Chapter 583
Shahin, eyes still wide, finally said, "Ian... Hope?"
It was a name that no one from the slums could fail to know, a legend who had started from the very bottom. Shahin’s gaze turned once more beyond the railing. Of course, only pitch-black waves rolled there now, but in the boy’s eyes, the scene he had just witnessed overlaid itself again with vivid clarity.
It was then that Simon added, "It all makes sense now! The rumors that he had returned alive from beyond the Black Wall were true! Yes..."
A strange fervor had entered his voice.
For this one moment, he seemed to have forgotten he was in the middle of a sea of death. "A long time ago, I heard a story that the Superhuman of the North had kindled a new flame in the Temple of the Brazier."
His gaze swept over the deck, past the fading sacred fire to Lucia’s back as she prayed. "What made that tale spread was the rumor that the Superhuman of the North vanished beyond the Black Wall with that very flame. All the gossip... it was all true. And on top of that—"
A scream tore through the air from the back of the ship. Simon’s eyes widened, and he charged forward, still holding Shahin in his arms. He slid to a stop and whipped around, looking up at the raised aft deck.
Shahin, looking up as well, felt his eyes widen.
The giant sea serpent was collapsing, its severed head falling with it. However, Ian was nowhere to be seen. Below it, only a faint, arcing trail of crimson and violet was visible as it dissipated. Simon’s gaze, however, was fixed not on the giant sea serpent but on the stern railing.
"They also said that the Superhuman of the North created the new elder of the fairy clan." His eyes were locked on the profile of the elder fairy as she looked down, her silver hair whipping in the wind. "Even the rumors that the gossips themselves barely believed... they were true."
From behind them, Moro’s growling roar echoed, but Simon was no longer afraid.
Instead, he smiled faintly. "And when I return, there will be yet another unbelievable tale to add."