Chapter 65: Barren Predator
"You foresaw this long ago?"
Hill whirled around, recalling the warrior's earlier behavior of staring at the sea, and asked Joshua in a low voice, "You were observing just now, so why didn't you say anything?"
"Foreseeing that an attack would happen doesn't mean foreseeing what kind of attack it would be." Joshua turned his head and explained to the elven youth and the two dragons, "A strange current and black mist—at most, I could be on alert for potential danger. There's no way I could know what consequences it would bring."
The warrior's words were correct; this kind of assault was indeed unpredictable.
On the side of the ark, within the pitch-black giant waves, faint glimmers of magical power flickered. Although the white ark, now powerless, was protected by Holy Light runes from being capsized by the receding tide, it could only remain helplessly in place, enduring the onslaught of rain and waves, unable to move forward.
"Let's head back inside the ark first." In the end, it was Joshua who made the decision. He led Black into the cabin, and Hill, after frowning and staring at the strange black seawater for a moment, entered the cabin along with Fina.
Inside the cabin, Robzek, Saya, and Loranda were in the midst of discussion.
"The Mana Core in the engine room is still running." The silver-haired paladin was not panicked by the unexpected situation. He pointed to a floating light screen in midair and calmly summarized the current state: "But this mana can't be transmitted to the various engines."
On the light screen was a structural diagram of a massive ship, with every detail of the Time Vessel displayed. At this moment, aside from the engine room and a few other compartments showing a 'running well' green, the vast majority of the hull had turned red, indicating 'inoperable.'
"The black dust in the seawater is a strange substance... I've never seen anything like it on the Mycroft Continent, but it looks somewhat like crystal?"
Saya held a test tube filled with murky seawater, which was full of black dust resembling sand. Without any external force, this dust moved up and down on its own, as if it were alive.
The High Sister stared at the test tube in her hand, seemingly deep in thought: "I once visited a mana crystal mine near the volcanic archipelago, and the mana crystal dust there was somewhat similar to this."
But mana crystals carried mana, whereas this crystal absorbed it—a vast difference between the two.
Beside her, Loranda remained silent, merely frowning as he gazed at the test tube in Saya's hand. The current situation felt vaguely familiar to the blonde paladin, but he couldn't pinpoint the source.
The ark losing its mana, crystal dust... in other words, a crystal with an extremely high absorption capacity for mana.
With a faint suspicion, Loranda took the test tube from Saya and tentatively injected some Battle Qi into it.
The churning black dust, like sharks scenting blood, immediately absorbed the paladin's Battle Qi completely. At this point, Loranda could roughly confirm that this crystal dust bore a striking resemblance to the Wild God's outer shell recorded in the Radcliffe Family archives, as it exhibited high immunity to both mana and Battle Qi.
Hesitating as he looked at Robzek and Saya, the blonde paladin was uncertain whether to share his guess with them—he himself found it somewhat absurd. Clearly, the mission's goal was the Abyss rift, yet obstacles related to the Famine Evil God kept appearing, utterly baffling.
The High Sister and the Knight Commander continued their discussion, but they didn't focus on what this dust actually was. Their main concern was how to proceed with the next steps.
"The ark is less than a day's journey from the Central Great Maelstrom."
Robzek pointed to the light screen, which displayed a map of the Abyss of Anos sea area. On the pitch-black map, two glowing dots—one red, one white—flickered: "The red dot is the Central Great Maelstrom. Due to a current from the far south sea, it's steadily shifting northwest, toward our position. The white dot is us. Originally, given the relative speed of both, we would have reached its edge by 11 PM tonight, but now it's hard to say."
He calculated in his mind for a moment, then continued: "If the maelstrom's displacement speed remains constant, we won't touch its edge until 4 AM the day after tomorrow... but that's unlikely; the current's impact can't stay unchanged."
"Should we switch to backup energy and sail using the Fusion Core Star's power?" Saya pondered for a moment and suggested, "This black dust fears the power of Holy Light, and it can't penetrate the positive energy barrier formed by the Fusion Core Star's energy. The Time Vessel is stationary but hasn't been pushed by the waves—that's proof."
Upon hearing this suggestion, the silver-haired paladin thought for a moment and then nodded: "We can try... but without the Fusion Core Star's energy, who will support the defense barrier? It consumes a lot of energy. We don't even know the enemy's true form. Rashly weakening our combat strength could easily play into their hands."
"Whoever the enemy is, stopping us here means they'll definitely make a move."
Just then, a voice came from outside the cabin door. Joshua opened the door, and behind him, Black, Hill, and Fina entered in turn. Though the warrior's voice wasn't loud, it reached everyone's ears: "Since we're less than a day from the Central Great Maelstrom, the enemy disabling our power at this time must mean they want to finish us off here, preventing us from approaching the Abyss rift."
"Joshua." Seeing the warrior, Robzek nodded slightly and asked, "What do you think of the current situation?"
As one of only two Ultimate-rank experts on this ark, Joshua's opinion was crucial. Facing the paladin's inquiry, he didn't hold back and directly stated his guess.
Just as Loranda had suspected, the warrior identified the true nature of the black dust—crystal fragments originating from the Famine Evil God. Their ability to rapidly dissolve the ark's mana stemmed from the barren power represented by 'Famine.' Now, the entire sea area had fallen into a state similar to an anti-magic zone, where any mana, once it appeared, was swiftly absorbed.
This situation was identical to the barren phenomenon in the Carlis World and closely resembled the apocalyptic aftermath of the Calamity Evil God's appearance in the Ilgena World, which Loranda had visited.
"Our enemy should be Abyss Demons, or an erosion sea beast like that previous Abyssal Sea Dragon... How does this tie in with the Famine Evil God?"
After listening, Robzek frowned, recalling the strange and powerful crystal monsters encountered during the last expedition: "Alright, if, as you say, the enemy is an Evil God's minion, then what countermeasures do we have?"
He asked the warrior sincerely.
But Joshua just smirked slightly: "Wait."
Noticing the puzzled looks from everyone present, the warrior had to explain again: "This is still the Mycroft Continent, after all. The enemy can't maintain this otherworldly phenomenon forever. When they can no longer sustain this state, that's when we fight."
After speaking, he casually picked up a cup of tea from the table and downed it in one gulp. After drinking, Joshua asked with some confusion, "This taste... isn't it different from before?"
"This is tea prepared for us by Nono, said to be a specialty from her hometown... But is it really that simple?"
Saya looked somewhat incredulous, murmuring in surprise, "We just need to wait?"
"No, it's not simple at all." At this moment, it was Fina, standing to the side, who spoke. The sea dragon, in her human form as a beautiful lady with blue hair, shook her head and said gravely, "This is similar to some sea beasts' hunting methods—first using traps or other means to immobilize the prey, then slowly wearing down their strength, only appearing at the end to deliver the killing blow."
"Next, the enemy will certainly use various methods to drain the ark's—that is, our group's—strength. Once it reaches a certain point, the hidden enemy will reveal itself and deliver the final strike."
Though just a guess, Fina's words aligned with everyone's understanding. Joshua silently nodded; this was exactly what he meant.
Staring at the light screen, Robzek's mind wasn't focused on it. He was recalling the experiences of previous expeditions when the ark approached the Central Great Maelstrom.
First expedition to the Abyss of Anos: due to a massive swarm of sea beasts, the ark deviated from its course and ultimately had to return due to insufficient supplies.
Second expedition: an accidental reef collision caused cabin leaks, forcing a return.
Third expedition: encountered a large number of berserk wyverns mid-journey, fought continuously for three days, and combined with extremely harsh weather, 70% of the crew suffered extreme fatigue and physical discomfort, leading to a helpless return.
Fourth expedition: the closest to success. Because previous expeditions had killed many sea beasts, and the mad dragons had all gone to blockade the Holy Mountain's skies, the journey was very smooth. But just as they neared the maelstrom at the heart of the Abyss of Anos, they encountered three strange monsters with strength close to Ultimate-rank. Caught off guard with no preparation, the ark was nearly sunk. Robzek and the others fought fiercely to protect the ark, barely escaping by self-destructing the Holy Light Wheel.
Fifth expedition, this one: the journey had been very smooth so far. With Count Radcliffe's addition, the Abyssal Sea Dragon, which would have been a major nuisance, was slain in less than half an hour. Even if they encountered those three strange monsters again, everyone had the strength to fight. But this current situation was beyond anyone's expectations.
"Are we going to fail again?"
Robzek murmured with some reluctance. The decisive battle between the Church of the Seven Gods and the Five-Colored Dragon Clan was imminent. By then, if the Time Vessel's mission remained incomplete, their actions would be awkward. Even if Pope Eagle supported their continued exploration, the Church would have no spare resources to supply.
Moreover, the silver-haired paladin wasn't the type to calmly explore the Abyss of Anos while the Church was in crisis. Even if it meant the Pope's reprimand, he would return to the Holy Mountain and fight alongside his comrades against the mad dragons.
For him, the fifth expedition was the last. Even if the Church repelled the Five-Colored Dragon Clan, the Holy Mountain would inevitably require extensive repairs and reconstruction afterward. The exploration of the Abyss of Anos would undoubtedly be postponed indefinitely, likely not resuming for at least a decade.
Suddenly, from outside the cabin, not far away, came the uneasy screams of crew members. The noise didn't diminish over time but grew louder and more tense.
"Something's happening." Hill frowned. Being closest to the door, he immediately opened it and headed toward the source of the sound: "I'll go check."
Fina followed the elven youth, and Joshua, with an expectant Black, walked out the door. Behind him, the three Church members exchanged glances, adjusted their gear, and stepped out together.
Outside the cabin, on the deck of the Time Vessel.
Many crew members who had been attempting to 'repair' the non-functioning magical facilities were screaming and running back into the cabin. Unfamiliar with mana, they didn't realize the facilities had stopped because their energy was drained, thinking instead that some structures were damaged. As rigorously selected individuals ultimately assigned to the Time Vessel, they were undoubtedly courageous—otherwise, they wouldn't have braved the giant waves and rain to try repairs outside. But now, they were clearly terrified.
The group passed through the panicked crew and reached the deck, quickly understanding why the sailors were so frightened.
Amid the torrential rain, gale-force winds carried massive waves that repeatedly crashed against the Holy Light runes on the giant ship's hull. A dark mist enveloped the entire vessel, like a cage imprisoning the immobile temple ark.
From within the black mist came strange cries. Countless gray shadows rushed out of the fog, accompanied by piercing whistles. The shadows revealed their true forms: massive, tooth-covered tentacles. They tore through the mist and slammed violently toward the ark—but with the divine spell formation at the ark's top activating, barriers composed of white hexagonal panels accurately intercepted each tentacle, producing dull collision sounds.
After colliding with the barriers, these tentacles immediately disintegrated into clouds of black dust, dissolving into the mist. The white barriers dimmed noticeably, as if much of their energy had been drained.
"What in the world are these things?"
Robzek stepped past the others, frowning. He extended a hand, and a silver Holy Light shot from his fingertip, severing a tentacle—but as soon as it was cut, it dissolved into a cloud of dust. Without a doubt, these tentacles were composed of that mana-absorbing crystal dust.
Joshua didn't recognize them either. Though they were undoubtedly a type of Wild God, he wasn't an encyclopedia—how could he know an enemy he'd never seen before?
But the warrior had the system.
[Barren Predator]
[Chaos Monster]