Eerie Waves

The Silver Dawn moved. Its billowing sails drove it forward with difficulty through the dim-colored sea. Behind it surged a foul-smelling black tide. Before nature's mighty power, the man-made vessel seemed incomparably frail and small, as though the next wave might capsize it. Yet the mortals on deck fought desperately with cannon fire, guns, and even rusted scimitars, allowing the Silver Dawn to endure this grueling moment. Amid the endless flashes of gunfire and cannon blasts, a brilliant purple and a dazzling gold were the most eye-catching colors.

"Hey! Monster! Take this! Arcane Shot! Double Strike! Ultimate Flash!!"

Ezreal shouted all sorts of flashy move names. In reality, his attacks consisted only of energy bullets, energy bullets, and more energy bullets. At most, he mixed in an occasional Arcane Shift. But compared to the gunpowder weapons wielded by the other mortals, magic was still extraordinarily efficient. His Arcane Energy Bullets had already eliminated at least a double-digit number of monsters. On the other side, Ling Ying's fighting was far more concise. She made no unnecessary movements, yet none of the monsters that climbed onto the deck could withstand her simple sword strikes. The Doran's Blade burning with Void Flames seemed to raise the temperature around it, leaving the sailors wide-eyed and making them keep as far away as possible.

Ling Ying glanced over the sea. The waters were still packed with dense Black Tide creatures, but with the wind favoring their voyage, the Silver Dawn had begun to gradually widen the distance between itself and the Black Tide monsters. If the gusts continued, the ship might have a chance to escape the monsters' clutches.

"Whoosh!"

A flash of light passed, and Ezreal appeared beside Ling Ying. He cast a somewhat apprehensive glance at the sword in her hand before finally stepping forward and speaking.

"Miss, your swordsmanship is as breathtaking as your beauty."

"It's merely some mediocre swordsmanship."

Ling Ying turned around, her gaze sweeping over Ezreal.

"Also, there's no need to add all those descriptions when talking to me. It's rather strange. Do all Piltover people like talking that way?"

"Uh... not all of them... Honestly, I don't usually talk like that either."

Ezreal scratched his head.

"Well, generally speaking, one should be as courteous as possible when meeting a lady for the first time. It leaves a better impression."

"You've already left a deep enough impression on me, Mr. Ezreal."

"Uh... is that so... Wait? You know my name? How?"

There was obvious surprise in Ezreal's voice.

"Ah, yes. As for why... perhaps it's because you're famous? Or perhaps it's a girl's intuition. Who knows?"

"Famous?"

Ezreal shook his head helplessly.

"Those writers in Piltover do love exaggerating my adventure stories and spreading them all over the city. And somehow, the citizens really like those messy stories."

"Ah, I see. Most people never get the chance to experience such things themselves, so naturally, they hope the protagonist exploring in their stead is a little more extraordinary."

Ling Ying gave him a gentle smile, then extended her right hand.

"Shall we get acquainted, Mr. Ezreal? Lilia Lance. Just call me Lilia."

"Ah, ah, the pleasure is all mine, Miss Lilia..."

Ezreal hurriedly reached out to return Ling Ying's gesture, but his movement froze halfway. A strange look appeared on his face.

"My apologies, Miss Lilia. Please wait a moment..."

As he spoke, Ezreal pulled open the zipper of his leather jacket and took a pendant-like object from an inner pocket. Its chain was made of pure silver. Its main body was a translucent purple crystal—or rather, a crystal fragment. One edge was distinctly irregular, bearing none of the marks one would expect from artificial polishing. Of course, none of that mattered. Most importantly, it intermittently flashed with purple light, while vein-like patterns resembling energy channels continuously flowed across its uneven surface.

"This..."

Ezreal's attention had clearly been completely drawn by the pendant's abnormality. His parents had given it to him before setting out on an expedition to Shurima when he was young. After they disappeared, he had always kept the pendant close to him. Over the years, he had traveled far and wide without ever discovering anything unusual about it—until today.

Ling Ying naturally noticed the anomaly in Ezreal's pendant as well. She stared at its glow, then seemed to think of something. From her Storage Bag, she took out the Void Crystal that had troubled her for so long. The two of them looked at the crystals of different sizes, which seemed to resonate with one another as they emitted identical streams of energy.

"This..."

Stunned speechless, Ezreal looked at the crystals, then at Ling Ying. Just as he was about to say something, the ship beneath their feet suddenly shook violently. Many sailors busy on deck either lost their footing and fell or slammed into cannons and railings, left utterly disoriented. Ezreal also lost his balance and landed hard on the deck. Then, with a strange cry, he slid across the wet deck in an unbelievably smooth posture toward the

stern.

"Damn it! It's a Narwhal! Straight ahead!!"

Amid the chaos, hardly anyone heard the navigator's voice from the crow's nest, but most people saw the enormous figure moving across the sea. The portion exposed above the water alone was dozens of meters long. Compared to it, the surrounding Black Tide monsters looked like nothing more than insignificant minnows.

"Quick! Open fire! Don't let that thing get close!"

The captain casually wiped away the blood on his forehead, where he had just struck the helm, with his sleeve. He shouted himself hoarse as he directed the sailors. He knew that if an impact of that magnitude happened a few more times, this ship would surely be doomed to sink.

However, although the cannons fired, their fire density was only half of what it had been before. Quite a few men had yet to recover from the previous collision, and several gun positions had only just begun frantically preparing to fire.

"Damn it, hurry up."

The captain fretted inwardly, but the navigator's next shout from overhead made his heart turn cold.

"It's coming! It's charging at us!!"

With a shriek that pierced their eardrums, the Whale Monster charged like a black knight racing alone through the world, its several-meter-long horn striking the side of the ship with overwhelming force. Everyone aboard the Silver Dawn was lifted slightly off their feet as though riding a roller coaster, then thrown into a tangled heap across the deck. Not a single cannon position could continue operating after that blow. The smaller monsters that had previously been held back by the ship's cannon fire seized the chance to swarm onto the hull once more.

"Ahhh!"

Ezreal, who had only just gotten back on his feet after sliding, was sent headfirst over the railing by the impact and fell off the ship. Fortunately, he grabbed hold of a rope along the hull in time, avoiding an elaborate diving performance. He turned to look at the Narwhal swaggering on the sea, and anger immediately surged through him.

"You bastard! Die!"

Ezreal shouted. Light energy surged from his bracer, and a bowstring formed from particles of light stretched open. A Crescent Energy Wave roared forth, crushing the monsters in its path into pulp before slicing past the Whale Monster with unstoppable force and shearing off one of its dorsal fins. The Whale Monster let out a pained howl, its broad tail thrashing wildly with crackling slaps. Who knew how many Black Tide monsters beside it suffered misfortune as a result.

"Ha! Now that's real skill!"

Ezreal curled his lips smugly and whistled. As he used both hands and feet to climb back onto the deck along the rope, he immediately heard the sailors erupt into startled cries.

"Ah, it's nothing. Don't worry about it."

Ezreal brushed his hair in what he thought was a handsome manner, only to awkwardly realize that the cries did not seem to be directed at him. He followed everyone's gazes in confusion. Then he saw a familiar figure leap from the deck before everyone's eyes, falling straight toward the Whale Monster at sea.

"Miss Lilia!?"

Ezreal nearly dropped his jaw. His impression of Ling Ying instantly boiled down to one phrase: courting death.

It wasn't just Ezreal. Everyone on the deck thought the same, even though they had just watched Ling Ying sweep away the monsters on the deck with devastating ease. Even if the Whale Monster had been weakened somewhat, it was still a colossal beast with strength far beyond humanity's reach. Yet Ling Ying alone did not think so. Ezreal's attack had merely made that thing suffer a little, but it was not enough. If the Silver Dawn was to escape alive, this Whale Monster had to be slain!

As she fell through the air, Ling Ying abruptly twisted her body, dodging the slime attacks of the smaller Black Tide creatures. The Purple Flame on the blade of her straight-thrusting sword suddenly erupted and expanded, enveloping even Ling Ying herself within the phantom image of an enormous blaze. Like a spear piercing through the stars, she descended and struck the Whale Monster's round head with perfect accuracy.

First came a blinding flash, followed by an earth-shaking explosion, mixed with the Whale Monster's roars and wails of pain. The people on the deck watched in astonishment as nearly half the Whale Monster's head was sliced away, while the front half of its body was riddled with holes. Great quantities of black sludge gushed from its wounds, yet even so, the creature had not completely died. It roared as it rolled through the waves, crushing who knew how many smaller monsters beneath its enormous body. Ling Ying, who had created this spectacle, stood atop the Silver Dawn's dangling iron anchor, silently watching the Whale Monster's death throes.

Molten Flame Spear—if she remembered correctly, that should have been the name of the sword technique. Yes, she could not be mistaken. Ling Ying herself had nearly died beneath that very technique.

"Graaaooo..."

The Whale Monster's movements gradually slowed. At last, its mountain-like body could no longer move, and it could only float on the water, barely clinging to life. At that moment, the Black Tide monsters collectively turned and climbed onto the Whale Monster's body, tearing into it with huge bites. The sight of them devouring their own kind made Ling Ying feel nauseated. But it was actually a good thing. The whale's enormous corpse should be able to delay the Black Tide creatures for quite a while, and the ship ought to be able to put a considerable distance between them during that time. That was what Ling Ying thought, but reality proved that plans never went smoothly. In an instant, the weather between sea and sky changed drastically. The wind that had favored their voyage suddenly shifted. An enormous Water Dragon descended from the black clouds, drawing countless tons of seawater into the air and scattering the monsters in the tide in every direction. Black Tide monsters were continuously flung onto the deck of the Silver Dawn.

This time, Ling Ying did not step in to help. She stared intently at the hollow vortex formed on the sea by the tornado. The vortex kept expanding, soon surpassing the Water Dragon in size. Then, an enormous Black Tentacle, as though capable of propping up heaven and earth, extended from the vortex. Even every densely packed sucker on that tentacle was incomparably huge.

The tentacle swayed about within the vortex for a moment before suddenly slamming down toward where Ling Ying stood.

"!"

Ling Ying's heart jolted, and she hurriedly leaped away from the anchor. Seconds later, the tentacle's main body sent monstrous waves exploding across the sea, while its tip smashed directly into the Silver Dawn, pulverizing the bow. The silver eagle figurehead flew through the air in a half arc, only to finally fall into the sea with "broken wings."

"What the hell is that?"

Still in midair, Ling Ying looked at the tentacle stirring up the sea with lingering fear. At the same time, she could not help lamenting that there had to be a limit to how ill-fated a journey could be. How could she run into something this huge just by taking a boat? Judging from that tentacle, could an Ancient God be hiding beneath the water?

As she pondered, gravity pulled Ling Ying toward the sea. She did not dare land on the ship again, lest the Silver Dawn take another tentacle lash because of her. She spotted a monster corpse floating on the surface. Its round belly looked like a perfect foothold. Yet just as her toes touched down, the corpse suddenly burst open down the middle. A strangely shaped sea anemone shot upward, and the spiral mouthpart at the center of its body opened, immediately swallowing half of Ling Ying's lower leg. Then the serrated teeth lining its mouth twisted, sending flesh and blood flying—Ling Ying instantly lost all sensation in her left leg. Her balance gone, she toppled to one side. And she had already caught sight of more sea anemones lurking beneath the water, ready to strike.

"If I fall now, I'm finished!"

With only that thought left in her mind, Ling Ying gritted her teeth as the Doran's Blade in her hand suddenly blazed brightly.

"Boom!"

A Flame Burst detonated the sea anemones at nearly point-blank range, but it also injured Ling Ying badly. The violent blast threw her flying. And without her left lower leg, Ling Ying could finally no longer keep her footing. With a splash, she fell into the sea.

"Glub glub glub..."

Black seawater washed over her face, carrying a stench so foul it nearly suffocated Ling Ying. She tried to struggle, only to discover that countless fine tentacles had spread in from all directions at some unknown point and bound her tightly. Damn it, had this seawater dulled her senses? Ling Ying felt as though her body weighed a thousand pounds. The Void Flames on her sword flickered weakly, and her consciousness gradually blurred. In her haze, she felt herself being dragged toward an abyssal maw like a black hole. Countless black-and-white undead brushed past her—some humanoid, others bizarre creatures of every imaginable kind. They drifted and wandered, murmuring the same words in low voices.

"Embrace the shadows, or await annihilation..."