Volume 2 Chapter 61: Garde's First Step
At first, Garde treated the Seaborn as his imaginary enemy.
He went to the Foehn Hotland, to Columbia, working tirelessly to make himself stronger.
But after coming into contact with the Seaborn and witnessing the Church of the Deep, Garde suddenly realized — he had made a mistake.
The Seaborn were never really a threat to him.
At least, not for now.
As long as one displayed enough strength, and didn't threaten their survival, the Seaborn would compromise.
In truth, the Seaborn weren't particularly diligent creatures.
Without a clear target, they were lazy most of the time, and would rarely migrate or hunt on a large scale.
If no food was available nearby, some Seaborn would willingly transform themselves into nourishment for others, while the remaining ones would enter a state of hibernation until new food sources appeared.
Without external threats, the Seaborn evolved extremely slowly.
Their survival habits meant they wouldn't set foot on land unless someone deliberately led them there.
Just like this time — the Seaborn's invasion of the Minos town.
If not for the Church of the Deep guiding them, the Seaborn, without receiving orders, would never have come on their own.
Minos was already far from the ocean, and if they couldn't replenish their water supply during the journey, the Seaborn even risked dying of dehydration.
It simply wasn't beneficial for their survival.
The Seaborn followed their own unique survival logic:
Only when threatened, or when a comrade was injured and called for help, would they break their usual laziness and act.
Thus, as long as those two conditions were avoided, the Seaborn would not become a threat.
The Seaborn weren't the real enemy.
Humans were!
"You plan to use them to find those Church of the Deep cultists?"
Dario had figured out Garde's plan through their conversation.
"No, that's impossible!"
Dario immediately rejected the idea.
Why would the Seaborn's god help them find the Church of the Deep cultists?
How could the Seaborn's god possibly obey them?
"It's just an attempt," Garde replied casually.
Their conversation wasn't hidden from Ishar'mla, who was sitting nearby.
In fact, even when Garde and Dario were talking, most of the time Ishar'mla didn't even understand what they were saying.
She simply sat in the corner, holding the little Seaborn in her arms.
Even when Dario kept glancing at her, she barely reacted.
She often seemed to be daydreaming, occasionally touching her stomach.
'Surely it's not that easy to get pregnant… right?'
Noticing Ishar'mla's repeated gestures, Garde suddenly felt a pang of panic.
If she really was pregnant, would he be denounced by everyone?
The chance of that is very high!
Regardless, Garde's original pursuit of strength wasn't wrong.
Because if he hadn't grown stronger, he wouldn't even qualify to speak with the Seaborn, and without dialogue, he'd never understand their desires.
Garde had changed his original goal.
Now, he wanted to deepen communication with the Seaborn — ideally reaching a temporary truce!
The reason Garde had changed his mind was simple:
He wasn't strong enough yet!
Even if he could defeat the Feranmuts of the Foehn Hotland, even if he could thwart the revival of ancient civilizations, even if he could now use the Ascension Power on his own—
Garde still felt he wasn't strong enough.
Sure, he could kill ten thousand, twenty thousand Seaborn — but could he kill a hundred thousand? Two hundred thousand?
And the Seaborn's numbers were counted in the billions.
Even if he killed the Seaborn's god, the billions still lurking in the ocean would remain a massive threat to the land.
What was he supposed to do then — live forever in the ocean, endlessly hunting Seaborn like the Ascenders once fought against the Void?
He refused to do that!
He had stepped out of his comfort zone for Laurentia.
His original wish was to free Laurentia from the destiny of being an Abyssal Hunter.
Even now, despite everything that had happened in between, that wish remained unchanged.
Garde's original wish had not changed.
He wanted to protect the people around him, protect the ones he loved, and for that, he had to strangle all threats in their infancy.
Since he couldn't completely eliminate the Seaborn, then he would eliminate those who brought the Seaborn onto land!
Many Church of the Deep cultists were hidden among ordinary people.
Even Inquisitors and Abyssal Hunters couldn't always find their traces without careful investigation.
But just because the Iberians and Aegirians couldn't find them, didn't mean Ishar'mla — the Seaborn's god — couldn't.
The only issue was that many of the Church of the Deep members were already tainted with the aura of the Seaborn.
In the eyes of the Seaborn, they were considered kin.
If it's only killing one or two Church of the Deep cultists, Ishar'mla might agree to that.
But with so many cultists, when it came down to choosing between herself and them, Ishar'mla would likely side with the cultists without hesitation.
Garde needed to find a way to make Ishar'mla voluntarily abandon these newcomers — to give up the land-dwelling humans who had later joined them.
And perhaps... that wouldn't be too hard.
The real challenge would come afterward.
Even if a batch of Church of the Deep cultists were wiped out, there would always be another batch.
The soil that bred faith was desire.
The desire to fill an empty stomach.
The desire to heal illness.
The desire to escape poverty.
The desire to be treated fairly...
Every time one of these problems was solved, the number of Church of the Deep cultists would shrink a little more.
In the end, even if a few fanatics still dreamed of gaining perfect bodies and longer lives through the Seaborn, for a nation, these scattered believers would no longer be a real threat.
Because if the internal structure was already rotten, even if the Seaborn were defeated, other enemies would simply take their place.
Garde wasn't here to put out fires.
He was a butcher.
A desert butcher!
"Dario, go tell your teacher — if he wants to change Iberia, if he wants to bring a better life to the people of Iberia, then go ahead and change it. Bring about a revolution."
In front of Dario, Garde, for the first time, openly admitted his identity as an Ascender.
"I am an Ascender. You might as well think of me like a Feranmut. But unlike a mindless beast, I know how to fight — and I'm not afraid of fighting."
"I'll help you — and I'll bring a companion no less powerful than myself."
"Of course, my help is not free. When the time comes, if I have a need, and my request does not violate your hearts and principles, then I expect you to offer your hand in return."
"Whether you trust me or not — it won't change my decision."
Garde pointed at Ishar'mla and the little Seaborn.
"They are mine now. And I will not let you take them away."
In a trade built on trust, someone had to put down their cards first.
Garde had offered his trust — and his chips.
Now the choice was in Dario's hands.
Garde, along with Aletog sealed inside his axe, might not yet be able to stand against the top nations of Terra, but against the broken and battered Iberia, they were more than capable of turning the whole country upside down.
And this power, if used properly, was enough to crush any voice of rebellion within Iberia.
And during this process, Garde would watch carefully.
Would Iberia's Inquisition prove themselves worthy of his support?
Finally, for the first time after leaving the rainforest behind, with the goal of facing the Seaborn ahead, Garde had finally taken his first step.
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