Captain – Chapter 327 – Song of Destruction

If that wall of fog originated from the devil’s power, then the Mermaid sailing straight ahead, never turning back, was humanity’s anthem.

The mermaid figurehead at the very front of the warship was naturally the first to touch the giant wall.

When it met those seemingly substantial wisps of fog, the entire world fell silent.

Thunder ceased, rain sounds vanished, the sounds of flags, people, and breaking waves all disappeared, leaving only emptiness, as if even heaven and earth were holding their breath, waiting for the mermaid’s fate.

“Hum.”

A barely perceptible humming suddenly sounded.

Following it came an invisible ripple.

Like the gentle wave formed by a leaf falling onto a lake, it was artificially suspended in midair, rippling outward when guests arrived, sweeping through every part of the Mermaid at a speed invisible to the naked eye.

Not even the hole in a certain dungeon in the hold was spared.

What was this ripple?

Few would know, because on the Mermaid, the vast majority of the crew, including Caine, couldn’t sense its existence. Only beings touched by the devil could hear that humming and detect the ripple passing through their bodies.

Sensing that faint yet somehow familiar presence, knowing it was the devil’s method of identifying visitors, Roy’s eyes brightened slightly. She felt secretly proud, thinking that her deduction was correct again—no, it had never been wrong.

The Golden-Eyed Devil had never missed.

Not far behind the captain, the young dragon resting on the ground also felt that ripple.

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Its eyes suddenly opened, its gaze passing through the gap beside the bridge, falling on the fog surging like a tide. Its eyes flashed with indifference.

In that ripple, in that fog, it could sense the devil’s presence, and through it, catch the scent of something like fate. At the end of that scent…

Was that terrifying spectral ship.

Its nostrils quivered as Nidhogg sniffed hard.

Hmm, still far away. Shouldn’t encounter it for a while.

Having confirmed this, the young dragon shifted its body again, coiling more tightly, then closed its eyes somewhat wearily, ignoring the raven that kept chirping questions out of curiosity about its reaction.

As I said, no, even if I roared at you, you wouldn’t understand.

In a small, cluttered room in the Mermaid’s cabin.

Bivis kept his eyes tightly closed, holding a lifelike goddess statue in both hands, not breathing, not even giving off heat, as if he had become a lifeless reef stone to avoid the devil’s gaze and the terrifying wave surging in.

The room was deathly silent.

Even though the invisible ripple had passed for tens of seconds, the scholar still maintained this state, as if fearing the devil might look back again.

Another ten seconds passed, but it felt like an entire century.

Bivis finally opened his eyes and began to breathe heavily like someone who had nearly drowned. His snow-white robe was soaked with sweat, hanging limply to the ground, looking as ridiculous as withered willow branches.

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He pressed both hands on the table before him and stiffly collapsed into the wooden chair.

During this process, whether due to maintaining one position for too long or some kind of fear, his body trembled violently, and his face was as pale as paper.

His heart was filled with lingering fear.

After those tens of seconds, he had already been certain the devil’s gaze had departed and wanted to return to life, but just as he was about to end it all, the goddess statue in his hands suddenly glowed.

In that moment, he felt the Lady’s will and changed his decision, continuing to maintain that state for a full ten seconds.

Then, he saw that devil.

It wasn’t Edward’s true form, nor his gaze, nor any substantial or perceivable thing, but rather an extremely faint emotion.

Whether it was disappointment or mockery, Bivis didn’t know.

Captain Edward was no longer human, perhaps even approaching divinity, which was why he possessed such terrifyingly extraordinary methods that even Bivis couldn’t detect. The reason he couldn’t discern the cause of that emotion was even simpler and clearer.

Who could guess the joy or sorrow of a deity?

Thinking silently, Bivis gradually stopped panting, his body no longer trembling, the emotion in his eyes returning to nothingness, looking deep and calm.

Facing such a being, one couldn’t be too careful. This time he had indeed been careless, but why…

Could he no longer see through this game of chess?

The scholar’s self-reflection and thoughts, like the devil’s intentions, were silent and would not be heard by anyone. But now no one had the heart to pay attention to him anyway.

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Because on the deck of the Mermaid, the scene before their eyes was so magnificent that it left those who witnessed it speechless and overwhelmed.

That wall of fog connecting heaven and sea, after touching the Mermaid’s figurehead, silently and spectacularly collapsed.

Countless wisps of cold, wet fog poured down like rain clouds falling from the sky, engulfing the Mermaid and countless miles of sea on both sides in just moments, then surging forward like a tsunami.

Compared to this great fog, the mist surrounding the Death Silence was like a drop in the ocean, powerless and laughable.

From this point on, no one could see clearly what lay ahead.

Not those water ghosts with amazing eyesight, or rather, who didn’t need eyes at all. Not even Richi with the Lady’s divine blessing.

So the atmosphere on the Death Silence grew even more silent.

Feeling the dampness hitting his face, Richi’s blood-colored eyes remained indifferent, but the hand gripping the helm involuntarily tightened, as a faint unease arose in his heart.

This unease arose without cause, yet not without reason.

It was his intuition, honed through countless life-and-death situations, warning him of approaching dangers that could truly threaten his life. It was terrifyingly accurate.

But where exactly was this danger coming from?

The young man wouldn’t doubt his intuition, but he was puzzled about its source.

With the authority bestowed by the Lady, before this great fog arrived, he had naturally seen that black shadow passing through the sky and the girl floating beneath it. Even that wall of fog, which the Mermaid’s crew only discovered when they approached, had already entered his sight long before.

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But neither that never-before-seen monster nor the long-unseen girl could be the source of his unease.

Because as a Death-Fearer now, he couldn’t be killed by ordinary means. No matter how powerful that monster was, no matter how remarkable his dear captain might be, at least for now, before those mysterious powers appeared, they couldn’t threaten him.

The fog wall was even less likely to be the cause—it was merely a door.

One possibility after another was eliminated, and in the end, Richi couldn’t deduce the source of the threat. He shook his head slightly and temporarily put aside those stray thoughts.

The Death Silence continued to sail silently through the thick fog.

After the fog wall dispersed, its ability to block light seemed to have weakened considerably. That intense golden beam of light, free from obstruction, naturally shone toward more distant places.

In the direction they were sailing, one could occasionally see lightning breaking through the fog, increasingly near and clear thunder, and distant lightning connecting heaven and sea on the horizon. All of this became more frequent as the warship advanced.

Gradually, the wind and rain grew more urgent, and within the storm symphony that occupied the entire icy sea, another sound emerged.

It was the sound of turbulent water, as if countless waves were surging forward.

But Richi knew it wasn’t that.

The sea often played songs of destruction, and due to its different forms, the music it produced also varied. He had heard this particular melody many times, but one so intense, as if about to devour everything, he had experienced only once, outside Devil’s Island.

It was a whirlpool, an endless whirlpool.

The most heart-stopping symphony.