novelraw Chapter 411 - 220: Passing Through the Final Gate_2
Chapter 411 - 220: Passing Through the Final Gate_2
If that Storm Champion were the leader of this ship, he could understand. Clearly, that wasn’t the case. So why place so much trust in this team? He didn’t understand. He had seen countless teams of all kinds since childhood. Alka’s team was nothing special; their only distinguishing feature was that Storm Champion, and he had undergone his trials right before their eyes. But still, he didn’t understand. There had been so many other choices before; this team simply wasn’t special enough.
"You ask why?" Maldo said, looking at the Trident in his hand. "I performed a divination... This is the best opportunity."
"A divination? Clan Leader, you..." the guard said, somewhat surprised.
Divinations themselves don’t provide explicit instructions, but they can guide one to make the optimal choice. And using such a technique incurs severe consequences. The Clan Leader was already very old.
Maldo waved his hand. "Alright, it’s a necessary price. No need to dwell on it." He then swept his right arm in a semicircle across his chest. "May the Sea God bless them."
The guard beside him also offered a blessing.
By this time, Alka’s ship was very close to the foggy region, almost upon it. All on board held their breath. They were finally about to reach their ultimate destination.
The bow of the Sound of Dawn was the first to pass through, piercing the pale white fog. Then came the mast, and finally, everyone on board. When everyone was completely enveloped by the mist, they found themselves surrounded by the pale white fog. Beyond the ship’s immediate surroundings, nothing outside could be seen, as if they were passing through some invisible region. The fog swirled around them and over the sea’s surface, obstructing their vision and preventing them from seeing far.
This strange area caused Matilda, who was leaving her homeland for the first time, to inch closer to Julia beside her. As the fog grew denser, even the scene on deck became somewhat blurred. These mists, oh, had already crept onto the ship, preventing them from seeing even things within arm’s reach. This forced her to press completely against Julia until, finally unable to resist, she wrapped her four arms tightly around Julia.
Julia looked at the slightly nervous new member beside her, smiled, and patted her shoulder reassuringly. "Don’t be afraid, we will protect you."
Matilda pressed her lips tightly together and nodded. "Mm."
The increasingly dense fog caused everyone to move slightly towards the center of the deck, eventually gathering around the flowerbed there. This way, they could stay close enough to be aware of their teammates’ situations.
"This fog is getting thicker and thicker! Will we eventually be unable to even see the person next to us?" Pororo extended his palm and waved it in the dense fog, as if trying to disperse it.
Just then, silver threads shot out one by one, wrapping around everyone’s wrists.
"HEE HEE, now there’s nothing to fear!" Er, sitting on Chadite’s shoulder, giggled.
Everyone looked at the silver threads on their wrists, smiled, and nodded, not rejecting it. This indeed seemed like a good solution.
However, contrary to their expectations, as the ship continued forward, the dense fog didn’t intensify further but remained constant. Thus, they continued on with very low visibility. There was no light and no wind; the lowered sails hung completely motionless and steady on the mast. The ship’s entire progress relied solely on the Sound of Dawn’s own power.
As time slowly passed, the initially somewhat vigilant group couldn’t help but relax, sitting down around the flowerbed.
"How much farther is this?" Jason leaned back in his chair and couldn’t help but ask.
Alka calculated the time. "We’ve been in this fog for over an hour now. This isn’t quite what I expected." Alka had imagined they would encounter all sorts of spectacular landscapes or certain dangers before reaching the Endless Sea. He hadn’t expected that after crossing the gateway, they would sail for so long in this vast white fog, seeing nothing, just steadily moving forward.
"We seem to be passing through the world’s membrane... perhaps," Julia said, though she sounded uncertain.
Hearing her words, the others turned their heads to look at her.
Chadite asked, "Why do you say that?"
"This fog and the surrounding environment don’t feel like a somewhat chaotic passage forward. Instead, it feels very solid, like a world barrier. Of course, this is just my conjecture; I have no evidence to prove its truth. But whether it’s the maps, the records we saw in the Church, or what Maldo just said, don’t they all indicate that the Endless Sea is an extremely chaotic region? The Rules there must be chaotic, with little order, which is clearly inconsistent with this place. This area, in contrast, seems to be containing that chaos."
Hearing Julia’s words, the others nodded. Although they didn’t entirely understand, Julia had, after all, once served as a maintainer of maritime order in the Sea of All Beings. Compared to the others, she had a distinct sensitivity to subtle changes in the surrounding Magic Power, its concentration, and shifts in the environment.