Chapter 880 Distant Terror
Pherdanta made the ship hit a sharp right, dodging a massive Scorching Tear that made the dark sea groan and sizzle, releasing a terrible burst of steam unseen by the naked eye.
She made it turn left again, avoiding a Reverse Cluster, and another Scorching Tear right after that as it sped full tilt ahead. The degree of concentration in her eyes spread to even her face which became unusually stiff, not to mention her body which didn't budge at all.
Allora and Grim were overlooking either side of the ship, keeping watch of beasts that may assault the ship. A series of them with unnatural powers had shot out of the ocean, attempting to sink their ship more than a dozen times in just the last hour, but quick reactions from the two Unlimited had swiftly dealt with them.
Baddan also begun to participate from time to time after finishing his meditation. His physical strength was enough for most beasts that sprang up. The even stronger ones seemed to prefer to stay deep underneath the water and rise up only occasionally.
Fortunately, the crew had only encountered one instance of such horrendously powerful creatures targeting them, and it wasn't all that difficult to deal with. However, this, along with the threat of the Scorching Tears had made Replicus return the ship to its normal size. After all, the bigger the target, the greater the risk of being hit by either or both of the disasters local to this side of the ocean.
Allora reinforcing the ship had its benefits, but they didn't do much in these circumstances. Worse yet, her infinite mana couldn't be stored within the vessel. It disappeared as soon as she released her abilities. Therefore, keeping the ship large without her input had no merit.
Right now, with the boss shut in below deck, the crew were left to their own devices while keeping what he had said – the plan – in mind.
As Pherdanta was swerving masterfully, Grim decided to make small talk with Baddan who was close to him on the right side of the deck.
He found to his surprise that when he asked Baddan about his race and how they lived within their Cluster, the Sky Watcher was rather open and quite visibly excited to give details. His stern and unapproachable air seemed to have been because it hadn't been more than two days since he was forced to join a bunch of humans – a different bunch of them, actually.
Of course, Grim was the perfect person to speak to, in order to make him feel at home.
"You were really satisfied with this clothing though? If you wanted, the boss would have made you a Granted Armament like ours," Grim said.
Baddan wore a shallow smile that turned reminiscent and melancholic when he looked at the newer version of his traditional garb fashioned in Deign at his request. He had washed off the bits of blood left at its chest from the attack of the old Undead Incandescent Stager.
"No. Or rather... not yet. I can't move past my past that quickly. Maybe a day will come when I cast aside my old traditions.... but it is far into the future. For now, I will wear this in memory of who I originally was," he said.
Grim nodded.
"That's deep. I wish I had some complicated past. The only thing that makes my life worth living is what I've become now," he said.
"I've noticed. You are rather... obsessed with each moment."
"I am! As a common thief, I never had my sights on anything but survival, but now, I get to live each moment without worrying about that. I can afford to. The boss made it so it would be possible. My past self would have never imagined dying without regrets."
Baddan looked far into sea with the tall Reverse Clusters exerting their influence on the world. Even within the ocean, it was common to see bulges, whirlpools or simple dark gaps. It was a tragic, and unnerving sight but...
"I suppose I understand that a little. The previous me would have never imagined being one of the few to travel this far into the 'real world' despite the... obvious perils involved," he said before looking behind him, where Pherdanta should have been but was hidden from view. "She's awfully dedicated. And skilled."
Grim laughed.
"You're not confident you would have been able to steer the ship with all these obstacles, are you?" he said.
"I am not. I've only been bred to lead and to fight. I am not gifted in much else."
"Being gifted to be able to handle yourself in fights isn't all bad. That's right..." Grim said, his eyes sparkling. "You couldn't use any of your abilities before because they were tied to the Cluster, right? What did the boss give you? He must have given you a pretty powerful ability, right?"
Baddan gave a sniffy sort of laugh. He looked a little proud to be asked this question.
"Well, yes," he said. "It was... difficult for me to come to terms with before but I've grown fond of it. It also—"
"Up ahead!" Pherdanta suddenly called, breaking down the relaxed mood.
The three individuals she could actually count on looked forward and saw way ahead, into the distance, something mostly masked by the darkness of night.
Grim saw it better than the rest, but he was a little disappointed he didn't sense it sooner despite it being very far away.
It was an enormous crack in space, towering over the Reverse Clusters – and even normal Clusters of blue or white that had appeared around them here and there.
It had a matted shade of purple that almost seemed black, which wasn't at all the best thing one would want to see.
A purple Cluster.
The idea of it wouldn't have been so bad if Grim hadn't added some dark context to it.
"There's cracks on it. It likely won't be that long till it opens..." he said, and his fellow Unlimited turned a bit grim.
The beasts that managed to call this ocean home regardless of how poisonous it was, were either very special cases with intense immunity to poisons, or very powerful beasts with centuries of age under their belt if not more.
Both kinds of beasts would normally emerge out of a Cluster of this calibre.
"Wouldn't it be better to destroy it before the beasts inside come out?" Allora asked anxiously while turning to Pherdanta who became more than a figment of her imagination after directing all their attention to the Cluster. "You did something similar a while ago."
"That wasn't a purple Cluster. And besides, the power required to destroy it, for me at least, isn't something I can spare at such a critical stage in our journey," Pherdanta replied while avoiding another Scorching Tear.
"What about using an Aggrante? A Triplefold would do the trick, right?" Allora said.
Grim gave her a weird look.
"Why are you so afraid of the Cluster? It's not like we absolutely have to fight whatever comes out of it. Even if we do, it would be a problem for all the Factions, not just us. Wasting an Aggrante on it isn't worth it. That's not even mentioning how the boss would react to us using a Triplefold," he said.
Pherdanta concurred, especially about how a Triplefold Aggrante wasn't necessary and wasn't to be used lightly.
"If you say so," Allora said, but clearly not entirely convinced. Perhaps it was because she hadn't been on missions with the boss like Grim and Pherdanta, facing calamities that only Unlimited were allowed to brave with the Penetrator, gaining confidence against those odd powers along the way?
Yeah. That should be it.
"Such a worrywart," a voice suddenly said. "There's an awful lack of liveliness on this ship."
...!!!
At once, all eyes turned to a pale man with similarly pale hair who had just appeared in their midst.
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