Captain – Chapter 526 – The True Face of the Hidden Guest

That was chains.

After listening to that disturbance for a long time and reaching this conclusion, Roy continued climbing the steps.

As the heavenly journey progressed, that sudden sound, though still extremely faint, gradually began to claim a place among the footsteps and breathing sounds.

“Clatter, clatter…”

Through speculation and judgment, Roy could confirm from the volume and texture of the strange sound that its source was indeed chains, and obviously made of some kind of metal.

Those metal chains were not far from these stairs, and apparently hadn’t been subjected to deliberate external force—they were just hanging in the air, swaying with the wind without touching the walls or ground.

Only…

Hearing that increasingly clear “clattering” sound, the captain couldn’t help but glance at the side wall, her brow furrowed tightly, unable to understand why metal chains would exist deep within the waterfall, and on a scale that sounded considerable.

Could it be that the interior of the great waterfall wasn’t solid, but possessed an extremely large space, either natural or artificially created? But then what were those chains…

Shifting her gaze back, the girl looked at the fluorescent steps beneath her feet that seemed to retreat endlessly, thinking silently as various words began flashing through her mind.

Chains, space—this easily brought to mind a cage.

But what kind of massive prison, what number of criminals, would require so many chains? And if people were imprisoned here, who would be responsible for their food and water?

Or perhaps those people were already dead?

Her dark golden pupils flickered constantly, the strange sounds reaching her ears became increasingly clear, as if the walls on both sides were thinning. Moreover, the sound had become much more muffled.

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As if it came from the seabed.

This sound… came from underwater?

Detecting the change in the strange noise, the captain became increasingly bewildered. The scene of an underwater prison appeared before her eyes, and she wondered if that massive cage had been submerged by rising seawater due to age and geographical changes?

But soon, the girl dismissed this possibility.

Although she didn’t know how long she had been walking, Roy could at least be certain that she should be at an extremely high elevation. No matter how much the seawater rose, it couldn’t possibly reach here. So there was only the possibility of natural formation due to the waterfall.

A cage filled with water was obviously not meant for imprisoning people.

Moreover, aside from gods and devils, no one could, or would have the intention to, construct such a terrifying prison at this extremely dangerous boundary of the world.

Having reasoned this far, the answer was already very clear.

The girl’s pupils flickered faster and faster—no, in fact that was no longer emotional change, but because within them, real light was flashing.

That blazing golden radiance, though weak, was still majestic.

Her thoughts were accelerating, vivid images flashed past like torrents before her eyes. Roy knew this was a manifestation of the great power within her responding to her.

It was a sign of moving from the great dream of night toward the dawn.

But she couldn’t be happy about it, not at all.

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Because of that increasingly close-to-truth speculation, and because that great power…

Wasn’t moving according to her will at all, but was flowing chaotically and irregularly. The higher she climbed, the more violent it became, giving one a sense of facing a great enemy.

Or rather, it was more like a stress response to an unknown threat.

But magical power wasn’t a living thing—logically, it couldn’t possibly have this kind of emotional manifestation. For this, the girl could only think of one somewhat possible explanation.

That this phenomenon was their fear of memories deeply carved into their bloodline.

Like the trembling sensation when living creatures encounter natural enemies.

The only difference was that the devil’s great power dared to bare its claws and fangs at that thing, dared to directly face that abyss-deep terror, rather than being timid as a mouse.

Ignoring that inexplicable oppression, Roy’s mind remained entirely focused on analyzing various clues. She was gradually approaching the truth through known intelligence and the vague, intermittent images brought by the great power.

Massive chains, filled with water, a giant prison within the waterfall, the conspicuous blank on the mural she had seen, the reliefs carved on the far northern ice tower.

And most importantly, the transcendent methods of gods and devils.

Everything converged in one place, constructing an extremely deep and oppressive scene.

Could what was imprisoned in this nameless giant prison at the world’s boundary be…

That immortal spirit that had escaped fate?

The mortal enemy of all civilization and life.

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The flickering in her pupils suddenly stopped, and at the same moment, the captain also halted her steps.

She slowly turned around, looking at the smooth, lustrous wall that had remained unchanged throughout the journey. She watched silently for a long time, and in her dark golden pupils, the previously star-fire-like flickering radiance not only didn’t gradually dim but became increasingly brilliant.

Roy could even faintly hear her own blood roaring as it flowed, together with that great power, and her heartbeat was abnormally loud and rapid.

But before this, she clearly felt her heartbeat pause for an instant, just like when she turned around and the great mist dispersed before her eyes, that terrifying specter…

Suddenly appeared before her!

“So you’re here, so…”

Thunder seemed to still linger in her ears. The captain’s memory was fixed on that mural depicting all spirits in the Acherousian Lighthouse. Below the dragon and octopus, among the numerous mountain-like giant creatures, there was no conspicuous blank space.

But rather a fierce portrait.

Massive as a great ship, black as deep night, several heads emerging from the sea surface in succession, exhaling putrid, sulfurous gases, with pupils like green sunsets.

Wherever that sinister, eerie light reached, all things withered, leaving only inescapable despair.

As if seeing through the portrait in her memory, through that ice wall of unknown thickness and the pitch-black, lightless water prison, to glimpse that massive being with tightly closed eyes, no breath, like a dead object, Roy felt even her heart being squeezed tight.

“It’s you.”

She rarely spoke to herself, completing her unfinished words.

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The next moment, pressure like a tide surged forth, making even her breathing much more difficult. But this wasn’t because of that thing behind the wall, but because she knew…

She had made a grave error.

The radiance in her eyes quietly extinguished at some unknown time, and all the scenes floating before the girl faded until they were invisible. Only then did she finally come to her senses.

Without trying to do anything, much less continuing to sink deeply into the mire of bewilderment, the captain turned around and began running urgently toward the heavenly direction.

No, it had been wrong from the very beginning.

Ignoring her increasingly rapid breathing, the girl ran like a madwoman, throwing all consequences behind her, as if trying to dilute the unease in her heart through this action.

The hidden guest lurking in the Triangle, the monster that dared to spy on gods and show hatred, Captain Edward’s sharpest and most terrifying claw—this trap…

The Lady’s words surfaced in her mind one by one. The captain unconsciously bit her teeth, silently blaming herself for how she could have taken lightly the possibility of “remnants from the old calendar.”

Yes, no matter how one looked at it, these descriptions didn’t match that ghost ship at all. She just never expected that the hidden piece her ancestor left here was not only a creature from the Dark Calendar, but an existence of that level.

Damn it, this kind of thing…

The sound of rain drew near. Roy’s pupils reflected dim skylight, and feeling the moist sea breeze coming toward her, she knew the exit should be close.

But she felt no relaxation at all, only cursing again and again in her heart.

How could she have listened to that devil’s words!