Throne of the North.

Chapter 779 Whispers in the Shadows of the Deep Sea: The Authority of Knowledge Has Been Stolen?

Lord Ryan was laughing, while Liv was holding her head in distress.

In her search, there was nothing left in all of Mikragard that could buy a moment of freedom.

"No, how can I do this? Does this mean I'm destined to lose next time?"

The woman, enraged by her own powerlessness, grabbed the sailor beside her and beat him up.

"No, there must be other forces involved."

Liv said this, firmly believing that the world could not be so weak, and that there must be a powerful force that she had not yet discovered that could deal with the raven ship, but her senses could not detect it.

Like those witch crows, the ancient wizards have lived to this day, and Liv knows very little about them, only that the masters of each island are very powerful.

"I will find it."

The pirate ship turned and headed towards the distant sea. The world of Mikragard is vast, unlike other worlds. Here, there is no snow or wind, and the ocean occupies almost 100% of the area. The sea area where she and Ryan fought was a very small part of it.

"Captain, do you remember that place?"

The sailor, who had been brutally beaten by the enraged Liv, explained that the reason he was beaten was because he had given an extra gold coin when he paid for his life.

He spoke cautiously at this moment, also in an attempt to atone for his mistake. He knew very well that the captain, who valued time and money immensely, might use this incident as bait to throw him out to feed the fish next time.

Liv frowned upon hearing this. She knew the place the sailor was referring to, but she instinctively loathed that dark sea.

Mikragard, this world, also has problems.

Moreover, even though Liv theoretically has a sense of every corner of the world, there is a place she cannot touch.

That was several years ago, when Liv first raided the island and was severely punished by the island's ravens.

The wizards knew the significance of Liv's birth, so naturally they wouldn't kill her.

Despite being completely outmatched, Liv was not discouraged. Just like her repeated conflicts with Ryan, Liv tried to use his strength to deal with the witch ravens.

So she appeared for the first time in that sea area that was completely out of her mind. The pitch-black sea was a place where even sunlight could not penetrate. The murky water was filled with all kinds of terrifying monsters. All she could see were sea monsters that violated the marine ecosystem.

Most importantly, elsewhere, Liv could easily know what treasures were buried beneath the sea, but in that dark sea, she could sense nothing; there, she was just like everyone else.

Feeling anxious and uneasy, Liv searched for a while without success. The sea monster was unaffected by her and could not be used against the witch raven, so Liv left.

Furthermore, they have not approached that sea area for several years.

"If there is anything in Mikragard that can surpass the 'Nagel's Law' that summons the son of Herimr, it can probably only exist in that dark sea."

The sailor said this, and Liv did not deny it; she thought so too.

"But there, we will lose all our advantages and can only search blindly like a blind man."

Liv hesitated. She didn't like that feeling because the sea was vast, and her pirate ship was as insignificant as dust compared to it.

She disliked the aimless search process because it wasted a lot of time and yielded nothing. Wasting time was something Liv found utterly repulsive.

"Perhaps a few years have passed, and things have changed there."

"Captain, you have searched the entire ocean but have not found the Golden Sea. Perhaps it is hidden there."

The sailor said this, and Liv nodded, then stood up and decisively gave the order.

"Forward, into the chaotic seas."

That was the name Liv gave it. The place was truly chaotic, not only in terms of ecology but also in the blurring of laws. She could use storm magic, but there she could only create a gentle breeze, and the magical elements in the void were completely beyond her control.

The pirate ship's method of movement was quite unique. Despite being a great distance from the chaotic seas, it emerged from the depths of the ocean in just one day.

The sails fluttered and roared, and countless water vapors crashed against them. In front of the pirate ship, there was no longer bright sunshine, but a sea filled with black winds, dark clouds, and lightning.

The sea there was raging and turbulent, unlike the stagnant world here. In the waves, Liv saw a sea monster covered in armor fighting another sea monster. In the end, Liv won and tore her opponent into pieces, but she did not eat.

She had always disliked this place because everything here, except for the seawater itself, violated the normal order.

But Liv had no other choice now, and she slowly piloted the pirate ship into this dark world.

A sense of danger permeated the surroundings. A blurry shadow flashed by beneath the water around the ship, but it did not attack. On the pirate ship, Liv sensed a tranquility that was completely different from the other side of the sea.

She steered the ship forward. For some reason, after entering this sea area, Liv felt a subtle force calling to her. It was far away, yet it guided her in the right direction.

"Come, come, come to me, and I will give you the power to overcome everything."

In the depths of the ocean, where light is swallowed, countless waves surged. These waves posed no obstacle to the pirate ship; on the contrary, their appearance was like a straight path suddenly appearing on the ocean, with all the waves struggling and lingering on either side of this path.

"I will grant you the authority over the sea, so that you may have the power to stir up storms."

The enormous sea monster leaped into the air. It was a huge purple shark, its surface covered with various deep, groove-like scars, the marks of its battles. In this sea, the appearance of this purple shark seemed quite normal compared to the other sea monsters.

Like a carp leaping, it soared over the pirate ship, launched from one side, and crashed down on the other, stirring up countless streams of water.

"I will give you everything you desire, and countless riches are coming your way."

A mysterious call gave Liv direction in this unfathomable ocean. As she moved forward, the sea monsters gradually disappeared from the surrounding waters. In this ocean, there was an area that even the sea monsters had never set foot in.

"Come, let's make a deal. I will give you power and I will give you money."

The pirate ship came to a stop. In the turbulent sea, the water was as still as the bright ocean outside, unmoved by the raging winds.

Liv stared at the sea, certain that the will calling her resided beneath it.

She was not stupid; on the contrary, she was shrewd and cunning. She glanced back at the few sailors on the ship, whose eyes were glazed over and who were drooling.

They heard the call, but it was clear that it was a call directed at Liv, and even if the sailors were only affected by the aftershocks, they were not qualified to remain rational and clear-headed in Her presence.

The fact that I am still alive is all thanks to His deliberate care and Liv's protection.

Liv was special; standing on the deck, she shouted towards the ocean outside:

What kind of power can you give me?

"The power to defeat your enemies, I will grant you the power to also have a master."

He responded, and ripples spread across the sea, as if some enormous creature was emerging from the deep sea towards the surface.

"I want more money."

"Of course, I will bestow upon you all the riches of the ocean."

Liv nodded, but didn't agree immediately. Instead, she continued to ask:

"What if your power isn't strong enough? I can no longer afford to buy freedom. Is the money you give me enough to buy me back?"

"We will sign the oldest contract ever."

Liv's expression showed struggle, as an extremely mysterious force tried to awaken her, but a shadow flashed across the deep sea, and Liv raised her head once again.

She can remain clear-headed and rational in the face of the power of a great being, but only to a limited extent. Her special nature allows her to be cared for, but it cannot shield her from all malice.

"Ok."

"However, I need a balance between money and power. If you can give me enough power, you must ensure that the money you give me is commensurate with that power."

Liv agreed to a pact with a great being, signing it with her own soul, but until the very end she didn't know what price she would have to pay for this pact.

Of course, this is on the premise that the power granted to her by this great being is sufficient to fulfill the purpose of the contract.

The pirate ship inexplicably left the chaotic sea and returned to the sunny ocean. A strong wind blew, and Liv's mind cleared. She turned around and looked at the dark sea with great confusion.

"What kind of agreement did I make with Him? Damn it, did I sell myself without asking for a single penny?"

She couldn't remember, and that's why she was annoyed.

She suspected that the will deep within the chaotic seas was trying to steal her time and her money.

However, Liv couldn't care less about that right away. Her restored senses made her realize once again that her wealth was being stolen.

"Damn thief!"

The pirate ship roared through the giant waves and reappeared before Ryan. Seeing the ship return, Ryan stood up, his expression turning serious. He had sensed it.

The spiritual realm allowed him to perceive the aura of great beings with unparalleled clarity. His red pupils became crystal clear, and his unique vision transformed the world before him into a sky and earth composed of countless lights. At this moment, in this vision, Liv's body opposite him was surrounded by layers upon layers of pitch-black mist. Ryan felt a stinging pain in his soul simply by looking at her; it was the price to pay for disrespecting a great being.

With his eyes returning to normal, Ryan finally revealed his anger.

"Damn it, is a god trying to steal this follower from me?"

Ryan was dissatisfied. He had been hunting for so many days, capturing and releasing Liv, just to make her his follower. Now, a god wanted to steal his peach?

Are they taking advantage of Lord Ryan's lack of strength?
It just so happens that in this world, it's unavoidable to oppose that great being. It's not bad to get a feel for his power beforehand.

According to the ravens, this is just a projection left in Mikragard by a great being. So, what Liv can control must be a part of the power of this projection, right?
I don't know what it looks like.

"It seems you've enlisted the help of a great being. So, how does He intend to assist you?"

Ryan spoke to Liv without the slightest fear in his voice.

"Don't forget, this is your last chance."

Almost as soon as he finished speaking, hundreds of huge whirlpools appeared around Ryan. The appearance of the whirlpools caused the ship to tremble and rock incessantly. As the sea grew darker, the huge shadow beneath the surface also stretched its tentacles out onto the surface.

They were indeed tentacles, more than a hundred tentacles of various sizes and lengths exceeding one hundred meters, appearing like bamboo shoots all around the Raven Ship.

One side of the red tentacles was covered with black suckers. With each suck and movement, it tore black spatial rifts in the void. At the tip of the tentacles, the gaping maw of a man-eating flower opened, its sharp teeth gleaming with a terrifying cold light.

boom! ! !
A tentacle slammed down toward the raven ship, and the sailboat's rudder swung wildly just to avoid the crushing blow.

Dodging once didn't make Ryan's expression much better. There were hundreds of tentacles here, and they weren't immobile. The main body of the creature was always wandering in the depths of the ocean, making it impossible for the tentacles on the surface to catch it.

Some crashed down, while others lunged at the Raven Ship like giant pythons. Brand, alone, was no match for the overwhelming force. The Raven Ship of the Blue Sea Islands finally suffered heavy damage after numerous battles with Liv.

"Damn it, what kind of monster is this, an octopus monster?"

Ryan's expression was grave. From the moment he saw so many tentacles over a hundred meters long, he knew that the Raven Ship was no match for them. It wasn't a difference in combat strength, but rather the environment.

Once the Raven Ship is destroyed and the soldiers fall into the water, they will have no chance to fight back. It will only be a matter of time before the entire army is wiped out. Perhaps only he and Brand, the two legends, will have a chance to escape.

He could open the dimensional portal right now, but if he did, all his plans against Liv would be ruined.

"Shake people!"

Without hesitation, Ryan had no intention of engaging in direct combat with these tentacles; instead, he planned to call for reinforcements.

How do you call for backup?
Ryan entered the captain's cabin, and amidst the violent shaking, he drew his sword and slashed at the parchment on the table, which possessed extraordinary magical power.

The ship came from the Blue Sea Islands, belonged to the flock of witch ravens, and from the first moment Ryan saw it, he sensed that it was alive.

Regardless of what it is, this ship is definitely always under the control of the crows in the Blue Sea Islands.

Those ravens, their eyes can even detect fluctuations in the dimensional gate, so is it difficult for them to know that there is movement here?
Ryan growled in a low voice:
"Come out! I've drawn out the essence of that divine projection. Now is a good opportunity to weaken Him."

"You don't want to face Him at his peak in the end, do you?"

The table was cleaved in two by Ryan's sword, but the parchment remained completely undamaged.

From the void came the cawing of crows.

And so, on the turbulent sea, black crows appeared one after another. No one could tell how they appeared, whether they flew or crossed the void.

Six wise crows perched on the treetops floating on the sea, their intelligent eyes fixed on the enormous tentacle extending from the surface.

“Use your methods to cut off these tentacles. They are separate from the main body. Cutting off the tentacles means cutting off the connection with Him.”

Ryan shouted loudly, and the ravens nodded. A magnificent wizard tower appeared in the sea. Ryan was thinking of helping them out. Not to mention his legendary power, he should be able to kill a dozen or twenty tentacles without any problem.

But the crows did not give him that chance. In fact, to prevent him from standing on the other side, dense tree roots and vines grew again on the sea, surrounding the crow ship.

At the bottom of the crow ship, roots sprouted from the old tree, connecting to the vast root system.

The tree roots, stretching for miles, gave Ryan a chilling feeling; he sensed a surging tide of magic hidden within them.

That damned raven, Kledal, his source of magic isn't inside the wizard's tower at all, but rather stored within these countless tree roots.

The Wizard Tower is not the Mage Tower, so the source of stored magic is different, which Ryan could understand. However, he never realized how much magic a thousand-year-old thing had accumulated over such a long period of time!

"Damn it, everyone, get back here!"

Ryan immediately ordered the dimensional portal to open wide, and all the stag servants and the sailors on the ships were to pass through the portal to the Frozen Territory to avoid the unstable energy there, which was equivalent to a nuclear bomb.

He himself stayed on the battlefield with Brand, watching the battle of the six ravens.

These former wizards, Kledal, have fallen from their legendary status due to the world's problems. They are at the peak of the Saint Realm. From this perspective, they are no match for any of the tentacles, let alone severing them.

However, the enemies of those deep-sea tentacles are not the ravens after the war between gods and planes, but wizards who have lived for countless years and possess a vast amount of knowledge.

They knew they were weak, and they knew who their enemy was. They had already planned how to fight the projection of that god.

That is—pure energy bombardment!!!

The magic stored up over thousands of years poured out wildly, accompanied by countless self-destructive methods created by the ravens over a long period of time, relentlessly bombarding the tentacles.

Tentacles fell onto the sea surface, and like gold, they strangely failed to sink below the surface.

Ryan witnessed firsthand how the tree roots, spanning a hundred miles, began to wither from the edges. Once the roots, which stored magical energy, were depleted of their nourishment, all the energy was converted into a means of severing and killing the tentacles.

This was the work of Kledar, one of the ravens. The remaining ravens in the Blue Sea Islands were not as old as him, but they were just as terrifying. Ryan even saw... several islands float brazenly onto this battlefield, then stand up and transform into towering island behemoths, wrestling with each other on the sea surface.

Ryan saw the difference between wizards and magicians: magicians rely entirely on magic, but wizards do not.

"These islands, are they the Le Cordon Bleu Islands?"

Ryan gasped in astonishment as an island behemoth exploded with a deafening roar. It couldn't withstand the pounding of a few tentacles. The tree roots on the sea surface acted like blood vessels, providing the island behemoth with enormous energy, making its explosion as dazzling as the twinkling stars in the night sky.

To reiterate, among these methods and techniques, there aren't many that rival legends; the constant severing of tentacles relies entirely on sheer quantity.

Just as a legend cannot kill all the soldiers on a battlefield of 100,000 regular soldiers to win, if neither side retreats, the legend will surely die. The only difference is how many soldiers the legend can keep alive until the end.

These tentacles are not powerful enough to be comparable to more than a hundred legendary ones.

However, they did not run away, giving the crows the opportunity to overwhelm the elephant with sheer numbers.

After several hours of continuous bombardment, the world finally became quiet. The dead ocean returned to calm once again, and huge octopus tentacles floated on the surface of the sea as if they were made of foam.

The ravens, including Kledar, landed on the raven ship. Their bodies remained unchanged, as they were, after all, vessels created by the gods, but their eyes looked weary.

Looking at the more than one hundred enormous, still instinctively thrashing dead tentacles on the sea surface, Kredahl's voice was far from calm.

"He actually devoured and stole knowledge; He possessed the power of 'wisdom'."

Mikragard is a great being with a very powerful divine authority. The ravens believe that the source of knowledge, wisdom, and extraordinary power all come from Him.

Therefore, as citizens of this world, they can master extraordinary magical elements and, through His authority, open a glimpse into the ocean of knowledge.

But now they discover that, besides themselves, these raven spirits, there is another great being who also possesses such authority.

Even if it's just a trace, it should still belong to the very source of authority of the Mikragad gods.

"How could this happen?"

Everything concerning deities is unknown knowledge beyond the grasp of the raven spirits.

As the 'librarians' of this ocean of knowledge, what they find most incomprehensible is the world outside the library.

The raven seemed to have lost its mind. Ryan blinked and said, as if rubbing salt into a wound:
"The only way for a god to acquire the authority of another god is to devour him."

"You're not thinking that the divine essence that the great beings of your world painstakingly separated might have been devoured by this god, are you?"

"If that's the case, then you're probably not going to get the other half of the divine origin you're waiting for."

Lord Ryan doesn't like to add flowers to brocade; he only likes to add frost to a snowy mountain.

The goal, of course, is to win over these ancient relics who have lived for who knows how many years.

(End of this chapter)