Chaos erupted throughout the harbor as people trampled and shoved one another in a frantic attempt to escape the deranged woman at the dock.
"S-She stabbed a kid!"
"I heard she shot the mayor!"
Rumors spread rapidly through the crowd, fueling their fear and driving them further away from the water's edge.
As they pushed deeper into the city, magenta and black particles drifted through the air, creeping ominously toward the fleeing civilians.
"T-Turn back!"
They screamed as they scrambled back toward the shore, but it was already too late.
Those who had forced their way to the front of the pack, desperate to flee the harbor, were the first to be struck by the orbs.
Some burst to pieces on the spot, setting off a chain reaction of deaths, while a select few were infected with the oozing black bubbles that clung hideously to their bodies.
Their skin blistered with disgusting mold that peeled away layer after layer of flesh, until they were reduced to nothing but lifeless husks, mindlessly craving human life.
Near the dock house, a platoon of soldiers surrounded a black-haired woman who stifled a yawn while clutching a struggling child by the throat.
"Hmm, would you work as a vessel? You have pretty low magic capacity, but your sensitivity to diseases is unusually high…"
Scratching her head, she weighed her options while ignoring the distressed shouts of the guards pleading with her to release the child.
Without moving her head, she swept her vermilion eyes over the gathered group of men before sighing to herself.
"Tch… this is becoming a real pain. That whining guy was annoying enough, but you boys just had to make it worse. Now my whole stealth operation is ruined, and Arianna will be so cross with me! How unfair!"
Her ramblings only frightened the soldiers more.
They kept their rifles aimed at her, but none dared shoot with the child still in her grip.
The commander whispered an order to his men, careful not to let the black-haired woman hear.
"The moment she lets the boy go, fire."
The men nodded solemnly, fully aware of how easily the plan could end in disaster.
She simply scoffed and spoke without moving an inch.
"The moment she lets the boy go, fire… was that it? Geez, just shoot me already so we can be done with this pointless game."
Her mocking tone stunned the commander, whose plan was uselessly found out the instant he gave the word.
"W-What do you want from us?"
Jackson's voice shook as he tried to negotiate with the black-haired woman, but she only groaned in reply.
"Ughhh, I hate this job! Can Adam hurry his sorry ass up and get to the shore already…"
She kept rambling, deepening the unease of the civilians who watched from a distance.
"But Sylvia! You're one of the elites; you should be honored! That's what they say, but do I feel special? Not at all!"
Confused murmurs spread through the crowd, with even a few nervous laughs coming from those who had just arrived.
"Seriously? She's just some psycho that escaped from the mental hospital!"
One of the teenage girls in the back giggled as she mocked the dangerous woman who held the child hostage.
"Do they not teach manners anymore?"
Sylvia's voice sounded from behind the young girl, making her spin around in shock.
"H-How…"
Face to face with the stuttering girl, Sylvia smiled in chilling delight, while the child she had discarded mere moments ago lay unconscious in the center of the crowd.
Thud.
The dock fell silent as the severed head of the teenage girl rolled across the ground, her eyes still blinking, a horrified scream frozen on her lips.
No one moved, and not one person dared draw the gaze of the insane woman as she cleaned her bloodstained hands with a white handkerchief.
"Much better."
A cruel smile stretched across her pale face, revealing sharp teeth shaved to jagged points in some twisted experiment.
"So, it's about four twenty-seven… any second now…"
As if summoned by her words, thunder boomed far in the distance, illuminating the morning sky with a deep amaranth glow.
"Right on time."
Her eyes sparkled with joy as a crack split the surface of the ocean a kilometer from the beachline.
Every intact bell in the city of Sea Fallen rang out in unison, as if welcoming the arrival of what came with the rose-tinted light pulsing across the sea.
Those who dared to turn their heads toward the source of this phenomenon witnessed a truly magnificent scene.
Etched across the night sky was a gateway that pierced the dimensional veil, stretching from one end of the sea to the other.
From within that portal, a long wooden beam slowly emerged, heralding a form that every resident of the city had been waiting for.
"I-It's Lord Quinn!"
The man who shouted quickly clamped his mouth shut, praying that the black-haired woman hadn't heard him.
Fortunately for him, Sylvia's attention was fully focused on the Ghostship surfacing in the distance.
"Impressive… As always, Esme was spot on with the timing."
Sylvia spoke in a hushed voice, uncharacteristically struck silent by the spectacle unfolding before her.
The vessel surged closer to the ruined city with each passing second, stirring the gathered citizens to hope once more.
"Fighting a Sea King head-on, eh?"
Her grin faded as she pulled a small vial from her pocket, uncapped it with a twitch of her finger, and downed the liquid in one gulp.
The taste was vile, like rotting grapes mixed with vinegar; however, as her body began to dematerialize, its true worth became apparent.
BANG!
Sylvia's arm exploded in a crimson blast of blood, making her flinch in surprise.
W-What the hell?!
Only her lower body had vanished completely, leaving her upper half mostly exposed and vulnerable.
BANG!
She saw only a flash of brilliance in the distance before the second blast turned her other arm into nothing but mist.
"I-It's him…"
Her eyes snapped towards the prow of the approaching ship, where an older man stood with a scoped weapon in his hands.
His purple eyes were unwavering as he stared at Sylvia like a predator locked onto its prey.
BANG!
The shot tore through the sound barrier, speeding toward Sylvia's head with deathly precision, harmless to all but her.
Blip!
Instead of piercing her skull, the bullet helplessly phased through her body and vaporized the ground beneath her.
Too late…
She laughed to herself, mocking the Sea King with her final thought as she dissolved into a shadow and seeped into the night, vanishing without a trace.
As she disappeared, the mangled remains of her limbs crumbled into dust and followed her into the pocket of darkness.
On the Ghostship, Lepaie Quinn lifted his eye from the sniper's scope, his expression cold and unreadable, as though the woman's escape wasn't even worth his concern.
He picked up the weapon and twirled it counterclockwise in his hand, triggering a series of clicks and buzzes as its size shrank rapidly.
Within seconds, it transformed into a small amethyst pistol that he slid into his holster.
"Irvin, stay on the ship and bring it into the harbor."
His firm words prompted a nod from his first mate, who replied calmly despite the clear displeasure etched on his face.
"And you, sir?"
Lepaie paused, turning to face the man with his brows furrowed as though he couldn't understand the question.
"Isn't it obvious?"
As he spoke, he bent his knees, his muscles tightening as raw power surged through his body.
"I'm going to put an end to this disaster."
CRACK!
The deck splintered beneath him as he launched toward the shore with a deafening boom that split the waves apart.
Startled by the sound, sea terrors rose from the depths to investigate, disturbed by the presence intruding on their territory.
However, the moment they broke the surface, they were reduced to shreds as the Sea King flew through the sky, releasing such bloodlust that the waves crashed and collided in turmoil beneath him.
BOOM!
An explosion of wood and debris erupted as Quinn landed on the shore, scanning his surroundings with a sharp gaze.
What a mess.
His expression remained calm, but inside, a flicker of irritation stirred.
Sea Fallen was his dominion, and the thought of it falling into such ruin was more intolerable than the chaos unfolding before him.
His gaze fell on the hordes of civilians getting infected by the black spheres, their bodies warping almost instantly.
Zombies? They haven't been seen since the incident fifty years ago… What a nuisance.
The Sea King sighed as he removed the crystal pistol from its holster, aiming lazily at both civilians and undead alike.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Three shots were fired from the single-barreled pistol and collided in midair, bursting apart in a chain reaction that splintered the metallic bullets into countless deadly shards.
The rain of shrapnel hit the port with uncanny accuracy, eliminating every undead in sight while missing the living by mere inches.
Watching this incredible scene unfold, Lepaie simply scoffed and blew the smoke from the tip of his gun before holstering it back to his waist.
『Light of the Night』
Tiny particles of radiance converged as the words left his lips, forming a ball that shrank tighter and tighter with every second.
『Shield of Light』
Fwoosh!
Across the harbor, every single civilian looked up as magenta light flooded the sky, bathing the region in brilliance that dissipated the ominous spheres that threatened their lives.
"The core has been disturbed, releasing this barrage of gaseous death. I shall head there immediate—"
He paused, whipping his head towards the town hall as cold sweat formed on his forehead.
It can't be…
Then, without any warning, the barrier of light shattered as a turquoise shockwave tore through the entire city, carrying a force even beyond that of a Sea King.
Without exception, every citizen collapsed to the ground with a single, unified thud that echoed across the pier.
Lepaie Quinn wavered; however, he quickly regained his balance as a grim expression settled over his worn face.
He silently reached into his pocket and retrieved a minuscule transponder designed by his sister, the greatest inventor in Sea Fallen.
Click.
Pressing a button on the side of this one-of-a-kind device, he spoke in a low voice.
"This is Lepaie Quinn, reporting from Sea Fallen. By order of the High Council of the Kings, I issue a Class Zero alert to every Sea, effective at once."
For a moment, only silence filled the line before a woman's voice broke through, hurried and panicked.
"U-Understood."