After the Disaster

Hecarim pushed himself upright with his halberd. A ghastly wound gaped across his chest.

Soulfire gathered around the wound, trying to repair it, but to little effect. At least, he wouldn't be back to full strength before the battle was over.

His eyes, formed from Soulfire, fixed on Aatrox. But the next moment, it was as if he sensed a summons from far away. He lowered his halberd and slowly backed away.

Aatrox landed nearby, ready to launch an attack. Suddenly, the Black Mist around them thickened. Hecarim's figure grew fainter and fainter, then quickly vanished.

"All life will perish. The shadows draw near..." Those were Hecarim's final words.

"That's it? He's gone?" Ato was a little baffled. "Why'd he run off just because he got hurt? I haven't even started yet..."

Ato looked around, making sure Hecarim had really left.

Then he rested his greatsword on his shoulder and muttered to himself, "Anyway, the jungler Hecarim tried to gank the top-lane Aatrox and failed. He almost got counter-killed, too!"

"Aatrox? I like that name." Aatrox automatically filtered out the parts he couldn't understand.

"I am Darkin now. From now on, you can call me the Vastayan Blade Demon."

Ato: "..."

"Is it over?"

Sarah was still shaken. She couldn't believe the terrifying Centaur Monster had simply retreated like that.

The Black Mist that had shrouded all of Bilgewater—not just the waters around the Siren—had finally dissipated.

The sky cleared, with a few stars still faintly visible. The sun's outline had just appeared over the eastern sea.

"It's over! The Harrowing is over!" A sailor ran onto the deck, cheering.

Ato had told the sailors to stay below deck, but none of them had dared to let their guard down. They had kept a constant watch on the situation outside.

When they saw the Black Mist lift, they could barely contain their excitement and rushed onto the deck to celebrate.

After the Harrowing, everyone aboard the Siren had survived!

Sarah came out of the Captain's Cabin and watched the crew file out, every one of them accounted for. Her nose began to sting.

The Harrowing was always perilous. Though a Centaur Monster the likes of which no one had ever heard of had appeared, that man's arrival had changed everything.

Ato let his greatsword float behind his back again and said to Sarah, "I kept my promise. No one died."

"Thank you." Sarah's voice was weak.

"You need to rest now." Ato patted Sarah on the shoulder.

At his words, a wave of sleepiness hit Sarah, impossible to resist.

From the moment Ato warned them that the Harrowing was coming until it ended, nearly two days had passed without anyone sleeping. On top of that, they had been on edge the whole time. They were exhausted in body and mind.

"You made it through the Harrowing. That's absolutely worth celebrating. The only thing you need to do now is sleep."

Meanwhile, on the other side of Bilgewater, aboard the Dreadnought outside Grayport.

With the Black Mist gone, Gangplank could finally see the state of the entire ship.

The bodies of the crew lay sprawled across the deck. Those who were still alive stared blankly ahead.

They looked at the companions they'd drunk and bragged with just yesterday, now separated from them by life and death. That was the cruelty of the Harrowing.

Illaoi felt much the same.

She couldn't protect everyone. The tentacles she summoned with her divine power were formidable, but she couldn't sustain them for long.

Against the endless tide of the dead, even she struggled to keep up. Several Buhru had also lost their lives.

"You gave your lives to defend the Guardian Deity's honor. May you find eternal peace in Nagakabouros's Divine Realm."

After finishing her prayer, Illaoi rose and looked toward the sky. It was growing brighter by the moment.

The sun rose as it always did.

After spending every day wandering around Bilgeport, Ato felt that the happy days always slipped by with a sigh. Before he knew it, half a month had passed.

Aside from the Harrowing, nothing major had happened in Bilgeport. The only incident was that someone had noticed Ato's movements and reported them to Gangplank, helping him locate Miss Fortune.

After Ato easily dealt with two groups of pursuers, Gangplank became much more cautious. He was wary of the mysterious person who had suddenly appeared aboard Miss Fortune's ship.

The Harrowing had already cost him plenty of men. Continuing to hunt Miss Fortune would only bring more casualties and weaken his control over Bilgeport.

Miss Fortune moved the Siren several times, eventually stopping to rest in the waters near Fleet Street.

Fleet Street wasn't as busy as the Slaughter Docks, but it was still one of Bilgeport's major trading hubs.

When First Mate Raven returned to the ship after going ashore for supplies, he brought Sarah a piece of news.

"Lots of people have noticed him, because of his appearance... He's as unforgettable as Mr. Ato."

"Oh? What does he look like?" Sarah asked curiously.

"His skin is purple, and he's covered in magical runes we couldn't make sense of. He carries a huge scroll on his back, and he has a long beard."

"Oh, and he's bald!" Raven added.

"Bald?" Sarah found the description familiar. Where had she heard of someone like that?

He was the person Mr. Ato was looking for! Sarah realized, then hurriedly asked, "Where is he now? You didn't lose track of him, did you?"

"Of course not. In fact, he's been staying at the Nautilus Tavern on Fleet Street. You know, it's one of the places where people post bounty jobs and pass along all sorts of information."

"He came in and sat at the bar. In a very quiet voice, he asked who the best bounty hunter in Bilgewater was."

"Before I could say anything, everyone else had already told him your name, Captain."

"I sent someone to speak with him privately. He said he had a job for you, Captain, and that money was no object."

"What kind of job?" From what Ato had told her, Sarah knew the person Raven described was probably a powerful mage.

A mage's job was rarely simple. It often came with unknown risks.

"He wants to hire a ship that won't be noticed, to take him secretly to Ionia in the east."

"That's... all?" A thousand questions sprang into Sarah's mind.

The Purple-skinned Bald Mage had indeed crossed paths with her, but could the job really be that simple if he was someone Ato considered important?

It was just transporting one person. Staying discreet wasn't difficult.

As the most famous bounty hunter in Bilgeport, Sarah had been able to keep even Gangplank at bay. That was proof enough that she knew how to stay hidden.

When it came to the mage's job, she was already judging its difficulty by Ato's standards...

"Yes. I asked him again and again about the details, but he only kept stressing that it had to be discreet."

"He looked nervous, like he was on guard against something. I did wonder why someone like him would stand out so much walking down the street. But since it seemed personal, I didn't pry."

"Keep him there and don't let him out of your sight. I'll ask Mr. Ato what he thinks."

Sarah gave Raven her instructions, then hurried toward the lower deck.

Ato was passing the time bickering with Aatrox.

When he heard a knock and opened the door, he saw Sarah looking anxious.

After she explained the situation, Ato grinned. "Just as I thought. He's here."