Shrouded Seascape

Charles struggled with the tentacled entity for quite a while until he finally came up with a plan. At his command, Bandages' thorny vines squirmed and grew rapidly within the tentacled entity.

Thanks to Bandages' vines, the tentacles of the tentacled entity became extremely sluggish. Charles took advantage of the entity's sluggishness to grab one of the vines behind it, which resembled a pull tab.

With the help of over a hundred tentacles summoned by Charles, the remaining crew members rushed to push the tentacled entity off. It took them quite a while to do so, but they eventually managed to pry off the tentacles that had enveloped the Narwhale's bow.

Having been pried off the Narwhale's bow, which it had engulfed, and under the influence of gravity, the tentacled entity rapidly plummeted into the darkness down below.

The strange abnormalities that had been wreaking havoc among the crew vanished as the tentacled entity disappeared down below. The crew members then collapsed on deck, gasping for air.

Charles wiped away the beaded sweat on his face and clapped. He swept his gaze across those sprawled out on the deck and said, "We're not down yet, so this isn't the time to rest. We have to patrol the ship and ensure that disgusting thing didn't leave anything behind."

There was one thing Charles didn't explicitly mention—he didn't want the Pope to ambush them again.

The fact that the Pope managed to find them despite the darkness' vastness meant that the Pope had to have left something on the ship to track them.

Otherwise, he couldn't have found them so easily.

The crew members began their patrol while the sailors under the boatswain's command started brainstorming ways to patch up the holes in the bow. The chaotic Narwhale was gradually returning to its previous calm.

"Squeak~ Squeak, squeak, squeak!" A mischief of colorful rats scurried to Charles' feet, anxiously crying out.

"Lily, what are they saying?" Charles asked instinctively. However, he heard no response despite waiting for a few seconds. Charles realized just then, and he frantically looked around with his heart sinking every passing second.

Even though Charles couldn't understand mice language, he realized what the mice were clamoring about just then. Lily was gone! She had been kidnapped by the Pope!

***

"J-Just you wait! Mr. Charles will definitely come and save me!" Lily exclaimed, warning the blond boy before her with tears in her eyes.

Hot tears streamed down Lylejay's face as he stared at the mouse on the table. He reached out to touch her with a look of excitement, but he quickly retracted his hand as if he were terrified of contaminating her.

Then, the blond boy knelt down with a pious look and pressed his forehead firmly on the ground. With a trembling voice, he said, "God! Your servant is incompetent! In order to find You, I spent too much time dealing with that mind-controlling monster! I am guilty of incompetence!"

Swann was tinkering with some machinery in a corner, and he revealed a hint of disdain on his face upon hearing the Pope's words. Afterward, his hands moved even faster.

Startled, Lily tiptoed to the edge of the table to stare at Lylejay, who was prostrating on the ground. Hugging her tail, Lily pondered briefly over her next move before cautiously saying, "I'm your god? Really? If I'm your god, then can you send me back and help us deal with that tentacled monster?"

Lylejay abruptly looked up, and his face showed so much joy that it looked eerie.

Lily retreated several steps at the sight.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot do that. You must wait patiently until I find a way to restore You to Your rightful place! Afterward, you can go wherever you want, and Your servants will follow You!"

Lily pursed her lips, and her expression looked quite awkward as she said, "I know that the Light God has resurrected me, but I'm really not Him. Please let me go back."

Lylejay shook his head, and his hand was trembling as he extended it toward Lily to stroke her ears gently. His face distorted in extreme delight.

"No, you're Him. You're not entirely Him, but you're Him. I can feel it. You're one of the seven colors that make up the Light God—the Green Light!"

"Green light? What are you talking about? I'm just Lily!" Lily exclaimed with an impatient look.

The Pope carefully cupped Lily in his palms, and he looked like he was holding the most fragile thing in the world as he stared at her with a pious gaze. Then, he spoke in a gentle voice, "God didn't tell me anything, but I can sense it. Actually, the seven colors are not united, and it was all because the Green Light was once corrupted."

"The Light God's predicament at the time was the result of the concerted effort of four entities," the Pope said. He sounded like he was confiding and narrating at the same time as he added, "One of the four entities was the traitorous Green Light. That is exactly why unsealing the Light God required the Light God's power.

"I must say, it was a perfect seal, and there was almost no way to remove it. However, God came up with His own method to save Himself. He found me. God chose me, and I spent the past hundred years trying to remove His restraints."

The Pope held Lily before his eyes, looking like he could never look enough at her. "When the seal was broken, the Green Light was exiled—exiled into your body—exiled to this perpetually dark and hopeless Subterranean Sea!"

Just then, the golden-haired boy briefly revealed an agonized look. He seemed to have recalled something terrifying, but he quickly concealed the terror on his face and continued, "The other six colors had truly disappeared, and they disappeared before me, but it's fine! You're still here. As long as you exist, they'll eventually return, and upon their return, my beloved God will return as well! Hahaha!"

Lily shook her head vigorously in the face of Lylejay's crazed look. She then protested loudly, "I'm not some Green Light! I'm just Lily! Mr. Charles will definitely come and save me!"

With that, Lily bared her fangs the size of a rice grain and bit the Pope's finger. Then, she kicked off of the table with her legs to propel herself away, but she immediately found herself suspended in mid-air. She flailed around to no avail.

"Be careful! You got to be really careful not to injure yourself," Lylejay looked extremely nervous.

Just then, Swann walked over with a row of machinery in tow. A smile tugged at his unsightly face, which made him appear even more unsightly.

"This can't continue, Your Holiness. There's no need to treat it so carefully. It's just a vessel, and it's like a pet. When a pet bites its owner, it should be disciplined. I'm sure a few beatings will straighten it out."

Lylejay stared blandly at Swann. The next moment, Swann clutched his neck and rolled on the ground in pain.

"She's my God! Absolutely no one can blaspheme my God! Consider yourself fortunate that you're still useful to me. Otherwise, I would have reduced you to nothing but a corpse long ago. Now, move! Set sail! We're leaving this cursed place and returning to the Subterranean Sea!"

As Swann stumbled away from him, the Pope turned to Lily once again. His eyes were full of utmost gentleness as he stared at Lily and said, "God… You are my everything. And I am not going to give up—never."