Chapter 186: To the Elven sacred ground (3)
A small wooden boat drifted gently on the ocean near the shore. A young man sat atop it, fishing rod in hand, looking perfectly relaxed. Even as creatures from the Demon Realm emerged into the world, as demons descended upon the land, and chaos spread everywhere, none of it seemed to matter to this young man in a sleepy rural village. His greatest concern was whether or not he’d catch a fish for dinner.
His parents, and their parents before them, had lived their entire lives here. He believed, without a doubt, that he and his own children would do the same—growing old and dying in this peaceful place. With a lazy flick, he cast his fishing line again.
Just then, the sea began to ripple. At first, he thought it was just a random wave and ignored it, but the disturbance grew stronger. Narrowing his eyes, he peered out across the water.
“Huh?”
The sea split open. Something enormous was coming toward him, parting the water as it advanced.
“What the—?!”
The boy wondered if it was a sea monster. Panicked, the young man started paddling away as fast as he could. But the parted sea surged up to his very boat in the blink of an eye. With a tremendous roar, water exploded skyward.
“Aaaah!” The young man screamed, clutching the sides of his wildly rocking boat as waves crashed over him.
Eventually, the sea calmed. Cautiously, the young man opened his eyes.
“What in the world...”
A barbarian floated, half-submerged, just in front of his boat, gazing right at him.
Frantically, the young man looked around for help. There was no one—only the barbarian, looming over him.