Chapter 634 - A Brush with Death (2/2)

That was way too close. Link figured that even a divine master would not be able to survive being dragged past the pitfall’s event horizon.

This was not an exaggeration.

Link had read something of the sort in other magic books. For example, the Dragon magic book had made mention of the dangers of traveling in the Void a couple of times. The Soul Dominator had also given detailed accounts of his trips into the Sea of Void in the Book of Revelation. In them, he had mentioned how dangerous negative energy pitfalls could be, though not in as much detail as Link would have liked.

A Level-13 Legendary master like Link would be akin to a toddler who had only just learned how to walk in the perilous wasteland that was the Sea of Void. One wrong move would have sent him hurtling to his doom. On the other hand, a divine master could be likened to a grown-up, being much wiser and more powerful than a Level-13 master. However, they would still be no more impervious to the wasteland’s dangers than the latter.

Once he was free from the negative energy pitfall’s pull, Link was able to regain his composure. After resting for a bit, he continued flying forward. He made his way through the Void slowly and cautiously, giving himself time to restore his full power.

After flying for a length of time, Link’s surroundings began to change somewhat. The faint Void mist around him thinned considerably, increasing his visibility. Suddenly, a cloud-like object appeared in front of him.

The thick, seemingly endless layers of cloud seemed to be emanating a dark green light. It resembled the nebulas back in his home world.

As Link drew closer, they began to expand until they basically filled up his field of vision.

These must be the Seaweed Clouds that Piasce mentioned, thought Link happily.

After allying himself with Ferde, Piasce had kept nothing back from Link. Not only did he give Link the mysterious gear’s coordinates, but he had also shared with him his experience in the Void, as well as a detailed account of the scenery around the mysterious object.

The cloud before him was one of the landmarks leading up to the mysterious gear. Once he made his way through the labyrinthine layers of cloud, he would be able to reach the mysterious gear at the end of it.

Link began accelerating towards the clouds.

Soon, he was near the Seaweed Clouds. From afar, the dark green clouds looked compact, almost solid. However, up close, Link realized that the clouds were gaseous and impalpable like smoke. Visibility in them was a mere hundred miles.

The massive cloud wall was perforated with passageways, each with excellent visibility. From afar, the passageways seemed narrow, but in reality, each one was 100,000 miles wide.

Link did not enter the maze just yet. He recalled what Piasce had written in his notebook. Piasce mentioned that he found a square-shaped cloud formation somewhere among the clouds. He then passed through the center of it in order to reach his destination. Where could it be?

Piasce had already given Link the coordinates of his destination. He could fly straight towards it if he wanted to. However, this would mean leaving a trail behind him in the Seaweed Clouds. Also, there might be Void creatures lurking in the clouds, and Link thought it best not to draw any attention from them to himself.

His safest option right now would be to retrace Piasce’s route.

After circling around the clouds for a while, Link still could not find the square-shaped cloud formation that Piasce mentioned. As he was about to resume his search, Link saw something flash by behind him from the corner of his eye.

Compared to someone like Piasce, he was still relatively inexperienced in navigating the Sea of Void. He did not see anything resembling life on his way here. The sight of something moving behind him was enough to unnerve him.

With the 360-degree vision afforded to him by his dragon body, he was able to see whatever was behind him without turning around.

Link was soon able to locate the moving object.

It was a black spot. Straining his eyes, Link could see that it was shaped like a disc. It was also giving off a weak light from its surface. As Link stared at it for a moment, a message from the game system popped up in his field of vision, giving him a rundown of the object’s details.

Speed: 8000 miles per second.

Diameter: 400 feet

Estimated power level: Level-17

Current distance: 1,000,000 miles

Judging by its appearance, speed, and energy circulation, the object is man-made and appears to be a Void Ferry of unknown origin.

“Void Ferry?” Link was stunned for a moment. Not knowing whether the object was friend or foe, he turned around and plunged into a nearby Seaweed Cloud.

Each Seaweed Cloud was extremely thick. For instance, the one Link was hiding himself in was 20,000,000 miles thick.

At first, Link was afraid that there might be something lurking in the depths of the cloud and so remained floating near its surface, not daring to venture any deeper into it. However, he sensed that something was wrong.

The object seemed to have noticed him, as it swerved around and headed straight for his hiding spot.

Speed: 13,325 miles per second!

His mind was now screaming at him to get out of there.

The object was tearing straight towards Link. It was as if it had recognized him. The way it hurtled menacingly towards him was more than enough to suggest that the object bore him no goodwill.

Moreover, it was moving at breakneck speed, even faster than the highest speed Link was able to maintain. In no more than two seconds, the object would soon reach Link’s hiding place. The Void Ferry was Level-17, making it a lot stronger than Link, who was only Level-13. Even with his magically immune dragon scales, Link would not be able to survive a head-on collision with it.

Setting aside whatever dangers might be lurking within the depths of the Seaweed Clouds, Link immediately released a burst of Void energy from his wings and dove into the deeper regions of the clouds at 12,000 miles per second.

…

Behind Link, inside the Void Ferry

Nozama said to the Dark Tutor Mysin, who was piloting the Void Ferry, “Did you see that? What was that?”

Mysin shook his head. “I couldn’t see what it was. It dove into the depths of the cloud before I had a good look at it. It’s dangerous to travel into the clouds. Master, should we pursue?

This was not Nozama’s first trip in the Sea of Void. He had a good grasp of the dangers in it. After weighing his options, he said commandingly, “Go after it. It looks really familiar. I’m sure I must have seen it somewhere before!”

Nozama was sure that what he saw was not one of his minions since all of them were no more than his soul puppets. He was also certain that it was an enemy, given how familiar it had seemed to him.

What made Nozama even more suspicious was the fact that the other party had appeared in the vicinity of the mysterious presence. This could only mean that they might be after the same thing as him. It would be remiss of Nozama to let the other party flee without clarifying their intentions.

Upon hearing his master’s command, the Dark Tutor Mysin nodded at his co-pilot Eilot, and the two drove the Void Ferry into the Seaweed Clouds in pursuit of the black dot in front of them.