Chapter 915: Drop

A few months later, the cataclysmic fights happening above the Central Continent finally started to die down. As is the case regarding beings of such strength, they're notably difficult to kill.

The number of techniques, treasures, and life-saving measures they had were seemingly endless, especially techniques.

Who among them hadn't been bored during their long life and decided to work on improving their capabilities instead of their cultivation? Who hadn't filled their spatial rings to the brim with all kinds of defensive treasures? Even if not all of them were Divine-Grade or above, they could still be useful.

In that regard, the people from the Mortal Realm were superior, given they had lived for so much longer.

Still, unless they could annihilate each other in a single strike, killing them was more of a chore than anything else.

But after a few months of constant chasing, fighting, and hiding, the number of battles started to dwindle as the number of people lessened.

The invaders had wanted to stop fighting a while ago. They had a mission and couldn't be bothered to deal with these... peons. It wasn't until about a week in that Serein began to understand how persistent these maggots could be.

If their arms were cut off, they'd use their legs. If their legs were cut off, their arms were already healed. If all their limbs were cut off, they used their mouths.

Hell, even if their heads were removed, their souls remained intact! Despite being in that state, they still dared to battle!

Finally, when they knew they'd die, they would suicide, ensuring at least someone else went down with them! That wasn't even the last of it. Those old bastards had treasures that could keep their souls intact. As long as they reconstructed their body, they would come back to life! Something they had already long planned for.

What a bunch of fucking psychos! Serein wished she had never accepted this job as, though they were the invaders, she felt like the prey in this scenario.

She spent most of her time with the Master. Although she had fought against numerous people in the Ascension Realm throughout the years, they were much more normal, given the talented nature of those individuals.

They didn't need to spend hundreds of thousands of years stockpiling.

As such, she was severely underprepared for the ruthlessness of the Mortal Realm.

Yet, now, after several months of grueling work, she had finally gotten rid of enough of those insect-like bastards that she could escape and lay low for a whole.

Deep within the Earth, hidden underneath several kilometers of sand and stone, Serein and the rest of her team had gathered and created a large cave.

'Finally... I've got most of those bastards off my tail.' Serein thought with a sigh as she slumped down onto a chair. All over her body were countless injuries. Cuts and gashes littered almost every inch of her skin. At least 10% of the bones in her body were broken, and she had overused her Qi several times, causing her reserves to be nearly empty.

She closed her eyes and attempted to gather Qi to restore some of her strength, but the amount was too little for her to recover in a short period of time. 'Tsk. Damn Mortal Realm. If I were back home, it wouldn't even take me an hour to recover.' She cursed before opening her eyes and looking at her subordinates.

Those psychos managed to reduce her force by over half, with all of their injuries much worse than hers. They were running low on elixirs that could heal their wounds, with some even facing damage to their souls.

She, alone, was already having trouble recovering her Qi, much less with ten others of a similar Realm and dozens beneath them. It could take them all months to fully recover!

Serein gritted her teeth, feeling a stinging pain in her right shoulder, where someone managed to stab through her. 'Those fuckers...' Her, along with everyone else's eyes glowed with hatred. 'I'll be sure to rip them apart when I heal!'

Needless to say, they had to lie low for a while as the entire Central Continent was searching for traces of them. They had just arrived here and were already off to a horrible start.

***

However, despite the fight nearing its end, the rest of the world was still in a state of upheaval. Storms, blizzards, beast waves, tsunamis, chaotic weather... All of that remained. Rather, it worsened over time.

Near the Winterveil Port, where Mira had docked when she first arrived, the inhabitants went about their daily lives as usual. Except, there was a giant wall of water blocking any travel, in or out.

Looking at the blockade, the residents sighed but were determined to wait it out.

Many of the previous people had left by now, afraid of what would happen when that huge mass of water came crashing down. Others left in search of new opportunities or another job, as the city was losing money.

While many were busy lamenting at the fact that they weren't making money, suddenly someone shouted, "Hey, look! Up there!"

They turned to see where the man was pointing, only to notice he was looking at the top of the water wall.

At first, nobody saw anything. It was too high up and too far away. However, as time passed, they began to see a tiny dot appear, and it was coming toward them!

"Is-Is that a ship?"

"It's... It's a fucking ship! Holy shit!"

"Are you kidding me?! What sort of madman would sail at a time like this?!"

"No! Forget sailing! What sort of luck do they need to survive?!"

Soon, the whole city was in an uproar as they watched the ship get closer and closer to the coast. However, there was a slight problem...

"How are they supposed to get down?" Someone asked to no one in particular.

From where they stood to the top of the giant water wall was several kilometers, at the very least. Afterward, it was a straight drop.

Sure, if the people on board were strong enough, they could ditch the boat and descend onto the continent, but no captain in their right mind would abandon their vessel. That was their livelihood, after all.

Little did they know that the people on board had no idea what to do, either.

***

"Captain! Captain! We're all going to die!"

"W-We... We made it so far... So close... WHY?!"

"How e're we supposed to get down?!"

Captain Jorvik felt a vein throb in his head as he glared at his crying subordinates. All of them were exhausted. The journey here was anything but easy. And now this?

'Indeed.' He rubbed his temples. 'What'm I s'pose to do?'

He couldn't leave his boat to drop. No. He wouldn't. This was his baby, his pride and joy. His life's work.

'Ain't no way we're goin' down!' He inwardly exclaimed. His mind spun with ideas, each one more feasible than the last. He could take his subordinates and jump off the boat, quickly putting it in his Spatial Ring. He could wrap his Qi around the entire boat and hope to bring it down to land slowly.

Hell, he could just jump off and carry the damn thing.

However-

"Ha!" Maria yelled from the side as a beam of light shot past Jorvik's head, slicing a massive shark apart. Blood splattered all over him and the deck, but he paid it no mind. This was a common occurrence, after all.

She shouted a few more times, slaughtering dozens of beasts that shot out of the water, hoping to devour them. On the other side of the boat, Celaine was busy swinging her saber, chopping up just as many.

These weren't weak beasts, either. Each one was at least Rank 7, with most of them being Rank 8. He could sense a few Rank 9's lurking as well, waiting for the opportunity to kill them.

'We can't leave.' Jorvik thought. 'We're trapped. As soon as they detect a hint of weakness, we're dead.'

"Dammit, we need a plan!" Jorvik barked, scanning the horizon for any sign of salvation. "We can't fight off these beasts forever, and that drop..."

His voice trailed off as he gestured hopelessly towards the sheer cliff of water that came ever closer. The crew, already on the edge of despair, followed his gaze, their hearts sinking further.

Just then, Maria, slicing through another beast, shouted over the din of battle, "Captain, prepare everyone! We might not get a choice in how we descend!"

Celaine, still swinging her saber, added, "Brace for impact."

Before Jorvik could demand what they meant, the sea beneath their ship began to stir ominously. A giant shadow moved beneath the waves, drawing the attention of everyone on board. The crew fell silent, their previous panic replaced by a stunned dread as the shadow grew larger, closer.

With a monumental surge of water, a giant whale emerged from the depths, its body dwarfing the ship.

"By the gods..." whispered one of the sailors.

Without warning, the whale nudged the ship with its massive head, pushing it off the edge of the water wall.