Chapter 155
Chapter 155. A New Mythic Rank
A nameless island filled with palm trees.
According to the records of the Golden Sea Chart, they were supposed to dock here. It was a good opportunity to relieve the crew’s fatigue, so they anchored at the island.
Lucian decided to explore the island together with a newly recruited Third Mate from Aragon.
No one lived here, but just in case.
“Diego, let’s make a round of the island together.”
“Yes, sir!”
The newly recruited Third Mate, Diego, was a man in his thirties with considerable experience.
He had been on ships since the age of fifteen, but only as a sailor, and had earned money to receive a proper education at a university himself.
Having saved money tenaciously for over a decade to attend the maritime academy founded by the Prince of Aragon, Lucian had decided to hire him for that reason alone.
Well, Coren, who had only recently been promoted from trainee to Second Mate, seemed to be wary of him, but it wasn’t a major conflict.
It was only natural to see a more experienced, older Third Mate as a rival.
Diego pulled out the magic engineering rifle issued to him by Lucian.
The so-called ‘Spark Rifle.’
If a gun is defined as a device that fires bullets using gunpowder, then this did not fit that description.
To be precise, it contained a magic stone engraved with the common magic ‘Spark,’ and upon firing, it projected a high-speed magic bullet formed from another magic stone.
Like a conventional firearm, it had its limitations, but its advantage was that it operated on magic stones rather than chemical substances like gunpowder.
The fact that it didn’t require carrying physical ammunition was an enormous advantage.
With the money he had earned, Lucian had equipped all his subordinates with this weapon.
It was quite expensive, but since the number of crew had been reduced, fully equipping them wasn’t difficult.
His ship was already heavily automated.
Even if all the crew disappeared, it had been modified to the point where it could navigate autonomously.
‘Since the only thing I can do on the ship is design magic engineering.’
After losing his First Mate, Lucian had steeled himself and devoted himself entirely to magic engineering.
A mage could instantly manifest magic to fight enemies. But a magic engineer could not do so without prior preparation.
‘Preparation’ was the most important thing for a magic engineer. It was a lesson learned in blood.
So when he encountered Zer Hyde, the worst pirate in history, at the center of the island, Lucian was ready at any moment.
“Hm?”
“……!?”
Zer Hyde was with his subordinates. Behind him stood bipedal fish-men that looked as if they wore the skin of mantis shrimp.
“Enemy……!”
Diego shouted as he raised his rifle and aimed at them.
The mantis shrimp fish-man lowered its stance, raising its massive carapace fist, ready to charge at any moment.
Lucian calmly observed them. He had yet to give the order to attack. The same was true for Zer Hyde.
With neither leader giving the command, both sides grew uneasy and glanced at their captains.
“What should we do?”
“Stop and look around.”
At Diego’s question, Lucian gestured toward their surroundings.
Diego had studied to become a navigator. And becoming a navigator meant gaining knowledge of magic.
That education included herbalism—knowledge of magical plants.
“……Pum-Pum Bail!”
“Exactly. This place is filled with Pum-Pum Bail.”
Pum-Pum Bail was a magical herb that exploded upon contact. It was usually used as a reagent for explosion magic or in alchemy due to its fiery properties.
And it was growing abundantly all around them on this island.
If even a spark ignited here, it would explode like a powder keg, blowing everything away.
‘Then with swords……!’
Diego lowered his rifle and drew his sword, but stopped when Lucian did not attack.
A long silence followed, and in the meantime, a light drizzle began to fall from the sky.
Zer Hyde was clearly plotting something on this island. Lucian spoke.
“What are you up to?”
“I have no obligation to tell you. Judging by the look of it, you weren’t lying in wait here to kill me either. Shall we just go our separate ways?”
Zer Hyde, who had once suffered serious injuries, now appeared perfectly fine.
“When a pirate appears, you cut off their head. Isn’t that common sense?”
“I can blow up all this Pum-Pum Bail with a single snap. You might be fine with that transparent magic armor of yours, but what about your subordinate?”
“Yours will die too.”
“Fish-men can be replaced.”
At that, Diego looked toward Lucian. Around him, raindrops seemed to scatter sideways, as if avoiding him.
And whenever the rain fell, the outline of Lucian’s transparent armor became visible.
‘So that’s the captain’s magic armor the crew talked about?’
Because of its extraordinary outline, Diego only then realized that Lucian had been wearing armor all along.
To confirm whether Zer Hyde’s words were true, Lucian gestured for Diego to step back.
Carefully, Diego retreated beyond the range of the Pum-Pum Bail.
Seeing that, Zer Hyde also slowly stepped back, apparently having no intention of fighting Lucian.
“Once we leave this place, I won’t hold back.”
“Heheheh. You seem to trust that massive Deep King Tribe creature, your Seaborn. But the next time we meet, you’ll have to stake your life. Pray that you don’t run into me again.”
Leaving behind those meaningful words, he retreated and disappeared into the mist.
With sharp eyes, Lucian noticed the peculiar herb Zer Hyde had been holding at the very end.
It was a herb of a different color than Pum-Pum Bail, but since it was clenched in his hand, he couldn’t tell exactly what it was.
‘Was that his objective?’
After returning to the ship, Lucian tried to track the Black Priest—but the drizzle and the mist had already vanished.
With an uneasy feeling lingering, Lucian set course for the next point along the Golden Sea Chart. He had already progressed quite far. The end was not far off.
* * *
Emerging from the black fog, Blind, the ship of Zer Hyde tore through space and arrived at a vast, nameless ocean.
As the Black Priest’s ship, which had navigated precisely to this unnamed expanse, approached, a colossal temple suddenly rose from the empty horizon.
The massive temple bore a design that did not seem human, adorned with grotesque and horrifying ornaments.
They resembled the internal organs of living creatures.
A manifestation of the nature of the being buried beneath this temple.
“At last, the third quest is complete.”
At the end of a chain of causality, he had overcome countless hardships and achieved the final quest. He was likely the first to awaken a Mythic rank being.
-Well done…….
At that moment, the existence buried far below conveyed its thoughts. Zer Hyde felt his entire body tremble from the overwhelming power it possessed.
‘This power is absurd……. It’s like a god. Is this a Mythic rank, Seaborn?’
-How amusing. Is a child of the Deep Sea attempting to awaken and contract with me, the Executioner of the Moon?
“That’s right! My body is still that of a human!”
-Hohoho. For now, yes. Ordinarily, a child of the Deep Sea would not qualify for a contract with me. However, a contract with a human, especially a Sinker, cannot be refused if the conditions are met.
The words of the mythic being resounded thunderously, burrowing deep into him.
-I do not know what you intend, child of the Deep Sea, human child, but until my amusement fades, I shall lend you my aid.
Rumbleeeee—
The overwhelming being opened its eyes beneath the temple. The colossal structure that had restrained it began to collapse slowly.
On Zer Hyde’s face, joy and terror coexisted. He had achieved a great feat.
“With this... I can finally meet them.”
Now, he had gained the power to crush everything that stood in his way.
He would finally be able to reach that place.
* * *
Yul was examining the 【Faith】 window.
What he was looking at was the Faith count, now exceeding 20,000.
With that, he could either create two Authorities or appoint two Apostles. Or mix the two.
“What should I do?”
After some deliberation, he decided to unlock one Authority and appoint one Apostle.
As for the Authority, there was no need to hesitate.
“Create 「Divine Power」.”
[Divine Power has been created in the Authority window.]
[Divine Power cannot be measured with exact values, so it will be displayed as an indeterminate value.]
[Current Divine Power Rank: E.]
[From now on, Divine Power will manifest in some of your believers.]
[Divine Power takes on a nature similar to that of a god. It gains the attributes of Serenity, Caprice, and Wrath. Through this, it gains healing, randomness, and offensive properties.]
[You can consume 100,000,000 Karma to raise the Divine Power rank from E to D.]
‘Oh. So this is the power of Divine Power.’
Yul activated Divine Power in midair. A radiant light shimmered in his hand.
It truly felt like he had obtained the power of a god. This Divine Power would become the stepping stone to gaining limitless strength in the future.
But the problem was that Yul’s maximum karma was 10 million.
To raise Divine Power, it required ten times that—100 million.
‘How am I supposed to gather 100 million?’
Something felt like it was on the tip of his mind, but he decided to handle something else first—the Apostle appointment.
He had already chosen the perfect candidate for the role.
“Sonam Rinpoche.”
“Yes, Lord Yul. I have answered your call.”
Sonam Rinpoche, who had been waiting outside, entered. There was no longer any doubt or selfishness in his eyes.
After witnessing the manifested god of the present world, he had become a devout believer—now more faithful to Yul than anyone else.
Seeing how he had taken the initiative in spreading Yul’s teachings, Yul decided to appoint him as his Apostle.
“I will now appoint you as an Apostle.”
"An... an Apostle……! I am honored!”
His body trembled. The god himself had declared that he would appoint him as an Apostle.
All the hardships he had endured flashed through his mind. Managing the Rainini Archipelago was easy.
But when he observed Yul’s actions and intentions and was tasked with establishing the Wave Church, he had struggled greatly.
Yul had not created separate guidelines and only showed them through his actions, so it was not yet known whether the Doctrine and religion Sonam created would be to his liking.
But now, being appointed as an Apostle meant that everything he had done was not wrong and that it had pleased him.
Overwhelmed with emotion, Sonam could not stop trembling.
There were no longer any traitors of the Sea Succession Church. Here stood only a prophet who had received power from the almighty head of the Wave Religion.
He knelt and bowed his head before Yul.
“I hereby appoint you as an Apostle here and now.”
Yul’s outstretched hand touched Sonam Rinpoche.
At that moment, immense power began to flow into him. Yul observed the process.
[Using 10,000 Faith Points, Sonam Rinpoche is appointed as an 【Apostle】.]
[Sonam Rinpoche has been reborn as an Apostle. His ability to spread the faith increases.]
[A blessing is bestowed upon Sonam Rinpoche. He gains the blessing of eternal youth and longevity, increasing his lifespan by 50 years.]
[Bestowing powerful Divine Power upon Sonam Rinpoche. As Yul's Divine Power rank grows stronger, his Divine Power will also increase.]
[He can now use divine magic that his master has registered.]
[An Apostle is akin to the limbs of a god. No matter the distance, or even across dimensions, commands can be delivered to Sonam Rinpoche at any time in the form of revelations through dreams.]
[All actions of Sonam Rinpoche are converted into Karma and delivered to his master, Yul.]