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“This is not good,” Aedan muttered and took out a Spell Card from his infinite pouch. “Lilian, cast your strongest defensive spell on this ship now!” he yelled.

Layers of green-glowing barriers were instantly erected around the ship. Runes also appeared all over the exterior of the ship.

At the same time, Aedan activated the Spell Card in his hand, enveloping the ship in another layer of barrier but this one had a dark purplish sheen.

Vortexes of water began forming above the Scylla.

“Oh, this is truly not good,” Erin muttered when she saw the result of her Appraisal skill. Her Sixth Sense was also blaring in her mind, signalling the imminent immense threat. “Aedan, what can I do to help?”

“Use all the defensive spells you know on this ship! Nivia, you too!”

The two Fae did as they were told and cast the strongest defensive spells they knew on the ship.

Just then, bolts of compressed water were shot out of the vortexes formed above the Scylla, bombarding the ship in a barrage. The first layer of defence immediately broke apart and the second layer followed suit a few seconds later.

“Holy shit!” Amyra exclaimed as the ship rocked violently from side to side. “Surely this won’t catch the attention of the nearby army. Definitely won’t.”

“They are done being subtle and furtive,” Aedan said. “They are getting desperate. Really desperate.”

“Just how great is a favour from those relics for them to be risking so much?” Lyra asked as she hopped down from atop the mast along with Nivia.

“Getting a favour from those Ancient Guardians would expand the faith’s influence. It might even put them on par with the Ruvans. That’s how significant their favours are.”

“So, it’s all about power in the end?”

“It rarely isn’t about power. People turned to religion because they felt powerless about themselves.”

“Really?” Amyra scoffed. “I turned to Aeryonian because I was bored.”

“This is no time to be having a leisurely conversation!” Erin baulked at them as the barriers were bombarded by another round of barrage.

Slowly but surely, the ship was being pushed back. A shore wasn’t far away. If the barrage kept on coming, the ship would eventually be ashore.

“What else can we do about this?” Nivia asked.

“Wait for the Scylla’s attack to stop,” Aedan answered.

“And how much more will this barrage go on for?”

Aedan shrugged. “Not long now.”

A few seconds after those words left Aedan’s lips, the Scylla’s bombardment ceased.

“Now!”

Erin and Amyra shot towards the Scylla as soon as the barriers were dispelled. Nivia and Lyra remained on the ship but they weren’t idle. They nocked their bows with arrows and infused the shots with the strongest attack skill or spell they knew.

Seeing the rapid approach of a Fox-kin and an Augur, the Syclla sent a shoal of tentacles at the two. Amyra blasted them all away with her Fire Magic, making way for Erin to proceed. Once she was within range, Erin unleashed her attack, a slash imbued with Mystic Blade and Sever. With only a single swing, she cut a huge chunk of the Scylla apart. If it hadn’t moved, that slash would have ended its life.

The Scylla shrieked in agony and smacked Erin away with her remaining tentacles. Amyra caught Erin but the two fell into the river regardless. Meanwhile, the Scylla was assaulted by a volley of arrows. All but one arrow was not strong enough to penetrate its skin. But that single arrow alone, imbued with the power of wind and light, tore right through its other arm.

The Scylla, instead of turning its attention to the ship, where the arrow came from, turned towards Erin and Amyra who were both in the waters.

Erin grabbed onto Amyra firmly and moved to the ship’s deck in an instant with Warp. She collapsed to the floor upon arrival.

“Erin, are you alright!?” Lyra yelled as she rushed to Erin’s side.

Erin smiled wryly while catching her breath. “When am I not?”

Lyra’s concerned gaze turned into a glare. “That’s not funny.”

Erin tittered. “I know.”

“The Scylla! It’s gone!” Aera shouted.

They all turned to look and saw what Aera described. The Scylla had vanished.

“It’s underwater,” Siv said.

Aedan tutted. “We need to get the ship moving right now. It no longer had any qualms about collateral. Nivia, get down there and help Lilian.”

“With what?” Nivia responded.

“With moving this ship. She has control of the ship right now and she can make it move, but she can do it by herself.”

“I can do it,” Erin said.

“No, you’re needed here. Nivia, get going. We have no time—”

Aedan couldn’t finish his words. Something hit the ship hard. The ship rocked violently, nearly throwing Aera and Lyra off but the former was saved by Aedan while the latter was saved by Erin.

The ship was rammed again and it rocked as violently as ever. Nivia wasted not another second and rushed below deck.

Tentacles emerged from the depths. These ones were twice the size of the ones they had been dealing with. They began wrapping themselves around the ship. One of the tentacles went for the mast, crushing the sails before Erin and the others could do anything about it.

Then, the ship began to move but the tentacles prevented it from moving more than a few feet.

“Amyra, get these things off,” Erin shouted her command. “Don’t hold back!”

“Understood!” Amyra clad her sword in a fiery blaze and swung at the tentacles.

With each tentacle she cut down, there was a howling shriek emanating from beneath the ship.

Erin came to the understanding that these tentacles were most likely the Scylla’s main limbs, which explained their sizes and the fact that it felt tremendous pain from having them cut down.

After Amyra cut down around four of those larger tentacles, the ship was able to move again.

Lilian and Nivia came up to the deck with Riki, the ship’s owner and captain.

“The ship would move by itself for a few hundred metres,” Lilian explained. “But it can only move in a straight line and I have exhausted all of the Mana Cells.”

“What does that mean?” Riki asked.

“We’ll have to abandon ship, Riki,” Siv answered. “I’m sorry. It’s the only way. We can’t outrun our opponent in the waters. We’ll have to get to land even if it means dealing with the kingdom army. Better than dying here.”

“Damn it…” Riki sighed. “I understand…”

“Don’t worry, Riki. We will repay you for this.”

“Threefold,” Erin added.

“T-threefold, milady?!” Riki couldn’t believe his ears. “That’s a b-bit too much, Lady Erynthea. I must de—”

Riki was about to voice his rejection when something heavy and huge rammed the ship from underneath, sending the whole vessel flipping over as it bent with cracks formed in the hull.

Erin heard Riki screaming. She looked up and saw him being flung off the ship by the momentum. She wanted to help him but she and her companions were all in the same predicament. The ship was done for. The hull was broken and it was capsizing.

“What can I do?” Erin asked herself as she fell through the air.

She knew little about ships. She could only look to Aedan for assistance but he had his hands full with keeping Aera and Lilian safe. Amyra had Nivia wrapped in her arms. Lyra was clinging onto Siv for safety.

“Everyone’s safe,” Erin in relief inwardly. Then, she turned her attention to the Scylla that appeared from the river. It was bleeding profusely from its head and also its lower body, where half of its main limbs had been severed. It couldn’t grow those back like it could for its smaller tentacles.

The ship was still flipping in the air and Erin stumbled upon an idea. She threw a lightning bolt on the ship. As the vessel was drenched in water, the lightning spread all over, and the few sparks set the ship aflame. Erin threw another lightning bolt at the burning ship, igniting the blaze into an explosion right in front of the Scylla’s face.

The wooden splinters flew everywhere, including the face of the Scylla. A burning shard with a pointy end, in particular, flew right into its left eye. The Scylla howled in agony and began thrashing around in the waters. The eye was not the only injury it had. The explosion had plunged not a small number of the ship's debris pieces into the Scylla’s body.

The explosion ended up throwing Erin further away than her initial falling point. She bounced across the river's surface before eventually plunging underwater.

Seeing no notification regarding the increment of her experience, Erin knew the Scylla was still alive. Determined to finish the job, she quickly swam back up to the surface. However, she was a metre away from reaching the surface when something tangled itself around her foot.

Erin looked down and saw a squid-like monster. It was a Horned Squid according to her Appraisal. Being underwater had reduced her combat prowess drastically. She struggled to get herself free but to no avail. She couldn’t even cry out for help.

Before she could come up with an idea, the Horned Squid dragged her away. It took her into a tunnel at the bottom of the river. The tunnel was dark but the faintly glowing water plants along the path provided Erin some bearings.

They exited the tunnel before long, entering a cavern, where the depths were littered with bones.

“Is this some kind of a water graveyard?”

The Horned Squid continued to drag her along but Erin cut the monster down with Sever. Perhaps sensing the danger beforehand, the Horned Squid dodged Erin’s attack but it still suffered a grave wound. A quarter of its body had been severed.

The Horned Squid made no sound and simply swam away in retreat, leaving a trail of blue blood.

Erin was left floating in the water. Her excessive use of Spatial Magic had left her mind exhausted and her Mana pool running dry. Using her remaining strength, she swam up to the surface. Fortunately, there was land nearby and she quickly swam ashore.

Once on land, she replenished her Mana by using Mana Harvest but there was nothing she could do about her mental exhaustion. She lay on her back, staring at the dark and rocky ceiling, filled with dripstones.

“Great…” she sighed. “Where did I get myself thrown into this time?”

Erin looked around. She was in a cavern but that was all she could gather. There was nothing that stood out in this cavern except for the glowing mosses but she had seen plenty of glowing plants underground. It seemed to be the staple.

She looked around some more but she didn’t find anything new. There was no way out of this place, safe for the tunnel underwater. The silver lining was that she seemed to be the only one here. She didn’t sense any other presence, not taking the fish into account.

“Why did it bring me here?”

Erin let that question wander in her head as she took off her outer robe and hung it by a spire-shaped stone to let it dry.

“Hmm… this place isn’t cold,” Erin realised. She was soaking wet but the breeze in this cavern did not bring any chill. If anything, it brought warmth.

An idea appeared in her head.

She started inspecting the walls closely. She put her hands on them. The walls were warmer than the breeze. She traced her hands all over the walls until she touched a spot where it was exceptionally warmer than the other parts.

She gave it a gentle tap at first but when there was no response, she knocked on that spot. She put more strength in her knocking but nothing happened. She poured Mana into that spot and finally, the walls trembled and opened up like the blinds on a window, revealing a passageway into a small room.

In an instant, Erin felt a surge of Mana emanating from within the room.

“Well, what do we have here?”