Chapter 178 – God Has Spoken (6)

Unfortunately, the cloud pillar covering the island did not disappear completely.

Only where the Horizon entered did the clouds part, creating a kind of tunnel.

The ship slowly entered the tunnel where the clouds had parted.

The windless passage the Horizon entered had almost no wind and the waves were calm, but inside the clouds that looked like fog right next to them, it truly looked like hell.

Inside the gray clouds that appeared like mist, a tremendous storm was raging.

The driving rain and wind, waves tens of meters high, and striking lightning created a sight that seemed even more terrifying compared to the quiet passage.

“Do the gods have no intention of opening the island?”

Sun-woo, leaning against the railing at the stern, looked at the waterway the ship had passed through and frowned.

The passage connecting to the outside was gradually being covered by clouds. The passage was disappearing in sync with the ship’s movement.

Fortunately, the crew and the group hadn’t noticed the rear passage disappearing.

They were frightened by the hellish sight inside the clouds.

The crew trembled and stared intently only at the front of the passage.

The group looked in the same direction with the same fear.

Of course, rather than fear, they were looking toward the island with anticipation of seeing the legendary island that had been hidden for so long.

In the windless passage, the ship slowly moved forward.

After moving like this for quite a while, the Horizon was able to exit the cloud pillar.

“Wow!”

Before the group spread a massive island surrounded by a cloud pillar.

The massive island that didn’t appear very high was strangely full of green forests.

And around the island, the cloud pillar encircled it. The sight made it seem as if the island was in the center of a giant typhoon’s eye.

Sun-woo looked at the green forest and tilted his head.

“How was a green forest possible? There would have been insufficient light because of the clouds.”

“It must be magic, or the power of the ancient gods said to be here.”

Van Shingwan answered Sun-woo’s words. It was an answer befitting someone living in a world with magic and gods.

It certainly felt like an unscientific answer, but since this world operated that way anyway, Sun-woo just accepted it for now.

As the ship gradually approached the island, the frightened crew’s eyes began to sparkle.

This was a legendary island that had been inaccessible for ages.

According to the numerous legends and stories passed down, countless treasures were waiting for people throughout the island.

“Let me out too! I’m sorry! I’ll behave!”

As if thinking the same thing, the captain’s voice locked in the cabin below deck could be heard noisily.

“So what should we do with these people?”

When a sandy beach suitable for landing came into view in the distance, Sun-woo pointed at the crew and asked.

“We could press their pressure points to put them to sleep, tie them up, or make them fish food.”

At Sun-woo’s calm words, the crew froze in place.

After the technique that made people rigid and running on water to blow away the Sea Serpents with a single sword strike, the crew became terrified whenever Sun-woo opened his mouth.

Moreover, this was about their own future.

When Sun-woo spoke, even the captain’s voice shouting from the cabin could no longer be heard.

“Killing them is awkward… and we might need them when we return. If we tie them up or use that hardening thing, we don’t know how long it will take and they’d be perfect to starve to death.”

At Daniel’s answer, everyone began pondering, but even when the ship arrived at the point where it should anchor, no conclusion was reached.

Eventually, Sun-woo had to step forward again.

“Then let’s just warn them and tell them to guard the ship. The exit is blocked anyway, so they can’t go anywhere else.”

At Sun-woo’s words, the crew ran to the railing to check behind the ship.

The tunnel they had passed through had no trace left.

The crew despaired. Their hope of possibly escaping had vanished.

The group was puzzled by Sun-woo’s seemingly soft-hearted thinking, but when they couldn’t think of any other special method, they decided to follow his words.

Shortly after, the ship anchored outside the coral reef on the island’s outskirts, and the group lowered a small boat and departed toward the island.

The boat moved quickly, pushed by spirits Alda summoned, and before long they could arrive at the sandy beach.

***

“Captain! They’ve arrived at the shore!”

The crew watching the boat from the ship shouted toward the cabin.

Bang!

As soon as those words ended, the sound of the cabin door being kicked could be heard, and the captain jumped up onto the deck.

“I almost died from stuffiness. Hehehe, how was my acting? This level is great acting skill, right?”

It was Captain Full Pocket, who had spent long years with this ship. Unless it was the prison in the ship’s hold, he could escape from a locked cabin even with his eyes closed.

“But this way, it seems hard to escape? The retreat route is all blocked.”

At one crew member’s question, the captain struck the crew member’s head with his thick palm.

Thwack!

“Escape what escape. With such a new world right before our eyes. We’ll need our ship when those guys leave the island, so we just go with them then.”

“Then, should we wait here like that terrifying human said?”

Thwack!

Another crew member rolled on the deck.

“Ugh! You idiots. Wait for what? Now that they’re gone, we should quickly go into the island and look for treasure. Even if only one-tenth of the legends are true, it’s full of tremendous treasure! As long as we don’t run into them on this big island, we’re fine!”

At the captain’s words, the crew’s eyes began to burn.

“Captain, how about waiting this time? This is an adventure those inhuman adventurers are doing. If we rashly go out, we might lose our lives.”

This time a proper opposing opinion came up, but unlike before, the captain didn’t use his hands first.

“Old man. Thanks to you, we survived, but we can’t miss this opportunity. We’ll just roughly loot one ruin and come back quickly. Just guard the ship well.”

The navigator looked at the captain with a pitiful expression, but Full Pocket no longer looked at the old navigator.

“Prepare quickly. As soon as those guys leave the shore, we depart immediately. We’ll climb up the cliff beside the shore. The fools didn’t even take our weapons, so we have enough force! Hurry early!”

“Woo!”

“Waa!”

At the captain’s words, the crew let out small cheers. It was to avoid being heard by Sun-woo’s group who had landed on the shore.

At their appearance, the old navigator clicked his tongue.

“Indeed, did they let us go without knowing?”

***

“Why did you just leave them?”

Yeonhwa asked Sun-woo, who was looking at the ship. It was a somewhat out-of-the-blue question, but Sun-woo knew what she was asking.

She was asking why he had left the crew on the ship.

“They’re bait.”

At Sun-woo’s answer, the group nodded. Having watched Sun-woo for this time, the group knew well that Sun-woo wouldn’t do anything disadvantageous.

“Still, isn’t it a bit too much…”

Van Shingwan opened his mouth with a slightly worried expression, but Sun-woo didn’t mind.

“They’re people who tried to kill us and rob us. Just not killing them is already enough consideration. And if they just follow instructions, there’s no problem. They have to take responsibility for accidents that happen because they didn’t follow instructions.”

However, Sun-woo was confident they would burst out of the ship.

“That’s showing enough mercy. Van Shingwan, don’t say anything either.”

He was a prince and former hero, but either way, he was a prince who had been a mercenary for several years. By mercenary life standards, this was sufficient consideration.

“But will the way back be okay?”

Alda also looked at the ship and asked worriedly. She was worried that there might not be anyone to sail the ship when returning.

“It’s fine. The navigator and a few people decided to remain. With that many people, we can somehow return with our help. Well, maybe after the mission ends, we might return immediately.”

Sun-woo was hearing the sounds on the ship through Seolmyo left on the ship. It was magic modified from eavesdropping magic through familiars, and it was sufficiently possible magic for Sun-woo who was connected to Seolmyo.

Furthermore, the better point was that by reverse summoning and resummoning, he could call Seolmyo to where he was.

“Kyaa! Cute!”

Seeing Seolmyo appearing before Sun-woo, Alda let out a scream-like sound.

Seolmyo seemed to receive absolute favor from women wherever it went.

However, unfortunately, when Alda approached, Seolmyo immediately ran away to Yeonhwa, disappointing Alda.

Seolmyo was terrified because of the spirits swarming around her.

After pulling the boat up onto the sandy beach, the group looked at the island.

On the outside, it looked like an ordinary large tropical island.

“It seems we can’t know anything from here.”

As Daniel said, thanks to the forest full of tall trees and the low altitude, they couldn’t tell the internal appearance at all from here.

Eventually, the group decided to enter the interior through the forest.

“This is strange? I can’t sense spirits.”

As they entered the forest, Alda opened her mouth with a puzzled expression.

“The plants and insects also look strange. Even for a southern island, there’s no way they’d be this different.”

Daniel also frowned while looking around.

“Did the evolutionary direction change while isolated?”

At Sun-woo’s words, people made puzzled expressions, but Sun-woo shook his head. Either way, this wasn’t a situation to discuss evolution theory.

“A hostile giant organism is approaching.”

Something had caught on Sun-woo’s detection.

Thump, thump, thump.

Along with that, loud footstep sounds could be heard from afar.

“As expected, an adventure can’t be without monsters.”

A faint smile appeared on the prince’s face. It seemed he couldn’t give up being an adventurer.

“There’s a clearing about 30 meters to the left.”

“Let’s go that way!”

At Sun-woo’s words, the prince led the group to the clearing. It was to use it as a battlefield to face the enemy.

It was the first time coordinating together, but experience couldn’t be ignored. As if they had been working together for a long time, the group quickly moved toward the clearing.

When the group arrived at the clearing, Sun-woo kicked off a nearby tree and shot upward.

It was to confirm the enemy’s appearance from above.

Sun-woo, who reached the top of the tree with one leap, kicked off a branch and soared upward using the principle of manipulating energy to surge upward.

It was a brutal movement technique that surged upward while blasting internal energy downward, a movement technique one couldn’t even dream of without becoming a transcendent master.

But even this movement technique couldn’t freely fly through the sky.

Sun-woo, who had soared over a hundred meters, turned his head in the direction the sound was coming from.

There, a giant round black mass with dozens or hundreds of limbs was approaching the group.

None of the monsters, demons, or creatures he had encountered so far had such a form.

Unfortunately, this was a space beyond the Summoner’s Eye reach. But Sun-woo thought of another method.

He took out his phone from his pocket and pointed it at the monster.

When the monster’s appearance entered the phone camera, text began appearing on the screen.

[Fragment of a God Fallen into Naraka]

[The god’s name cannot be confirmed because it has been transformed.]

It seemed they had met the god that was on this island.