Chapter 871

It was growing larger as it sliced through the heart of the fog, gliding across it. It was likely heading this way.

But that was not the only reason Elia raised her eyes and held her breath.

A low voice spread from beside her as her lips trembled faintly.

"No way... that is..."

Charlotte had somehow begun staring in the same direction. Shock was spreading across her wide orange eyes as well.

"Is that... Ian?"

"I don’t want to believe it, but... that’s what it looks like to me too."

Finally releasing the breath she had been holding, Elia turned back toward the masked fairy and continued, "And I think Diana already knew."

Charlotte immediately turned toward Diana. "Is that true, Pointy-Ears?"

Her tone suggested she had forgotten even to call her by name.

However, that was not why Diana failed to answer.

Still staring at the approaching purple figure as though entranced, she continued muttering to herself, "How does he look like that? More than before? Was something like that even possible?"

Charlotte took a long step toward her and swung her right arm.

Smack—

It was little more than a light slap with her palm, yet Diana’s head snapped helplessly to the side.

Charlotte grabbed Diana’s left forearm as she staggered and asked, "Pull yourself together and answer me properly. Is that really Ian? And you knew from the beginning?"

Her voice was low, suppressing her emotions, but a chilling undertone already seeped into it.

Elia unconsciously held her breath again.

"Yes," Diana answered in a trembling voice.

She covered her masked face with one hand before slowly lifting her head again. "You probably already know this, but.... Ian carries chaos within him. With Yog's help, he can fuse with it like that."

A low groan finally escaped Charlotte. "This... is insane...."

The hand gripping Diana’s arm trembled visibly.

Elia tilted her head slightly and asked, "With Yog’s help?"

"It’s supposed to be some way of deceiving chaos temporarily. I don’t know the details. I don’t want to know. What matters is...." Diana replied weakly before turning back toward the port side.

Her right hand, which had been hanging limply at her side, returned to rest against her ribs. Her voice shook just as much as her eyes.

"What matters is that last time, he was eventually consumed by chaos. It only lasted a moment, but even that was basically a disaster."

Another horrified whisper escaped Elia. "By Lu Solar...."

At the same time, countless passages from books she had studied at the academy flashed through her mind.

"You’re saying Ian didn’t actually fall and become a demon? Can he return to normal and become himself again?" Charlotte asked immediately afterward, her eyes wide.

The hand gripping Diana’s arm tightened once more. "I don’t know either! Back then, I was at heaven’s doorstep before I could even blink! And now Lucifer isn’t here either, so everything depends on Ian Hope!"

That was likely why Diana snapped irritably, her eyes narrowing behind the mask.

She jerked her left arm free from Charlotte’s grasp and continued, "And back then, he didn’t even have wings like those. I don’t know what happened, but he’s evolved even further. So you’d be better off praying, Great Chieftain."

She let out a breath that sounded somewhere between a bitter laugh and complete resignation.

Then she turned back toward the port side and added, "Because if that isn’t Ian Hope but an avatar of chaos, then we’re dead. I guarantee it. It won’t even take long."

Charlotte merely blinked, seemingly at a loss for words. Eventually, she turned her gaze in the same direction. Both fists, encased in relic gauntlets, clenched tightly enough to look as though they might shatter.

Perhaps she was only now recalling the fact that Ian had just forced the ancient god of the Black Sea back into its prison.

"That's why you were so afraid, Diana. The outcome of the battle never mattered," said Elia.

At the same time, she was trying to sort through the tangled fragments of thought racing through her mind.

Diana let out a sigh and nodded. "Yeah... because either way, we could die."

At some point, her voice had become noticeably calmer. Perhaps she had not regained her composure, but talking it through had finally forced her to accept reality.

"Yog is probably protecting Sir Ian's soul from chaos while pretending to serve as the medium for the fusion."

After watching her for a moment, Elia turned her gaze beyond the port side and continued calmly, "I don't know if this power is due to Yog being a fragment of an ancient god or if Sir Ian was born with an unbelievably strong soul. Perhaps it's both."

Ian's figure was already beginning to emerge through the fog. Two pairs of wings were spread wide at an angle behind him.

Behind him hung the ominous violet sphere that had completed its circle within the heart of the storm clouds.

Without taking her eyes off the mysterious yet terrifying sight, Elia added, "Either way, he won't be consumed by chaos like before. Sir Ian inherited the Sacred Blood and has already ascended to the rank of a demigod. And Yog has continued growing stronger as well."

"Right. I trust Ian," Charlotte said firmly.

"I do too... but...." Diana trailed off, unable to finish.

Given Ian's appearance now, it was hardly surprising.

Yet Elia had forgotten even her fear as she carefully took in every detail of his appearance.

Swoosh—

One pair of membranous wings rose diagonally upward. Beneath them, another pair of wings extended along a slanted line, covered in violet feathers.

Countless horns protruded from his head like a crown. Three pairs of black eyes were split open in long, diagonal slashes, while jagged teeth filled a grotesquely torn mouth.

The tentacles, now thicker and longer than before, billowed between his wings like a mane.

Sections of his body were covered in exoskeletal armor, while the rest appeared plated in violet scales.

A serpent? No, a dragon?

Elia’s gaze settled on his right arm. From the wrist downward, it had become a long black blade covered in scales. It looked large enough to cleave a smuggling ship in half with a single strike.

Combined with the violet radiance hanging in the sky like a full moon, it gave him an even more transcendent presence.

"What... is that?"

"That appearance... surely not?"

Gasps began spreading across the deck.

The beastfolk and fairies, who had collapsed or sprawled out while gasping for breath, finally noticed Ian approaching.

Of course, they had only just recovered from the lingering effects of Rascagin's dying scream.

"A demigod?"

"Don't be ridiculous... How dare you..."

"But he was the only one fighting that ancient god."

"Could he have been corrupted during the battle?"

Regardless, the unrest spread quickly. Voices filled with shock and disbelief, fear and lament, rose from every direction. A few even began reaching for their weapons.

"Kneel. All of you." Charlotte's voice rang out at that moment.

Elia, who had been surveying the deck, froze. So did the fairies and beastfolk who had been staring at one another in uncertainty.

"I will not forgive anyone who dares point a weapon at the Great Warrior," Charlotte added, her voice carrying a deep growl beneath it.

The eyes of the fairies and beastfolk who looked toward her widened.

"This is insane... Then it's really him?"

"The demigod has fallen."

"Then does that mean we're next?"

Whispered groans continued to spread across the deck.

Most of them came from the fairies.

The beastfolk lowered themselves to one knee, though their eyes remained fixed on the sky beyond the port side, filled with conflicting emotions.

Perhaps they were remembering the god their people had once worshipped—the one imprisoned within the void.

Charlotte merely twitched her nose as she glanced at the fairies and said nothing more.

There was no need.

With both pairs of wings spread wide, Ian had already come to a stop in the sky beyond the port side.

Swoosh—

The faint violet trail spreading beside him was likely because he was moving with the ship.

The beastfolk and fairies, as well as Diana and Charlotte, all held their breath as they looked up at the new archdemon.

Ian was doing the same, calmly looking down at them.

All three pairs of eyes were completely black, devoid of any whites, yet Elia could still feel his gaze brush past her like a fleeting burn.

Godfather... please...

Just as she bit down on her lower lip and prayed inwardly, Ian turned his head toward the rear of the ship.

There was no need to wonder what had caught his attention.

The Black Wave was behind them.

Whoosh—

The violet haze pouring from Ian suddenly intensified, enough to freeze everyone on the deck in place.

Even Elia felt her heart plummet.

However, that wasn't why Diana collapsed onto the deck.

"H-Haha! Ahahaha!"

At the sound of laughter, Elia turned in confusion.

Diana was laughing so hard her shoulders shook.

Even Charlotte frowned and looked toward her.

"Yog!"

At last, Diana's voice rang out from behind her mask, laced with laughter.

"That bastard whispered to me! Said your terrified faces were absolutely priceless!"

Elia's eyes widened.

Looking back and forth between her and Charlotte with tearful eyes, Diana added, "We're alive! That's the Ian Hope we know!"

Elia immediately looked back. Relief spread across her face before another question followed close behind.

Then what is he trying to do now?

She got her answer a moment later.

Roar—

The sound of crashing waves suddenly grew clearer. A moment later, the bow of the Black Wave, sailing alongside them, came into view.

Only then did Elia let out a gasp. "He was pulling the ship toward us!"

Her legs gave way, and she sank onto the deck just as Diana had. Even so, she could not take her eyes off the Black Wave moving beside them.

The situation on the other ship's deck was not much different. Fairies and beastfolk stood frozen, staring up at Ian from beyond the railings.

Even Miguel stood beside Nila with his mouth hanging open.

"It looks like he's planning to land over there. Tell them, Great Chieftain," Diana said in a voice drained of all strength.

Charlotte blinked, then strode toward the railing. "Clear the deck! The Demigod intends to descend there!"

Her thunderous shout, laced with that eerie undertone, echoed across the sea. It was more than enough to make the fairies and beastfolk aboard the Black Wave jump in alarm.

Nehat was the first to react. "Y-You heard her! Everyone to the aft deck! Move! Now!"

"L-Let's go! Move it, pointy ears!"

The beastfolk immediately grabbed the still-dazed fairies and started dragging them away.

"Sailors!" Miguel's voice followed a heartbeat later.

As Nila backed away, snorting embers through its nostrils, he pointed frantically across the deck. "Take the unconscious ones too! Don't leave anybody behind!"

The Black Wave’s deck instantly erupted into activity.

Not only the beastfolk, but even the bewildered fairies began hoisting unconscious people over their shoulders and moving them away.

"So he truly is a demigod."

"He must have been corrupted fighting that damned ancient god."

"Perhaps he had no choice if he wanted to seal it away...."

Meanwhile, quiet voices began spreading across this deck as well.

The fairies and beastfolk who had finally regained their senses were once again whispering among themselves.

At some point, even the fairies had knelt on one knee. Unable to hide their sorrow, they stared up at Ian flying above the Black Wave.

Swoosh—

Then the Black Wave's speed abruptly began to slow despite continuing alongside them.

It felt as though it briefly fell behind before catching up again, but that was only because the Silent Storm had begun slowing instead.

Has he gained control over the current because this is his domain now?

Even amid everything, Elia couldn't stop herself from wondering.

Miguel's voice echoed from the other ship. "W-We cleared it! You can come down now!"

Ian, who had by now fully withdrawn the chaos surrounding him, bared his rows of pointed teeth in a smile and beat both pairs of wings.

Slowly, he began to descend.

Whoosh!

Ian landed carefully in the middle of the Black Wave’s central deck.

The sensation that the entire ship sank slightly beneath his weight was likely not an illusion.

"He's enormous...." Charlotte muttered under her breath.

To Elia's eyes, Ian looked at least three times her height. However, that wasn't the only reason the whispers died away.

Having straightened himself carefully, Ian was slowly looking over everyone gathered before him.

For a brief moment, several violet tongues flicked between his jagged teeth.

Then, raising his massive left hand, he grabbed his own face as though intending to crush it.