Chapter 311 (Patreon)

The vessel groaned like a living thing caught in a bad dream, its wooden frame creaking and shuddering as each wave struck from a different angle, never in rhythm, never giving the crew a chance to adjust. The sea had no pattern here—only force. Only violence.

Mik rolled with the motion of the deck, one arm hooked around a loose rope as his body shifted back and forth with every swell. “Captain,” he called out, voice strained, half-lost to the wind, “I think they’re done for.” Another wave slammed against the hull, sending a spray of saltwater across his face. He spat, blinking hard. “Uninspected dungeons are already bad enough, but underwater?” He shook his head, jaw tightening. “If that dungeon is even mid-level… or worse…” He didn’t finish. He didn’t need to.

Jam let out a grunt as he wedged himself tighter into a narrow gap between crates and railing, bracing his bulk against the chaos of the sea. “I’m with Mik. Captain,” he added, voice lower but no less certain. “Forget them—we might not even make it out of this.” The boat lurched violently, and he cursed under his breath, gripping the wood harder. “This thing wasn’t built for this kind of water. Another few hours of this and we’ll be joining them, dungeon or not.”

Blitz didn’t answer immediately.

He stood near the helm, boots planted wide, one hand gripping the worn wood as his eyes stayed fixed on the shifting horizon. The sunlight above was bright—too bright for a sea this angry. It painted everything in sharp contrast: the white crests of waves, the dark troughs between them, the fragile silhouette of their vessel caught in between.

“They’re not dead,” Blitz muttered at last, more to himself than to the others.

Mik snorted, though it came out weaker than he intended. “You betting your life on that, Captain?”

Blitz’s jaw tightened.

“I’ve seen people,” he said, voice steady now, cutting through the noise of the storm and the groaning ship. “All kinds. There’s only two types in this world.” He tapped the side of his head with a calloused finger. “The ones who sink, bottom people like us… and the ones who don’t like those who were born as a noble.”

Another wave crashed. The ship tilted hard, forcing all three men to shift with it.

Blitz didn’t move from his spot.

“They’re not like us,” he continued, gaze distant, thoughtful. “Did you see how they carried themselves? The way they talked? The way they didn’t even hesitate throwing gold around like it was copper scraps?” His lips curled slightly. “Those aren’t people who die easy.”

Jam frowned, adjusting his grip as the ship rocked again. “Or maybe they’re just rich idiots.”

Blitz let out a short breath, something between a chuckle and a scoff. “Maybe.” He glanced briefly at the hatch leading below deck—the direction where Kana had disappeared beneath the sea. “But idiots don’t walk into danger like that without something backing them up.”

The wind howled louder for a moment, whipping through the sails and rattling every loose thing on the vessel. For a second, none of them spoke.

Then Blitz straightened slightly, rolling his shoulders as if shaking off the weight of the thought.

“But I’m not dying for them,” he added, tone hardening. “We had a deal.” His eyes flicked toward the position of the sun, measuring time with the instinct of someone who had spent half his life on the sea. “At evening. If they’re not back by then, we leave.”

Mik nodded quickly, relief flashing across his face. “Glad we agree on that.”

“Yeah,” Jam muttered. “No gold’s worth drowning for.”

Blitz didn’t respond. His gaze drifted again—not to the waves this time, but to the space where the sea churned just a little differently. The place where Kana had vanished.

There was a pause.

A longer one this time.

“I’m only curious about one thing…” Blitz said slowly, almost absentmindedly.

Mik groaned. “Now’s not the time for curiosity, Captain.”

Blitz ignored him.

His fingers tapped against the wooden deck—once, twice, three times—before going.

“Why go down there?” he murmured. “There are dozens of dungeons near the Port city. Easy access. Safer routes. Better-known paths.” His eyes narrowed slightly, something sharper creeping into his expression. “Yet they chose that one.”

Another wave rolled beneath them, but this time, Blitz didn’t sway with it. He stood firm, as if rooted in place by the thought forming in his mind.

“They paid without hesitation,” he continued. “Young, but carrying gold like seasoned adventurers. Strong enough to make that kind of decision… reckless enough to follow through with it. Are they young adventurers? They didn’t show off their badge though.”

Jam shifted uncomfortably. “You’re overthinking it.”

“Am I?”

Blitz’s gaze sharpened, a slow realization settling in.

“Underwater dungeon…” he muttered. “Hard to reach. Harder to survive. No casual person with diving skills goes that deep unless there’s a reason.”

His fingers curled slightly against the deck.

“Something valuable has to be down there.”

Mik blinked. “You mean treasure?”

Blitz didn’t answer right away.

A faint grin tugged at the corner of his mouth, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Not just treasure,” he said quietly. “Something worth the risk.”

Another wave struck.

The ship groaned.

….

King Rut’er Lez stood close now—too close—his presence pressing down on Kana like the weight of the sea itself had followed her into the dungeon. The air thickened with every second he remained unmoving, as if the world struggled to breathe in his presence. His tendril-like beard was moving slowly, almost thoughtfully, and when he spoke, the sound seemed to come from everywhere at once, low and steady, carrying something that did not belong to this world.

“My existence… my responsibility… the reason I was born…” His voice lingered, each word was heavy as if  with something older than himself. “Is to protect the weak. The young. The newborns of my race… of my country..”

He lifted his hand and stared at it, turning it slightly, as though seeing it for the first time in centuries. Then his fingers curled, forming a fist—tight, controlled, restrained.

“And yet here I am,” he continued, quieter now, though somehow more suffocating. “My existence is reduced to this… to kill those I protected once...”

Even the flickering torchlight seemed to hesitate, its glow dimming for a breath, as if unwilling to interrupt something sacred… or broken. Kana couldn’t help but be amazed even with the death looming before her. The dungeon boss had its backstory and seemed… it was true as if it had happened.

He tilted his head slightly, red eyes settling onto Kana with unsettling focus. “Hmm. I speak more than I should.” A faint pause followed, almost reflective. “Perhaps it is because you understand me… or perhaps it has simply been too long.” His gaze didn’t waver. “More than a hundred years since anyone has stood before me. Perhaps, a thousand years since then. Pardon me for my rumbling.”

Kana felt it then—not mercy, not kindness—but something close to recognition. A soldier seeing another before the end.

“Do not hate me, young ones,” he said at last. “I was placed here for one purpose… to kill those who enter… and ensure none leave. I also hate myself… No.. I don’t feel anything anymore…”

Kana’s chest tightened. Her thoughts scattered, grasping desperately for something—anything—that could stall what was coming. Words, questions, even lies. If he could think, if he could speak, then maybe—just maybe—there was still a thread to pull, a way to delay the inevitable.

She opened her mouth—

—but the world moved first.

He vanished.

No windup. No warning. One moment he stood before them, the next he was already in motion, space collapsing under his will as his sword carved downward in a clean, merciless arc aimed straight for her.

Kana’s body reacted before her mind could catch up. Her arms moved, trembling but obedient, dragging her curved sword up to meet the strike. Pain flared instantly through her forearms, sharp and deep, the memory of fractured bones roaring back to life as if the last blow had never ended.

She tried to brace. Tried to hold. But doubt seeped in, cold and suffocating, coiling around her thoughts like a tightening chain.

Her arms wouldn’t hold.

Her body wouldn’t hold.

She wouldn’t hold.

And in that thin, fragile space between realization and impact, her mind slipped—unraveling, reaching backward without permission.

Sunlight.

Laughter.

The wide, open paths of Saltrain Village.

When they were running freely, their voices were bright, untouched by the weight of survival and responsibility before they awakened. Faces she hadn’t seen in so long, yet remembered with painful clarity—older ones who guided them, younger ones who clung to their sleeves. The quiet warmth of the orphanage. Nights where danger felt distant. Suri’s mother. Her own. Memories, soft and fleeting, yet unbearably heavy.

Kana gulped hard, her grip tightening just a little more on the hilt, even though she already knew.

It wouldn’t matter.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Not to the creature.

To them. To everyone she had pulled into this path. To Suri and Boris.

They would be next and it was because of her. A bitter, almost distant thought surfaced.

So this is how it ends. I will die again.

And still—

The same ending.

The sword fell.

Closer.

And closer.

An inch from her head. She couldn’t move. Couldn’t block. Couldn’t even flinch. Couldn’t react. Everything was too late.

And then—

She blinked. The world broke.

It didn’t slow down but paused.

The descending sword stopped mid-air, its edge frozen just before it could split her apart. Dust hung suspended around her, each particle caught in place as if time itself had forgotten how to continue. Even the crushing pressure that filled the room froze with it, locked in place, unable to advance or retreat.

Silence fell.

Not the quiet of a resting world—but the silence of something interrupted.

Kana’s breath caught, though she didn’t remember holding it. Her heart beat loudly in her chest—once, twice—each heartbeat the only thing still moving in a world that had come to a complete and impossible halt.

Her eyes widened slowly, disbelief creeping in.

This wasn’t survival. This wasn’t luck.

This—

Was wrong. Did she die already?

And somewhere deep inside her, beneath the fear and the shock, a single thought surfaced, steady and undeniable. This wasn’t supposed to happen or was she already in the afterlife? She couldn’t move her body after all.

Post note:

Hope no one believes Captain Blitz's conclusion.Some of Kana’s secrets will be revealed soon….1st chap of the week.

Hope you enjoy the chap! 🙂

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