Advent of the Three Calamities

Delilah hardly had any time to react.

Her mind had been so distracted by the Saint’s words that she barely had enough time to react to the sudden attack.

“…..!”

She didn’t see the attack coming, but she sensed it at the last possible moment, snapping her hand upward to conjure a black void that absorbed the strike head-on.

BANG!

A terrifying sound echoed shortly after as massive waves formed around the boat Delilah stood on.

“Ahhh—!”

“Careful!”

Panicked screams filled the air as the ship lurched violently, swaying back and forth in the wake of her action’s aftermath. Seeing the chaos, Delilah’s brows knitted together before she gently clicked her heel against the boat’s wooden surface, calming everything down.

It was only then that the screams started to settle down.

No longer paying them any mind, Delilah focused her attention on the collassal figure that stood before her, its massive frame towering over the world as some sort of mist covered its real form, making it hard to tell its exact apperance.

Staring at the creature, Delilah’s expression turned extremely serious.

‘….I wasn’t able to sense its attack until its last moment.’

Thankfully, she was able to react in time, but the fact that she wasn’t able to react to the attack until the last moment made her extremely apprehensive.

“—!”

Sensing something again, Delilah’s head flickered to her right as she raised her hand.

BANG!

Once again, she felt a powerful attack coming unexpectedly at her from the flank. She was able to block it just like the first time, and unlike before, she was also able to block the aftermath of the attack, but as she pulled her hand back, Delilah felt a subtle stinging sensation.

Retrieving her hand, her eyes squinted as she saw a deep gash on her open palm.

‘I’m hurt…?’

The deep gash on her hand rapidly healed, the blood flowing back into her body.

Delilah closed her eyes before shifting her attention towards the gigantic creature once more. Just a mere look at it, and she felt her head throb.

That was when she understood what was going on.

‘This must be some sort of [Mind] type monster. It is most likely disrupting my mind, making its attack only discernible when they’re close enough to me.’

All it took was one quick observation for her to understand exactly what was going on, and it was also in that moment that she felt multiple attacks shoot in her direction from all sides.

Her face didn’t change under the barrage of attacks.

As she tapped her foot against the ship’s deck, a black film began to rise beneath her, creeping outward and blanketing the area. From the tainted surface, dark, sickly hands clawed their way up, reaching hungrily toward the source of the attacks.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Muffled explosions echoed throughout as Delilah raised her head up to stare at the primordial creature before jumping slightly and landing on the surface of the water, her steps leaving no ripple behind.

BANG!

Even more attacks shot in her direction, but Delilah remained unmoved, more and more hands creeping up from beneath her and shooting in the direction of each attack.

Like that, Delilah was able to inch closer and closer to Xa’hurl.

Inside the boat, every eye fixated on the lone figure standing atop the water, her silky black hair whispering in the breeze. Beneath her feet, the crimson waves slowly darkened like an oil spill, as if her very presence was corrupting them. Towering above her, a colossal monster loomed, its shadow stretching wide across the sea.

Compared to the monster, she was a lot smaller.

Almost insignificant, and yet… To the eye of all the people present, it almost felt as though she stood on the same level as the beast.

And soon, stopping right before the monster, Delilah’s deep black eyes turned completely black.

The world froze.

And then—

Darkness.

As if the white sun had been ripped from the sky, the world was suddenly swallowed by a suffocating darkness, plunging everything into a deep and terrifying void.

Alongside the darkness was a chilling cold that dug deeply into the skin of everyone present.

“What’s going on?”

“I can’t see. I can—”

Before the people could figure out what had happened, the darkness faded as fast as it came, and the figure that stood on the surface of the water was gone.

“There!”

By the time anyone realized where she was, Delilah had already made her move, her figure now hovering at eye level with the towering creature, her hand cloaked in darkness as glowing runes began to form and carve themselves into her skin.

It all happened so fast that nobody was able to react on time.

By the time her entire hand turned black, she was already before Xa’hurl, her fingertips brushing against the massive creature’s body.

It was just a light brush, but it was enough to make Xa’hurl momentarily freeze.

That was soon followed by a loud wail as the world shook.

“Hieeeeek!”

Rumble! Rumble—!

Enormous waves formed, crashing towards the surroundings as Xa’hurl’s figure started to become more clear in the eyes of all those present, revealing a vast, shifting mass of eyes and mouths suspended in a series of tendrils that writhed through the air.

Color bled from the sky as reality bent to accommodate its presence, and each person that witnessed the creature’s true appearance found their minds blanking, their thoughts completely pausing as they struggled to comprehend what they had just witnessed.

Some of the more unfortunate ones found their minds completely shattering, their brains exploding on the spot, while the more fortunate ones passed out directly.

Swoosh!

The sight merely lasted a few seconds as a golden shield formed around the ship, blocking the sight from everyone present.

If not for the Saint’s quick intervention, a lot more people would’ve died.

“Haa… Haa…”

With a pale face, the Saint was barely holding it in together.

Even he was affected by the sight.

His mind throbbed hard, and his entire body shuddered as the memories of the creature’s true apperance erased itself from his mind.

The Saint’s expression turned grim.

‘If this is how much I’m affected by one simple look, I wonder how the mysterious woman from before is faring.’

She had been the closest of everyone present.

Surely she wasn’t unscathed…

And indeed she wasn’t.

The moment Xa’hurl’s real figure flickered, Delilah’s entire body trembled and she stumbled back in the air as her mind pierced with a terrifying pain.

The pain was so strong that it threatened to consume her thoughts.

It took her several seconds to regain her composure, and by the time she lifted her gaze, Xa’hurl’s true form had already vanished once more behind the veil.

Her expression turned even more serious.

‘This creature is a lot more powerful than I expected.’

Her disadvantage lay in the fact that this was a [Mind] type monster. They weren’t physically strong, but they targeted the mind, and it made things rather difficult for Delilah who didn’t specialize in the [Mind].

Delilah was still confident in taking the creature down, but it would take her a lot of effort.

Effort that she wasn’t so sure she wanted to expend.

Why did she need to fight with her life on the line? For what reason would she need to do that…?

Was it for that mysterious man?

But she couldn’t recall a single thing about him. Was he really the real reason for why she was here?

The more Delilah thought about the man, the more bitter she felt.

Was he really worth it?

Was he… worth fighting with her life on the line?

***

RUMBLE—!

It was as if the entire world shook.

Even as he floated beneath the depths of the water, Lazarus felt the shocks coming from the fight that was happening above. Just the mere aftershocks of the fight left him with palpitations, and his expression quickly changed.

‘I need to hurry.’

He didn’t know for how long the fight would continue for, and so he quickly got to work and started to head in the direction of where the eye was located.

According to the mirror, it was deep within the waters, ahead of him.

All he had to do was swim for a little bit before reaching the spot.

RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

The world continued to shake as he moved deep underwater, his speed increasing as his heart raced uncontrollably.

The fight above was growing more and more intense.

‘She should be fine. Xa’hurl should be at the same level as her.’

Lazarus wasn’t worried about the safety of the woman from the Empire. He was worried about whether she’d keep the primordial creature in check long enough for him to find the eye.

Realistically speaking, all her memories of him were gone.

She had no reason to be here.

As such, he was worried she’d leave once she realized that the risk wasn’t worth it.

“——!”

To make matters worse, Lazarus also felt a powerful figure rapidly approach him from behind.

‘Quick!’

Imagining a red orb, Lazarus’s speed boosted as he supplemented the sky with [Step of Supression] that granted him the ability to stay grounded within the water.

But—

RUMBLE!

As the outside world rumbled, Lazarus felt that the depths of the Maw was also starting to stir as several creatures that been laying dormant within the depths of the water were starting to wake up.

‘No, not now…!’

Lazarus grit his teeth, pouring everything he had in him to go even faster as he followed the dot on the mirror.

He didn’t even bother to hide his presence with [Lament of Lies]. Instead, he used Wobbles and Owl-Mighty’s pressure to make himself look as intimidating as possible.

Within the depths of the water, he stood out.

But at the same time, his presence kept a lot of the mosnters away.

RUMBLE!

The water stirred once more, and Lazarus’s heart skipped a beat.

But not for long as the dot in the mirror enlarged right before his eyes.

‘There!’

That was when Lazarus realized he was cloes to the eye, and he kicked the water with even more aggressiveness, shooting down like an arrow.

Swooosh!

His figure cut through the water, before finally reaching the depths of the Maw where he felt the seabed.

‘It should be right over here.’

Lazarus angled the mirror beneath him and scanned the surroundings, but to his surprise, there was nothing there.

‘What…? Where is it…?’

He angled the mirror once again, trying to get a good read, but all it showed him was a red dot, telling him that he was at the right spot. However, regardless of where he looked, he couldn’t see a single thing.

Was the mirror lying?

‘No, there’s no way. I’m sure its somewhere here. But where? Whe—’

Lazarus’s thoughts paused and he looked down.

That was when it suddenly crossed his mind and he raised his hand and punched down.

BANG!

Right, if it wasn’t above, then it had to be…

Below.

BANG!

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