Chapter 272: Conflict

Under Ai Dewenna's order, the Golden Dream quickly altered course and sailed head‑on with the Death Notice ahead to its side.

Leiketon left two pale‑yellow paper figures for Ai Dewenna, then his figure faded and vanished again.

On the afternoon sea, the Golden Dream reflected golden hues in the sunlight as it sailed forward at a steady speed.

Opposite, the black‑painted Death Notice showed no sign of slowing; like a massive black curved blade cutting the sea, it surged straight toward the Golden Dream.

In the farther sea around them, scattered ships lingered like schools of fish that sense blood, hovering around the battlefield awaiting their share of corpses.

A pale‑yellow miniature paper figure bearing a secret‑eye sigil dangled from Ai Dewenna's monocular like a pendant.

Leiketon's voice transmitted from the paper figure:

"Slightly adjust course to brush past the Death Notice; I've cast a veil of illusion over the Golden Dream so it won't be detected."

The sailing chief turned to Ai Dewenna, seeking her opinion.

"Execute," Ai Dewenna said with a slight nod.

Receiving the captain's order, the sailing chief began turning the helm.

On the Death Notice, a gaunt figure wearing a tattered triangular hat seemed to listen intently.

His expression twisted slightly, dark eyes harboring a restrained yet unmistakable malice.

After a moment, his face showed great pain and a hint of struggle, as if battling an unseen force.

Yet quickly his expression softened, a snarling grin pulling at his mouth:

"So this is the Ice Mountain General's trump card?"

"Ha—haha! A demigod bearing divine flesh and soul makes the finest offering."

Without a command, the Death Notice surged forward at breakneck speed, like a blood‑scented hyena.

On the sea, the Golden Dream's course shift left no trace; it continued straight ahead.

It drew ever closer to the Death Notice, entering both ships' cannon range, close enough to see the massive opposite sailing ship's details, even its crew.

An invisible wave emanated from the Death Notice, oddly stirring the emotions and desires of nearby beings; panic and dread spread across the Golden Dream.

In the next instant, solidified black surged over the Death Notice's hull, enveloping it completely.

It accelerated abruptly, slamming head‑on into the unprepared Golden Dream.

Agari Tu saw the panic on every opposite crew member's face and their frantic cannon adjustments.

The Death Notice, like a massive black curved blade, struck straight through the Golden Dream, whose hull glimmered golden in the sun.

The impact, shattering sound, and the opposing demigod's assault Agari Tu had expected never came; his gaunt face twisted.

In the sunlight, the Golden Dream suddenly turned transparent, became illusory, and turned into a mass of foam.

The foam reflected dreamlike colors under the light, drifting and vanishing in an instant.

The Golden Dream reappeared less than two hundred meters to the side, its hull visible again, and sped toward the Death Notice's rear.

Where the Golden Dream had been, a massive pure light sphere wreathed in countless holy flames materialized out of thin air, radiating fierce, sacred light like a miniature sun.

Golden flames constantly erupted around it, the intense pure light spreading outward in layers and beams.

The moment it neared the Death Notice, it burst outward like a violent explosion, the searing light and fire engulfing the entire Death Notice.

The sun‑charged light and fire could severely damage the Death Notice, which belongs to the realms of Filth and Corruption.

The solidified black that surfaced on the Death Notice ignited instantly, consumed; the light and fire pierced the hull, bathing every crew member, all showing signs of melting.

Black mist continuously spewed from the Death Notice, coalescing into a slightly viscous black liquid that clashed with the sun‑charged light and fire.

In the high sky, an invisible veil fell like gauze, revealing Leiketon's silhouette.

Streaks of starlight surrounded him, steadying his body in midair.

He stared solemnly at the place engulfed by light and fire, tugged his mouth, and murmured:

"The hidden ability is indeed useful; even the three‑tiered Death Notice was partially deceived."

After confirming the plan with Ice Mountain General Ai Dewenna, he seized a chance to pray to the Hidden Sage, requesting concealment that shrouded his own dangerous traits.

Any divination or foresight aimed at him would only reveal him as a relatively weak demigod.

It was originally prepared for Seniol, but the Death Notice crashed on its own.

While pondering, his gaze pierced the lingering light and fire, spotting the black silhouette that had sunk into the sea.

He had no intention to pursue; without revealing too many trump cards, he was not confident enough to leave the Undying King with the Death Notice.

The next moment, an abyssal tendency arose around him, a layer of black surfacing, and he felt his body—and even his mind—stiffen briefly.

Leiketon's body suddenly thinned and became brittle, turning into a crudely cut pale‑yellow paper figure.

The paper figure's surface was stained with mottled rust red, quickly coated with a slightly viscous black liquid that ignited sulfuric flames, turning into fallen black mist.

Leiketon's silhouette emerged from the opposite sky, starlight coalescing around him, propelling his swift aerial movement to evade the Filth‑word spell's lock.

An ethereal, wavering sound pierced the starlight barrier, ringing in his ears, a voice full of filth and corruption echoing in his mind.

The sound gradually irritated him, stirring various emotions and desires within.

His eyes instantly glowed with pale blue light, his body bathed in gold, expanding layer by layer, repelling all corrupt and filthy forces.

Rationality suppressed his emotions and desires to the extreme; his cold gaze swept the shadows drifting beneath the sea surface.

The next moment, light gathered in his hand, forming a spear of utmost purity and blinding white, seemingly forged from pure sunlight.

He did not rely on his own spirit to lock onto the target, as that would link him to the Death Notice—a perilous move before the Babble‑speaker.

He instead used the powerful calculation and analysis granted by the Reader's Path to deduce the optimal position and fired the Darkless Gun from his hand.

Suddenly, pale‑blue flames with a strong sulfur scent ignited on the sea; the blinding Darkless Gun plunged into a "Cage", solidifying within the pale‑blue fire.

The next instant, an intensely white blaze appeared on the sea, a miniature sun bright enough to illuminate a city.

The surrounding seawater continuously evaporated, not even allowing rising steam to form.

While moving through the air, Leiketon's body suddenly sank, his motions slowing as an invisible force pressed him down to the sea.

A demon nearly four meters tall, bearing curved goat horns and a pair of massive wings, leapt out of the sea.

His right hand shaped like a sharp claw, in a dragging motion, an exaggerated greatsword composed of crimson magma and pale blue flame rapidly took shape, and he slashed fiercely at Rekton's falling body.

The two curved demon horns on his head burned with eerie iridescent flames; Rekton's mind instantly went into a trance, and the various emotions and desires originally suppressed by reason began to break free of their restraints.

In the moment before the magma sword struck him, Rekton's body snapped its fingers beyond his control.

He was immediately cleaved in two by the magma sword, but what appeared was not the corpse Agarithu had anticipated—instead, a dense, endless ocean of golden flame.

The demonized Agarithu, scorched by the Fire of Light from the Solar Domain, let out a painful shriek.

"Before a prophet, any conspiracy and trap is futile."

A slightly mocking voice came from high above, and at the same time a scorching, blinding ray descended.

The ray pierced through the dense, endless Fire of Light and the barrier of seawater, striking that illusory, viscous mass of black liquid beneath the ocean surface.

Agarithu's screams emanated from within; passing through the seawater and layer upon layer of flame, they reached Rekton's ears, carrying a surge of arrogant, smug, excited emotion.

Rekton frowned slightly; he kept raising his body higher, distancing himself from the Death Omen hidden beneath the sea surface.

Facing a devil, even in a state of reason, his emotions and desires remained difficult to control—and moreover, the constant murmurs from the Death Omen in his ears severely compounded his burden.

As he raised his altitude, a voice came from a paper figure tucked inside his collar—Edwina's voice:

"The Death Omen is approaching at high speed beneath the sea surface; it seems to possess the ability of malicious perception as well, and the Purification Cannon cannot lock onto it."

Rekton frowned slightly; he shifted his gaze downward, confirming that the figure suspected to be the Death Omen beneath the sea surface on his side was still there.

An ability similar to avatars? This ship still retained a unique ability from its demon stage?

After a brief moment of thought, he said in a low voice:

"Prepare for attack; there is a Death Omen on my side as well. I need some time to distinguish the real from the fake."

"Attach additional Solar Domain spell capabilities to the Golden Dream, to prevent the crew from being corroded by power from the Abyss."

"Be careful not to establish a connection with it through mystical means; a Whisperer can exert influence on a target through an established connection, and that ship still retains this characteristic."

(End of this chapter)