The Apparition

"I'm still here," White Bone replied. "I'm just exhausted."

But as the Zhiyuan slowed down, the pursuing group did not take the opportunity to close in. Instead, they gradually fell behind-the bishops had paused their pursuit.

"None of the priests who fell into the sea died," White Bone explained. "The bishops are busy rescuing them."

"Should I keep turning?" Su Ming asked. He remembered there was still an archbishop above the clouds.

"No, it's over." White Bone dismissed her scepter and lay on the ground, propping up her head as she watched a dazzling figure pierce the clouds and descend in front of the Zhiyuan.

"Scholar Bay Owl, you interrupted my meal." Stanton flew backward as the sea breeze howled past him.

The archbishop gazed at the languid White Bone before him and spoke in a deep voice. "Tonight's late-night snack was Aolan fried cream pastries, with fresh Flower Creek strawberries for fruit. I had just come to the table, the chef had set them out, and the maid was pouring me hot cocoa with rum."

Stanton angrily thrust out a hand. His immense magic power condensed into a tangible force and pressed down on the Zhiyuan. "I hadn't even had a bite!"

The ship had already slowed to sixteen knots. Although output from the engine room remained normal, the speed indicator began to drop: fifteen, fourteen.

Su Ming felt nothing, not even the slightest pressure. The opposing force field was clearly acting only on the ship.

"If you hurry back, you can still make it," White Bone said to Stanton, her voice listless.

Stanton raised his other hand, but just as he was about to act, an inexplicable stirring appeared out of nowhere.

At some point, the Zhiyuan had left the rain behind.

The clouds remained, and darkness surrounded them. An eerie silence had fallen over everything, and the waves had subsided without anyone noticing. Above the sea, the only sound was the chug, chug of the Zhiyuan's steam engine.

Su Ming had a feeling that the bones beneath his feet had suddenly given off the air of someone so offended they were about to bristle.

Wait, wasn't the deceased's bewildered obsession supposed to be traveling around and quietly admiring the scenery?

Across from them, Stanton also swallowed involuntarily. The deceased's "kind" gaze enveloped him, making him feel as though needles were pricking his back!

The next moment, a preset spell was triggered.

Light flared above the clouds. Su Ming heard nothing at all; he only saw the clouds shattered by an immense force. Some masses of cloud even fell onto the sea, breaking apart on impact and spreading out. They were so enormous that everything seemed to be moving in slow motion.

Stanton, who had been so imperious just a moment ago, was smashed into the sea with a smack the instant that immense force appeared.

Su Ming looked up and, through the gaps in the shattered clouds, saw a gigantic bone dragon radiating a shimmering glow. Bathed in moonlight, it hovered in midair and looked coldly down at them.

It looked exactly like the one Su Ming had seen in the White Bone Mark illusion a few days ago!

So that was Russell, the undead holy magus who had created White Bone!

"How dedicated," the scholar remarked from atop the superstructure, glancing at the bone dragon.

Su Ming's vision suddenly blurred, and he found that the bone dragon had vanished without warning. The sky beneath the moon was empty. If not for the ravaged clouds all around, what had just happened would have seemed like a dream.

What happened next made Su Ming feel as though he were floating in the clouds. He watched Stanton sink deeper and deeper into the sea, watched the Zhiyuan return to normal speed, and watched life return to the ocean as waves once again covered the surrounding waters.

The Zhiyuan continued forward. The temple bishops, who had finally managed to catch up, began fishing Stanton out of the water, and the cluster of black dots in the night sky grew more and more distant until it disappeared from sight.

The clouds began to thin, and moonlight poured through the gaps, dividing the ocean at night into irregular fragments. The Zhiyuan traveled through the mosaic of moonlight.

Was it over?

Su Ming suppressed the dreamlike feeling in his heart. He reduced the ship's speed to fourteen knots, then immediately left the control room and climbed to the top of the superstructure. Looking around, he saw White Bone standing quietly by the railing, facing the sea breeze.

The magical halo that had surrounded her until now was gone.

"Please don't come any closer." Su Ming had just been about to approach when White Bone's voice reached him, though it was very muffled.

"Are you all right?" Su Ming asked worriedly.

"Sorry, I can't maintain a stable form for now. I don't want you to see me like this." White Bone seemed to do something, and her voice became a little more normal, though she still had her back to Su Ming. "I need to sleep for a while, so sorry to leave the rest to you."

"Okay. Thanks for your hard work."

"You too. It was great working with you!"

Su Ming turned around, intending to inspect the engine room to make sure the power unit was running steadily. Suddenly, he caught a whiff of fried pastry that vanished in the sea breeze.

Su Ming looked back and saw an unfolded napkin on the ground. It was empty except for a few pastry crumbs and stains of red fruit juice.

"Uh, Stanton had this on him. I thought it looked strange, so I confiscated it," White Bone explained. "There must have been food in it, but it spilled out during the fight just now."

A burp sounded, and White Bone's voice became a little abnormal again.

Su Ming lamented a little. He had thought he could have something different for a change, but now he could only stick with instant noodles.

He had been eating them for four days already!

"Oh, right, Miss White Bone. We managed to escape this time, so from the temple's point of view, they've kicked an iron plate, right?" Su Ming suddenly asked as he was about to leave.

"Yes. Why?"

"I was just thinking, if they come after us again, what kind of lineup do you think they'll send?"

"...That bastard!" White Bone said through gritted teeth.

According to their earlier conjecture, after they escaped, the Temple of Light would launch a hunt for them in the relevant waters. But Su Ming wasn't sure whether the temple would still be so reckless after the bishops had seen a being like the bone dragon.

After daybreak, Su Ming reduced the ship's speed further, to twelve knots. Every hour, he had to calculate and mark their current position on the nautical chart. Su Ming suddenly realized he lacked a set of navigational positioning instruments, as well as equipment such as an automatic gyroscope that could record their course without relying on satellite positioning.

But he didn't dare connect to Little Spiky Head to get them. After all, the entire steam-powered system here was still running, and it needed to be operated from time to time, with even some minor repairs required. Until White Bone returned, he had to handle all of it alone.

Whenever he had a little spare time, he also needed to take a nap.

Sixteen hours after the battle ended, Su Ming calculated that they had successfully shaken off their pursuers. Even the fastest possible enemy was theoretically more than fifty nautical miles away.

The Wyvern Legion had never appeared from beginning to end. Looking back on it, winged flying beasts of that kind were more heavily affected by storms.

In such harsh conditions, and at night to boot, people could follow orders, but beasts might not. Either they couldn't be deployed, or they would require a lengthy period of preparation.