Skeleton Army

The skeletons still surrounded us after dawn. We spent all of yesterday in a state of tension, and by today, the most severe problem had emerged:

There was very little food in the turrets, not nearly enough for over a hundred people. Everyone's eyes were fixed on this meager supply.

At this point, someone announced their identity, hoping for preferential treatment: "I am a noble from Demacia, you should give me some!"

"I'm also a noble, all you commoners get out of my way!"

"I am from the House of Dali in Demacia! Get back, or you'll regret it!"

This name clearly intimidated the nobles who had just spoken. No one dared to resist, though their eyes remained fixed on the food.

While the House of Dali was far more noble than them, it wasn't enough to make them give up their lives. The honor they had accumulated over time crumbled in that moment.

Witte had five guards with him, armed with finely crafted Demacian weapons, but they didn't dare to act rashly. Moreover, there were about twenty burly crew members present. Witte began to try and win me over:

"Brave Ionian, you've met Lady Fiora and must know her reputation. Now I tell you, I am from the House of Dali, as renowned as the Laurent Family. My father is Great General Dali, who leads Demacia's northern legions, and my wife is Luxanna of the House of Lightshield. Help me, and you will live in glory forever!"

Witte was Lux's husband!

The last time we met at the Hall of Valor in Demacia, Fiora had called her Madame Dali. It seemed she had married Witte.

Lux had grieved for a long time over my death. If Witte were to die here as well, it would undoubtedly cause her even more pain. Thus, I chose to help him against everyone's objections, securing a lot of food.

The captain saw this and didn't stop me. He knew that if he led the people to oppose me at this moment, everyone would die here.

Witte was overjoyed, clearly unaware that he was benefiting from Lux's connection. He thought I was swayed by his power and even rewarded me with a piece of bread and a jug of wine.

The others looked at me with extreme hostility, as if they had already forgotten I was the one who saved them. Then again, dying here wouldn't exactly count as being saved.

"Perhaps you should be careful when you sleep tonight," Poppy reminded me.

"It doesn't matter. If they think killing me will save them, then let them."

Lying on the roof that night, I kept thinking about how to escape. I took a bite of the bread in my hand, and it tasted fishy.

Three difficult days passed. The only food left in the entire turret was in Witte's hands. Everyone else was starving, and their expressions suggested they might resort to snatching the food at any moment.

The captain didn't want to see the remaining people descend into infighting and approached me: "I have a way we might escape, but..."

"You look troubled. Does this method involve sacrificing many people?"

"Not many, possibly everyone. I want to detonate this ship! There are enough explosives here. Since we're all going to die anyway, we might as well take these monsters down with us!"

"Do we all have to die with them?"

"We can jump from the turrets into the sea. We don't know what's outside the thick fog. Whether we live or die is in God's hands."

"It seems that's the only way."

I agreed with the captain. Otherwise, if this continued, everyone would eventually turn on each other. When we announced this plan to the people, everyone, except for Witte who still had some food, agreed.

We piled the explosives together and gathered on the roof. I held the torch:

"I'll count to three, and we all jump! Three... Two... One!"

Just moments before, some people were still clinging to the railings, unwilling to let go. The instant I lit the fuse, everyone jumped without hesitation.

The ship exploded the moment I hit the water. The intense shockwave nearly knocked me unconscious. I didn't know how the others fared. Then again, even dying in this explosion would be better than dying from infighting or fear.

There were no monsters in the water, only the unbearably cold sea. I recovered for a moment and quickly swam upwards, carefully poking my head out of the water. The fog had dissipated.

The sea surface was a mess, littered with ship debris and various objects, but there wasn't a single skeleton in sight, as if they had never existed.

I found a relatively large piece of wood to cling to and looked around for survivors. Soon, I found the captain amidst a pile of dead bodies.

I didn't think he was still alive. Even strong young men couldn't withstand the impact of the explosion, let alone an old man like him. But a cough jolted me, and I hurried over to check.

→

This old man in sailor's clothes was truly resilient. He had survived this disaster. I quickly pulled him onto the wooden board:

"Are you alright?"

"Cough, cough, cough... It nearly killed me. Fortunately, I'm still sturdy."

"There are no other survivors nearby. Let's check over there."

The two of us paddled forward on the wooden board and soon found Witte. This guy was lucky to be alive, though he looked quite shaken.

"It's great that you're still alive."

"I pulled him out," Poppy's head emerged from the water.

We continued searching for survivors. Witte soon couldn't swim anymore and insisted on resting and waiting for rescue. After all, we weren't far from the coast, and the explosion's commotion would easily attract attention.

As expected, not long after, several rescue boats arrived from the shore. These small boats could only carry about ten people each and were light and fast, ideal for rescue operations.

The captain and Witte returned to shore together, shivering from the cold. Poppy and I followed the rescuers to look for other survivors. I felt a bit guilty, as I had deprived them of food when we were on the ship.

By evening, we hadn't found any other survivors. However, it was a relief to find my spear, which was firmly stuck in a piece of the ship's planking.

As night fell and the cold sea breeze made everyone shiver, we returned to the coast.

It was a small village. According to our host, everyone in the village were fishermen who made a living by fishing. They had never heard of any sea demons.

When some people went out to sea during the day, they heard an explosion and notified everyone to come for a rescue. They never expected that only the four of us survivors would remain from the entire ship.

Witt's subordinates all perished. Accustomed to being served, he was always bossy towards me. I didn't argue with him or obey him. Perhaps finding it pointless, he stopped being arrogant after a while.

I asked Witt why he came to this relatively primitive place. He said it was to please Lux, and he had specifically come to search for the legendary "Water of Immortality."

Originally, I just found it strange and asked casually, but I didn't expect him to pour out his troubles to me:

He hadn't been happy in their years of marriage. He had never seen Lux smile, nor had they spoken much. They hadn't even shared a bed.

A few days ago, he accidentally overheard Lux discussing various legends and interesting tales with friends. She seemed particularly interested when the topic of Ionia's Water of Immortality came up, so he came here to search for it, only to nearly die.

"She must still be thinking about that brat from the Laurent Family. She'll be in pain for days every time she returns from worshipping at the Hall of Valor." Witt had a lot of opinions about Leivo, unaware that I was right beside him.

Hearing this, I felt a bit guilty and wanted to help him, and also repay Lux's longing:

"Do you know where the Water of Immortality is?"

"I heard there's an ice spring in Prexian. The source of the ice spring holds the secret to the Water of Immortality. You'd have to ask the locals for specifics, but I've already given up. This place is too dangerous."

"Is your love only this much? No wonder Luxanna has someone else on her mind."

"Of course not! No one loves her more than I do! It's just too difficult for me alone, and... if I die here, how can I continue to love her?"

"Maybe I can help you."

"You can help me! What do you want?"

"Money."

After the shipwreck, I was penniless. Seeing the few gem rings on Witt's fingers, I wanted to extort some money from him, just enough for Poppy and me to get by.

"I don't have any money for you right now... Alright, take this ring. The gems on it would be a considerable sum if converted to gold. I hope you're trustworthy."

Poppy wasn't interested in any of this. She was busy polishing her warhammer, and it was clear the hammer was very important to her.

"Is this the warhammer you're going to give to the great hero?"

"Yes, I call it Oren's Hammer because it was left by my good friend Oren. He was a demon slayer who always helped people eliminate dark magic and was called a great hero by the locals."

"If he was a great hero, why would he give his hammer to someone else?"

"He died a long time ago. We met over three hundred years ago. It's a long story, I'll tell you on the way."

The captain had lost his cruise ship and was getting old. He planned to stay in this seaside village for the rest of his life. Witt, on the other hand, said he was going to find the most well-known passenger ship to return to Demacia; he never wanted to experience something like this again.

And so, we arrived in great numbers, and departed scattered.