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Chapter 118

Noticing this foreboding weather, the passengers who had been enjoying their journey tensed up. Then, an emergency broadcast began to play.

—Due to a sudden mana storm, the ship is experiencing significant turbulence. For your safety, please enter your rooms and secure yourself.

Though a sudden mana storm wasn’t a common occurrence out at sea, it happened sometimes, just like sudden downpours while walking on a road. And knowing that, the passengers relaxed their tension and began to grumble to dispel their nerves.

“Ah, damn. Why today of all days?”

“Come on, I came here to have fun...”

Though they wanted to ignore the emergency broadcast and continue enjoying themselves, they knew doing so could lead to them being suspected of being a demon. Therefore, the passengers obediently followed the staff’s guidance and returned to their rooms.

Then, when the passengers had all returned to their rooms, a colorless and odorless gas silently began to flow out of the ventilation ducts.

“Maybe I played around too much...”

“I should probably just go to sleep if I can’t even go outside...”

Feeling the onslaught of drowsiness, the passengers naturally went to sleep in their beds after inhaling the gas. Shortly thereafter, the roaring wind and the raging waves calmed just as suddenly as they had appeared.

Serenity pervaded the ship, which was now dead silent, only to be broken by the opening of the doors that had closed due to safety measures and the staff members of the Black Arms who were scurrying around.

“We’ll be arriving soon; hurry up!”

“Check the items and prepare to unload them immediately!”

There were about twenty minutes left until the ship, which had altered its course, would arrive at the Black Arms’ secret artificial island. Terrified of the punishment the owner of the Black Arms, Owner, might unleash if they weren’t ready to unload the items upon arrival, the staff frantically hurried about.

Thus, everyone, even those directing the entire ship in the central control room, became especially busy.

“Move all of the cargo from sector C-22 to sector B-12!”

“Can’t you see that they’re aligning the spaces there right now? Do it in order! In order!”

“A-10 and A-11 aren’t attached yet? It’s becoming a mess because the path is blocked right now!”

Along with directing the ship, those in the central control room managed the interior structure of the entire ship—manipulating the puzzle-like sections through spatial magic—and the security of the cargo stored in the storehouses.

They had to be constantly prepared to act, so now, with the impending arrival at the island, the pressure was especially intense.

“Hurry and unlock sector D-11.”

“I’m unlocking other places, so tell them to wait a bit!”

Sitting around a round table, the staff members busily tapped on panels. With each tap, a hologram of the ship in the center changed, splitting and recombining to display the current status of the ship.

Amidst this hectic atmosphere of constant changes in the central control room, one staff member noticed something odd.

“Huh? Why is the elevator...”

The elevator in the passenger section had begun to descend. Normally, the elevators were off-limits during arrival preparations because they could get caught between the shifting sections.

“Boss, someone is in the elevator...”

“It’s probably that damn cargo team leader! Just throw him into any storehouse for now!”

“Ah, understood.”

Immediately picking up on the team leader’s irritation, the staff member averted his gaze. It was clear that poking about at such a time would only result in a harsh scolding for not handling things properly.

Watching the elevator continue to descend, the staff member just shrugged.

“Well, no one but a team leader could move it anyway.”

During the preparation for arrival, all elevators were firmly locked by spatial magic, only unlockable by the team leaders’ cards.

Letting go of his worries, the staff member decided to handle it as told and adjusted the route toward a storehouse by tapping on the panel.

“...Huh?”

Ignoring the controls, the elevator began to descend even faster.

“Wait. Boss...”

Belatedly realizing that something was very wrong, the staff member hurriedly rushed to call his boss, but... it was already too late.

Boom!

The descending elevator crashed through the ceiling of the central control room, prompting the emergency sirens to blare everywhere and dye the room in a red glow.

Shocked frozen by the situation that had escalated in the blink of an eye, the staff all watched as fingers covered by black gloves emerged from the cracks of the elevator doors.

Creak!

The doors of the elevator were ripped apart like paper, and a young man wearing sunglasses and a girl with her face covered by a veil stepped out.

“Hmm... the system here is more modern than I thought.”

Though it was still outdated compared to the one at Shangri-La, where the Noblesse had taken place, the fact that administrator approval was required every time a staff member manually moved a section made it beneficial for security.

Figuring out how the control device worked at a glance, Se-Hoon turned to face Erika, who was standing beside him examining the interior of the control room.

“So, do you think you can do what I asked you for?”

Erika nodded. “If I can figure out the pattern of mana.”

“Good. Then—”

Just as Se-Hoon was about to look for the administrator, the space before them rippled.

Whoosh!

Dozens of spikes, seemingly having been thrown by many hands, shot toward them from all directions. Simultaneously, a man appeared behind Se-Hoon, swinging two daggers viciously.

The central control room’s team leader, an A-rank spatial magic sorcerer, had seized the first opportunity after the elevator had fallen to launch a swift assault.

I’ve got them...!

He had used spatial magic to launch hidden spikes from all sides, aiming for their vitals, before immediately following up with an attack of his own. Admiring his own perfect surprise attack that blocked all routes for escape, he gleamed triumphantly.

Swoosh!

But then, a red meteor shot out from inside the elevator.

Boom!

Unable to react, the central control room’s team leader could only watch as air compressed by a punch deflected all incoming spikes and a fist clad in a black glove rapidly struck his solar plexus and abdomen.

Bang! Crunch!

The armor under his clothes shattered instantly, and so did his bones.

Pushing the assault, Eun-Ha, disguised as the redhead bodyguard, quickly grabbed the staggering team leader by the neck. She then spun around and kicked another staff member who was charging at Erika, smashing his jaw.

Crack!

The staff member’s jaw shattered and his eyes went vacant. Finishing up, Eun-Ha forcefully threw the body of the team leader toward him.

Crash!

And both the team leader and the staff member were smashed against the wall.

The expeditive, one-sided beatdown caused the onlookers’ mouths to gape, since they knew that those two were rather capable combatants.

“Anyone else?”

Eun-Ha’s indifferent scan around the room caused the staff members’ backs to be covered in a cold sweat.

Sh-she’s definitely an S-grade.

One mistake and we’re all done for.

Regardless of what happened next, their lives were essentially in the hands of this monster before them. With no will to resist, the staff members didn’t move a muscle.

In the meantime, Se-Hoon’s eyes lit up upon scanning the room.

That’s the guy.

Looking at the team leader, who was sitting against the wall unconscious, Se-Hoon examined the flow of mana inside him through his Eyes of Clairvoyance and replicated it in his palm.

“You just have to configure it like this.”

“Hmm... got it.”

Examining the sample created by Se-Hoon, Erika placed her right hand on the control device’s panel without hesitation.

Silver mana surged from her hand, infiltrating the control device and beginning to root itself throughout the central control room.

Though terrified, the staff members watched her intently and grew confused.

Huh? Is she just overlaying a copy over it?

Why is she doing that?

Rather than dispelling the existing magic array or seizing control of it, she just recreated an identical copy of it and placed it on top of the original. What was she trying to achieve with such a pointless action?

However, despite it seeming pointless, Erika calmly completed her spellcasting and removed her hand.

“It’s completed.”

“Good.”

Confirming that the two identical magic arrays were perfectly overlapping each other, Se-Hoon placed his gloved right hand on the device, recalling the information on spatial magic that he had read in a textbook.

The strength of spatial magic lies more in the density of mana than its volume.

When two spatial magic sorcerers competed over the same space, the one with the denser mana prevailed. This meant that even if a B-rank spatial magic sorcerer could wield more mana, an A-rank spatial magic sorcerer would always be able to take control of the space first with their more densely refined mana.

It’s essentially like having access rights.

It was just like how multiple user accounts could not override an administrator account. Thus, with that information in mind, Se-Hoon came up with an idea.

When two magic arrays that control the same space are layered one on top of the other, which one’s commands will the space follow?

Would it obey the commands of an A-rank spatial magic sorcerer user? Or... would it obey a Perfect One? Thinking about the practically predetermined answer, Se-Hoon activated the power of the Ascension Ring inside his black glove and pushed it into the device.

Click-

Following its new master’s commands, the entire ship began to reassemble itself.

***

“...”

Amir, who had been reading a book in his chair, suddenly furrowed his brow.

He felt faint vibrations from below, something that definitely shouldn’t be felt during arrival preparations, which meant that something was amiss.

“Do we have a problem?”

The air shimmered and a subordinate cloaked in black appeared to quietly respond, “It seems there’s an issue below the ship.”

“And the exact cause?”

“We weren’t able to find out because all of the sections have been blocked off by spatial magic.”

Amir’s eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing his subordinate’s response. It could just be a minor issue, but it could also potentially disrupt the deal he was overseeing.

Thus, Amir closed his book after a moment of thought and stood up.

“Summon the contracted guards. I’ll contact the madam...”

Rumble-

Feeling the vibration of a different magnitude than before, Amir became confident that something significant had occurred.

“MOVE!”

His subordinate vanished in an instant, and Amir swiftly moved toward the table.

“Whew...”

He was reluctant to make contact, but he couldn’t afford to mess up the job at hand. Biting his lip, he pulled out a luxurious incense burner from his void pocket when—

The entire cabin shook as if it were sinking.

“What in the world...”

Was someone attempting to dismantle the ship entirely?

Confused by the incomprehensible vibrations, he naturally looked toward the window beside the table.

“What...?”

But instead of seeing the vast expanse of the sea through the window, all he saw now was a massive steel wall.

A wall? Where did that come from all of a sudden...

The incomprehensible situation made Amir freeze in shock, completely at a loss as to what was happening on the ship.

Bang!

The subordinate he had ordered to summon the contracted guards urgently burst through the living room door.

“Sir! The entire structure of the ship has begun to transform!”

“The structure is transforming?”

Amir looked out the window again, examining the steel wall encircling the exterior. It was at that moment that he belatedly realized that parts of it resembled the ship’s corridors and passageways.

Have they pulled down the section I’m in?

While this would be impossible on a regular ship, it was entirely feasible on this special cruise ship, which was segmented by spatial magic.

However, one would need to seize the central control room and take control of the control device to even orchestrate such an event. Who could be capable of such a feat of dominating the control device, something that even an S-rank spatial magic sorcerer would have difficulty with?

Was there a traitor among the crew? Did the Black Arms harbor other intentions? Who was the target amidst this chaos?

This isn’t the time to be pondering.

Realizing that there was no time to waste, he reached for the incense burner on the table.

Clang-!

However, at that moment, a part of the wall outside the window split open and a young man surrounded by silver mana burst through the window.

Amir instinctively dove behind the table, whereas his subordinates and bodyguards charged at the intruder. It was the perfect response, assuming that everyone else was now a potential intruder.

Whoosh-

Unfortunately, that was only if they were strong enough to block the subsequent red meteor.

Booom!

The charging subordinates and bodyguards were all immediately flung outside the door, and Eun-Ha landed on the floor. She calmly turned to Se-Hoon.

“I’ll hold them off for as long as possible.”

After saying that, she ran out of the room and the entire cabin shook again, blocking off the door with a wall.

They’ve moved the cabin again.

Keenly aware that the individual in the room was at least an A-rank hero, Amir accepted that it would be difficult to seek help. Thus, he slowly turned to look at Se-Hoon.

“Of course, there can’t be people who are that foolish in this world... I was quite naive,” said Amir with a bitter smile, realizing that Se-Hoon was the reckless young master he had encountered at the casino. Even though he used his Winter Sky Eyes, he should have been more suspicious.

Se-Hoon casually shrugged his shoulders in response. “Well, first times are always like this. But don’t feel too down about it. I’m just a bit too special.”

Amir’s eyes slightly twitched at Se-Hoon’s nonchalant reply, but he quickly regained his composure.

“I see. It would have been more fun if we had talked openly like this when we first met... it’s quite unfortunate.”

“You might have found it fun. I would have found it boring.”

“You never know. Our goals might align more than you think.”

As they conversed leisurely, Amir quickly scanned Se-Hoon’s equipment.

Two mass-produced Advanced-tier daggers and a longsword at his waist. Looks like there’s armor under his suit, but it’s nothing special. The silver mana probably enhances his physical abilities.

Having scrutinized Se-Hoon for any additional potential threats, Amir looked on warily.

What is he doing here with that unimpressive equipment?

They had been so abrupt with their hijacking, so why was Se-Hoon wasting time conversing with him? Was he waiting for something, or was he simply exhausted from orchestrating the entire plan?

Under normal circumstances, Amir would have relied on his Winter Sky Eyes to decide his next move, but since he had learned that it wouldn’t work on Se-Hoon, he had to rely solely on his instincts.

For now... I’ll wait.

The passing of time was likely more pressing for his opponent than for himself. Confident in his assumption, Amir decided to remain calm and wait until all the preparations were complete.

Then, moments later, when he was about to make his move to take down the enemy in front of him, Se-Hoon spoke.

“Are you finished getting ready?”

Se-Hoon raised his twin daggers.

“Here I go then.”

Crimson-colored mana engulfed one dagger and dark-colored mana engulfed the other—Scarlet Flame Wheel and Moon Shadow respectively.

Se-Hoon then swung both blades simultaneously.

[Bond Imprint ‘Dark Crimson Stone’ has been activated.]

He unleashed the power of a level two Fatestone, which he had extracted from Sung-Ha.

Pang-!

The two types of elemental mana resonated with each other, creating a powerful special wave. Its immense pressure seemed to penetrate deep into Amir’s body, stopping him from charging forward.

Clang!

“What?!”

The attack swept away all the spikes he had generated around him and made him shudder, causing Amir’s eyes to widen in astonishment. His secret technique, the Transparent Ice Blade, had been fully anticipated and dispelled.

“Blow number one!”

Smack!!

Se-Hoon’s foot pierced through the fragments of the shattered Transparent Ice Blades, kicking Amir’s chest with full force.