What's happening?
Danitz couldn't believe what he was seeing.
This didn't shock him, but it left him inexplicably terrified. It was like jumping into a bucket filled with ice when drunk, feeling a bone-piercing chill permeate his body from the soles of his feet to his head.
What exactly happened? Why did things become so strange? Danitz took a breath, forcing himself to turn his head, and he chased after Gehrman Sparrow.
He found the crazy adventurer walking faster and faster, to the point where he had to run with small paces to keep up.
Crossing the street and through the alley, Danitz suddenly saw a greenish shadow fall from a tree.
Pa! Its body was covered in scales as it twisted its slippery body and had a triangular head. It extended its scarlet forked tongue and was none other than a rather long venomous snake!
Dogshit! Why would there be snakes in this season? Danitz wasn't afraid of such creatures. He had even roasted snake meat before, but it was the abnormality of everything that left him agitated.
Circling around the coiling snake, Danitz subconsciously looked left and right and found that on both sides of the gutter, in the corners of ruined houses, and on the insides of rusty water pipes, there were pairs of cold, vertical, and different-colored eyes looking out.
Danitz felt a chill run down his spine, as if his scalp had been pierced by a dense array of fine needles.
He didn't dare to stay any longer, nor did he dare to leave. He increased his speed again and followed closely behind Gehrman Sparrow.
Entering the Wind of Azure Inn, he couldn't help but look up as he walked up the wooden stairs, wanting to ask something.
Suddenly, his chest tightened and his breathing stagnated.
At that moment, it was as if he had dived into the bottom of the sea, being pressed down by the heavy torrents of water from every direction.
Whoosh!
Faintly, Danitz heard the rush of the tide and saw a faint, illusory light surround Gehrman Sparrow, as if it were forming an endless, bottomless blue ocean.
Within that ocean, there was an enormous azure-blue figure holding everything up. It resembled a tower.
This... Danitz's right foot stopped in mid-air, unable to lower his foot.
He wasn't unfamiliar with such feelings. Back at the last pirate convention, the King of the Five Seas, Nast, was even more imposing and terrifying than this. Almost all the pirates couldn't lift their heads, and even powerhouses at the admiral rank could only barely resist.
Danitz knew very well that it wasn't a result of Gehrman Sparrow's own powers.
If he was at the level of a demigod, there was no need to include the Mandated Punishers during his hunt of Steel Maveti!
Ocean... Tide... These two terms flashed through Danitz's mind, and he immediately thought of the matter of the Resistance's faith in Sea God Kalvetua.
C-could it be that Gehrman Sparrow suffered the Sea God's curse via an unknown process when he touched the bone sword? The devotee's corpse that lost all its moisture is one of the conditions for the curse's activation? When the carriage driver prostrated and kissed the ground, was it because he sensed the Sea God's aura?
Man... Gehrman Sparrow would probably die here today... Should I stay far away to avoid being implicated? At most—at the very most, I'll come back to collect his corpse...
It might still be possible to save him. I can use the Soulfall Ritual to seek Captain's help. She knows so many different kinds of odd secret techniques. She should be able to resolve this problem... No, Lord. The Soulfall Ritual has a requirement of being within 500 nautical miles. They're still en route, and it will take at least half a day to enter that range...
As he desperately tried to think of something, Danitz stopped panicking and treaded steadily into the luxurious suite with Gehrman Sparrow.
Klein still remained silent, but his dark brown eyes seemed to have a rich azure-blue color that was nearing the color of black.
He went straight to the bedroom and locked the door behind him.
Danitz stood outside, in a dilemma on whether to flee or save the man.
Inside the bedroom, Klein closed his eyes, waiting for the right opportunity.
Suddenly, he took four steps in a counterclockwise manner, chanting a statement with each step.
A wave of manic or high-pitched ravings rapidly rang in his ears as his Spirit Body shot up into the gray fog.
Without a sound, he heard an indescribable, shrill, and painful howl.
Klein appeared within the ancient palace, at the very end of the long, mottled table.
In the motionless gray fog below, an illusory, gigantic azure-blue sea serpent appeared.
It was located in an ancient dark ruin, coiled around a half-collapsed pillar. Its hideous head was raised, and its bloody mouth was wide open, revealing many curved fangs that were even longer than a human's forearm.
On its milky-white fangs, there were layers upon layers of flowing blood and mucus.
This sea serpent madly swung its tail, setting off terrifying waves and ridiculous ripples, causing the entire ruins to sway, as if it was about to collapse.
The scene rapidly shattered and dimmed. Regardless of how the unimaginably large sea serpent struggled, it was unable to turn the situation around. All it could do was let out a long, painful scream in agony as it was reduced to points of light before disappearing into the gray fog.
Klein sat in the high-back chair belonging to The Fool as he quietly watched everything. He didn't make any superfluous actions for a long time.
The gray fog silently spread out, and the scene seemed to return to its eternally unchanging state.
After nearly a minute, Klein leaned back in his chair, sighed, and said the serpent's name, "Sea God Kalvetua..."
After coming into contact with the bone sword, he had already felt the abnormality. And during his conversation with Baldy Kalat, he had keenly discovered that a tiny, weak but extremely cold and sinister energy had invaded his body at some point in time and was slowly corrupting his soul.
Klein made a prompt decision and turned around to leave. He then sensed that there was a connection between the sinister power and his surroundings. It gradually strengthened and slowly connected to an unknown place.
So, as he diverted attention to resist the corruption, he also controlled himself so as to not interact with his surroundings.
Klein believed that as long as he responded to the abnormality on his journey back, it would only serve to intensify the corruption, to the point of making irreversible.
At first, he wanted to find a nearby washroom and use the gray fog's shielding and isolation to remove the cold and sinister power, but after repeated considerations, he decided to leave the area. This was because there were many followers of the Sea God around, and it was extremely likely for an accident to happen.
During this process, Klein grasped another point, which was that if he dispelled it ahead of time, the power projected by Sea God Kalvetua would leave remnants in his flesh and blood. The consequences and effects would be unknown.
He had no choice but to patiently wait for the opportunity to ‘purify' himself by waiting for the cold and sinister energy to thoroughly permeate his spirit.
Reflecting on everything that had happened, Klein lightly rapped the edge of the table and muttered to himself, "It's not that strong..."
The Sea God's level was much lower than he had imagined!
His original plan was to use the method that had finished off Amon's avatar to deal with the Sea God Kalvetua's projection which was trying to take over his body. However, even before he had even fused with the Dark Emperor card or threw his paper angel, Kalvetua ended up being dispelled by the gray fog directly, without leaving a single trace.
On this basis, Klein concluded that Sea God Kalvetua's level was inferior to Blasphemer Amon—even though it was possible that the latter was more adept at intrusion, but it had only been an avatar.
Was it thrown off its pedestal by the Lord of Storms, or is it not even at the level of an angel. It's just a slightly stronger demigod that can respond to the prayers of its believers within a certain range? Klein recalled and found that Sea God Kalvetua was in an abnormal state.
The foundational existence of this evil spirit is rather weak, as though it can collapse at any moment...
Moreover, it felt like it had fused with the spirit world in the ruins it was in. And it's precisely as a result of this that it was able to escape the encirclement of the Church of Storms?
Klein leaned back in his chair and made a guess.
What happened today is definitely not a coincidence. It stems from Archaeologist Leticia's act of taking away some important artifact in the forgotten temple. It caused Sea God Kalvetua's condition to instantly deteriorate when it was already barely surviving. It made it impossible for it to hold on to its existence...
As it got its believers to track the item, it also prepared to possess another body for its survival. That bone sword should've originated from its demigod body, and it hides a bit of the power it projects. As long as the target is suitable, it will infiltrate the body of the person who touches it, corrupting the soul, and establishing the coordinates. It will then allow its spirit to be transferred over before it dissipates...
But clearly, it's not adept in such matters. Yes, it's not the Snake of Mercury. It's unable to create a closed-loop on itself for reincarnation. It's also not like Blasphemer Amon, who can be a parasite inside a person's soul. To really possess my body, it will directly cause its body to crumble and create a terrifying monster.
According to this logical development, the dying Kalvetua will likely engage in many crazy actions in the near future... Klein frowned. He didn't hesitate as he plummeted into the fog and returned to the real world.
He unlocked the door, opened it, and entered the living room, startling the pacing Danitz.
Danitz looked him up and down a few times and asked cautiously and warily, "Are... you alright?"
Klein maintained Gehrman Sparrow's persona and calmly replied, "It's settled."
Settled? Danitz looked around before glancing at the bedroom, wondering if he had been hallucinating, that there wasn't any Sea God curse.
What did he do in the bedroom? He was lifted from the curse of the Sea God in just a minute or two? Man, this guy has a huge secret... Danitz took two steps back and made way.
...
Beside a table covered with a significant number of miscellaneous items, the wheelchair-bound baldy, Kalat, wore a look of regret as he said to the tattooed man, "What a pity."
"Just a little more... He didn't pick it up, just touched it." Edmonton sighed as well.
Kalat looked at the slightly bent bone sword and fervently said to himself, "When an outsider picks up that holy sword, God will walk the land again..."
Edmonton fell to his knees as well, as though confessing to a deity.
As time passed, both Kalat and Edmonton suddenly heard two miserable shrieks.
They looked up and saw that two of their companions had collapsed. Their skin was like a weathered rock, having lost all the moisture in their bodies.
Kalat and Edmonton glanced at each other and felt a peculiar atmosphere.
Both of them stood up at the same time and looked at the table.
That milky-white holy sword cracked loudly, splintering into countless small pieces.
