Chapter 98: Goodbye, Xi Ya

When the intuitive alarm exploded in his heart, the bone-made sailor's blade had already pressed against Lei Kedun's back.

Despair and regret surged instantly through Lei Kedun's mind.

"Sizzle~" the bone-made sailor's blade was blocked by a layer of suddenly spreading frost, and the frost continued to spread backward along the blade.

Lei Kedun froze for a moment, then stepped forward and turned. Making a gripping and chopping motion with both hands, an exaggerated giant sword composed of crimson magma and pale blue flame appeared in his hand, and he slashed down swiftly.

Behind Lei Kedun, a bald man wielding a bone-made sailor's blade had eyes full of madness and astonishment. Before he could comprehend what was happening, he was already split open by the magma sword.

Lei Kedun withdrew his hand, then swung the magma sword horizontally again, cutting the undead behind him and the bald man's corpse into two pieces together.

"Xi Ya! What are you doing!" a resentful voice rang out among the undead.

"Of course, I think this young man is better-looking; it would be a shame for him to die like this, so it's better to let that bald guy die!"

A carefree, uniquely charming voice came from behind Frank.

The undead that concealed her figure were instantly incinerated by black flames, leaving not even ash.

Frank quickly pulled back from that area, his gaze wary as he fixed on the suddenly appearing red-haired, flamboyant woman behind him. A few seeds fell silently from his body.

"Big red-haired" Tu Ba Ge's words weren't finished before Lei Kedun kicked him away.

These guys used the undead to conceal their own silhouettes and auras—something Lei Kedun had never considered before—but now the spirit medium hiding in the shadows has finally been revealed.

"Depraved"—a demonic word full of corrupt and depraved meaning rang out.

At the spot where that resentful voice had sounded, the surrounding area showed a tendency toward abyssal corruption. The undead's surfaces were coated with a slightly viscous black liquid, which then exploded, shattering and turning into depraved black mist.

"He's already changed hiding places, my foolish big boy!"

The flamboyant red-haired Xi Ya made a teasing remark.

Lei Kedun didn't respond; his Inspecting Secret Eye scanned the surroundings, but the massive undead aura obscured too many traces, and he could never locate the spirit medium's hiding place.

"Be careful!" Lei Kedun called out a warning.

Afterward, countless wailing sounds seemed to arise from the floating ring behind him, and a pale blue flame emitting a strong sulfur scent slid down like liquid in Lei Kedun's hand.

Lei Kedun half-squatted, pressing his hands to the ground; the pale blue flame surged outward, its color shifting from pale blue to blue-green, and the strong sulfur smell was mixed with a foul stench.

The flames quickly engulfed the entire deck, then surged violently, enveloping the undead drifting in the air; the flames burst forth with a faint green light on the undead, then immediately collapsed and dissipated.

With the aid of the ring behind him, Lei Kedun simultaneously used three flame-type spells mastered by demons: Control Poison Flame, Deadly Steam, and Volcanic Eruption.

One round of explosions took away ninety percent of the undead on the deck, the cost being that Lei Kedun's spiritual energy was largely used up, nearly exhausted.

On Tu Ba Ge, Pa Si, and Frank's bodies, a layer of ice crystals instantly formed when the flames erupted, protecting them within.

"You brat, you're as recklessly impulsive as ever! If I weren't here, would you be planning to eat roasted rabbit or roasted black cat?"

After the flames dissipated, Xi Ya's voice said with a hint of helplessness.

"Hehe! It's not because you, Sister Xi Ya, are here that I dare to do this!"

Lei Kedun rubbed his head, showing an innocent expression.

The ring behind him, lacking extra spiritual support, turned into specks of faint light and vanished completely.

"Stop laughing; haven't you noticed your fire only burned a bunch of weaklings?"

Xi Ya stepped forward and walked across the deck, then added an explanation:

"Relying on undead creatures to phase through walls isn't that difficult; unless you burn the whole ship, it won't affect him."

"Well, then what should we do now?"

Lei Kedun felt somewhat helpless; the spirit medium he had encountered on the ferry earlier had shown no ability to phase through walls, leading to a mistaken judgment.

"Wait, he'll come running back on his own." Xi Ya said with a firm tone.

The deck, having been baptized by fire, creaked under Xi Ya's steps, each step leaving debris. Some undead and crew members who had luckily avoided major damage were each given a patch of black flame by Xi Ya.

"Ah!"

A figure covered head to toe in scratches, full of bloodstains, stumbled out of the cabin.

"When did you poison me!" the disheveled figure only said that one line.

Countless white bones surged from his waist-mounted water flask, quickly merging with him. A massive bone-wielding general image was assembled.

Several strands of black, illusory flame attached to the white bones, merging into the body of this gigantic bone general.

"Ah~"

The undead's whispers and wails exploded beside Lei Kedun's ears.

The wail of this gigantic bone general before him actually carried some effect of the language of the dead; Lei Kedun felt his soul trembling.

On the other side, Frank also covered his ears, the hair on his body wriggling up and down as if receiving strong stimulation.

Tu Ba Ge and Pa Si, the two small animals, directly covered their ears and painfully rolled on the ground.

Only Xi Ya, seemingly unaffected, slowly stepped forward, leaned back, arms outstretched as if embracing the sun. A magnificent, pure pillar of scorching light descended from the heavens, enveloping the gigantic bone general.

The blinding light made Lei Kedun instinctively close his eyes for a moment; the wail of the gigantic bone general beside his ears seemed to be melting away, continually weakening, to the point that even the effect of the dead's language could not be sustained.

The effect of the Holy Light didn't last long, but in the instant after it ended, golden illusory flames spontaneously ignited, exuding the sun's mighty, pervasive aura.

Lei Kedun gazed at the dense light fire, his scalp tingling; this rich solar aura made him feel uncomfortable even if he merely wore a demon emblem.

After the light fire burned away, the gigantic bone general turned directly to ash, leaving only a humanoid charcoal with faint breathing still present at the spot.

"Such tenacious vitality?" Lei Kedun was somewhat surprised.

This spirit medium, who had embodied as an undead creature, hadn't died even after undergoing the baptism of Holy Light and light fire, although his state was now close to death.

"As an extraordinary being, one always finds ways to preserve life; you're not a Storm Barbarian, so don't act so recklessly!"

Xi Ya gave an explanation, and by the way also educated Lei Kedun with a sentence.

"Use your demonic power to kill him!"

Xi Ya turned and moved away from this side reeking of scorched smell.

"Huh? Why?" Lei Kedun didn't quite understand.

"Cover up this rich solar aura."

Xia had already walked to the edge of the ship's rail, breathing fresh air as she spoke.

Leikedun felt doubtful; Xia could do this herself, so why did she still need to do it herself, but he didn't ask further.

"Death" — a voice full of corrupt and decadent meaning — sounded.

The charcoal lying on the ground, with only weak breath left, felt as if its heart were tightly gripped by an invisible hand, stained with mottled rust, and ignited into flames emitting a sulfur smell.

This charcoal turned into a charred corpse; the strong sulfur smell dispersed the lingering solar aura on his body.

After dealing with that unknown medium, Leikedun also came to the ship's rail to get some air.

Leikedun's earlier demon spell had filled the whole deck with a strong sulfur smell and burnt odor, although some was purified by Xia's holy light, but only near the medium's corpse.

"What is that ring behind you just now? It seems to boost your spellcasting ability, but it doesn't look like a magic item or a special spell." Xia asked curiously.

"A new system mastered by the Church!" Leikedun didn't say much.

The battle on another smuggling ship also seemed to have ended; Gadelia turned into sparkling starlight points that surged, quickly appearing beside Leikedun and Frank.

"Demon-like fire magic, and traces of solar domain magic!"

Gadelia scanned the deck's surroundings, then her gaze fell on Xia.

Xia matched Gadelia's aura without yielding, locking eyes; Leikedun, standing to the side, felt sparks between their gazes.

"Frank, you're saying they won't start fighting, right?"

Leikedun stepped beside Frank and whispered a question.

"No!" Gadelia said in a very cold voice.

"Yo, little"

"My name is Al·Tains; I'm currently a crew member of the Future!"

Leikedun immediately spoke up to interrupt Xia's upcoming revelation of her real name.

"Really? Xiao A'er, you don't even do the most basic disguise, and you've come to sea to be a pirate; are you sure your parents won't find out?"

Xia quickly changed her way of address and spoke again.

"Well, I want to too, but I can't do makeup, and I lack any magical item with that ability. Anyway, I have no bounty, so it's not a big problem." Leikedun said, half explaining, half consoling himself.

(End of chapter)