CHAPTER 44: END OF THE LEVIATHAN’S DREAM

He looked at the glowing, healing egg in front of him, then at his hand, which was still pouring life energy into it.

He finally understood the desperate pull he had been feeling.

The egg had not just been hungry; it had been calling to him. It had been calling for the one thing in this dream world that could save it: his infinite lifespan.

He now knew how to escape this dream. He had to satisfy the Leviathan’s dying wish. He had to save its egg.

The golden light pouring from his hand into the egg was bright. It lit up the dark deck of the ship. The soldiers guarding the cage finally noticed that something was wrong.

"What is that light?" one of them shouted.

"The guide! What is he doing?" another one yelled.

The captain, the big man with the friendly face, turned around. His friendly expression was gone. It was replaced by a cold, hard look.

His eyes were sharp and dangerous. He was no longer a simple captain; he was a powerful cultivator.

"Boy," the captain said, his voice low and threatening. "Step away from the cage."

Rhys slowly pulled his hand back from the egg. The flow of his lifespan stopped. The golden light faded. He stood up and turned to face the captain.

His own expression had changed. The confused, simple look of the Trench Guide was gone. His eyes, visible even in the dim light of the deck, were cold and sharp.

The captain, whose real name was Lord Randel, felt a sudden sense of danger. This was not the simple, easily manipulated boy he had hired.

This was someone else.

"Who are you?" Lord Randel demanded.

Rhys did not answer. He just looked at the cultivators who were now surrounding him. They had all drawn their weapons.

They were all ready to fight. Before anyone could move, a new analysis from the System flashed in his mind. It was urgent.

[Warning: Tyrant-Grade entity detected in the immediate vicinity. The mother Leviathan is already here.]

[The mother’s life force is directly linked to the fragile state of the egg. Any powerful energy she unleashes could create a shockwave that would shatter the egg. She is unable to attack the ship directly without killing her own child.]

[The Leviathan’s dream will not end until the egg’s safety is absolutely secured. The Host must remove the egg from the field of conflict to satisfy the dream’s primary condition.]

Rhys now understood everything. The mother was waiting. She was helpless, forced to watch as these hunters used her child as a hostage.

His path was clear. He could not just fight them; he had to secure the egg.

"It does not matter who he is," Lord Randel said, his voice full of anger. "He has seen our secret. Kill him."

The cultivators attacked. A man with a long spear lunged at Rhys. The tip of the spear glowed with a sharp, white light. Another cultivator threw a ball of fire.

The air grew hot. The attacks were fast and powerful. They were aimed to kill him in an instant. Rhys did not move. He just stood there.

The attacks hit him. The spear slammed into his chest. The fireball exploded against his back. But nothing happened. His simple guide’s clothes were burned away, but his skin was completely unharmed.

There was not a single scratch. The spear tip, which could pierce through steel, could not even break his skin. The cultivators stared in shock, their faces filled with disbelief.

"What is he?" one of them whispered in terror.

Rhys looked down at the spear tip pressed against his chest. He reached up and casually pushed it away.

"My turn," he said, his voice calm. He used Shadowed Dive. His body dissolved into a black blur. He was moving with impossible speed.

The cultivators could not even track his movements. He appeared behind the spearman, breaking his neck without looking back.

The sound of scattering bone was exhilarating. Without him noticing, a grin appeared on his face.

Activating Low-distance Jump, he pulled one cultivator towards him and used him as a shield against attacks from the captain.

Splat.

Human body parts rained down on the deck. Lord Randel roared in anger.

"He is a monster! Use the formation!"

The other cultivators moved into a formation. A net of glowing red energy appeared in the air. It shot towards Rhys, trying to trap him.

Rhys pushed a dead guard back into the cage, ignoring the formation that had already formed around him as he hugged the egg to his heart.

"NOO!" Lord Randel shouted in a panic.

As Rhys held the egg against his chest, a powerful connection formed. The egg, now filled with his life force, recognised him as its protector, its new parent.

It glowed with a brilliant, golden light. It then dissolved into pure energy, flowing into his body. He felt it settle inside his dantian space, a warm and living presence now bonded to his very soul.

At that moment, the entire ship lurched violently. The sea began to churn. The dark water of the trench started to bubble and foam.

A massive shadow appeared beneath the waves. It was huge, larger than the ship itself. The mother Leviathan had arrived.

She surfaced with a great splash. She was a creature of immense size and sorrowful beauty. Her scales were the colour of the deep sea, a beautiful, dark blue.

Her body was long and serpentine, but she was covered in old wounds and fresh scars. Her movements were slow and tired. She was clearly weakened.

Her massive head rose from the water. She looked at the ship. She saw the cultivators. And she saw Rhys, standing where the cage used to be.

She could feel that her child was safe, no longer in danger from the battle.

She opened her mouth and let out a roar. But it was not a roar of anger; it was a sound of happiness mixed with sorrow.

Rhys also felt sadness. It was coming from the egg. He sighed. The cultivators faltered.

They clutched their chests. The raw sadness of the mother’s cry hit them hard. They felt a moment of pity, a moment of doubt.

The mother Leviathan used that moment. She used the last of her strength. She slammed her huge tail against the water. A massive whirlpool began to form.

The "Emperor’s Pride" was caught in its pull. The ship began to spin, faster and faster. The wood of the ship began to splinter.

The huge masts cracked and fell. The cultivators were thrown from the deck into the chaotic, swirling sea. The ship was being torn apart.

The mother Leviathan ignored the dying cultivators. She moved closer to the broken ship. Her massive, light blue eye focused on Rhys.

It was an eye filled with an ancient wisdom, a deep sadness, and a profound gratitude.

It was an eye that looked exactly like Yuki’s.

A voice spoke directly into his mind. It was a voice that was both old and beautiful.

"Protect my child... son of the creation."

Before Rhys could even begin to process the strange words, the dream world shattered. The mother Leviathan’s massive body began to dissolve into a million particles of blue light.

The sea, the broken ship, the dark sky—it all broke apart like a giant mirror. The world went white.

Rhys opened his eyes. Yuki was leaning over him. Her face was filled with a strange, unreadable expression.

Her hand was resting on his forehead. It was cool to the touch. Rhys looked into her light blue eyes. The Leviathan’s final words echoed in his mind.

’Son of the creation.’ He looked at his hand.

Clutched tightly in his fist was a small, smooth, blue-scaled object. It looked exactly like a miniature version of the Leviathan’s egg.