Chapter 47: Journey to Grave Isles

We have five ships in this reinforcement group that I assembled. I assigned a captain for each boat, so my advisors and I are on different vessels.

Bon will command a ship on his own. The same goes for The Searcher.

Even though she tried to reject it again and again, I begged Lina to be a captain of her ship. She has Lea to support her. Then for the fourth ship, Souta, Alno, and Roln will command it.

The last ship in the middle of the formation is mine to command.

We brought at least 5500 various soldiers on this journey.

Five hundred of them were volunteer Treemen and Saplings from our new allies. I didn't ask the dwarves to help us out since they were still recovering from the previous war.

I appreciate the gesture of the Elder Trees to provide us these soldiers, so even if they can't fight underwater, I accepted their help.

We need someone to watch the ships anyways.

Since this will be the first time meeting the Zombie King, I have to make a strong impression.

I brought only the elites of my army. Tier 4's and above were the only ones that got aboard. I left the security of my kingdom to the Elder Trees and the Dwarves. I trust King Wargh to protect it in my place.

You could see Dread Knights and Skeleton Champions roaming around the ship. They were checking their equipment, chatting, and some were even planning for future battles.

It's a good thing because if they learned to think for themselves, ordering their every move isn't necessary anymore.

The Skeleton Mages are the ones in charge of all equipment and additional supplies (Arrows, S-Crystals, Spare Armor, and Weapons).

They make for good scribes too. I can't keep track of this many soldiers on my own.

Skeleton Marksmen makes sure that we don't get ambushed on the way to the Isles.

Skeleton Officer: "Lord Idmon. Good morning. You have a message from Lina's Ship."

Idmon: "(t)What is it?"

Skeleton Officer: "It says..."

Lina's message: "Lord Idmon! Can I go there now? I'll just have Lea take care of this ship so that I can guard you!"

Idmon: "(t) Tell her no. I'm sorry, this is an important part of the plan."

Skeleton Officer: "Yes, Milord, I'll relay the message."

Idmon: "(t) Any other news?"

Skeleton Officer: "Harat, the Zombie Emissary, told the captains that they should watch out for wild sea monsters near the Grave Isles. They are the common enemy in this area."

Idmon: "(t) Tell the guards to double their efforts on watch-"

RUUUGAHHHHhhHH!!!! (Splash!!!) Black snake-like creatures with spikes on their back were towering over our ship.

3 Sea Serpents suddenly appeared in front of my ship.

They are already on their way to ram their heads on the ship. I tried my best to conjure a spell that could stop them, but I won't make it!

!

I heard a voice coming from a ship on our east side. It was Lina's.

A massive appeared in front of the ship, which froze the Sea Serpents mid-air.

Then to finish them off, A group of Mages cast spells in unison to crush the ice along with the Sea Serpents.

The shattered ice and bodies of the Sea Serpent fell into the sea.

They did a great job defeating those Sea Serpents.

Just when I was about to signal "Thank you" to them, New serpents appear. Now, they come from all directions!

15 Sea Serpents were surrounding all of our five ships. Escape is not an option here; Each ship needs to fend for itself.

I boosted my spell so that I can relay orders quickly.

Idmon: "(t)Everyone, I need you to protect the ship that where I assigned you! We don't need help on our side, so make sure your ship don't sink! Okay!?"

The captains are nodding their heads. I could see it even from afar except for Lina.

Idmon: "(t) Lina, please. It's an order from your King."

Lina: "All right!"

She still looked angry, but she followed my orders.

Before those Sea Serpents lunge their head towards our ship, I ordered my men to release a volley of arrows. The element that they are using for the bolts is the Dark element (Negative Energy).

It's effective against any living things except for the Holy elements.

SSssssshhh. Rahhhh!!! Parts of their skin were falling off. The mercilessly bury themselves into the exposed insides of the Sea Serpents.

By the way, these guys are twice as large as our ships. Each ship is big enough to accommodate 1500 soldiers.

The Sea Serpents hiss and roar as we bombarded them with countless arrows. One of them launched a counterattack by using .

Green fog covered the ship. The barrage continued because no one was affected. The poison was a strong one, but it can't harm undead.

While the Sea Serpents were continuing their poison assault, I ordered the Mages on my ship to focus spells on the Sea Serpent that spit poison.

! !

Various spells hit the open mouth of the Sea Serpent. It was still breathing its and was caught off-guard.

It fell. As soon as the Sea Serpent sink into the sea, the other two went berserk.

They used their tails to hit and shake the ship.

The warriors who couldn't do anything to help, held tightly on wooden posts and heavy objects just to stay on board.

Idmon: "(t) Men! Cut their tails off!"

Once I gave out the order. The soldiers who were staying on the ground stood up quickly and stabbed their weapons on the tails of the Sea Serpents.

The tails were trying to entangle the ship and strangle it until the soldiers destroyed it.

Guuuhhh!!!! Hahhhh!!!! Hsssssssssss!!!!!!!!

They were hurt and quickly responded with headbutts on the ship's hull.

Woah!

The ship rocked dangerously.

A few men around 20 fell off the ship. We can't get them as long as these guys are still present.

Before we got hit by another headbutt, I release a spell to take them down.

..... !

A large black hole formed in the air, Huge bone spears came out from it and flew towards the Sea Serpents.

I had been storing a lot of bones in the , and it turns out that I can use them for spells.

The spears effortlessly pierced the heads of the Sea Serpents and taking them down. I exerted additional negative energies to boost the damage of the spell, and it worked.

I would love to get a Bone Serpent, but that'll have to wait for now. I checked out the situation of the others.

Bon was handling himself just fine. He's using spell to keep the Sea Serpents disoriented while the others cast various spells to keep them off the ship.

You could see lightning and fire spells blasting in different directions from that ship.

As for The Searcher's ship, The Searcher himself was fighting the Sea Serpents at melee range.

He would blast them with to stun them for a few seconds while he goes in for the kill.

The swift Sina handled the other Sea Serpents. She was darting from one Sea Serpent to another, leaving a trail of elements in her wake.

She would slice the top of the head of a Sea Serpent and run with her daggers still stabbed to make the wounds even larger.

With Lina, tt was always a frozen wonderland. You could see two Sea Serpents frozen in place while the last one being frozen slowly from tail to the head.

The Sea Serpent tries to launch a counterattack but got denied by a spiked . She cast it that way so that the spell would impale its head.

And for Souta's group, He had two remarkable close-range fighters (Roln and Alno) with him and also the Dread Heroes on that ship.

The Dread Heroes would repel the incoming attacks (headbutts and tail whips) of the Sea Serpents by sending them back with a massive hammer smash or a powerful spell.

Then Souta would finish the dazed Sea Serpents with his excellent marksmanship.

His would stick deep into the body of the Sea Serpent and spread thorny vines inside, severely wounding the victims.

Roln and Alno would step on top of the Sea Serpents when they got near and smashed it until it was dead or unconscious.

After 5 mins, we finished off the ambushers.

Idmon: "(t) Good wor-!"

But before I finished my sentence, new Sea Serpents appeared again. One went in my direction and quickly swallowed me.

What is this!? It was dark and slimy inside. The toxic wastes inside the Sea Serpent were slowly damaging me and my armor. I need to get out of here.

!

I blast a hole in the stomach of the Sea Serpent.

Suddenly a gush of water came in and flooded the place. We were already underwater! I didn't think it would bring me deep into the sea after it swallowed me.

I tried to swim my way out of the carcass of the Sea Serpent, but to no avail.

The force of the water was too strong.

While I was struggling to get out of there, the Sea Serpent carcass violently crashed into the ocean floor.

Ughfff!

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(After a few minutes)

I got dizzy from all the bumps and crashes. To calm myself, I sat inside for a while. I can stay underwater without the need to breathe anyway.

Once I got my bearings, I walked towards the hole and outside of the body of the Sea Serpent.

It was dark here since light from outside can't reach this deep into the ocean. The water was dark and murky anyways.

I used to detect nearby creatures. If I would get strong feedback, it could be dangerous.

Luckily, only small life forms were detected, fish and some other sea creatures.

Now, how do I get out of here?

Weak voice: "Ove... re.."

Hmm?

Loud voice: "Over here!"

What was that?

I turned to the direction where the voice was calling me; There was a light from a distance.

Hmm. It can't be a trap, so I made my way over there. As I was getting closer to the light, the area looks like it's a cave, and the source was inside it.

The voice stopped calling out too, so I must be in the right direction.

If this were a trap, then they wouldn't call out to me. Just led me there with the light.

Idmon: "(t) Hello...?"

I tried to send a telepathy message to any living things in this cave. The response was quick.

Girl: "Oh! Glad to see you have made it!"

Huh?

A small girl covered in scales appeared in front of me. She had a humanoid fish-like body with the face of a young girl. She had black hair and green eyes. Was her skin kind of light blue?

Small Mermaid: "Hey! Are you listening!?"

Idmon: "(t)... Huh?"

Small Mermaid: "Be my servant!"

WHAT!?

Idmon: "(t) Wait a minute. Wait a minute! How did that happen?"

Small Mermaid: "You weren't listening!? I said you owe me your life, so pay your debt and be my servant!"

Idmon: "(t) That doesn't make sense. What did you save me from?"

Small Mermaid: "Look outside."

Just outside, yellow eyes same as the Sea Serpents were moving around in the darkness. Its head was too big to enter the cave where I was hiding.

Small Mermaid: "See? There are a lot of them out there, and if you can't see a thing, how could you even hope to fight back?"

Idmon: "(t) Okay, okay. I see your point. But let's downgrade your reward into me doing you a favor."

She thought long and hard about this. If she doesn't accept, then this might get ugly. I don't like slaughter without reason.

Small Mermaid: "Hmmm... As long as you do your part until the end of the job."

Idmon: "(t) Of course."

As soon as I get to the surface, it's goodbye for us. Hehehe.

Small Mermaid: "Why does your face looks like you're going to leave me!?"

Idmon: "(t) Nonono. I'm a skeleton, right? It looks the same every day since I started existing!"

Small Mermaid: "Oh... right. If that's the case, let's get on our way!"

Idmon: "(t) Yes, Ma'am ... What is your name, by the way?"

Small Mermaid: "Tsk tsk tsk... You can't be like that! You have to know your master's name!"

Idmon: "(t) Huh?"

Small Mermaid: "You name me!"

Idmon: "(t)Ah, what about Rina-"

Rina: "Yes, Rina! It's Rina!"

Idmon: "(t) Rina. Okay."

What the heck, so she does have a name. And I got it right.

So I become an errand boy for the time being,

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(Bon POV)

Bon: "You back-stabbing zombie!"

I grabbed Harat by the shoulder.

This mission was a setup! Those Sea Serpents were lying in wait for us.

Harat: "Why. would we even. do that?"

He pushed me away quickly.

Harat: "There's nothing... to gain for us even if... your whole army gets swallowed by the ocean. We need allies... not more enemies."

Bon: "Grr..... How do we retrieve him now? He's sure to be at the bottom of the ocean."

Harat: "We just hope... that he finds his way... to Grave Isles... even if he has to walk the ocean floor..."

It's okay if that's the case, but how can he even tell the directions down there?

Lina diving into the water is not helping out either. She left her ship under Lea's command. Good thing, she stayed there.

I admire Lina's desire to save our Lord Idmon, but she won't be able to do anything if she rushed in blindly like that.

Bon: "The Searcher!"

I call out to him. The ships have already set sail again to continue the journey to Grave Isles.

Lord Idmon's command was for us to go there, so we need to finish that first and rethink our next step.

The Searcher: "Yes, Head Wizard?"

Bon: "Do you have any ideas on how to rescue Lord Idmon?"

The Searcher: "I'm still thinking. Check on me later. If I find a way with , I'll come to you right away."

He went back to his ship.

Earlier, Souta also tried to jump in the water, but luckily, I was able to stop him.

We can't lose another commander; He wouldn't be able to do much underwater anyways.

Maybe. Just maybe. This dilemma would be the best time to introduce my experimental idea.

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(Lina POV)

I went underwater as soon as I saw Lord Idmon go down.

Without slowing down, I made my way to the ocean floor. I froze any Sea Serpents I encountered, and they broke into pieces when they crashed on the ocean floor.

Now that I'm here-

Lina: "I can't see anything..."

I tried to feel the area around me. If there are any movements, physical or spiritual, I would be able to detect them.

There's nothing.

Lina: "Lord Idmon!"

I shout as loud as I can.

GRRHHHKKK!!!!

Three Sea Serpents appeared. I couldn't even sense them approach me.

!

The Sea Serpents were entombed in ice before they could do anything.

Now to finish it.

!

I enchanted my arms with indestructible ice. My arms smashed the Sea Serpents into pieces.

Their parts were slowly falling on the ocean floor.

It's a good thing I'm a ghost, so my movements aren't hindered.

I should probably avoid shouting for now. No matter how much I wanted to find Lord Idmon quicker, I'll have to look slowly.

!

This skill produces some light. I had it float around me to see what's in front of me, at least.

How wrong was that decision?

A considerable number of Sea Serpents suddenly appeared. Oh my, that was stupid.

They were going to crash their heads into me all at once.

Lina: "I won't die here!"

!

I summon huge ice spikes and icy orbs with my spell. It impaled the Sea Serpents one by one.

The orbs would hit the open mouths of the Sea Serpents, exploding inside and freezing their head.

Even though I could avoid physical attacks, these things were magical creatures that add magic to their attacks naturally.

They have Magic fangs and alike.

Huff. I can't cast a lot of spells now. The place looked like a graveyard for Sea Serpents.

I impaled around 30 of them in huge ice spikes. Some who had frozen heads crashed into the ocean floor.

Of course, I removed the after the battle.

Lina: "Where do I go now?"

As I was thinking of what to do, I saw a faint light from a distance.

Could it be Lord Idmon!?

I quickly float towards it and what I saw was-

Suprised voice: "Ahh!!"

It was a ghost—someone who probably drowned in these waters.

Lina: "What are you doing here?"

The place turned out to be an underwater cave with glowing rocks.

Ghost: "I don't know... I've been here for hundreds of years. I just stay out of the way of those snakes, Like my fellow sisters."

Lina: "Sisters?"

Ghost: "Yes."

Lina: "Where are they?"

Ghost: "There were a lot of us around here before... but the big snake ate most of them..."

Lina: "I see..."

Ghost: "I got lost and was trying to find them. Are you a ghost too? Maybe a banshee?"

Lina: "I'm an Ice Witch."

Ghost: "Oh... There was something like that. That explains the ice all over you. Would you like to come with me?"

Lina: "Well... I'm lost too; I may as well go with you for now."

Wahi: "Hehehe... I'm Wahi! My big sister Nanu knows this area well. You can ask her for directions later!"

Lina: "That's good. I'm Lina."

She nodded and continued floating to her destination. I floated right behind her.

Lina: "By the way, Wahi?"

Wahi: "Yes?"

Lina: "How come you and your sisters were this deep underwater? Did you drown or come from a sunken ship?"

Wahi: "Ship? No. We were mermaids."

Lina: "What?"

Wahi: "Before... When the seas were calm. No snakes were killing us and eating the other sea creatures.

We would sing and provide good luck to any ships that passed this area."

Lina: "What happened?"

Wahi: "Suddenly something dark covered the sea. Before light from the sun can reach this deep when the waters were crystal clear, the darkness made the waters tainted.

We couldn't survive anymore. Maybe it's also the reason we turned into ghosts."

Hmm. I didn't expect Wahi to be a mermaid. She was beautiful and had long hair.

She only had her upper body as a ghost. She glowed somewhere between blue and green.

Lina: "That darkness... Do you know what caused it or where it came from?"

Wahi: "We're not sure... But there were these weird sea monsters that suddenly settled in this area. They were scary and killed us if we were seen.

They had somewhat-human bodies and fish-like heads."

Lina: "Hmm... That sounds awfully familiar to our enemies, which we need to defeat."

Wahi: "You're going to defeat them!? That's the best news we could have!"

Lina: "Our army is above water, but we don't know the area here... I was wondering if you and your sisters could help us."

Wahi: "Of course! We were never strong enough to fight back, but we'll help you out as much as we can! I'm sure my sisters feel the same!"

I went with her for now.