Hunter of the Evernight Chapter 560: Into the whirlpool

A beam of resplendent blue light erupted from the abandoned vessel, piercing the sky in the process.

Lightning flashed as dark clouds quickly gathered, plunging the area about the vessel into a dark night.

But that wasn’t all as the seas raged with a vengeance, reminding passengers of the other vessels of the tempest they had experienced a week ago.

Thunderclaps followed as the abandoned vessel crumbled into itself, quickly outlining an enormous whirlpool that sucked in everything around it.

Naturally, Athena and the other four ships were not spared as they were violently drawn into the whirlpool.

Vissarion’s first mate struggled to escape the whirlpool but try as he may, the suction force was not sothing he could possibly go against and so, slowly, Athena was pulled toward the center of the whirlpool.

The other ships had begun to break apart due to the high pressure, causing the poor souls aboard to fall into the aggressive waters, never to be seen again.

Aboard Athena, within room 314, Alex sat on the bed, struggling to keep his nausea under wraps while Ulysses had his gaze focused outside.

anwhile, Ana seed to be in deep thought, attempting to better understand the fate surrounding where they were going.

"Are we really going to let ourselves be sucked in?" Ulysses questioned, unable to keep calm any longer.

"For the third and last ti, Ulysses, yes." Alex replied rather aggressively, not because he wanted to but his nausea made him slightly irritable.

"This is dangerous."

"We’ll be fine."

"But what about the passengers?... Would they be fine?" Ulysses was naturally asking because of the friends he’d made in the lower decks.

Alex sighed. "I don’t know."

"You can’t be serious, are we just going to let them die?"

"No." Ana suddenly answered, breaking out of her ditation to regard Ulysses for a mont. "I understand you are worried but I would not intentionally risk anyone if there was no other way. In the first place, Alex is letting this happen because of , so don’t worry, I will handle it."

Ulysses seed to calm down sowhat as he nodded. "Alright then."

"Thank you." Ana sincerely said as she got to her feet.

"How close are we?" Alex inquired.

"We should be at the entrance in roughly twenty seconds." Ana replied.

Rubbing his stomach, Alex asked. "I’m guessing the space is distorted within."

"There’s a chance we’d be separated."

"I do not plan on taking that chance." Alex replied before proceeding to snap his fingers, causing Humphrey to reveal himself.

You asked for .

"Stabilize this ship and ensure no one on board gets tossed sowhere else. Can it be done?"

Humphrey didn’t imdiately respond, first shifting his attention toward the window to inspect the whirlpool before nodding.

Alright then

The next mont, he transmuted water, using it to manipulate space just as they plunged into the depths of the whirlpool.

***

Those aboard Athena were filled with unbridled terror from the mont the apocalyptic light that seed to connect the heavens and the seas appeared, causing storms that left them feeling like the end was near.

Many had gone on their knees to say their last prayers while others cursed Vissarion for dragging them to their deaths while so others opted to spend their last monts with their loved ones.

They all expected death as they crashed into the center of the whirlpool but it never ca and instead, what followed was an overpowering desire to sleep that they found themselves unable to fight against.

Unbeknownst to them, the steel behemoth had gotten noticeably darker and if one were to look outside, they would notice a night sky filled with many twinkling lights.

Several dull thuds echoed as Alex stepped out of the now still ship accompanied by Ana and a nervous Ulysses.

Humphrey kept pace behind them, taking the ti to inspect the rather peculiar vessel he had found himself on.

Due to his duties, he had never had the opportunity to travel, so this was a rather novel experience for the previous Spiritual Leader of the Chiras.

"I will put up a looping barrier around the ship to ensure nothing enters the ship to harm the passengers." Ana stated in a bid to calm Ulysses.

"What are the odds of there being sothing strong enough to bypass the barrier?"

"Very little. And even if they do, Humphrey would also set up an illusory barrier to hide the ship’s existence."

"If you say so." Ulysses said before asking. "But do I really have to co along?... I an, if this is related to you, I’ll just be getting in your way."

Ana shook her head as she berated him. "As a mber of Constellations, you do not run from a fight unless you have been ordered to do so. Also, you need the experience."

"But I’m just an Explorer, not a fighter." Ulysses tried to argue only for Alex to speak up.

"It is unwise to say such given the daunting tasks that lay ahead. Cultivate your strength, I would rather not stress about finding another guide."

With that, silence returned to the group as they quickly arrived on the deck only to be confronted by a rather grim sight.

Lightning flashed intermittently with the nacing sounds of thunderclaps the only sound within the mostly lightless and eerily silent scenery.

The lightning served as the only source of light, allowing one to barely make out a towering castle on the brink of collapse.

But that was only the half of it as the land about the castle was littered with the corpses of several sea creatures, big and small, normal and abnormal, with many more grotesque humanoid entities walking the land, seemingly in search of sothing.

The air was also wet with a salty taste causing Alex to deduce that they couldn’t stay too long else it would be a slow but sure way to die by drowning and he, for one, was not about to let that happen.