Chapter 46: Dying Ether

Chapter 46: Dying Ether As soon as Leonard appeared in front of the crowd, Number 13 quickly saluted his arrival. Mirelle heaved a sigh of relief to see him safe and sound. She was truly somewhat worried when he ordered them to rush ahead. Meanwhile, the enemy’s expression turned complicated slightly. Their gazes met with Leonard, seemingly in deep thought in regard to his earlier statement. "Crown Prince, please stay behind me." Number 13 noticed the enemy’s line of sight and hurriedly took the front to shield Leonard from potential danger. "What do you mean by the enemy can’t leave?" On the contrary, Mirelle approached him and asked curiously. When she spotted the enemy riding on the remaining lifeboat from afar, she was startled and confused by their presence. Any assassins would have long left the scene once the deed was basically confirmed to be completed. She couldn’t fathom why the enemy would stick around and utter some taunts. Leonard didn’t even bat an eyelid on Mirelle. His gaze remained locked on the enemy. He was expecting them to be disguised as Greg, but given the enemy’s physique and facial appearance, it didn’t resemble Greg one bit. As if realizing what Leonard was concerned about, Number 13 whispered softly to him. "Crown Prince, the enemy is disguised as Terry. I recognized them, but there are still some slight differences." Nodding, Leonard stepped forward. "Would you be kind enough to reveal your true appearance?" "Huh?" "Eh?" Besides Mirelle and Number 13 being bewildered by the sudden question, even the enemy flinched a bit. Their brows furrowed. Then in humor, they chuckled, "That’s your question? And here I thought you knew something by dropping such a sentence upon your entrance." "Well, I’m in a sinking ship. I just want to know your true appearance before I meet my demise." Leonard shrugged. His tone was laced with helplessness and bitterness. "Hmph, you royalty people always know how to use your words." The enemy sneered. "I hope you die with this regret in your mind engraved forever." Just when they thought the enemy was done with their monologue, their gaze suddenly shifted from Leonard to Mirelle. "And you, woman! Don’t think that you can pretend to be a courtesan to fool me." Startled, Mirelle’s body tensed up slightly. "What do you mean?" She raised the question and stepped forward. "Xundraeth Continent 76th war policy advancement in claiming territories as theirs. Many small villages, towns, and cities were pillaged and sent to ruin by their army expedition. One of them happened to be a hypocrite mage who promised peace and survival." The enemy’s eyes narrowed coldly. "76th war policy..." Mirelle’s pupils constricted slightly as she recalled that particular incident. It was a tragic incident that happened almost 17 years ago when she was still being trained and guided by her mentor. "You were present at that time?" Her mouth trembled and her breathing became unsteady. She wanted to approach the enemy and apologized for her incapability at that time. Unfortunately, Leonard extended his hand and promptly halted her action from advancing too close to the enemy. "Get over your senses!" Leonard warned sternly. "Since the enemy recognized you from the beginning, it made sense why they never attempted to approach me despite having their disguise skill." He was never the type to believe an enemy would suddenly drop some mind-boggling information for no reason. There must have been a motive behind each action. Sure enough, the enemy scoffed in disappointment when they failed to lure Mirelle away from Leonard. "Tsk, what a pity. Anyway, it’s time for me to say goodbye." The enemy glanced at the undercurrent and smirked. "May you enjoy the cold seawater and experience what it was like to be buried under the ground." As the enemy attempted to steer the lifeboat to flee the scene, Leonard’s expression turned solemn. "Who gave you permission to go?" He laughed amusingly. "You must have been waiting for the effect of the dying ether to dissipate and dared not venture too far, right?" "Dying ether?" Both Mirelle and Number 13 were confused by the term. Meanwhile, the enemy’s eyelids twitched for a brief second. They tried to remain calm and composed, but that small reaction was caught by Leonard. All along, the enemy didn’t flee from the start wasn’t because they wanted to wait and taunt them. Instead, they didn’t dare to flee from a certain vicinity to avoid being swarmed by the agitated sea monsters. The foul stench that Leonard smelled from the beginning was actually the result of etheric rot, a rare but dangerous condition where mana-infused fuel begins to decay after being exposed to unstable energy. This energy, though nearly undetectable to most sensors, causes the refined mana within the fuel to degrade into a warped, semi-toxic form of residual essence. Normally, this kind of fuel would have been neutralized by the built-in systems before disposal. However, the sabotage conducted by the enemy bypassed the purification safeguards entirely, allowing it to spill directly into the sea. In most seas and oceans, the effects would have been minimal. But the Virellian Sea was different. Virellian Sea was a mana-reactive ecosystem, one where sea creatures had evolved in symbiosis with the magical currents flowing through its depths. The sea monsters there possessed olfactory sense organs capable of detecting even minute fluctuations in magical frequencies, especially those that indicated prey, threat, or diseased mana. "When the crewmates were ordered to spread the monster repellent dust, I’m sure you were gloating in joy." Leonard continued. The dust, when scattered, emitted a steady auric frequency meant to deter these mana-sensitive sea monsters. It worked by triggering a low-grade threat signal, a repulsive type but not alarming. To simplify, the dust was used to repel sea monsters. But when mixed with the stench of etheric rot, the dust’s properties underwent a magical inversion. To the sea monsters of the Virellian Sea, the combined scent became dying ether, a rare delicacy that they viewed as both a threat and a challenge. Hence, anything or anyone that contained traces of such dying ether became the main target of aggression. "Wait, so the crewmates were killed by sea monsters because they made contact with the monster repellent dust?" Horrified, Mirelle couldn’t fathom such a malicious scheme. "Not just the dust, but also the foul stench that was laced on them." Leonard corrected, his eyes staring at the enemy. The reason why they went in disguise constantly was to get the opportunity to touch them and laced them with etheric rot.