Chapter 56: From the Ashes of Death, I Catch a Glimpse of Rebirth

Soon after.

Security Captain Paul frisked the waiter, discovering a forged identity token and a concealed dagger.

Nelson felt yet another wave of astonishment at the detective's extraordinary reflexes.

Yet at that very moment.

A tremendous roar of a storm echoed through the banquet hall.

The entire vessel suffered a violent jolt.

Without a second thought, Paul delivered a heavy blow, rendering the disguised intruder unconscious.

The three of them quickened their pace toward the banquet hall.

Meanwhile.

Inside the banquet hall.

Sydney, a Second-Tier Transcendentalist Lecturer in the Department of Marine Sciences at the Lorenzriel National Academy of Natural Sciences, held out his hands.

Several pale golden chains had spread out tightly, binding a seemingly honest-looking, middle-aged North American man.

[Natural Laws - Sequence]

This was Sydney's transcendental trait.

As an academic lecturer who had not chosen to ascend a lineage, the deductions and applications of his ability traits became his most crucial asset.

At the same time.

Sydney explained to the other guests present, including Miss Phyllis, who had obtained Su Wen's permission:

"Mr. Head Chef, or rather, a 'Tidal Sect cultist' utterly despised by all navigators.

He precisely calculated the banquet hall's time correction.

He used a delayed-action hallucinogenic poison to murder Bourne.

He masked the scent of his newly completed ritual byproduct with spices, attempting to frame First Mate Austin Fran in the process.

The evidence is conclusive, and as a Lorenzriel mentor, I am now exercising the rights of an Order Enforcer."

Upon hearing this, the remaining guests turned pale with shock.

Each of them panicked, terrified that they might already have been poisoned by the cultists.

Yet the very next moment.

Blue-black scales sprouted across the face of the 'Head Chef' of the Tidal Sect who had been bound in place.

Dropping all pretense, he shouted defiantly:

"You have discovered this far too late. The 'Dark Surge of the Deep Sea' has already descended, and none of you shall escape."

Just as this monster prepared to unleash its abyss pollution.

A spear infused with silvery radiance came flying from afar, ruthlessly nailing it to the floor.

Its position matched the exact spot where Bourne had previously died, down to a fraction of an inch.

[Ford Constance, Abyss Cultist, murdered Bourne to initiate the Abyss Rehearsal, intending to slaughter all members aboard the ship.]

[Verdict: Uncontested.]

[Target is an Abyss Polluter. Judgment rendered, augmented by the [Inquisition]-[Just Knight] meme, increasing the damage threshold against spiritual polluters and abyss apostles by 200%.]

[Calculation: Target suffers 458 points of sacred damage.]

[Sentence!]

Su Wen had arrived at the banquet hall just in time!

Yet even though one of the masterminds of the Tidal Sect was dead.

And one of his accomplices had been captured.

The danger had not yet been lifted.

The storm howled, carrying an endless darkness poised to swallow the cruise ship whole.

Much like the Titanic on the verge of colliding with an iceberg in the past.

Terror descended upon every corner.

For the first time, Phyllis Eleanor truly comprehended just how terrifying the tempest her father studied actually was:

"I am sorry, Father, Mother. I have failed your expectations."

Everyone else chimed in with fearful cries:

"Didn't they say the 'Colin' possessed the ultimate storm-resistance capabilities?"

"This is border pollution we are talking about; not even a Third-Tier Navigator of the Lost Sea could necessarily resolve this."

"I do not want to die yet."

"Is anyone going to save me?"

"If the behind-the-scenes hero who once faced Hurricane Eowyn head-on were here, perhaps he would have a way."

"To this day, it remains unverified who built Lighthouse No. 43, and Schlot Heavy Industries keeps shifting the blame.

We are doomed."

Yet at this moment.

At the very instant when despair threatened to submerge everything.

A faint, warm light quietly spread outward.

A gentle glimmer expanded from the room, forming an imperceptible ring of psychic domain.

In Su Wen's hand, an antique Baroque-style lantern appeared—invisible to everyone else, yet exuding a warm, brown-black aura capable of soothing souls with its elegant form.

A silent oath followed:

[I mourn the dead, just as Helenina bestows her vows upon the living.]

[Only in silence does speech arise; only in darkness is light formed; only in death is rebirth attained; fireflies fall into the void, brilliant as the dawn.]

[I am the ferryman of the forgotten—'Afterglow of the Lamp'—Branlit]

In an instant.

The Deep Sea Dark Surge froze in its impending descent.

And on the other end.

Within the deep banquet hall where all background lighting had been extinguished.

A distorted phantom dominated by deep blue hues stood opposite Su Wen.

[Lamp Enshrouding]

[Abyss Polluter 'Ford Constance', affected by the Silver Sea's adjudication glimmer,]

[His soul is in a state of collapse and descent.]

[Currently unexposed to the Third Grayscale.]

[Simultaneously, because the target's soul collapsed too rapidly, and the recovery completeness of the departed spirit by the 'Branlit Lantern' is too low, you may only ask a single question.]

Su Wen observed this outcome.

He felt no surprise.

After all.

To resolve the current crisis, there was one question he was obliged to ask:

"Ford Constance.

Tell me.

The sacrificial procedure belonging to the Demon God—Storm Griffin Fugaroth."

Indeed.

As a Just Knight of the Tribunal.

And equally as the chief player of this world.

Su Wen had to be sufficiently bold.

He needed to utilize the deep-sea relics left behind by Bourne.

To find the flaws within the ritual.

And deceive the gaze of the 'Gods'.