After exiting the Valkyrie's Ruins, Woohyuk immediately headed for the black sea.

His elite troops were stationed in the capital of the Norton Kingdom, so he wasn’t very worried about it.

Even if a big problem occurred, he would leave it to Huperion in Dreadlore.

He had a whopping 50,000 undead troops under his command.

'The Sanctuary of the Dead attracts undeads from surrounding areas.'

Thanks to this effect, the remnants of Nigel's army that had scattered around could be easily absorbed into his army in Dreadlore.

As Woohyuk leisurely gazed at the horizon, he heard some screams behind him.

They were the members of the Blackbeard Pirates.

They were currently being questioned by the former pirate king Drake.

“Did you find anything out?”

“Not really. They're just low henchmen, so they don't know important information.”

Drake answered as he stored away his torture tools.

Roan then intervened excitedly.

“Then let's kill them all! Being at sea is so boring!”

Thwack!

A fist fell on top of Roan's head.

Brynhild glared at him with a stern look as she removed her hand from the point of impact.

Roan grabbed his head and rolled around on the deck.

“Why did you hit me?! Just why?!"

“Make some effort to become a kind person. Well, I guess that it would be difficult for a Homunculus that was abandoned by the G.o.ds, but try to act kind at the very least.”

Brynhild was monitoring Roan.

Even if his abilities were sealed, she never knew what he would do.

While she admonished Roan, Woohyuk and Drake continued their conversation about Blackbeard.

“Anyway, as the former pirate king, you must’ve explored all the seas and oceans around the world. So why do you think Edward Teach decided to create his base in the Dark Veiled Sea?”

“… He seems to have noticed that I hid some treasures there.”

Drake had previously told Woohyuk his secrets.

Woohyuk nodded with a convinced expression.

“As I thought. What are the treasures over there?”

“There are three in total. The Dragon Stone, Hourgla.s.s of Time, and the Ptarmigan Egg.”

“… I’m surprised you managed to collect all those rare items during your lifetime.”

All three were items that existed only in legends.

Drake coughed and began to brag to Woohyuk.

“Hehe... I had some wonderful adventures in my lifetime. I’d need ten thick books to write down all the events. Ever since I was a child, I...”

Since he was once the pirate king, his saga was quite interesting.

Woohyun silently listened to him but suddenly raised his hand.

“Wait, what did you just say?”

“Erendia, the Cursed Kingdom. The ruins of that country is beneath the Dark Veiled Sea. The waters are very rough in that area, so I even couldn't investigate properly.”

TheDark Veiled Sea, also called the Devil's Sea, was fairly wide.

It occupied most of the western waters of the Eeth Continent.

Therefore, it was difficult to reach the Theresian Empire from the Rhine Kingdom by traveling across the sea like Columbus.

Moreover, the northern seas had glaciers and the southern seas had typhoons, so it was a nigh impossible feat to achieve.

In other words, the Dark Veiled Sea was the main culprit that disconnected the east and west sides of the Eeth Continent.

And the Erendia Kingdom was located at the bottom of this dangerous sea.

Even Woohyuk wasn’t aware of this fact, despite the fact that he had read most of the myths and legends recorded in the Edda Chronicles.

“Why isn't that information written in the Edda Chronicles?”

"Who knows? I'm not really sure. Maybe some contents were lost over time.”

It seemed that the information regarding Erendia was part of the lost content of the Edda Chronicles that Woohyuk had to restore.

Woohyuk lowered his head as he frowned and pressed his temples with his index and thumb.

“I thought I only had to restore the Nibelungenlied, but I guess I was wrong. Seems like the past Logan didn’t know this either.”

“Logan? Who is it? Someone famous?”

“Ah, just some guy. An annoying and troublesome guy.”

After dismissing the topic, Woohyuk sorted out the information in his head.

In the past, Logan would’ve been able to restore the Nibelungenlied with the help of the Witches.

Nevertheless, the fact that he failed to unlock the Epic Quest meant that the Edda Chronicles had not been fully restored to its original state.

In fact, the Edda Chronicles that Woohyuk had stolen from the Witch of l.u.s.t Melena was still incomplete.

His long-awaited question awas finally resolved.

However, the current problem was how he would explore the Erendia Kingdom, which was submerged under the Dark Veiled Sea.

As Woohyuk stood silently for a while, Drake comforted him.

“Don't despair, Captain. If you excavate the ruins on the Isle of Chaos, you may find some clues. In fact, I also got my information about the Erendia Kingdom there.”

“Is it possible that Blackbeard already found out about it?”

“Hmm... It's hard to say, but I think it's unlikely he found out. I had to hire archaeologists and study those ruins for around a year. The treasures I hid are also in locations that are difficult to find unless you are an excellent archaeologist.”

Drake ranted as he gave Woohyuk a thumbs up.

Helena intervened in the conversation with a curious face.

“But what is the Hourgla.s.s of Time? I think I know what the rest of the treasures are, but I’ve never heard of this one.”

“It's a top-grade reward from some ruins related to the G.o.ddesses of Fate. As long as the sand in the hourgla.s.s is flowing, you can make the time in an enclosed s.p.a.ce flow slower or quicker.”

Contrary to its grand name, it seemed that it couldn't turn back time like a Return Scroll.

However, being able to control the pa.s.sage of time was still a tremendous ability.

Sieg was of the same opinion.

He lowered his head and put his hand to his chin.

“It's the perfect item to use when you want to spend some good time with your lover. If you use it in the room, a single day would feel like a thousand days.”

“… Your intentions are too obvious, Sieg. I’ll have to tell Brynhild about this later.” 

Helena subtly glared at him.

The menacing words shook his body in fear.

“It, it’s a misunderstanding. I just wanted My Lord to sleep with Tinia and have a good time...”

“Are you using your daughter as an excuse now? In fact, she’s not even your daughter. You’re just her very old ancestor. Some random grandfather with an umpteen amount of ‘great’ in front of it.”

Helena seemed to be in a bad mood recently. Maybe it was due to how Woohyuk had bullied her on top of the pegasus.

As the two of them continued their back and forth, dark clouds began to gather in the distance.

Rumble! Boom!

They were now closing in towards the Dark Veiled Sea.

Drake picked up his cutla.s.s and gave instructions to the ghost sailors.

The deck became noisy, and everyone's conversations were drowned out by the storm.

“Wha, what do we do? Roan doesn't want to drown!”

“Why are you suddenly speaking in the third person? Anyways, My Lord, we need to take some measure. If something goes wrong, Tinia might become a widow...”

“It's a pity that I can't use my Valkyrie powers right now. Well, even if I were in a perfect condition, it would’ve been impossible to prevent a storm this harsh.”

“This wasn’t recorded in the prophetic book... I'm slightly worried. Do you have any good ideas?”

No matter how good the Cursed Vessel Abyssal s.h.i.+p was, it seemed impossible to cross this raging sea.

While everyone was restless, Drake laughed cheerfully.

“Hahahahahaha! Don't worry! The word ‘impossible’ does not exist in the dictionary of the great Francis Drake!”

“… You do realize that you’re in this position right now because you failed the exploration of the Sea G.o.d’s Temple, right? And even if you were slightly lucky last time, it might not happen again with this attempt!”

“Don’t be so fiery, you cutie saint. If you're afraid of dying a virgin, just go to the captain’s chamber and have a good time with the men onboard!”

“I never said that I was a virgin. That's s.e.xual hara.s.sment!”

Helena pointed and scolded Drake.

She was quite embarra.s.sed despite their situation at hand.

After Woohyuk calmed her down, he took out some items from his pocket.

[Mermaid's kiss]

Category: Accessory

Grade: A

Durability: 30,000

Effect: Can breathe underwater and walk on water. 100% increase in swimming speed. Affection with sea creatures increased.

[Deep Sea Orb]

Category: Personal Item

Grade: S

Durability: 50,000

Effect: Can observe and control the sea in proportion to the user’s mana pool. In the case of living sea creatures, affection must for the effect to take place.

Both were rewards from the Lost Temple.

They would prove to be useful in this situation.

When Woohyuk gave the Mermaid's Kiss to the saintess, Helena grinned.

“So you do love me! I knew you would worry about me and put me as your top priority in situations like this, even though you bully me all the time.”

“Don't misunderstand, Witch of Profanity. It’s just because my relations.h.i.+p with Eteria Rodinus will turn sour if you die.”

“Take care of Roan too! Roan doesn't want to drown!”

Roan shouted out loud as he continued to refer to himself in the third person.

It seemed to be a habit of his that resurfaced when he was panicking.

The irritated Woohyuk pulled out a golden rope from his pocket.

"Shut it. I might not have the time to worry about you, so I’ll tie you to the mast.”

“… Roan is not some pet to keep on a leas.h.!.+ I don’t want to be bound by something like a rope!”

Roan struggled on the deck in rebellion.

Woohyuk quickly finished this task after punching the troublemaker in the stomach.

“You’d make an amazing dad.”

“Stop with the sarcasm, Witch of Profanity. You couldn’t become a good mother in the first place.”

“Wow! We have a lot of similarities. Could this be fate?”

“Yes, it must be one of the many challenges and ordeals the Creator prepared for me.”

Woohyuk was really thinking of creating a new deadly sin once he would become the Demon G.o.d, just to a.s.sign Helena as a true witch.

As they stopped the useless bantering, Woohyuk injected mana into the Deep Sea Orb.

He was trying to suppress the storm as much as possible

Unlike before, he had grown sufficiently and was able to draw out the power of the Sea G.o.d to some extent.

Rumble!

He could still see the sea relentlessly raging around.

As Woohyuk concentrated, Drake suddenly shouted in surprise.

“Everyone, be careful! He’s coming!”

“Who’s coming?”

“What are you talking about?!” 

The eyes of the nervous party focused on Drake.

Drake pointed down towards the bottom of the sea.

“It's the Nautilus! Davy Jones is loading torpedoes right beneath us!”

Davy Jones was Anne Bonnie’s lover, the ghost pirate Woohyuk had met before.

If Woohyuk could communicate with him, this unnecessary conflict could be avoided.

However, the Nautilus was moving underwater, so he didn’t know how to attempt a conversation.

As Woohyuk thought to himself,

Swoos.h.!.+

The water before them suddenly rose, and a huge creature revealed its head above the Dark Veiled Sea.

It was a mythical monster.

The Kraken.