Advent of the Three Calamities

“…..”

The world was silent.

As the fog embraced the two figures standing on the surface of the water, a smile soon graced Lazarus’s features as he looked at the red-eyed figure before him.

“Is this your intent…? Not bad.”

It almost felt like a certain someone he once knew.

One that was related to blood…

But at the same time, it felt different. Lazarus had merely caught a glimpse of it. He didn’t know exactly what An’as’s intent was.

“…Yeah.”

Looking at his body, An’as raised his head back up to look at the merchant with a complicated expression.

His mind felt a lot fresher at this very moment.

He couldn’t quite explain it, but it was almost as though a mental block that had been weighing him down for a long time had finally been lifted, granting him the ability to form an intent.

One that he had been trying to chase for the longest time.

“Progression doesn’t only come from the body. A very important aspect is the mind.”

Lazarus began to explain as though he understood An’as’s thoughts.

“You can be as talented as you want, but if your mind is not there, you will never be able to progress. This is especially so for things like intent. It’s not something you develop just because you want it to. Well… unless you’re some sort of freak, but most of the time, it comes when your mind reaches a certain state.”

Lazarus was talking through experience.

This was what he had found during the times of the past.

Progression didn’t just come from the body. The sudden increase in mana, the stronger body, and so on…

The mind was an extremely important aspect of progression.

The higher one ranked, the more important this aspect was.

This was also one of the main reasons why most of the people who reached the highest of ranks were people whose thoughts and emotions were ‘indifferent’ or ‘cold’.

Because only such people had firm minds.

“I see.”

Taking in the merchant’s words, An’as looked at his own hands. He didn’t really know how to feel about the situation.

A part of him still wanted to worship the Goddess, but at the same time, he also understood that the Goddess was what was tying him down.

He had been so focused on trying to repay her kindness that he had neglected everything else.

‘I still wish to become a Luminarch, but…’

He no longer planned on prioritizing it over himself.

His mind felt clearer when his thoughts paused there.

“Yeah, I’ll—”

“Where do you think this fog comes from? Do you think this is something that comes naturally with this Strait?”

An’as’s words were cut, but Lazarus, as he looked around with narrowed eyes. His focus was now directed towards the strange fog that surrounded them.

This caught An’as in an awkward moment, but he soon snapped out of it and looked around.

He wasn’t really sure himself.

He wasn’t all too familiar with the Sinful Strait.

“If there’s someone you need to ask, then it should be Anne.”

“…..”

The merchant stood above the water in silence before eventually nodding his head.

“Yes, you’re right. The best course of action is to leave this place.”

They had stayed here for long enough.

Something about this place felt creepy, and… Looking around, Lazarus’s face turned grim.

No matter how much he tried to think about it, he just couldn’t see how the fog could’ve caused one of the seven lords and his crew to die like this. Something about the fog felt extremely unsettling.

He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but this was definitely no regular fog.

It was—

Plop! Plop!

“…..!”

A sudden bubbling sound echoed, and An’as’s and Lazarus’s heads snapped in the direction of the bubbling sound.

An’as’s eyes grew a deeper shade of red as he looked towards the bubbling with deep apprehension, his entire body tensing.

Lazarus was different.

He wasn’t planning on waiting to see what the bubbling was.

Looking up and listening to Pebble whisper in his mind, Lazarus nudged An’as with his arm and bolted towards the entrance of the Strait.

“Leave, now.”

His voice was firm, and An’as snapped out of it.

He followed right behind Lazarus as the two quickly rushed forward.

‘How does he know the way? He isn’t even crashing against the sides of the cliffs…’

As they ran, An’as couldn’t help but marvel at the merchant’s skills.

Unlike him, who had previously struggled to gain his bearings, the merchant moved in a way that made it seem like he was completely unaffected by the fog.

“We’re almost there.”

Lazarus’s eyes narrowed as he looked into the distance.

He could hear the faint, muffled sound of the water crashing against the rock surface. He knew that they were close to reaching the exit.

Just a little more.

Just a little…

“…..”

“…..”

Both Lazarus and An’as froze, their bodies locking in place.

BOOM! BOOM!

The deafening sound of the water crashing violently against the jagged rocks echoed, reverberating through the air with an intensity that rattled their bones.

It was so close.

Closer than they realized.

Yet—

They couldn’t move.

It wasn’t just hesitation. It was as if their very wills were shackled. Their muscles refused to obey.

Their eyes were frozen, wide and shaky as they were transfixed by the enormous eye that had materialized from the depths of the fog.

It was massive, its bloodshot iris seething with an unnatural glow that pierced through them, as though it could see into the very core of their souls.

And in that moment, nothing else existed.

No thoughts. No sounds. No escape.

Just the suffocating weight of that gaze.

***

At the same time, not far from them.

“They’re taking quite a while. I wonder what’s taking them so long.”

Anne’s brows were knit tightly as she looked towards the distance where the little assistant and the strange merchant had left. It had been almost two hours since they had left, and she had yet to hear any news of them.

This was a little worrying, considering that all they had to do was check out the situation and come back.

‘Maybe they’ve found something and are investigating?’

This was most likely what had happened.

She wasn’t too worried about their safety. Especially not when the merchant was present.

He was…

Strong.

So strong that even she felt slightly apprehensive when staring at him.

Although his physical body wasn’t strong, his mind was. Not only that, but he also appeared to have several extremely powerful companions with him.

He wasn’t someone she could lightly provoke.

…And that was the reason she wasn’t worried.

“If something really did happen to him, I’m sure he’ll have enough time to use the flare.”

So long as he shot the flare that she had given him, then she’d start moving immediately and help the two out.

However, the flare never really showed up.

And soon, she saw the faint silhouettes of two figures appearing from a distance.

“It’s them.”

Her eyes squinted to get a better look, and it was indeed them.

The two looked relatively unharmed, with both of their expressions calm.

Eventually, they arrived at the bottom of the ship as Anne greeted them.

“So? How did it go?”

“There’s nothing much. It’s all clear.”

An’as answered her from below, his expression relaxed.

“Nothing?”

Anne was surprised to hear this.

If there was nothing, then what took them so long?

“It’s because there was nothing that it took us so long.”

An’as continued as though he could read her mind.

“We thought that the situation was strange, and so we dug around every nook and cranny of the place in hopes of finding something, but…”

He shrugged.

“Nothing. There’s absolutely nothing.”

“Then what about from above? If there was nothing below then—”

“Also, nothing.”

Lazarus was the one to reply this time.

He was wearing a complicated expression while thinking about the Strait. The moment they entered, they found nothing unusual.

There were no ambushes, nothing…

It was just a clear and unobstructed Strait.

Even with [Mana Sense] and everything, he felt nothing.

This in itself felt extremely odd; however, after carefully searching through every nook and cranny of the place, there was no denying the fact that there was truly nothing.

In that sense…

“We should be clear to go.”

Both Lazarus and the little assistant hopped onto the ship with a single jump.

He then tossed the flare to Anne.

“Here.”

Catching it, Anne looked at the two of them in confusion. Did they really not find anything? She had a hard time believing them. However, seeing nothing abnormal with their eyes or minds, she eventually gave the signal to her crew, and the ship started to sail forward.

BOOM! BOOOOM!

The booming sound of the waves reached her ears shortly after as the ship neared the Strait.

Staring at it, Anne felt her heart grow heavy, however, she resisted and had the ship continue forward, eventually passing the entrance and entering the quiet Strait.

‘So far, nothing. It’s just like the two of them said.’

The Strait wasn’t very long.

At their current speed, they were moving, it would take about an hour for them to cross it in its entirety.

The entire time, Anne felt nervous as the ship moved forward.

She wasn’t the only one, as her crew showed signs of nervousness as they navigated the narrow passage.

The only ones who looked normal were An’as and the merchant, who looked ahead with calm looks.

They had already explored the place, so they were confident that they wouldn’t encounter anything.

And indeed they didn’t.

An hour after entering, they soon spotted the end of the Strait as the ship casually moved out of it.

“It’s really that easy?”

Looking back at the Strait with an incredulous expression, Anne touched her face several times to make sure that this was real.

‘It’s really as they said. There was nothing.’

No ambushes of the sort, not even strange monsters.

This felt extremely odd to her, considering how this was the perfect place to ambush them.

“Could it be that the temple hasn’t put out a bounty on us?”

“…I doubt it.”

Lazarus replied, his arms resting against the armrail of the ship. Looking towards the distance as his clothes and hair fluttered, he mumbled,

“Maybe they decided the risk wasn’t worth the reward, or perhaps they simply didn’t have enough time to set up an ambush. Either way, I doubt they won’t come. Perhaps they were just scouting us for a better understanding of how to deal with us.”

Lazarus had all sorts of thoughts regarding the situation.

He also didn’t believe things were as easy as they seemed to be. He wholly believed that this was merely the prelude of what was yet to come.

But…

“Huh?”

Even as several days passed, their path was completely unobstructed.

Not a single ship neared them the entire time.

Could it be that… the temple had really not set up a bounty?

Otherwise, why was their journey so smooth?

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