"Captain! The barrier isn't going to st long!"

  "Argh! You damned fishes! I won't let you tear our ship apart!"

  "Waah! Dammit! We're gonna sink at this rate!"

  Chaos, chaos, and even more chaos. No no matter where one looked, all they would see is disorder and turbulence. Be it the he waves, or the ship itself, all were dragged down to pandemonium as the voian overpped one another.

  The fishermen were not the only ones in panic. The sea creatures were also in the same fate, running away as far and as fast as they could as if something was chasing them. They didn't regard what was on their way and simply pushed through.

  Such chaos unfolded, reflected in the eyes of one man. He was the captain of the ship, yet even with his authority, he couldn't do anything about the situation. He owerless in front of a stampede where the violent waves bashed their ship and the panig beasts cruised towards them.

  'Dammit... Just where did it g...' ［Captain］

  The captain thought as he watched the pale faces of his crew be filled with terror and misery. He could still clearly remember the time they headed out into the sea just this m, not expeg for things to go such a way.

  It was a normal day unlike any other. The fishermen all gathered in the port and prepared the ship to fish. With the rade routes opened, Lista was given more opportuo earn money and make es. Everyone was excited.

  "Captain, we're done loading everything."

  "Good. We'll depart in a couple minutes. Make sure everyone's present." ［Captain］

  "Yes!"

  A couple minutes, and just like that, the ship departed just like how they usually do. Several mier and they finally arrived at their usual fishing spot, hurriedly aedly casting the s and bait in hopes to catch a lot of fishes for their living.

  But a few minutes passed, but only a couple fishes showed up. Though it was better than nothing, it was an amount which could barely fill a barrel full. Everyone's faces frow such a sorry sight.

  "Everyone, don't be too dow's just head to another spot. I'm sure the fishes here are depleted. They might be gathering elsewhere." ［Captain］

  "Y-Yeah! That's right! That must be it!"

  "Amazing! Captain, you're a genius!"

  The Captain's words quickly cheered up everyone and soon, they arrived at another spot. Unfortunately for them, there were still barely any catches. Try and try as they might but the results were the same. Every spot they went to was barren.

  It was as if the fishes were suddenly all gohough he had experienced unlucky moments throughout the couple decades of fishing in his life, it was never so bad before. Throughout the whole m, they only got a few barrels. If things tihey would suffer a loss rather than profit.

  The only reason the Captain could think of was because of the sudden increase is, but it could also be because they were just unlucky. The captain was fused, unsure what to do.

  "Haah... Sorry, everyone. How about we try another spot? I'm sure they'll be gathering further south." ［Captain］

  The captain suggested with a smile on his face, but unlike before, no cheerful smiles were returned ba. Everyone was frowning, downcast and depressed. Even though they k was just a bad day, they couldn't help but feel upset.

  "C... Captain... How about we head westー"

  "Are you crazy?! That's dangerous!" ［Captain］

  The man couldn't even finish his words, when the Captain suddenly snapped back at him. After all, it was on knowledge for everyohat going further west and the beasts would appear more often. It was only a foolish and dangerous suggestion.

  "But Captain, at this rate, we won't really get any fish."

  "I hate to say this, Captain, but I think he's right. Since we haven't fished in the west, maybe they all gathered there, right?"

  "T-That's right! Captain, I think we should head west too!"

  "I also agree with them, Captain!"

  Oer ahe crew voiced their opinions about headi. Though there were some in opposition, an overwhelming majority agreed on the idea of headi, mostly those who were in desperate need of money.

  The Captain knew from his years of experiehat only danger entails breaking such rules. He himself had tried to go there and almost died when he was young. Even then, he couldn't just shoot down everyone's hope.

  'No... That was already decades ago... I'm sure it's ged now...' ［Captain］

  Fooling himself with such a thought, the Captain quered his fear of heading out far and faced his crew with resolute eyes. There was only one choice to be made. He chose to listen to the people's voices.

  "I uand. Let's head west for now, but if we still don't get any catch after noon es, we'll head back to the port." ［Captain］

  "Woohoo! Captain, you're the best!"

  "Alright! We'll be goi!"

  At the Captain's words, everyone cheered happily. Though the Captain was worried about what might happen, after seeing such faces pstered over his subordinates, he could waver no more. Soon enough, they all headed west.

  It took them several mio get there, but after casting the and bait, there was only a couple minutes of wait and a myriad of spshes echoed in the air. Fishes of all kinds and sizes gathered around, spshing about as they feasted on the bait.

  "A-Amazing! I've never seen so many fishes before!"

  "Looks like we're right! Headi really was the answer!"

  "Hahaha! We'll be having a grand celebration tonight!"

  Happy expressions painted on their faces, everyone quickly drew back the s and caught all the fishes. It was a hard struggle, but they all pushed through until the end. Dozens upon dozens of barrels were filled with fishes, al, full to the brim.

  But such happiness didn't st very long. The moment was something which could only be described as a nightmare. One so dark and grim, even full-fledged knights would tremble and cry if they ever faced it

  "Wh-What's happening?!"

  "B-B-Beasts! Beasts are heading our way!"

  "Everyone, grab your spears!"

  It was all too sudden. Before they k, hundreds upon hundreds of beasts were heading their arting the waters as they cruised through, their fins and spikes poking out of the water. A sight which could easily imbue fear in anyone's heart.

  The bells rang, the crew pahe waves roared, and the ship rocked left and right. Everything desded into chaos as the beasts crashed upon their ship, leaving rge marks behind and slowly but surely breaking it down.

  They already erected the barriers ships have, but it was futile. Though it could protect them from the likes of F-ras and below, with a number of E-rank and D-ras along the stampede, it owerless, all they could do was struggle in vain.

  Now, the Captain could only wat silence as he watched the ship's barrier get torn to pieces and his crew fall in despair. In such a chaotid hellish se, only a sihought revolved around his mind over and ain,

  'Dammit... I shouldn't have been too greedy.' ［Captain］

  He was already old, and though he knew his time would soon e, he didn't think it would be so soon. If there was ohing he regretted, it was that he didn't get to spend more time with his family, especially his grandchildren who were still young.

  'God... I don't know if you're listening... But please hear me out...' ［Captain］

  He was a believer, but he wasn't one you would call a very religious person. But for the first time in his life, he kneeled on the deck, closed his eyes, and with his heart full of siy, he prayed to God, asking for his most sincere and final wish.

  'I don't care about myself, but please save these young ohey still have a bright future ahead of them, I don't want them to die because of an old man's mistake. I know this is selfish of me, but please... Just pleaseー' ［Captain］

  "Ahh!! What the hell is that!"

  He hasn't even finished his prayer, but as if God really was listening, it was quickly answered. The moment he opened his eyes, a winged angel graced him with a wonderful sight, its radiance illuminating the seas and grag his heart with peaceー or so how it should have been.

  But what he saw was no angel. It was a rge dragon, four wiending out from its bad casting a rge shadow oer's surface. It was a ferocious beast which ruled above all, indug respect the moment the people's eyes met them.

  Yet even in such a situation, the Captai no fear. Only two emotions blossomed in his heart, one of them being astonishment, and the other was hope. Hope whiever felt so warm and fortable before,

  ??Barrier?? ［Yuna］

  A cold yet gentle voice rang in the air, and the moment it did, the ship's shaking stopped. It wasn't that the beasts stopped attag, but rather, an even more powerful and impregnable barrier was erected.

  ??Icicle Shower!?? ［Yuna］

  It didn't just stop there. The cold voice rang once again, and soon, hundreds upon hundreds of gcial blue spears formed in the air, h menagly, making one's body shiver without even toug it. Not a shiver from the cold, but one from fear.

  The spears didn't just stay h. Oer another, like a merciless barrage, the ice spears rained down upoer, pierg everything in sight and freezing the waters at the same time. It wasn't long before the sea started turning red.

  Yet even with how violent the deadly rain of icicles was, the ship remained unharmed. Some icicles spears fell down on the ship, but before it could even touch, they were all obliterated by an invisible force.

  "Wh... What just happened..."

  "Are we finally saved...?"

  Everyone was in fusion with what suddenly happened. It was o after another. One moment they were utad the moment, someone saves them. They experienced a roller coaster of emotions like never before.

  The rain of icicles soon stopped and with it, the sea finally returo its calm state. Though the waves were reddish, it was unmistakably back to normal, only a couple hundred beasts remaining uhe surface.

  "Haap!" ［Yuna］

  The se was just as surprising as the ones before it. Before aiced, a young girl with silver hair suddenly jumped out of the dragon in the air, heading straight towards the water without any traces of fear in her eyes.

  She hit the waters, but there were no spshes to be heard. Though she did create some waves, they all froze into ice just as quickly, creating a beautiful masterpiece floating adrift the salty waters, like a little shop going against the waves.

  The young dy didn't just stand idly. She turned her eyes left and right, the remainis uhe water. Some had already started fleeing, but some were very hard headed, just like the once quickly lunging towards her.

  ??Dice!?? ［Yuna］

  Unfortunately for them, Yuna's hands were even quicker. The moment her armament ring transformed into daggers, she quickly grabbed their hilts and with swiftness no eyes could follow, executed hundreds of sshes in just a single moment.

  Light streaked as her daggers flowed like the winding rivers, and just as smoothly, it cut through the enemies' flesh like hot khrough butter, creating dozens of deep gashes which soon turned into cuts as their bodies were diced into tiny pieces.

  Spsh Spsh Spsh

  Spshes echoed in succession and ripples were formed as the bits and pieces of fish meat dropped bato water. Blood spewed like a never-ending fountain, dyeing the sea red in just a quistant. A one-sided massacre.

  But the massacre didn't just end there. For those beasts which didn't flee when they had the ce to, Yuna had no choice but to hunt them down. She sooended her arms once again, cold winds sweeping through the wavy sea,

  ??Winter Gale's Parade!?? ［Yuna］

  At the wave of her hand, dozens of spears once again formed midair. The moment all of them were fired, silhouettes of frozen knights appeared, charging though the waves and diving deep without care of the terrain.

  Everything which touched the charging knights were frozen solid, turned into gcial blue ice. Kce which was soon broken as the knight's spears pierced through them. The sea which was oeeming with life was quickly turned into a barren pce of frost ah.

  But the battle was not over, as in the er of Yuna's eyes, she could see a familiar figure swimming about and able to survive her spell of absolute frost. A bright smile beamed on her face as another ce was grao her.

  "Weird turtle! There you areー" ［Yuna］

  GUUUSSSSHHHHHHH

  Yuna couldn't even celebrate. The moment the Pterygia saw Yuna, it opes massive mouth and greeted her with a hypersonic stream of water which could easily dismantle boulders the moment it came in tact.

  Of course, it went without saying that Yuna evaded the attack with retive ease, though the same couldn't be said to the yers of ice behihey were all easily decimated and turned intments of fine ice.

  "Geez! That was dangerous, you know!" ［Yuna］

  Yes, it was dangerous, but even with such danger in mind, nowhere in Yuna's face ainted even a sirace of worry. Rather, she seemed like she was enjoying herself, finally able to let loose without thinking of the sequences.

  But the Pterygia didn't just let her be. The moment it saw Yuna dodging its attack, it opes mouth once again and fired anh pressure stream of water, hoping to get Yuna by surprise.

  "Geez! So impatient!" ［Yuna］

  Unfortunately for it, the results were the same no matter how hard it tried. Yuna's reflexes were simply too fast that she only needed a couple fras of a sed to react, hopping a few steps bad dodging it without a single hair if hers touched,

  "How about you try this ohen? ??Ice Lance?? !" ［Yuna］

  A single spear of ice darted throughout the air at breakneck speeds. The Pterygia tried to stop it by shooting another beam of highly pressurized water, but its efforts were all in vain. The differen strength was simply too much.

  Yuna's ice simply ruptured through the beam of water, not even slowed down a little bit. A couple seds ter, it arrived right in front of the Pterygia, striking its head and b a hole through it. Blood illed once again.

  THUUDDDD

  Helplessly as one be, the Pterygia fell limp towards the frozen sea, a loud thud eg in the air as the ice cracked. There was no sign of movement from it, only a body getting colder and colder by the minute.

  "Hmm... That's it, huh..." ［Yuna］

  It was a lot more anticlimactic than she was expeg. Evehere were no traces of dissatisfa on Yuna's face. She may not have ehe fight, but she was still happy she could finally let loose and try out powerful spells after a long time. It was a good workout.

  Well, now that the threat was over, there was only ohio do. The colle of materials and unfreezing the water could be left for ter. For now, her top priority was to make sure everyone on the ship was alright.

  With just a couple of hops and skips, Yuna was able te a gap of a couple hundred meters in a single breath. And with a little jump, she then nded on the ship, a soft cck eg in the air as her boots hit the pnks.

  "Hello～! Is everyone... safe...?" ［Yuna］

  But what greeted Yuna was a sight she didn't expect. Everyone quickly k on the ground and bowed respectfully, not daring to meet her in the eyes. It was all too sudden, Yuna could only tilt her head as she tried to grasp things by herself.

  "We greet Yhness, Archduchess Yuna! Thank you for saving our lives. We will never fet this debt!" ［Captain］

  """Thank you for saving our lives!"""

  Though Yuna was happy being thahe reception was just too much. It was the formal greetings once again, and to such a stiff formality, she could only furrow her brows, frowning ever so cutely as she scratched her cheeks.

  Well, the people weren't just kneeling because they respected and were grateful for Yuna. There was also the fact that there was a giant dragon behihey are simply too afraid to look at her, not daring to meet Sirius' in the eyes,

  "Ummm... Have we met before...?" ［Yuna］

  "N-No, how could we dare meet Yhness? We've only heard tales about yreatness and k was you the moment we id our eyes upon you. Have we offended you by any ce?" ［Captain］

  "A-Ah, no... That's not it." ［Yuna］

  The Captain was right. With her silver hair, pointy ears, blue eyes, and her geous face, there is only one person they could think of. Topping it off with her abilities and the dragon behind her, it didn't take long before they figured things out.

  Well, even if they're respectful, the respect was just too much, it was suffog. Yuna was never really good with sualities, and even now, she still siders herself a oner. She simply just doesn't like it.

  "Umm... Everyone, please raise your heads and rise up. It's a little unfortable speaking this way... So, uhm... Is it alright if you do that?" ［Yuna］

  "Of course. If that's what Yhness wishes." ［Captain］

  Thankfully, the people were an easy bunch to talk to. As soon as Yuna requested it, everyone quickly followed her will without any questions. Though they were still all nervous, they tried not to show it and acted as calm as they could.

  Well, everyone was calm until ane shadow dawned upon them. Another dragon appeared in the sky and with it was anure. That figure then jumped down from such heights, nding on the ship as if it was the most natural thing to do. A sight which almost gave everyone a heart attack.

  "Ah, Grey. Are you finally done over there?" ［Yuna］

  "Yeah, I somehow managed one way or another. Beasts shouldn't go near it for now. And the others are also guarding the ship. There shouldn't be any problems. Sorry I took so long." ［Grey］

  "No, it's alright. I just fihings here anyway." ［Yuna］

  "I see... Anyway, these people are..." ［Grey］

  Grey tried to ig, but when people are gaveling siously in front of them, he just doesn't have the will to do so. They were simply too distrag, kneeling as if their lives depended on it.

  "W-We greet Yhness, Archduke Grey.....," ［Captain］

  The se was once agaied. The only differenow was that rather than Yuna, Grey was now the recipient of such stifling formality. Yuna could only smile wryly as she looked Grey in the eyes, uo expin things clearly.

  It took a minuteー No, a couple of minutes if ving. The people were simply too stubborn hag Grey and Yuna needed so much time before they finally stopped with the formalities. It was the lo couple minutes of their lives.

  "And,.. I assume you're the Captain, right? Mister...." ［Grey］

  "Ador. Please call me Ador, Yhness." ［Ador］

  "I see... Then, Mister Ador, you tell us exactly what happened? I'm pretty sure this area is off limits. Did you get dragged here by beasts by any ce?" ［Grey］

  "Ah, no... That's..." ［Ador］

  Hesitation in his eyes, Ador then told Grey and Yuna how they got themselves in such circumstances. From the very beginning, the reason they decided to head west, and what happened after. He left no stourned.

  And throughout the whole thing, Grey could tell he wasn't lying with his "Judgement". Though he couldn't say they made a wise decision, he couldn't really bme them. All he and Yuna could do was remind them of the dangers in the sea.

  "Haah... I know you're all just trying to make a living. But please don't risk your lives over little sums of money. You were lucky today since eo be here, but what if we weren't? What would have happeo you then?" ［Grey］

  "Grey's right. You should value your lives more. Dealing with beasts isn't a game. You could lose your lives at any moment. Think about your families. Do you think they'll be happy if they found out you were in danger? Will they?" ［Yuna］

  Like parents scolding their children, Grey and Yuured the fishermen for quite some time. And though they were all older thahey didn't argue and simply listetentively, refleg on their mistakes.

  But throughout the whole lecture, Grey's eyes could help but swim towards a certain dire. There was a certain look of fusion and curiosity in his eyes. Curiosity which didn't vanish even after the lecture ended.

  "Anyway, the point is, don't act too recklessly ime. Got it?" ［Grey］

  "Yes. We'll keep your words in mind, Yhnesses." ［Ador］

  Nodding their heads oer ahe fishermen could finally breathe a breath of fresh air. They were all then pardoned, going back to their own roles as soon as everything was over.

  Grey and Yuna had a little talk with Ador, and after which, the two then proceed to collect the materials from the aquatic beasts and store them inside "Iory". Lastly, they unfroze the sea, letting the ship ro the waves again.

  "Haah... That was quite something, wasn't it?" ［Grey］

  "Un! You could say that again..." ［Yuna］

  Two figures were drifting afloat the sea, on the backs of twons. The sea viewing they so looked forward to was now ruined, and all they could do onder as they basked uhe sun. So much p in fact that a certain idea popped up in Grey's head.

  "Hey, Yuna... What do you say we go on a little adventure?" ［Grey］

  "Hm? An adventure? What do you mean....?" ［Yuna］

  "Well, it's just... I have a p mind. Are you in?" ［Grey］

  A fident smile afloat on his face, Grey extended his hands out to his beloved. The tter could only tilt her head in fusion, accepting the hand which was offered to her without much thought nor hesitation.

  She may not know what he was talking about, but if Grey says it was fun, then it surely will be. Excitement and anticipations surged inside Yuna's heart as another smile bloomed ever shtly.

  "Un!" ［Yuna］

  The fun had just begun.

  CHAPTER 224 END