“Invisible monsters?”
The other three kings looked at each other and shook their heads. “Never seen them.”
The Wind-Calming King asked, “Are these invisible monsters very powerful?”
The Shadow King replied:
“Not particularly. Their strength is only between that of an ordinary person and a Bronze-rank transcendent.”
“But they possess an invisibility ability that refracts light. Unless a transcendent has sensory means, ordinary transcendents find it hard to detect them until they are attacked.”
“One of my merchant ships just returned from the Abyss and was attacked by these monsters. After killing all the crew, they didn't leave a single corpse behind; everything was taken.”
“Taking the corpses?” the Myriad Spirit King asked. “Do these invisible monsters use human corpses as food?”
The Shadow King looked up and said slowly, “If it were just for foraging, it wouldn't be worth mentioning them here.”
“What really concerns me is that they didn't just take my men's corpses—they even cleaned up the corpses of their own kind.”
“This behavior gives me an ominous feeling.”
Hearing the Shadow King's words, the Myriad Spirit King's expression changed slightly. “Are you saying... Flesh-Devourers?”
Flesh-Devourers were monsters that crawled out of the Abyss, capable of evolving and growing stronger by consuming flesh.
And consuming the corpses of their own kind was a characteristic of these Flesh-Devourer monsters.
“Flesh-Devourers don't have invisibility,” the Shadow King shook his head. “Maybe I'm overthinking it, but if you encounter invisible monsters, you'd better pay more attention.”
The other three kings nodded. The Dusk Sea was near the Abyss, and Abyss monsters occasionally emerged to cause trouble.
The four kings gathered periodically at the Fairy Tavern to exchange information and resources, but also to guard against such occurrences.
With the topic of invisible monsters concluded, the Frozen King spoke up, her voice heavy.
“I've detected abnormal mana tremors in the deep sea. It's likely that a mana node has mutated. Such mutations might drive deep-sea magical beasts into shallow waters.”
“No need for ‘likely,’” the Myriad Spirit King added. “I've already felt the movement of deep-sea schools of fish. It's inevitable that deep-sea magical beasts will surge upward.”
The Wind-Calming King nodded, noting this down. He also shared news he had heard:
“To the west of the Dusk Sea, near the Hoki Archipelago, a massive gray fog has appeared on the Tinkos Coast, swallowing all the giant villages along the shore...”
...
Dusk Sea.
The 13th floor of the Abyss.
“Ka! Ma!”
Accompanied by strange “Ka! Ma!” cries, a grayish-blue monster dragged a mass of flesh rich in transcendent power slowly into the nest.
This mass of flesh carried the aura of the Gold rank, but it had been gnawed beyond recognition and was covered in wounds.
These wounds were not caused by the biting of some magical beast or monster, but looked more like the result of every part of the skin and cells devouring and merging with each other.
However, the grayish-blue monster's intelligence was not high enough to analyze the condition of the flesh.
It simply followed the will of the nest, dragging the flesh with powerful transcendent energy back and throwing it into the nest's extraction vessel.
Gurgle, gurgle!
A sound like sucking through a straw echoed in the nest. The mass of flesh was drawn through a sharp tube into the nest's constantly beating heart.
Feeling the rich transcendent power in the flesh, the nest heart beat rapidly, conveying a sense of joy.
However, this joy lasted less than ten seconds.
Ten seconds later, the nest heart's beating suddenly stopped, then abruptly turned into a frantic, pounding rhythm.
Thump! Thump-thump-thump! Thump-thump-thump-thump!!!
The sharp tubes inside the nest twisted wildly, lashing uncontrollably against the floor until the tubes themselves were smashed to pieces.
Outside the nest, countless grayish-blue monsters transporting biomass suddenly froze in place like alchemical golems that had lost their power.
After an unknown amount of time, the frozen grayish-blue monsters suddenly regained movement. They dropped the biomass in their hands and rushed toward the depths of the nest.
Inside the nest, a broken sharp tube writhed violently, then spat out a clump of blurred flesh tissue.
After the flesh was expelled, several pools of thick yellow liquid gushed from the tube opening.
Simultaneously, the heart of the entire nest began to beat again.
However, the strength of the beat was significantly weaker than before.
“Disgusting! Garbage! Spit it out!”
Driven by the will of the nest heart, the grayish-blue monsters that had rushed in raised their claws and tore the expelled flesh into fragments.
Then, a group of slender monsters entered and used small fireballs to blast the flesh fragments into charred ash.
“Don't want! This kind! Of flesh!”
The weak voice of the nest heart's will transmitted into the mind of every monster:
“Need... non-Hungered... flesh!”
“Northeast... flesh... with wings... and fangs!”
“North... flesh... in the sea!”
“And... flesh... of priests... with hammers... and light!”
Under the control of the nest heart's will, countless monsters turned invisible and left the Abyss, heading northeast and north.
Among these monsters were clawed monsters, turret monsters, slender monsters with long staves, and many other bizarre creatures...
...
Ashen Bay, on the southern coast of the Heron Empire.
“They're back! They're back!”
At the first shout from a citizen of the Heron Empire, others stood on their tiptoes, peering eagerly at the distant sea.
Two massive giant ships were slowly sailing across the surface toward Ashen Bay.
“The Typhon! Do you see it? That one is the Typhon!”
“Wait, why are there two giant ships?”
“Stupid! The other one is obviously the Sardine, the trophy from the campaign against the Mad Shark King!”
Aboard the Typhon.
Leon watched Ashen Bay grow closer, observing the Heron citizens who were jumping and waving to welcome his triumphant return. A smile appeared on his face.
“I'm actually getting to enjoy the treatment of a general!”
He raised his scepter and lit a Light Prayer Orb.
As the Typhon and the Sardine docked, Leon stepped off the deck, surrounded by his Radiance Force Field, under the watchful eyes of the crowd.
“Leon! Priest Leon! We are reporters from the Stormveil Daily...”
The crowd that had been waiting for a long time surged forward, led by reporters holding recording stones.
They raised their recording stones toward the scene while thrusting long, tube-shaped recording devices in front of Leon.
“Priest Leon! There were rumors early this morning that you successfully defeated the Mad Shark King, one of the Five Kings of the Dusk Sea. Is this news true?”
Leon nodded slightly. “The news is true. The Mad Shark King has been killed by the suppression team, and the Sardine has been captured by our forces.”
Leon's confirmation triggered another burst of cheers from the crowd.
The reporter followed up immediately: “In that case, could Priest Leon tell us about the specific experiences during the suppression mission?”
“Of course,” Leon replied, then pulled over the most eloquent guard beside him, gesturing for him to tell the story.
The Falcon warrior stepped forward and said loudly:
“At that time, Priest Leon, Bishop Miles, and Viscount Finn faced the Mad Shark King together. Clouds churned and thunder rolled over the sea, and Priest Leon was the first to...”
Through the narration, Leon's role in the battle was elevated to a level of importance equal to that of the Gold-rank Miles and Viscount Finn.
The crowd listened with great interest, and the reporters, believing they had unearthed a major scoop, recorded everything excitedly.
After the story concluded, the reporter asked a few more questions before finally asking Leon:
“Priest Leon, is there anything else you would like to say to everyone?”
Leon took the recording device, looked solemnly at the recording stone, and said clearly:
“What I want to say is... Your Majesty, I have successfully fulfilled the mission you entrusted to me!”
Rate on N.U.
