SPLASH—!
Nidhogg crawled ashore, soaked through. He wrung out his cloak on the slippery reef, twisting out the excess water, and wiped a handful of droplets from his hair and face.
Back in the present world, outside the Raya Lucaria Academy, the sky was already bright. The sun hung high, and the clouds were sparse.
"Whoa!" someone shouted, followed by footsteps approaching rapidly. "Oh, it's just Nidhogg. You scared us."
Nidhogg turned and saw Rickert before him, holding a bow and crossbow, followed by several members of the Spirit Tree Company.
"Rickert, why are you here?"
"We were planning to catch some fish in this area to bring back for a meal. Just now, I saw some splashing on the sea and thought it was a big fish. I almost aimed an arrow at you. Luckily, I clearly saw there was a person in the water."
After landing on this Sea God Island, the Spirit Tree Company had split into two groups.
Guts, Casca, and the others had set up camp on Sea God Island. Pippin, Judeau, Corkus, Rickert, and the others had remained on the ships, just in case. Nidhogg had come to greet them last night.
"You emerged from the sea looking like a piece of soaked armor. Is it over in the other world?"
Rickert and the others knew what Nidhogg was doing. He asked curiously.
"It's all over."
Nidhogg was brief and didn't need to explain the process in detail to Rickert and the others. It was enough to reassure everyone.
And indeed, Rickert and the others smiled.
Nidhogg remembered the strangeness of Sea God Island, so he asked, "Did you notice anything unusual around here last night?"
Rickert and the others exchanged glances.
Then Rickert replied, "Actually, after we parted ways with you last night, in the second half of the night, we heard some strange noises."
"Strange noises?"
"Yeah... The crews of all four ships heard it. There's no mistaking it. But we couldn't tell what it was. It definitely wasn't the sound of waves."
"None of you left the boat to check, right? No one got into any accidents, right?"
"No. We all remembered your reminder not to leave the ship at night, not to approach the rocky cave on Sea God Island, and to stay together as much as possible."
"That's good."
Nidhogg greeted Rickert and the others, said a few words to them, and then parted ways. He found a path leading to the top of Sea God Island along the base of the cliff.
By the time he walked into the village on Sea God Island, his body was practically dry. But salt grains had stuck to him and needed to be wiped off.
Entering the village, Nidhogg saw a group of villagers gathered, talking. An air of anxiety hung in the air.
He also saw Nordic and Manifico, who were also in the village.
"Ah, Nidhogg, you're back." Nordic was the first to notice Nidhogg. He quickly approached, followed by Manifico. "You've been gone all night. Where did you go?"
The people from the Spirit Tree Company knew that Nidhogg had gone to another space intersecting with the real world. But Nordic and Manifico did not.
He didn't explain this, but vaguely said he had gone to the sides of the four ships.
Nordic and Manifico saw that Nidhogg had indeed returned from the coast. And although he had changed his armor, it was no surprise that he had changed into spare armor. So they had no doubts.
"What happened in the village?" Nidhogg pointed to the gathered villagers and asked.
"Something happened last night." Manifico looked frightened, like a child who had just heard ghost stories before bed.
Nordic explained further: "We only found out about it this morning when we came to the village. It turned out that in the middle of the night last night, three monsters broke into a family's home in the village and forcibly abducted three people from that family."
He pointed in a certain direction. Nidhogg looked that way and saw a house with its doors open and traces of damage on its walls.
"What kind of monsters? Did anyone witness it?"
"Yes. In fact, the three family members screamed when they were attacked. The neighbors were awakened but didn't dare go out. So they peeked through cracks in their doors and windows and happened to see the three monsters..."
"What did they look like?"
"Listening to their descriptions, they were a bit like the sea monsters we encountered at sea, but much smaller. Their lower bodies were closer to the writhing bodies of caterpillars, with several legs, and they could walk on land."
"Where did they take those three people?"
"No one dared to follow. But everyone said they must have been taken to the Sea God's cave on Sea God Island and sacrificed to Lord Sea God. They said it was those three who had angered the Sea God and caused this disaster."
Manifico couldn't help but interject fearfully, "I think we should leave this island quickly. What if we do something to anger the Sea God too? That would be terrible."
He had been a bit seasick and was quite happy to land on Sea God Island to rest. But hearing about such a sensational incident, he just wanted to leave quickly.
Ever since seeing the fire dragon in Vritannis, Manifico felt that he was getting more and more unlucky. He always seemed to encounter such events, which he had previously considered horror legends.
"Nidhogg, do you think those three people really angered the Sea God? Who is the Sea God?"
Nordic looked at Nidhogg, his eyes shining, hoping to get answers from him.
Nidhogg shook his head and said:
"Of course not. This so-called angering the Sea God and bringing misfortune is just something the islanders came up with to comfort themselves because they cannot understand or deal with the root cause of this terror."
Nordic understood and nodded. "Only by believing that as long as they don't anger the Sea God, there will be no problems, can they continue to live on this dangerous island with peace of mind."
Manifico didn't understand: "If they're going to be harmed by the Sea God and sea monsters anyway, why don't they just leave this island?"
"Those who dared to leave the island left long ago," Nidhogg said. "For the rest, it's not so easy to get on a boat, go to a foreign land, and start an unknown life."
Nidhogg glanced at the villagers, who were still anxiously discussing this matter, and then headed towards the camp. Nordic and Manifico followed behind him.
Back at the tent, Flora was still sitting quietly in her wheelchair, eyes closed. It was obvious her spirit projection hadn't returned yet. Guts and the others were guarding the formation where Flora was located.
Guts had done as he promised, staying by Flora's side all night. The Berserker Armor hadn't been removed from his body. The Dragonslayer was set aside.
Everyone was glad to see Nidhogg back.
After all, every time Nidhogg returned, it meant he had taken care of matters in the other world. There would be no accidents this time either.
And indeed, Nidhogg brought good news.
However, he quickly mentioned the monster abduction in the village and the strange noises his companions on the other side of the ships had heard in the middle of the night.
The people in the camp last night had not been attacked and had not heard any strange noises.
At the same time, they also sympathized with the abducted family of three. They didn't know what would become of them, but so much time had passed, they were probably already dead.
At that moment, Nidhogg was the first to sense something, followed by Schierke, Farnese, Puck, and Ivalera.
They all looked in one direction and saw a spirit body floating inside.
That spirit body was Flora.
Flora's spirit nodded to everyone, indicating she was fine. Then she slowly returned to her physical body. After a while, she opened her eyes.
"Teacher!" Schierke still anxiously grabbed Flora's hand.
Flora gently patted the back of Schierke's hand and said with a smile, "I'm fine. I just returned a little later than expected. But Nidhogg, you handled things much faster than me."
She stood up from her wheelchair. Schierke hastily supported one arm, and Farnese came over to support the other, so carefully that Flora was helpless and smiling.
"How can I be so fragile..." Flora couldn't help but take the two little witches, looked at Nidhogg, and said, "The Snow King Hanafubuku didn't refuse to communicate with me. So I told her everything."
"Actually, she already knew about you in advance. The skeleton knight had once visited the Island of Fairies. And the elves from the astral world would also tell her news gathered from all over."
"King Hanafubuku couldn't make a decision alone. So she summoned the archmages on the Island of Fairies and discussed it with them. The meeting lasted a long time, which delayed things."
"Overall, after the discussion, they decided to let us land on the island first. Some things need to be seen with one's own eyes to be confirmed and evaluated."
Nidhogg nodded. "Good. If they don't refuse."
"Then let's set off now!" Manifico interjected. He didn't want to stay on the obviously dangerous Sea God Island any longer.
Moreover, as the head of the marriage branch of the Vandimion family bank, a businessman engaged in all kinds of operations in the north, he was very interested in the fairy island everyone kept mentioning.
Perhaps this would be an island that could dig a path to life's wealth for him.
The only ones here who had been to the Island of Fairies were Flora and Puck. Even Ivalera had never been to the legendary island. So everyone in the camp was also very curious and longing.
Nidhogg and Flora looked at each other. Flora nodded. Nidhogg looked at the others. The others also looked like they were waiting for him to decide. There were no objections. So he decided:
"Then let's prepare."
Then he added: "However, if we leave like this, sooner or later all the inhabitants of this island will suffer disaster from the Sea God. Before we leave, I suggest we deal with the Sea God here."
"Huh?" Manifico was stunned and asked in confusion, "What does dealing with Sea God Island have to do with us?"
"Of course, it's not our business," Nidhogg said. "Have you forgotten? Yesterday we were attacked by sea monsters. And these sea monsters undoubtedly came from the Sea God, right?"
"I investigated. The Sea God is sealed in a cave on this island. Every night of the full moon, it tries to break the seal. Its tentacles protrude from the cave and invade the sea."
"Moreover, it will lure and devour the inhabitants of Sea God Island, passing sailors, and pirates, turning them into the sea monsters we saw. These sea monsters will be used by it to capture more people."
"Thus, its followers will grow, and its power will grow with them. Until one day, it will have enough to break through the seal, reappear in the world, and become the Demon King of the Deep Sea and a true 'Sea God.' "
"At that time, this entire sea will no longer be safe. Our ships will be sailing in deep waters. The enemies they will face will not only be pirates, but also the Sea God and the sea monsters it creates."
"Therefore, even if only for the safety of future voyages, we must deal with it while it is still weak. Otherwise, we will pay a greater price in the future."
Everyone nodded repeatedly.
Flora could feel the dangerous aura of the Sea God. She understood Nidhogg's words best.
The others had also seen the attack of these sea monsters yesterday. If in the future the deep sea was full of such monsters, it would indeed be quite terrifying.
Manifico said nothing. He also wanted to engage in maritime trade.
Guts pulled out the Dragonslayer, which was planted in the ground, and said with a smile, "Then let's do it."
When the first person expressed his position, everyone in the camp nodded and made their decision.
Flora also nodded. "Indeed, it's better to get rid of it now than to wait for it to regain the power it had a thousand years ago. But there is a difficult problem now—this group of villagers..."
She didn't finish, but everyone understood what she meant.
The sea monsters they had encountered yesterday in broad daylight were so huge. So the Sea God itself was probably far greater than these sea monsters. If they wanted to fight such a giant, the people remaining on the island would surely be harmed.
There was spare room on their boats. It didn't matter whether they could transport this group of villagers, which was less than fifty people. And it didn't matter if they took them to the Island of Fairies.
However, the terrifying legend of the Sea God was not the first time the villagers had heard it. Those who wanted to leave had already left. The remaining group might not be willing to listen to everyone.
Nidhogg smiled. "I don't think that will be a problem."
Everyone looked at him.
"If they are willing to listen to reason, that's naturally best. If they are not, we'll just be the bad guys and take them onto the ship."
"When they get on the ship and see with their own eyes what the 'Sea God' living under the island they inhabit really is, I think they will forgive our rudeness."
Everyone was stunned by this and looked at each other.
After that, Guts was the first to laugh:
"So we still have to do the job that pirates are supposed to do... Hahaha, that's pretty interesting too. Alright, I'll call Pippin, Judeau, and the others later."
Azan, the old knight, clearly didn't want to be a pirate. But thinking that it was for the safety of the Sea God Island villagers, even if he was misunderstood, he believed it was worth it. So he joined in.
Thus, the people from the Spirit Tree Company temporarily decided how to "raid" the Sea God Island village. They gathered the necessary forces, equipped themselves one by one, and waited for the day of execution.