Chapter 259

Chapter 259: Cloud Beasts

As Midi calmly stated his purpose while the People of the Heavens excitedly rejected his claims with wild theories, time slipped away moment by moment.

Finally, the floating island at the border between the Black Cloud Circle and Ice Cloud Circle came into view.

The horizon suddenly brightened.

Like a dark curtain being ripped open, pale golden sunlight poured through the tear like cascading waterfalls, forming a shimmering band of light. Countless firefly-like light particles drifted through the air, illuminating the darkness into a dreamlike scene.

As the Narwhal pressed forward, the glow intensified while the shadows faded like ink dissolving in water—strand after strand thinning until vanishing into brightness.

A thunderous boom split the air as the sixty-five-meter-long Narwhal shuddered violently, leaping upward before crashing down like a tiny raft tossed by waves.

Instantly, everyone’s vision cleared into vast openness. The boundless expanse of the Sea of Clouds finally reappeared, bringing back its familiar soaring sensation.

Simultaneously, a biting cold wind swept through, making all aboard instinctively hunch their shoulders.

Before them stretched an endless snowy landscape unfurling like an infinite scroll.

Behind lay dark clouds rumbling like distant thunder. Ahead raged whirling storms of ice and snow. Between these two realms, the speck-sized Narwhal crept forward through the narrow divide.

No words could capture this wonder.

Even Midi—who had seen the convergence of black and white circles in his past life—held his breath, awestruck by Nature’s grandeur.

After brief mesmerization, the crew snapped back to duty, steering the skyship toward its destination.

Floating island rocks dotted the boundary between the circles. The largest served as the Narwhal’s temporary haven.

Though theoretically safe in this gap beyond the Black Sea Currents’ reach, Victoria followed Spice Route tradition without hesitation. She anchored the Narwhal to the island rock with steel cables.

The bitter winds from the Ice Cloud Circle prompted extra precautions. Crews slathered the hull with thick antifreeze to withstand freezing temperatures. A reconnaissance vanguard ship stationed on a nearby islet kept watch.

These procedures—established by Rothschild Guild ancestors for this checkpoint—were executed smoothly by experienced hands.

Yet Midi detected underlying dread beneath their efficiency.

"Worried about cloud beasts?" He glanced at Victoria.

She nodded, brow furrowing. "You’re well-informed, Mr. Blade. This stop lies near their Ice Cloud Circle hunting grounds. Encountering them during patrols… complicates matters."

I’d prefer more cloud beasts, actually.

Midi thought privately.

Cloud beasts—unique to the Ice Cloud Circle—weren’t magical beasts but natural magical entities akin to the Lord of the Light City.

Over centuries, magic-saturated white ice clouds coalesce. Those drifting inward absorb star-like entities from the Star Ocean, gradually forming magic networks around these cores.

These networks—like biological systems—channel magic and commands. When sufficiently complex, consciousness awakens.

Thus cloud beasts are born.

Masters of their domain, they summon ice storms at will. Their massive mist bodies reform after any attack, making them nearly impossible to destroy. For skyships like the Narwhal, they’re natural predators.

In Midi’s past life, only heavy armored cruisers could withstand their assaults. Even then, defeating them required grueling experimentation and countless sacrifices.

Now, the Narwhal’s innate techniques were insufficient, making navigation into the Ice Cloud Circle utterly impossible.

The so-called Spice Route wasn’t the shortcut Midi initially imagined—one bypassing the Ice Cloud Circle’s bitter cold to reach its heart—but merely a path cutting through the Black Cloud Circle.

Still, the Rothschild Guild now stood as the second-greatest faction in the Sea of Clouds, surpassed only by the Blue Truth Sect, and the closest to the Stormy Region’s core.

Thus, Midi hoped to slay a few cloud beasts to shatter the ingrained beliefs of cloud-dwellers and prove the Stormy Region wasn’t as fearsome as thought.

Whether by Midi’s silent prayers or Victoria’s wretched luck, after three hours anchored at the floating island, knife-edged gusts suddenly erupted from the Ice Cloud Circle.

The ice storm’s surface then crumbled like an avalanche. From the rift emerged massive white claws, followed by a head the size of a hill—a true cloud beast.

Resembling a gargantuan lizard over a kilometer long (small for its kind), its head alone dwarfed the Narwhal. One bite from its jaws could swallow the ship whole.

Whirling mists, screaming winds, and icy clouds enveloped its mountainous frame like obedient guards. Cloaked in this tempest, the beast spanned kilometers.

When its crystalline eyes locked onto the Narwhal, it roared. The shockwave blasted away surrounding clouds, clearing a kilometer-wide void in the Ice Cloud Circle.

The deafening roar paralyzed nearly everyone.

Victoria clung to composure, though her face turned deathly pale. Trembling, she ordered the crew to sever all cables and flee—even into the raging Black Sea Currents. Better to risk those than be devoured.

A rational command. Yet how could terrified merchants-turned-sailors obey? Most stood frozen or cowered belowdecks, minds blank with terror. This wasn’t betrayal—only primal fear.

Only old steward Lund stayed steady, stepping protectively before Victoria. Beyond shielding his lady, he could do little.

True calm belonged solely to Midi.

“Stay. Don’t move. I’ll handle the beast.”

Golden-red light erupted around him. Like a blazing sword, he shot toward the colossal creature.

He… charged straight at it?

Victoria gaped. Watching that glowing streak tear through the sky toward an “invincible” foe, her heart churned.

Arrogant fool! A Lower Realm human defying millennia of cloud-sea tradition! Yet if he failed, the Narwhal would vanish into these frozen wastes—unmourned, unremembered.

But deeper still, hope flickered.

Hope he’d shatter ancient chains. Hope he’d carve a new path before her eyes.

Who wouldn’t yearn to witness a miracle?