Shrouded Seascape

Chapter 577: Each to Their Own

The people who had surrounded the mages gathered together in the vast and desolate semi-desert region. There were many of them, but none of them spoke, and their expressions were particularly solemn.

The unfathomable and expansive canyon that had appeared out of nowhere was the reason behind the strange air above everyone.

They had successfully suppressed their enemies, but they couldn't feel any joy at their success at all, as they knew that if the cylindrical root had moved ever so slightly, they would have perished. The casualties would include Julio, who was known to be the most powerful Governor of the Subterranean Sea.

A mortal's strength was nothing before it.

"Cough, cough!" A noseless large-framed bald man coughed. He was the leader of the Haikor Tribe members here, and he said, "My men reached around and measured it. It was eleven nautical miles in length."

Neither Charles leaning against the ship's hull, nor Julio squatting on the gunwale said anything. Margaret glanced at Charles next to her, but she remained silent.

Boom!

The giant punched the ground and roared, "Who the hell can tell me what that thing was?!"

The giant appeared exceptionally terrifying in his enraged state. His blood-red gums were exposed, and he looked like he was going to devour anyone just to satiate his fury.

Julio waved his hand lightly, and a gust of dust flying toward them returned to where it came from. Julio raised his head, revealing a solemn expression as he said, "Could it be that the entity we saw just now was the Light God's murderer? Has It been watching us from above all this while?"

Everyone simultaneously looked up at the dim and eerie purple light in the depths of the thin purple mist in the sky.

Charles recalled that the massive, cylindrical root earlier was shimmering in the same purple light as the sky before them. He cast a deep gaze at the purple mist before glancing at Julio. The answer to Julio's question need not be said.

Anna wrapped an arm around Charles' arm and rested her head on his shoulder before saying, "If the Light God really wanted to go to space, he would have to confront the entity up above."

Charles' calloused right hand rubbed the back of Anna's hand. The next moment, he clapped his hands, attracting everyone's attention.

"There's no time to waste. For now, we can't afford to waste time deducing the identity of that entity we just saw, so let us set it aside for now.

"Bandages, use the telegraph to notify the Colossal Hole Fortress about everything they need to know. Tell them to forbid entry to any mages and pass down an order to build an underground shelter inside the colossal hole.

"We have to be prepared for the possibility that the root we saw just now might attack us from above.

"Anna, Margaret, and Julio—you three should go back down and stabilize the situation there. The Haikors and I will continue exploring according to the original plan."

The group exchanged glances before eventually deciding to follow Charles' orders.

Julio walked through the moving crowd and walked up to Charles. Julio cast a complex gaze at Charles before saying, "Good luck. Leave everything down below to me. A steady stream of supplies and personnel is guaranteed as long as the islands down below haven't submerged yet."

There had been some animosity between the two of them not too long ago, but the two were now comrades fighting on the same front in the face of the bizarre Divinity that they had witnessed earlier.

Most importantly, both Charles and Julio were humans.

Charles started walking toward his ship with Anna by his side, but he came to a halt upon seeing Margaret with her back turned to him in the distance.

"Go ahead first. I still have something to do."

Anna glanced at Margaret, and then she revealed a disdainful look before slapping Charles on the buttocks, saying, "You're so indecisive! How long has this back-and-forth been going on? Do you really think that you're living in some kind of soap opera?

"You're the overlord of the Northern Seas, so show off some of that dominating aura, will you? Wrap an arm around her waist and pull her in for a kiss. Women love that kind of thing."

Charles turned to Anna, but he saw only the back of Anna's head.

"Let's go. We need to have a good chat," Charles said, walking past Margaret and toward the vast semi-desert region ahead of him.

Margaret stared briefly at Charles' familiar back profile before quietly following after him. The two quietly strolled down the semi-desert region until Charles abruptly came to a halt when they could no longer hear the crowd behind them.

Charles turned around and sized up Margaret. The latter had been doing a great job hiding it, but Charles still managed to sense her anxiety—the same anxiety he had seen in her when they first met.

Charles raised his right hand and brushed aside the long bangs that had been covering Margaret's scar and eyes. The horrifying scar was like a centipede that had crawled across Margaret's face.

"I'm sorry. I had no idea that you were merely pretending. Your expression and body language had convinced me that it was real," Charles remarked.

Margaret turned slightly, and her silky hair slid off Charles' hand, covering her eyes and the terrible scar across her face.

"You don't have to say sorry. Governor Julio and I had made use of you, after all. I also did not hold back and went all out. The Deep Dweller among your crew and Fhtagn's Mark on you were making Julio feel uneasy, so I had no choice.

"But it was all worth it. Those mages from the Western Seas were ticking time bombs. If they had been allowed to explode here, humans on the Subterranean Sea would have gone extinct."

Charles noticed that Margaret was avoiding his gaze. He stared deeply at her and asked, "Why are you avoiding me? I'm not really good at reading someone else's emotions, so can we just talk about it frankly? Just between the two of us—face-to-face."

"I'm leaving first," Margaret said. She turned around to leave, but Charles pulled her into his embrace and kissed her lips in one fell swoop. Margaret instantly went rigid in Charles' arms.

After just a short three seconds, however, Margaret bit down hard on Charles' lips, and then she shoved Charles away. Her voice quivered ever so slightly, and her expression was a mixture of shame and anger as she roared, "Have you forgotten that you're already married?! Your wife is watching us, too!"

Charles was shocked. "I thought you—"

"Yes, yes, yes! I haven't been able to let go of you at all, but it doesn't mean that I'm willing to share you with others. I cannot stain the honor of the Cavendish Family by doing such a thing, and my father hasn't taught me to do anything like that, too!

"And… don't disparage yourself by doing such a thing. I don't want you to do that for me, either," Margaret said. She turned around decisively and walked toward the distant crowd.

The dazed Charles somehow found himself on the deck of his own vessel, and he saw Anna standing on top of the smokestack. She was laughing so hard that she could barely stand up straight and looked like she would fall down the smokestack.

"Did you give me such bad advice because you knew how she was going to react to it?" Charles asked, sounding doubtful. He found it a bit strange why Anna was laughing, and he was convinced that Anna knew exactly what Margaret was thinking.

Anna was laughing so hard that tears had welled up in her eyes. She wiped the tears away before jumping down the smokestack. She then wrapped her arms around Charles' neck and gave him a kiss.

Charles tapped Anna's back, but Anna did not let go of him, so he could only watch as Margaret hopped onto King's figure and departed for the Colossal Hole Fortress.

"Aww, my poor baby got rejected. It must hurt, no? Come, Mommy will comfort you with a hug~" Anna teased.

Charles stared speechlessly at Anna before eventually saying, "All right, enough playing around. It's about time you go back down. Take good care of Margaret down there; she's on our side now, after all."

"You didn't have to say that. Of course, I'm going to take care of her. Anyway, don't you think Margaret has become even more charming than before? Honestly, I'm starting to like her a bit."