Chapter 130 Snake Sea Calamity

The Dawn Squad traveled west, traversing the territory of the Three-Headed Dragonbirds.

They encountered several attacks from the Three-Headed Bird clans along the way, but after the Dawn Squad hunted down roughly a thousand of them, the strange birds finally realized that these humans were not weak prey to be trifled with, and far fewer came to their deaths.

The rest of the voyage was much smoother.

The sea breeze was gentle, and the sun was warm.

A faint scent of blood drifted over the deck after the battle. The Dawn Squad was busy dealing with the traces and smells left over from the previous fight, preparing for the next battle.

At this moment, Suren sat on the mast, gazing into the distance.

Unlike usual, he now wore a monocle over his right eye socket.

This was a cursed item he rarely used now—the [Robert's Monocle].

The monocle was originally used to cast illusions, inflicting mental damage on enemies.

But its rank wasn't very high, and it wasn't very useful in battles between high-level professionals, so Suren rarely used it before.

But now he had developed another use for the monocle, which was to create illusions and then release them like projections to confuse enemies.

His current mental strength was now so high that he could completely ignore the cursed properties of the monocle, and could construct nearly perfect illusionary projections.

And right now, as far as his eyes could see, one nautical mile ahead of the Eternal Night, there was a huge black-sailed warship sailing leisurely.

This was an illusionary projection of the Eternal Night.

Although it was an illusion, the details of the ship, the busy people on the deck, and even the waves left by the ship on the sea were very realistic.

Without special perception methods, one would definitely be misled.

And the Eternal Night itself, where Suren was, had activated the alchemical array of stealth coating, absorbing the sunlight with a light-absorbing coating, making it invisible.

This method was unlikely to hide the ship from the perception of high-level mages.

But because the distance was very subtle, it was a good insurance policy.

Now that Suren's mental strength had soared, his soul perception could cover a range of several kilometers, a perceptual range that even most eighth-order archmages couldn't achieve.

So if the enemy wanted to ambush him, getting too close would allow Suren to detect them in advance.

But if they observed from too far away, they would be misled by the illusion.

Suren knew almost all the tactics of the Celestial God Plane's magic legions, and he thought this illusion of his might have an unexpected effect.

………

The towering hell volcano was still at the end of their vision. This was already the core area of the Dragon Kingdom ruins.

The surrounding sea was no longer an endless expanse of blue, but more and more islands appeared. On the sea chart, the Dawn Squad had already entered a highly dangerous area.

In the communicator, Tani was reporting on their current route: "Everyone be careful, we are about to enter the Parrot Islands ahead. The sea chart indicates that there may be a overlord-level sea monster, [Titan Senhu], be careful of foreign objects approaching in the water..."

"Got it!"

The members heard it and were making some targeted preparations one after another.

Battles were routine for everyone.

On the mast, Suren was looking into the distance, maintaining the illusion ahead.

The Dawn Squad now had a mature command and operation system, so he didn't need to worry about it.

But the more he sailed, the more he felt a sense of crisis in his heart.

Suren didn't think this was an illusion.

After comprehending the Law of Death to his current level, he was very sensitive to causal links that could lead to death.

His prediction of death far exceeded that of most perception-type professional fortune tellers.

But the current situation was that this sea area was full of unknown risks, and as long as they continued to sail, there would inevitably be danger.

So he wasn't sure where the sense of crisis came from.

This situation was like walking on thin ice, unable to predict which step would cause them to fall into an icy cave, so he could only focus all his attention.

Crow Grandfather on his shoulder was still quiet, which was a reassuring guarantee for Suren.

Because they had planned their route in advance, they were now sailing through the Parrot Islands, which were marked with a three-star (★★★) danger level on the sea chart.

Even if they encountered a monster attack, according to the danger level on the sea chart.

It was estimated to be below the ninth level.

Not too fatal.

However, without warning, a meteor-like beam of light descended from the sky.

In a fraction of a second, the light bullet penetrated the illusion of the Eternal Night ahead, and a giant wave hundreds of meters high erupted on the sea.

The light bullet also contained space that was distorted and scorching. It burned a large hole in the sea, and a sky-filled white mist billowed up.

The attack came too suddenly.

Suren recognized the origin of the magic at a glance, and shouted urgently in his heart, "Sub-God-level Forbidden Spell, [Light of Divine Punishment]!"

That beam of light was actually a sub-god-level spell?

With this almost light-speed forbidden spell coming at them, Suren himself might be able to teleport away, but the Eternal Night would inevitably suffer a devastating blow.

Seeing the giant wave caused by the explosion of the spell, he was also very grateful in his heart: "What a close call!"

The more powerful the spell, the longer it took to chant and prepare, and the longer it took to gather magic power, the greater the commotion during this process. In order not to be discovered, the enemy must have been releasing it from a super long distance.

Suren was also fortunate that he had created an illusion, otherwise the consequences would have been unimaginable if that strike had come at the Eternal Night. Watching the illusion of the ship ahead being pierced by a single blow, the crew members who had been busy on the Eternal Night stiffened, and the movements in their hands stopped. The sound of swallowing saliva could be heard in the air.

A death crisis that made their scalps tingle belatedly struck their hearts.

Even the Qian Tiao and other high-level combatants' expressions changed drastically.

Because of that strike just now, none of them had the absolute certainty that they could avoid it.

However, it wasn't over yet!

Before everyone could react, two more beams of light hit the same spot.

Releasing three forbidden spells at all costs, it seemed that those guys from the Celestial God Plane wanted to completely eliminate the Dawn Squad in one go.

But it was also somewhat expected.

The shock wave caused by the forbidden spell stirred up huge waves at sea, and the stealth coating of the Eternal Night also showed a blurred outline in the shock wave.

The Dawn Squad members didn't dare to feel any sense of relief.

Because they knew that after the enemy discovered that they hadn't sunk them, there would definitely be follow-up moves!

In a very short period of time, the Dawn Squad's staff calculated the exact location of the magic release, and the various combat channels immediately became noisy.

"The enemy is at eleven o'clock, eight nautical miles away!"

"The ship's left-side cannons are calibrated, a comprehensive salvo! Main cannon No. 3, [T1 Shockwave Bomb] loaded and fired! Close-in defense guns, [Magic Interference Bomb] fired in a series!"

"Change course, pull away..."

"..."

The Eternal Night reacted immediately, and the warship pulled away from the direction of the magic release, and the cannons spat out flames together.

In an instant, the sound of artillery fire was deafening, and shells flew all over the sky.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

The sound of artillery fire was continuous.

Cannons had a longer range and higher firing efficiency than magic, which was also a weapon against mage legions.

Pulling away was the best combat response.

After a few rounds of artillery fire, a large area of mushroom clouds of explosions appeared in the sea area to the northwest in the blink of an eye.

And those mages of the Celestial God Plane were obviously out of reach, and there was no magic fluctuation again.

Suren looked at the fire in the distance, his eyes narrowed, and he was not optimistic.

The enemy didn't have a better warship than the Eternal Night, so the possibility of a large force catching up was small.

The Dawn Squad wasn't afraid if only a few people came.

The enemy obviously knew this very well.

But since they had taken action, they must have had some other certainty.

This sub-god-level forbidden spell was very powerful, but it was definitely not everything!

Sure enough.

At this moment, Tani issued a warning in the communicator: "Everyone be careful, the fish in the sea say that many monsters have appeared to the northwest!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Suren's perception also detected dense soul fluctuations.

He had guessed before that those people from the Celestial God Plane would control magical beasts and sea monsters to attack, but it wasn't a surprise.

But sensing the density of the monsters, his expression changed slightly, "How can there be so many?"

In the distance was a white mist, and the naked eye couldn't clearly see what was on the sea.

But Suren clearly sensed the dense soul fluctuations, as dense as a honeycomb, one next to the other, countless.

However, what surprised Suren again was that most of these soul fluctuations were very weak, about the level of second- or third-order magical beasts.

"What kind of monsters are they?"

Suren was very puzzled.

However, those monsters were even faster than the Eternal Night. As they got closer, he also discovered that there were some powerful existences of the seventh and eighth orders mixed in.

Before long, the monsters rushed out of the fog. Suren took a closer look and realized that they were dense swarms of snakes.

Countless venomous snakes surged across the sea like a tide, overlapping, rolling, wriggling… a dark mass, so dense that it made one's hair stand on end.

And those soul fluctuations that Suren sensed to be powerful existences were actually snake-haired Gorgons!

In myths and legends, snake-haired Gorgons could control venomous snakes, and their hair itself could turn into billions of venomous snakes…

And this scene of billions of snakes moving out was called the "Snake Sea Calamity"!

Like locusts crossing the border, all living things were destroyed wherever they passed.

This was a terrifying combat power in legends that could kill gods.

Seeing this scene, Suren had also witnessed another legendary disaster.

The Dawn Squad members were also very shocked.

"How the hell are there so many snakes? It's giving me goosebumps."

"Huh… am I seeing things? There seem to be 'women' in that swarm of snakes?"

"..."

Suren heard that the others hadn't realized what this was yet. He wanted to remind them, but unexpectedly, Phantom Thief Kid suddenly spoke, letting out a strange cry in the communicator, "Those are snake-haired Gorgons! Be careful, don't look at the eyes of those snake-haired Gorgons!"

This guy had suffered from petrification rays before, so how could he not know how powerful these monsters were?

And Tani's mother, Friedel, also issued a stern warning, her tone slightly panicked and urgent: "Everyone be careful, be sure to keep your distance. Even if you don't look directly at the eyes of a top-tier snake-haired Gorgon, you will be affected by the petrification rays. Being able to control such a large swarm of snakes, there must be eighth-order snake-haired Gorgons in there!"

As the only person in the Dawn Squad who had been petrified, how could she not know the danger?

It was the "Snake Sea Calamity" that destroyed the entire Naga clan and dozens of intelligent races near Rainbow Island.

This snake disaster was like a plague, leaving her with unforgettable terrifying memories.

………

Eighth order?

Even Suren frowned when he heard this.

Eighth-order snake-haired Gorgons could almost be said to be creatures at the top of this plane.

But seeing the snake-haired Gorgons, Suren was also a little puzzled.

He knew that the people of the Celestial God Plane cooperated with the snake-haired Gorgons, but wasn't a suspected eighth-order snake-haired Gorgon killed by Helen, who had completed her trial and transformed into a Medusa, outside the Silver Dragon King's capital, Ekronessa?

What was going on here now?

What was the situation with Medusa Empress Helen and the snake-haired Gorgon clan?

The sea chart marked that the islands with snake-haired Gorgons were about a day's voyage away. Because they were uncertain about the risks, Suren and the others had deliberately detoured around that direction, but they didn't expect to encounter them anyway.

However, thinking about this now was meaningless.

Suren also closed his eyes, using Crow Grandfather's shared vision to look at the dark mass of snakes chasing the Eternal Night.

In the communicator, Mechanical Captain Dora was also issuing dense shelling orders based on the coordinates pointed out by Suren: "The first and second-tier cannons continue to suppress the fire, the third-tier cannons load [Alchemy Fragmentation Bombs] for covering scattering! East by north fifteen degrees, main cannon No. 4 on the deck, fire!"

"Rumble!"

"Rumble!"

The Eternal Night's firepower was fully activated, and various alchemy bombs were poured out as if they didn't cost any money.

This kind of snake tide was also a kind of legion warfare.

The more there were, the less room there was to dodge.

Without even deliberately aiming, when the shells fell, they would inevitably explode in the dark mass of snakes on the sea, creating a sky full of bloody snake segments.

Hundreds of cannons could kill hundreds of thousands of low-level venomous snakes per second.

However, the expression on Suren's face didn't ease up at all.

Through Black Crow's vision, he saw that even with such dense firepower coverage from the Dawn Squad, the number of snakes chasing after them not only didn't decrease, but was increasing.

Moreover, low-level venomous snakes were fine, it was just a matter of quantity. Even if they caught up, it wouldn't be too much of a problem.

What was tricky were the snake-haired Gorgons hidden in the snake swarm.

Even if Suren reported the exact coordinates, the shells were accurately fired.

However, the alchemy shells that could severely damage the eighth order were all petrified in the gray light surrounding the bodies of those snake-haired Gorgons!

"The snake-haired Gorgon's divine-level talent [Petrification Curse] is really unsolvable..."

Suren frowned when he saw this.

This was what he was worried about. There was only one antidote to the petrification curse before, and it had already been used up. If they couldn't solve the petrification problem, they absolutely couldn't engage in close combat with the snake-haired Gorgons.

Moreover, what was tricky was that even now, he didn't understand what the principle of this divine-level "Petrification Curse" was.

If he couldn't understand it, he naturally couldn't find a way to crack it.

The Eternal Night could only fight and retreat.

And as they fought, Tani issued another warning, "A large number of monsters have also appeared to our southwest!"

Suren looked again, and in the other direction of their retreat, an endless swarm of snakes also appeared. It looked like a premeditated interception.

The Dawn Squad didn't dare to confront them head-on, so they could only change course, avoiding the encirclement.

However, this choice to change course made Suren keenly aware that something was wrong, and he wondered in his heart: "It seems that these snake-haired Gorgons are driving us in a specific direction?"

This was a very common method, whether in legion tactics or in the hunting of magical beasts in the natural world.

Lay an ambush on all sides and leave an opening, driving the prey in a specific direction.

Suren didn't think this was a coincidence.

He immediately notified through the communicator: "Tani, Perception Squad, pay special attention to your perception and see if there is any danger ahead of our route."

The communicator immediately responded, "Yes!"

After a while, the communicator responded, "Mr. Suren, no abnormalities have been found."

Even Tani and his mother's perception methods didn't find anything.

However, this lack of situation made Suren even more cautious.

But those snake-haired Gorgons seemed to be unafraid, because if they didn't escape according to their route, then they would have to face the snake swarm head-on.

In this situation, it could be said that even if a ninth-order came, they would have to die here.

Even the Dawn Squad currently only had one way to escape, teleportation.

But Suren didn't plan to expose the relevant ability of the [Ouroboros Space-Time Ring], this life-saving trump card, unless it was absolutely necessary.

But judging from the current situation, there was probably some deadly danger waiting for them ahead.

For a time, Suren was a little difficult to make a decision, "Could it be that there is something more dangerous than the Snake Sea Calamity ahead?"

He was also a little puzzled in his heart.

Just these snake-haired Gorgons and snake swarms were already the overlords of this sea area.

What could be more powerful than them?

However, not long after putting down the communicator, suddenly, a very strong soul fluctuation appeared in his sea of consciousness.

It seemed that some kind of space secret technique had been used, and it had teleported to a distance of nearly a hundred meters behind the Eternal Night.

"Seventh-order snake-haired Gorgon!"

Suren's expression stiffened.

Could snake-haired Gorgons teleport?

It was likely the means of those mages from the Celestial God Plane.

In the vision shared by Black Crow, as soon as this snake-haired Gorgon teleported over, its head full of snake hair suddenly released a large-scale petrification light towards the Eternal Night.

Although this distance was not enough for the snake-haired Gorgon to petrify those who didn't look directly into its eyes, at the moment the light shone, the entire Eternal Night seemed to have been cast with a "Slow Ray", and its speed immediately slowed down.

However, the Dawn Squad members reacted quickly.

At the moment the snake-haired Gorgon released the petrification light, a frosty sword qi suddenly slashed out. With a "唰" sound, blood splattered everywhere.

The head full of hideous snake hair was thrown into the sky. A seventh-order snake-haired Gorgon had already died.

Perhaps these snake-haired Gorgons knew nothing about human society, and naturally didn't know that there was someone in the Dawn Squad who could kill it with one sword. Getting so close was naturally courting death.

But seeing this, Suren was 100% sure that the purpose of these snake-haired Gorgons was to drive them to the southeast, towards the unknown sea area marked with a "fog pattern" on the sea chart.

………

"We can't continue sailing..."

At this moment, Suren had made a decision in his heart.

His intuition told him that even if he exposed his trump card, he must not continue sailing according to the enemy's plan.

Otherwise, if he dragged it on any longer, he might encounter a more fatal blow than the [Light of Divine Punishment] before.

However, just as he was about to have the crew activate the space alchemy array on the ship and then put the Eternal Night into the small void realm to escape, suddenly, a strange voice came from his sea of consciousness: "There is a sleeping sea monster, Setes, in the sea to your southeast. It will be awakened by the aura of humans... If you go over there, you will definitely die."

Mental communication!

Hearing this, Suren immediately discovered the person who sent the message based on the direction of the mental power conduction.

He held the black umbrella in his hand, and upon perceiving it again, he immediately distinguished the fire of the soul. It was actually the Medusa Empress "Helen", whom he had interacted with before?!

Why was she here?

Why would she remind me?

A myriad of questions popped up in Suren's mind for a moment.

But no matter what the other party's motives were, what Helen said was the same as what he had guessed.

There was a deadly danger in the southeast!