Though Cecia possessed authority that freed her from the need for sleep at night, the drain from an entire night's battles ultimately left her utterly exhausted.
Upon reaching the Adventurers Guild's inn, Cecia rented a room, turned in those scales to the old priest for some bounty money, and promptly fell into a deep, heavy sleep.
The old priest, Robert, arranged for a nun to inspect the patrol team's injuries.
Vesper had already recovered by devouring Abyss energy.
Cecia didn't trust that soft-looking nun. After expressing her anger at having her peaceful sleep disturbed, she sent the nun away.
By the time Cecia finally woke from her groggy slumber, Vesper, Lan, and Mia were nowhere to be found.
Perhaps thoroughly terrified by Cecia's anger earlier, the little nun hadn't dared wake Cecia when it was time to gather.
Nights in Tide Town were surprisingly bustling.
She didn't turn on the lights, simply standing by the window to watch lights switch on one by one in the dusky twilight.
Cecia stepped onto the windowsill and silently activated 【Shadow Moon】, leaping between eaves, rooftops, and balconies.
Though her movements were still somewhat clumsy, she quickly arrived at the church.
Everyone who had discussed plans the night before was present.
Robert seemed to have been continuously maintaining the town's barrier while organizing nuns and guards to judge the Starfolk that had infiltrated Tide Town; the dark circles under his eyes had grown even heavier.
Fekro, Amber, and Horn were all in terrible shape as well.
Horn had broken two ribs and nicked an artery; he was currently lying on the floor, resting.
Amber refused to continue participating in this dangerous commission no matter what, bluntly stating that this wasn't a task adventurers like them should accept—it required at least Diamond Rank adventurers.
She urged Robert to report higher up and have the Inquisition dispatch several Holy Knights.
Fekro had lost all his suave swagger, sitting silently wrapped in a blanket.
The three of them had gone together to White Reef Bay to search for the cause behind the marine life mutations.
In the year 655 of the Old Calendar, they didn't yet know that these mutated sea creatures were called Starfolk, referring to them simply as “sea monsters.”
White Reef Bay was located four to five nautical miles from Tide Town, serving as the place where Tide Town residents held ceremonies and sacrifices.
Roughly five or six months ago, the sea monsters had completely occupied the island.
The Starfolk were a terrifying species within the ocean.
They had devoured everything edible beneath the ocean surface.
At first, Horn had tried to gather food by fishing, but everything he hauled up was inedible Starfolk corrupted by the Abyss.
The Starfolk had completely decoded the genetic information of the coastal Silverscale Fish.
They had evolved organisms virtually identical to the Silverscale Fish.
When Horn cast a large net, everything he pulled up was a tangled mess of plant and animal fibers, organisms whose cells had turned blue and grown root systems.
The fish in the sea had been nearly wiped out and absorbed by the Starfolk.
Fekro hadn't been able to drink his seafood soup ever since they set off.
Fortunately, they had brought enough provisions.
They reached White Reef Bay at dusk.
The island used by Tide Town for sacrifices was densely overrun with Starfolk.
They were actually imitating humans, conducting a filthy and bizarre ritual.
Worshiping Kraken, the familiar of the Sea God Nahros, offering blood and life to the great Sea God.
The three on the ship were frozen in horror at the sight.
The Starfolk on the beach were more numerous than barnacles on the hull of a ship.
When one Starfolk noticed the swaying vessel, all the Starfolk—linked by their collective consciousness network—turned in unison to stare at everyone on board.
Immediately following was a screech capable of making one's soul tremble.
It was accompanied by babbling sounds reminiscent of a wailing infant.
And then came an overwhelming tide of Starfolk.
These Starfolk were not high in level, but their sheer numbers were terrifying.
Like rabid army ants, they moved in time with the eerie melody of their song.
Advancing.
Advancing.
Advancing.
Moonscales lunged onto the ship like missiles.
Monsters with bizarre, sunflower-like giant heads glared at the crew.
Transparent blobs with wing membranes and completely distorted internal organs floated in the sky.
Exposed bones formed hard biological armor over their bodies.
Almost everything in sight was swallowed in blue.
Crawling up from the sea floor.
Swooping down from the sky.
Fekro was the first to react.
His golden alchemy pistol spun wildly as ammunition poured forth like a torrential downpour.
Horn and Amber didn't stand idly by either.
They hurriedly turned the ship around while sweeping Starfolk off the deck.
On White Reef Bay, the vast horde of Starfolk was still chanting.
The language was ancient.
The movements were stiff and distorted.
The ritual procedure was completely improper.
Horn was a local of Tide Town.
Every year, the townspeople would go to White Reef Bay to perform sacrifices.
Horn remembered every step of the process.
Horn even recognized the prayers they used during their ritual.
“O greatest, most glorious Nahros, deity drowned in the sea, lord who dwells in the ocean, pray grant the fish multiplication, and grant us ascension.”
The prayer itself felt like a profanation of prayer.
Mumbling incoherently, they were nevertheless willing to offer up their everything.
“Sea God... %#@”
“Familiar... #@￥”
“Blood.”
The chanting ended.
The wind died down, and the sea grew calm.
Nothing happened.
Yet the sea monsters suddenly ground to a halt.
They grew silent.
Solemn.
Obeying the will of something.
One after another, the sea monsters on shore lined up and walked toward the altar.
Slicing open their own heads with sacrificial daggers.
Carving out their own hearts.
And arranging them neatly inside that massive cauldron.
The more Fekro watched, the more unsettled he felt.
He stopped aiming his alchemy pistol at the creatures crawling onto the deck.
Because Fekro realized—
They were terrified of something.
Fekro loaded a fiery red gemstone carved with complex magic arrays into his alchemy pistol.
He pulled the trigger.
BOOM!
White Reef Bay was instantly engulfed in roaring flames.
In return came the agonizing wails of the sea monsters.
Unfortunately, the ritual was already complete.
Just a moment before Fekro fired his gun.
A gigantic head broke through the ocean surface.
The head, tens of meters wide, had barely emerged before the surrounding water elements instantly erupted into a boil.
A violent elemental tide surged, as if a catastrophic downpour might unleash at any moment.
Densely packed tentacles stirred the surging tides around it, sweeping up schools of fish and shoving them into its maw.
It was still not satisfied.
Densely tangled, unspeakable tentacles thrashed even faster than the rolling waves.
Forbidden runes grew across the tentacles.
Every living creature touched was plundered by it.
Everything in its path was devoured by the colossal tentacles.
Horn trembled all over.
“That's the familiar of the Sea God Nahros—Kraken.”
Without even bothering to extinguish the flames consuming them, the Starfolk fanatically flayed off their own hides just to offer them to Kraken.
It wasn't out of blind superstition.
These Starfolk were sacrifices by nature.
This was the choice made by their collective consciousness—the path best suited for the species' future development.
Fortunately, Kraken's target was not the scouting vessel.
It merely swallowed that vast horde of sea monsters into its maw.
Those sea monsters were even thrilled.
As long as the species was allowed to proliferate and evolve.
Everything was worth it.
Rate on N.U.
