"Since he couldn't rge with the heart, he decided to corrupt it. He grew madder and more inhuman with each passing day. Only a handful of us knew where the fleet's funds were disappearing to, but no one dared to ask. Anyone who did would mysteriously die during the next raid."
Jenkins was already aware of this. Magic Miss had already deduced in great detail how Femishue had first tried various thods to rge with the Bestowal, only to corrupt it into a Cursed Item when he failed, and then attempt to rge with it again.
"It's clear he's succeeded now. That gem and Femishue have beco one. Is this the result of years of corruption?"
Jenkins pressed for more information.
The ice boat pitched and rolled on the turbulent waves. Aside from Magic Miss, who had to stand to maintain her incantation, no one else felt safe, even sitting down. Sitting on a block of ice was hardly a comfortable experience to begin with, and Jenkins noticed Hathaway blushing, wanting to get up. But the relentless rocking of the boat pinned her in place, too afraid to move.
The one advantage of the ice boat was that Jenkins could instantly repair any cracks that appeared from the violent rocking. As they neared the edge of the tentacled zone, the tension among the three of them mounted.
"About six months ago, during a raid on a rchant ship, a stranger I'd never seen before found us and bluntly stated he wanted to see him. The stranger was an Enchanter, an incredibly powerful one. The crews of two of our ships were no match for him. The man must have t with my father, because it was right after that he started planning to co to Nolan. After the stranger left, I snuck into a hidden room beneath my father's quarters and found so secret correspondence. That strange man was from the Tree House. He had provided a way to rge with that gem."
"The Tree House? As expected. What thod did he provide?"
"I couldn't understand the occult content, nor could I rember the horrifying rituals and blasphemous incantations. I could only make out the writer's constant warnings that this thod of fusion had significant side effects. Besides affecting one's sanity, if a more suitable owner for the gem appeared and tried to claim it, the gem would imdiately stop serving him."
Luke spoke as a layman, but Jenkins understood the implication perfectly: if the Bestowal's true master appeared and touched the gem—the Heart of the Ocean—Femishue would lose all control over its power.
This wouldn't be a problem for Jenkins. When he struck the gem with his cane just monts ago, he had felt the Bestowal calling out to him. He had ignored it, knowing it was now a Cursed Item with an established owner, but the connection was there.
"But in a situation like this, where are we supposed to find soone suitable for the Heart of the Ocean?"
Hathaway, having overheard their exchange, had to shout over the roaring downpour to be heard. Their clothes were soaked through, clinging to them uncomfortably, and Hathaway began to long for the warmth of her private washroom at ho.
"Don't worry about that. I'll figure sothing out. Femishue is a dead man."
As he spoke, Jenkins activated [Cat’s Grace] and stood up on the rocking boat. The outermost tentacles guarding the grotesque throne had already spotted their small vessel attempting to reach the shore.
Magic Miss was just raising her hand to defend when Jenkins slashed upward. A white arc of light tore through the canopy of tentacles blotting out the sky, and the boat seized the opening to steer toward the shore, away from the writhing limbs.
With the docks completely subrged, their only option was to crash the boat to a stop. As the ice vessel shattered, Hathaway dragged Earl Hersha, Jenkins hauled the younger Femishue and his cat, and Magic Miss, unburdened, swam alongside them toward the shore.
Clambering onto the shore, they all shared a mont of relief, a sense of having survived against the odds. But the rain beating against their faces served as a stark reminder that the crisis was far from over.
"Take the Earl and the younger Femishue sowhere safe. I'll handle things here."
Jenkins addressed the two won, unfastening his buttons to release the soaked white cat from within his coat. Chocolate’s fur was plastered to his skin by the rain, making him look a full size smaller and utterly ridiculous.
Which was why the cat now wore a sullen, thoroughly irritated expression.
"I must remind you, Candle Mr," Magic Miss said, "that even if you have a way to deal with Femishue, you can't stop this storm. My calculations predict that in approximately twelve minutes, the largest tidal wave yet will rise and completely subrge the western districts of Nolan. If you cannot contend with such a force of nature, you must leave imdiately."
Magic Miss declared this, then grabbed Hathaway—who looked like she still wanted to say sothing—and departed with the two n in tow. Hathaway did, in fact, have more questions. Just monts ago, when Candle Mr had released the cat from his coat, she’d had a sudden realization: hiding a cat inside one's coat was sothing she had only ever seen one person do.
That person, without a doubt, was Jenkins. No one else would ever conceive of such an absurd act as hiding a cat in an inner breast pocket.
A deep suspicion took root in her once more.
While Jenkins and Magic Miss had been crossing the water, the Enchanter squads of the Nolan diocese had already assembled.
But their opponent this ti was not Femishue alone. Unseen by Jenkins, the mad pirate king had summoned a horde of hideous fish-n from the depths. They had the upper bodies of fish and the lower bodies of humans, looking like grotesque chiras stitched together in so alchemist's lab.
Wielding rusty tridents and crude, supernaturally charged bone clubs, these creatures had co ashore and were now roaming the coastline. As the floodwaters pushed further inland, they advanced with it, hunting any living human they could find.
Once assembled, the Church's Enchanter squads focused on combating these monsters, which seed to regenerate endlessly from the sea. They were forced to endure their maddening gurgles while sending them back to the depths from whence they ca.
anwhile, the Church’s demigods confronted Femishue directly. The Heart of the Ocean was a top-tier Bestowal, and rged with it in his natural marine environnt, Femishue was so powerful that even the combined might of the demigods could only barely hold him at bay.
Jenkins cast a distant glance at the demigods' battle before vanishing in a flash and returning to Ruen.
The abrupt shift from the damp, torrential downpour to a warm, dry room was almost disorienting. The cat sprawled on the sofa had been projected into Nolan, so it returned completely dry, but the displeased look on its face remained.
"Oh, my heavens, Mr. Williams, what happened?"
Julia was the first to spot his return. She imdiately instructed the maids to fetch him a dry towel and a fresh change of clothes.
Reviews
All reviews (0)