Chapter 797: Caught Between The Storm And The Sea
Chapter 797: Caught Between The Storm And The Sea
On the fifth day of their journey, the Flying Ship encountered a strange phenomenon at sea, which made the airship slowly lose altitude until it landed on the water.
They didn't know what caused this incident. Even after careful inspection, they found nothing wrong with their ship.
But since they were unable to gain altitude and fly in the sky, they had no choice but to travel the old-fashioned way and sail across the water for a period of time.
"I'm sorry, Young Master," the Captain of the Catkins, Merric, apologized. "I think we have entered a no-flying zone. We already checked. The Magic Crystal serving as this ship's power source still has plenty of energy, and the enchantments are still active.
"It seems that something is preventing them from working normally. I'm afraid that our journey will be delayed because of this incident..."
"Don't worry," Ethan replied. "None of this is your fault. But do you have a way to tell me which direction we should go? I will handle the rest."
"Yes, Young Master." Merric then handed the young man a compass. "We should head southwest. As long as we continue that path, we will not stray from our destination."
"Southwest? Got it." Ethan nodded and used the power of the Tidebringer to create a wave that lifted the flying ship from the water and carried it to the direction where Ethan willed it to go.
Although their travel time was slower, he believed that it would only take him a short period of time to break free from the no-fly zone.
Half an hour later, they saw an island in the distance.
It was very common to see such islands far out into the sea with some of them being inhabited.
Of course, Ethan had no intention of docking on the island even for a bit because it would only delay their journey to their destination. They still had a long way to go before they reached the lands of Midgard, so they couldn't afford to take any detours.
But as if expecting that they would go past it, the wind started to pick up and dark clouds covered the sky.
The strong winds were blowing against them, which made some of the Catkins frown.
The seawater also started to become turbulent as waves that were several meters tall started to slam on their flying ship.
Ethan, who had complete control over the sea, wasn't fazed by the storm that appeared out of nowhere.
However, just as he was about to use his power, he heard a voice singing from the direction of the island.
At first, he could tell that only one person was singing. But soon, more voices joined in, harmonizing and creating a soothing melody that washed over the ship like a powerful wave.
The Catkins, who had sensitive hearing, fell into a daze and started to move toward the bow of the ship.
Conall and Lyall, who also had a strong sense of hearing, knelt on the deck of the ship and closed their eyes to resist the alluring call of whoever were singing far out into the island.
Nicole and Hecate, who seemed to have a strong resistance to mind spells, hurriedly knocked out the Catkins unconscious.
However, a few of them had already jumped off into the sea and started to swim towards the island, undeterred by the big waves that could drown them completely.
Of course, with Ethan on board, such a thing would not happen.
Using his powers, he threw the Catkins back into the ship and dispersed the waves that were trying to sink them.
As if feeling annoyed by their resistance, the sound of the melodious singing grew louder, making the storm more violent.
The young man, who was now feeling annoyed, was about to use his powers to clear the storm completely.
But before he could do that, his wand suddenly appeared beside him as if feeling indignant that someone dared to sing in its presence.
The young man couldn't help but smile before grabbing the wand, which was itching for a fight.
"Let them hear what a real song sounds like," Ethan stated as he activated his Resonance. "Sing with me... Illumina!"
The image of the beautiful mermaid princess materialized above Ethan. Turning her head a little, she sneered in the direction of the Sirens who had started to fly toward their ship.
A few seconds later, the Mermaid Princess started to sing a song that sounded louder and more beautiful than the song the Sirens were singing.
"First Verse," Illumina said. "The Storm and the Sea."
"Dark clouds gather on the horizon,
Thunder rolls across the deep,
Waves are rising, wild and restless,
The storm awakens from its sleep."
"Lightning cuts through the heavens,
A furious dance upon the tide,
In the heart of the tempest's fury,
There's no place to run or hide."
"Oh, the storm and the sea,
A battle of eternity,
A wild wind's cry, a sailor's plea,
Caught between the storm and the sea.'
The winds then blew stronger, but this time, it didn't blow against the ship but toward the Sirens, who were very surprised to hear the song of a rival power, which they hated very much. Sirens were similar to harpies, and one of the races they hated was none other than mermaids. The two races liked to sing, but unlike the mermaids who sang for their own pleasure, the Sirens sang to drown ships and capture the men to become their food and playthings. Sensing that many wonderful males were inside the ship passing through their domain, they didn't hesitate to attempt enthralling them with their singing.
Even after hearing the song of the hateful mermaid, the Sirens didn't waver. They continued singing despite being battered by the winds as they flew into the sky.
A battle of songs ensued, with both sides not backing down in the slightest.
Although she was alone, Illumina sang with confidence facing off against the dozens of Sirens
who were all singing together.
Ethan decided to intervene at first by shooting down the Sirens from the sky.
However, sensing Illumina's competitive spirit, he decided to stay out of the song battle,
which was making the storm more violent.
"Stupid fish, end it already," Hecate muttered as she looked at the Mermaid Princess with annoyance. "Don't tell me you can't even defeat a couple of parrots."
As if triggered by her taunt, Illumina's voice became stronger and slammed against the Sirens, making them almost fall off from the sky.
Perhaps knowing that they couldn't win, the Sirens stopped singing and started to hurl insults
at the Mermaid Princess, who managed to overwhelm them with her singing despite beingn/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
alone.
"Ugly fish!"
"Stupid mermaid!"
"Exhibitionist!"
"Tone deaf fish!"
"Sea hag!"
The Sirens were about to say more, but they were forced to retreat after one of them was hit by a lightning strike that Ethan had unleashed to make them stop taunting Illumina.
Illumina laughed as if mocking the sore losers who were flying back to their island. This was the first time that Ethan saw the mermaid princess feel a sense of rivalry when it
came to singing.
Because of this, he decided that from now on, he would stay away from places where Sirens were known to live.
The storm disappeared as quickly as it appeared, making everyone sigh in relief.
After traveling for another half an hour at sea, the Flying Ship finally began to ascend into the
sky again, leaving behind the island where the resentful Sirens continued to curse the mermaid princess for raining down on their parade.