Tiny wisps floated around aimlessly inside the sphere, unleashing quiet wails that seeped into his very own soul.
Terrors…
Unlike what exists inside the Sea of Souls, where the lost souls of humans wander for eternity, the Ocean Rifter itself was a manifestation of the Ghostship's desire to kill.
Eons of slaughter were tied to this vessel, and such a history was unknown to the boy, making him gulp heavily.
How many… Who…
Thousands of questions bombarded his mind; however, he was given no time to think as he felt another onslaught of attacks incoming.
Rapid explosions of magma shot from the creature's maw, rising high up into the sky where they shone ever so brightly.
But as the laws of nature dictate and as Aaron himself knew quite well, what comes up must come down.
Three giant pieces of lava were hurled downward at such a speed that the boy could barely move his body in time to dodge.
His left arm was grazed by one of the meteors of fire, forcing a sudden gasp from the boy's lungs, which filled with the smoke.
The other two balls of fire landed in the exact spot he was lying in before he moved, a reminder of how close he just came to death.
Such a realization could not hit the boy as he watched his arm catch fire, the turquoise barrier shattering, and his skin blistering.
Holding back the urge to sob and scream, he ripped off a piece of his armored pants, tying a tight tourniquet around the wound.
Smells of burnt skin and the tang of iron clung to his throat as the sound of flesh sizzling nearly made him vomit.
Grimacing through the pain, he forced himself forward, inching his way to the magical cannon whose tip glowed in response to the orb's proximity.
Pushing as hard as he could with his legs, he moved himself up and inserted the turquoise sphere into the barrel.
The autoreloading cannon was ready to fire.
With the light of this single fuse, he would likely sacrifice his own life in the hope of saving Eleanor's.
I feel nothing this time… No matter how many times I've faced death in these months, I've always feared it…
He paused, taking a deep breath of the smoke, causing him to cough up blood, nearly collapsing in pain.
Maybe it's because I'm saving people now…
Moving his head close to the fuse, he prepared to light it with his own hair that burned with fire, listening to the crashing waves of the sea.
For a moment, he froze, body trembling, tears falling like raindrops out of his bloodshot eyes.
"D-Dammit… I don't want to die… Not here…"
Feeling his mana reach an all-time low, the spotlight above the ship cut off in an instant, a full two minutes after his initial prediction.
His eyelids felt heavy, like he was ready to take a never-ending nap in the vast arms of the sea.
No. I won't… I won't die here.
Moving his right arm gently, he prepared one last gamble, the only trick left in his sleeve.
With the turquoise fog of the spotlight beginning to fade, Aaron stared out into the distance, the Oblivacis gazing back in kind.
His voice was weak, trembling, and cold, yet hopeful and filled with the vigor of someone who hadn't given up.
"I'm not done yet."
The creature could barely even pick up the frequency at which this tiny human was speaking, his presence so small that he might've been a speck of dust in the scheme of the world.
But within this microscopic lifeform's hand, an object of unimaginable power pulsated with energy beyond that of this dimension.
For the first time in their confrontation, the terror froze, fear creeping into its heart as it remembered an evolutionary imprint grilled into its mind.
Centuries, if not millennia ago, when the world was young, such a tool had been used to decimate whatever stood in its path, including the ancestors of this young Oblivacis.
And the one who wielded that weapon was a being his species had felt many times in the Abyss.
His roars of fury had ceased strangely before its birth, yet his presence still permeated the waves.
The Prisoner of Heaven, the only human who could stand face-to-face with a god in combat and survive.
Yet this morsel held his ultimate tool of unending strength within his hands?
Such a thought left the terror reeling in fear as Aaron stared it down, a smile forming across his face at its sudden pause.
Ocean's Bane was held high above his head; however, not a drop of mana had been drawn from his body.
He was completely defenseless; the only thing keeping the foe from vaporizing his body without a second thought was a quiet presence in the darkness that soothed the boy.
『This is all I can do…』
Aaron had barely managed to stir the tiniest fragment of her consciousness, allowing her to place the last remaining energy within her to the task he had set before her.
This blond-haired fool had gambled on the sole risk that even when he wasn't active or communicative, the Old Man would save him.
While it was impossible for a direct intervention, after spending an eternity at that man's side, her own presence was similar to his own.
So as she revealed her existence in full, the world itself reacted in ways unimaginable to the boy, who prayed for a miracle.
…
Far across the vast expanse of the ocean, in the Sea of Souls, a burly man awoke from a nightmare, feeling a force so ancient that his face immediately stiffened.
His eyes darted towards the Northwest, noticing a disturbance near the island of his birth and a place he would rather have forgotten.
Scoffing silently, he prepared his gear.
A voyage was in order, and one to his homeland at that.
…
At the same time, in a location not too far away from where Aaron battled the Apex, a purple-haired man's eyes shot open.
Looking around, suddenly he felt the small magenta pistol around his waist shake ever so slightly, warning him of something lurking inside his own domain.
Slamming his fist down onto his bedframe, he moved instinctively, equipping his soldier uniform and marching outside his cabin to wake the crew.
No matter what it cost him, he would not let any more civilians die because of his own failures.
The Lord of Dreams would arrive before the sun rose high into the sky, and he would not be late, not again.
…
In the city of Corvassa, Camilla Buckley knew without hesitation what had occurred, causing her to leap up from her desk, quickly running towards her own personal vessel.
It was the same event that had occurred when a certain weapon had been unsealed in Sea Fallen only months before.
And it was happening again; however, this time, Aaron took full advantage of the chaos it would cause.
…
The Oblivacis shook with primal fear as it recognized the feeling, allowing the Ghostship precious time that would further its escape.
On the vessel, that blond-haired boy whose eyes shone like two turquoises was on the verge of fainting as the fog covering the island encapsulated him.
He knew that if nothing on that island could subdue this terror, then he was truly out of luck and options.
Far behind him, still wallowing in self-doubt, the Apex finally regained its sanity, rationalizing what it had just felt.
How could it be that man?
It wondered silently, slowly coming to a realization that made its magma blood run cold.
It was a bluff, possibly one with the most severe consequences in history, and one that absolutely fooled it.
Rage surged through the creature's body, maxing out its speed as it rushed forward chasing the ship towards the island.
Aaron himself felt the Ghostship collide with the soft sand beach, the sound of waves crashing against the shore allowing him a moment's rest.
Penelope's voice had disappeared along with her presence, her long slumber only lengthened by the incident.
For a moment, he breathed a sigh of relief; he had made it to land at least, and with that, there might be something strong enough to hold this thing off while he ran.
His hopes soared as the sound of heavy footsteps echoed across the island, a sign that something strong was approaching.
P-Please save me… I don't care if you're a monster… Please…
Aaron's legs trembled as he jumped off the deck of the Ghostship, tapping his ring once and collapsing the ship into nothingness.
Running with all his strength across the white-sanded shore, he noticed odd, human-like footsteps moving inward across the island.
Furrowing his brow in confusion, he followed the trail with his eyes, finding something beyond his expectations sitting docked off the shore.
I-I need to hit the casino again…
Raphael von Steinfeste's beautifully adorned ship floated gently on the calm waves that bombarded the island.
There was another Hunter, one he thought was far stronger than himself, without even meeting him.
H-He got a recommendation from an Admiral… That means he's stronger than me…
His thinking, while flawed, made sense in his own right since he believed, of course, that Cam had simply recommended him out of pity.
This assumption was incorrect, however, as only a few kilometers away, that 'strong Hunter' was being digested alive by a giant.
And to make matters worse, the temperature of the island had spiked with the Oblivacis reaching the place where Aaron had landed.
This island, one that had originally hosted a single old giant, had become a hotspot for Dormyrrs, Hunters, and most dangerously, an Apex-terror.