CHAPTER 148: TIDESHEAR COVE RAID [V]

Erika abandoned her sword and jumped back just as a repulser blast flew past her shoulder, hitting the goblin she had been dueling square in the chest.

The explosion sent green blood spraying into the air.

’I hate swords,’ she thought, grimacing as she glanced down at the dull weapon.

She definitely didn’t hate it because she didn’t know how to use it... Yeah right...

Behind her, a flash of light erupted as Raven thrust his palm forward, his body engulfed in flame.

A massive surge of fire ripped through the air, hitting a puffer-fish-like monster that had been carrying a cluster of goblins on its back.

The beast ballooned up before exploding, showering the water below in smoke and charred meat.

Erika took that as her cue.

She sprinted across the slick deck toward the first of the two mounted machine guns Lucius had conjured.

Matthias was already heading for the opposite one.

The weapon was massive up close... more like the mana-powered cannon than a gun. The barrel was not as thick as the cannons though and each bullet was the size of her finger.

She gripped the handles and pulled the trigger.

The recoil nearly broke her shoulders. The entire gun kicked backward as glowing blue rounds ripped through the air, shaking her arms violently.

The bullets struck the water, detonating in bursts that sent waves crashing outward.

A serpent that had been swimming toward the ship exploded into pieces.

’Fuck, they’re powerful,’ she thought, bracing her stance. She poured mana into her body, reinforcing her muscles, and fired again.

Each burst shook the deck and filled the air with light.

Across from her, Matthias had taken control of the second gun, shooting in a perfect rhythm.

The sound of both weapons echoed across the sea like thunder.

Lucius leaned calmly on his cane, watching the scene with a smirk. "Good... they’ve grown," he murmured.

But then something at the corner of his eye caught his attention.

A figure running across the surface of the water.

’Is that... Grimm?’

It was...

Grimm was sprinting across the waves, laughing wildly with his sword in hand, mana bursting from his feet in glowing bursts that kept him above the water.

Every step sent ripples across the surface as he ran headlong into battle.

"Hahahahaha!" Grimm shouted, swinging his sword as if the ocean itself were his playground.

[@SeaFiendLover: IS HE RUNNING ON WATER?!]

[@BlueCrystal✓: This man does not care about physics.]

[@OceanRaidFan: LOOK AT HIM GO 😭🔥🔥]

[@ManaGamer: HE’S INSANE BROOO 💀💀💀]

He truly was insane.

But as he ran, the sea beneath him began to churn.

The calm surface turned violent, currents shifting with the movement of the creatures and he began to sink.

"Oh, come on!" he yelled, but before he could fall completely, something wrapped around his feet... Space.

He steadied himself again, standing atop the water as if it were solid ground.

’Thank you, Captain,’ Grimm thought with a grin.

He glanced ahead and saw five sea creatures hovering near the ship.

They had flat faces, thin bodies, and needle-like mouths that spat glowing projectiles toward the deck.

None were hitting, but he found them annoying.

He lifted his sword and poured mana into it until it glowed white-blue. Then he threw it.

The weapon spun, a streak of light against the grey sea.

It shot through all five monsters in one clean line, leaving glowing trails of vapor behind.

The creatures froze for a moment, then burst into sprays of blood. The sword looped back like a boomerang, returning to Grimm’s hand as he grinned.

[@HolySwordMain: WHAT KIND OF THROW WAS THAT 😭🔥]

[@BlueCrystal✓: Five kills. One sword. Someone sign this man.]

[@ManaCraze: BRO IS STYLISH FOR NO REASON 💀]

[@OceanSimper: CAPTAIN’S STUDENT IS CRAZY GOOD 😩]

[@ViewerAbyss: HE’S RUNNING ON WATER AND DOING THAT?!? 😭]

...

Lucius leaned back as Raven launched a final blast of fire toward the horizon, vaporizing the last of the creatures that had been floating nearby.

The air was a lot more quiet now... only the sound of the waves could be heard.

Lucius let out a calm sigh.

’What a troublesome bunch,’ he thought. Ocean dungeons were always messy. Too many monsters, too unpredictable, and too wet for his liking.

The difference between land dungeons and sea dungeons was the absence of structure... no floors, no boss rooms, no order.

Anything could appear anywhere, anytime.

He tapped his cane lightly against the deck. ’I can’t delay this any further though.’

"Captain, what do we do now?" Erika asked, lowering the smoking gun and wiping sweat from her forehead. Her gloves were glowing faintly from the heat.

Lucius turned toward her, his coat dripping slightly from the earlier waves. "We’re going after the boss," he said.

Matthias climbed down from his post and grabbed a coiled rope, lowering a ladder over the edge of the ship.

Below, Grimm and the two Hudson brothers were swimming back with glowing crystals in hand... trophies of the crew’s kills.

"Cores acquired!" Grimm shouted as they climbed up.

They dropped the glittering stones onto the deck, forming a small pile in front of Lucius.

Felix climbed up last, holding onto the ladder with one hand and balancing a bundle of cores with the other.

He smiled proudly... right before his foot slipped.

He fell backward with a loud splash.

Lucius didn’t even blink. He raised a finger, and the pile of glowing crystals floated mid-air, drifting safely toward him.

Felix, however, remained in the water, waving frantically.

[@FailFish: HE JUST LEFT HIM 😭😭😭]

[@StreamJester: CAPTAIN SAVED THE CORES BUT NOT THE MAN 💀💀💀]

[@BlueCrystal✓: PRIORITIES. RESPECT.]

[@OceanLaughs: LMAOOOO POOR FELIX 💀]

[@RaidReels: BRO SACRIFICED HIMSELF FOR THE LOOT 😭🔥]

Lucius set the pile gently beside him and smiled. "Thank you, gentlemen."

Grimm laughed so hard he nearly fell too, while Cyrus tried to help Felix climb back up.

"Captain! You could’ve caught me too!" Felix shouted from the water.

Lucius adjusted his hat. "And spoil the fun?"

Once Felix was finally pulled back aboard, dripping wet and sulking, Lucius stretched his back and straightened up.

"Alright," he said, his tone shifting back to business. "Playtime’s over."

Lucius rested his hand on his cane.

"I’ve found the location of the Boss," he said with a low voice.

The crew fell silent and there was tension in the air.

"Let’s get to raiding it."

...

The ship pressed forward, carving a dark path through the pale ocean.

Every few seconds, a deep crack echoed from below... the sound of ice scraping against the hull.

The temperature kept dropping.

The salty air that once smelled of sea breeze now bit at their lungs like frost.

Grimm rubbed his arms and shivered. "Why’s it so damn cold all of a sudden?"

Lucius didn’t answer. Instead, he raised a hand, and long-sleeved coats materialized around the crew in a soft shimmer of blue light.

"There. Try not to freeze to death before the raid even starts."

"Trisha, eyes ahead!" he called out.

"Aye, Captain." Trisha adjusted the monocle on her right eye, her breath turning to mist as she peered into the distance. "There’s mist up ahead. A lot of it. Visibility dropping fast."

Lucius waved a single hand through the air.

Space warped, and the mist broke apart in an instant, revealing what lay beyond.

The crew collectively went still.

Two massive figures sat cross-legged atop a floating island of ice... each one easily thirty meters tall.

Their bodies were carved like statues of frozen stone.

Both figures were motionless and their breath creating waves in the clouds above them.

"Are those... giants made of... ice? There are ice monsters?" Erika asked quietly.

Lucius was silent... was this a butterfly effect? Why were ice monsters appearing here?

However what caught his attention wasn’t their size... it was the space around them.

It was changing...

"What the hell is going on here?" Lucius muttered under his breath.

Then both giants began to glow. Their bodies brightened from within, eyes opening with a blue light that spread outward.

The clear skies darkened immediately, clouds forming out of nowhere.

Snow began to fall.

At first, it was peaceful...soft flakes landing on the deck and melting against the wood. Then it grew heavier.

Within seconds, the storm thickened into a blizzard so powerful it rattled the ship.

"Luna," Lucius said sharply, turning toward her.

She was already looking at her scanner. Her fingers flew across the device as a blue screen appeared in midair. "Lucius... the dungeon is changing."

"Changing?"

"The readings are off the charts... it’s not D-rank anymore. It’s C-rank..." She paused as another spike hit the scanner, her pupils shrinking. "No, the fluctuations are still climbing higher!"

That made everyone’s stomach drop.

A wave of snow fell from the sky like a collapsing ceiling.

The clouds above cracked and the ship shook violently as ice started forming on the masts.

Lucius’s expression didn’t waver.

"Together!" he commanded.

He reached out his hand, and space warped again. The crew was pulled toward him, their bodies clustered tightly together at the center of the deck.

A shimmering barrier unfolded around them, layered in waves of transparent light.

The P40 drone zipped overhead, its camera tilting to keep recording as Lucius expanded the dome.

The storm struck.

The blizzard slammed into the ship like a living wall, covering everything in white.

The sound was deafening... wood creaking, waves crashing, and the howling wind tearing at their ears.

The barrier around them shuddered as Lucius poured more mana into it, space bending and groaning to keep them safe.

He added layers of wood and energy, forming a cocoon around them. The last thing he did was leave a small slit at the top for the P40 drone to keep recording.

Snow consumed the world. The ocean beneath them froze solid, turning the waves to still white cliffs.

Then the rest followed... the ship, the crew and the sky until nothing but silence remained.

A faint static crackled in the P40’s lens.

[Signal Lost]