Chapter 155
Standing beside him—something she had never imagined when they first met as “Siren.”
She let out a small laugh before raising her hand in a sweeping motion, stirring the waves.
“Find it. A ship hiding somewhere, carrying several thousand people. And then, report back to me.”
The water Raksha, having received her command, rushed forward with breathless speed.
Splash!
With a rough sound, water splashed up, and a pod of bluish dolphins was born.
Bubbles rose within their translucent, streamlined bodies.
As the moonlight glinted off their beautiful forms, the dolphins split into dozens of groups and swam off in different directions. Siren paused momentarily, waiting.
“Ah… I’m dying, darling.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re too cool.”
Yasamin, gazing at Siren, seemed dazed, her eyes unfocused.
And that was only natural.
Regardless of the gravity of the situation, from his perspective, even this was merely another passing event.
For him, eternity consisted only of Siren. Thus, the only thing that mattered was Siren.
The one who would never disappear. The one who would never fade. The pillar of his being, his spiritual anchor. The one and only.
Eternity.
Perhaps he was in love with eternity itself.
“Thank you for returning to Aquafuran. I never thought I’d see this sight again…”
It felt like a dream—one so sweet that, upon waking, he would be left wounded, yearning to tear out his own heart from the unbearable pain.
A trap of a dream, too intoxicating to escape once ensnared.
Yasamin watched the blue-glowing Raksha floating around Siren and recalled a night from a thousand years ago.
Ah, that night when he admitted he had fallen in love—it sparkled just like this…
“There. Let’s go.”
At the next moment, Siren spun around, having noticed the signal from the dolphins.
A ship was spotted in the misty western sea.
Through the eyes of the transformed Raksha, the vessel appeared immense—truly massive.
‘But something is strange… No one is on deck. There’s no way they could be controlling that many people so perfectly.’
With a large number of people, their desires would naturally differ.
Surely, some would have wanted to step outside for fresh air.
Yet, no matter where she looked—right or left—not a single sign of life could be seen on deck.
As if it were a ghost ship.
“Yasamin. If the people on that ship have all turned into infected—”
“Yeah.”
“Try not to kill them, if possible. I want to see if we can turn them back.”
Rather than waste time debating whether it was possible, she wanted to try first.
Understanding her intent, Yasamin nodded without a word.
“Unless they attack and leave me no choice, I’ll try. But, considering it’s a ship… I don’t know how well it’ll go. It’s such a cramped and enclosed space.”
“If it looks like you might be in danger, then there’s no helping it. That would be unfortunate, but…”
After all, an elephant does not grieve for the ants beneath its feet.
I’ll make every effort not to trample them… but if it can’t be helped, then so be it.
On their way to the ship, Siren discussed the ritual for restoring the infected to humans with Yasamin.
Yasamin had never seriously considered the idea before, but it seemed he had given it some thought to some extent.
“A curse-reversal ritual?”
“Yeah, it involves drawing in the curse-bound Raksha and then repelling them. What do you think, darling?”
“It sounds quite promising.”
“I’ve only thought about it—I’ve never actually tried. After all, I had no reason or obligation to take responsibility for their salvation.”
Of course. Yasamin was not a god but a beastkin.
He had merely lived a long time, with no inherent reason to show mercy to humans.
Besides, while he might be more skilled on a technical level, the quantity of Raksha he could handle, their responsiveness, and their purity were things a beastkin could never mimic from the divine.
“The ship is moving again…”
Frowning, Siren stirred the waves once more.
This time, the wave was even larger than before.
With a single mighty crash, a swell so massive that it birthed a whirlpool rose, swallowing the moonlight.
And then—
A massive whale formed from water emerged before them.
“Rather than walking, riding this would be faster.”
“Ah, this brings back memories. You used to love riding things like this.”
“You’re still reminiscing about the past?”
“Yeah. It’s all I have, after all.”
Yasamin looked genuinely happy.
But of course, that smile gradually faded as the ominous black ship loomed closer.
“It looks like three large vessels were joined together.”
“You’re right. It wasn’t built in a day.”
In other words, Hies had been planning this for quite some time.
Upon reaching the ship, they lifted the water, using the pressure to land softly on the deck.
Though they had approached quietly, the silence was eerie enough to send chills down their spines.
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