Subscriber of the Gods Episode 248
Episode 248. Underwater City
Ethan left the palace and headed straight to the Vatican.
“His Holiness Pope Frederick is currently out of town. I am truly sorry.”
The Vatican, which can be seen as the highest institution of the Holy Light Church, was, of course, located within the capital.
Ethan went to the Vatican with a letter of introduction from the Emperor, but the Pope was absent.
The Cardinal gave Ethan an apologetic look.
“Do you happen to know where His Holiness the Pope has gone? I must meet him.”
“hmm.”
The cardinal hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
“Ethan Wickes has come bearing His Majesty the Emperor’s decree and has also made a large donation to the Holy Light Order. Judging by his reputation and the honorary title of Archbishop, I will tell you where His Holiness has gone.”
The reputation built up to now.
donation.
And the emperor’s edict.
These three things created a definite synergy.
‘It’s been worth it to build up a lot of fame.’
It was rewarding to build a reputation in a short period of time at the Ibeka Academy.
“His Majesty has now gone to Thousand White Lake to resolve the troubles of the underwater city.”
‘You went to Thousand White?’
There are several large lakes on the continent. One of them, Thousand White Lake, is a large lake connected to the sea, and beyond the lake, there is an underwater city where fish people live.
‘I think I know what’s going on.’
This underwater city is currently very small in size.
But it was originally very large, and fishermen who came out of the water often talked about that time.
“I guess I should go there first.”
* * *
The city the Pope headed to was Waterpia, an underwater city.
This Waterpia was a city sunken under the sea, connected to the giant lake, Thousand White Lake.
‘It is larger than most major cities.’
Waterpia, the underwater city where fishermen live, was once open to the land, but is now off-limits to outsiders.
‘There was an incident where the princess of the Mermen was murdered by a human.’
The angry king of Waterpia immediately tried to start a war with humans.
Fortunately, the situation was resolved through a conversation with the Emperor, but Waterpia stopped accepting outsiders from that day on.
‘This is a place where outsiders are prohibited from entering, so what happened?’
The cardinal simply said that the Pope had gone to Waterpia to prevent any trouble.
That’s all I can tell you.
‘hmm.’
Originally, various artifacts were needed to enter the underwater Waterpia.
‘I’ve already prepared everything.’
Ethan had been to Waterpia several times while working as a mepan.
At that time, Waterpia prohibited entry to outsiders, but Ethan, as a first-ranking believer of the Dawn Society, was able to enter the city with various supports.
‘The road was so difficult that I took a guide with me.’
Of course, by the time of his last visit, Ethan had also developed an eye for the birds and a perfect understanding of how to read the currents.
The flow of the sea.
‘The length keeps changing. You have to feel that changing flow.’
The guide who accompanied me when I first went to Waterpia said that if I wanted to find my way alone, I absolutely had to be able to feel the current.
Of course, at the time, Ethan didn’t know what he was talking about, but as time went on, he began to understand what it meant.
“no!”
“No, go to sleep!”
On the way to the lake.
There were people gathered at the entrance. They were making loud noises and even fighting, so it seemed like there was some trouble.
Ethan slowly approached her and listened.
“No, I told you you can’t go in now!”
“We can’t even get in right now, so do you think you, humans, can?!”
“No, we came here to help you guys, and this is how you treat us!?”
“We are a punitive force!”
“You can’t even enter the sea without a guide, so what kind of punitive force are you talking about! I can’t trust those humans!”
At the entrance, two groups of people with distinct characteristics were fighting each other.
One side was a group of knights in full plate armor, the other side were fishmen with pitchforks.
The fishermen were very angry and were waving the fins on their heads.
‘I heard that when you get really angry, you move around violently.’
I glanced over and saw that the group of people looked very angry.
“Are you scared of those monsters over there? Or are you scared of pirates? We’ll take care of that, I told you.”
“Bullshit! Do you know what has happened to our land? Do you not know that you are trying to deceive us with plausible words?”
“Huh! What kind of people are you! You’re going to regret it! I was trying to help you with what happened to your land, and now you’re throwing me away!?”
“Leave it! We don’t need your guidance either!”
“We can just go and find it ourselves.”
“This is our lake. Come in and have a look!”
‘Rumors seem to have spread quite a bit. They seem to be mercenaries, not knights. Perhaps they are hunters looking to make a killing there.’
Since the cessation of contact with the fishermen, many of the crafts they make have been sold at high prices.
It looks like he was going to Waterpia to loot under the pretext of helping.
The knights who had been fighting turned their heads, took out the artifacts from their bosoms, and threw them into the lake. Then the sailboat rose above the water.
Then, when the artifact was thrown, three sailboats that could fit about a dozen people came up and the mercenaries boarded them.
Ethan thought the fishermen would stop the mercenaries, but the fishermen actually looked at them with pitiful expressions.
“Okay, let’s go!”
The ship, which had set sail via the Wind Artifact, quickly headed toward the center of the lake.
‘You’re not stopping?’
Ethan watched the situation unfold for a moment. Soon, the fast-moving ship began to rock.
Krrrrrrrr-.
I hear the howling of a beast.
Bubbling.
Waves began to form on the overflowing lake.
“What, what is it?”
As the boat rocked wildly, the mercenaries on board stuck their heads out and looked into the lake. At the same time, a head popped out from under the bubbling water.
Crunch-!
One of the mercenaries was eaten by the monster.
And then.
Kururururung-!
The waters of the lake boiled and soon a giant head swallowed the sailboat.
Quaddududuk-!
The mercenaries on the sailboat disappeared without even a single scream.
“Uh… … Huh!?”
“What the heck… … Baal! Turn it back now! Turn the artifact back!”
But it was too late. In an instant, several giant monsters appeared and swallowed the rest of the sailboats.
Kkwaddeuk-!
The monsters that had swallowed the sailboat slid back under the water.
Soon the lake regained its calm as if nothing had happened.
The fishermen shook their heads at the sight.
“You idiots, do you think we’re not going in for nothing?”
“We also risked our lives and barely escaped.”
The fishermen sighed.
It was nice to see those damned guys, but it was only for a moment. Soon, the harsh reality set in for them.
“I don’t know what to do now.”
“We came here alive, but the other units might have died. It’s really… … unbelievable. Where on earth did those monsters come from… … .”
“Waterpia is probably under siege by something bigger and stronger than those guys. We may need to ask for help from other species besides humans. Humans are infinitely helpless underwater.”
The fishermen spoke as if appealing to the fishman with blue scales on his face.
“Besides, haven’t humans already committed great sins?”
“Yes, humans have committed great sins and owe us a debt. That’s why we are asking for help from humans. They have to repay that debt, so they can’t refuse our offer. We can’t go to another race to create a debt. We don’t know if they will help us.”
“… … .”
‘You came here to ask for help? Didn’t the Pope already leave?’
I heard that the fishermen who came out to ask for help each appeared to have formed a unit and come out onto land.
‘Then it could be that another unit took the Pope. They might not know since they couldn’t contact each other.’
Ethan approached them stealthily.
“Has something happened at the lake? I came here to fish, and since you guys are here, I was wondering if something happened.”
As Ethan approached with a friendly smile, the fishermen were momentarily surprised and wary of Ethan. They seemed not to notice him because he approached so quietly.
“… … Fishing probably won’t work. Go back. There are a lot of monsters in the lake.”
As the man took something out of his bosom and threw it into the lake, a monster smaller than the ones before jumped out, bit it, and disappeared.
“These are not ordinary monsters. They are very dangerous.”
“It looks like that.”
Ethan took the food out of his subspace pouch, then scattered it over the water like the fishmen had done.
“… … ?”
The fishermen watched Ethan’s actions with curiosity. As he sprinkled food, monsters started to swarm out.
Quaddududuk-!
A long monster leapt out of the lake. It glanced at Ethan for a moment, then went after Ethan instead of the food on the surface.
“human!”
A man looked at Ethan urgently.
“……uh?”
Ethan already had his sword in hand.
Dismissal-.
Ethan, holding the lightning-quickening Thunder Sword, aimed his sword at the monster that was gaping open.
Ethan Sword 1st Style
Frost Thunder
Very lightly.
Ethan swung his sword.
Crunch-!
But the monster swallowed Ethan faster than that.
The fishmen looked at the monster that had swallowed Ethan in confusion and immediately turned to the blue-scaled fishmen.
Their expressions seemed to be asking what should be done, whether we should save that human.
But the blue-scaled fish-man was wide-eyed and astonished.
“Hydroscale… …?”
“Already dead.”
“yes?”
“He’s already dead.”
Sling-.
The head of the monster that had swallowed Ethan was split in half. Then, with a tremendous noise, its long body split in a straight line.
“It’s a monster.”
Ethan landed lightly on the ground and swung his sword once.
As the monster’s body sank into the lake, other monsters began to eat it. Ethan looked at them and took his stance again.
Ethan’s Sword 2nd Form
Thunderstorm
Wheaaa …
Lightning shot out from Ethan’s sword.
“Kkiiiiiiiiik-!”
“Keeeeeeeeeek!”
With a scream, the monsters split in two floated to the surface of the water.
Ethan slowly lowered his sword and glanced at the man.
Wince!
The fisherman hiccuped in surprise at Ethan’s gaze.
“Actually, I’m planning to go to Waterpia.”
Ethan asked him politely.
“Can you help me?”
fantasy,