Chapter 381 - 171: Dawn Judgment
"What on earth happened?"
But no matter how he asked, Clelia didn’t answer. Her body began to grow stiff and cold, her eyes gradually turning dull and lifeless.
’It’s like she’s already dead...’
’Dead?!’
Wei’en’s gaze turned cold. ’How is that possible?’
[You have been eroded by the Power of Dawn Faith. Due to your Origin Power exceeding 300 and your Spirit level exceeding 5000, you are immune to the aftereffects of the erosion. Evaluation: The faith of Dawn, tsk. Special Reward: Survival Points +20, Origin Power +2, Spirit Level +2, Resilience Level +2.]
’Power of Dawn Faith?!’
’Dawn—’
He suddenly recalled Clelia’s earlier warning about his trouble... ’So, that Great Judgment Knight who’s hunting me is here?!’
"Damn it, I—bah, this queen was almost killed by that old bastard."
Huh??
Hearing this voice, Wei’en whipped his head toward the cabin, only to see Clelia walking over, cursing under her breath. He then looked down at the... man in his arms?
Fuck,
Wei’en hastily tossed the person in his arms aside and glared at Clelia, annoyed. He should have never doubted this damn woman’s knack for escaping death.
It was the same last time. Even after being twisted into a pretzel by Ales and his men, she managed to revive herself in the theater.
"Don’t look at me like that. If I hadn’t prepared an extra puppet this time, you really would have seen the last of me~" Clelia noticed his gaze, offered an explanation, then looked toward the stern again. "Captain, you’d better start thinking about how you’re going to escape~"
As her voice fell, a dazzlingly brilliant light flared up in the far distance, tearing through the darkness of the Deep Sea.
"That is..." Wei’en stared at the light.
"The Dawn Church’s Great Judgment Knight, Huberto Watson!" Clelia’s flirtatious expression vanished, and she said grimly, "His power is probably approaching the legendary level."
Wei’en’s brows furrowed. "Legendary?"
That was it. This name was the one from the newspapers—the Great Judgment Knight the Dawn Church had sent to hunt him.
"How does he compare to Ales?"
"He’s stronger, not weaker!"
’That strong?’
’Based on my calculations from the fight with Ales, his total base stats should have been around forty thousand, with an Origin Power of roughly 200...’
’In that case, this Great Judgment Knight’s strength is at least comparable to my own when I was in my mutated state.’
Thinking of this, Wei’en gave a bitter smile. The Dawn Church really thought highly of him.
"How did you run into him?"
Clelia pursed her lips, her mind flashing back to the earlier scene. "You know how I took control of two ships this afternoon..."
As she told her story, Wei’en, for the first time, felt grateful for this woman’s lack of a sense of direction.
It turned out that Clelia had planned to use those two ships to hunt for the "bad fish" that had destroyed her vessel, but had somehow ended up near the West Coast.
Of course, according to her, it was all the fault of the helmsman puppet she was controlling, which probably didn’t follow the course she had preset...
Then, as she was turning the ships, she spotted a magnificent vessel nearby—a three-masted galleon painted silver-white and inlaid with several golden patterns. Its figurehead was a semicircle carved with a pair of wings.
Immediately after, a terrifying figure appeared on the bow. He was tall, clad in a suit of heavy, silver-white armor engraved with the same golden patterns as the hull, and he watched them with a calm gaze.
"Heretics?"
By that time, Clelia’s consciousness had already returned to the Ronan. The residual consciousness in the puppet spoke bluntly: "In the eyes of your Dawn Church, is there anyone who isn’t a heretic?"
"’Thousand Faces’ of the Eternal Life Association? So you didn’t die at Krimms Cathedral."
"Of course..."
"However, you can die now!" That terrifying Judgment Knight raised two fingers, and a golden longsword materialized from his body. "Dawn Judgment!"
Wei’en knew the rest of the story.
If Clelia’s main body hadn’t sensed something was wrong and severed the connection with the puppets on those two ships in time, her Origin Power would have likely been completely severed by that terrifying Power of Dawn Faith.
Speaking of this, Clelia said with lingering fear, "Wei—Captain, you need to prepare yourself. From the looks of it, he seems to know where you are."
’Knows?’
’Is it a guess, or...?’
Wei’en thought of a possibility. "Divination, or prophecy?"
"It could also be a forbidden item from the Dawn Church’s collection," Clelia nodded. "But no matter what ability it is, our trouble is coming."
’It really is trouble...’
Wei’en stared at the light, roughly estimating the distance between them. Based on the Ronan’s speed, it would take them at most a day and a half to cover... which would be about two thousand kilometers?
With the power of the Ronan’s steam engine, few three-masted galleons could catch up. But he couldn’t rule out the possibility that the Dawn Church had other methods, nor could he dismiss the chance they might have set something up ahead.
Right now, he had only two options: fight to the death, or run.
If he chose to fight, his only option would be to borrow the power of a forbidden item—in other words, to ask the clown for help again. It wasn’t as if he would be completely without a fighting chance.
What he wasn’t sure about, however, was whether a Great Knight of such status also possessed a forbidden item.
’As for running...’
Thinking of this, Wei’en let out a long breath. "We still have some time for now. First thing tomorrow morning, have Ronan get us moving as fast as possible."
"And after that? What’s your plan?" Clelia watched Wei’en and suggested, "We still have time. I want to contact Menor and have him come to our rescue."
"Menor?"
’A Space Anchor Point?’
Wei’en thought for a few seconds, then shook his head. "Putting aside whether he’d be willing to face that terrifyingly powerful Great Judgment Knight, even if he did come, I’m afraid he wouldn’t be able to solve our subsequent problems."
Unless Menor agreed to accompany them to the Southern Continent, merely repelling the knight once wouldn’t be of much help to him.
"That’s true..." Clelia thought of how unreliable Menor was, not to mention his history of appearing and disappearing like a ghost, and said helplessly, "Then we can only hope they’re a little slower."
Over on the side, Vian and Haisa, who were huddled together, heard their conversation and subconsciously exchanged a glance.
’A Great Judgment Knight? A manhunt?’
’Just who is this young captain?’
’How could he make the Dawn Church send a Great Judgment Knight after him?’
Just as Vian was about to speak, she saw Haisa shake her head, signaling her to keep quiet.
’No matter who that captain is, crushing us in our current state would be incredibly easy. At such a critical and tense moment, it’s best not to poke the bear.’
After the light finally disappeared, Wei’en was silent for a few seconds before saying softly, "You should go get some rest."
"Mm." Clelia hesitated for a moment but gave up on the idea of staying to keep him company. She shot a cold snort at the two women on deck. "Let’s go, my Guards."
Vian and Haisa scrambled to follow, not daring to hesitate for a second.
"Wait," Wei’en said, looking at Haisa and holding out his hand. "The necklace."
The blonde woman froze, her eyes instinctively flicking to Vian. ’Has our secret been discovered?’
"Give it to him!"
Vian gave her a slight shake of the head. ’There’s no escape for us in this situation. As long as it’s not *that*... it’s best to just obey.’
After everyone had left, Wei’en flashed back to the crow’s nest and examined the necklace in his hand.
’Dawn, Judgment, Great Knight... Heh!’
P.S. There will be another update tonight, so no need to wait up.