Advent of the Three Calamities

Virith-Anash.

By now, everyone had already acclimated themselves to the city. From its layout to its language and everything else that there was to know about the city.

However, if there was one thing that interested most of them, it was a certain figure.

‘The Merchant’.

He was an extremely enigmatic figure who appeared out of nowhere and left a storm in his wake. From fighting against a Luminarch single-handedly, to providing goods that didn’t appear to belong to the Mirror Dimension.

“Wait, guys…”

Aoife appeared holding onto a certain cloth. Turning her head to look at the others, her expression turned strange.

“I don’t see any branding in this, but touch this. Doesn’t this feel a little familiar?”

“Now that you mention it…”

“It is.”

Touching the fabric, the others all shared the same opinion. This cloth… it was completely different from any of the cloths provided by the people of the city.

“Where did you find this? It must’ve cost you quite a lot to buy this. I don’t think you can get this quality of cloth around here.”

“You’re right.”

Aoife nodded, putting the cloth away.

“It wouldn’t make sense for this type of quality of cloth to appear here. I’ve analyzed their other cloths, and even their highest quality ones aren’t as good as this one.”

“Really?” Kiera eyes the cloth in Aoife’s hand.

“To me, it just looks like some regular cloth.”

“No, shit princess.” Aoife rolled her eyes, prompting Keira to raise her brow. “Weren’t you the princess?”

Ignoring Kiera’s comment, Aoife continued, “This would be considered regular where we come from, but here…? This is anything but normal. It’s no wonder they sold like crazy not too long ago. The prices weren’t even that expensive from what I’m hearing.”

“What?”

Amell was the one to speak this time, taking the cloth and feeling it with his hand.

“Cheap? This?”

“Mhm.”

Aoife nodded, her eyes narrowing.

“That’s not the only thing that I managed to find.”

Aoife began pulling out all kinds of items. Ceramic plates, familiar foods, even bits of jewelry. None of them had any labels or branding, but it was obvious to everyone that these things came from outside the Mirror Dimension.

By now, they’d have to be stupid not to get the hint as Leon’s expression grew grimmer and grimmer with each passing second. Unlike the others, he had remained quiet the entire time.

It wasn’t that he didn’t have anything to say, but it was more that he already knew everything.

“This…”

Amell looked at all the goods in Aoife’s hands before looking at her.

“Are you suggesting that the Empires are—”

“No.”

Aoife cut Amell off before he could go on a tangent.

“I’ve already asked everyone about the goods. They all came recently, and…” Aoife paused, her eyes pausing on the others as they all started to understand.

“The merchant. The goods came from the merchant.”

“Exactly.”

Aoife closed her eyes, her expression tensing up slightly.

“Considering everything we’ve found, from the goods to the various items, it’s safe to say that the merchant is someone who comes from the same place we do.”

But not only that…

“Taking into account everything that I’ve heard from the locals about his fight with the people from the church, he feels quite familiar. In fact, besides the fact that he used his sword, he almost feels like…”

Aoife paused, her brows furrowing.

“He almost feels like…”

Aoife scratched her forehead, her lips opening and closing as she started to stutter, ‘He almost feels like… He almost feels like…’

Eventually, after a while, she looked towards the others and scratched the back of her head.

“…Just give me a moment. I think I’m tired. For some reason, I can’t remember what I was trying to say.”

“No, I don’t think it’s just you.”

Kiera mumbled, pinching her chin.

“I feel like I was onto the same thing as you. However, I can’t recall as well… it’s strange.”

“Same.”

Evelyn muttered as she looked at Leon.

“What about you? Got any clue?”

“Clue…?”

Leon blinked his eyes, looking at Evelyn. What was she talking about? They were clearly talking about…

Eh?

Leon held his breth.

What exactly were they talking about?

***

Splash—!

The crimson water smashed against the bow of the ship, splitting apart as a massive white ship moved through the waters.

“We’ve been instructed by the Goddess to bring you to the Eclipse’s Maw. Make yourself comfortable while we guide you there. We should be there soon. The current tide shouldn’t be too bad, so this is the best time to make the trip.”

On top of the ship, the captain, an older man with a long white beard and thin body, draped in white clothing, gave a brief overview of the situation to Lazarus and the others. Although Anne tried her best to stop herself from rolling her eyes, she still did.

She wasn’t used to having others guide her in a ship.

This was her pride as captain.

For whatever reason, following Lazarus’s encounter with the Saint, those from the faction of light started to treat them like special guests.

This made both Anne and An’as incredibly surprised, but at the same time skeptical.

Just who in the world was he….? How did he manage to get those from the faction of light to help them? Did he really meet with the Goddess?

The more Anne thought about the merchant, the more mysterious he became in her eyes.

Not only was he abnormally strong, but his connections were also a mystery to her.

Maybe…

Just maybe getting tangled up with him wasn’t such a bad thing.

With that being said…

‘I wish we could’ve gone with my ship.’

This entire experience felt odd to her. She wasn’t used to being a crew member, and although she understood that going with her ship wouldn’t be as good as going with their ship,

Not only did they not have to be afraid of any of the Seven Lords, but the ship was also larger and more equipped than hers.

To go to such a dangerous place as the Maw, going with their ship was ideal.

The only issue was that she didn’t know or trust anyone on board.

What if they decided to suddenly leave them stranded? What then…?

It was for that reason that Anne decided to have her ship follow from behind secretly. This was just in case something happened.

Within the Mirror Dimension, you couldn’t really trust anyone.

*

“You’re weak.”

Lazarus didn’t really expect to hear such words from the Saint as he stood by the bow of the ship, overlooking the sea in the distance.

Slowly turning his head to look at the Saint, he cocked his head. He was confused.

“Yes…?”

The Saint merely smiled while looking at Lazarus.

“Don’t take my words as an insult. I’m only stating an objective fact. I was just curious as to how someone like you managed to gain the attention of the Goddess.”

“Mhm.”

Lazarus wasn’t offended by the Saint’s words. He didn’t particularly care, in fact. He was just confused.

Especially since he wasn’t actually weak. He was, in fact, Tier 6, halfway to Tier 7. This meant that he was close to reaching the ‘Destroyer’ rank in terms of monster rankings.

The only reason he wasn’t stronger was simply because he was young.

Noel’s skill had changed his entire bone structure and appearance, hence why he looked a little over thirty years of age.

Perhaps… he even looked to be in his forties.

To be at his rank at such an age was quite an impressive feat, but usually, it also meant that he had exhausted his potential.

The more one progressed, the harder it was to reach the next level.

In the Saint’s eyes, he probably looked like someone who was close to reaching his limits.

Then again, in the first place, the number of people that reached the Monarch rank was abysmal, let alone the Zenith.

This level was already quite good.

“…You can say that she wasn’t interested in me, but more interested in an acquaintance of mine.”

“Oh?”

The Saint looked interested, but didn’t ask any more than that. He seemed to be aware that this wasn’t something he could pry on.

Not that Lazarus had any plans on telling him in the first place. Mortum’s location was still unknown, and he couldn’t afford to expose his existence.

After all… Sithrus’s existence weighed heavily on their minds.

“While I don’t know what you’re planning on doing at the Eclipse’s Maw, the reason why I’m asking about your strength is because, at your current strength, you’ll struggle quite a bit in there.”

“Hm?”

Lazarus’s ears perked up. He didn’t actually know much about the Maw. All he knew was how it was created, and that the Eye was located there.

“There are quite a few things that you’d need to worry about when going there. Although the place is a treasure heaven for those seeking the bones of monsters, it is also quite heavily controlled by the pirates who are trying to monopolise the monsters.”

Right, this was also something Lazarus had heard from Anne before.

“You don’t have to worry too much about those pirates. With us here, they won’t do anything. The monsters are also not a problem. The main issue is the current and the splits. I would like to explain to you what they are, but I’m sure you’ll figure it out in a bit.”

Not even a few seconds after his words fell, a loud shout echoed throughout the ship.

“We’re about to reach the Maw! Everyone, get ready!”

Lazarus’s eyes narrowed as he looked into the distance. That was where he heard the muffled sound of water falling?

‘Water falling…?’

His expression changed, and it wasn’t long after until his eyes caught sight of a gaping hole in the sea, defying gravity as the water plunged in a constant, thunderous fall that echoed across the waves.

The Maw’s edges were jagged and blackened, as if scorched by some sort of black flame that burned within the water. The water spiraled as it descended, vanishing into a depth he couldn’t begin to gauge.

The ship slowed and stopped at a cautious distance, the anchor splashing down moments later.

“Throw the anchor!”

SPLASH!

As the vessel settled, the Saint turned to Lazarus, a faint, knowing smile crossing his face.

“Looks like we’re here… Welcome to the Maw.”

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