A loud crash jolted the silent night, rousing the inhabitants of the north-east, east, and south-east portion of Surtur. Among those roused by the loud crash were the soldiers of Laurel tasked to look after Marina and William.

“What was that?!” William exclaimed in surprise. Though the sound was far, the fact that crashing sound reached Surtur was the testament of the destructiveness of the source of the sound.

“What’s going on?” Marina asked. However, with the soldiers shuffling here and there, none were able to answer her question.

“…” In silence, Veight rose from his seat and exited the cabin.

Once Veight set foot outside, a question was hurled towards him.

“Do you have an idea?” Wearing an expression of distrust, Kanna asked with her arms crossed.

“None, so to speak.” Veight passed Kanna’s side and scanned the movements of the soldiers.

“If you’re planning on using this opportunity to escape, then I’d advise you to discard those ideas.” Kanna glared on Veight’s back. Kanna seemed to have bad blood when it came to Veight.

“Nothing of the sort. I myself am curious about the sound. It’s not common to experience to hear such.”

After Veight was brought to the captain of a nearby relian naval ship, he was made to wait for a day. The day after, the meeting was held in attendance with four different captains. Among those who attended was Kanna.

It was after a few days after Amelia vanished from Aves that Diane concluded that the mode of transportation used was highly unlikely to be land-based. Kanna’s continuous scouting from the air hastened the elimination of possible routes used by the perpetrators. That then sparked Kanna’s desire to fly over the sea of Formos.

 

Kanna’s suggestion was immediately shot down.

“Do forgive me,” Diane said. “By any means necessary, I want to find Amelia as soon as possible. However, just as I am her mother, I too am the Queen.”

Diane breathed a long sigh as she placed a hand on her forehead. “You see, Surtur is a disputed island. Although it is by no means a breach of the non-aggression treaty to send soldiers on the island, there is a limit. And by the limit, unfortunately, it only indicates the limit for soldiers and naval ships. Though it is a grey area when it comes to sending a wyvern knight, which we may categorize you, Laurel would be hard-pressed to explain the reason.”

“…Basically, I can’t use Birby.”

“Unfortunately so. And preferably, we’d like to keep what happened to Amelia a secret for now.”

Kanna nodded. “I understand. I’ll take the ship.”

“Hey, I have a question for you,” Kanna asked, following after Veight in order to keep him in check. “How can you keep that calm face?”

“…” Veight remained silent until they reached a cliff east of Surtur.

There they stood with around ten soldiers surveying the surroundings.

Everyone then stopped and found one thing unusual. It was the noticeable slapping of large waves against the cliffside. Although the change in size was noticeable, the number of large waves gradually diminished until the size normalized.

“Something happened on the sea.” Kanna’s guess was as good as anyone present. “But the problem is… where specifically…”

 

---

 

“AAAAAHH! AGH! AAAAAAAAGH!” Screams of pain echoed throughout the dark night. Bits of flesh and tints of red painted the surface of the sea.

Among the bits and pieces of broken wood were dead bodies. Some recognizable, while some, slabs of torn flesh. At the center of it all was the gigantic block of ice. On its sides were two halves of the ship gradually succumbing to the maws of the sea.

Among those wincing in pain was Darwin holding his left foot from the knee. He gritted his teeth and kept his head face-up, allowing himself to breathe without seawater entering his system.

“Ugh. Aaagh.” He leaned towards his back and maintained afloat. His fingers clutched the silk that covered his leg.

It’s over, Darwin thought. It’s over. I could live for a bit longer but in due time… it’s over.

Blood drained from his face. The freezing water encouraged his quick demise.

But this is fine. I can die at peace…

“Cap… tain…! Help…!”

I’m sorry, Drake… I can’t even move my mouth. A sad smile then found its way onto Darwin’s face. Ahh… I was going to quit. I was going to end it all after I get back… but this happened…

But yeah. This is fine. If I die here, my lips will be sealed tight. And none of what I knew would spread. I’d die with the Lord’s secrets down my grave. Still, it’s a stroke of luck. I’m sure he won’t hurt the family of a dead man. I could tell no tales, after all.

 

The thought of retiring entered Darwin’s mind as soon as he encountered Amelia.

It has turned this big… was what he thought then.

Darwin loathed his job. He disliked underhanded dealings and encounters with the black market. However, his sense of responsibility held him in place. That was then when Amelia entered the scene. Darwin’s sense was crushed. The degree of his dishonest job had turned into an international scale. It was what Darwin feared.

Darwin disliked the spotlight. More so the spotlight under infamy. It never gave him a peace of mind.

I’ll return home, tell everyone to leave, and resign my post. I’ve had enough.

But fate seemed to have a different plan in order to achieve what Darwin desired.

This… too… is fine. Darwin’s consciousness then succumbed to the darkness.

 

 

 

Slap!

Before Darwin completely resigned himself into the realm of the dead, a slap across his cheek jolted him back to reality. As he lifted the lids of his eyes, the same person who made him thought of resigning entered his field of view.

How…? Why…?

From what he could see, it seemed that Amelia was kneeling on the surface of the water.

“You can’t die yet.” Amelia pulled him up and caught him from underneath. “Your feet…”

Amelia expressed a frown upon seeing the state of Darwin’s feet. Her brows knit, she brought Darwin to a nearby boat and placed him perpendicular to the boat.

“I’m sorry, but please endure.”

Amelia made Darwin’s crushed foot extend out of the boat. She then unsheathed Dwight’s sword and cut off the crushed part of Darwin’s foot.

“Mfgh!” A muffled pain came from Darwin’s mouth.

“Hey, I found another one. His chances are… pretty high.” The voice came from Evelyn dragging an injured sailor as she swam. “I’ll leave him here. So get him into the boat.”

 

“Okay,” Amelia replied as Evelyn swam away in search survivors.

“Now then, Darwin, this won’t be fancy, but it’ll help you live.”

Amelia chanted. Fireball.

Then, leaving the ball of fire afloat, Amelia chanted once more. Heal.

Amelia touched Darwin’s feet and brought the fireball closer. The wound began to heal, and at the same time, burn. Amelia kept at it until the wound was cauterized. Afterward, the fireball vanished, and she continued using heal on Darwin.

“I apologize, but your feet could not return to normal. That level of a wound is beyond what ordinary magic could do.”

Amelia pushed Darwin further into the boat. “For now, take your time an rest. We’ll take care of things from here.”

Darwin, upon hearing those words, fainted.

As Amelia and Evelyn took rounds around the wrecked ship, they brought sailors into the boat Evelyn took out from her inventory. “I didn’t want to use this,” she muttered defiantly.

However, as the time passed by, the grimmer the frown both Amelia and Evelyn wore.

“It can’t hold any more than this,” Amelia said. “This is the most that we can save…”

Amelia scanned the surroundings once more. There were still a number of sailors who could be saved, but the boat had a limited capacity.

 

“We can’t do anything about it. We have to pick who gets to live and who doesn’t. I know it’s not a pleasant feeling… but this what it is.”

“I know,” Evelyn replied. “But being exposed to it hasn’t made me immune to the feeling. Not even once.”

An awkward silence ensued between the two.

“Still, it’s really convenient for you. You can walk atop the surface of the water while here I am swimming in the cold.”

“It is not my fault that you failed to prepare for such situations, or even prepare a tool that could.”

Evelyn exhaled. “But… it has gone quiet. Do you think that iceberg is the end of it?”

“…” Amelia kept silent. She raised her head and focused on the direction where the iceberg came from. “It seems… it isn’t over…”

“You’ve got to be kidding me! Hey! Help me step on the water too! I can’t do much while floating like this!” Evelyn’s jaws rattled, but her strength was far from sapped.

In return, Amelia shook her head. “The range won’t allow me to provide for two. If I pushed it, we’ll both end up as easy targets.”

 

Evelyn clicked her tongue while Amelia lightly pushed the boat away.

“But I’ll at least help you get towards that ice,” Amelia said as she reached her hand towards Evelyn.

“I know it’s me saying this, but what is this? A change of heart?”

“We can resolve our differences after this.”

“I’m in.” Evelyn clasped Amelia’s hand and was then pulled onto a newly manifested barrier. “It’s kind of scary… but it’s pretty stable. But this really is a unique way of using barriers.”

“Enough with that. He’s coming. So, hurry up.”

During the time they walked towards the iceberg, both wore nothing but grim expressions. Arms floated while wedged on a piece of plank. A torn torso floated with chips of wood embedded on its flesh. Pale heads floated like balls. It was a gruesome sight.

At the moment they reached the iceberg, Amelia suggested that Evelyn use her sword to keep her in place. Accepting Amelia’s advice, Evelyn pierced a sword she brought out into the ice and used it as a support.

“It’s kinda stylish. Using swords as footholds. Maybe if I used the idea, I can make a stairway of swords lobbed into a wall.” Evelyn grinned. “But first, it’s time to return the favor!”

Swords shot from Evelyn and bolted towards the guest. Shortly afterward, blood dripped from the floating guest.

 

“Heroes are, as always, troublesome.” The white-haired man with beastly feet covered his shoulder sliced by Evelyn’s sword.

“It really works.” A fearsome smile rose into Evelyn’s face. The simple technique she employed work unexpectedly well. “Guess we have chan—whoa!”

The surrounding water swirled, and the iceberg spun along.

“But no matter, wounds can be healed.” Just as he announced, his wounds glowed pale white and eventually, his wounds closed. “The same is true with illusions. It can be undone.”

Just as Amelia appeared beside the man, the man turned with his right fist raised. With a grin etched on his face, he muttered, “Take this as a lesson.”

Amelia unconsciously shifted into defense. However, as the man’s fist met Amelia’s blade, the blade snapped, and the fist connected with Amelia’s shoulder.

There was no time to utter a cry. Amelia was quickly sent from the sky down into the depths. Then, upon seeing Amelia vanish as quickly as she appeared, the man chuckled.

“It’s a pity, but you’ll have to bear what we kept bottled due to your ancestor.”

On the other hand, Evelyn, who saw the entire scene, shivered.

“Oh, God. Oh my God.” Despite her constant shivering, an unsteady grin was plastered onto Evelyn’s face. “Was it set to the hardest difficulty? Or is this one of those scenes where I have no choice but to die? Either way, fuck it. Why did you have to finish off the first hurdle I met?”

 

“Let’s see. Evelyn, was it?” The man crossed his arms and looked down. “Let me tell you one thing. One little truth that will light your heart aflame.”

Evelyn chuckled. “…And that is?”

“There is no second, third, or fourth life for you.” The man painted a wide, mocking smile on his face. “There was never a Hero in this world that had the ability to revive. And even if there was, by chance, it’s surely not applicable to you.”

“What is this madman saying?” Evelyn’s grin faltered. “And why do I have to listen to some NPC?”

“Aha! Ahahaha! This is why I like Heroes!”