Chapter 325 (2/2)

Using all her power, Ashes single-handed pulled on her end of the rope. The moment Shavi fell on the deck, a huge sea monster came roaring out of the water, causing waves which made the Charming Beauty sway heavily. The monster looked like a mixture between a shark and an octopus, with a triangular head which was covered with several tentacles, all of which shot straight toward the deck.

Even without hearing its cry it became clear that the unfathomable impact has made it incomparably angry, as it let its adult thigh sized tentacles rain down onto the ship, trying to break everything apart, but even from the beginning up until the end it had no way to penetrate Shavi’s defense.

“Andrea!” Ashes bent down, entwined her fingers and formed a step with her hands.

“Coming,” the latter set a foot onto Ashes’ palms and shouted, “Give me everything you’ve got!”

Thrown by extraordinary power into the air, Andrea turned into an arc and within the blink of an eye, she had already appeared above the monster’s head.

She summoned her magical longbow, pulling the string to its fullest, unexpectedly there were flashes of light breaking out between the bow and its string. Rather than flashes of light, it seemed as if the sun had actually come out from behind the clouds, reflecting across the sea’s surface in a golden luster.

“Go!”

The light flashed, and with an ear-piercing cry an arrow, made purely out of magic, it drilled right into the monster body like a strike of thunder. The monster’s gray-brown skin suddenly swelled, and golden cracks appeared all over its body, before finally, with a loud explosion, it shattered.

The huge explosion created ripples across the surface of the sea. Its blood, which was as black as ink, dyed the sea a pitch-black, while viscera came falling from the sky like rain. The previously attacking tentacles all curled up and sunk back into the sea together with pieces of the monster’s blown up head.

Andrea crashed into the sea.

“Ah… Help, help I can’t swim! Guru, who… who’s going to pull me out?!”

Ashes glanced toward the seemingly tired Shiva before she helplessly sighed. “She is indeed only a handsome fool,” she said then unhooked the sword on her back and jumped into the sea to swim to Andrea’s side.

As the threat of a sunken ship was lifted, Tilly finally felt some relief. At least she no longer had to worry how they were going to travel on their own to Border Town.

But just at that moment, she suddenly felt something cold on her nose, raising her head, she could not help but freeze on the spot.

She could see snowflakes falling from the gray sky, flying around like white fairies, filling her entire field of view.

“This… is snow?” Tilly asked in disbelief as she looked at the melted water on top of her hand, “Graycastle has snow during autumn?”

“Well, it’s like I said. The further West we go, the colder it becomes,” One Eyed Jack said as he pulled out his pipe, “It seems you are really returning toward an abyss of suffering.”

Tilly was unable to answer, only showing a dignified look. Breeze had originally come from the Kingdom of Dawn, which had a favorable climate throughout the year, while Jack was born within the Fjords, where even during the strongest winter it was difficult for them to see heavy snowfall. But for Graycastle’s Western Region, snow had a special meaning.

Her court tutor had once said, that once the snow began to fall it wouldn’t stop for a long time. Just like the Devil’s fanfare it symbolized the beginning of the Months of Demons and would only settle after the Months of Demon had come to its end.

Although the beginning of the Months of Demons isn’t at a fixed date, generally it won’t start before the beginning of winter, can it be that Border Town is already under the attack of demonic beasts? Moreover, those Sea Ghost would usually only appear East of the Burning Fire Island, but right now there are even traces of them at the most southern corner of the Vortex Sea. I wonder if those merchant ships sailing between the Fjords and the Four Kingdoms are also under attack from these monsters.

Tilly was starting to feel more and more worried.

Navigating through the whirling snow for two more days, they finally saw the hazy coastline on top of the horizon.