246 Chapter 246: Expecting
It was Atlas’ first time seeing what the ship actually looked like. The ship seemed to be much bigger than his initial expectancy.
There were guards spread around the ship, all being completely alert. Fortunately, it didn’t look like they were able to sense him.
Despite their being guards, the forces were still much smaller than Atlas initially expected. When he didn’t see any guards outside the forest, he thought they would be guarding the ships instead, but at the moment, even that didn’t seem to be the case.
According to Luna, there were supposed to be at least a hundred powerful warriors that came through each ship. Moreover, since it was the main fleet of the Prince, the guards should only be more than the usual fleets had. However, for some reason, he couldn’t even see more than twenty people guarding the ship.
“Are the rest inside the ship? But why would so many of them be inside even now?” Atlas wondered as it seemed quite unlikely.
It seemed more like the case where the other guards had just left the place to search nearby cities. That could explain why there were only twenty here. However, if that was the case, it also meant that there was a possibility that the Young Prince also went with them and he wasn’t inside the fleet.
Atlas clenched his fist, keeping his entire focus on the ship. If he was here, it was only going to work if Luna’s brother was inside. If he wasn’t, then it was going to be a waste of their time and a failure.
He cast an invisibility spell that could only last for a short time. He had been saving it for when he was actually at his final destination.
After casting invisibility, he came out of his hiding and walked in the open, closer to the shop.
The black ship was so big that it was a hard task even to find where to enter from. Fortunately, Luna had told him about such things after knowing just what this ship was like. Since she was from the Royal Family of the Empire as well, she knew quite a lot about these ships.
The entrance of the ship was from the backdoor, which was usually closed. The door could be opened from the inside, but there was also a way to open it from the outside.
Atlas stood before the door after walking past all the other guards. So far, the plan was moving very smoothly as no guard was able to sense him. The only problem was the time limitation of this spell. He needed to enter the ship and get to his Target before the time ran out.
He brought out a small vial from his pocket, which contained a droplet of Luna’s blood. The ship doors could only be opened from inside in most of the cases when the ship was in a foreign land, but there was also an emergency method for the Royals in case they urgently needed to access the ships.
All it needed was the royal blood to override the lock for a brief moment and to open the door. Thanks to Luna’s information, he knew about such things in advance and brought Royal Blood with him. Even though Luna didn’t have the authority to pilot the ship with her blood, the ability to open the door was still the same.
As soon as Atlas made the blood droplet touch the door, the blood was absorbed by the door. The door started sliding up, opening.
Even though the door wasn’t loud when opening, some guards outside still noticed the door opened. They straightened up as if expecting someone was coming out from inside. However, no one came out, and the doors closed on their own after a few seconds, confusing the Guards. If no one was coming out, then how did the doors open in the first place?
On the other hand, Atlas had already managed to successfully enter the ship before the door closed. So far, things had been easier than even he expected.
‘So far, so good. But I can’t get complacent until I find Luna’s brother. If he isn’t here, then it’ll all be for naught.’
Getting inside the ship was swift, but the next part was supposed to be just as hard. He needed to locate the young prince if he was even in here.
Locating one person inside such a massive ship and that too before his Shroud ran out was certainly complicated. He knew he couldn’t waste any time.
He instantly got to search, taking his first step. Unfortunately, as soon as he took his first step, he felt a terrifying current course all through his body, which momentarily paralyzed even his body.
The current made him lose control of his body as he fell to his knees. Walls made from Lightning appeared all around him as if entrapping him in a prison.
Clap! Clap! Chap!
Clapping resounded in the surrounding area. However, it was clearly only one person who was clapping from the sound of it.
Atlas raised his head as his body started regaining some control again after the initial shock of the current.
He raised his head, gazing at a young man with long blonde hair who was clapping.
There were more people following the man with their hands behind their backs; however, they were much more quiet.
The men in the back were covered in armor, with only their heads being visible.
“You are finally here… I must say, you kept me waiting for a long time. I was expecting you here much sooner,” the young man commented.
“Oh, how silly of me. I forgot to introduce myself. Still, I don’t think I need to introduce myself for you to recognize me, right? I’m sure my dear sister already told you everything there is to know about me, including my so-called weakness of impatience?”
Atlas was surprised. Why did it seem like it was a trap? The man was expecting him here? Why?