Chương 165

The 71st Ocean God Temple was basically a giant, flooded basement. Rudra waded through the knee-deep water, casually spinning his heavy black staff. A massive, armored crab scrambled out of the dark, snapping its claws. Rudra didn't even slow down. He just brought the blunt end of Extortion down in a quick, lazy arc. Smack. Blue lightning sparked off the wet stone. The crab froze stiff, and a phantom second strike shattered its shell into harmless blue pixels.

"I really thought this one would be dry," Kratos complained, shaking his wet paws. The half-gold, half-black lion looked totally miserable.

"My fur is going to smell like swamp water for a week."

"Stop whining," Rudra laughed, splashing forward.

"You can take a bath when we get back to Stormbreak." They reached the main altar in less than five minutes. Rudra walked up the stone steps. His boots dripped loudly in the quiet cave. He reached out and grabbed the dusty piece of parchment resting on the pedestal. [You have acquired "Forgotten Skill Fragments" x 2] [The Hidden Quest 'The Legacy of the Submerged God' has been updated!] [Progress: 71 / 113 Temples Cleared] The moment his fingers brushed the stone altar, a sharp, familiar feeling pulled at his chest. [Your title 'Legend of the Destroyed World' is reacting to the ancient environment!] [You are witnessing a fragment of the Lost History.] Rudra's vision instantly went completely white. When the color rushed back, he wasn't standing in the flooded temple anymore. He was standing on a jagged, rocky coastline. The sky above him was a bruised, ugly purple.

A massive, unnatural hurricane was raging just off the coast, spinning violently over the dark ocean. A group of ancient warriors stood on the beach near him. They wore heavy bronze armor and carried thick, rusted spears. They looked exhausted and terrified.

"We can't cross that!" one of the warriors shouted over the screaming wind.

"The storm will tear the boats apart!"

"Look up!" another warrior yelled, pointing a shaking finger at the sky. Rudra followed his finger. The thick, dark clouds above the hurricane suddenly parted. Swimming gracefully through the violent storm were giant serpents. They were absolutely massive. They didn't have wings, but they moved through the air like eels gliding through water. The hurricane winds didn't bother them at all. In fact, the snakes seemed to be playing in the storm, diving in and out of the black clouds.

"The Storm Serpents," the lead warrior whispered in awe.

"They are testing us." Before the vision faded, Rudra noticed something specific. Right beneath the circling serpents, jutting out of the violently crashing waves, was a weirdly shaped island. A massive, black stone peak sat in the middle, curving sharply at the top like a giant, jagged claw. The white light swallowed his vision again. Rudra blinked. He was back in the flooded temple. Kratos was sitting on the altar next to him, chewing on a piece of dried kelp.

"You did that staring thing again," Kratos noted, swallowing loudly.

"Are you okay?" The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Yeah," Rudra said, shaking his head to clear the dizziness.

"I'm fine. Let's go back to the boat." They left the temple and splashed out into the shallow cove. Finn, the elite Siren scout, was waiting on the wooden deck of their boat. Rudra hopped over the railing. He immediately pulled a blank piece of parchment and a charcoal pencil out of his inventory. He leaned against a barrel and quickly sketched the giant, claw-shaped rock he had just seen in his vision. He held the paper out to the Siren.

"Finn. Do you know where this is?" Finn looked at the drawing. The color completely drained from the scout's face. He actually took a step back, gripping the wooden steering wheel like a lifeline.

"My Lord," Finn stammered, his voice tight with fear.

"That is the Serpent's Roar. It is an uncharted island far to the east."

"Great. Do you know the way?" Rudra asked, folding the paper.

"You do not want to go there!" Finn pleaded.

"It is a cursed place. The island is surrounded by a permanent, deadly squall. The waves are like mountains. The wind cuts like glass. Every single merchant ship or pirate ship that has ever drifted too close has been reduced to splinters."

"I'm not a merchant," Rudra said simply.

"Point the boat east, Finn." The Siren scout swallowed hard. He knew better than to argue with the Duke. He turned the wheel, and the small boat shot out of the cove, speeding across the open ocean. They sailed for three hours. The afternoon sun slowly vanished, swallowed by a thick, bruised purple sky. The air grew heavy and cold. The ocean waves started to swell, crashing violently against the sides of the boat. Up ahead, a massive wall of black clouds and screaming wind blocked the horizon.

It looked exactly like the hurricane from Rudra's vision.

"Hold on!" Finn yelled, desperately fighting the steering wheel as the boat tipped over a massive wave. Kratos flattened himself against the wooden deck, digging his claws into the planks.

"I hate boats! I hate water! I hate everything!" Rudra didn't hold on. He just stood up and walked to the very front of the boat. The wind whipped his black trench coat around. The freezing ocean spray hit his face. He looked at the deadly, swirling squall blocking their path. A month ago, he would have just braced himself and hoped his defensive stats kept the boat from flipping over. But today, he had a brand new set of tools. Rudra raised his right hand. He didn't pull out his staff.

He didn't chant a long, complicated spell. Thanks to the [Master of Mana] title and his new class, his mana pool was sitting at an absolutely absurd number. He didn't need to carefully calculate the magic. He just brute-forced it. He tapped into [Mumud's Water Attribute Magic].

"Part," Rudra said quietly. A massive, invisible wave of pure mana erupted from his palm. It slammed directly into the storm. The cost of doing without using a proper spell formula caused the efficiency to be absolutely terrible but fortunately his Absurd Mana points helped him. The ocean instantly reacted. The violently crashing waves directly in front of the boat simply flattened out. The water turned as smooth and calm as a glass mirror.

The screaming wind parted down the middle, forcefully shoved aside by the sheer density of Rudra's magical pressure. A perfectly calm, safe tunnel opened up right through the center of the deadly hurricane. Finn's jaw dropped. The Siren stared at the back of Rudra's coat. The Duke was just standing there with his hand raised, casually holding an entire hurricane apart with his mind.

"Keep steering, Finn," Rudra called over his shoulder.

"Y-Yes, My Lord!" Finn yelled, quickly guiding the boat into the calm tunnel of water. They sailed smoothly through the storm. A few minutes later, they popped out the other side. The sky above the island was still dark, but the wind was gone. Sitting in the middle of the dark ocean was a massive, jagged island. A huge stone peak rose from the center, curving sharply at the top like a giant claw. It matched his vision perfectly. Rudra lowered his hand. He checked his mana bar.

"Barely even made a dent," Rudra grinned. Having a giant mana pool was incredibly fun. The boat bumped gently against a rocky beach. Rudra hopped off, his boots crunching in the dark sand. Kratos scrambled off the boat right behind him, happy to be back on solid ground. Rudra looked up at the sky. Circling the massive claw-shaped peak were dozens of giant serpents. They had bright blue scales that shimmered in the dim light. They swam through the air, diving playfully into the clouds. [Blue Storm Serpent - Lv. 410] [Blue Storm Serpent - Lv. 415]"Big snakes," Kratos noted, tilting his head.

"Can we eat them? They look a little stringy."

"Probably taste like wind and salt," Rudra said.

"But we aren't here to hunt the regular ones." Rudra wanted the boss of the island. He didn't want to waste time climbing every single rock to find the strongest monster. He raised his eyes and scanned the entire island.