Zeke clutched his throbbing head and said, "...Richmond, I told you to repair the ship, not turn it into some Demon Realm warship like this."
Richmond, with a proud expression, replied, "Hehe, isn't it magnificent? I put a lot of effort into it to preserve your dignity, Master."
Unlike the oblivious Richmond, Bane caught Zeke's darkening expression and quickly moved to his side, saying, "Master! I tried to stop Senior Richmond somehow, but he said this was what you'd like..."
Bane was already abandoning Richmond with excuses to save himself.
Zeke pointed to the ice blades densely embedded along the ship's side and the massive ice horn decorating the bow. "Bane, why did you attach something like that to the ship?"
Bane then clacked his skeletal jaws and said, "Well, I thought at least with those attached, it could cover up Senior Richmond's grotesque bones, so I added them to make it look cool!"
It seemed one odd taste had tried to hide another odd taste, leading to this disaster.
'It was my fault for entrusting it to these Nirvana natives who were so distant from common sense.'
Zeke sighed and hopped up onto the ship.
The interior was more ordinary deck space than expected.
'Well, it was better than a rowboat, at least.'
Composing himself positively, Zeke deployed the Chamber of Wind Power to move the ship toward the sea.
Splash!
Riding the wind, the ship advanced into the ocean.
Even though they hadn't strayed far from the coast as the fishermen had said, the waves crashed fiercely, rocking the vessel.
True to its name, the Storm Sea Region brought winds strong enough to capsize the ship.
'The wind was blowing against us, so the ship wasn't advancing.' Zeke furled the sails and, after a long time, summoned Nahuel.
Grrruru...
The summoned Nahuel let out a pleased cry toward Zeke.
"Nahuel, I'm sorry to put you to work right after summoning you. I need your help to break through this storm."
Nahuel nodded at Zeke's words and pulled the ship, pushing through the waves and wind.
At that moment, a message appeared before Zeke's eyes.
[Stabilizing the rough sea with the title Glory of the Sea God.]
[The title Grace of the Divine Beast links with the spirit beast Nahuel. The range of Glory of the Sea God expands.]
[The title Blessing of the Fairies extends the corresponding stabilization range.]
Thanks to the abilities of the titles Zeke possessed, the waves around his ship calmed, and the winds didn't blow as fiercely.
This allowed Nahuel to pull the ship more easily.
'Good. Who knew the titles would be effective here.'
It seemed they could reach Storm Castle more smoothly than anticipated.
The ship, led by Nahuel, swiftly advanced toward the Storm Sea Region.
Zeke decided to spend the time until arrival meditating in the cabin.
Closing his eyes in meditation and searching for clues to advance to a new realm, Zeke suddenly felt an odd premonition and snapped out of his trance, opening his eyes wide.
'What was it?'
He immediately went up to the deck.
By this time, dawn should have broken, but thick storm clouds blanketed the sky, leaving the surroundings still pitch black.
Thanks to the titles, the area around Zeke's ship was unaffected by the Storm Sea Region, but beyond that, the waves churned wildly amid the raging winds.
Zeke carefully scanned the surroundings and spotted an island beyond the rough waves.
'Was that Storm Castle?'
The ship, led by Nahuel, gradually approached the visible island.
But then.
Rumble...
Something began rising from beneath the turbulent sea.
'Something was coming up.'
Feeling an ominous aura, Zeke drew Bahamut.
Roooaaar!
It was a horrific roar, as if resounding from the depths of hell.
Along with it, a colossal something emerged above the surface.
"An octopus?"
What rose from the sea was an octopus leg so enormous its size was impossible to gauge.
Each one stretched upward like a tower, surrounding Zeke's ship on all sides and standing rigidly.
If those legs slammed down on the ship right now, even with the titles' protection, it might not withstand it.
Zeke raised his mana, staring at the towering octopus legs.
'No way this was the monster from the Storm Castle legend.'
The beast that, banished to the island by the Hero King for breaking its promise, summoned fierce storms.
Zeke tensed as he gazed at the gigantic legs of the incomprehensible monster.
Then, another message appeared before his eyes.
[Unrecognized system accessing the administrator system.]
[Requesting authorization code.]
[Searching for relevant code entries.]
[Extracting the system's authorization code from the title One Blessed by the Ancient Dragon.]
[Updating authorization code.]
[Accessing the city's system.]
[Connection successful.]
[Welcome, Administrator. We greet your arrival to the deep-sea city Rʼlyeh, abode of the
Constellation Master of the Great Dream.]
'Deep-Sea City Rʼlyeh.'
Zeke recalled the Golden City Blanca where Hades had been imprisoned.
Like Blanca, this was an ancient city protected by a constellation—the true identity of Storm Castle.
With the message, a massive portal appeared before the island.
Whoooong!
Richmond and Bane, watching beside Zeke, alternated fearful glances between the enormous octopus legs and the portal.
"M-Master. Something's wrong here."
"It's a place of unknown identity. It might be better to turn back..."
Ignoring the frightened liches' opinions, Zeke steered the ship straight into the portal.
"Eek! M-Master!"
"A-Are we dying like this?!"
Bane, already a lich and thus dead, uttered nonsense.
The ship entered the portal and vanished in an instant.
At the same time, the massive octopus legs sank back into the sea.
*
'Huh?'
Having passed through the portal, Zeke opened his eyes in an unfamiliar space.
It was not the ship he had been riding, but an entirely new place.
The surroundings were enclosed in transparent glass, and outside was, astonishingly, an underwater scene.
Vibrant, multicolored marine creatures and beautiful coral reefs created a fantastical yet alien spectacle.
'Where was this?'
Zeke first tried to sense traces of his summons Richmond and Bane, but detected nothing at all.
Nahuel was the same, so he surmised this was no ordinary space.
'Had I entered a mental world? Or... like the Inverted Tower, it might have been a unique domain.'
At that moment, someone approached Zeke.
"Zeke Draker, I'm truly sorry to have brought you all this way." A tall man in gray robes appeared.
His face was hidden by the hood, but his voice and manner conveyed the weight of age.
"Come, sit over here."
As he spoke, a table appeared where there had been nothing.
Not only its sudden appearance, but the material—neither metal nor wood, something entirely unfamiliar—left Zeke still unable to guess the nature of this place.
Once seated, Zeke said to the man, "Are you the leader of the Highlander?"
The man nodded. "Yes. I am the one who, through Nabu—or rather, the Hermit of Stories —expressed a desire to meet you."
Zeke had heard the name of the Hermit of Stories for the first time from the leader but showed no outward reaction.
As the leader extended his hand, a teapot and teacups appeared on the table.
He poured steaming tea into the cup.
Once the tea was poured, the cup automatically moved to Zeke's position.
Zeke stared at the steaming teacup, then sniffed its aroma, savored it, and took a sip.
"The tea is very good."
At Zeke's words, the leader also sipped his tea and nodded. "It's a variety you can't taste in this era."
"This era... So this space is in a past time period?"
The leader shook his head. "Manipulating timelines is Chronos's unique authority. Even I cannot touch that."
Zeke had asked out of faint suspicion, but the Highlander's leader astonishingly even knew of Chronos's authority over time.
'Just what was his identity?'
The leader set down his teacup and looked at Zeke. "The reason I called you here is not only to see you in person but also to seek your cooperation in stopping the events currently unfolding on the continent."
Zeke looked at the leader and said, "I thought the Highlander was an organization that hunted magical beasts."
The leader shook his head. "Hunting magical beasts is not our only task. The
Highlander's purpose is to maintain the balance of the phenomenal world."
"The balance of the phenomenal world? Why does the Highlander do such a thing? I understand you're not operating the organization for any particular gain."
"Gain... That's a very relative and human-centric concept."
With a wave of his hand, a continental map appeared above the table.
Not only the central continent, northern continent, and southern continent, but even the eastern continent across the sea appeared.
The leader, looking at the map, said, "We have been pursuing Narak for a very long time. Since the Demon King was sealed, his followers have hidden in the shadows of the world, waiting for their moment."
Zeke was startled upon hearing the leader's words.
'Had the Highlander existed continuously since the time of the Demon King's sealing?' Zeke hadn't realized the Highlander's history extended that far.
But recalling the transcendent strength of his mentor Nigel, it made some sense.
With another wave of his hand, black spots appeared in various places on the continent.
Narak's flock found the world's cracks and burrowed into them. Greed, desire, jealousy, sloth—all negative emotions served as good fuel for them. Narak used this to fracture the world and incite conflict.
"So the Highlander has been thwarting even Narak's schemes?"
"Indeed. We go by many names. One of them is connected to your mother,
Laura Agamemnon."
Zeke's eyes wavered as he listened to the leader's words.
"No way... Was the Dawn Society also an organization of the Highlander?"
"As I said, our goal is to balance the phenomenal world. The activities of the Dawn Society are merely one part of what we do. Hunting magical beasts or guarding forbidden areas falls under the same context."
Zeke hadn't anticipated that the Dawn Society shared the same roots as the Highlander.
He said to the leader, "Then, is the Highlander's ultimate goal the complete annihilation of the Demon King?"
At those words, the leader fell silent for a moment.
Then, he slowly opened his mouth. "The complete annihilation of the Demon King... In terms of maintaining the balance of the phenomenal world, one could say so." Zeke felt a slight fatigue from the leader's enigmatic conversational style.
Perhaps sensing that, the leader looked at Zeke and said, "Zeke Draker, from what I've seen, you have clear goals and move toward them precisely and efficiently. That's an advantage I lack. Having lived too long, I tend to overthink and hesitate, missing opportunities."
He paused as if organizing his thoughts, then spoke again. "That's why I want to entrust this task to you."
"What task?"
With another wave of his hand, a three-dimensional image of a certain figure appeared above the table.
A man wearing a black robe.
Zeke, looking at the image, asked the leader, "Who is this?"
The leader slowly opened his mouth. "He is Narak's high priest."
Zeke furrowed his brow and glared at the high priest of Narak rendered in three dimensions.
The leader continued. "He has led Narak for a long time and built its current forces. We of the High Table, including myself, have tried to stop him by combining our strength, but since most of us are restricted in our movements, we couldn't properly block him."
"So this high priest is the one joining hands with Siemens to revive the Demon King?"
"Yes. He has long been obsessed with the power of immortality. His goal was to obtain the Book of the Lion, where the Demon King's power is sealed, and create immortals." As he listened to the leader's words, something flashed through Zeke's mind.
'Immortals? Immortal creation experiment...'
The report on the immortal creation experiment involving near-forbidden human transmutation was content he had seen in Nirvana's system information.
At that moment, the leader spoke. "The identity of Narak's high priest is Harvey West.
Once a genius doctor and one of Nirvana's necromancers."