Chapter 196 Sacrificial Frozen Cocoon

Of course, they had confessed everything to me, even the mad stunt that Mad John had pulled off. So it would be an understatement to say that I was just proud.

Damn it! I wish I was here to watch the whole thing... That would have really been a good way of cementing the relationship between the second-in-command and his captain.

"I don't understand" Annabelle shook her head. Confusion clouded her eyes, and on her face, all I could read was doubt.

Her allegiance still swayed towards Captain Crimson Eye, so I could see where she was coming from. However, upon reflecting on her actions leading up to this moment and her lack of attempts to escape, I still held hope that she could redeem herself with the right choices.

The right choice being to never make me her enemy!

In the meantime, I explained our current circumstances to her in a manner that she could easily comprehend. "What I mean to say is that Captain Crimson Eye has set a trap for us, which we have unwittingly fallen into by destroying two of his fleets. As a result, in a matter of hours or days, he will reach the coasts of the Cryptic Sea to launch an attack or ambush us. Given that he is in the right, he might even bring reinforcements along with him".

Annabelle's eyebrows furrowed as she bit her lip in frustration, clearly struggling to digest the information.

Anticipating her next question, I hastened to add. "To prevent ourselves from being ensnared in his schemes, we must retrieve the corpses of our fallen crewmen and sail away from here as quickly as possible". And perhaps, with any luck, I can take the time to search for Nina's body and confirm whether she had perished or survived.

Her head tilted up and down, as if her mind had just finished an intense marathon. "May I ask where you acquired this information, Captain?" Annabelle inquired.

I replied. "Before the two fleets were destroyed, the pirates approached me for a chat. They confessed to their sins and the evils they had committed in this world. They then sought my forgiveness, which I granted them, so that they may depart this world peacefully". I locked eyes with Annabelle. "Does that satisfy your curiosity?".

Yeah, At this juncture, any further delay only served to exacerbate my already thinning patience.

She seemed to have received the message I was conveying, and silently nodded in understanding.

"Very well then, let us proceed".

I looked down and stared at my furry little beast: "Bones, make us a path". Although I would have wanted to bring Toothless along, but, considering that she is not immune to the moonlight's ice and could probably be affected by it, I chose to bring Bones out and let him lead the way. With him on our side, there was nothing to be afraid of.

Never thought that I would ever say that!

Bones twitched his tiny little head up and down before he jumped down from the ship and landed on top of an ice surface that he had created mid-air on top of the sea.

'Hey Ag'na?' When this bastard accepted me as Bones' master, I discovered that I could communicate with him through a special connection that was connected through Bones.

However, because of this connection, anything we talked about was also heard by Bones. As a result, we tended to use it discreetly. Unfortunately, because Ag'na was not my tamed beast, he was not fully loyal to me and so, at any moment, whenever he pleases, he could cut off the connection between us.

I couldn't help but smirk at that thought. At least he still didn't know that I could eavesdrop on his conversations with Bones.

[ Yes, what is it?] Ag'na responded, sounding as grumpy as usual.

I asked. 'About the Moonlight's ice, are t---'.

[ If you are talking about my 'Sacrificial frozen cocoon, then I can answer your question.] He immediately interrupted me and snorted. [ But if it is about what you humans have termed as the Moonlight's ice, then I don't think that I know anything about it.]

I sighed internally and corrected my statement. 'So, tell me, Ag'na, what are the limitations of your sacrificial frozen cocoon?..... Although I acknowledge your incredible strength, I find it hard to believe that it's flawless. There must be some vulnerabilities to this technique, aren't there?'.

Before Ag'na could respond, Bones suddenly broke into our thoughts. 'I am done, master'.

As I peered downwards from the ship's edge, my eyes fell upon a frigid path, a frozen tapestry large enough for the three of us to hop onto. Without hesitation, I turned my head towards Annabelle and Beric. "Let's go" I said to them.

As I prepared to jump down, a sudden gust of wind engulfed Annabelle, lifting her gracefully into the air and carrying her effortlessly across the ship and onto the crystalized ice, where she landed with the grace of a swan

Pushing the thought of how skilfully she had pulled that off, I couldn't help but wonder how there was no panty shots.

My attention then turned to Beric, whose face was etched with a mixture of doubt and fear. It was clear that he was struggling to come to terms with the reality of the situation, perhaps even contemplating the possibility of abandoning the mission altogether.

He took a step backwards. And another one, which prompted me to sigh in defeat.

I coursed my magical energy through my body as I took a step towards him.

In the blink of an eye, I materialized before him with a resounding "WHOOSSH!" that echoed around us, causing him to recoil in fear and stumble backwards, his eyes widening in shock.

Without a moment's hesitation, I seized his collar tightly in my grip, preventing him from falling to the wooden floorboard.

A chilling smile spread across my face as I spoke "Too late". Before he could even begin to comprehend my words, I launched myself backwards, lifting him into the air with me. As we soared high above the ground, the winds wrapped around our lower bodies like a cocoon, caressing us gently as we floated through the air.

"Bam!"

We landed on the ice, the impact reverberated through my body as I released my grip on him. I watched as he tumbled backwards, landing unceremoniously on his rear end, his eyes wide with shock and disbelief as he rubbed his eyes with his elbows vigorously.

But in a sudden, unexpected moment, he snapped his head upwards. He glared at me with a grievous expression.

I simply shrugged my shoulders, nonchalantly brushing off his reaction. "Shake it off" I said, my tone dismissive, and turned around to walk forward. "Besides, we're just getting started, and it would be a shame if you backed out now".

Mesmerized by the horizon, I watched Bones crafting a trail of icy pathways ahead of us, while simultaneously erasing the ones we left behind with each step we took.

Seriously, I need to find a snack fit for a rat like him, a sort of 'Scooby snack' equivalent for rodents.

Alas, my search for such a delicacy proved fruitless thus far, yet I remained determined t--

[ Are you done?!] Ag'na's voice suddenly boomed in my mind.

I cleared my throat loudly, nearly forgetting that I had asked him a question.

'Yes, I am done. You can continue now' I sent a message to him.

Ag'na snorted loudly with a low 'gruff' before he responded [ Very well, since you've asked, I will inform you of the limitations of the 'Sacrificial Frozen Cocoon']

I walked forward silently, both hands in the pockets of my brown overall coat, awaiting Ag'na to gather his thoughts and divulge the information I sought.

Ag'na resumed speaking seconds later, saying. [ I cast that technique at the point of a terrible injury that nearly led to my demise...And yes, before you inquire, it was all due to that human whom you recently killed, alongside two other individuals whose combined attack was sufficient to bring me to my knees.]

'So the sleepy behemoth was nearly defeated by three fallen kings' I thought, tempted to taunt and irritate him with a chuckle. However, I required this information, so I resisted the urge.

[ Kings....] He snarled. [ Those humans ambushed me while I rested since they knew they couldn't confront me directly...Moreover, they launched multiple ambushes until I was finally captured and imprisoned beneath that accursed woman's castle, who used my scales to shield her kingdom, causing the 'Sacrificial Frozen Cocoon' to be greatly weakened.] Ag'na paused briefly before continuing with a low grunt. [ That was until you somehow freed me by altering the past and trapping me here.]

I made a mental note of the revelation that somehow, in some way, Queen Mavena had imprisoned Ag'na within her castle before I utilized the 'Fantastic Beasts of Records'. Additionally, the fact that I had not heard any rumours regarding this suggested that she had accomplished it without anyone noticing.