Chapter 40
“Captain!”
Yes. The person who stepped out of the door was the captain of the airship himself.
Seeing the captain, the faces of the poachers grew terribly pale. There’s only one reason why the man responsible for the entire airship was on the sky deck: The identity of their accomplices had been compromised…or worse, neutralized.
“So… are you still going to resist?” Rennel asked without much emotion. “Of course, if you still have a trump card then I suggest you use it now… because you might not be able to use it later.”
The leader of the poachers glared at Rennel with hatred. Things had been going so well when the girl appeared and ruined it all.
“How did you know about our plan?” the leader of the poachers asked between gritted teeth. “I’m certain it hasn’t been leaked.”
Rennel shook his head and spoke: “No one leaked your plan… you’re all just unlucky that I’m here, that’s all.”
“You mean… no one told you?” the leader looked at the girl in disbelief. “I don’t believe it… someone must have leaked the information to you! Also, I have been wondering about this for a while now… but how are you able to return after falling off the airship?”
Rennel shrugged his shoulder before speaking, “You’re contradicting yourself. First you insisted that it hasn’t been leaked but now you’re telling me that someone leaked it? Make up your mind, will you?”
“And as for how I was able to come back… it should have been obvious… I’m a magician!”
The girl has no plan of explaining to the man how she was able to return after falling off the airship as it involved a very important secret. Unless forced to do so, she didn’t plan on revealing her teacher’s identity.
“Grrr… Don’t think you have won yet. You might have caught all of our accomplices aboard the airship but that’s not everything we have!” the man threated in anger.
“Boss… you’re not talking about that thing right? That’s too dangerous! We’ll be caught in it too!” the rude poacher spoke to their leader with worry.
A grim expression appeared on the leader’s face. “I also want to avoid using it if necessary… but we can’t fail here.”
Desperation is starting to sink it to the four men’s minds. With their accomplices unable to help them, they could only desperate measure. Unfortunately, that method is very dangerous and could also destroy them if used carelessly.
“I’ll give you another chance… surrender and give us the monster king. If you don’t… everyone aboard this airship will surely die!”
The faces of the captain and his crews were painted with worry. Although they don’t know what the enemy’s trump card was, they could at least tell that the leader of the poacher was not just bluffing.
Everyone turned towards the girl. They wanted to see if the girl would give in to the demands of the poachers. They also wanted to see her reaction. Unfortunately the hood she’s wearing was preventing everyone from seeing her face.
“Sigh. Is that your final trump card? How disappointing… and here I thought you have something interesting to show me. To think that it’s just that thing in the storage room…” Rennel complained while letting out a sigh of disappointment.
When the leader of the poachers heard the phrase “storage room”, his face paled noticeably. How could it not? The storage room was the place where they set up that thing!
“You, you… did you do something with that thing on the storage room?” the leader pointed at Rennel with his finger and asked with a trembling voice.
Rennel scoffed at the man with displeasure, “You keep saying that thing. Just say bomb. What’s the point of making it sound so mysterious?”
A bomb!
When everyone heard what the final trump card of the poachers was, they were greatly terrified. Of all things that the poachers could use as a trump card, it has to be a bomb…
Just think about it. If the bomb detonated aboard a flying airship… just how many people would die? Even magician that could use flight or float magic might not be able to escape the explosion.
“Insane! You actually dare to bring a bomb aboard my ship?! You people are insane!”
The captain was fuming. Not only did the poachers and their accomplices take him and his crew hostage, they even planted a bomb on the airship!
“What did you do with the bomb?” the leader of the poacher ignored the fuming captain but instead asked Rennel what she did with the bomb.
“Are you referring to this thing?”
Rennel removed her hand from the unconscious silver falcon, and took out a black rectangular object the size of gold bar inside her cloak.
It was the bomb.
****
“You really did have it.” a cold glint appeared on the leader’s eyes. “But you shouldn’t have taken it out…” he added while taking a medallion-like object from his breast pocket.
Rennel’s eyebrows rose a little bit after seeing the object. Even though she’s very ignorant when it comes to artifacts and magic tools, even she could tell that the item the leader took out was related to the bomb on her hand. That said, Rennel didn’t say anything and just stood there in silence.
“That magic tool… that’s a remote detonator, right?” one of the defenders, a male magician, spoke with a solemn expression.
“As expected of a magician… you sure know your stuff.” there was a condescending look on the leader’s face as he praised the male magician for explaining the magic tool on his hand.
Rennel too was nodding her head in appreciation. Although she knew that the medallion-like magic tool was related to the bomb, she was ignorant of its use. “Good work, magician whose name I don’t know. Thanks to you, I no longer have to worry about revealing my ignorance.” she praises in her mind.
“I don’t think there’s a need to tell you what I’m going to do with this thing, right?”
The leader of the poachers gave Rennel a threatening glare. It was as if he’s telling the girl to surrender or he’ll detonate the bomb on her hand.
“I suggest you hurry up and surrender before I get impatient. Oh yeah! Don’t even think of throwing that bomb away. The moment it leaves your hand, I’ll detonate the bomb.” he warned.
Seeing the leader of the poacher’s looking all confident as if everything was under his control, Rennel could not help but feel pity for him.
How pitiful. I almost feel sorry for him. Well, almost…
Rennel shook her head and gave the man a pitying gaze. “I refuse.” she said.
“What did you say?!” the man asked Rennel in disbelief. “Do you not understand your position? Or maybe you’re thinking that I won’t detonate the bomb? If so then you’re sorely mistaken!”
“Nah… It’s not that I don’t understand my position, nor do I think that you won’t do as you threatened. Rennel answered, denying the man’s assumption. “It’s just that…even if you try to detonate the bomb, nothing will happen.” she added.
Hearing the girl’s words, the leader felt a sudden bad premonition. He wanted to deny the growing suspicion on his heart but just like an itch that couldn’t be scratched; the uncomfortable feeling just won’t go away.
“Did you… did you do something with the bomb?” although he already knew the answer, the man still couldn’t help but ask.
“Why don’t you try using that thing on your hand?” the girl challenged.
Rennel’s words send everyone on the sky deck to the edge. Although the girl sounded so sure, who could tell what would really happen? Moreover, there’s really no need to say those things right? Why provoke the enemy to do something so dangerous?
There’s a look of struggle on the man’s face. He was hesitating if he should listen to the girl’s provocation and use the magic tool in his hand.
“Boss, don’t listen to her! She’s just bluffing!” one of the poachers, the rude-looking man shouted at their leader; urging him not to listen to the girl.
“What’s with all the nonsense? Wouldn’t you know if I’m bluffing by just using the detonator?”
Rennel looked at the rude man as if he was an idiot. She also told the leader of the poachers to just get it over with and use the detonator.
“Dang it all!”
Having reached the limit of his endurance, the man finally couldn’t take the pressure and channeled his mana to the medallion and…
...There was no and. Nothing happened. The bomb did not go off as one would expect.
Ting!
“… I surrendered.” the leader of the poachers dropped the medallion on floor in defeat. With all plan foiled and his trump card countered, there’s nothing else that he could do.
“Tie them up.”
Rennel turned towards the still stunned captain and told them to arrest the poachers. Hearing her words, the captain quickly recovered and ordered his crew to disarm and tie up the man and his underlings.
“I’m from the sect. Although you have foiled our plan, it’s not the end of it. So don’t think that because you’re from the tower that you’ll be safe from the revenge of my organization.”
Before the man and the other were lead away, he turned towards Rennel and gave her a warning.
The sect? What’s that?
The captain and the crew of the airship paled after hearing the man’s words. It was obvious from their expression that they knew what the sect was. As for Rennel she was completely ignorant of the meaning behind the man’s words.
****
After apprehending the poachers and their accomplices, peace finally returned to the airship. Moreover, after the airship successfully distances itself from the sky titan; the aerial beast finally retreated. Of course, the fact that the silver falcon was defeated and captured might have also played a part in their retreat as well.
Speaking of the silver falcon; Rennel mercifully didn’t kill the poor creature. But at the same time, it was not allowed to return with the other aerial beast. The reason why it was not allowed to return stemmed from the fact that it possessed something that the mysterious sect was after.
Currently, it the monster king is roosting on the sky deck. Although the silver falcon was left on the sky deck unattended most of the time, the creature surprisingly didn’t try to fly away which confuses everyone except for Rennel.
As for why the silver falcon dare not escape… that has something to do with the girl’s mysterious teacher…
Now as for the sect; Rennel had already asked the captain about it. At first the captain was surprise that the girl didn’t know what the sect was. But after hearing that Rennel was just fifteen and had only left her village several months ago, he understood, and generously explained everything she knew.
Apparently, the sect was a secretive organization that believed in an evil deity. The organization was called the “Sect of the Void”, or just the sect for most people. It was said that the entire organization worshiped the so called “God of the Void.”
The organization’s doctrine was “Everything started from the void and would, therefore, end with the void.” As such, the members of the organization believed that it was their duty to bring the “void” into this world.
These people would willingly steep on lowest of lows for the sake of their beliefs.
Basically, the Sect of the Void is an organization of crazy people willing to do anything, even taking innocent people hostage or planting a bomb on an airship just to complete their goal. Moreover, they’re quite vengeful and would act vengeance on any person that gets on the way of their goal.
“Sigh. No wonder that person said that things are not over between me and his organization…”
Rennel could only sigh after remembering the threat left by the leader of the poachers. Although she’s not afraid of the sect, as she’s very confident in her own power, being constantly harassed by zealots would still be troublesome.
“How exactly did all of this happen?” Rennel could not help but complain. All she ever wanted to do was ride the airship in peace so that she could meet a friend that she hasn’t seen for years. And yet, she was embroiled in monster attack, an hijacking attempt, and possibly, a bombing…
Her teacher told her that this was the work of fate and that she had taken destinies that were supposed to belong to other people. But for a naïve girl like her, the talk of destiny and fate was beyond her.
“Destiny and fate, huh…” the girl stared at the ceiling of her cabin in deep thoughts before closing her eyes. Her lips opened and she whispered, “I don’t need it.”
Chaos had told her several times that the only way to control her own destiny was to have power that could go against fate itself. Although the girl was powerful now… she was still far away from having the power to control her own destiny.
That said, the girl believed that she’ll be able to control her destiny one day. And with that thought, the girl slowly drifts into dreamland.
****
To be continued
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