“Swordfish, they like to follow and travel together with the ships, but sometimes they will attack the hull with their mouth, and break it apart,” a sailor replied, “But they are also very delicious to eat, especially the belly meat, after you put it in your mouth, it melts like ice on your tongue.” He smacked his lips, “This evening everyone can enjoy the freshly cooked swordfish for themselves.”
“It seems as if I’ve got another fish,” Molly shouted.
Ashes merely saw a dark shadow moving under the dark blue water surfaces, but along with the magical servant’s movement of the rod, the shadow became bigger and bigger, breaking through the water surface soon.
“Th-this is,” the sailor stared blankly, “No, quickly throw away the fishing rod!”
His voice hadn’t fallen yet, as already a monstrous creature jumped out of the water, its broad mouth wide open, directly flowing to Molly wanting to swallow her.
In a moment it would have consumed the whole target, but Ashes was even faster than this monster. She picked Molly up with her left hand while drawing her huge sword with her other hand, directly striking it on the head.
The Monster issued a pained scream as it was sent from the air onto the planks. Then quickly began to move its six-foot-long body, trying to flee back into the water, however, Ashes never let it have the opportunity. She put Molly down, grabbed her sword with the reverse grip and nailed the monster directly onto the deck.
For a moment it continued to twitch, then it spat out a string of white bubble from its mouth soon stopping all movement.
“What is this?” At this moment Ashes finally had the opportunity to take a careful look at the monster before her eyes. It somewhat resembled a fish, yet it also had short crab-like legs. The wide open mouth was almost as big as she herself was and was filled with dense rows of sharp teeth. But the most disgusting thing was the pair of hairy arms growing from the side of its mouths, which was even split up into five fingers, just looking like a human hand in general.
“A variation of the sea ghosts!” the still shocked sailor answered, patting his chest, “They often disguise themselves as fish and take the angler’s bite and drag them back into the water. Furthermore, I have also heard, that only after eating a human, will they be able to grow their hands! ”
“Your last part is just an unfounded rumor,” someone said from behind. Turning around, Ashes discovered that Thunder and Tilly had both come over.
“Captain!” the sailor shouted, abashedly stuck out his tongue and quickly stepped aside.
“The more sensational a rumor is, the more inaccurate it is,” Thunder came over and kicked against one of the monster’s legs, “In fact, it also has another name with which you are perhaps more familiar with.”
“Which one?” Ashes asked.
“Demonic Beast,” he stated slowly.
“Sir Thunder, fog ahead!” The lookout suddenly shouted.
“Everyone cheer up!” Then Thunder loudly ordered, “Put the sail down; we are now entering the Shadow Sea!”
Ashes noted, that just moments ago the sunny and cloudless sky had suddenly become all gloomy, turning the blue sea into a dark shade, as if a mass of ink was spreading under the water surface. The entire ship was soon enclosed by a dense fog, standing at the stern of the ship she couldn’t even see the figurehead that was at the bow.
“What’s going on?” Tilly could not help but grab Ashes’ arm.
“It’s the proof that we aren’t sailing in the wrong direction,” Thunder jokingly stated. “When the Shadow Islands emerge from the sea, the sea will create a thick mist. Of course, the correct way to say it would be that the seawater is just at low tide, around ten feet (3.3m) lower than it is normally. The massive decline will produce a large amount of mist and reefs that will appear everywhere. So, if we are even a little careless, we will sink ourselves. Now, I will need your help to ensure that the ship doesn’t smash against something.
After his words, all the people came to the bow, and just like they had done during the hurricane, Molly’s servant expanded as far as it could. Swallowing the bow and even reached into the water, so even if the bow hit against a reef, her magic servant would be the first to feel it.
“In case you didn’t have us witches, what did you do then?” Ashes asked.
“Then we would only be able to rely on our patience and luck,” Thunder sighed, “The fleet would send out a small boat in front of it as a pathfinder, and after receiving confirmation that the path is safe, we would follow after it. But this area of the sea is not peaceful. As you have seen before, the closer you come to the Shadow Islands; the greater the danger becomes. There is the fog, the reefs, and the sea monsters… That is also why, even so though many explorers had already reached this place, only a few of them were able to find the entrance to the ruins.
