Gun of Ashes

The fleet moved slowly across the calm sea. When it set sail from Maruri Port, the ships were as large as a pack of wolves, but after the previous sea battle, only three remained. The other Iron Armor ships had either sunk during the Battle of Ice Bay or were so badly damaged that they couldn’t keep up with the fleet and were left behind.

Even so, the remaining three Iron Armor ships were not in good condition. In pursuit of the Morning Glow Advance, its damage continued to worsen. Most importantly, despite the price paid, they still lost track of the Morning Glow Advance on a dark, moonless night.

The Blood Shark, in the best condition, sailed at the front. Laden with supplies and elite warriors and crew, it was the sharpest blade in the Plague Doctor’s hand. It sliced through the waters, pressing forward.

”Is this... what they call the Silent Sea?”

The Plague Doctor stood at the ship’s bow, gazing out at the gray world. His words trembled slightly, not out of fear but excitement.

”This omnipresent corrosion, it seems as if this sea is constructed based on some strange entity.”

Spreading his arms open, the Plague Doctor embraced the surging, oppressive power, enveloped in the same indistinct gray that shrouded everyone who ventured into the Silent Sea.

In the intense chase, both the Plague Doctor and Lorenzo, along with others, were influenced by the corrosion, fully absorbed in the blood and fire of combat, unaware that they had unknowingly entered the Silent Sea.

Only after losing track of the Morning Glow Advance did the Plague Doctor begin to scrutinize his surroundings.

Initially, the Plague Doctor couldn’t believe the corrosion originated from the Silent Sea. But after simple speculation and experimentation, he realized it. The corrosion followed the fleet, its range nearly equating to that of the sea itself.

This was the anomaly of the Silent Sea. And upon understanding this, the Plague Doctor became aware of the ”seclusion” the Silent Sea imposed. Those entering were twisted by the corrosion of their perception, driving even the luckiest to madness if they managed to escape.

”Quite unexpected,” the Plague Doctor mused.

No deep introspective choices, no grandiose ceremonies; these people stumbled into this forbidden whirlwind like lost children.

”The Silent Sea... this really is the Silent Sea.”

Another voice arose, and Zeus sat in a wheelchair, pushed forward by a soldier, slowly approaching the Plague Doctor.

Zeus was recovering well at this moment. His entire face was still distorted from burn scars, only bare eyeballs and exposed gums visible. Yet, even so, it was far better than before.

Previously, he appeared as though at death’s door, but now it seemed that Death God was not too interested in taking Zeus’s life. He had managed to steal time from Death God’s grasp, living in the ecstasy of survival.

Zeus brushed shoulders with Death God, but it was not out of Death God’s mercy; it was a trade with the Devil. Zeus’s survival came at a cost, extending beyond aiding the Plague Doctor in infiltrating the Viking nations and bypassing maritime patrols, to something more profound...

Just the memory of the bloody surgery made Zeus feel phantom pain emanating from within his body, as if a scalpel were still slicing him apart, taking parts of the human away bit by bit until Zeus became something non-human.

”You Vikings call this place the Divine Domain? At this sea’s end lies the abode of the Gods. So at the end of this sea, indeed, is there something waiting for us? Be it Gods or Demons.”

The Plague Doctor looked at Zeus. He was draped in a black blanket that covered his body, but the silhouette it revealed was an inhuman one.

A massive, protruding silhouette made Zeus’s head seem so out of place, as if a human head should not rest upon it, but something more fierce should take its place, like a disjointed picture full of contradictions.

”Aren’t you afraid?”

Zeus did not fear death. What he feared were the Gods, those elusive Gods. Now, as he stepped into the realm of Gods, his heart was filled with reverence and dread, mixed with an unexplainable sense of sanctity.

These complex emotions crowded his mind. He had once been so scared of the Silent Sea that he dared not advance. Yet now, truly entering it, his heart was strangely calm, almost like a pilgrimage.

”I’m not afraid, Zeus.”

The Plague Doctor replied, spreading his arms to feel the sea breeze against him, but here it was a windless place, only the faint currents from the Iron Armor ships brushing against him, unsettling the silence.

”I don’t believe in Gods. More than fearing some deity, I’m more afraid of having nothing.”

The Plague Doctor continued, his gaze fixed forward and unwavering from the start.

”I’ve been obsessed for so long, for hundreds of years, invested so much effort, killed so many people, devoured so much sin... all of it, for there. And if, in the end, there’s nothing there, that’s the true despair.”

The words were calm, the sound somewhat muffled passing through the beak mask.

This resonated clearly in Zeus’s ears. He watched the Plague Doctor’s back, sensing an invisible force expanding on him, sprouting fangs and claws, so sharply numerous, like a twisted jungle.

”Then, what if there’s really nothing there?” Zeus wasn’t sure why he asked, ”What if it’s just a vast icy plain?”