bit more than pure skill when it comes to war, apparently. Ehehe.”]
With every body part a fairy lost, the lower her maximum mana capacity would fall. Tasianna probably didn’t lose too much mana, but seeing my friend like this did ache my heart. I had sent her to find and rescue the levianewts, but it also meant sending her to support Artorias’s war effort as she had to accompany the ships there.
However, instead of complaining, the first thing she did was to come right back to my side. I knew it was ‘cause of how seriously she took her maid duties, but still, it did warm my chest and also made me aware how hardened she seemed. Stronger, not only through stats alone, but also emotionally.
Tasianna Marina Siverpond’s party wishes to integrate into yours
Accept Decline
Of course, accept!
Party Leader
Name: Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor Level: 105
Main Job: Champion of Aurena Secondary Job: Dragonkin Fighter Unique Job: Locked
Name: Rhea Renee Sealight Level: 92 Unique Job: Plumwind Squire
Name: Larent Antonodius Level: 147
Main Job: Bloodoathed Avenger Secondary Job: Sword Savant Unique Job: Locked
Name: Fargryneill Qilinus Kargryxmor Level: 113
Main Job: Violet Tyrant Pathfinder Secondary Job: Dragonkin Destroyer Unique Job: Locked
Name: Tasianna Marina Silverpond Level: 95
Main Job: Cryo Fae Secondary Job: Ice Archmage Unique Job: Locked
Name: Yorshka Nordor Level: 135
Main Job: White-Winged Dragoon Secondary Job: War Veteran Unique Job: Locked
Name: Farron Nordor Level: 120
Main Job: Wing Ripper Secondary Job: War Veteran Unique Job: Locked
A normal party bracelet was only able to handle five members for a party; thankfully, however, the ones my party had could handle up to 20. Pretty useful to share experience with everybody. However, what made it even more impressive was the fact I could see everybody’s growth.
Yorshka’s level was 132 before she went to the battle at Port Annencia, while Farron had been stuck at 113 for over a decade or so due to his crippling lung damage. Now, both were reaching new heights. Even Tasianna, whose level was lagging behind everybody since she couldn’t kill anything, was close to 100 now.
War might be terrible and unnecessary… but it sure was a good source of levels.
[“For you, my lady, nothing can stop me. These temporary scars are proof I am more than a sheltered woman.”] As the dust began to settle, Tasianna kneeled in front of me. [“My lady only deserves to smile without any worries when she sips her morning tea. I shall make it so.”]
Your bond with your retainer [Fairy, Tasianna Marina Silverpond] has reached a new height. Loyalty, friendship, and trust had sealed your bond with each other. With the strength to serve and protect you, your retainer deserves appropriate rewards
The title [Hestia’s Retainer] has evolved into [Hestia’s Imperial Guard]. The title has been adapted according to the memories the both of you have shared
“...?”
“...!”
… Friendship really is as important as anime and games make it out to be.
“Dammit! Yorshka!” However, before either of us could address it, Neill’s loud voice interrupted it all.
“Whew! Sorry, Princess Neill, but we should speak later. Farron, honey, now!” And another dragoon dive bombed the ground below, kicking up another dust cloud, only this time, this knight did not stay on the ground. Farron, with his rejuvenated body, diving and jumping without any rest. “Take a break, both of you, we’ll take over. Tasianna!”
“Yes!” Tasianna levitated her giant ice sword. “My lady, please, allow me.”
Just like the cold wind, she breezed away, accompanied by Neill’s incessant complaints. Shay and Beth, from above, shot their ice breath at some of the fleeing B ranks, imprisoning them in an arena. None of them would escape us.
The situation was pretty much done from down here, to the point I felt my body weaken as the adrenaline wore off. I fell onto my butt and stared up in the sky, enjoying the fact no rain or snow was falling on me. The sky was so dark, but it couldn’t feel brighter than now.
Alister and his knights were swarming in the sky, cheering as they returned to the wall. It wasn’t just ‘cause the situation with the artillery was covered, but also the fact Elyonda’s cavalry wasn’t just Tasianna and co. There, in the skies, it welcomed the arrival of the griffon and hippogryph knights of Artorias.
“Lady Hestia!” One of the knights came flying over to us. I might not have been able to recognize the armored figure by sight, but I did recognize that voice. “My daughter! Amelia! Please, tell me she’s safe!”
… Poor Duke Greenveil. Amelia is in another castle.
I closed my eyes and gave him a thumbs up.
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<[Violetshock Kirin-Dragon, Fargryneill Qilinus Kargryxmor] has received the title [Hestia’s Retainer]>
“The Floating Capital of the Vampires, Purchigchia. It is also goes by the name ‘Blood Fortress, Drascul.’” Tasianna pointed at the skies, the both of us riding on Beth on the way back into the city. Rajah and Neill were on too, although my sister was pouting, while the rest were cleaning things up with Shay. “They suddenly arrived at Port Annencia a day ago, helping us banish the remaining enemies there. Well, this was after the grimgarian fleet suddenly began retreating. For some reason, they had broken the siege before anything was decided. I’ll be honest, my lady, I had not expected to come here today.”
“This is… really too much information.”
Tasianna had left out most of the details concerning the actual fight at Port Annencia, only mentioning that Yorshka and Farron, or any of the knights who arrived with them, could explain it better, since when Tasianna arrived there with the levianewts, the battle seemed to have already reached its peak.
Yorshka had been fighting on the very frontline with silvery lances conjuring around her in a small area, all while the warships kept trying to shoot her down. There were even larger grimgarian forces over there, with every ship having a mana barrier and a B rank shaman to protect them. Since the Lecartiglio Duchy placed more focus on martial skills, they didn’t have any mages with actual large AoE attacks like me.
Duchess Morgiana was supposed to arrive to help turn the tide, but the situation was already getting dicey with Yorshka and Duke Lecartiglio becoming exhausted. As a consequence, Tasianna was roped into the mix immediately, to the point she had to act in the same role I did. By working together with Shay and Beth, seeing as they were B ranks, Tasianna managed to pretty much turn the whole port into a winter wonderland.
“... The Duke gave me a lot of Major Mana potions seeing as I was the only magical strategic combatant they had. Yorshka, Farron, and the Duke could duel any of the B rank commanders, but without magic, we couldn’t pierce the ships. He even gave me a bunch of accessories with mana storing catalyst as an investment, to the point they became my reward for helping out.”
Tasianna twiddled with her fingers, looking a bit embarrassed as she pointed at a necklace, two spell rings, a bracelet, and a pair of earrings. None of them seemed enchanted, but seeing as all of them had catalysts, Tasianna could easily store her mana in them for emergency usages in the future. Not to mention, they were hers now, meaning we could have the mage guild enchant them for us later on, strengthening them even further.
Damn, no way did Duke Lecartiglio give those out for “free.” Even if they were Tasianna’s rewards. He is a noble, and even if my impression of him was him being the straightforward type of dude, he probably had an ulterior motive to give them to Tasianna. One of them, alone, would have been more than enough.
Regardless, with Tasianna using her ice spells to support Artorias, the knights managed to finally turn things to their side. However, before anything could be resolved, the grimgarian had suddenly made preparations to retreat. Coincidentally, that flying fortress had also arrived at the same time, sending out a few of their own knights to help out and act as emissaries.
Vivachel, the Goddess of Vampires, probably was involved in this somehow. However, why would she? Gods weren’t supposed to meddle directly, meaning she didn’t order them to come over. It had to be something else.
“It’s Tatsuya and Kyouya, my lady.” I turned around, looking at Tasianna in surprise.
Seeing as Vivachel was the self-proclaimed Vampire Queen, she gave the two boys a chance to train with the knights of her country. They were the reason why the castle was even around Port Annencia and why they even transported the others over here in record time. However, the boys themselves weren’t allowed to join the fighting, as the vampires considered them “the blood princess’s little pets.”
While it sounded dangerous, since my perception of vampires was that of predatory bloodsuckers, Tasianna said this “blood princess” was simply doing what her mother told her to do: train the two up. She explained the vampires had a different way of perceiving anything less than an elf.
“The vampires pretty much think they are the finest race of the world and see their floating castle as the ‘seat of the elite.’ Humans, beastmen, even dwarves are ‘pets’ and ‘playthings.’ We only stayed for one day and it was pretty terrible.” Tasianna shivered. “However… I had a chance to talk with the two. Miss Saori and Asaka are both doing well. In fact, Miss Saori managed to reunite with her mother.”
“M-Mother?! … Oh.”
Now that I thought about it, her garm mother did mention Belzac or something during our second meeting. Although I could only hazard a guess, it was likely the garm matriarch became an onnikai or something considering this happened. Weird. Since she turned into an onnikai, didn’t that mean her death was unpleasant or filled with pain? Well, her limbs did explode due to arcane corruption, so that did make sense.
In any case, I was glad to hear Saori was alright, especially since it had been almost a month since we last spoke. I did hope she was getting along with her mother, considering how much trouble she had with accepting her monster bloodline. I could speak with the boys later about it, but that would be after this siege was over.
“They will loom over for the time being. We better hurry to the Empress’s side,” Tasianna urged me, so we flew over to Renee at the walls, who was communicating with Duke Greenveil and Alistar at this moment. With the newly arriving knights of Artorias, the situation had seriously stabilized.
Seeing Renee’s reaction was enough for me to guess this wasn’t the cavalry she was talking about before. Outside of that, the three had informed me that Larent was currently making his way to the port after having soloed the two B ranks he was “distracting.” As such, the only B ranks remaining were the ones who went to three who went to the harbor.
More and more are falling. Even the five we fought didn’t last long after our reinforcements came. Two for Shay and Beth, two for Yorshka, and one went to Tasianna. Kinda sucks for Neill since she lost the bet to me and has to become my retainer now. No wonder she is pouting right now.
“We got news from Kushlek’zar that the B ranks have fled. With the rest of the grimgarians in flight, we need to hunt them down so they don’t build up some nests,” Renee continued before turning over to the monster battle happening in the distance. “However, the priority is right there.”
“Leave that to me, Rhea,” Alistar came forward. He really sounded happy being able to call her by her real name. “It’s extremely important that we either kill or reseal Karhalantheel. I can run the rest down with the knights.”
“You will have my bow and order for that, too, Sir Alistar,” Duke Greenveil chimed in. “I came here to save my daughter but she had already been saved. I need to unleash this anger out somewhere, and besides, when it comes to monster hunting? It is better I leave this to the experts.”
He nodded my way, reminding me of when we stopped the rachonoid queen together. Honestly, it was a bit daunting since our opponent this time was an SS rank, but I couldn’t sit still and do nothing while Mother fought all alone. At the very least, I had to make it her way to deliver the information on the leviathan I got from Yeostar.
“Is that so? Then alright, Lord Duke Greenveil. It would be better if we leave this duty to our strongest combatants.” Renee then looked to the east of the sky, before taking out a gargoyle. “I don’t know if I can be that much of a help, but let me help out with the raid. My ‘ally’ will probably be able to read the mood, so let us go.”
Renee was being secretive again, to the point I was starting to get a feeling about what she actually did in Aleistunum. Now, what exactly she planned to do with this “ally” of hers was a mystery, but it was undoubtedly help coming from the Magical Capital, who were initially reluctant to help out Yeos. Really made me think about what she did to persuade them.
In any case, she joined us. We went over to Rita and left Rajah with her, since we couldn’t exactly bring the latter with us for this trip. Rajah was quite disappointed, but what do I do when he was still a D rank? Technically, he could evolve. The experience I got was also shared with him, and with all the EXP boosts, he could gain levels pretty quickly. However, evolving took at least a day, so until then, he had to wait.
After informing Yorshka, Farron, and Shay to Alistar and Duke Greenveil about our plan, we left for the port. As I expected, not only did Master’s spell really distort the landscape into a small twisted hill with plants, rock, and earth, it had also completely ruined all the buildings and structures around it. Just like the rest of the city, the port seemed almost inhabitable at this point.
Glug, glug, glug… Urgh, I’m getting sick of drinking all of this… I complained as I drank another dragorade, right before I realized this was my last bottle. I really just went and used up over a hundred bottles of these.
“I’ll make some fulinoe tea once we’ve landed, my lady.’ As always, Tasianna was truly amazing.
In any case, outside of some soldiers and adventurers chasing down some stragglers, I also saw a giant being of water emerge from the coast, dragging two dead merfiends from it. It seemed Chahayat was doing well. With the grimgarian fleet gone, only the merfiends were left to be defeated… Well, them, and that overgrown noodle.
[“My Princess, we’ve arrived.”] Beth announced as we landed, sounding a bit harried. Considering that her eyes were focused on Mother in the distance, it seemed she was quite worried about her.
Yeah, even if she is strong, I can't shake this feeling off. This creeping fear.
“Ahh! My apprentic- You don’t look good.” I flinched as I heard Master say that so bluntly. “No, in fact, you look terrible at this very moment.”
“Master, I know what you mean, but do you mind phrasing these things a little differently? Unlike you, I do care how I look, so hearing that does make me a little bit annoyed~” My eyes twitched as I tried to keep up a grin. I was really keeping myself from jumping on his back to pull off his damn head plumage
Speaking of Master and the saurians, they didn’t look too beat up. They had some wounds, but all of them were still alive. Considering the low amount of fans I had lost, they probably did a good job defending the people here. Although, the same couldn’t be said about the surroundings. The future of this city looked bleak, no, maybe even the entire principality? As Tasiana mentioned, this place was so saturated with mana, an A rank monster could spawn at any time.
Can you even get rid of all this mana in time? Not to mention the construction efforts.
Well, we could worry about that later. Besides, this isn’t my problem.
“Mhmm, but Hestia, you do know your face looks like it was dipped into a bath of poison, right?” Master elaborated on what he said, causing me to sigh.
“Your face is quite purple, Lady Priestess. It makes you look a little bit like a merfolk,” Renee commented.
“I did say you needed a rest.” Finally letting go of her poor mood, Neill interjected herself. “Arcane corruption isn’t a joke. I don’t want to see your body explode from all that ‘gunk’ in your mana paths.”
“I know, I know, I’ve seen it happen before…” I answered them while Tasianna prepared some fulinoe tea for me. “We might have some reinforcements, but I don’t think I can just settle down like this. If that thing keeps on rampaging, then this land will truly become uninhabitable.” I paused to take a sip of my tea, before turning to look towards my fellow Champion. “Tehmrayn is better used on the front lines than a protector.”
That aloof Champion of Plesia said he would keep the port intact, and he kept to his word. Right on the edge of the coast, he was swimming here and there, keeping the tsunamis back using his [Hydrokinesis]. I didn’t know his level was or if he was an A or S rank fighter, but the fact was clear having him babysit the port was a waste of his talents. He needed to be there to fight… something.
I let out another sigh and stared in the far distance with furrowed brows. “But… Uhm, how do we fight against an SS rank of that size?”
“You don’t.” I turned my head towards that voice, prompting me to widen my eyes as I saw Prince Markval approach us with a retinue of knights. “I-I mean, w-we can’t. I don’t want to be rude, but our only hope is the Imperial Empress, Princess Hestia.”
“Prince Markval?! Why are you—” I wanted to question him being here, but Master quickly answered that for me.
“Just arrived. Not very smart for royalty to appear on the battlefield, but then again, you, your sister, and your mother are all fighting on the frontlines.”
I kept silent, unable to speak back against what Master said. Sure, I was fighting ‘cause of the Divine Quest, but I was also fighting ‘cause I did make a promise with Renee to help her out with all of this. Noblesse oblige or whatever, but I still found a kid like Markval on the battlefield too dangerous… Ironic, coming from a one-year-old like me.
“I had to come. I couldn’t stay hidden while all of you fight for my country,” the young prince announced before pulling something from his coat, handing it over to Renee. “Miss Rhea… My uncle is still unconscious and my older sister shouldn’t risk herself since we need her for our future. And, I don’t know how to fight. If I were to have everybody escort me, I would just be a burden. So—”
“I understand.” Renee kneeled down, took her helmet off, and smiled as she ruffled the prince’s head. She took the scroll from him and held it against her chest. “This is my duty as well. Just like God Yeostar, no, Reinhardt Sealight who sealed the beast, the seal requires the blood of the royal family. It would only be right for a Sealight to do it, not a Caimlace.”
… Ahhh, I get it now. Rhea Renee Sealight. Reinhardt Sealight, also known with his divine name, Yeostar.
<...>
I couldn’t hear him speak, but considering his silence, he probably was aware of this all this time. He kept this a secret from me, as well, huh? Which meant, was this Royce also part of the royal bloodline? Or was Rhea’s real father part of it? It didn’t matter. However, I did wonder why there were two royal lineages. Was the Caimlace family a cadet branch?
“Mhmm. Thank you.” The young prince nodded before asking all of them to join him for a meeting. Everybody involved with the raid party would be here.
To count: Tasianna, Neill, Master, Renee, Tehmrayn, Larent, Yorshka, Farron, Shay, Beth, me… and surprisingly, Adhi. I thought Markval was joking when that happened, but it seemed like Adhi had joined up with the rest of the vampire fortress to report back to me. I thought this levianewt was crazy, but he actually entered a war-torn battlefield just to inform me he fulfilled his contract?!
“I, Adhi Bayudra, will see my contracts and promises through! I’ve brought you your reinforcements, young scale, and, aye, I won’t abandon ye after some coins. I’ve survived my fair share of storms, and this ain’t the last one, hahaha!” the chatterbox captain howled. “I might be loose with my tongue, but I can see a treasure like any sailor. Keeping you as my customer, princess, so how about I show you my real worth as a levianewt ship captain.”
Real?
“There are no finer ship captains than Caedhulens. Nobody understands the currents, wave manipulations, and the salt-filled winds more than them, my apprentice,” Master praised el capitano. “After all, if you want to help your mother, how are we supposed to get there in the first place with this monsoon? Through the sky? Risky. However, with Champion Tehmrayn leading and a Caedhulen manning a ship? Why, I think we have a sure-fire plan.”
The right man in the right place, in other words.
“I have already talked to them about it, Princess,” Markval answered. “After all, to succeed with this raid plan, we need the proper people in the right place. First, we need the vessel to transport you to the island.”
Adhi nudged his captain hat, smiling fearlessly. “I left my men behind, but there are a few Caedhulen sea-scales hiding about here. They’re coming over and we’re getting the ship prepared. Human one, but it’ll do.”
“Which leads us into our second point: this.” Renee placed the scroll she received from Markval and unfurled it, revealing an elaborate magic circle with its chant. “The seal holding Karhalantheel was created by God Istari, and as such, he had prepared a plan if it ever broke. We shall reapply to activate this seal, causing the mana within it to pull the leviathan back into the seal.”
“So we are sealing him?” Tehmrayn looked at the plan suspiciously, however, Markval shook his head.
“No, as I said before, Empress Melloxtressa is the lynchpin of this operation. Instead of sealing him and keeping this problem for our future descendants, I wish to nip it by its bud. While the Karhalantheel is being pulled into the seal, we shall give an opening for him to be slayed,” Markval announced, impressing me that he had thought of such a plan. “For that, we need a massive amount of mana to fuel it. After all, the beast is an SS rank, but only enough to bind him. Then, we would need the blood of a descendant of God Yeostar.”
“You have me, in that case,” Renee fully admitted her connection and bloodline relation to the god. “I will also have to perform the iIncantation for it. As such, I will need people to defend me.”
We all nodded before Markval then directed the discussion to me. He knew I had been in contact with Yeostar and asked me to reveal the weaknesses of Karhalantheel to the group, as this would elaborate on the other task we needed to deal with.
There were three important points he told me to remember.
First, during his fight against him, he had left a deep wound underneath his third tentacle, which led into his pressure stabilizing organ. A leviathan required this organ to stabilize the pressure around him, allowing him to swim in the darkest depth and emerge on the surface without any problems. Similar to my sun core, it was an important organ for a leviathan to enable their lifestyle.
Second, Karhalantheel was actually extremely vulnerable against the lightning element, to the point it was similar to how feeble I was against ice and water. Due to his race, [Grand Moskstraumen Eel-Dragon], his underskin wasn’t able to conduct electricity properly, meaning its outer layer of scales was there to protect him from it. With a strong enough blow, or enough ice to turn it fragile, this weakness could be exposed.
Lastly, the tentacles it had were actually there to protect it from whirlpools and maelstroms. They helped him prevent his body from twisting and curving too much. Even now, they were there to prevent him from being blown away by Mother’s blizzard, and the water vortexes around him were under control by his Territory. However, if we introduced a foreign whirlpool, we could potentially weaken its offense even further.
It was actually quite elaborate. Thank goodness we had somebody who actually fought that thing in the past.
“Leave that last part to me,” Tehmrayn announced. “However, I will need my Territory for that. As such, once we come close enough for us to speak telepathically to Melloxtressa, we should have her forcibly focus the Territory radius of the leviathan to just around their battlefield. This would enable all of us to use our Territories in the case of an emergency, but if Melloxtressa were to lose the Territory dispute, it could mean her death through arcane corruption.”
“However, that won’t happen if we manage to follow through with the plan. If he loses the dispute, he would have to shoulder all of the losses,” I interjected. “As such, let me handle the lightning part. I am the only one who has [Lightning Magic].”
It’s only at level four right now, but I could level it twice to get [Ramuh]. I’ve been saving my SP for these reasons, after all.
Seeing as nobody rejected my proposition, I nodded. “Okay, since I also have the highest amount of Mana, let—”
“Foolishness! Denied!” Master suddenly shouted in my face, grimacing at me for some reason. “Can you not perceive the state of your own body? Of your arcane corruption? Are you telling me you wish to take over two duties while in your condition? Foolishness, my apprentice. I may not have over 40000 Mana like you, but I will not let my apprentice risk her life for this foolery.”
“I agree, my lady. If Renee requires mana, then it should fall on somebody who has no problem with arcane corruption. The faefolk are the perfect fit for this role, after all.” Tasianna proudly declared, despite being around humans like Larent and Markval.
“And I can be the battery.” Neill raised her hand. “I can gather and expel mana through my dragon paths. A faefolk’s stats reduces itself the less mana they have, but that is no problem if I can just recharge her. So, leave this job to us two, Sis. Do what you do best: casting spells.”
“Haha, wow, that takes most of the jobs off the table. I bet the two twins would like to be around their Mistress, after all. We can leave breaking the shell of that beast to them and the Empress,” Yorshka stated with a crackle. “However… let's be honest here. Whoever planned this won’t just leave us alone and let us walk all over it.”
“Ghorush. Skull Mask. The demonkins.” Larent’s eyes flared up with rage. “The rest of us are muscles.”
“Ha ha ha ha! How fitting that we old-timers are responsible for keeping the young safe.” Master laughed with an excited grin.
“Oi, you are the oldest, saurian priest. Don’t call a lady like me as old as you. I am quite young for a dragonewt! … Relatively speaking.” Yorshka let out a sigh. “Well, I won’t complain. It’s an honor to fight with you, Sir ‘Auegor’s Blade.’”
[“Princess Hestia, leave your protection and the Empress’s in our hands. Soaring in the skies, we will be there when you need us,”] Shay announced while Beth roared.
Jeez, everybody…
“... Let me just say I am just middle-aged.” Farron mumbled but I didn’t believe anybody heard him with everybody cheering on.
… This really felt like a full-on raid team. We’re about to raid a boss monster. Damn.
“Everybody! Please, I beg all of you to come back home, safely! May the Goddess bless your path with light!”
“Make your preparations then!” Tehmrayn raised his trident with Markval’s announcement. “We depart for that leviathan’s head!”
Eleven raiders and one ship captain were about to depart. Krim’Slak, Grazlahta, and Akast had to stay behind as the threat of the remaining B ranks was an issue, not to mention, the merfiends in the waters. Without Tehmrayn, everybody would evacuate back to the city, leaving the port probably doomed by the incoming tsunamis.
As such, they needed more than a few adventurers and Chahayat to defend everybody. Those three saurians were the perfect fit. Not everybody could participate in this fight, after all.
Under the cheers of everybody, we hopped onto the ship. The shaking wouldn’t stop, and I could see the fear in the Caedhulen’s faces. It was only until Adhi manned the steering wheel that the mood changed for the better.
“Caedhulens, I understand this trip of ours seems daunting, but what are we but sea-scales who have braved through the ire of the gods of the ocean? Every time we depart on a voyage, we risk our very lives. How many prestigious vessels have sunken through their arrogance? Not respecting the waves just because they’ve survived through countless trips? Nay, I say, for we need no drunken sailors and stones-for-head on these wooden floors. Our fear is our anchor to life! We respect the depths! We understand confidence will drown us! We understand the gods do not seek jesters, but brave sea-scales who ignore their fears to finish the journey! Now, let us transport these landlubbers to their destinations. On my name, Adhi Bayudra, I say: HOIST THE SAILS!”
““AYE, AYE!””
Aye, aye, captain! Karhalantheel, you are dead!
“Prayer!”
On this stormy day, a bright light appeared from the sky, blanketing a brave ship in a veil of warmth. In this darkness, a shimmer illuminated everything, heralding the departure of warriors. Just like in the age of the gods and heroes, this overgrown noodle will regret ever coming out of its egg!