Shrouded Seascape

When Annarles Island was submerged by the indescribable color of the Subterranean Sea's skies, which was neither light nor darkness, Lylejay smiled smugly as he stood on the deck of an airship.

Contrary to his expectations, he managed to come down easily without alerting anyone.

It was so smooth that Lylejay sincerely thanked that "kind-hearted" Haikor in his heart. If it hadn't been for him providing the shriveled human skin to Lylejay, things wouldn't have been so easy for the latter.

"Ah, I don't know what those guys are going to do to Charles. However, it'd be great if both sides end up inflicting severe damage to each other."

Just then, Lylejay remembered something and raised his right hand. Lily was curled up in his sleeve, and he stared at her before asking, "God, are you hungry? Do you want to eat something?"

"I'm not hungry!!" Lily sounded displeased. It couldn't be helped as Lylejay had broken through the blockade, and she found herself becoming even farther away from her companions.

"Then, do you want to drink some water? You haven't had fresh water in a while," Lylejay said. He turned around to walk into the cabin but found a woman wrapped all over in black bandages standing right in front of him.

"Meow~" The black cat in the woman's arms raised its front paws and licked them lightly, and then it jumped to the ground before approaching Lylejay with tiny steps. It seemed very interested in Lily.

"Who are you?!" Lylejay's hair stood on end, and his skin cracked open. A radiant sunlight burst out of him, illuminating everything around him.

The black cat's figure dissipated beneath the powerful sunlight. When the black cat finally disappeared, a writhing meat obelisk covered in thick, black tentacles appeared next to the cargo airship.

The meat obelisk was both towering and thick. It was so tall that it seemed to pierce the rock layer above the Subterranean Sea, while its bottom seemed to pierce the seabed down below.

The gray seawater underneath churned, and a massive, powerful whirlpool was made with the meat obelisk in the middle of it. One of the thick, black tentacles around the meat obelisk stretched out and easily suspended the cargo airship.

Furious murmurs pervaded Lylejay's mind, and the harsh discordant mixture of murmurs seemed capable of gnawing away at Lylejay's consciousness and reasoning.

The others on the deck and in the cabin of the cargo airship grabbed their heads and screamed in agony before falling to the ground. Their skin quickly became iron gray.

The Pope finally recognized the entity before him! He was the Feaster that the Governor of Albion Isles had summoned by sacrificing an entire island back then—the same Feaster that had bestowed upon Its blessings to Swann!

The black cat was none other than the Feaster, so the woman holding Him…!

Lylejay trembled inexplicably upon realizing something. The mighty Pope Lylejay of the Divine Light Order actually started trembling despite his plenty of experience fighting Divinities.

"Quiet." The woman covered in black bandages expressed Her intent using a special, inexplicable aura rather than sound. Once She had expressed her intent, everything slowly went silent.

The towering meat obelisk, which was the embodiment of the Feaster, vanished instantly. The black cat manifested once again. He squatted on the gunwale and started licking His own fur.

Lylejay had just gone all-out to fight for his life, but he instantly stood ramrod straight and went silent in response to the intent of the woman in black bandages.

He desperately wanted to move, but he discovered that his body seemed like it didn't belong to him. He couldn't move at all. Soon, the woman covered in black bandages started walking toward him, and despair filled his eyes.

The only one in the entire Subterranean Sea capable of treating the Feaster as a pet was Tawil At-Umr—the outsider from the depths of outer space! She was also part of the scheme to seal the Light God back then!

Tawil raised her hand, and Lily curled up in the Pope's sleeve flew in front of Her. "I just wanted to see… what exactly are they doing? I'm very curious. I've been observing for a long time, but I still can't figure it out."

Lily's figure began to disintegrate. First, it was her fur, then her flesh, muscles, bones, and blood vessels. Lily's figure split open layer by layer.

The Pope's face turned ashen gray upon seeing Lily's entrails floating around him. Before he could express the despair and anger in his heart, however, the entrails moved backward as if a tape had been rewound.

Moments later, Lily was whole once again.

Thud!

Lily fell to the ground weakly, crying out in pain. Fortunately, she was still alive.

Upon realizing that neither of the two was reaching out to her, Lily quickly stood up and flew frantically toward Annarles Island. Lily had no idea what was going to happen next; all she knew was that she was finally free and could finally go home!

On that day, everyone on Annarles Island saw a golden mouse streaking across the skies while crying out loud. The anti-aircraft cannons rotated to face the golden mouse. Fortunately, Margaret recognized the golden mouse, and she made the rotating anti-aircraft cannons stop in their tracks.

"That woman grabbed me; she looked at me, and my body split open before merging back together. Then, she threw me to the ground. I discovered that it was a great opportunity to escape, so I decided to run away.

"Neither of them did anything to stop me!" Lily exclaimed.

Once she was done recounting her experience to Margaret, she noticed that her mouth was a bit dry, so she rushed to the small bowl of coconut juice in front of her and took a big sip of it.

Margaret frowned, pondering over Lily's words. From Lily's words, the towering meat obelisk seemed to be a Divinity of the Subterranean Sea.

A Divinity had actually sought out the young Pope Lylejay? Why?

"Where's Mr. Charles? Does he know that I'm back? I've been missing him so much!" Lily exclaimed with a hint of urgency in her voice.

"Governor Julio happens to be on Hope Island. He has been informed, and he's looking for Charles right now," Margaret replied calmly.

"Was Mr. Charles heartbroken upon realizing that I got kidnapped? What was his reaction? Did he cry?" Lily asked nervously as she stood up.

Margaret fell into deep contemplation as she stared at Lily. Lily's words sounded strange in her ears, and it sounded like Lily's relationship with Charles wasn't a mere subordinate-superior relationship.

Just as Margaret was pondering about how to respond to Lily's words, there was a flash of white light, and both Julio and Charles appeared in the room.

"Mr. Charles!" Lily exclaimed. She jumped up in joy and happily pounced on him.

"Lily! Are you okay? What happened? Did the Pope let you go?" Charles asked nervously while holding her in his hands. His hands didn't remain idle as he quickly examined her.

Lily shook her head and told him everything that had happened. Once she was done with her recount, she sat on Charles' shoulder and opened her two tiny paws to hug Charles' neck before rubbing her head affectionately against him.

"Mr. Charles, I really thought I'd never see you again. Every second I spent with him, I was thinking of nothing but you!"

Charles reached out to Lily with his finger and stroked her soft cheek. "It's okay; it's over now."