Lord of the Mysteries

The Black Tulip… Admiral Hell Ludwell… This is jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire… Aren’t we a little too unlucky? Floating in midair, Klein was the first to discover the approaching ship. He couldn’t help but turn his head to look down at Anderson, who was wielding his pitch-black sword and seriously observing the monster.

Anderson quickly returned the gaze in puzzlement. As he remained wary against the grayish-black flesh which could shoot out at any moment, he asked, “The look you are giving me is very strange. Did something happen again…”

Just as he said that, he reflexively shut his mouth and sensed something. With a leap, he dodged the monster’s splintered body which was making his fingernails rapidly grow. He quickly arrived at the other side of the ship.

As he straightened his back, Anderson suddenly hissed.

“Admiral Hell…”

He wasn’t a good person. As a pirate admiral who was infamous for killing indiscriminately, he didn’t have any psychological burdens when it came to earning profit by “fishing” in troubled waters.

Once he weighed the situation and realized that he could use the powerful monster to finish off Admiral of Stars and everyone on the Future while also receiving tremendous spoils of war, he would definitely take action!

My bad luck hasn’t decreased at all. It has only switched to a lump sum withdrawal? Anderson’s expression warped, it was a mystery on whether he was crying or laughing.

At the same time, the corresponding information surfaced in Klein’s mind.

Just the bounty placed on Admiral Hell Ludwell’s head by Loen alone had reached 55,000 pounds!

He was an extremely powerful member of the Seven Pirate Admirals, the one with the highest bounty among the Seven Pirate Admirals!

His flagship, the Black Tulip, didn’t have many pirates living on it. Most of the jobs were left to undead creatures or the spirit world creatures he controlled.

He killed indiscriminately, but he didn’t have a sick fetish for killing. All he did was seriously complete his job of sending living creatures to hell.

He had all kinds of connections with the Numinous Episcopate. The rumors state that he possesses a ring left behind by the ancient Death!

While Klein and Anderson were looking at the Black Tulip, the golden brooch on Cattleya’s robe began to emit a pure bright light instead of blinding sunlight.

In front of the captain’s cabin was a blurry figure that was rapidly increasing in length.

It was filled with the silence and serenity of a specter’s aura, but it also emitted a warmth resembling sunlight.

This was an extraordinarily incongruent existence. It was as though a wraith had been created out of Sun Holy Water!

It was both holy and evil!

The Sun Wraith widened its arms as it flew out at ludicrous speeds and hugged the grayish-black flesh.

The sizzling sound of fat and oils burning sounded out. The Sun Wraith and the grayish-black flesh canceled each other out as they were simultaneously obliterated, leaving no traces behind.

The dark purple hue in the Admiral of Stars’s eyes flowed as the brooch brightened. It quickly produced another Sun Wraith outside the window of the captain’s cabin as it pounced towards the grayish-black flesh that had invaded the Future.

And at this moment, Bloodless Heath Doyle protected Frank, Nina, and the other sailors. He used the devouring and digesting method in order to resist the monster’s flesh which possessed immense vitality.

The Black Tulip’s speed was faster than Klein had anticipated. In seconds, it had entered a range which was cause for alarm for the Future.

The black sailboat with a gloomy green slowed down and stopped to the side. It didn’t seem to be aware of what had happened.

Suddenly, Klein saw a nearly transparent eye surface around the Future’s airspace. It had ghastly-pale eye whites as it looked down from above without blinking.

This… is a Spirit Medium’s version of a telescope? After a momentary pause, Klein drew his revolver with his right hand and aimed at the eye that belonged to a spirit world creature.

At that moment, he was somewhat hesitant. As the crazy adventurer, Gehrman Sparrow, to directly fire was the choice that matched his persona the best. But at this moment, Admiral Hell Ludwell had yet to show any signs of animosity. He might have qualms about the faction backing Cattleya and hold back. If Klein were to rashly kill the “telescope,” it would undoubtedly push the situation into the direction of a more chaotic and dangerous development!

During that brief dilemma, the nearly transparent illusory eye vanished. A distance away, the Black Tulip continued approaching as it became clearer and clearer.

High above the Black Tulip, white skeletons, who didn’t wear clothes or leather armor, busily controlled the sails while pale zombies patrolled the area with cutlasses in hand. The latter were observing their surroundings with green burning eyes. Shadows, wraiths, and all sorts of strange spirit world creatures were flying in circles, boring through the ship at times as the shipboard protruded transparent faces that weren’t too obvious.

Amidst Klein’s Spirit Vision, the Black Tulip only had one living person. It was the man dressed like a captain, who was silently standing on the deck.

He wore an exaggerated triangular hat with a white skull and feathers on it. He wore a lace-trimmed white shirt and a heavy and magnificent brown coat. The ox-hide belt which held his white tights had a thin rapier hanging off it.

The man wore a silver mask. His facial features and contours were hidden within. The holes that depicted his eyes, nose, and mouth had cold lines that left one shuddering.

This matched the rumored image of Admiral Hell Ludwell!

Where are his first mate, second mate, third mate, and boatswain? Klein was first surprised at the lack of living personnel on the Black Tulip before quickly coming to a realization.

Just like how the third mate, the gunner commander, and many of the sailors of the Future were sent to the other ships of the pirate crew, only the minimum number of personnel were used to enter these waters. Admiral Hell Ludwell didn’t let his “weak” subordinates follow him. After all, he could control the undead and spirit world creatures to steer the ship.

At this moment, the Black Tulip clearly turned around and aimed its starboard side over.

As Admiral Hell Ludwell touched his silver mask, a salvo of shots rang out.

Cannonballs flew over, some falling into the sea before they came close, producing splashes; others overshot and fell somewhere even further away.

This was a calibration shot!

Soon, the Black Tulip produced a second volley of bombarding cannon fire.

Klein was just about to activate Creeping Hunger and use the Baron of Corruption’s Distortion power to change the target of the cannonballs, sending them further away when he saw Anderson Hood raise his right hand and push it forward.

Orange-yellow Fire Ravens instantly condensed as they accurately flew out to intercept each and every cannonball!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Blinding flames were emitted in midair as debris scattered, it was as though dozens of fireworks were set on display.

I have to say that a Pyromaniac’s powers are very useful at sea. It’s a mystic version of a ballistic missile defense system. However, this is because Anderson is the Strongest Hunter and has already reached Sequence 5. If it were Danitz, there’s no way he could block them all. It would be pretty impressive if he could trigger half of them… Sigh, when I use Flame Controlling, I can only deal with one cannonball at a time… As Klein sighed, the Black Tulip ceased its bombardment and changed its speed again, closing the gap between it and the Future.

As it approached, the surface of the sea between the two gigantic sailboats which was dyed with golden sunlight rapidly turned black. It didn’t look like ink, but the darkest night without any moon or stars.

Translucent and illusory ferocious creatures crawled out of this dark sea. Pale corpses reached out their palms which had rotten flesh dangling from them as dark red or cold flames emerged, forming pairs of eyes.

Suddenly, the area seemed to turn into the entrance to hell. All kinds of undead creatures floated on the surface of the sea in dense numbers as they charged forward like an unending tidal wave.

Anderson looked back at the Sun Wraiths which were obliterating the grayish-black flesh, and he knew that Admiral of Stars was at a critical moment in dealing with the terrifying monster. All he could do was draw a gasp and look up at Gehrman Sparrow with a bitter smile.

Just as he was about to press his hands onto the shipboard to create scarlet flames that spread outwards to prevent the invasion of the undead army, he was surprised to see Gehrman Sparrow turn around and fly back into his cabin.

H-he fled? No way… Anderson’s expression clearly froze.

He grimaced as he hurriedly leaned forward with his extended palms to press onto the shipboard.

Silently, a swath of scarlet flames soared into the sky and swept the area ahead of him.

At this moment, a charm suddenly fell in front of him as he heard a word spoken in ancient Hermes.

“Storm!”

Huh? Anderson instinctively looked up and saw Gehrman Sparrow in his round neck shirt and brown jacket being swept up by a squall as he rapidly flew towards the Black Tulip.

I-is he committing suicide? I can’t understand such madness… Anderson turned agape as he felt puzzled.

Whoosh!

With the charm’s effects and the blessings of the wind, Klein flew to the airspace above the bow of the Black Tulip.

Admiral Hell Ludwell immediately looked up at him. The eyes behind the silver mask burned silently with two pale-white flames.

The shadows, wraiths, and the spirit world creatures of the Death domain who were spiraling above the Black Tulip immediately swarmed towards the enemy.

They either opened their mouths, letting out silence screeches, or they extended their long tongues with shrunken faces as though they were extremely excited.

Klein looked at them with a deadpan expression as he reached into his pocket with his left hand, releasing the wall of spirituality on a squarish box.

Then, he took out Azik’s copper whistle, which was tied to a few matchsticks, and threw them at the deck of the Black Tulip’s stern.

Suddenly, the transparent, cold, and indistinct shadows and wraiths paused. It was as though they were frozen worms.

Following that, they didn’t hesitate to turn their bodies to rapidly fly to the stern of the Black Tulip. The strange-looking spirit world creatures followed closely behind.

In less than a second, the skeletons and zombies who were adjusting the cannons betrayed Admiral Hell. The bow was left completely empty except for Ludwell.

Pa!

Klein landed on the deck while pressing down on his cap, landing right before Ludwell.

His body was bent slightly as he released the right hand on his cap, his gaze locked on the silver-masked Admiral Hell.