Shrouded Seascape

Chapter 814: Fhtagn Covenant

The elders of the Fhtagn Covenant possessed strength far surpassing Charles' imagination, especially when they had ambushed the latter.

The elders' voices sounded as if they were gargling thick phlegm, and a revolting stench began to permeate Charles' figure. His skin and clothes decayed slowly. To make matters worse, every aspect of him was weakening.

The ink-like sea water surged, enveloping the plummeting Charles. The ink-like waters waved something resembling black seaweed, and it seemed that it wanted to devour Charles completely.

These bizarre attacks, coupled with the weapons of pure gold making a beeline for Charles from all directions, pushed him to the brink of doom.

Charles instinctively activated the special ability of his crystallized heart, silencing the cacophony of whispers in his head. The ravings in his head originated from a god, so his crystallized heart was effective against it.

Immediately afterward, Charles left the encirclement using his teleport relic. He successfully teleported away, but the octopus monsters clung to him like glue.

In fact, two elders were teleported away with Charles due to their close proximity to him. When they reappeared somewhere, the elder in front of Charles raised his golden short staff and thrust it toward Charles' chest with all his might.

However, Charles' steel palm caught it in midair.

Meanwhile, the weapon lodged in his neck was still digging into his bone. Clearly, the elder wanted to sever Charles' head from his spine.

The remaining elders were rapidly approaching, and Charles' situation hadn't improved at all, even though he managed to teleport away. It was only a matter of time before he was surrounded once again.

Left with no choice, Charles plunged into the icy cold seawater. Amidst the swirling bubbles, the grotesque faces of the two elders before Charles revealed a faint smile.

The sea was their domain.

However, their smiles went stiff when they saw the dazzling white light emanating from Charles. It seemed that they had forgotten how seawater was a good conductor of electricity.

The white light was so blinding that it seemed to illuminate the entire ink-black sea region. Charles went all-out, sparing nothing as he unleashed everything inside of him. The electricity surging out of him like a deluge was so strong that the seawater around him started boiling.

Eventually, the white electric arcs faded, and the seawater ceased boiling. The twelve elders suspended in the water discovered that Charles had once again vanished from under their noses.

Upon realizing that his electricity was too weak to kill them, Charles decided to use it as a smokescreen to escape the encirclement. The enemies had ambushed him, so there was no need for Charles to confront them head-on.

Charles used his teleport relic and invisibility relic to sneak into the towering mechanical castle, which contained a desolate city of machinery.

The severe pain radiating from Charles' stomach made his journey down a pipe covered in sticky grime and a nauseating miasma extremely difficult. However, he did not stop and moved forward with difficulty while clutching his stomach.

Upon exiting the pipe, Charles looked around, searching for something that would help him break through his predicament. Charles knew that fleeing wouldn't resolve the issue. Those elders were strong, so it would only be a matter of time before they found him if he were to simply flee.

Just then, something caught Charles' eye. It was a gearwheel about two meters wide. It was large enough to become a drawing board for the human-shaped magic array that would allow him to tap into Edikth's power inside of him.

The latent power within him was extremely strong—strong enough to resolve this ongoing crisis. However, the activation condition was a bit too stringent, which meant that it couldn't be relied on against an ambush.

Given enough time, however, Charles could turn the tables around.

A black spike emerged from the palm of his prosthetic hand, and he hurriedly drew on the gearwheel covered in brass pipes. The black spike was sharp enough to cut through steel as if it were mud, so Charles had no issues drawing the array.

Right as the array was about to be completed, Charles' nape went numb, and he instinctively lowered his head. Almost immediately afterward, a chainsaw covered in patina swept across his head, burying itself into the gearwheel.

Charles raised his right foot and lashed out. A distinct noise echoed as the enemy flew backward upon receiving his kick.

Charles turned and saw that his attacker was a humanoid figure with a face made out of gearwheels. From the distinct noise and tough feedback, Charles became certain that the humanoid figure's body beneath their clothes was made of metal.

Charles was familiar with the humanoid figure. He had seen them alongside Swann, as they were his elite guards. They were people whose entire bodies had been converted into steel prosthetics, and it seemed that they had emerged from the depths along with their governor.

Before the humanoid figure could launch another attack, Charles charged at it first. He had to eliminate them immediately, as any commotion would attract the attention of anything nearby.

The steel humanoid figure was exceptionally agile. They raised the blade in their hand and thrust it toward Charles with all their might.

Charles raised his prosthetic arm and received the thrust using the hole in his palm, which was supposed to be used for storing objects rather than to take attacks.

Upon neutralizing his enemy's attack, his invisible tentacles sprang up and engulfed the steel humanoid figure in response to Charles' will.

Soon, the jarring creaking of metal pervaded the air.

Just as the steel humanoid figure was about to be quartered, Charles stopped his tentacles.

The tentacles covering the steel humanoid figure's chest receded like a tide, and Charles walked up to it. He thrust his hands into its chest and pried it open. Soon, a trembling, iron-gray heart was in his palm.

It resembled a heart in appearance, but the rivets all over it and the flames inside of it told Charles that this "heart" was more like an oil furnace.

This thing might help me resolve the issue with my heart, but I can't think about that right now. I'm still in danger. Charles stuffed the iron-gray heart into his pocket and looked around before continuing his drawing.

The human-shaped magic array necessary to tap into Edikth's power rapidly took shape. Soon, Charles was left with the final few strokes when the entire gearwheel began to crumble, and cold seawater poured in from the outside.

When Charles found himself amidst the frigid seawater once again, the elders had already surrounded him. They swam quietly, staring indifferently at Charles, who was chanting a vowel-only incantation in a hoarse voice.

Charles paid no attention to them and continued with his chanting. When a clear feminine voice entered his ears, a faint smile immediately suffused his lips.

His reinforcement was here. He never really had to make a move against the elders of the Fhtagn Covenant. He just had to wait for Sparkle's inevitable return.

"What do you think you're doing to my father?"

The voice belonged to none other than Sparkle. The white dress she was sporting seemed to make her figure glow amidst the ink-black seawater. Her green, glowing eyeballs with cross-shaped pupils gazed at the octopus monsters before her.

"I asked you a question!" Sparkle exclaimed, and her figure abruptly swelled, transforming into a colossal tentacled monster. Sparkle's overwhelmingly powerful aura instantly engulfed everyone.