Chapter 91: Sea Catastrophe (2)

The mermaids were creating waves. Each and every single one of them were holding a trident as they expressed their powers in the vast sea. It was as if they were proving that they were the supreme race of the sea. As soon as they appeared, the waves turned violent while the sea breeze blew fiercely and targeted the humans.

The sea was no longer on the side of the humans. Everything in the sea attacked the humans as if they were their lifelong enemies. Huge waves, whirlpools and whirlwinds appeared one after the other. 

It was quite unbelievable that these were all due to the mermaids’ magic. 

“Is this because of the Sea God’s blessing?” 

Iron frowned as he grabbed onto the rails of the ship. He looked like he was about to puke from all the shaking.

No matter how strong the mermaids were, it was impossible for them to exert this much power normally. By the looks of it, their powers in the sea were so great that even the three masters were having a hard time dealing with it. 

He was certain that they could only do something like this because of the Sea God’s blessing. 

There were even huge sea monsters that were classified as the sea catastrophes. They were the sea catastrophes that were created by the mermaids with their endless mana.

It was already too much for the main fleet to handle two of them all at once but their appearance alone had further undermined the confidence of the allied forces. 

“Lamias! The Lamia Army has appeared!”

The mermaids were beings that were the same size as humans. The only difference was that their lower bodies were in the form of a fish. However, they were extremely beautiful creatures. On the other hand, the lamias was a race that was larger and far more hideous in terms of appearance. They were a poor race who only resembled part of the mermaids but were more of hideous monsters.

Even the lamias, a race that sought out strength through physical prowess, had come out in addition to the mermaids who were well versed in magic. The lamias immediately climbed on top of the ships and obeyed the orders of the mermaids. Despite hating each other, they still joined forces to defeat their common enemy. 

Starting with the lamias, the sea army appeared one after the other. 

“Crabmen!”

“Sharkmen have appeared!”

“A giant starfish is breaking the bottom of the ship!”

The sea immediately turned into a huge battlefield after the sea monsters appeared one by one. In addition to dealing with the huge waves and the strong sea breeze, they also had to deal with the sea army.

This was the worst situation for the humans. 

In this chaotic situation, Iron and the Ghosts did their best to protect the fleet. They cut and sliced through the huge lamias, the crabmen and even the sharkmen with their sharp noses and teeth.

However, perhaps because they were at sea, the elites of the Empire couldn’t help but struggle as they tried to remain on board the main fleet.

The three masters were busy dealing with the sea magic that was created by the mermaids while the tower masters were busy dealing with the high-leveled monsters, the sea catastrophes. In addition, the main fleet had no other choice but to fight against the numerous sea monsters that flocked to the ships. All they could trust was the airship fleet. However, it seemed like they wanted to crush their hopes completely, as numerous sirens and sea drakes appeared. 

“We’ll be wiped out even before we get to Ghost Island.”

The Ghosts’ expressions turned stiff when they heard Iron’s mumbles.

When Iron saw the airship fleet go into battle against the numerous sirens and sea drakes, he judged that there was no solution. If their last hope, the airship fleet, was also blocked, most of them would probably be dead by the time they arrived at Ghost Island. And with just half of their troops, they still had to block the dimensional gate. It was suicide at that point.

The moment the sirens, who were proficient in hallucination and illusion magic, and the sea drakes, who had huge and powerful tails like that of a fish, appeared to block the airship fleet with their mana song and mental attacks, he knew that the situation had turned for the worst. 

He hoped that the airship fleet would be able to break through the sirens and sea drakes with their powerful cannons but his hopes were thrown to the wind. In the end, all of the ships of the fleet had been blocked. 

But several ships suddenly broke through the waves that the mermaids had created and moved forward.

“That?”

“Aren’t those ships the ones that carry the other-worlders?”

The ships that Lintel and Billie Brandt were looking at were boarded by the other-worlders. Surprisingly enough, they were destroying all the mermaids’ wave attacks with their unique abilities. Even the flow of water seemed to be good for the leading ship. It seemed like there was an existence that could go beyond the mermaids’ control of the sea. 

‘It’s Kim Jungtae!’

This phenomenon could only be possible for Kim Jungtae who had an absolute ability in water. However, Kim Jungtae was still weak. It looked like he could barely maintain his own ship. There was also some cluster of subtle lights around the ship that seemed to be pushing away or purifying the contaminated mana.

“Is that why they’re called White Whale?”

Iron mumbled to himself as he watched Kim Jungtae and his guild work. Not all of them could receive the attacks head on and do big things but each and every single one of them were doing their parts properly. 

The high-leveled sea catastrophes blocked the Eastern Fleet while the mermaids blocked the masters. In this situation, it seemed like there was no existence that could block the other-worlders’ ship. 

But that was just an illusion.

Rumble!

“Shit! There’s a storm right now?!”

Lintel stared blankly at the storm that suddenly appeared and engulfed the other-worlders’ ships. 

Countless lightning strikes rained down and stopped Kim Jungtae and the White Whale. In addition, a tornado soared and completely blocked the White Whale’s path.

Strangely enough, the lightning and tornado that the White Whale ship was avoiding felt quite familiar.

“What?”

He was not sure because of the long distance but this strange and stimulating feeling was somewhat similar to his divine power. However, there was a sticky feeling so he did not know what to do. 

The strange feeling continued to linger the longer they fought in this battle. And in the end, Iron, after cutting down the crabman in front of him, approached the officer in charge.

“Captain.”

“Yes.”

“Do you think we can go near there?”

The place that Iron pointed at was the place where the White Whale was. 

The captain’s expression hardened after being asked to go to a place where lightning and tornadoes were running rampant. 

“I know it’s hard. But…”

“Did you feel something?”

“…Yes.”

“Is it related to the divine beast?”

When asked by the captain, Iron just shook his head to tell him that he still wasn’t sure. 

The captain pondered for a while before nodding his head heavily. Anyway, the damage to their ship would continue to accumulate if this situation persisted. This was the time for them to do something. 

“We’re moving towards White Whale!”

The navies scattered at once after hearing the captain’s roar while Iron and the rest of the Ghosts filled in their vacancies diligently. 

The lamias, crabmen and sharkmen that came up on their ship fled one by one when all of the elites at the 5th Stage moved earnestly. This was because they had shown the extent of their strength that they were saving earlier. After all, they weren’t sure about the attacks that the mermaids would pour on them so they still needed to conserve their strength before. 

“Did you get that feeling again?”

“I don’t know it well yet.” 

Iron shook his head at the smiling Lintel.

“Hmm… But you’re saying that something is over there, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then, let’s go.”

Lintel looked at Carl Gustav when he did not even hesitate to answer Iron. Then, he nodded at him with an expression that clearly showed his trust and belief in Iron. Lintel and the other Ghosts had experienced this with Iron twice already. So, they believed in Iron’s senses as they did their best to drive away the sea army from their ship. 

The attention of all the navies of the Eastern Fleet turned to them. They all paused as they looked in surprise at the Northeastern troops when they wholeheartedly believed in every word that Iron had said. They couldn’t believe that the Northeastern troops would believe the words of someone that wasn’t at commander or general level but only a Lieutenant Colonel like Iron. However, considering the peace that Iron had brought to the Northeast, they couldn’t dare to mock them for believing him like that. 

Is this because of the strong trust between the forces of the Northeast?

The Eastern navies moved in perfect sync which allowed the Ghosts to reach the area where the White Whale was. The sea army still continued to flock to them but it was high time that they shook them off and moved to the direction of Ghost Island. 

Rumble!

Lightning struck down on Iron’s ship as soon as they threw off the lamias and crabmen running on their ship. It looked like something was wary of them. The lightning seemed to tell them that they couldn’t go any further than this point.

It got worse the longer time passed by. And the worse it became, the more Iron flinched. At first glance, one would think that he was just shocked by the lightning strikes but Lintel just smiled at him and asked as if he knew that it wasn’t the case at all. 

“Did you get the feeling?” 

“Yes.” 

Lintel smiled wider when he heard Iron speaking with certainty this time. 

“Is this the divine beast’s ability?” 

Lintel mumbled to himself as he turned to look at the lightning, tornado and storm that had been pouring down all over the place. Since Iron had felt something, the possibility of this phenomenon being created by the divine beast’s ability was high. 

“Will it be a bird again this time?” 

“Probably?” 

“Hmm… I hope it’s a whale this time though…” 

The Ghosts looked at Iron as they each gave their own thoughts. They could see that he was in deep concentration. They were all excited since they knew that Iron always showed something great whenever he had that expression on his face. 

Then, a lightning bolt suddenly aimed towards Iron. 

Carl Gustav’s expression hardened as he reflexively tried to prevent the attack. But the lightning strike avoided Iron by itself and flew elsewhere. This phenomenon happened continuously. As time went by, the lightning that rained on them began to avoid the ship too. The lightning only struck right next to the ship and even the tornadoes opened up and did not affect the ship.

With this strange phenomenon repeatedly occurring, Iron’s ship began to outrun the White Whale Guild’s ship.

In the area where lightning, storms, tornadoes and whirlpools ran rampant, only the area where Iron’s ship was located did not get struck. It was as if a safe area had been created around their ship. 

The main fleet and even the mermaids looked from afar in shock.

“My Sea God… why?” 

The mermaids murmured to themselves as they stared at the ship that carried the absent-minded Iron. 

Just then, Iron heard the sound of notifications.

― Your ability as the ‘Bird Doctor’ has removed the influence of the ability of the Sea God on the ‘Thunderbird’. You have successfully reached out to the Thunderbird.

― Your ability as the Bird Doctor and your overwhelming affinity with birds has temporarily removed the Sea God’s power and influence over the Thunderbird. However, due to the lack of divine power, only a designated area around the ship could become a stable area that can last for a few days. Please be careful.

― As long as you’re on the ship, the curse of the Sea God that is expressed through the Thunderbird will not work on the ship.

― The ‘Thunderbird’ has fallen for your strange and unknown charm. This charm will grow the closer you get to each other. Please come closer♥

Iron staggered for a moment when he heard the notifications. He couldn’t help but mumble to himself when he heard the unimpressive words towards the end of the notifications.

“…charm?”