Chapter 278: 54. King of the Archangels
As Jesse mentioned earlier, the Flying Fish was sailing at an incredibly fast speed. Before long, Pat Sulshen Island, which lay beneath the night sky, was no longer visible from the deck. Jesse wiped the sweat from his face and walked out of the captain’s room, noticing Fisher still leaning against the side of the deck. He spoke to him,
“Although the captain’s room has been rummaged through, luckily the navigation charts are still here. Taking you to the Northern Region won’t be a problem at all. Moreover, I just checked the coal in the engine room, and thankfully that group of gangsters didn’t bother to take it away, or else we would have had to anchor in the middle of the sea before we could go very far.”
“That’s good.”
Fisher nodded in response, not knowing why, but in Jesse’s eyes, this handsome guy, the Iceberg Queen’s lover, seemed to have gained an air of mystery. The earlier scene where he used the Spinner to steal back the key was still quite shocking. It seemed this guy from Nali was a magician, though it was unclear how he ended up with the Iceberg Queen from the Kingdom of Sardinia.
Jesse glanced cautiously at Emhart on Fisher’s shoulder and suddenly seemed to remember something, saying,
“Oh right, Mr. Fisher, didn’t you want to show your book friend the collection on board? Those books are in my captain’s room. Want to come and take a look?”
Before Fisher could respond, Emhart on his shoulder impatiently began bumping his gentleman’s hat with his body. Fisher smiled helplessly and gestured for Jesse to lead the way.
The Flying Fish hadn’t had anyone on board for a long time, and the gangsters holding it wouldn’t show any kindness by helping to clean. So, there was a thick layer of dust visible everywhere, and Jesse probably couldn’t even recall how long it had been adrift at sea.
“This way, this way. The previous voyaging time was long, and with nothing to do, I could only pass the time reading various books.”
The captain’s room was not large, but on a ship like the Flying Fish, which had been downsized, it was relatively spacious. The furnishings were not different from a typical captain’s room, consisting of navigation charts, clothing, various reports, and the main control axes for the engine.
The only thing that set it apart from other captain’s rooms was the two large bookshelves placed against one wall, filled with a variety of books, most of which were from Nali, but there were also quite a few from the Southern Continent.
As Jesse introduced them to Fisher, a complex look appeared in his eyes, as if he had encountered an old friend he hadn’t seen in a long time, filled with mixed feelings.
“I smell it, Fisher, over there!”
As soon as Emhart entered, he seemed to catch the scent of something delicious; he smacked his lips and fixed his gaze intently on a specific spot on the bookshelf.
“Haha, you guys can read the books here at will. I’m going to check the cabins below to see if anything has gone wrong after all this time. After all, the Flying Fish is still a wooden ship, and if a hole appears or a screw falls off, it could cause big problems.”
“I understand. Once I’m done reading, I will come to find you.”
“No problem. I don’t know if the lights below are broken, but it will probably still be quite dark. Mr. Fisher can stay on the deck and wait for me to check down there before coming to find you. It won’t take long.”
Fisher glanced at him and nodded without giving it much thought.
“Okay then, sorry to trouble you, Captain Jesse. We’ll wait for you here.”
“No problem.”
Jesse scratched the back of his head and immediately ran toward the deck, while Fisher, staying in the captain’s room, quietly closed the room’s door, cutting off contact with the outside.
The moment Jesse left, Emhart flew toward the corner of the bookshelf, while Fisher casually glanced at the books on the shelf. After not finding anything useful, he walked to the back of the captain’s desk and carefully examined its contents.
The surface of the desk was covered in dust, but there was nothing particularly noteworthy, just ordinary items like an ashtray and a desk lamp.
“Fisher, look quickly, there’s a secret compartment behind the bookshelf! The thing I want to see is inside it.”
Just as Fisher was looking around unsuccessfully, Emhart, swaying in front of the bookshelf, suddenly noticed something and quickly called out to him.
Fisher approached the bookshelf and saw a square indent hidden in a corner near the back, covered by many books. Emhart, unable to use his hands, could only watch anxiously as Fisher reached out and removed the books from the compartment, opening it.
Inside the moderately sized compartment lay a thick notebook, along with two or three items glimmering with a metallic luster: a pocket watch, an old flintlock pistol, and several gold bars stacked together.
Fisher raised an eyebrow and took out everything inside, first looking at the book that Emhart cared most about. However, just at first glance at the title, his expression turned odd because the book was titled “Voyage Log of the Flying Fish.”
The voyage log was something every captain was familiar with. Unlike the standardized logs used to deal with corporate inspections and audits today, colonization logs from the pioneering days were often very private, recording the people and events encountered along the way.
Fisher remembered that when the Godlin Royal Museum was established, Blake had given his voyage log to the Godlin Royal, which was then treasured as an epoch-defining artifact.
But anyhow, was Emhart really interested in a captain’s voyage log? It felt somewhat beneath him, didn’t it? Could it be that it contained some exceedingly profound secret?
“No, no, not this log, it’s what’s tucked inside! There’s a piece of paper inside this book that I want to see.”
Upon hearing Emhart’s request, Fisher helplessly opened the captain’s log. Sure enough, on the first page, he saw a piece of parchment that had been folded multiple times. The parchment appeared quite ancient, giving an impression of being fragile due to having recorded a heavy history.
“This is it! Fisher! This is it! I can already smell the fragrance of this thing. Quickly, quickly, let’s open it together and read its contents.”
Fisher extended his hand, unfolding the parchment to reveal symbols that resembled chaotic scrawl. Between the characters were various peculiar symbols drawn in the blood of some unknown animal.
The moment Fisher saw those strange symbols, he felt a shiver run down his spine. However, when he saw the symbol in the center of the parchment, resembling a jeweled crown, he suddenly felt an unsettling familiarity.
Yes, Fisher seemed to recall having seen this symbol somewhere.
“This is… the writing of the Southern Continent?”
“Yes, but also no. The most widely circulated script on the Southern Continent is the script of the Feimabaha Dragon Court, which has many intricate connections to the earlier Dragon Court ruling period, yet the characters here are not in the Feimabaha Dragon Court script but rather in ‘Ancient Human Script,’ which means that this writing is of human origin, related to the human writing you use today and being a kin in ancient times. Back in those early days, humans on the Southern Continent all used this script.”
“Wait, are you saying that the humans of the Southern Continent used a language that was related to the humans of the Western Continent?”
“Yes, it could be that a group from the Western Continent relocated to the Southern Continent.”
But the problem was that only a few decades ago did humans first acquire such maritime technology. How did they traverse thousands of years, almost up to ten thousand years prior? With the help of some subhumans?
Speaking of which, Fisher suddenly remembered that Jahl Uzz, the author of the Soul Supplement Handbook, had also mentioned that the magic of the Dragon Court was brought by humans. So, did it really suggest that there were indeed people from the Western Continent who migrated to the Southern Continent through some means?
After thinking for a moment, Fisher shifted his gaze to the scroll in his hand. At that moment, he suddenly recalled where he had seen the symbol at the center of the scroll.
He had seen this symbol on the demonic door behind the pair of demon sisters deep in Snakehead Street in Saint Nali, and if Fisher remembered correctly, this symbol was one of those hanging at the very top.
“My goodness, Fisher.”
Just as Fisher was trying to remember the specific symbols carved on the demon door, Emhart, floating in mid-air, suddenly lost control of his body and plunged down after reading the contents of the parchment. Luckily, Fisher was quick enough to catch him, preventing a headlong fall.
“What happened? What was recorded up there?”
In Fisher’s palm, Emhart seemed to have awakened a great fear, his eyes spinning.
He opened his mouth and hesitated for a while before floating back up from Fisher’s palm, looking rather guilty as he spoke to Fisher.
“It recorded how ancient humans prayed to the abyss and how they arranged rituals to summon specific demon pillars. My goodness, I never expected to see this after all these years, long after the demon’s demon pillars were locked in the abyss. It’s really, really terrifying!”
Goodness, were you recalling your painful experience of being captured and beaten by demons in the abyss?
Fisher was somewhat amused yet bewildered as he said to Emhart, “Didn’t you just say that the demon pillars are now locked in the abyss and can’t escape? What are you afraid of?”
“No, no, no, Fisher, just move that torn piece of paper away from you. Let me tell you! I’ve read in the demon’s scriptures that there was a very brutal war in this world, where almost all races participated, but mainly it was a few types of mythical beings that fought fiercest—I can’t even describe them.”
Emhart spoke hurriedly, and as he did, the pages on his body began flipping rapidly, with golden light bursting forth, indicating he was continuously absorbing various knowledge recorded within him.
“The specific outcome of that war remains unknown to this day because it was too ancient. At that time, I did not possess any intelligence, and I did not encounter any related records outside the abyss after that, so I only knew how the demon race ended up in that war—they ultimately failed.”
“The demons’ main bodies, the ‘Demon Pillars,’ were liquidated by their enemies and locked away in the depths of the abyss, unable to be moved. The Eil you encountered was one such instance. Her overwhelmingly powerful soul arrived at the Western Continent, and because of the unity of soul and flesh, the world constructed a shell for her, much as the Chaos Race descends from the spirit realm into the world. That shell is just a clumsy imitation of her true form, barely reaching the thirteenth or fourteenth rank, while her true form is a solid eighteen.”
The more Fisher listened, the more bizarre his expression appeared. So, was it a form of soul-level interaction he had with Eil earlier?
“Fisher, there are a total of 72 Demon Pillars, symbolizing 72 great demons of mythical rank. After that war, all the demon pillars should have had their bodies sealed below the abyss, but there’s one exception.”
“One cunning demon used vile methods to evade the war’s reckoning, hiding their body in some place in the world that is impossible to discover.”
“And this summoning parchment we see now, the ritual described therein summons that particular demon whose body is not locked away in the abyss! Other demons, no matter how you call them, cannot respond now; only this particular demon, I can’t guarantee whether or not they will heed your call. Moreover, from what I know, that wretched being was the most fond of actively granting knowledge to humans in ancient times!”
Emhart seemed somewhat terrified, a look of a mischievous smile appearing in his eyes, as he pictured a horrifying demon wearing a jeweled crown. Just thinking of that figure caused his perfectly-shaped body to tremble slightly, and he couldn’t even dare speak its name, as though that hellish scene was still fresh in his mind.
Fisher observed the obviously frightened Emhart, and something suddenly clicked in his mind. He gently folded the parchment in his hand and placed it back in the book, looking at Emhart before him, saying,
“Let me guess, you must have seen this demon who uniquely evaded the war’s punishment in the abyss and know its terror well. She is still active in this world, so that’s why you’re so worried about our summoning being heard by her, right?”
Fisher’s fingers tapped the book’s surface as he recalled the words Eil had told him about that demon.
“The demon who escaped the war’s punishment is the ‘King of the Archangels,’ the Demon God Baemon.”
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(The End of this Chapter)
