"What a boring story, I almost fell asleep listening to it."
In front of the warehouse, Vane waved the villager in his hand.
After seeing the eyes staring down into the pit, the villagers had already broken down and could only wail incoherently.
Vane frowned and loosened his grip.
"Your Inquisitor,"
Ignoring the screams behind him, Vane turned to Dario and stretched.
"How was my verdict? The evidence was solid, the logic was clear, and the process... well, it was a bit fast, but it was still quite proper, right?"
"..."
Dario remained silent, while Irene was already kneeling on the ground, retching repeatedly.
Vane sighed, walked over to Irene, and patted her back rather gently.
"I told you not to eat those things a long time ago, now you regret it, don't you?"
"Mr. Vane... ugh..."
Irene barely managed to stop feeling nauseous and lifted her head.
"You... knew from the very beginning..."
Of course I don't know.
Irene stared at him in disbelief. Vane shrugged and said something that no one else present understood:
"I really don't know the specifics of what happened. But this is 'Terra'... With a name like that, it can't be a good place, can it?"
Vane turned to Dario, a smirk playing on his lips.
"Do you remember my question from before, Your Inquisitor?"
Dario did not answer immediately, but closed his eyes.
After a long while, he sighed deeply, and when he opened his eyes again, his gaze had returned to its resolute expression.
"My answer remains the same." Dario gripped the hilt of his sword. "I was prepared for this."
Clang!
Dario gripped the hilt of his sword, the tip touching the ground, and slowly stepped forward.
Seeing this, Irene struggled to her feet, staggered a step, and spread her arms to shield Vane.
"Teacher! Mr. Vane ... he may have used extreme methods, but he did it to reveal the truth! We cannot..."
"Irene." Dario didn't stop.
"I never said that the person who needs to be judged tonight is him."
Dario stopped beside the two, facing the group of distraught villagers.
He turned his head slightly to look at the inscrutable Vampire behind the girl.
"The Inquisitor's sword is always pointed at evil, no matter how pitiful or helpless the evil may appear."
The villagers were completely panicked.
Some people were hysterically cursing and hurling insults at the Inquisitor and the deep sea;
Some people wept uncontrollably, kowtowing and begging for mercy, recounting their hunger and coercion;
Some people's eyes darted around, trying to find a last chance or a hidden weapon...
But all of this seemed pale and futile in the face of the shocking devastation inside the warehouse.
Under the moonlight, the Inquisitor's staff and sword began to gleam with a cold and chilling light.
"Wait."
Dario stopped in his tracks, his gaze falling on Vane.
Vane offered no explanation, but instead carried the menacingly shaped blood scythe and strode toward the warehouse door.
"I have a better suggestion."
He drew out his words, his bloodshot eyes sweeping over the desperate eyes in the pit.
"It's definitely much more interesting than your boring process!"
Vane swung his blood scythe, and the suspended bodies plummeted into the pit below, eliciting a chorus of suppressed groans.
"Mr. Vane! What are you doing?!" Irene exclaimed in surprise.
Vane didn't answer, staring at the writhing shadows below.
Amidst the shocked gazes of the crowd, he reversed his hand and plunged the tip of the Blood Scythe into his chest.
"Mr. Vane!!"
"Don't come any closer!"
Vane's face contorted, stopping Irene from rushing forward.
Ouch--! That fucking hurts!
Blood gushed from the wound on his chest, splashing into the dark pit below.
"Don't waste my blood, get up!"
Vane gritted his teeth, his voice hoarse from the pain.
"Settle your scores! Seek revenge! Seek redress for your grievances! Your creditors... are right outside!"
"..."xN
Beneath his dark, sea-blue skin, the crimson veins shone like a spiderweb.
The withered tentacles and mutated limbs began to swell, and inhuman roars came from the bottom of the pit.
A sharp claw gripped the iron bars of the cage, bending and tearing the metal with a sickening sound.
One, two, three... more and more figures, swaying and struggling, rose from the broken cage.
The world fell silent for a moment.
Immediately afterwards, a piercing roar, a mixture of pain, anger, and ecstasy, erupted from the pit like a tsunami!
Irene covered her ears in pain, her face turning deathly pale.
The ground began to shake. Claws, tentacles, or limbs of various shapes and sizes gripped the edge of the pit.
The moonlight illuminated their terrifying figures and the burning hatred in their eyes.
Trembling, Irene instinctively reached for the hilt of her sword.
"Don't move."
Vane's voice came through, and Irene instinctively did as she was told.
"Close your eyes."
Her vision went dark, and a pair of hands gently covered her ears from behind.
"Mr. Vane ..."
"You wouldn't listen to advice the first two times, are you going to do it this time anyway?"
Vane's voice returned to its incoherent form, but strangely, it calmed her tense nerves.
A foul wind howled past her, filling her nostrils with the pungent smell of blood, yet all she could hear was silence.
Irene could feel the ground shaking and could imagine the horrific scene unfolding outside.
She dared not open her eyes and could only stand there stiffly.
Vane shut out the sound and calmly gazed ahead.
The red tide submerged the villagers.
Screams were drowned out by the roars of the monsters, and severed limbs and flesh splattered in the moonlight.
Dario stood silently in the center of that inferno, and the Bloodline Heir instinctively avoided him, venting all their hatred on a particular group of villagers.
Finally... the Inquisitor closed his eyes.
The "cleanup" was soon over.
The red tide shifted, surging into the village to search for every hidden person who had participated in it.
Besides Vane and his two companions, there was one other person still alive at the scene.
The young Aegir, huddled in the shadows of the warehouse corner, Miracle escaped attack.
"You're not dead."
Vane raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised, yet also somewhat expectant.
"That's true... your body is too weak to force yourself to rob others."
"Given your identity Aegir, I doubt anyone truly trusts you."
"If you can't abduct anyone, you naturally won't be recognized by those 'creditors,' nor will they hate you..."
Vane chuckled softly, his voice exceptionally clear in the night.
"How ironic that the 'cleanest' one is actually you, the original... 'guide'."
Vane scratched his head, his brow furrowing.
"This is giving me a headache... Why can't you be any more thoroughly evil?"
Vane grabbed the boy by the collar, lifted him off the ground, and forced him to look at him at eye level.
"Fine... I'll give you a chance."
With a casual slash, the boy's clothes tore open at the chest, revealing a sea-blue, scale-like pattern beneath.
The signs of assimilation, though not deep, have already taken root.
"Since you come from the Church of the Deep, you should know that among your bunch of bishops who anthropomorphize each other, there's a particularly freak, right?"
As Vane spoke, he extended his index finger and pressed it against that patch of sea-blue skin.
"Cicero. Among that group of anthropomorphic people who either want to become fish or turn the whole world into fish... he was half an anomaly."
Vane's bloodshot eyes reflected the boy's distorted face.
"Others study how to be more like Seaborn, but he studies how to be a 'better person'."
A fingertip pierced the skin, and crimson blood slowly seeped into the boy's body.
The azure sea was stained crimson with blood, and a searing pain, a mixture of icy cold and burning heat, instantly engulfed the boy's entire body.
"He likes to give people in dire straits a piece of Seaborn's flesh and blood; whether they eat it or not is entirely up to them."
"Then I'll give you a choice too."
Vane stared at the boy's face, contorted in pain, and said, slowly and deliberately:
"If you survive the subsequent assimilation, you will live."
The boy was no longer able to think clearly, and nodded instinctively.
Vane grinned and increased the output of blood.
"Ahh--!"
The boy fell to the ground, his body began to deform, but he would revert back to his original form amidst screams, constantly switching between "human form" and "monster".
"Don't look at me like that, Dario."
Vane felt the intense scrutiny from behind and turned to meet Dario's gaze.
"Isn't it a little too late to stop me now?"
The staff-sword remained in Dario's hand, but it was not pointed at Vane.
After a long silence, he asked the question that had been lingering in his mind:
Why do you know so much about the Church of the Deep?
Dario's gaze swept over the crimson lines spreading across the boy's body.
"And this power that can cover the deep sea... who exactly are you...?"
"Ahh--!"
The boy's roar interrupted their conversation.
His body was growing towards a strange form, somewhere between animal and plant—
The fleshy growths resemble flower petals, while slender, flexible structures resembling vines or tentacles extend from the ends of the limbs.
This is a relatively rare "flower"-shaped variant feature among the [Migration] Seaborn.
(Deep within the consciousness of a teenager)
It hurts... it hurts so much... my skin is going to split open...
[Give up... give up the resistance...]
No! I want to live! No matter how painful it is! I want to live!
But... why should we live?
I don't care! I just want to live! No matter how ugly I become!
But we... have nothing left...
The boy raised his contorted face and met Vane's calm, bloodshot eyes.
In those crimson eyes, I clearly saw my own terrifying reflection.
My mother... was taken away.
Father... returned to the We Many.
The village... this last, filthy refuge, was also destroyed.
Even now, is this very identity of being a "person"... about to be lost?
My consciousness began to blur, and the light and shadow before my eyes gradually faded, leaving only a reassuring pure white.
After an unknown amount of time, it seemed as if a gentle voice was calling out.
He instinctively followed the call.
In the pure white, a door appeared, and warm light shone through the crack in the door.
Push open the door.
As the halo faded, a scene so familiar it sent shivers down my spine unfolded before me.
That home, the warmest and cleanest in my memory, untouched by any shadows.
"Where did you go to play again? Never mind, come wash your hands, it's time to eat."
The mother, wearing an apron, peeked out from the kitchen with a doting smile on her face.
"Haha, look at you covered in sand! Went treasure hunting on the beach again? Did you find anything good this time?"
The father sat at the dining table, laughing heartily, and patted the chair next to him.
"..."
The father's smile faded, his brow furrowed, and his voice carried a hint of anger:
Why are you crying? Who bullied you?!
His mother quickly came over, squatted down, and gently wiped his face with her apron.
"What's wrong? What happened?"
The faces of the two people before him were blurred. The boy knew perfectly well that everything before him was an illusion.
But...
[Aren't you going to struggle anymore?]
No...
[Don't you want to live anymore?]
No...
[But you're about to succeed.]
In reality, the boy's body, which was transforming into a flower, suddenly stopped, and Vane's eyebrows twitched slightly.
No...
In the illusion, the boy raised his tear-blurred face and gave his "parents" a smile that was even uglier than crying, as he walked step by step toward the false light.
I'm already home...
"Nice view, isn't it?"
On the coast, on a steep cliff.
Vane sat next to Dario, and together they looked at the view below the sea cliffs.
One by one, the Bloodline Heir headed towards the sea, facing the rising sun as they moved away from the shore.
"I only feel sorrow..."
Vane glanced at the other man in surprise, then patted Dario on the shoulder and said seriously.
"I misunderstood you, Olige! So you do have feelings after all!"
Dario ignored Vane and silently turned his gaze to the flower-shaped Bloodline Heir behind Vane.
Cizera, named by Vane, is a creation born from the assimilation of the young Aegir.
"No, its abilities are quite good."
Vane patted the petals of the Bloodline Heir, Cizera trembled gently, emitting a tranquil song.
Dario slowly closed his eyes, his furrowed brows relaxing as the song played.
In a daze, he was transported back many years, hearing familiar and hearty laughter and scolding...
Those faces that had long since vanished on the long road to trial were now beckoning to him vividly, as if the parting had never happened.
He stood there, gazing at them from afar, a smile unconsciously playing on his lips.
That smile carried so much weight that it appeared both gentle and sorrowful.
The voices of my friends in the phantom gradually faded, like the receding tide.
Dario opened his eyes; the singing had stopped.
"Pretty good, isn't that a good ability?"
Vane put his arm around Dario's shoulder, his tone teasing.
"Compared to the mental pollution that drives people crazy by other 'Seaborn' (a term referring to a specific type of online influencer), isn't this kind of tailor-made dream even more terrifying?"
Dario did not deny it, but calmly analyzed the situation:
"It unearths and amplifies the deepest desires or regrets of the heart, offering perfect solace. To indulge in it is to abandon the struggle of reality and willingly Sacrifice one's soul and body together."
He paused, then added,
"Don't use that ability on that child; she can't handle it."
Vane pursed his lips and looked down at the beach. Irene was standing there, silently watching the Bloodline Heir depart.
"I know without you saying it."
Vane looked at Dario again, his eyes filled with inquiry.
"And you? Don't you want to dream a little longer? You were just now..." His voice lowered.
"That smile was so genuine."
Dario did not answer this overly personal question and closed his eyes again.
Is it worth it?
Vane's voice came again, this time less playful and more serious.
"To transform myself into a sophisticated machine for the sake of this already shattered nation?"
"..."
At the horizon, the first rays of dawn pierced the deep blue night.
A golden light leaped out and landed on Dario's tightly closed eyes.
Dario opened his eyes.
Those eyes, illuminated by the morning light, held no trace of lingering dreaminess, only an unwavering resolve.
"Worth."
He stood up. The sea breeze rushed along the wrinkles on his face to both sides, stirring his pale, foamy hair.
He faced the rising sun, seemingly becoming one with the sea cliffs.
Vane stood up as well, and together they looked at the flames that were gradually turning the sky red.
Do you know how precious that opportunity was?
"On this Daichi of profound suffering, countless people would be willing to abandon everything—dignity, future, even their real lives—just for a beautiful dream from which they would never awaken."
"Iberia has been indulging in its 'dream' for far too long."
Dario turned to Vane, the morning light illuminating half of his face while the other half remained in shadow.
Like the country he dedicated his life to protecting, light and darkness coexisted.
"The Golden Age has passed. The magnificent fleet has sunk to the bottom of the sea, and the grand lighthouse is now just ruins."
"But Iberia did not perish. Saint Carmen, and countless pioneers like him, had already rebuilt their homes from the ruins with their own hands and remeasured this scarred Daichi with their own feet."
"Iberia is no longer just the name of the royal family; it has become part of every single person in this country."
"Including the villagers as well?"
Vane raised an eyebrow, pointing to the village behind him, now reduced to ruins.
"Include."
Dario answered without the slightest hesitation.
"Whether he is a hero we can be proud of or a sinner despised... they are all Iberia."
"To acknowledge them, to judge them, to awaken them... that is the purpose of the Inquisitor."
The rising sun fully emerged from the sea, showering the world with its golden rays.
The Inquisitor stood on the dividing line between light and darkness, with the long night and the tragedy that had just ended behind him, and the boundless sea and the rising dawn before him.
Vane looked back silently, then suddenly disappeared, reappearing with a bottle of wine in his hand.
"Want a drink? Cizera's dream is too perfect, but you can surely handle an alcoholic dream, right?"
Dario didn't respond, Vane poured half the drink into a new bottle and handed it to him.
"Don't tell me you're worried I'll poison him."
Dario accepted the glass, and the two clinked glasses in the morning sun.
"The Iberia should thank you."
Vane suddenly spoke up, tilting his head back to pour the drink.
"Ha... I have a very bad impression of this country, but I have a good impression of you."
Vane stared at Dario until Dario, like him, was forced to drink, before turning his gaze away.
"So... I'm willing to give this country another chance."
"Should I say thank you?"
Dario's voice, under the influence of alcohol, was no longer so serious, Vane laughed exaggeratedly.
"Of course, or do you think I'm lying?"
"Ahem... I hope you're lying."
Ursus vodka was too strong for the Iberia, but Dario still finished it.
"Would you like to join the Inquisition? I can be your recommender."
"Your intentions aren't pure, Daliyuan~ Shall you punish yourself with a drink?"
Another bottle was handed to him, Dario silently accepted it, seeing Vane's smiling face.
"I don't want to be an Inquisitor. I'd rather start all over again than wake up those sleeping people one by one!"
Dario downed his drink again, ignoring the stinging pain in his throat, and hoarsely said:
"Arrogant fool... do you aspire to be the king of Iberia?"
"Haha--If that's the case, I'll definitely make you my minister!"
Vane burst into loud laughter, which carried below and drew the attention of the Bloodline Heirs.
They stared directly at their "savior," Vane, who held the bottle high in the rising sun.
"Homage to Iberia!"
Dario also raised his head and shouted.
"Homage to Iberia!"
Their voices carried far away on the sea breeze.
Before Vane could even praise the other man's boldness, Dario stumbled forward and fell flat on his face.
Vane leaped down, grabbed him, and laughed loudly.
"Haha--this Daliyuan is so lame..."
"Mr. Vane! What did you give the teacher to drink!?"
"Hey~ it's just a little bit of wine~"
Dario fell asleep amidst their bickering, as if he were about to fall asleep forever.
But it's okay, someone will wake him up.
The Golden Age has come to an end.
Iberia...
Refuse to succumb to despair.
Since the author didn't provide an outline, here's a summary of the current plot:
Regarding readers' questions about the progress of Vera's storyline, this will mostly be mentioned briefly, up to the point of her meeting with Theresa.
The boss's side is all about the knightly competition, a perfect opportunity to thoroughly punish the capitalist tycoons of the Commercial Union.
The third brother is naturally responsible for the integration line, and also needs to deal with the Demons line.
For the fourth brother, there's still a lot to do: the Church of the Deep, the still-drifting Stultifera Navis, the Last Knight...
As for the question everyone's most concerned about—when will the four meet?
Once the other three have completed their main storylines, Vera will decide to ask them for help; that will be the true gathering of the Catastrophe.