Chapter 52: Another Floating Island?

Somewhere over the vast ocean, the large shadow of a moving thing is being cast on the rough waters. Under the noon sun, there is a floating island flying over a league above the sea.

The island is large with an estimated area of around twenty square leagues or five hundred square kilometers. With its inverted peak of a fifth of a league from the surface, the layers of soil and rocks that compose the island are visible even from the mainland by a sharp eye.

The surface of the floating island is mostly flat, with a few sub-hundred-meter hills, and has an area comprising forest and grasslands. From above, the forests are located around the edges of the island and seem to surround the plains, a natural fortress.

At the center of the island, a castle can be seen standing on top of a rocky flat-topped hill in the middle of the plains, elevating it higher than the others. Beyond its walls, there are other man-made structures that surround the castle that are neatly arranged in rows and columns.

Based on how dilapidated the structures are, they seem to be the ruins of a forgotten city that once thrived here. However, the island is currently moving, so no one can say that it has been completely abandoned.

But in reality, there should be someone controlling it, and that person is at the highest tower of the castle. He is standing in front of the window, locking his hollow gaze on the blue horizon.

"..."

That person is actually not a human being; they just used to be. Under his deep blue hooded robe, the man’s body has lost all of his flesh. In the sockets in his skull, two small floating blue spheres are serving as his sharp eyes, which are fixed to the sea.

The man in the tower is actually an undead, specifically, an elder lich, a powerful and intelligent kind of undead. Due to some circumstances a very long time ago, all left of his body is his full white cadaver.

"Are you really certain you are going to go there?"

A rough voice of a man reaches the lich’s nonexistent ears. He turns around and sees another elder lich coming out of the tower’s spiral stairs. The undead is a tall figure, almost seven feet tall in Earth’s measurements, that is clad in black full-plated armor. Without his helmet, the robbed lich can see his two red spherical lights.

"Hmph." A hoarse voice comes out from the undead in the robe. "It’s been a long time since I sensed such a powerful aura. We have been on this island for so long. Moreover, that aura has the Evil God’s magical frequency in it. Also, I am curious how much magic has progressed these days."

Since undead do not possess any flesh, it would be anatomically impossible for them to speak. These two undead are able to talk audibly normally since they used magic to give voice to their thoughts. They actually do not move their jaws while they speak, as it is unnecessary.

"I think you are right." The armored undead flaunts his massive greatsword on his shoulder. "I am quite tired of fighting sea monsters, so I am afraid that my skills are getting dull. Perhaps we might find a formidable figure there to test our strength."

The armored undead says those words with absolute confidence in himself. The other one just turns his back to him before he speaks out his thoughts.

"You can do whatever you want as long as you don’t damage this sacred site. Once you have been compromised, you are on your own. Not even Mister Zachary will help you."

"Hmph! I slayed greater dragons for breakfast back in the day. I will defeat him no matter what they are. I am our lord’s most powerful knight, after all."

"..."

After that, the armored undead turns his back and waves a hand before descending the tower, leaving the elder lich behind. His eyes may be hollow and unreadable, but he thinks deeply of the latter words that his companion uttered.

Later on, something big from around a hundred leagues away slowly comes out from the horizon. He sharpens his vision by magnifying it, and he finally is able to get a grasp of what it is. To his shock, he sees something he is familiar with.

"A floating island?"

◆◇◆◇◆◇

"It is getting closer, Azrael."

"I can see."

Under the shade of the gazebo of his floating island, Azrael and Claire are fixing their gazes in a particular direction at the horizon. With serious faces, they cross their arms as they stand to observe something that Azrael took notice of earlier.

A few minutes ago, Azrael sensed that something big had entered his radar. From their altitudes, this massive object can actually be seen from hundreds of kilometers away, but Azrael just noticed its presence when it was just thirty kilometers from the island.

Currently, Azrael and Claire are seeing a massive floating island that is hovering at a lower altitude, slowly, in a sense, approaching theirs. The floating island apparently has more area than the one they are standing on, but it is a lot thinner.

They have no idea who or what controls the island, but Raphael senses two or somewhat more powerful individuals on it. He is not sure what he is perceiving. Sometimes there are four presences and sometimes three, but most of the time, it is two.

The mana capacities of each of the four presences are different from one another. While the two are around the same as the hero, the other two are quite powerful individually.

Azrael can gauge that each of the two of them has mana capacity between Claire and the archdragon. From what Azrael can tell, Claire has twice the amount of mana as the archdragon, even though they have the same purple magic core.

It is worth noting that Claire’s core has a darker shade than the archdragon’s, so Claire being more powerful makes sense.

"There are powerful entities on that island, Claire. I’ve detected at least two. Prepare for the possibility of a battle."

"I got it."

As the floating island is getting closer to theirs, the pair opens their own Dimension Storage and takes out their weapon of choice. Claire gets her wooden staff while Azrael unsheathes his mithrill longsword from its leather scabbard.

"Claire, is there a possibility that it belongs to the Floating Kingdom?"

"Hmm. I’m not certain if they can move their islands. I haven’t heard of one of their islands going rogue either. The fact that they are the ones approaching us means that they have intentions."

"Perhaps it is because they are like us, who want to live in isolation," Azrael voices his speculations. "Our presence is probably a threat to them."

"It might be a possibility. We won’t know unless they tell us their intentions."

"Hey, since there are only a few of them. How about we take that island?"

"Are you serious?"

"Well, I really like that castle on there. It’s better than what we got here."

"Sigh." Claire seems to give up. "If that’s what you want, then you have to fight for it."

"You can join as well. I want to see you fight seriously."

"Fine."

◆◇◆

After half an hour, the approaching floating island is only less than a league away from them. For the first time, the island finally decelerates its speed before gradually coming to a pull stop.

Currently, Azrael is able to sense two of them. Then it hits him that the two weaker presences have become one with them, respectively. Suddenly, one of them suddenly launches itself towards Azrael’s island at a supersonic speed.

"So they are taking the offensive, huh?" Azrael says. "Now I can justify my actions."

Seeing this kind of approach, both Azrael and Claire, who are already in an open area at the edge of the island, prepare themselves for a fight. The incoming intruder jumps past the island for around a hundred meters and is about to land on the surface. Azrael and Claire lock their sight on him.

Crash!

The intruder lands himself a few meters behind them, sending dirt and rocks in all directions. The landing site is covered with dust, and when it settles down seconds later, Azrael and Claire find a full-plated knight standing before them, resting his great sword on his right shoulder.

"Namow a dna nam a tsuj?"

"Ancient language?!" Claire is stunned.

"It’s the same language as that guy." Azrael refers to the god he fought.

Hearing that the man speaks a different language, Azrael and Claire immediately activated God’s Tongue to understand his words as well as speak the same language.

"Who are you?" Azrael asks as he points his arm at the man.

"You understand me? I thought this language had died. Well, whatever. I heard from the old man that one of you is ridiculously strong. So, if you let me..."

In an instant, the man lunges forward at a speed faster than his jump earlier, exploding the ground under him. In response, Azrael quickly launches him forward and clashes his blade with him in the middle.

Boom!

The collision of the clash creates a shockwave that sways nearby bushes and trees. While still in the bind, when Azrael takes a look at him, he only sees two orbs of lights through his helmet.

"What the—! What actually are you?"

"Oh, you managed to stop me?" The man ignores his question. "You’re strong. I’ll give you that."

"Hoho. Don’t take all the fun for yourself."

As they are at it, a voice suddenly rings from behind. Since Azrael is busy, Claire turns around to see an undead in a deep blue robe flying toward the island.

"An undead? No, it’s an elder lich."

"You seem to be a mage, lady. Let’s fight."

"Hmph." Sensing how powerful this undead is in front of her, Claire smirks. She seems to be excited. "I have lived for hundreds of years, and it’s the first time I face an elder lich this powerful. I’ll accept your duel, lich."