Chapter 550: Heading to the Heretic Island

The distance between the islands was enormous, and crossing the sea wasn’t something ordinary players could accomplish.

The monsters inhabiting the waters were incredibly powerful, and even an exceptionally strong boat would struggle to survive the journey.

Normal players would need a vessel capable of enduring the waves, the monsters, and whatever other dangers awaited them.

In fact, even the enchantment they had obtained from the first village probably wouldn’t be enough to protect a boat from the dangers of this part of the sea.

Fortunately, they still didn’t need to worry about any of that: Violet could fly.

The dragon girl immediately transformed into her dragon form, allowing Leon, Celeste, and Emilia to climb onto her back.

Once everyone was settled, she spread her enormous wings and prepared to take off.

The mist that had previously obscured the surrounding islands had disappeared after they completed the dungeon on the fourth island.

As a result, they could now see the nearby landmasses clearly, and the fourth island was surprisingly close to them.

As for the Heretic Village...

"Which direction should I go?" Violet asked as she looked toward the horizon.

"Forward," Leon replied. "Divine Answer said it was the furthest island from the spawn, so we should find it if we keep going in that direction."

"Alright!"

Violet nodded before flapping her wings and soaring into the sky.

Her enormous body rose above the island, and the wind rushed past them as she began flying toward the distant horizon.

Since flying toward the final island would take quite a while, Leon, Emilia, and Celeste decided to play another game to pass the time.

This time, they were competing to find the strangest island.

After all, as Violet flew across the vast sea, they passed countless islands scattered across the water.

Some were relatively small, with nothing more than a few trees and rocks, while others were large enough to contain entire environments of their own.

There were islands with dungeon portals, islands filled with unusual monsters, and even a few that seemed completely unsuitable for anyone to explore.

"Look over there!" Emilia exclaimed as she pointed toward an island covered in strange purple vegetation. "That one is pretty weird!"

"Not bad, but I’ve already seen something stranger," Leon replied while looking in another direction.

Celeste, who had been carefully examining the surrounding islands, suddenly burst into laughter.

"I win!"

She pointed toward an island that was unlike anything the others had seen before.

Leon and Emilia followed her finger, and their expressions immediately changed.

The island was made almost entirely of tentacles.

Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of enormous tentacles covered its surface, constantly twisting and moving in different directions.

Their colors ranged from dark purple to crimson, and several possessed strange mouths filled with sharp teeth.

It was difficult to tell whether the island was actually a monster or simply a place inhabited by an absurd number of tentacle creatures.

Either way, it was undoubtedly the strangest thing they had encountered so far.

As if reacting to their presence, several tentacles suddenly began moving toward them.

One of the enormous appendages rose from the island and stretched across the sea, extending itself toward Violet with surprising speed.

Anyone who approached the island too closely would probably be torn apart and dragged beneath its surface.

However, the tentacle had chosen the wrong target.

SLASH!

Leon casually swung his sword, cutting the enormous appendage in half before it could reach them.

The severed tentacle fell toward the sea, while the island itself began shaking violently.

A terrifying roar echoed across the surrounding waters, making it clear that the creature was not particularly pleased with losing a part of its body.

Violet immediately increased her altitude, avoiding any other tentacles that might attempt to reach them.

Leon glanced back at the strange island with a faint smile.

"Well, I guess you win."

There were hundreds of islands scattered across this section of the sea alone, and they had only been flying for a relatively short time.

Considering how far they still had to travel, there were probably thousands of islands throughout the entire domain.

As expected, the number of places players could explore was enormous.

Even if someone spent their entire life searching for every island, they probably wouldn’t be able to visit them all.

While they continued flying, Leon suddenly noticed something moving beneath the surface of the sea.

"Violet, go down a little."

"Hm?"

"Closer to the water. Then stop for a moment."

Violet didn’t question him and immediately lowered her altitude.

Her enormous wings continued beating as she approached the surface, eventually hovering just above the waves.

Leon leaned forward and carefully examined the water. A massive shadow was moving beneath them.

The creature was shaped like an enormous fish, but its body was so large that it looked more like a small submarine swimming through the sea.

Eye of Truth!

---

[Sea Megalo Fish]

[Level: 100]

---

SLASH!

Without wasting any time, he swung his sword and cut through the water, killing the monster with a single attack.

The enormous fish stopped moving, and its body began floating toward the surface.

Emilia looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"Why did you kill it? It’s not like these monsters give any good items, right?"

"Yeah," Leon replied as he examined the corpse, "But... here it is!"

He pulled out a large chunk of the monster’s body.

[Sea Megalo Fish x16 (Legendary)]

Emilia stared at the meat before looking at him.

"Are we actually going to eat that?"

"Of course. Why else would I take it?"

The group decided to enjoy the food.

Celeste immediately used her flames to cook the meat, carefully adjusting the temperature so that the outside became crispy while the inside remained tender.

Once the fish was ready, they began eating.

Celeste and Violet received most of the meat, especially since Violet’s appetite increased considerably whenever she was in her dragon form.

The enormous dragon happily devoured the portions given to her, while Celeste continued eating with a satisfied expression.

"Yummy~!"

Celeste smiled before summoning Pyra and offering the phoenix a small piece of the fish.

"This is amazing!"

Pyra chirped happily as she accepted the food. Leon also tried a few pieces.

Unlike the volcano crab meat they had obtained in Higher Domain #3, the Sea Megalo Fish didn’t provide any special benefits when consumed.

However, the taste was still incredible.

After finishing their meal, the group continued their journey.

While Violet flew toward the distant island, Leon decided to use the opportunity to check his [Storage Space].

There were plenty of powerful swords, armors, and materials.

However, Leon had no particular need for most of them, so he decided to put them on sale instead of letting them occupy his inventory.

He still kept anything that seemed important.

Items such as the [Void Key], [Divine Key], and [Abyss Key Shard (1/10)] were the most important, but he still had no idea where they were supposed to be used.

After spending some time organizing everything, Leon finally reached the last item: the [Monster Horn (Ascendant)].

[Monster Horn (Ascendant): A horn that resonates with the essence of monsters across all domains, said to grant the wielder influence over beast-kind when properly utilized. Its true power remains sealed, waiting for the right moment to awaken.]

Leon stared at the description for a moment.

He had obtained this item after defeating the Servant of Monsters during the Level 6 Monster Tide, but he hadn’t used it even once since then.

In fact, he had completely forgotten about it.

The same could be said for his [Monster Lord (S-Level)] sub-talent.

Leon wondered whether the horn was worth trying. He took it out and raised it toward the sky.