HBWnovel Chapter 173 – Voyage (4)
Chapter 173 – Voyage (4)
[Translator – Night]
[Proofreader – Gun]
Chapter 173: Voyage (4)
Boom!
The sea erupted.
The ship swayed from the impact, more intense than when the harpoon was thrown.
The sailors were tossed aside.
The ship teetered on the brink of capsizing but managed to regain its balance.
“No, no way.”
Valkran looked at the erupting sea in disbelief.
A simple punch had made the ship sway like that.
What kind of monstrous strength was this?
Rumble...
The sea settled.
Ketal, having returned to the ship, looked down below the railing and murmured.
“It’s gone.”
“Did we take it down?”
“No. It ran away. It’s quite sturdy.”
He had adjusted his strength considering the proximity to the ship.
The underwater impact had also weakened the force.
But even considering that, it was a powerful strike.
A blow that could have ruptured the innards of a large whale, yet the monkey had managed to escape.
Fear slowly crept onto the faces of the sailors, who had just begun to calm down.
A giant monkey had been holding onto the ship from below.
It was incomprehensible, and they didn’t want to understand it.
The sailors moaned as if they had experienced a nightmare.
Aquaz looked at the sea and muttered.
“Something like that was ruling the seas around here.”
A lifeform they had never seen before.
“...It’s tough.”
The attacks from Aquaz and Baker hadn’t even pierced its hide.
They hadn’t been able to exert full force due to the urgency of the situation, but even so, it was incredibly tough.
And it had completely bypassed their detection.
Baker murmured in disbelief.
“How can a creature like that exist?”
A being beyond the scope of their understanding.
That was the true nature of the forbidden land.
Valkran gritted his teeth and regained his composure.
“We need to repair the ship first. Water is coming in from the bottom.”
Though they had driven the monkey away, the bottom of the ship was torn open, and water was flooding in.
At this rate, they would sink.
The sailors, belatedly realizing this, scrambled to move.
“Sorry, but it looks like we don’t have time for that.”
Ketal was staring blankly at the sea in the distance.
“It’s not over yet.”
“What?”
They realized it belatedly too.
The sea in the distance was parting.
Three monkeys were approaching them.
Their faces turned pale.
“It’s not just one?”
The monkeys were not individuals but a group.
Three monkeys were closing in fast.
The sailors let out cries of despair.
One was dangerous enough, but with three attacking, the ship wouldn’t stand a chance.
The only fortunate thing was that, unlike before, they weren’t sneaking up on them.
They had time to respond.
Aquaz quickly raised her hand towards the sky.
“Material, Chapter 1, Verse 1. Behold the birth of the radiant golden realm!”
Wheeeng!
A golden light enveloped the ship.
It was a divine barrier, the shield of the god that had withstood the devil’s attack when facing Ashetiar.
The monkeys collided with the shield.
Boom!
The shield trembled.
The monkeys ferociously pummeled it from underwater.
Cracks began to spread across the shield.
Aquaz’s eyes widened.
“How dare you strike the shield of a god!”
Even if they had a natural advantage, Ashetiar hadn’t managed to breach it, and had targeted her directly!
But it was still the shield of a god.
Though cracks spread, it held firm, protecting the ship.
It bought Baker enough time to prepare his magic.
[Oh stars beyond, I open this space so your realm may manifest here! Rain of rocks! Descend upon this place!]
A space opened.
From a distant, hot, and solid star, a rain of rocks was summoned.
They all aimed at the monkeys.
Boom!
The sea shook violently.
The magic cast by a magician with a full incantation had immense power.
“Whoa!”Upstodatee from n(0)/ve/lbIn/.(co/m
The sailors cheered at the powerful display.
No matter how formidable the monkeys were, they couldn’t have emerged unscathed.
But Baker’s face was filled with disbelief.
The crew, realizing the meaning of his words belatedly, hurriedly grabbed the boat and tied themselves with ropes.
Ketal held the boat and kicked off.
Boom!
“Whoaaaa!”
The boat flew into the sky.
Ketal, holding the boat, jumped with force.
But it wasn’t an ordinary jump.
In an instant, the boat soared high into the sky.
Unable to withstand the force, the ship split in half and sank.
Looking down at the sea while holding onto the boat, Valkran swallowed his breath.
Dozens of monkeys gathered around the ship, tearing apart the deck and stuffing it into their mouths.
The boat, which had soared high into the sky, began to descend slowly.
“Baker.”
“Huh, yes?”
Baker, who was staring blankly at the sea below, turned his head.
“I can’t make a safe landing. So, I’m counting on you.”
“...Open up! Empty space between the stars!”
Baker, startled, began chanting a spell.
Just before the boat collided with the sea, an empty space manifested below it.
Woooong!
“Whoaa!”
“Eek!”
The boat shook, but it rested on the empty space without breaking apart.
After a moment, the mana dissipated.
Sploosh.
With a small splash, the boat landed on the sea.
Ketal smiled in satisfaction.
“We did it.”
“No way...”
‘He could have told me beforehand.’
Baker looked at Ketal with an aggrieved expression.
“Well done, Baker. It was perfect timing.”
“R-really?”
However, Baker’s aggrieved expression quickly disappeared, replaced by a slight smile at Ketal’s praise.
The crew, realizing they had survived, collapsed in relief.
“We... we’re alive...”
“What on earth just happened...”
They were too exhausted to speak for a moment.
After a few minutes, Valkran managed to pull himself together.
“Where are we?”
“I don’t know. I just aimed for the direction of the mermaid city.”
“...I can’t see anything.”
Valkran murmured, looking dismayed.
Their ship was nowhere in sight.
They had flown out of visible range with a single jump.
The power was hard to comprehend.
“I understand why we couldn’t see the ship’s wreckage.”
It was because the monkeys had devoured it completely.
“But... what do we do now?”
“Uh...”
“Can we navigate?”
“There’s nothing to get our bearings. The compass... seems to have been lost during the jump.”
“...What about provisions?”
“Do you think there are any?”
No provisions.
No way to determine their coordinates.
Essentially, they were adrift on the open sea in a small boat.
They had survived, but now faced another problem.
The crew began to panic.
Valkran gave a helpless laugh.
“We’ll have to fish, I guess.”
“No. I don’t think that will be necessary.”
Ketal spoke up.
“Our host has come to find us.”
“What?”
“...You mean the monkeys?”
Had they come here to capture them as well?
The crew was about to panic when Ketal shook his head.
“Not the monkeys.”
The rightful inhabitants of this area, those who were here before the monkeys, had come.
Plop.
A small splash sounded next to the boat.
From beneath the sea, a woman emerged.
“...I was told the sea, which should remain silent, had become noisy because of those creatures. It seems dear guests have arrived. I’m curious how you managed to come here on this small boat.”
The woman revealed her half-naked upper body.
Her legs were those of a fish.
Ketal smiled.
His heart was racing.
“Nice to meet you.”
“Welcome, humans.”
The woman greeted them softly.
“I am a survivor from the city occupied by the monkeys. I am called merow. You may know us as mermaids.”
[Translator – Night]
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