Chapter 358: Chapter 358
Gigantic tentacles with suckers danced in the wind like demons, plunging the deck of the Golden Deer into sudden darkness as a foul stench pervaded the air.
Byron’s mouth salivated, and after a brief moment of stunned realization, he remembered he should be counterattacking with his sword, not his mouth.
His bastard sword, White Frost, was drawn decisively from his waist, resonating with his Flow State as its light flared.
The skill "Storm Admiral" was activated, making his body light as a feather; he achieved Man and Sword as One, transforming into a white-hot meteor that lunged toward the thickest tentacle in front of him.
The incomparably sharp sword light flashed, and the monster’s flesh, as tough as steel, was viciously sliced halfway through.
A low groan emanated from beneath the water as the octopus warship, in pain, quickly retracted that tentacle.
Behind Byron, his black cloak fluttered in the wind like the iron wings of a raptor. His feet barely touched the deck as he continued to whip up a tempest, striking at another tentacle.
His Storm Sword Technique had clearly improved again.
Furthermore, as he continued to guide Catherine, Violet, Bruh, and a host of followers to awaken their Flow State, his understanding of human breathing rhythms had deepened.
Through this mutual learning, he felt he was inching closer to understanding the next realm akin to the Breath of All Things, using "humanity" as a catalyst—Divine Sight!
It also symbolized the fundamental power of the ’self’.
When the time came, he would possess an extra skill tree, in contrast to Beret Tanya, who could reach this realm only with the help of transcendent abilities and Preempting the Enemy.
Better yet, this power that came from personal understanding could not be taken away by anyone else, nor would it be affected by the Law-Breaking Stone.
Violet, Jacqueline, Beret Tanya, and the Phantom Blade "Hawkeye" James had all congregated on the Golden Deer.
Together with the Guardsmen’s Wings of Death, they slashed at the octopus tentacles that sprawled onto the deck.
As the Golden Deer endured the violent destruction by the tentacles, its second ability, Ageless (A ship for eight generations; men leave, but the ship remains), was automatically triggered.
"The ability comes from the excellent material of whole teak throughout the ship. Time leaves no mark upon this vessel. Whether ten years or a hundred years pass, it will look just as it did when it was first launched. Even if damaged in battle, as long as various repair materials are stocked in the cabin, it can repair itself automatically. Even in the heat of battle, this ability is unaffected; it can be damaged and repair at the same time, with extremely good sinking resistance."
Although this ability had never been put to use before, Byron had long since stocked the hold with enough high-quality teak and other ship materials, certainly sufficient to support several fierce battles.
Even if one-fifth of the ship was blasted away, he wouldn’t even blink.
At this moment, the Golden Deer was above water, and the May Wind was below it.
If these land creatures were to plunge into the water to fight, they would certainly become easy pickings for Balboa, who had already evolved into an ocean creature as the Infinite Evolver.
Thus, with both sides locked in each other’s grips, a war of attrition began—a test of who had stronger regenerative abilities and endurance. The first to falter would naturally be defeated.
After about seven or eight minutes, the octopus warship was visibly flagging, its tentacles regenerating ever more slowly. Newest update provıded by 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝✶𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮✶𝓷𝓮𝓽
A milky-white fog that couldn’t be dispersed even by a downpour began to rise quietly.
Within the depths of the fog, the hazy shadow of a colossal creature covered in tentacles loomed, coldly watching over the Golden Deer.
It was the first time the octopus warship had launched the Fog of Dreams directly, without the aid of barnacles.
Clearly, it intended to drag the Golden Deer into a dreamscape, or even deeper, into the shipwreck graveyard of the deep dream, just like the Touch of the Kraken that was wreaking havoc in the North Sea.
No, not quite. A mere Fourth Order Bizarre creature didn’t have the Authority to make a material warship cross between reality and illusion. It wasn’t the ship it was dragging into the Dream Realm, but the souls of all the people aboard!
Unlike Major Thomson of the Grand Duchy of Curland, who never realized he had been pulled into the Dream Realm even at his end, Byron and Violet sensed the anomaly almost immediately.
They both cried out in unison, "Projection!"
A streak of rainbow light shot out from their heads, forming another pair of "Byron" and "Violet."
One used Dream Execution, the other Nightmare Covert; their Starlight Bodies held hands tightly, anchoring themselves to the Golden Deer like two solid boat anchors.
They also firmly anchored the entire Golden Deer in the real world.
Splendid anchor chains then materialized around them.
Violet, the Bay Citizen Princess, carried the last hope of all the traditional Bayfolk of Iron Anchor Bay.
The anchors on Byron were somewhat more complex.
They represented the livelihoods of thousands upon thousands of pirates and employees of the Pioneer Pilot Company;
They symbolized the ever-growing Golden Law, as the influence of the Torrent Fortress expanded, and the outreach of the Father of Healing became more profound;
Thousands of Lancaster Party members held fervent hopes that their sovereign would lead them back to their homeland;
There was also boundless reverence from the Heitings colonists towards their protector, the Sea Hunter;
Of course, the thickest anchor chain, without a doubt, was from Catherine in the International Port; one link of her bond being worth hundreds, if not thousands, of others.
Even if Byron became a great demon king who turned his back on the entire world, there would always be one person who would stand by him, unwavering.
The two sides grappled with each other, one in the Dream Realm, the other in reality.
Byron and Violet clenched their teeth as though what pulled at them from the other end was an elephant.
One couldn’t help but wonder if the other end of the octopus warship had already latched onto the ghost ships in the shipwreck graveyard.
Although the distance is too close and there’s a risk of hurting ourselves, at this point only Gungnir is capable of attacking the octopus warship’s hull underwater.
Just as Byron was about to incinerate the three Third Order Undead Servants—Governor of Havana Velazquez, Governor of Jamestown Royal Harbor Jefferson Newman, and Navy Rear Admiral Elsie Newman—to fire his strongest shot,
Suddenly, hundreds of crows flew in from the other side of the Windward Strait, from the Castilian Colony of Havana, and gathered in a swarm above them.
After a flash of divine light, they transformed into a Third Order Grand Wizard robed in black with a hooded cloak.
With all of the Versatile Enchantress Beatrice’s memories in his mind, Byron recognized at first glance that this was Mr. Crow Naerm, a Third Order Deacon of the Skinning Cult.
Unlike Beatrice and the "Fairy" Rigel who took the human skin route, he obviously opted for the beast skin path.
His path involved donning the skin of a beast, becoming a member of its species, and within a year, challenging its leader to become the Beast King.
It was clear he had turned himself into the King of Crows.
His appearance here was predictable; he was up to his old tricks as a scout.
It was evident who he was serving.
The main forces in the dispute over the Right to Protect and the Right of Exemption were the naval superpowers, at the least an independent kingdom or grand duchy.
But this didn’t mean that the issue was completely unrelated to other smaller forces beneath them.
Even the weakest kingdom had at least one Fifth Order Kingly Title, which, rooted in every citizen, passed the crown down through generations with the Royal Iron Law.
The strongest hidden sects within the Banta’an region were mostly still struggling to achieve their third bloodline ascension ceremony to the Fourth-Order Heroic rank and conducting blood sacrifices.
Even if only for more stable Anchoring and a ’position’ within the kingdom’s system, the major kingdoms were the preferred partners for various cults and organizations.
The Black Tongue Brothers working with the Grand Duchy of Curland were this way, and so was The Skinners’ Church, which maintained collaboration with the Kingdom of Castile.
Looking at the man who had likely already tipped off Castilia, Byron’s expression chilled.
The ’Fairy’ Rigel, impersonating the family of a quartermaster, is progressing smoothly with her promotion ceremony. At most, she has three weeks left to ascend to a Third Order Grand Wizard. By then, I’ll have a Grand Wizard under my command, as well as a complete forbidden book containing the Bloodline Codex: the ’Thousand Faces Rites.’ Add to this a series of medical knowledge that transcends eras: ’Human Anatomy,’ ’Histology,’ ’Embryology,’ ’Physiology,’ ’Biochemistry,’ ’Microorganisms and Microbiology’... Is my intellectual property enough for a technical investment? For a hidden cult that currently lacks a Fourth Order Mythical Creature, is this contribution sufficient to earn me the status of a major shareholder? You surgeons from the hospital sequence who have violated the ’Hippocratic Oath’ will, sooner or later, have to call me... Dean.
In fact, he had prepared corresponding intellectual property for every organization he was currently investing in, but for most, it just wasn’t time to bring them out.
The next moment, Byron no longer paid him any mind.
Mr. Crow Naerm suddenly blew mightily on a ghastly white ox-horn trumpet in his hands.
Then the temperature in this already torrentially rainy sea area plummeted; every breath exhaled white frosty mist, making many shiver uncontrollably.
The schools of fish near the ocean floor, as if sensing impending doom, fled frantically in all directions.
First, a large cluster of cold fog spilled from the void. A ghastly greenish Whale Oil Lamp gradually surfaced, followed by a pitch-black bowsprit, figurehead, and tattered black sails...
A horrifying ghost ship emerged from the fog.
To be more precise, it was the flagship of the Fourth Order Double-faced Person Smith Robert of the Graveyard Sequence—The Black Coffin!