Chapter 342: Joel

Savage Woods, Twilight Land.

Charles suddenly heard a roar from the sky and soon squinted his eyes.

'The Red Dragon still hasn't given up?' He retracted his wisdom power and completely reduced it to an average human level.

'The Dragon might've some other way to track down my location. I need to fool its tracking.' He nodded inwardly, arrived near a crimson leaves tree, and took out the emerald gem-like leaf from his space ring.

Then, he also took out a red ink bottle, dipped it for a second, and attached it to the branch using the resin.

If he had placed the leaf without painting, it might attract others' attention.

'I wouldn't be surprised if the Red Dragon finds out this leaf and take it back to its lair.' He didn't waste a second, recited the chant in English, and disappeared from there.

A second later, Charles reappeared in the underground basement hall, went towards the nearby chair, and sat on it.

He waited.

…

Haven Town, Halewick Haven, Azure Federation Territory, Endless Sea.

There stood a two-storied estate next to the beach, and surrounding it was full of green plants and vines.

At that moment, a golden-painted ship with seven sails drove from the endless sea of water and soon docked near the shore.

Then, a red-haired woman in her late 20s jumped down from the deck and landed in the seawater.

She was none other than Valerie.

Following her were a bald man and a lean man. They were her first mate and second mate, Liam and Elias.

They soon reached the shore, moved towards the estate, and arrived at the wooden fence.

At that moment, two brown-colored shepherd dogs ran from inside and directly leaped towards them.

No, both leaped towards Valerie and started licking her face and hands.

Meanwhile, a deep-blue-haired man in his 30s walked out of the estate house and greeted them with a smile.

"You seem aged a little, Charles." A pleasant voice came out of Valerie's mouth as she patted the dogs' heads and looked at him with a frown.

During the past five years, Charles and Destiny Lady co-operated with Gold Demon crew members and earned a lot.

Not only that, but they even formed an alliance and created a business-based fleet!

Charles chuckled a little upon hearing her words, walked near the gate, and unlocked it.

"Come in." He invited them in and waved his hand at Liam and Elias.

At that moment, Elias placed his hand on Charles's shoulder, dragged him away from Valerie and Liam, and asked in whispers.

"Did you make any progress in your love?"

Upon seeing their sneaky behavior, Valerie also smiled in amusement and spoke.

"I can hear your voice all clear, Elias. The whole town, even Sophie, knew that Charles is deeply in love with her. Unfortunately, that girl had long given her heart to someone else."

Liam also nodded his head and added.

"We actually came here to discuss something about Sophie's personal matter."

Meanwhile, Charles's expression turned solemn.

"Is it about her lover?" He asked.

At that moment, a black-haired woman in her late twenties walked out of the house and asked in confusion.

"Whose lover?"

But soon, her scarlet eyes widened.

The next instant, her whole body trembled uncontrollably.

Her breath grew rougher, and even her footsteps became unsteady!

She soon arrived near Valerie, grabbed her hands, and opened her mouth.

But no words came out!

Upon seeing Destiny Lady's state, a deep sigh leaked out of Valerie's mouth.

She didn't say a word, though. Instead, she hugged her, patted her head, and muttered.

"I'm sorry, dear."

Those words stuck Destiny Lady's heart and stabbed it like daggers!

An uncontrollable pain appeared in her chest! 

Tears flew out of her scarlet eyes!

She tried to open her mouth many times but couldn't.

She stood rooted in the same position for the next few minutes and finally released Valerie's hands.

She then calmed down a little, moved towards the nearby bench, sat on it, and spoke in a gloomy tone.

"Tell me more about it."

Valerie nodded her head, walked towards the bench, and responded.

"8 years ago, a merchant ship rescued a person named Joel from the Endless Sea and started sailing to the final Island. At that time, Joel was in a half-coma state. Thankfully, a Life Church priest in the merchant ship healed his wounds and saved him. But just after a day of their journey, they seemed to have met a sea monster. A Rank-5 Sea Unicorn attacked the ship and heavily damaged it. The ship captain told us that more than 7 Rank-4 Mystics sacrificed their lives and tried to seal the creature."

"Alas, that Sea Unicorn was too powerful and completely overwhelmed them. Just when the creature was about to kill everyone, Joel flew out of the ship and confronted it. Joel used some fire spell on the Sea Unicorn, protected the ship and the people, and tried to drag it to the other side. But another Rank-5 Sea Monster called 'Shadow Snake' appeared behind him and dragged him into a whirlpool. The captain said that the Shadow Snake pierced his chest before he got sucked into the whirlpool."

Just as she finished her words, a strange silence appeared in the yard.

"I-I w-want to go there." A low mutter came out of Destiny Lady's mouth as she clenched her fist tighter and looked up.

She stared deep into Valerie's eyes and asked in a begging tone.

"Please take me there, Valerie!"

Meanwhile, Charles let out a deep sigh and shifted his attention towards Valerie.

"How far is that final island?" He asked.

His question surprised everyone.

"You agree to her decision? It's suicidal!" Liam refused.

Even Destiny Lady looked at him and stared at him in confusion.

Noticing her gaze, Charles smiled lightly, looked into Destiny Lady's eyes, and spoke in a calm tone.

"I'll help you get over there, Sophie. But once you confirm that your lover is dead, you've to cast this matter aside and move on."

Meanwhile, Destiny Lady nodded her head and stood up from the bench.

"I know when to give up, Charles. I just want to go there and see for myself." Her voice contains a trace of anxiety and nervousness.

At that moment, Valerie let out a deep sigh and interrupted their talking.

"Charles, this isn't like our previous missions. We are actually going deep into the Endless Sea this time, and the dangers will rise as we sail further. One single mistake, all of us will be doomed."

Upon hearing her words, Destiny Lady took out a bluish gem from her space ring and smiled stiffly.

"I've long met the requirements to Rank-Up, Valerie. I'm planning to Rank-Up by the end of this month."

All of them got stunned for a moment as they heard her words.

"It seems we have no choice then," Valerie said in a deep tone and added.

"Go and pack your belongings. We are leaving before the dusk."

Then, she and her crewmates returned to the shore, entered the sea, and soon climbed up to the Gold Demon ship.

On the other hand, Charles and Destiny Lady returned to their rooms, packed their belongings, and soon walked out of the house.

They also informed the Sage to take care of the shepherd dogs and walked out of the fence.

After that, they cast fly spells on themselves, flew up, and soon reached the large ship.

The large Gold Demon ship made a loud horn noise and started sailing deep into the sea within a few minutes!

…

On the other hand, in Tebs's appearance, the real Charles stayed in the underground hall for a few more hours and finally stood up from the chair.

Then, he walked towards the concrete wall, chanted a short recite in English, and soon disappeared from there!

A moment later, he reappeared in the Fire Elemental Plane, looked around for a moment, and soon breathed out a sigh of relief.

'It seems the Red Dragon has finally given up.' He muttered inwardly, rose in the air, and cast a wing spell.

Instead of casting Rank-3 [Fallen Angel's Wings] spell, he cast the [Red Wings] spell, flapped it twice, and started flying towards the opposite direction.

But he didn't dare to fly higher than 10 meters in fear of attracting the Red Dragon and silently followed the path.

Although he met a few Lava Orcs, Night Goblins, and few other humanoid races along the way, none of them stopped him.

No, they actually avoided his gaze.

After flying for 13 hours, Charles finally managed to cross the Savage Forest and entered a place called 'Madness Land.'

Most of the creatures in this land were somehow affected by a strange madness disease and could attack any intruder.

Charles also learned from Tebs's memories that the creatures living in this land had some problems with their memories.

'Only Fury Ants, Four-Eyed Orcs, Wingless Red Birds, and some snake-type creatures live in this land. But once someone enters this land, they have to leave within 24 hours. Otherwise, they would lose their memories and would turn into mindless creatures. Mind Fire?' Charles raised his eyebrows in surprise.

Although he was eager to check it out, he didn't dare delay his search mission and walked into the land filled with rocks, embers, and red sand.