"A warship?"
Silas frowned as he looked at that formidable, armor-plated vessel.
As the distance closed, the details of the warship grew clearer.
On its bridge flew the flag of the Intis Republic, and the sailors bustling about on deck wore uniforms mostly white, trimmed with gold at the collar and cuffs. This was the standard uniform of the Intis navy.
The Sea of Fog fell within Intis's sphere of influence, so encountering that nation's navy here wasn't strange in itself.
But running into their warship in this exact stretch of water, at this exact moment when he was searching for the Black King, felt like too much of a coincidence.
Something felt subtly off to Silas.
He soon noticed that the sailors weren't simply out sailing.
At the center of the deck stood a group of clergy in white priestly robes, holding complex instruments, observing the surrounding fog while recording something.
What were these people up to?
Silas thought to himself, dropping altitude and diving toward the warship.
He meant to land on the deck, take control of these people, and get a clear answer out of them.
But just as he was descending, his dive suddenly and sharply halted, and he found himself stopped dead in the air, dozens of meters above the ship.
"Whoosh!"
Violent currents of air churned and howled around him, but his gaze stayed fixed on the space just ahead.
Now that he was closer, he realized there was something surrounding the warship.
It was a thin, transparent membrane, wrapping the ship on every side, enclosing it completely. The membrane carried a faint tinge of gold, nearly invisible amid the fog. Had it not been for his spirituality's instinctive warning, he would have run straight into it.
Truthfully, the membrane offered no real protection; had Silas wanted to, he could have broken through it instantly. But he could sense an invisible power within it, as if it were some kind of pact, binding it to a powerful Beyonder somewhere.
As an expert in ritual matters, Silas knew perfectly well that this type of pact-based ritual was the most troublesome kind. If he touched the membrane, he would inevitably be detected by whoever was hidden behind it.
"Damn it..."
he couldn't help but curse under his breath.
With the situation still unclear, recklessly exposing himself would be unwise, especially when he had important business to attend to. After weighing it for a moment, he let the warship go for now and continued on toward his original destination: Aroca Island.
The sea wind howled past Silas's ears as he flew at high speed, his expression somewhat heavy.
This journey to find the Black King might not go as smoothly as he'd hoped.
The Sonia Sea, on the outskirts of the God-war Ruins, within the sheltered harbor of a hidden island.
A massive sailing ship lay anchored in a pool of crimson liquid, nearly two hundred meters in total length, its bow and stern rising high like the two tips of a crescent moon.
Its hull was painted pure black, with three tiers of cannon ports arranged along each side, its deck jutting outward, its mast towering high. It wasn't built like the three-masted ships currently in fashion; the entire vessel had only a single mast, from which flew a sail emblazoned with a black tombstone.
The flagship of Agalito, the King of Immortality: the Death Announcer!
This massive, ominous ship sat soaking in that pool of crimson. Though it was daytime, the vessel, lurking in shadow, looked utterly dreadful, striking a chill straight into the heart.
Numerous other ships were anchored around the Death Announcer, clustering around it like servants attending a king. This was the fleet of Agalito, the King of Immortality, undergoing repairs and resupply in this sheltered harbor.
An eerie stillness filled the harbor.
What was strange was that the ships weren't empty. On the decks, in the cabins, pirates filled every vessel, from the Death Announcer itself, down to the somewhat smaller escort ships, to the small vessels at the outer edge. Every ship had people aboard, and not one of them was speaking.
Every pirate faced the Death Announcer in unison, heads bowed, displaying their loyalty.
"Hiss..."
The whole harbor was suffused with that vivid crimson. Suddenly, the liquid began to change. Its surface started to vaporize, rising up and gradually spreading through the air of the entire harbor.
Bathed in the bloody mist, the pirates' faces twisted into expressions of contorted pleasure.
At that moment, something like a red glow seemed to flicker within their bodies, drawing the mist inward. It made their condition grow ever more horrifying, as though they had shed the bounds of humanity and become servants of devils.
That dreadful silence was suddenly broken.
"Splash..."
The sound of churning water rang out, and a far smaller, three-masted ship appeared at the mouth of the harbor.
At the bow of the three-master, a translucent figure emerged out of the void, gradually solidifying. He wore a worn tricorn hat, his eye sockets sunken, his face pale, with two black tufts of mustache above his lip.
The Admiral of Blood, Senor.
"Shhk!"
All the pirates, who had been bowing their heads to savor the bloody mist, opened their eyes and raised their heads at once, turning to look at the uninvited guest who had barged into their demonic gathering. Cruel, cold malice swirled in their eyes as they sized up the pirate admiral, seeming already prepared to make him the newest sacrifice of this gathering.
"My regards to you, great Death Announcer, and to the King of Immortality."
As though entirely unaware of those terrible gazes, the Admiral of Blood brought his ship to a stop a few dozen meters from the black single-masted vessel, removed his tricorn hat and pressed it to his chest, bowing his head to them.
"I come on behalf of the Rose School of Thought, to discuss cooperation with you."
Senor forced his throat under control, keeping the tremor out of his voice. As master of his own ship and a mid-ranking member of his sect, it had been a long time since he'd felt fear this pure.
"Do you want a great many sacrifices? Do you want defiled souls? If our sect's scheme succeeds, none of that will be a problem."
He went on, his hand tightening unconsciously around his hat, inside which was hidden a life-saving item left to him by the demigod Shanks. Should this dreadful Oathbreaker show any sign of strange behavior, he would activate it at once.
Agalito, the King of Immortality, sat upon the deck, his face even paler than Senor's, so pale it seemed like that of a living corpse. He turned his gaze toward Senor, the Admiral of Blood, without much expression.
"Come aboard. Tell me the details."
Agalito said. "I find myself somewhat interested in this topic."
"Heh, never mind that."
Senor gave a dry laugh, wariness filling his eyes. "I think it'll do just fine if we talk right here."
Their Mother Tree had long since warned them about the uncanny nature of this ship.
He had no intention of ending up like those pitiful pirates, made into servants of the Death Announcer.