Chapter 1481 Emergency Repairs

Chapter 1481 Emergency Repairs

The Chain Breaker was assaulted by hurricane winds as it plummeted into the heart of the colossal whirlpool. Nephis had yet to run out of essence, so their fall was controlled... for now. However, that would change soon.

Sunny was still overwhelmed by the destruction of Aletheia's Island. Shaking off his reverie, he took a deep breath and forced himself to move. All across the flying vessel, deep shadows stirred and surged forward, turning into inky-black hands. The manifested shadows pulled on the ropes, unfurling the horizontal sails. Those sails extended from both sides of the ship and were meant to help it glide on the winds. At the same time, he nervously looked down. ...All Sunny could see was darkness. It was not the true darkness that his sight had never been able to penetrate. Instead, the abyssal chasm was simply so deep for him to see anything. 'Great...'

By now, the slopes of the vortex had almost turned vertical. It was as if the Chain Breaker was surrounded by a vast wall of dark water, its current so fast that its surface was like a blur. At first, the dreadful maw of the whirlpool was dozens of kilometers wide, but the further they descended, the narrower it became. Eventually, it was as if the Chain Breaker had entered a twisting vertical tunnel that was just a few kilometers in diameter. They were surrounded by absolute darkness, with only a scattering of lanterns illuminating the deck. It was like a small island of light in an ocean of nothingness. No one except for Sunny could see the spinning walls of the tunnel... which was, perhaps, for the best. He knew that if the ship touched the water, it would be torn apart by the tremendous pressure of the current.

'What the hell am I thinking? It's not for the best! Not at all!'

The Chain Breaker was falling vertically, for now, but it was only possible because Neph was still empowering its enchantments with her essence. Once her essence ran dry, they would have to move in a wide spiral along the watery walls of the tunnel to keep the ship balanced. Otherwise, it would be too easy for it to roll and overturn. By then, not seeing where the darkness ended, and the furious current began, would be lethal. Even worse, the tunnel was not strictly vertical. Looking down, Sunny could see it twisting and turning, like a descending tornado. He gritted his teeth. "Damnation..."

Could they even survive in this abyss without the Chain Breaker's enchantments?

He turned to look at the stern of the ship, where Nephis was struggling with the steering oars, but at that moment, Cassie's voice reached his ears:

"Sunny! Here!"

Soon, the large pieces had turned into smaller ones, and then were finally ground into fine dust inside one of the mortars. The stone dust was then mixed with the strange liquid stored inside the ceramic vessels... some of which turned out to be blood. Hopefully, that of Nightmare Creatures.

By the time they emerged from the cargo hold, Nephis was running out of essence, and the Chain Breaker was growing more and more unstable. Cassie hesitated for a moment, then pointed to the stern.

"Go! Help Neph!"

Sunny nodded and used Shadow Step to appear by Neph's side. Using his ability to see in the dark, he helped her guide the flying vessel into a spiraling descent. Nephis steered the ship, while Sunny played the role of a navigator. Cassie, meanwhile, crawled along the grooves carved into the deck of the Chain Breaker, feverishly drawing runes on the ancient wood. Essence poured out of her, making the runes glimmer slightly before being absorbed into the deck. The sorcerous ink created from the dust of the black stone disappeared without leaving a trace. Jet and Effie were helping her by carrying the amphorae containing ink and handing her brushes — each one only lasted a dozen seconds or so, gradually dissolving into thin air. The flight of the Chain Breaker turned more and more unstable. Eventually, Nephis gritted her teeth and slumped slightly, the runic circle surrounding her growing dim.

The flying ship shuddered. With no more sorcery supporting it, it glided through the darkness, carried only by inertia and the wind pressure, which created a lifting force under the horizontal sails. Neph continued to hold the oars, trying her best to keep the Chain Breaker from plummeting into an uncontrollable fall. Standing by her side, Sunny uttered a silent curse. 'Which idiot thought that this was a good idea?'

Oh... it was him. He had thought so. The ancient vessel descended into the darkness, its speed increasing at a frightening rate. The angle of their descent was increasing, as well, slowly approaching the point where it would turn into a fatal nosedive. Some distance away, near the sacred tree, Cassie threw the remains of another dissolved brush away and raised a hand to receive a new one. Patches of skin on her delicate hands had begun dissolving as well, and fresh blood mixed with the sorcerous ink. 'Are we going to have to abandon the ship?'

Sunny had the Dark Wing and the Heavenly Burden in his soul arsenal. He could also temporarily turn into a crow. The other members of the cohort had their own Memories to help them if not fly, then at least glide. Theoretically, they could continue the descent using those...

But somehow, he did not think that they would survive the depths of the Great River without the impregnable hull of the Chain Breaker. The ancient vessel shuddered once again...

And then, the darkness was suddenly dispelled by a soft radiance. Raising his head, Sunny watched the sacred tree in stunned silence. Its leaves were shining with a pure, beautiful light. At the same time, the runic circle surrounding Nephis ignited once more, and their flight turned as smooth as it had been before... much smoother, even. Bathed in the radiance of the sacred tree, Cassie let out a tired sigh and slumped on the deck. Finally, the enchantment circuit of the Chain Breaker had been fully restored.