A day later, in a dimly-lit ship cabin, an auburn-haired girl spoke in a voice quivering with deep frustration and helplessness.

  “Say, can you stop moving around so much?”


  “S-sorry, I can’t help it.”


  “So, Mister Roel, can you explain why you had to use that spell? You nearly froze the entire ship!”


  Charlotte chastised sharply, causing a cold, shivering Roel to cower before her ferocity. It took a while before Roel squeaked out an explanation with a guilty look on his face.

  “I just wanted to give it a try. I didn’t expect to cause such a huge commotion. Cough cough, fine…… I was wrong.”


  “Hmph, forget it! I can’t be bothered with you.”


  Taking into consideration Roel’s earnest repentance and his shivering body, Charlotte softened her stance a little. She snapped her fingers, and the gemstones embedded in the walls around the room began glowing brilliantly.

  First, the rubies shone crimson light down on Roel where he laid, hastening his blood flow. This gemstone was typically used to stop bleeding for emergency treatments, but today, it was used in reverse to warm up Roel’s frigid body instead.

  Following that, the gemstones harnessing spells to produce heat and absorb frost lit up, raising the temperature in the room. Under the brilliant light coming from all around, Roel’s condition began to improve.

  With the preparatory work completed and the ‘surgical lights’ in place, it was time for the ‘chief surgeon’ to enter the operating theater.

  Charlotte first placed her hand on Roel’s shoulder and waited for his trembling kneecaps to calm down a little before finally sitting down on them. She pressed herself lightly against Roel’s chest before her body began emanating a slight glow.

  Golden Soul, this was one of the key items used by possessors of the High Elf Bloodline to draw out the true prowess of their abilities. Despite its name, it was actually a magic tool made out of a concoction of ingredients, though it did contain small bits of gold too. It was fluid in form, but it could solidify at will.

  The reason the Golden Fleet acquired its name was because of the Golden Soul flowing within its ships. It served as a medium that amplified the power of spells cast by the possessors of the High Elf Bloodline by more than tenfold.

  The keels of the Golden Fleet were made out of solidified Golden Soul, which ensured that the ship wouldn’t fall apart regardless of the impacts it suffered. As for the other functions, such as acceleration and bombardment, those were left to the fluid Golden Soul circulating within the ship. All in all, the system of the ship was quite technologically advanced.

  It was with this piece of technology that the Sofya Kingdom was able to suppress even the Seafolk, becoming the true dominant power on the seas.

  Of course, commanding the Golden Fleet had its own drawbacks as well. For one, the Golden Soul could only be controlled by those who had inherited the bloodline of the Sofya House. Without the possessors of the bloodline present, the ships would be crippled.

  The previous situation with SS Saint Paul was a good example.

  Had it not been for Charlotte’s appearance, the ship’s advanced functions would have been rendered useless the moment Vice-Captain Laure died, turning SS Saint Paul back into an ordinary vessel. By then, they would have lost their greatest edge against the Seafolk.

  The power of the Golden Soul extended beyond just the functionalities of the Golden Fleet.

  For one, the members of the Sofya House used it as a defensive magic tool. When condensed, it was strong enough to block most attacks, making it an excellent shield with high mobility. Aside from that, the golden mana it contained also had multiple uses, such as reinforcing matter on touch, or as Roel named it, the Omnipotent Plaster.

  “How does it feel? Is it better now?”


  “Yes, it doesn’t feel that cold anymore. Speaking of which, you seem to be much more proficient as compared to yesterday.”


  “Of course, I’m constantly improving my technique. If I don’t learn properly, I’m going to be……”


  Charlotte was suddenly reminded of the incident yesterday, and her face immediately flushed as red as a boiled lobster. This, in turn, sparked Roel’s memories, and he began to cough unnaturally. His eyes swam around nervously before finally halting on Charlotte’s red lips.

  Thinking about how their eyes were staring straight at one another from less than a hand’s length away when he woke from his slumber yesterday, he felt a buzz in his mind. The soft sensation of Charlotte’s skin on his arm was threatening to evoke his inner wolf.

  It was one thing for Charlotte to be beautiful and adorably innocent, but she was also kind enough to put herself in an uncomfortable position for him too. Had they met much earlier, he might have just decided to marry her and spend their entire lives together like this. To be honest, he was quite amazed by how Charlotte was able to bring out such inexplicable thoughts in him.

  Roel quickly shook away those miscellaneous thoughts and turned his attention toward his System. The reason behind his affliction was stated right there.

  【Glacial Touch

  This spell was obtained through assimilating a portion of the powers of a terrifying ancient calamity. When Glacier descends, the world is silenced. Releases directed frost aura in the vicinity. It can manifest in any form for offensive and defensive purposes. The area and strength of the frost aura is decided by the user’s mana.

  Side Effect: Intermittent chills】


  “.……”


  Roel heaved a deep sigh after looking at the side effect. It was like a non-ice type pokémon had been forced to learn ‘Hail’—freeze yourself first before freezing your enemy!

  It was a very pragmatic world they lived in. Greater power tended to demand a greater price. So far, Roel had never experienced it personally before, and this Glacial Touch taught him a bone-chilling lesson.

  Earlier this morning, the Golden Fleet was assaulted by another humongous sea monster and accompanying hordes of Scalemen. Gigantic tower-sized tentacles attempted to coil themselves around SS Saint Mary.

  Roel, who was witnessing this for the first time, was horrified. Not daring to hold back at all, he decisively activated Glacial Touch.

  A cold spell suddenly rippled across the surface of the sea in the form of a swiftly expanding ice fog. Aside from the Scalemen and sea monster, even the morning mist became frozen in place instantly.

  It was an overwhelming victory for the Golden Fleet, but a personal loss for Roel. As it turned out, his attack had inadvertently frozen one of the tentacles of the sea monster to the ship’s deck, leaving a huge obstacle extending across the 20-meter width of the ship before plunging into the sea. It looked oddly reminiscent of a tail swishing by the side of the ship.

  It had been a while since the side effect of Glacial Touch kicked in, causing Roel to become bedbound, but the sound of ice being chiseled still persisted from the ship’s deck, evidence of the mess Roel had created.

  In any case, this was a perfect demonstration of the incredible power of the Six Calamities. The Glacier Creator, despite being sealed in its egg form, was still able to turn SS Saint Mary’s hold into a world of ice. Its potential for destruction was beyond imagination, and needless to say, the price for evoking such overwhelming power was great too.

  It was a long while before Roel’s body finally felt warm once more, and he heaved a deep sigh of relief. He looked at the golden glow around Charlotte and asked curiously.

  “Charlotte, how far have you mastered the spells relating to the Golden Soul?”


  “I’ve grasped most of the theoretical knowledge thus far. The Golden Soul is one of the two core secrets of the Sofya Kingdom, with the other being Balance of Fate from our bloodline ability. It’s the loss of these two important pieces of our heritage that caused our lineage to fall into decline,” replied Charlotte.

  Roel nodded in agreement.

  He too was amazed to learn that the possessors of the High Elf Bloodline possessed the ability to tamper with the flow of fate. While it came at a cost—they had to use their own fate as the stakes—and it was hard to use it directly in a battle, there was no doubt that it was an incredibly powerful support spell, bordering along the lines of unreasonableness.

  Take the tug-o-war between him and the Glacier Creator back then, it was likely that other transcendents wouldn’t have been able to help him back then. However, Isabella was able to influence the final results by pulling the strings of fate directly, providing him the final push he needed in the standoff.

  Roel spent a short while speculating about the various situations where the Balance of Fate could make a huge difference before exhaling in awe.

  He decided to take a quick look at the countdown timer on the System.

  【Countdown to the end of Witness State: 59 hours 44 minutes】


  Two and a half days?

  Roel stared silently at the timer for a while before informing Charlotte about it too. Charlotte responded with a nod of acknowledgment.

  “Two and a half days…… That should be enough for me to memorize all of the spells.”


  “That’s good. Since your goal has been fulfilled, all we have to do now is to ensure our safe return.”


  “Safe return, hm? This ship still carries the egg on it, and the place where it comes to its eventual rest is……”


  Thinking about the eternally frozen port in her memories, Charlotte tightened her grip on Roel’s shirt out of anxiety. It felt peaceful at the moment, but she knew deep down that dangers were already encroaching on them.

  As calm as the waters looked at the moment, the Golden Fleet was actually surrounded by enemies, be it the Seafolk, Gordon’s rebel fleet, or the Saints Convocation. Without a doubt, they were in a precarious position.

  One could almost say that Isabella had erred in deciding to take on the mission to deliver the egg. This was a mission that brought no tangible benefits to the Sofya Royal Family or the Golden Fleet. On the contrary, it even spurred the outbreak of an internal conflict by exacerbating the divergence between the conservatives and the pro-human revolutionaries.

  The Twilight Sages Assembly might have the ability to mobilize a large amount of resources, but there was no way it could compensate the Sofya Kingdom’s losses arising from its internal war.

  Given everything that she had to lose, why did Isabella still choose to accept this mission in the end?

  Was it because of Winstor? Or was it pressure from the Assembly?

  Had Roel not met Isabella, he might have thought so. However, after witnessing her charismatic decisiveness in person, he couldn’t imagine her to be someone who would cave in to peer pressure, even if it was coming from her lover. She was a strong leader who wouldn’t be easily swayed.

  Most likely, the reason why Isabella made this choice was simply because she is human.

  Unlike Gordon who advocated the nobility of the High Elf Bloodline, Isabella believed that she is human and viewed it as an honor.

  She lived in an era of great chaos. The first invasion of the deviants had caught everyone off guard, pushing humankind to the brink of extinction. Yet, at the same time, it brought the whole of humanity to become united together as one.

  Humans already had their hands full dealing with the invasion of the deviants, and they couldn’t afford to have one of the Six Calamities awakening on them at a moment like this. In this desperate situation, the Twilight Sages decided to step forward and deal with this crisis on their own.

  Isabella and the Golden Fleet could be said to be the final hope of humankind. If they failed their mission here, human civilization would surely collapse and all countries would fall without fail.

  Roel had no idea how Isabella was able to bring herself to make this painful choice, but if one thing was clear to him, she eventually succeeded in her mission. At this crossroad of fate, they were the ones who sacrificed their lives to escort the whole of humankind down the path of survival against all odds.

  It hadn’t been long since they met one another, but Roel was filled with respect for Isabella. At the same time, however, he felt incredibly unnerved about the ultimate fate that awaited the Golden Fleet.

  Is this voyage their last?

  Two and a half days, is it? As long as we can survive till then……

  With such thoughts in mind, Roel hugged the auburn-haired girl before him lightly.