Chapter 211 <Spolier>
The sudden and horrifying appearance of this monstrous abomination sent shockwaves rippling through both the wardens and Eisenhart. Wide-eyed and trembling, the wardens exchanged terrified glances, their voices quaking with fear.
"What... What is that thing?" one warden stammered, unable to comprehend the monstrous entity that loomed before them.
Eisenhart, the mage with knowledge beyond the ordinary, was equally stricken by fear and disbelief. His voice quivered as he grappled with the inconceivable. "The Kraken!? It's impossible! Isn't the Kraken supposed to have gone extinct at the start of the modern age!?"
But their bewilderment was short-lived as the colossal horror began to move. Its massive form drew nearer to the ship, its sinister presence sending shivers down the spines of everyone on board. Panic erupted among the wardens as they scattered in all directions, leaving Eisenhart helplessly nailed to the ship's railing, his face a mask of sheer terror.
As the Kraken's colossal tentacle descended upon the ship, panic gripped the wardens. They shouted in terror, realizing the futility of their situation.
"What in the world is that thing?" one warden cried out.
"God, it's massive! We need to get out of here!" another yelled.
"It's truly a kraken! It's impossible! Impossible, the Kraken should have already gone extinct," Eisenhart screamed, his voice filled with catastrophe. The Kraken's tentacle struck with unrelenting force, disbelief and terror, adding to the cacophony of screams as he tried to deny the truth in front of him, as if it would help him survive, as if all of this were a lie or just a cruel illusion.
But their frantic voices were drowned out by the impending catastrophe. The Kraken's tentacle struck with unrelenting force, and the ship disintegrated in an explosive burst of splintered wood and twisted metal.
Desperation forced the wardens to make a harrowing choice. With hearts pounding and limbs heavy with fear, they flung themselves from the shattered ship, their bodies disappearing into the raging sea below.
But for Eisenhart, there was no escape. Nailed to the ship's wreckage, he met his fate as the Kraken's immense tentacle crushed both him and the remnants of the ship. In an instant, he was gone, his life snuffed out without a glimmer of resistance, as if he had been pitted against the merciless and unstoppable force of nature.
Amidst the chaos of the torrential sea, one by one, the wardens who had leaped from the ship to save themselves were swallowed by the merciless waves. The sea monster observed these tiny human figures struggling for survival, its cold and pitiless eyes promising only death and annihilation.
The Kraken's colossal body descended into the water, creating a the depths without a trace. Only scattered ship debris and wooden planks remained afloat on the unforgiving sea.
massive surge as it devoured the sea with its monstrous mouth, lined with countless rows of razor-sharp teeth. Like a sink's drain, both the vast sea and the surviving wardens were drawn into its gaping maw, their screams and desperate pleas swallowed along with them. Every warden and survivor met the same grim fate, reduced to mere sustenance for the Kraken.
After a brief few minutes, the screams and frantic voices fell silent as the Kraken retreated beneath the dark waters, disappearing into the depths without a trace. Only scattered ship debris and wooden planks remained afloat on the unforgiving sea.
—
A few moments later, a person in a prisoner's uniform emerged from the water. His once fierce and rugged face had turned pale, terror and fear etched across his features.
This man, dressed in a prisoner's outfit, was a true criminal with a hefty sentence. He was not the target of Daniel's rescue mission. Despite his life of fearlessness, the sight of the colossal Kraken had shattered his bravado.
He couldn't fathom what had happened. His cell was located in the super-max security area of the ship, which he occupied alone. What he did know was that he had been incredibly lucky. The Kraken's massive tentacle had breached a section of the area's walls, granting him freedom. However, instead of the sweet taste of freedom, he had been greeted by a scene straight out of a nightmare.
As the ship sank into the sea, so did he. But he managed to survive by swimming to the nearest underwater rock formation and hiding within its cracks, effectively evading the Kraken's attention. There was a reason he had been imprisoned in the ship's super-max security area: his body was far stronger than the average human, and his military training had made him a formidable individual.
In his desperate bid for survival, he had utilized his skills to endure. He could hold his breath underwater for nearly ten minutes, and the Kraken had taken no longer than eight minutes to eliminate all the other survivors. That's how he had survived, but the trauma of witnessing that nightmarish scene from a crevice had left his face pallid.
Summoning all his remaining strength, he swam towards the nearest and largest wooden plank, intending to use it as a lifeline before exhaustion and terror overwhelmed him, causing him to lose consciousness.
— Hidden base - Atlanteus —
The VTOL touched down gracefully in the base hangar, where Daniel awaited its arrival along with Kevin Sun, the former District Chief Officer and father of Erina Sun. At this point, Kevin Sun had some knowledge of Daniel's capabilities and was aware of the existence of the Curtained World.
He knew Daniel as a formidable mage with a private army and a hidden base that resembled something out of a sci-fi novel. This knowledge left him with mixed feelings—relief that Daniel could potentially rescue his daughter, and apprehension due to the immense power Daniel wielded, a power that appeared unchecked. However, as long as Daniel didn't employ that power to threaten him or his family, Kevin was willing to overlook it.
As the VTOL's landing bay opened, a group of liberated prisoners disembarked. Kevin Sun's eyes quickly scanned the crowd as the prisoners were guided by the Atlantean Vanguard in their imposing armor and some of the female receptionists who worked there, leading them toward a registration booth.
These were not ordinary prisoners; they were political dissidents who had refused to bow to the royal family. They possessed the discernment to distinguish truth from the royal family's propaganda. Daniel knew that most of them were intellectuals and thought leaders within the country, making them valuable potential recruits for his cause. From the moment they had been rescued, they are basically on the same ship as him.
A few minutes later, the liberated prisoners had formed a queue at the registration booth. Erina Sun emerged from the VTOL, accompanied by Michaela, who remained in her archangel form. However, Michaela's eyes displayed a lifelessness, as if the will to live had abandoned her. James followed suit, still in his werewolf form due to a lack of spare clothing. He saluted Daniel before leaping from the hangar platform to the ground below, heading toward his nearby room to change.
Daniel, upon witnessing Michaela's current state, felt a complex mix of emotions. He had never expected Michaela to be affected by such dark thoughts. Perhaps her prolonged stay in the mortal realm had exposed her to unsettling ideas. The amplifying effect of Eisenhart's Terror magic had magnified even the tiniest trace of darkness within Michaela's thoughts to a degree she couldn't believe was possible.
After ensuring Sylvana had gone to sleep, Daniel made his way to the command center, where he had been monitoring the ongoing rescue operation within the base. Although he had missed the initial part, he had witnessed the moment when Michaela succumbed to the effects of the Terror construct.
Seeing this, he promptly contacted Envy, who was still preparing her dinner in London. Envy provided information about the mage responsible for Michaela's condition. It appeared that this mage was a confidant of Grand Councilor Cyrus Ashborn. While not skilled in close-quarter combat, his magic, when used strategically, could reduce even powerful individuals like Michaela to self-inflicted despair.
It's impossible for people to be completely devoid of negative thoughts, such as fleeting desires like "I'm so poor; it would be nice to dine and dash," or moments of anger where they wish ill upon someone. Even the most good-hearted and pure individuals have experienced such thoughts at some point. No one is entirely free from them.
Ironically, the purer and more virtuous the individual, the more profound the inner turmoil when these dark thoughts emerge, no matter how minuscule they may be. It's as though these thoughts unveil a hidden darkness lurking beneath the surface of all their goodness and glory, as was the case with Michaela.
This is just one facet of Terror magic. It has the ability to sense the most dreaded fears or scenarios that a target would least want to happen in their life and manifest them as real or in the form of a Terror construct. Even when the user doesn't possess prior knowledge of the target's inner fears, they can deduce something from the target's reactions. This aspect of the magic can be particularly vexing, as it has the unsettling ability to unveil some truth hidden within its victims.
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