Shrouded Seascape

When Charles saw Swann's head made out of gear and flesh, many different thoughts flashed through his mind. However, he snapped back to reality the next second, and with a will on his end, dozens of invisible tentacles burst out of the ground next to Swann.

Radiant white electric arcs danced across the invisible tentacles as they wrapped around Swann.

Gears clicked as a cannon barrel burst out of Swann's mechanical figure and spat fire. However, what came out of the cannon barrel wasn't a cannonball but a chunk of writhing flesh. It looked like Swann had used his insides as ammunition and had shot it at Charles.

When the chunk of writhing flesh made contact with Charles, monstrous maws lined with jagged teeth appeared on its surface and frantically devoured Charles' tentacles.

"The great Feaster has bestowed power upon me! Power that the likes of you cannot imagine!" Swann let out a crazed roar before taking to the air like a deformed frog to pounce on Charles.

At the same time, a deck cannon rotated swiftly to aim at Swann under Lily's command, and the cannon barrel spat fire immediately afterward.

A blond-haired boy whose eyes were emitting a radiant light appeared in front of the cannonball.

"A prison of God's might!" the boy exclaimed and squeezed his hand. The oncoming cannonball was abruptly compressed, transforming into a lump of scrap metal. Then, Pope Lylejay in mid-air looked down at Charles on the deck.

Realizing that they were fighting three adversaries at once, the bizarre tentacled monster, the Pope, and Swann, Charles judged that the Narwhale was in an extremely dangerous situation.

"God had a good impression of you, so I'll consider not killing you if you promise to give me what I want," the Pope said. His voice was that of a child, but his way of speaking reflected his old age.

Charles glanced at the crew members battling the tentacled entity at the bow before taking a moment to compose himself and staring at the Pope. "Sure, sure, but this isn't the right time for us to talk. How about we deal with that thing first?"

The Pope's eyes narrowed slightly behind his golden hair, and the corners of his mouth curled up into a smile. "I see you're as detestable as ever. Forget it; I'm just going to kill you. I'm already a hundred and thirty years old.

"I can see through your thoughts even without reading your mind. You're too young to best me, child."

As soon as the Pope's words fell, he immediately charged at Charles. His figure emitted a dazzling glow, and he left behind afterimages as he moved rapidly toward Charles.

Charles gnashed his teeth and steeled his resolve. He knew that he couldn't defeat the Pope by himself and that he had to use his trump card.

"Grace! Channel your spell! Unleash it when I say so!"

The thin young girl's heart trembled slightly at the order, but she hugged her staff tightly and yelled with all of her might, "Understood, Captain!"

Boom!

A loud noise echoed, and Charles was pinned to the deck by a transparent barrier that had enveloped the shining Pope.

Staring at Pope Lylejay through the transparent barrier, Charles' eyes revealed a tinge of madness as he exclaimed, "If you don't want all of us to die here, then get the hell out of here! I have a weapon that is going to kill all of us!"

The Pope cast a contemptuous look at Charles, replying, "The Lord's cloak has taken away your identity as a Chosen One. You're not a threat to me without that identity of yours."

With that, the Pope raised his right hand, and a spear that seemed to be made out of radiant sunlight appeared in his hand. He gripped the spear and thrust it toward Charles' head.

Swoosh!

Charles' figure abruptly vanished, and the Pope's spear struck nothing but the deck. The next second, Charles reappeared behind the Pope. Before the Pope could even react, a black spike burst out of Charles' prosthetic palm, and it went flying toward the Pope's head.

However, the Pope seemed to have seen through Charles' move; he twisted in mid-air and swatted away the oncoming black spike. Then, he reached out for Charles, grabbing the latter by his neck.

While Charles and the Pope were busy fighting each other, Swann was darting through the chaotic battlefield like a dog. Swann's mechanical eye and good eye shone upon seeing Lily standing on a deck cannon.

"Weak," Pope Lylejay said and tightened his grip around Charles' neck.

Charles' eyes almost bulged out of their sockets beneath the Pope's extreme strength, and it took no time for Charles' face to turn pale due to the lack of blood. Eventually, his spider eye was squeezed out of his eye socket, seemingly unable to withstand the Pope's vice-like grip.

Just as Charles was about to fall unconscious, his figure swelled rapidly, and black fur grew all over him. Charles morphed into a bat monster towering nearly five meters tall.

Charles' neck thickened as his figure swelled, and Lylejay's tiny hands could no longer grip Charles' neck, allowing Charles to finally escape at the cost of a few injuries.

"Die!" Lylejay exclaimed, and several radiant spears manifested next to him. They flew toward Charles from many different angles, but roughly a dozen invisible tentacles covered in white electric arcs wrapped around the spears and dragged them across the deck.

Lylejay frowned while staring at Charles flying like an agile bat around him.

It had been a while since they last saw each other, but Lylejay still found it a bit absurd that Charles had gotten significantly stronger instead of weaker. After all, Charles had lost his identity as a Chosen One.

Despite that, he was doing pretty well against Lylejay and was still alive, even though it had been quite a while since they started fighting. However, Lylejay was not worried at all.

He had considered the possibility of variables popping up before he decided to attack Charles, and it was the reason he decided to attack Charles at this exact time. In other words, time was on Lylejay's side.

The Pope glanced at the tentacled entity at the bow and saw that the crew members of the Narwhale were in dire straits. Retracting his gaze, he stared at Charles and raised his hand. Then, he charged at Charles.

A loud creaking noise echoed, and the Narwhale started tilting to one side.

The crew members' situation was growing increasingly dangerous without Charles' help, and the tentacles had already devoured the Narwhale's bow.

"Captain! Nothing is working against this thing! The ship is sinking!" Nico's anxious shout reached Charles' ears.

Charles was anxious as well as he swept his gaze across the chaotic battlefield. The cogs in his mind turned rapidly as he tried to come up with a way to handle their deadly predicament.

Just as he thought about calling Anna for help, the Pope suddenly left the Narwhale and returned to his own ship before swiftly retreating.

Charles was stunned, but he had no time to ponder over the meaning behind the Pope's retreat. The tentacles at the bow had already encroached on the bridge's glass!

Charles rushed to the tentacled entity's side, which had doubled in size during his absence. He opened his mouth, and a piercing sonic attack burst out of his mouth.

The situation was soon brought under control with Charles' help, but he discovered that the tentacled entity was indeed immune to any form of attack, and it made him feel incredibly frustrated.

Charles observed the tentacled entity for quite a while, and he discovered that a part of it seemed to be connected to a special independent space—a space containing a Divinity's corpse.

Charles had no idea what exactly that place was, but he knew one thing for sure—it was impossible to kill this tentacled entity from this side.

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