Chapter 531. Crisis
The radiant light of the Light God had vanished, allowing the light from Dawn One to descend upon Hope Island. However, the Subterranean Sea's darkness did not return. The radiant light had been replaced by a hue that was neither white nor dark but resembled a gray void instead.
It wouldn't be accurate to call it gray; it was like a translucent haze that seemed to be hiding secrets within it.
"How could this be... what on earth is going on?" Charles cast an astonished gaze at the sudden changes. Eventually, Charles assumed that the haze had to be a temporary phase before the Subterranean Sea was plunged into darkness once more.
Boom!
A deafening noise echoed, and the distant black tower crashed onto Hope Island's canopy. A violent tremor ran across the canopy, and a chain reaction of collapse began followed by the cacophonous din of terrified screams.
Charles was about to make a move when his exceptional eyesight saw something emerge from the distant sea. Those sea creatures had never been daring enough to approach the shore, but they had come up to the surface today.
Their writhing tentacles, indescribable organs and appendages, and their bizarre figures allowed Charles to deduce their identity in an instant. They were all sea creatures from the deep sea.
The sea creatures' height varied, ranging from half a human's height to dozens of meters tall. They followed the tsunami that the earthquake had caused, sweeping toward the docks like a deluge.
Charles' heart tightened at the sight. Those sea creatures were far more dangerous than the collapsing buildings. He turned around and turned to Anna standing beneath the canopy. "Enemies are attacking the island! Go and sound the alarm!!"
With that, Charles hopped onto the collapsing canopy.
Bandages was living near the harbor district!
Charles wasted no time, charging straight at the hideous sea creatures that were about to devour the islanders.
Bzzzt!
A six-legged sea creature covered in green fur was sliced in half by Charles using his chainsaw. Green blood splattered all over his face, but he didn't have the luxury to wipe it away.
Bright white lightning arcs burst out of Charles as his invisible tentacles swept around him, and a large number of sea creatures collapsed instantly, perishing as he stood in the midst of them.
Charles was no longer the same old Charles many years ago. He had become formidable enough to face a horde of sea creatures by himself.
Charles attacked frantically, and the corpses before him piled up quickly. In the end, Charles himself was almost buried in corpses.
Unfortunately, the sea creatures were smart. Realizing that Charles was a difficult enemy to handle, they changed tactics and decided to surround him rather than fight him one by one.
Sizzle!
A black liquid resembling hot oil flew toward Charles. Charles attempted to dodge, but he still ended up getting hit. He instantly felt a burning sensation all over his skin, and there was even white smoke rising from him.
While Charles used his hand to wipe away the unknown liquid from his face, the sea creatures took advantage of the opportunity to attack him at once.
It seemed that Charles was about to be overwhelmed by their numbers, but before the sea creatures could approach the former, a loud boom echoed, and the sea creatures were blasted away.
A large clearing filled with flesh and blood was all that was left of the sea creatures.
Covered in blood, Charles turned around and saw smoke rising from the front cannon on the dock's watchtower. The navy had been mobilized and had begun its counterattack!
There were just one or two occasional cannon fires at first, but more and more cannons were fired as time ticked by. The sea creatures were terrifying indeed, but the navy was slowly getting the upper hand using mankind's weapons.
The navy troops fired wildly as if cannon shells were free, and the defiant sea creatures charged into the island as if they had a death wish.
It took no time for the harbor district to be utterly devastated.
In the end, the humans emerged victorious. The sudden battle lasted for more than four hours before finally coming to a stop, as no more sea creatures were rising up the surface and coming onto shore.
When Anna found Charles, she saw him leaning against a hill of corpses, gasping for breath amidst a sea of blood.
"Charles, I think there's something wrong. I'm afraid this matter isn't over yet. The earthquake and the attack on the island happened almost at the same time; there must be something strange going on," Anna said with furrowed brows.
The exhausted Charles looked up at the gray sky. He lifted his right foot and stomped hard, causing the head of a massive, deformed sea creature to explode into a bloody mist. "Fuck! Nothing good ever happens in this shitty place!"
After venting for a while, Charles stood up and headed to the Governor's Mansion. "Anna, you're in charge of rescuing people and defending the island against the next attack. I'm going to the telegraph bureau. I want to know what's happening on the other islands. I want to see whether this disaster is affecting the entire Subterranean Sea or if it's just Hope Island."
A rhythmic series of clicks, clacks, and whirs pervaded Hope Island's Telegraph Bureau as the islands throughout the Subterranean Sea reported their current situation.
The good news was that the tsunami caused by the earthquake only affected the Northern Seas, but the bad news was that every island with a human population throughout the Subterranean Sea had been attacked by sea creatures as well.
They couldn't say much via telegram, but Charles only needed a few sentences to know that the other islands were in a dire situation.
It had only been a year since the "death light" appeared, and the majority of the islands had yet to recover from that tragedy. The latest, sudden event had rubbed salt in the wounds of mankind.
Some islands couldn't be contacted, and it was unknown whether they were too busy dealing with sea creatures to send telegrams or had met a horrible fate.
Charles' heart sank while perusing the telegrams.
Soon, a long string of telegram codes arrived, and it was from Governor Julio of Cat Island.
The bureau staffers decoded it quickly and found that the message contained a magic formation. It resembled the magic formations of the Western Seas mages more than the sacrificial formations of the Fhtagn Covenant.
Charles knew Julio wouldn't do any random things in the middle of a crisis, so he immediately gave orders, telling his people to draw the magic formation.
The final step necessary to complete the magic formation was to fill the lines with fine sand. Charles followed the final step, and the magic formation emitted a purple sheen. Then, the fine sand trembled and floated, eventually converging at one point and transforming into two sand figures.
One of the two sand figures belonged to Julio, while the other belonged to an old man with a beard so long that it almost touched the ground. The bearded old man was none other than Harold, and he was the Patriarch of the Watz Family, which was the strongest family throughout the Western Seas.
"What? Where are the Fhtagnists? Don't tell me the sea creatures had attacked them as well. That shouldn't be the case, right?" Harold asked, shattering the ice.
Before Charles and Julio could respond, Harold added, "You two, this specific communication formation is really expensive to maintain. It costs a million Echoes per minute. Once you two are done talking, don't forget to remit the payment through the Albion Bank."
"Enough!" Julio roared, his deep voice echoing like thunder. "How can you still talk about money in the middle of such a crisis?!"
Sensing Julio's gaze full of hostility, Harold remained quiet and did not respond.
Charles stared alternatingly at the two figures before him. After a few seconds of pondering, he asked, "Do you have any clues about the reason behind the sea creatures' attack?"
Julio glared at Charles as if he were an eagle eyeing its prey. "That's my line! You were around when the Light God was freed! These sudden events also happened as soon as the Light God's radiant light disappeared. What exactly is going on?"
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