Two days later, after confirming all conditions in the empire and on the ocean, Ard, Eva, and their friends finally boarded Vahn’s ship, the Shadow Serpent. They set sail in the late afternoon and would continue sailing through the night toward the northern continent. After everyone was ready, the anchor was raised and the mooring ropes were released. The Shadow Serpent began to move out of the cave toward the open sea.
Ard, Eva, and the other friends were standing on the deck watching the ocean, but after sailing a little distance, Ard suddenly felt extrely dizzy.
"Whoa... why is this happening?" Ard asked, clutching his head.
"A... Ard... my head," Eva muttered.
Ard turned to see Eva also staggering, holding her head. He imdiately caught Eva’s body, then both of them fell to the deck, unconscious. Seeing Ard and Eva fall, Geoffrey, who happened to be nearby, imdiately shouted.
"Hey... Ard, Eva, what’s wrong with you two?" Geoffrey yelled.
Geoffrey’s shout made Ainsley, Irwin, Pyria, Claudia, Alicia, Milia, Beatrice (who was holding a bucket because she was seasick and being supported by Rosalind), imdiately approach Ard and Eva, who had collapsed on the deck. A mont later, Mirea and Claudia also ca over with Vahn, who imdiately checked their condition.
"It’s nothing. They seem to be exhausted. Just let them sleep here," Vahn said.
"Alright, we’ll just guard the area," Geoffrey replied.
"I’ll stay here. You all go rest first," Mirea replied.
"Alright, I’ll stay here too," Pyria replied.
No one realized that Ard’s and Eva’s closed eyes were fluttering as if they were having a dream or recalling a long-buried mory.
***
Ard opened his eyes. He found himself on a cliff in so location with Esralda, a male Elf, a female Vampire, and a human from a barbarian tribe. In front of him, he saw an imnse sea serpent dragon that seed to embody the ocean itself—both terrifying and magnificent. Ard turned to look beside him, where he saw a formation of Stonehenge-like stones, full of magical runes, neatly arranged with a magic circle beneath them.
"Quickly, seal Lucathan before he destroys the world, Ashton, Esralda," the young Elf said.
"That’s right, don’t just stand there," the young Vampire added cynically, folding her arms across her chest.
"Elidyr Kriscaryn, Velvet Lilim Northrom, please be quiet and don’t disturb them," the young barbarian man said.
"Hey, call Velvet, Bledvolf. Don’t say my whole na," Velvet protested.
Elidyr, the Elf, didn’t answer. His face looked extrely anxious watching the colossal blue sea serpent dragon nad Lucathan. anwhile, Ashton and Esralda, holding Exgrandal and Exelion, stood frozen stiff in front of it.
Suddenly, brrrrsh, everyone imdiately looked up. Lucathan’s imnsely huge head erged from the water, and its eyes stared at all of them in front of it. Lucathan didn’t move; it didn’t even open its mouth. It just stared at Ashton and Esralda standing tall before it.
"Hello, Lucathan," Ashton greeted, smiling while raising Exgrandal toward Lucathan.
"We were tasked by the Dragon God to seal you, but we know you’re not evil. We’ll talk to the Dragon God so you can stay in the sea, but you mustn’t hurt anyone, okay?" Esralda said, raising Exelion toward Lucathan.
Lucathan’s large head seed to understand their words. It slowly nodded. Then it blinked several tis, and its tentacle-like feelers stretched out toward Ashton and Esralda, as if gently stroking both their faces. After that, Lucathan’s head slowly descended and returned to the sea.
Its imnse back, which seed to replace the ocean, began to sink back into the depths, causing foam and huge waves in the ocean. Of course, Elidyr, Velvet, and Bledvolf imdiately gaped, speechless, seeing Lucathan obey Ashton and Esralda.
After Lucathan’s entire body subrged, Ashton and Esralda put their swords away in their dinsional storage and turned to look at their three friends.
"Whoa, what’s wrong with you guys?" Ashton asked.
"N-nothing," Velvet answered haltingly.
"You look like you just saw a ghost," Esralda said, smiling.
"I can’t say anything. I’ve never seen a sea dragon that big and... well, that compliant," Bledvolf said.
"Thank you. You two truly are amazing. My tribe didn’t entrust those two swords to you for nothing," Elidyr said, smiling.
"Haha... alright, let’s continue our journey," Ashton urged.
Then, they continued their journey, leaving the cliff with the sun already setting in the distance.
***
"Whoaaah,"
Ard and Eva woke up abruptly at the sa ti. They imdiately looked around and realized they were on the deck of a ship that was currently sailing.
"Hey, are you two okay?" Geoffrey asked.
"N-nothing, what happened?" Ard asked, holding his head.
"After we were well out from the cliff, you two suddenly passed out. We all got worried," Mirea answered.
Ard and Eva imdiately stood up. They saw the cliff that was now very far away and looked small behind them, the cliff where Vahn kept his ship hidden inside.
"That cliff... it turned out to be the place we t Lucathan 3,000 years ago," Ard murmured.
"Yes... that’s right," Eva replied, staring at the cliff.
Suddenly, without realizing it, Ard and Eva shed tears and held hands, rembering their journey in their past lives 3,000 years ago.
"I once heard a story from our elder about a sea dragon so huge that its body filled the entire ocean," Pyria comnted, standing beside Ard and Eva.
"Yes, my tribe also has a legend about that huge sea dragon," Claudia added, standing next to Pyria.
"Pyria, was your elder’s na Elidyr?" Ard asked.
Pyria instantly froze and turned to look at Ard so quickly her head almost snapped off. Her face looked completely shocked, and her mouth hung open.
"H-how do you know the elder’s na? You rember him?" Pyria asked.
"Sothing like that. Right, Eva?" Ard asked.
"Yes, that’s right. The ancestor of the vampires, ntioned by Count Dimitri, was nad Velvet, and the first barbarian chieftain was nad Bledvolf," Eva replied, smiling.
This ti, Claudia turned around quickly, afraid her head might fly off, looking at Ard and Eva. Her face was more or less the sa as Pyria’s, and her mouth was clearly gaping.
"The first chieftain and founder of my clan was indeed nad Bledvolf, but that was 3,000 years ago... you really are the reincarnations of Ashton and Esralda," Claudia muttered.
"Wow... incredible! Can you please tell all about your adventures?" Mirea added enthusiastically.
"Sorry, I can’t rember everything yet," Ard said, holding his head.
"Sa here. Sorry, Mirea," Eva added.
"That’s okay, don’t force it. Just tell what you just experienced. I’m ready to write it all down," Mirea said passionately.
"Here we go again, pathetic Mirea, such a history and legend maniac," Claudia muttered from the side.
Clang, suddenly the ship rolled as if hit by sothing. Ard and Eva had to grab onto sothing, and so did the others. The ship’s crew imdiately panicked and ran back and forth across the deck. Vahn ca out of the cabin and imdiately went to Ard, Eva, and the others.
"Looks like we hit sothing. We’re going to check the ship first, okay? You don’t need to help, and please just stay put," Vahn said.
"Alright," Ard replied.
Vahn imdiately returned to being busy. Ard and Eva turned around to look at the sea from the edge of the deck. They saw a pair of massive eyes in the water, far apart, indicating that whoever owned the eyes had a head the size of an island.
Ard and Eva looked at each other, then they smiled. Their hands opened their dinsional storage to pull out Exgrandal and Exelion. Then they turned to the sea and looked toward the large eyes in the water. Shring, they both raised their swords high, confusing their other friends as to what they were doing, except for Pyria, who was smiling knowingly.
The two massive eyes in the ocean seed to blink. Then, whoosh, two tentacles erged from the water. Imdiately, Geoffrey, Ainsley, Rosalind, Alicia, Milia, Mirea, Claudia, Pyria, and Irwin stood ready, while Beatrice, holding the bucket, turned pale.
Vahn and the crew also quickly approached and drew their weapons, but they paused, seeing Ard and Eva holding up their swords. Shortly after, slurp, the two feelers that looked like tentacles brushed against Ard’s and Eva’s bodies simultaneously. Then a lot of foam appeared on the ocean, and after that, the tentacles retreated back into the sea.
Afterward, the sea beca calm again. Ard and Eva, soaking wet, turned around and looked at their friends’ faces, who looked stunned, pale and gaping.
"That was just Lucathan saying hello to us," Ard said while drying himself off.
"Yeah, but he’s gotten so huge compared to before," Eva replied, wringing out her clothes.
"Yep, since 3,000 years ago, he’s probably the size of a continent now," Ard said, smiling.
"Hehe, true," Eva replied.
"You two can’t just be so relaxed about this! Tell us what happened!" everyone yelled, clearly still in shock and terrified.
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