Chapter 166
whoosh—
A tremendous wave surged in all directions. An island was truly rising from beneath the sea.
None of us could dismount from the divine beasts, only able to stare down below. We were all confused or bewildered—only the divine beasts seemed to act nonchalant, as if unconcerned.
It was a coral island.
The area of the emerging island kept growing. It had risen about a meter above the water's surface and was still coming up.
"It's not an island!"
"If it's not an island, then what is it?"
"It's moving!"
I hadn't realized it at first due to the rising tremor and the crashing waves, but the island was gradually moving westward. The water currents pushed outward and spread side to side.
The area of the risen island was quite large. There was a slight incline, but that wasn't all of it. Only a portion of it had surfaced.
Then it happened.
Something pitch black began to slowly rise from in front of us as we advanced. Water poured down tremendously.
Everyone looked, wondering what it could be.
That black thing swerved—swish—turning in our direction. The moment it did, everyone was shocked.
Enormous eyes!
A gigantic eyeball was looking at us.
Almost as if greeting us.
"It's Aindel's divine beast!"
"This is a divine beast?"
"It's a turtle! A turtle!"
I couldn't believe it.
I had heard the turtle divine beast was even bigger than the eagle chieftain divine beast, but I never expected it to be this massive.
I couldn't tell its total size, but even the portion above the water was larger than five soccer fields. The huge eye we just saw was the turtle's head.
As if meeting the lion divine beast by surprise wasn't enough, now we'd unexpectedly encountered Aindel's divine beast as well. I didn't know what kind of rapport the divine beasts shared.
"It's still going west!"
"Let it be. It must have a reason."
"What if it takes us all the way to Aindel?"
"Anyone who doesn't want to go?"
I glanced at the group.
Except for the Tuji brothers, Eilin, and Yuri, everyone else was smiling. Well, if we're moving, we might as well go all the way to Aindel.
"If we ride this turtle, we could go straight to the western empire. Once we get to Aindel, let's take a break for a while."
"Yes!"
The journey might end up even longer. We could get captured by the Elin, or maybe not make it home for another year. Yet if it meant reaching Aindel, it was worth the risk.
No human could reach Aindel by ship. All the sea zones had barriers. However, if the turtle divine beast took us, it meant the barrier didn't matter.
Standing atop the giant turtle's shell, even a storm was no problem. I guessed the storm barrier's elemental would let us pass safely. So, we'd continue.
Everyone dismounted from their divine beasts.
I still didn't understand why the lion divine beasts were coming along.
Nor did I know why the turtle divine beast was doing this.
"Whose divine beast do you think the turtle is?"
"Well. It should be either Elin or Gadisil."
"The remaining divine beasts are the horse, the deer, and the bull."
"The horse is Aindel's. The deer is for Arshaire, in the southern hemisphere. The bull was Tern's, in the east."
Eilin chimed in as well.
"I think Elin's is the horse, and Gadisil is the turtle. I just have a feeling."
"That seems right. Elin riding the divine beast horse would look amazing."
Donnie said with a laugh.
"So, humans get the bull, and Tak gets the deer? I can't really picture a Tak warrior on a deer."
"It does seem off, doesn't it?"
The group chuckled at the idea.
Imagining the burly Tak warrior riding a spotted deer was hilarious. A bull would suit them much better.
The giant turtle continued west.
I had no idea how far away Aindel was, or what the continent's shape was at all. Even in my previous life, I'd never been there.
Currently, we were in the northern hemisphere, fairly far from the equator. I figured our latitude was somewhere between the empire and Tern. Why were the divine beasts taking us to Aindel?
Maybe Elin had called us.
They were beings who could commune with elementals, after all.
Or perhaps, it was the will of As, the divine tree.
/ / /
Two days passed.
Nothing was wrong, except that I was so hungry and thirsty I was about to go mad.
Judging by the turtle's speed, we'd traveled a distance that would have taken over ten days by ship. There'd been no storms or veils of light. I had no idea where we were.
"Young lord. Do you see something white over there?"
"Isn't it just fog?"
"Yes. But doesn't fog mean there's an island or a continent?"
"Maybe, maybe not."
Everyone packed up their things and looked west.
A long white band stretched across the horizon. If that was fog, it was hard to believe it was a natural phenomenon.
The turtle's size made it seem slow, but it was actually very fast. While a ship would take over six hours to reach that fog, the turtle soon entered the fog zone.
The turtle began to slow, leisurely making its way through the misty waters. Everything was quiet. It felt like we were entering a ghost sea zone. I wondered if it could really be this still.
We traveled through the fog for quite a while.
After some time, golden shapes shimmered beyond the mist.
Everyone tensed and looked ahead.
They were ships. But apparently, even they were startled by the sight of the super-giant turtle, and scattered hastily to the sides.
Bwooooo—
The ships signaled with trumpets as they veered sharply away from the turtle's sides.
I looked at the ships passing by the left.
Every ship shimmered golden. The bows and sterns rose to sharp points, with a single large sail and numerous oars.
Along the railings, people clad in golden armor aimed bows. Their helmets, like Leo's, were pointed at the crown.
They were Elin.
Unlike the warrior Amir, all of them were tall and slender. Each warrior's armor sparkled gold.
It was the first time any of us had seen native Elin.
They must have had different personalities from Bellen and Lok, or the southern Elin who lived as slaves under Tak.
Once six ships had passed, they turned and began to follow us. They remained alert but didn't try to bar or attack us. I guessed this was a first for them.
Was there that much gold in Aindel?
The ships looked gilded, and even the armor of ordinary soldiers was entirely gold. Even the bows shone like gold.
But the Elin ships couldn't keep up with the turtle and fell further behind. Meanwhile, the turtle emerged from the fog zone. We all looked west.
"Wow..."
A gasp of awe escaped.
Far ahead, we could see buildings entirely bathed in gold. There was even a huge golden castle on the mountainside.
Its scale was enormous.
It was like a forest of ultra-high skyscrapers, standing tall. I hadn't expected Elin to have advanced this far.
"Elin must all be rich!"
"They must have a different civilization from ours."
I didn't know what kind of culture or civilization Elin had. I thought they would form their own unique communal society. A society where there was no individual desire or ownership, and everyone was happy.
If there was a reason why Elin were never tainted by evil, it must be the same reason they cast aside their own without mercy. They had little greed and lacked human emotions.
Bwooooo—
A deep echo resounded from the distant continent.
Seemed like we'd triggered a state of emergency.
I prepared for various possibilities.
In case of arrest. In case of a fight. In case they tried to confine the divine beasts. In case of misunderstandings, and so on.
I was bracing myself, when—
The chieftain divine beast sat before me. The turtle seemed unable to approach the land directly, so we'd likely have to cross over the sea ourselves.
"Everyone, mount the divine beasts!"
All of us climbed onto the backs of the divine beasts.
Even the dark knights.
It seemed the divine beasts intended to go somewhere immediately, regardless of whether Elin attacked us. Which meant Elin had not summoned the divine beasts.
As soon as we were mounted, the divine beasts began to run again. All at once, they headed toward the back of the turtle, circled around, and then dashed forward.
They were using the turtle's back as a runway to gain speed. After a full sprint, they leapt powerfully from the turtle's shoulder.
whoosh—
The sight of the divine beasts leaping into the sea from the turtle's back was spectacular. They skated across the surface like-nimble swallows, an awe-inspiring sight.
Their great wings spread wide, undulating up and down. They soared toward land, their feet only helping as a flutter—the divine beasts were truly flying.
The divine beasts veered toward the shore, not the city. Both the port and the shores teemed with countless troops.
"If Elin attack, do not retaliate!"
"Understood!"
Bwooooo—
Elin's troops lined along the shore leveled their long spears all at once. Behind them were archers.
The divine beasts finally touched land. There was no time to admire Elin's land— the divine beasts charged straight at the phalanx.
Confusion was plain on the Elin's faces. Humans riding divine beasts had appeared out of nowhere. Even if the Elin ignored the humans, they didn't dare attack the divine beasts rashly.
The divine beasts sprinted up to the soldiers with spears, kicked off the ground, and leaped. It was tremendous. In a single bound, they vaulted over the Elin frontlines.
Landing, then leaping again, the divine beasts even cleared the archers in one go. All two hundred or so divine beasts leapt over Elin like that.
Then the divine beasts raced up toward the castle on the mountainside. Only then did everyone finally notice their surroundings, to their amazement. This place was nothing like human lands.
There were flower gardens everywhere. Elemental lights flitted about ceaselessly, and the buildings were fused with trees and vines. The ordinary Elin house was a living tree itself.
"Are we going to the castle?"
"It's not a castle! Look there!"
Hans pointed to a huge forest by the castle. From out at sea, masked by mist, it had looked like a mountain. But it wasn't a mountain or a forest—it was a tree.
An unbelievably massive tree.
The divine tree 'As' in Hairopro looked like a younger sibling compared to that immense tree.
At that moment—
As if welcoming us, countless lights poured out of the gigantic tree.
It was then that our own elementals began to respond. How could this many elementals exist? The number of elemental lights must have been in the tens of millions.
Those countless elemental lights seemed to form a bridge of light. The divine beasts began running up the elemental bridge.
Everyone gazed down in wonder, half in a trance.
The Elin soldiers who had been chasing us looked up in stunned confusion. It was as if they couldn't believe what was happening.
The bridge of light led straight beneath the tree. The massive tree was inside towering fortress walls, unreachable by any but those who could fly.
We passed right over Elin villages and golden cities, entering straight into the fortress beyond the wall. The Elin forces hurriedly scrambled inside after us.
Frrrrr—
Finally, the divine beasts' feet touched the ground and began to slow. The place we'd come to was a lake glittering with scattered light.
It was truly mystical.
The ground was blanketed in strange flowers, and elemental lights floated, swirling about like pollen.
To the left, a great waterfall poured from the direction of the castle into the lake where we now stood. In the center of the lake was the immense divine tree.
We all dismounted the divine beasts.
Then, we beheld the tree.
It was indeed the divine tree.
So majestic, so sacred, it inspired reverence and awe—a tree filled with a holy presence.
While we were entranced by the tree—
The Elin army surrounded us, forming ranks. Tens of thousands had gathered. Was this the Elin capital?
Someone wearing dazzling white armor approached.
An incredibly handsome Elin.
So handsome, even Eilin's eyes widened.
The striking Elin glanced over us.
His green eyes were full of questions.
As if asking, why on earth have you come?
—Did Us call you?
It was in Elin's language.
It was immediately interpreted through the elementals.
"The divine beasts brought us."
—Divine beasts? Are those divine beasts?
"Yes. We had no reason to come here."
The man looked at the divine beasts.
It must have been his first time seeing them.
He also glanced at the dark knights.
—If Us called you, I shall accept that. But, why are you with the beings of darkness?
Everyone turned to look at the dark knights.
Apparently these words were audible to all, not just me.
"They are not beings of darkness."
—If not ghosts, what are the dead?
"They are neither living nor dead."
—You possess divinity. Yet you bear darkness as well. How do you account for this?
The group exchanged puzzled glances.
We possessed darkness?
Was it because we passed through the Forest of Death?
"We have darkness? What do you mean?"
—You hold a divine darkness. Astonishingly, you also hold the divinity of light. It is difficult to comprehend.
—That is not the power of darkness.
Everyone turned toward the direction of the voice.
A beautiful woman was approaching.
A woman crowned with a floral crown.
As she appeared, the Elin soldiers lowered their stances. The white-armored man knelt on one knee. The woman with the floral crown smiled faintly.
—Welcome. I am the queen of Elin.
We all paid our respects.
Even when meeting a human king, respect was due.
It seemed we had reached the capital of the Elin.
Yet, I never imagined the queen herself would appear.
Just who, and why, had summoned us here?