A stretch of pitch-black sea.
Amid the shroud of mist, the clash of blades and swords burst forth into striking crimson sparks—glaring and vivid, visible even from afar.
Young Master Lin Nuo and that Blood Pact Warrior had actually—
Started fighting!
Ever since they learned today that Young Master Lin Nuo had not only devised those ingenious chains, the feigned surrender, and the fire assault, but would also personally lead the way, risking his life to venture into the heart of the demon tide and scout for their sake.
Not a single one of the Treading Wave Sea Guard Knights retreated or fled again.
Their gazes, steadfast, locked upon the fog ahead.
Their concern for Young Master Lin Nuo’s situation only deepened their hatred for these monsters.
Now, aside from the burning urge to rush forward and help Young Master Lin Nuo, there was a faint excitement—an eagerness to throw themselves into the coming slaughter against the monsters.
Fight to the death, no retreat.
This was the only answer they could give to Young Master Lin Nuo, who charged into the most perilous battlefield!
Who could have imagined that just two hours before, these holy knights, facing twenty thousand with only four thousand of their own, had been steeped in utter despair?
“Set sail!”
The patrol boats were loaded with casks that would ignite at the slightest touch of flame, and with some kind of sea monster oil they’d gathered here—more flammable than cypress wood.
Every knight clung to the precious moments that noble young lord had bought them at the risk of his own life, scattering to ambush in the fog exactly as he had planned….
***
On a secluded reef somewhere in Shilang Bay.
The moon was faint, the pale light spilling softly from the clear night sky, falling upon the young girl’s figure, casting a graceful silhouette amidst the rolling waves.
XÄ« stood alone in the evening breeze.
Her gaze reached far into the distance, as if speaking to someone: “If something happens to him, I will not let him be alone.”
A kindly, aged voice spoke, a sound only XÄ« could hear: “Child, you’re always so willful.”
“Mmm.”
XÄ« did not deny the magic Whale’s words.
It seemed that ever since she met him, she had become willful.
If not for him, eight years ago, Shilang Bay—and herself—might have long since vanished from this world.
Her thoughts drifted back.
The young girl turned, looking at the square rock wall standing atop the reef.
There, she had drawn a person in her childhood.
It was a little boy, only ten years old.
The drawing captured him just before he turned his ship to face a formidable foe, when he tossed a Paper Crane toward Shilang Bay—an innocent yet fearless figure.
From beneath the sea came the whistle of some fish.
It brought memories to XÄ«.
In truth, it wasn’t just today—over the past two hundred years, as an ancient sea monster, the magic whale would, from time to time, become weak and need to rest in the ocean depths, gathering her magic and strength.
Eight years ago, it was because the magic whale had once again weakened—
The mist that should have enshrouded Shilang Bay, making even the most skilled navigators lose their way and circle endlessly, thinned for several days.
That was how the Migludia Family’s sailors stumbled upon this place by chance.
They came asking to station themselves in Shilang Bay.
Even putting aside their contemptuous attitude toward the Bay’s weakness—just seeing the nine hundred knights being hunted down and routed, XÄ« knew—
These outsiders would either take Shilang Bay by force, or bring their war, their flames, upon every innocent scale demon and fisherman here.
She was not strong enough then.
Compared to the Sea Guard Knights’ magic ballistae, no one in Shilang Bay eight years ago was powerful—so she did not show herself.
It was a scene much like now.
She had the merfolk take the fishermen and young scale demons to hide on the far side of the island.
As the chosen Princess, she stayed behind.
XÄ« thought this place would be attacked, that all its peace would be devoured by fire.
But, unexpectedly—
A boy, just past ten, returned to the edge of Shilang Bay, accompanied by two Redclad Guards.
But this time, that tender, seemingly powerless boy—under the urging of his two guards—did not set foot on the island.
He simply stood still in the night, gazing out at Shilang Bay’s border.
Soaking in the shallows, XÄ« could still recall his young face, the way he stared at this place.
He looked at the traces of the scale demons’ lives.
At the conches recording the scale demons’ beautiful songs.
At the glass bottles stuffed with pebbles by the young merfolk.
His eyes seemed to marvel at all the peace, serenity, and quiet here.
And then, just as Count Dakesi later recounted: That child, on behalf of nine hundred cowardly soldiers, made the bravest decision of all.
“Eight years ago, the fleet he belonged to had been crushed. Their only chance at victory was to make a stand at Shilang Bay and battle the relentless demons to the end.”
“But when he saw the poetry walls and stones, carved with scale demon love songs—”
“He chose defeat rather than destroy the peace of Shilang Bay.”
Even now, after eight years had passed.
XÄ« never forgot the resolute figure of Lin Nuo as he ordered his two Redclad Guards to leave.
No matter how time flowed, none of the merfolk here ever forgot that nameless boy, who by incredible means stilled the accusations and resentment of nine hundred knights.
Their fleet could not turn around, their military pay could not support another campaign on Shilang Bay and he, in truth, unlike Count Dakesi’s tales, did not believe some desperate gamble would guarantee victory, nor that awakening the mist ancestor of Shilang Bay would help them.
He only did it for the sake of peace in Shilang Bay.
That child, who had never met anyone here, made up his mind to shoulder everything alone.
She drew a deep breath.
Xī closed her eyes, as if she could still see it—the sun setting in scattered golden splinters over the Shiguang Sea.
Ten-year-old Lin Nuo, with a piece of white paper fallen onto the sea, folded a Paper Crane as a symbol of peace and tossed it toward Shilang Bay, then turned away with resolve …..
“He forced his fleet to turn and face the enemy behind them.”
“At that moment, I thought—”
“I want to be his warrior, to face… defeat with him.”
Even back then, not knowing the magic whale would suddenly awaken when those nine hundred knights clashed with fifty thousand monsters, she still went, holding on to a certain resolve.
Perhaps, just like the determination of that boy leading his fleet to death.
“For a scale demon, the most important thing in life is to find the shore within the sea of their heart, so that the drifting seeds may find their home.”
That night, she swam alone toward Lin Nuo’s fleet.
Swimming toward the sea within her heart.
Just as she would now, when the wind rises, stand upon the ship to greet him.
“Goodbye, dear child.” The gentle voice drifted in the night breeze, “You say he is your hero, but long ago, Granny thought so too.”
“You look beautiful in your purple gown, standing by his side. Granny is so glad, in these last years, to see your happiness. I have no regrets now. This breeze is all I can give you and him.”
“Mmm….. Goodbye, Magic Whale Granny.”
“Whoosh”
All the fish in the sea froze in place, as if mourning someone’s departure.
From somewhere in the depths, a sorrowful cry echoed up, and XÄ«’s hair was suddenly lifted by the clear wind.
In a blink, above the Shiguang Sea, clouds surged and winds arose!