Chapter 141
Chapter 141. Mythic Rank Seaborn
Lucian was feeling depressed, sensing that responsibility for this incident lay with him.
If he had dealt with it more decisively, if he had prepared more thoroughly and prevented it in advance, he might have been able to resolve the root of all these problems.
Yul did not comfort him. Lucian could overcome it on his own.
Instead, Yul continued to present him with the next objective.
“So, what do you plan to do now?”
“First, we’ll have to pass through the area where your main body is sleeping.”
“And what needs to be done?”
“We need to fill the vacancies among the crew. The first mate has died, so we’ll promote Cowin and Coren by one rank each, and leave the third mate position vacant for now…….”
“You can’t immediately replace the sailors who died.”
“Yes. Not until we reach our next destination, the Island of Boundaries.”
The Island of Boundaries, said to be owned by Yul, lay within the Golden Sea Route. However, to get there, they first had to pass the destination where Yul’s main body was sealed.
“There shouldn’t be any particular problems on the way.”
“Yul, you’ve gone back and forth to the place where your main body is sealed many times, right?”
“Yes.”
There were times when important items had simply been left lying beside the main body.
It was merely a state where the main body’s senses were blocked and put to sleep, but it was still continuously connected even now.
“Other than the presence of a temple-like structure on the seabed, there’s nothing specific to identify on the surface.”
It was an empty space roughly in the middle of the Great Azure Ocean, with no islands and no particular race passing through.
“Then there shouldn’t be any major issues.”
A few days later.
The inside of the ship was quickly put back in order. The gold, the root of the problem, was taken away by Yul.
Yul decided to move the entire sea serpent’s boat that contained the gold and headed to Frangia.
The island where the Sun King and Yul had once met in secret had disappeared after the Heaven and Earth Resonance, so if Yul wanted to meet Lui, he had to fly all the way to the royal castle.
North of the royal castle was a wide, empty drill ground where Yul could land at any time.
This place had originally been used by the Sun King to train soldiers, but in Lui’s reign, it was being used as Yul’s private landing ground.
“Yul! It’s been a long time.”
“Yo.”
Unlike before, Lui had grown a long beard. Perhaps he had gained some experience and gravitas; his presence felt heavier, and his overall atmosphere had changed.
Whenever he heard that Yul had appeared, he came out immediately.
“Aren’t you busy?”
“What is there to be busy with? Hahaha.”
This guy… it feels like even his manner of speaking has changed.
“What a truly beautiful ship. Is this another one of your accomplishments?”
“It was just floating around on the sea. But your way of speaking has changed a bit.”
“A king must have a king’s way of speaking. Hohoho. A golden ship, you say, does it come with an interesting story?”
Yul shook his head. There was no need to tell Lui all the secrets.
“You can think of it as something I picked up in the middle of the open sea. There wasn’t a single crew member on board. Inside were gold ornaments, and I thought it would be dangerous to keep them on the ship for long, so I came to dispose of them myself.”
“Oh? Come here.”
Lui summoned his attendants and had them call a craftsman knowledgeable in goldwork.
“Th-this is a style of gold craftsmanship I’ve never seen before. It’s unique and archaic. Is this an object from the East?”
After sending the questioning craftsman away, Lui asked Yul,
“Are you planning to dispose of this gold as well?”
“Yes.”
“I’d like to buy a few pieces myself.”
He admired the gold ornaments loaded on the ship.
“I’d like to call Hugh Retel to handle the processing. Would that be all right?”
“Of course. Ah, about your territory, there was a bit of trouble.”
“……?”
Yul’s territory, Provence, was nominally his, but he had delegated it to Hugh Retel long ago. And communication from that side was handled once a year.
Yul had been too busy to even look into it, so this was the first he’d heard of it from Lui.
“What kind of trouble?”
“A revivalist knight gathering for Eastern Reconstruction, commonly called the Eastern Reconstruction Knights, popped up.”
“Ha……?”
Yul had been ignorant of the continent’s internal affairs for a long time, and now he wanted to hear more of what Lui had to say.
“What are you talking about? Don’t tell me the East is still a mess?”
“Of course it is. There’s no absolute powerhouse. It may one day be called an age of warring states.”
Lui spoke as if it were someone else’s problem. In reality, several small states lay between Frangia and the Empire’s territory like a buffer zone, so for them it truly was someone else’s problem.
“So some riffraff trying to get a position in the Empire showed up in my territory?”
“They’re constantly in need of new blood due to continuous fighting.”
“Then why don’t other countries invade?”
If things were that chaotic, wouldn’t higher-tier foreign powers be able to invade without much difficulty? Lui answered Yul’s question.
“First, it’s a matter of scale. Even split apart, the Empire’s territory is enormous. Each fragmented state has capabilities comparable to our three coastal nations.”
“Huh.”
The three coastal nations were weaker than the Empire, but still formidable powers.
“Second, we have no particular interest. When there’s an empty ocean, why would we bother advancing east?”
“That’s true.”
There was no choice but to agree. Even now, the development of unknown islands was proceeding steadily.
Yul asked again.
“Then what about those knight order guys?”
“They’ve already advanced east. According to rumors, they said they were heading to become a knightly state, but I don’t know the details. I wasn’t interested.”
In any case, since the trouble had been resolved, Yul forgot about it from his memory. It was a problem of the former Empire.
“Anyway, got it. Let me know if anything else comes up.”
“For some reason, I have a feeling there may come a time when you’ll need to come onto land.”
“For now, I’m not sure.”
Once the work at sea was done, there might be a reason to come onto land.
After finishing his conversation with Lui, Yul returned to the Strellock.
And there, he discovered a massive undersea temple rising up.
‘What is this now?’
It was an undersea temple placed above Yul’s main body.
And the Strellock was anchored in front of the rising undersea temple.
“What is this?”
“Ah. You’re here, Yul. I don’t know either. When we got close, the temple rose up from the seabed. I can’t tell you how surprised I was.”
Lucian and the crew had gone down to the wide open space in front of the temple to briefly enjoy a taste of land.
“Shouldn’t we explore the temple?”
“……Might as well.”
It felt strange that the undersea temple had risen right as Lucian passed by.
“Do you have a rough idea of the structure?”
“No. I’ve never been inside, so I don’t know.”
Ultrasonic waves weren’t all-purpose; they sometimes vanished after colliding with walls here and there.
In the first place, Yul hadn’t drilled up through the temple. When Yorum came to meet Yul, a passage had been made by firing a UV Thermal Gun into a fissure in the seabed, and he had gone in and out through that.
So, in effect, he knew nothing at all about the structure of this temple.
“Exploring the temple, huh…….”
“Second Mate Coren.”
“Yes, Captain!”
“You’ll stay here with the boatswain and guard the ship together with the crew. If there’s anything to report, send sailors at regular intervals to inform us.”
“Understood!”
Although there had been a mutiny among the navigators, Lucian treated it as if it had never happened.
In truth, if not for the sea serpent’s magic that created paranoid delusions, none of them would have even thought of rebelling.
“Let’s go in, Cowin.”
“Yes.”
Though the person accompanying him had changed, Lucian didn’t mind and stepped inside first.
Yul followed behind Lucian and read the sign written at the temple entrance.
“It says, ‘Below lies a legendary being who rules the Sky and the Deep Sea.’”
“Pardon? Does that mean you, Yul?”
“Yes.”
Yul clicked his tongue. Looking at the rules and settings created by the Aeons, it really felt as if someone had artificially designed everything.
‘There’s definitely a designer who planned all of this.’
Inside stood a massive statue of the Deep King Tribe.
“Oooh…….”
“Isn’t that a statue of Lord Yul?”
A few sailors murmured in admiration.
“But the real Yul is right here?”
“That’s right. It’s me, isn’t it?”
It was clearly a model made to resemble Yul in reduced form. Beneath the statue was a plaque with writing on it, but no one could read the characters.
“It looks like archaic script.”
At Cowin’s words, Yul interpreted it and whispered the meaning only to Lucian.
“To establish communion with a mythic being, one must pass several trials.”
Lucian suddenly spoke as if he had realized something.
“So this was the place where you could meet a Mythic Rank Seaborn.”
Common – Rare – Elite – Heroic – Unique – Legendary – Mythic – Transcendent.
Among the Seaborn ranks defined in that order, perhaps passing through undersea temples like this was the basic requirement to encounter a Mythic Rank creature.
“Then are there places like this elsewhere, besides Yul’s temple?”
“If it’s another Mythic Rank creature, then yes. I don’t know where they are, but I’m certain they exist.”
Yul could answer Lucian’s question with certainty because his quest list included information about defeating other Mythic Rank creatures and becoming the strongest.
-Defeat every Mythic rank creature in existence other than yourself and ascend to the position of the absolute strongest.
At the time, he had simply thought of Abysarion or Kaidron in the Deep Sea, but now that he knew Deep Sea creatures lacked gems on their foreheads and did not follow the Aeons’ rules, Kaidron and Abysarion were excluded.
Excluding them, there existed somewhere in Phantaratsa a Mythic Rank creature with power similar to Yul’s.
“Most likely, if someone else like me discovers a temple, it’ll awaken.”
“Really? Then does that mean that Mythic Rank creatures other than you could awaken before a thousand years have passed?”
“Probably?”
“That’s troubling.”
“I think so too.”
If other creatures besides Yul were sealed in this manner, then explorers from the three coastal nations, who were currently conducting indiscriminate exploration, might discover those Mythic Rank creatures.
And if they passed the trials and formed a contract with a Mythic Rank Seaborn, the seal would be broken.
“Huh? Wait, let’s read what the conditions for lifting the seal are. Before that, pull Cowin and the sailors back.”
“Understood.”
Reading Lucian’s cue, the subordinates stepped back. There were sensitive matters involved.
Thinking that his main body might awaken at any moment, Yul read the next inscription and clicked his tongue.
“1. Destroy twenty ships with a single ship. 2. Use a contracted Seaborn to defeat a Seaborn one rank higher. 3. Defeat a powerhouse of the Deep Sea.”
Only feats that were extremely difficult for humans to achieve were written there.
“Even knowing it, it doesn’t seem like you could overcome the trials.”
“The difficulty is absurd.”
If other seals worked the same way, would it really be possible to unseal them before a thousand years passed?
Lucian read the lines carefully for a while, then said,
“But if a nation intervenes, doesn’t it seem doable?”
“……That’s true.”
Those were feats difficult for individuals, but if there was backing and support, they were entirely achievable.
Even the seemingly most difficult task—defeating a Deep Sea powerhouse—might be possible if a nation poured its strength into it.
“The moment you clear those and contract with a Mythic Rank creature, you’d gain overwhelming national power.”
You’d obtain a Sinker contracted with a monster capable of destroying an entire country.
“……Let’s keep this to ourselves for now.”
“Understood.”
Yul realized that conveying this information to Lui, the King of Frangia, would be extremely dangerous.
‘It can’t be something only Lui knows. But at the same time, it can’t be something only Lui doesn’t know.’
The three coastal nations were currently maintaining a delicate and excellent balance. Britain was slightly ahead, but the other nations also had substantial power and were progressing steadily.
If only one king knew this information, things would spiral out of control.
‘Sorry, Lui, but all three kings need to know at the same time.’
For now, it was best to keep this information firmly in hand.