The ti jumps back by half a day, returning to before the North Sea Empire’s Defensive War began.
All the major powers sent people in to scout, each wanting to claim the interior of [Noah’s Ark] for themselves.
Just like when the first wave of Adventurers had just entered, the sky was high and distant, the clouds hazy and drifting, and an endless expanse of vast prival forest stretched as far as the eye could see.
All kinds of gigantic vegetation that seed to co from the Ancient Era, so strange you couldn’t even na them, filled every inch of space.
In this small World Ecosystem, a thick, restless, almost feverish vitality overflowed at every mont.
Especially when the Adventure Team accidentally climbed to the treetop of a nearby giant tree and looked far into the distance, only to discover a particularly striking red giant tree growing right at the center of the forest.
Its enormous crown was so high, so vast, it seed to be propping up this entire little world by itself.
Red, fleshy leaves grew upon it, along with many large orange fruits that emitted a phosphorescent glow, very much like that orange-red sea outside.
And on the highest fork of its branches hung a hazy figure of condensed light, seemingly a full-figured Human female, shimring with a maternal Radiance.
"A Ship Spirit! That must be the Mythical Warship’s Ship Spirit, charge with !"
With the treasure right before their eyes, visible just by looking up, the vanguard forces of each faction no longer needed to leave markers for their own support teams; exhilarated, they charged toward that giant tree without a mont’s hesitation.
anwhile, those flowers, grasses, and trees, along with Animals and insects, all fused together by the Great Power of the [Mother of Monsters], completely bared their fangs at the intruders.
"Aaahhhhh..."
Forces from all sides had entered the hull through fractures in different sections of the ship’s body, and naturally spread throughout this entire polluted small World Ecosystem.
Piercing screams erupted from every corner of the prival forest all at once.
A gigantic mountain boar, as tall as a three-story building, with a snake’s tail dragging behind its rump and colorful mushrooms growing all over its body, snorted spores from its nostrils, lowered its head, and launched a savage charge.
Its sharp tusks, like the ramming spur of a Warship, flicked a group of Netherland Exploration Team mbers wearing fine Knight armor high into the air with a single blow...
From the marshy ground, countless squid-like tentacles suddenly shot out, instantly dragging an Iris Adventurer who had carelessly made so noise down into the water. What crawled out afterward, however, was no squid, but a fat shark covered head to tail in green moss.
Clutching those Adventurers, it gulped them down one by one, its mouth running with blood...
Sothing was springing rapidly among the treetops. A few Adventurers from the Rhein Alliance had just turned their heads at the sound when their faces were suddenly hugged by creatures that looked like spiders, yet also like so bizarre aquatic insect.
They had barely torn them off with great effort, taken only a couple of steps, before even more terrifying monsters ripped open their chests from the inside, slaughtering the entire team...
There were also many things that looked like plants but were in essence carnivores, turning the entire forest into a hunting ground riddled with lethal traps.
The prival forest was instantly drowned in a reek of blood.
Every drop of blood they acquired, every strand of code, every wisp of Spirituality, traveled along the developed root system ford by this closed biotic community, all the way to that blood-red giant tree at the center.
Making that humanoid cluster of Divine Light upon the tree look more and more like a true Human.
Yet all the Fear experienced by the outsiders could not compare to what one particular lady was going through.
In the rough camp that the first Adventure Team from the Kingdom of Castilia to enter the Ark had set up for a quick rest.
Having just shaken the mud from her army boots and given herself a brief wash, Jeanne Don Quixote was using a banana tree for cover, moving carefully downstream along the river they had co from, barefoot, picking her way across stones.
She did not dare make the slightest sound, for fear of drawing the attention of her companions.
Not for any other reason, but because of the "Sailing Logbook" clutched in her hand with a death grip.
Every Captain or officer had the habit of keeping a "Sailing Logbook", especially when exploring unknown territories.
Taking advantage of their brief mid-journey rest, Jeanne had just reopened the "Sailing Logbook" to jot down what they had seen along the way, when she inadvertently noticed a line in the entries from before they had set sail from the holand:
"In order to support this expedition, Her Majesty the Queen specially dispatched for my use a Night Owl Death Knight squad of six, led by two Third Order captain and vice-captain. So long as the mission can be completed, no matter how high the casualty rate, it doesn’t matter..."
The logbook stated six.
But when she cautiously lifted her head and looked around her, she clearly saw a full... twelve [Night Owl Death Soldier].
Yes, it was no longer the seven they’d had when they had first entered the Ark, but had, without anyone noticing, increased to twelve!
They had reported their numbers multiple tis according to the operational code, and yet no issues had ever been discovered.
"So, if there are truly only six genuine [Night Owl Death Soldier], then what exactly are the extra six?
And are the remaining six even still Human?"
The vast discrepancy between reality, perception, and the written record made the Female Knight feel as though she had plunged into an ice cavern.
It felt more fantastical than the experiences of that ancestor Knight Don Quixote of hers.
She imdiately relied on her instincts as a Fourth Order Transcendent, keenly sensing that so irresistible force had descended; so existence beyond her Understanding, beyond the usual scale, had long since set its sights on them.
Jeanne could no longer tell friend from foe within the team, nor could she afford the price of a wrong judgnt. She decisively chose to abandon the mission and desert these teammates, withdrawing alone.
She would first rendezvous with the Kingdom’s Guardian, the Fifth Order Legendary Navigator [Boat King of Barcelona] supporting their side, and only decide whether to advance or retreat after reporting the situation to him.
User Comments
0 comments from readers