Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep—
They arrived at the very bottom of the entrance to the first car, following the deafening signal.
A thick fog of blood spread out like a mass. Big enough for a watermelon to fit through.
The only liquid with such a form in the water can only be the blood of a Hunter.
With almost absolute certainty, there should be the corpse of one of the Slayers, Alexandra Carmen, inside there.
“Was there any artifact of Alexandra in the second car?”
“No.”
“Then the chances are high that it will be in the first car. Go check it out.”
“Can’t hurt to try.”
Vertea swam into the first car of the train.
Left alone, Parang nervously swallowed and reached into the blood fog.
Thud—
Something touched her hand.
As she fumbled to confirm the shape, it turned out to be a skull.
Nothing was felt beneath the neck, but fortunately, a dive would be possible.
Parang lifted the skull.
The blood fog followed suit.
She carefully transferred it to a bag pulled from her suit.
If she delivers this to Silo, they will separate the blood and send the skull to Xiao.
#
Meanwhile, Vertea.
She entered the first car.
Much like the gas stove under the Hong Kong Hive, the inside of the train’s first car looked nothing like a “train” at all.
The interior of the first car was a cave. Thick boulders filled the train so much that the actual internal space was only about half of what could be seen from the outside.
The interior color was, unlike before, a very dark and deep blue. It was just enough to barely make out the silhouette of the object in front of her.
Woooo—
As Vertea activated her skill, her eyes transformed into a red and black reverse view.
In this state, Vertea was no different from a living super-high-performance radar.
As she carefully surveyed her surroundings, something caught her eye.
It wasn’t an artifact.
In the center of the first car, an alien space was crammed full of limbs.
Huge arms extended out from the chaotic pile of rocks.
Countless gigantic white arms remained stiff and unmoving, sprawling from the floor, the walls, and the ceiling towards one direction.
It was a Monster Fish.
Its name can be described as Brachium. In Latin, it means “arm”.
What a straightforward name it was.
“Now I understand.”
No wonder there were suspiciously few Monster Fish in the first car; Brachium had taken up residence.
Here it was—the Brachium she had encountered before, but at that time, she didn’t have the luxury to study it.
In the center, where the countless arms were pointing, there were several arms holding up a gigantic white sphere.
“Wait, a sphere?”
This was Vertea’s first time seeing the Brachium holding a sphere. Normally, it should only have arms.
Vertea felt an overwhelming urge to ‘study’ the Brachium.
Brachium was an extremely rare species of Monster Fish, seen only three times until now.
Moreover, it had appeared in a form never before witnessed.
It wouldn’t be strange if Vertea’s eyes turned wild.
But Vertea stopped herself.
She wanted to rush in and study it, but there were more urgent matters at hand.
Besides, wasn’t that the Monster Fish Parang was supposed to use in tomorrow’s broadcast? Given its behavior, this specimen was likely the last Monster Fish left in this compartment.
If she were to ‘research’ it herself, it would cause major disruptions to Parang’s broadcast tomorrow.
Vertea exhibited superhuman patience, resisting the temptation.
Soon enough, she managed to find a necklace adorned with a green jewel, lying alone a little distance away from the Brachium.
Next to it was a pile of flesh.
Using her skill, Vertea pierced through the inside of the flesh pile, revealing a severely crushed corpse.
Since it lacked the magical stone, it seemed Brachium had already devoured it.
Vertea felt chills running down her arms as she exited.
#
“Did you find it?”
Parang asked Vertea as she emerged from the first car, and Vertea held up the green necklace.
“I finished the search roughly. But…”
“Hmm.”
Vertea trailed off, and Parang nodded, noting that the necklace in Vertea’s hand was already half-destroyed.
The jewel that had been embedded was shattered; only about one-fourth of its original size remained, the chain was severed and dangled, and the beautiful adornments were all warped.
“It was already in this state when I found it. There was only the Brachium nearby.”
“The Brachium? On the train?”
“Yeah.”
The Brachium. Parang pondered.
Certainly, if it’s the Brachium, it should make for great broadcast content. Just its appearance is stunning. It’s not grotesque yet maintains a sense of horror, perfectly capturing the feeling of the mysterious deep sea.
Why the Brachium set up shop here remains unknown, but pondering the reasons behind happening events is futile.
And what’s more important than the Brachium residing on the train?
A divine artifact has been destroyed.
It was highly likely that it was destroyed somewhere beneath Hawaii.
Though the Brachium is strong, it shouldn’t be able to break a divine artifact.
Parang gazed at the green necklace.
This time, unlike during departure, she discerned what this was immediately.
‘Evidence.’
Artifact, evidence.
The strongest druid, Alexandra Carmen. She carried this artifact with her since the latter half of the novel.
At this point, Han Siwoo Hunter’s crafting ability felt nearly at the human limit, leading to all kinds of bizarre artifacts.
And the ability of ‘Evidence’ is ‘Sharing of Memories’.
It allows the user to share their memories with others or, conversely, share others’ memories back to themselves.
As the plot progressed, Han Siwoo Hunter faced a situation where he had to sacrifice memories, and he created this artifact, naming it ‘Evidence’, and entrusted it to Alexandra.
Later, when Han Siwoo Hunter completely lost his memories and was thrown into chaos, Alexandra, who could not bear to hurt him, took on all his attacks while approaching him.
The scene where Alexandra, bleeding from wounds all over her body, looked into Han Siwoo’s eyes and said “I love you,” while placing ‘Evidence’ against his chest is still counted among the most iconic scenes of the novel.
Thanks to that, at one point, the fandom was ablaze with the “Alexandra Fairytale.”
Parang also remembered this moment fondly.
Pure love blooming amidst a harem.
So it truly does exist.
As she held the moving evidence of love, a notification window appeared before Parang.
[Warning: The condition of the artifact is unstable. Malfunctions or destruction may occur upon use of this artifact.]
“Hmm.”
It seemed necessary to take this to Silo first.
They would likely repair it or do something with it.
Thus, what Parang obtained: Alexandra’s skull, blood, and ‘Evidence’.
The most significant being the skull. With this, she could come one step closer to uncovering the death of the Slayers.
The least significant would be the blood. While the blood could potentially help extract Alexandra’s skills, it would do Parang no good at all.
After all, Alexandra is a druid.
Thinking back, she could recall a few skills, such as:
[Blessing of the Earth Mother (S)]
[Can be activated when standing on the ground blessed by oneself.]
[Gives powerful vitality to up to twenty designated individuals.]
[Blooming Flowers (S)]
[Can be activated when there are seeds planted in the vicinity.]
[Instantly causes those seeds to grow into the desired kind.]
[Fortress of Nature (S)]
[Can be activated when standing on the ground and not moving for two hours.]
[Grants the body of a deity (S)]
[Must complete a designated ascension ritual.]
[Gains the body of a deity.]
……
……
Thinking about it, it seems that Alexandra suffered the most upon coming to the sea.
Unlike the other Slayers, she truly became as helpless as an ordinary person the moment she entered the water.
In the case of the body of a deity, even Parang didn’t understand what it was exactly. The novel needed to describe it.
Even Silo still claims they’re researching what the body of a deity is, still questioning if it’s truly that.
It simply sounds like the status window is just called the body of a deity, and that’s that.
In any case, the takeaway is that Alexandra’s skills are utterly useless to Parang.
After all, as a druid, there’s no overlap in skills with Parang.
It’s quite unfortunate for Parang.
The same applies to all of Oceanos.
Regardless, Parang and Vertea headed to the surface with their spoils.
While climbing up, she received a text on her phone.
Thinking it was from Silo, it turned out to be from Russell.
Russell Bright: “Who am I?”
Russell Bright: (A selfie holding up a B-grade hunter certificate with a thumbs up.)
Russell Bright: “B-grade hunter Russell Bright.”
The last time, he mentioned he was taking the B-grade hunter exam.
The result announcement date must be today.
With that, Parang could no longer hold back.
Yu Parang: I see. So you became a B-grade, huh?
Yu Parang: In that case, Elvira Petrov, Vertea Pavron, Xiao. You are now expelled from Oceanos.
Yu Parang: We don’t need a C-grade like you in our B-grade hunter party.
Of course, their ranks mean nothing, but that’s exactly why it’s so much fun to tease.
At this point, it has become almost a customary event.
Elvira Petrov: Go on, stir things up.
Xiao: Just watch me!
Parang chuckled satisfactorily, shutting off her phone.
Vertea looked at her with an expression of utter disbelief.
“Are you having fun?”
“Huh? I can’t hear what a C-grade has to say.”
Parang swam away from Vertea at an incredible speed.
Vertea, who was momentarily shocked, quickly comprehended Parang’s recent words and chased after her.
“Hey!! I could also get a B-grade if I set my mind to it!!”
“Then hurry up and get it!!”
Parang’s distant voice couldn’t help but sound infuriating.
It was all her doing; what could be done?
That night, Parang slept soundly, and upon returning to France, Vertea immediately filled out and submitted her application to take the B-grade hunter exam for the 11th time.
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