The light had long gone but there was no mistaking where they were. Through the moonless night came the rhythmic pounding of the waves as always the salty air moved gently over their skin, wrapping them around as the warmest of soft towels.
The sailing ship was fashioned from ancient oak, with masts that stood as tall. Instead of its once green foliage, it was adorned by sails of white to dove gray. To see the rich timbers, strong browns close to black, brought a sense of peace inside, perhaps akin to that given by a meadow. Yet for the next few hours, the fragrance would not be of wildflowers but of the open sea, ever-changing, ever constant, ever in motion beneath the clouds who sail above.
On the edge of the ship, Michael was enjoying the view with Cindy by his side. Since he heard fishing calms one's mind and soul, he bought fishing rods from Sarton after leaving Mary's flowers.
"Oh come on brother Ghost, when will you catch something?"
Cindy rested her head under Michael's arm. She tried to use his shoulder as a pillow but she was too short. Michael held the fishing rod in one hand while wrapping his other arm around Cindy so she wouldn't fall down. His shirt was enough for Cindy to cover herself to keep warm.
"Patience Cindy. Many good things will come in your life if you know how to be patient"
"You don't know how to fish, do you?"
"Nope"
Cindy giggled. Michael had been waiting to catch a fish for hours. Catching a fish wasn't his goal, if it was he could simply brew a bait that would attract fishes from miles. His goal was to calm his mind and soul. Recent events had shaken his calm mind, especially Gaya leaving him. There was an eerie feeling deep down in his heart like she was in some kind of danger. His mind was telling him to let her do this alone while his heart was telling him to help her. He always went with his mind instead of his heart.
"Hey, you two" Olivia's voice sounded from behind. She bent her waist, leaning on the edge beside Cindy.
"So Cindy, your brother managed to catch something?"
"Patience Sister Olivia. Many good things will come in your life if you know how to be patient"? Condy said with a serious voice. For a second, Olivia was stunned.
"Look at that, words of wisdom from a little lady" Olivia ruffled Cindy's head before giving a loving kiss to her on the cheek.
"Whoa!" Suddenly Michael felt his bait being bitten by something.
"You caught it, brother caught a fish! YeY!" Michael had to tighten his grip around Cindy to keep her from falling down in excitement.
"Hold her Olivia" Michael let Olivia hold Cindy for a while as he started to slowly reel the fish in.
"I wonder what kind of fish it'll be. Oh my god, please be orange tuna"
Just like Cindy, Olivia also started to bounce up and down clapping her hands in excitement.
"Let us go pick up a bucket" Wiggling in Olivia's arms, Cindy shouted excitedly. The scene caused many of the crew and disciples to come to watch Michael. Fortunately, it was not a big crowd as many of them went to sleep in their quarters below deck.
"Who likes campfire fish boys?!" Michael stood up on the ledge,
"What's going on? Why aren't you people sleeping?" Claire walked out from the below deck to see a little commotion on the upper deck. She saw Ghost was standing on the edge, eagerly reeling the fishing rod.
"Why aren't you in your bed?" Claire put her hands on her waist, shouting at Michael like a mad mother.
"For god's sake, you have a tournament in thirteen hours" the others made way for Claire. She came frowning but when she saw how hard Michael was trying to reel the rod, she was stunned. Of course, she knew he wasn't using any Arch energy
"That might be a big fish. Let me help you" with a swift jump, she comfortably landed on the edge beside Michael.
"So nice of you to join the fun, Sect Leader Claire"
"You know what, this is nice" she joined in by holding the fishing rod with Michael.
"Where's Nightmare? I haven't seen him since morning"
"He said he's seasick and going for a fly"
"Can dragons even get seasickness?" Michael questioned,
"Beats me"
Michael could contact Nightmare through his earpiece but he wanted Nightmare to have some alone time. Just like Michael, Nightmare also missed Gaya. Life was boring for him without Gaya to fight.
"Let's take this bastard home"? Michael had enough with the fish. After Claire nodded, they used their full strength to pull the fishing rod up against the fighting fish.
The moment the fish came out of the ocean, Claire's smile faded away into oblivion. Many of the people staring at the fish also had the same shocked expressions on their faces.
"It's a black tuna"
A giant 3 meter, tuna fish that was charcoal black wiggling frantically at the end of the line. There wasn't a single inch on its body that wasn't black.
For Michael, he had no idea what made Claire so startled. She wasn't even blinking anymore.
"This is bad luck"
The moment these words escaped Claire's mouth, Olivia's scream reverberated the ship. The Arch energy rushed into his veins as he pulled off the fish with one single lift. Since the shipbuilder decided it's a good idea to build the captain's cabin on the center of the upper deck, Claire couldn't see what's happening on the other end of the cabin.
"TEACHER!"
"Lightning Dash"
Bolts of golden lightning covered him before he disappeared leaving a trail of golden light. Everyone ran in the direction of Olivia's scream.
************************************
"Brrr…brother" Michael's steps came to a halt as he saw a dark hooded figure holding a silver dagger against Cindy's throat. The figure and Cindy were standing on the edge of the ship while Olivia was lying on the ground with blood trickling down from her mouth corner.
Cindy was shivering in fear yet there wasn't a single tear that came out of her eyes. The little girl promised Gaya that she won't cry anymore, she was holding that promise despite the cold dagger on her throat.
"Reaper" Michael clenched his fist. The reaper in front of him was one level stronger than the four reapers he killed a few days ago, Core Strengthening stage level 3. The Reaper was ruthless enough to use a little girl to finish his assassination.
The figure was even wearing robes that resembled a reaper. If the figure only had a scythe, he would look exactly the same as a reaper.
"Teacher…teacher, he came out of nowhere" Olivia stuttered while picking herself up from the floor. Her mind still couldn't comprehend what just happened. One moment she was carrying COndu to pick up a bucket for Michael's fish. Then she felt a sharp pain in the back of her head, the next moment,
she was lying on the ground and the stranger was holding a dagger against Cindy's throat.
"Don't" Michael said as the reaper moved his other arm to his back to retrieve another silver dagger. The reaper threw the dagger at Michael that landed a couple of inches in front of Michael's feet.
"If you don't want me to paint the floor with this piglet's blood, pick that up"
"Cindy!" Claire came running to the scene to see the reaper standing behind Cindy with a dagger on her throat. Her mind went blank in overwhelming fury.
"Stand down Claire" Michael raised his hand,
"Oh my god, Cindy!"
"Who is that?'
"Brother Ghost do something"
"Who is he and how did he get here?"
Everyone was stunned. Except for a few disciples, everyone stayed away from Michael. Keeping his anger inside, Michael picked the dagger from the floor as the reaper said.
"Brother"
"It's nothing Cindy, don't worry"
The dagger was so sharp that a single gentle cut could end Cindy's life.
Even if he transformed into Lucifer, the reaper could kill Cindy before he could kill the reaper.
However, it was not like Michael did not have any plan. After Jack's death, Michael made sure everyone he cared about would be safe in the face of danger.
Cindy suddenly felt something crawling on her chest. She tried not to wiggle as something slowly crawled up towards her neck. She stared straight into Michael's eyes.
"You know what to do" after Michael picked up the dagger, the reaper said in a gritty voice.
"What is he talking about teacher? Who is he?" Olivia shivered.
"You have ten seconds," the reaper said. He gently ruffled Cindy's head, making it hard for Michael to control his anger.
"Ghosty, I can cause a distraction"? All of a sudden, Michael's earpiece got activated in his ear as he heard Nightmare's voice. Looking at the sky behind the reaper, Michael activated his thermal vision to see Nightmare hovering above the clouds, ready to cause a distraction.
"I'll DO IT IN FIVE SECONDS!" Michael emphasized the words to let Nightmare know exactly when to cause a distraction. Michael just needed the reaper to be distracted for a couple of seconds. He could use those few precious seconds to save Cindy, activate the death range, punch the reaper in the throat; he wouldn't be able to cast a spell and kill him. In addition to the throat punch, he would make the Spyder that's currently crawling on Cindy's shoulder towards the reaper inject the paralyzing poison into the reaper's bloodstream. The paralyzing poison was strong enough to paralyze the reaper for five to ten seconds.
However, everything had to work perfectly without a hitch. Otherwise, the reaper would kill Cindy in front of their eyes.
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