Shrouded Seascape

Chapter 130. Floating Monsters

"There were some black creatures with big heads and taller than two humans floating out of the hole."

The moment Charles heard Lily's report, the word native emerged in his head. He had never expected that there would be space beneath the island and there were even indigenous creatures living within it.

The mice continued squeaking for a few moments before Lily turned her head and started interpreting for her friends.

"Those pirates threw many, many fishes into the hole. Those floating black monsters then chased this thing out of the hole." Lily then paused and pointed at the soft and black ball-shaped object in Charles' hand.

"There are so many of these things inside. So, so many, enough to fill up several ships. Then, some people in tattered clothes will carry them out on iron carts. Those dressed in tattered clothes are probably slaves."

Charles cast a doubtful glance at the dark blue creature in his hands. Could this be the fuel traded between the pirates and the native creatures?

Tobba leaned forward and pointed at the ball-shaped object in Charles' hand. With a cheerful smile, he said, "That's it. Feed it to the ships, and they go super fast!"

Looking at the small hand that continuously grabbed at his finger, Charles still found it rather unbelievable that this thing could be fuel.

"Who cares if it burns or not? Since we got our hands on a finished product, shouldn't we just test it out? Bro, did you bring a lighter?" Richard interrupted and looked at Feuerbach.

Receiving the lighter from Feuerbach, Charles peered at the guard tower in the distance. He carefully turned his back to the tower before lightly flicking the flame across the object.

Whoosh.

Bright flames rapidly spread across the black ball, and it soon turned into a ball of flames.

"No doubt about it; this is definitely the fuel the pirates are using." A hint of excitement appeared on Charles' visage even as he felt the searing pain of the flames burning his palm.

With this information, his mission on the island was complete.

However, things took an unexpected turn. The next second, the ignited spherical creature started to struggle violently and let out an ear-piercing shrill scream.

In the open canyon, the scream echoed far and wide, immediately attracting the attention of the pirates standing guard at the watchtowers. A cacophony of noisy and fuzzy broadcast sounds rang out.

"Who's there?! The rear mountain is out of bounds!"

Immediately after, bright beams of searchlights rapidly swept toward Charles' direction.

Charles quickly snuffed out the burning ball of flame in his hand and led the others into a sprint toward the circular structure behind them. Just when he thought they had escaped the pirates' searchlights, a silly and smug voice sounded from behind him.

"You can't see me~ You can't see me~~" Tobba taunted.

Charles swiftly whipped his head around to see a silly Tobba standing at his original spot under the illumination of a circular light beam. The same cross was plastered to his forehead.

Time seemed to freeze at that very second as everyone collectively turned their gaze toward Tobba. They weren't sure if Tobba's ability worked, but the pirates on the watchtowers seemed rather befuddled.

But just then, one of the searchlights suddenly shifted, and its beam of light landed on Charles.

"Intruders!! Incoming enemies!!"

The steel gates in the distance opened with a loud clunk. Pirates with menacing gazes emerged from within the gates and charged directly at Charles and his group.

"Fuck!!" Charles sprinted out from the light beam's illumination. After quickly discerning the direction, he led the group in a mad dash toward the coastline.

Ratatat!!

A series of gunshots sounded from behind them. But clearly, the pirates' aim was totally off in the darkness. Charles quickened his pace.

Both groups ran at almost the same speed as they raced toward the sea.

Just when they heard the distant sound of waves crashing against the shore, Charles felt a sudden tingle in his scalp. It was his senses warning him of extreme danger. Instinctively, he grabbed Tobba and rolled quickly to the left.

Thud!!

A huge stone club descended from the air and smashed heavily against the ground where they had been. The fragments of stone from the impact flew and struck Charles in the face, leaving a stinging pain.

Ignoring the pain, Charles dragged Tobba and continued their sprint forward.

While he ran, Charles turned his head slightly, and in his peripheral vision, he caught a glimpse of the wielder of the stone pillar.

It was a floating humanoid creature standing close to three meters. It had a translucent air sac above its head that was the size of a round table.

The four limbs attached to its towering figure were swollen, and its strange body was shrouded in a long, black robe. Its facial features seemed to be covered under layers and layers of entwined cobwebs, making it impossible for Charles to make out its expression.

But even without seeing its expression, Charles could clearly feel the creature's hostility toward himself. The Levitating Fiend lifted the stone pillar once more and swung it rapidly toward Charles.

Bang!

The massive stone pillar grazed Charles' clothes before smashing into the ground. The ground cracked, and rock fragments flew in all directions.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Charles aimed his gun at the Levitating Fiend and pulled the trigger in rapid succession. However, when the bullets struck the creature's black robe, it felt as though they had hit against a steel plate as they bounced off with a tinkling sound and landed on the ground.

"Aim at the air sac!" Richard's voice sounded in Charles' head, and Charles rapidly adjusted his aim upward.

Gunshots rang out once more, but this time, the bullets seemed to have struck a slick surface when they hit the air sac. The bullets created a few dents in the air sac before they bounced off and slid down the surface.

The attack was ineffective.

"What the fuck are these guys made of? Bullets can't even pierce through them!!"

Charles had no time to pay attention to Richard because the massive stone pillar was swinging toward him again with an accompanying howl.

Gritting his teeth, he folded his incredibly flexible body at a ninety-degree angle and dodged the attack.

Taking advantage of the moment when the stone pillar just landed, Charles pressed his prosthetic limb against the pillar for support.

With all this strength, his muscles tensed up, and he flipped from the bottom of the pillar to the top of the pillar.

His legs propelled him forward with a burst of speed as he ascended the stone pillar. His target? The head of the Levitating Fiend.

Whirr—

The chainsaw in his left arm was instantly activated. Before the Levitating Fiend could retaliate, Charles swung his prosthetic arm across its neck. Bone fragments and transparent fluids splattered haphazardly into the air.

With a loud crack, the chainsaw severed through the giant head of the Levitating Fiend.

As a hissing sound of air escaping came from the severed neck of the floating creature, the leaking air sac carried the head of the Levitating Fiend upward before swiftly disappearing into the air.

Using the falling corpse as a support, Charles kicked off of it and performed a series of rolls to land steadily on the ground.

At this point, he couldn't ponder over the bizarre physical structure of the creature because he saw more of those black Levitating Fiends flying toward them with colossal stone pillars in their hands.

Dozens of three-meter tall black-robed Levitating Fiends were quickly drifting across the air toward them. It felt as though they were a group of Grim Reapers coming to claim lives.

Charles knew that if they continued to flee, the creatures would soon catch up with them as these monsters were much faster.

Charles took out the Bat Mirror and grazed his right hand over the chainsaw of this prosthetic limb before smearing the blood onto the mirror.

"Run. I'll hold them off and catch up later!" Charles instructed his companions in the distance as his body started to transform.

The next moment, a giant bat spanning over five meters soared into the sky and charged toward the monsters.