Chapter 25: Fish fiend
Translated by: Chua
Edited by: TN and Elkassar
Aiming for the gills, Sheyan’s hand spasmed violently due to the sudden cold, and caught the fish by its body instead. Although the fish was out of the water, its innate strength was still great and its scales abnormally slimy. Putting up an intense struggle with its tail, it was about to escape.
Without caring for much, Sheyan immediately shot out his other hand ferociously; clamping onto the fish gills. Falling into the river, his hands remained steadfastly clamped onto the fish no matter how this fiendish fish wrestled and struggled. No a slightest hint of weakness could be seen.
Fortunately, his strength was outstanding; no matter how the powerfully the fish struggled, it couldn’t resist and naturally gave up. Sheyan then easily tossed it towards the shore, and wriggled back to the shore shivering. The lake was icy cold, the chill draining him of his mental strength as he hurriedly returned to snuggle at the bonfire. After a while, he finally regained some warmth.
The famished two intended to immediately slice open the fish to eat; yet after seeing it clearly, they got a huge shock. A bone-chilling current jolted up their backs.
This fish had a sinisterly devilish face. Yet, even more strange was that it eyes were leaking out a pulse of malicious curse, glowing deadly at them! It was as though someone possessed it.
Sheyan’s livelihood since birth was fishing, so much so that the amount of fish he caught had to be weighed in tons. Yet this fiendish looking fish species, he had never encountered before, not even hearing of it before!
Sheyan’s eyes blossomed with a glow, like a hungry wolf. Cursing out loud, he swung a hatchet down fiercely, directly beheading this fiendish fish. This swift painless action was an adequate respect to this fiend!
After slaying the fish, Sheyan was naturally adept at its follow up actions. Scaling the fish, he followed the crude uncivilised manner of Mogensha; learning from him to simply dumped the waste of organs back into the lake. Then slicing and dicing the fish utterly, before using water to cleanse away the blood. Even if there was poison, it would’ve been removed. Then he placed it above the fire to roast.
The fish was fat, although there wasn’t any seasoning, it crackled delightfully amidst the flames. A black smoke blew out from its surface, the flesh of the fish spotlessly white and pipping hot, its appearance terribly alluring. Yet after Reef took a bite, he immediately vomited it out. The fish tasted foul and sour. However, after they determined it was not toxic, they endured their disgust and reluctantly filled their empty bellies.
Of course a single fish couldn’t possibly fill their rumbling stomachs, but it was better than a wholly barren belly. At least with something, their energy would slowly recover. Sheyan continued to warm his hands above the scorching bonfire, casting his gaze at the black, unfathomable lake.
“Let’s prepare to cross it.”
Reef astonishingly replied with hesitation.
“How about waiting till daybreak?”
Sheyan shook his head gently.
“This ghostland is terribly sinister. It is best we leave early, the sooner the better.”
“But…….” Although Reef was courageous, he couldn’t help feeling hesitant upon observing the pitch-black and mysterious lake.
Of course he could swim; furthermore as a contestant, mobility in the cold wasn’t a problem. But the darkness was a huge deterrence, what other strange fiends were hosted by this lake? But after Sheyan contemplated for a moment, he earnestly urged.
“We definitely have to cross it before dawn.”
Reef remained shocked, Sheyan continued to explain slowly.
“During the daytime, we entered this pine forest; but in the end, everyone was poisoned by that insanely unstoppable hallucinations. Even those uruk-hai were not exceptions. Yet after awaking and staying inside here for long, there isn’t even a single trace of anything. No poison, nothing.”
“If the poisonous curse has been released continuously, then I reckon the poison would have consumed us long ago; we wouldn’t have woken up in the night. Thus, the appearance of it is mostly likely regulated and in intermittence. The previous cycle was during dusk. Hence, we must leave this forsaken land before dawn. If not, I’m afraid we would be just waiting for our deaths!”
The two weaved several branches together, forming it into a makeshift life buoy and flung it into the lake. The lake remained devastatingly cold, as the two warmed up a little before entering the cold.
Although Sheyan had to carry along Melody, his swimming skills were excellent. Along with the addition of that life buoy, it didn’t require much effort from him.
Their surroundings were completely still, apart from the splashing within the lake. They remained silent for fear of unnecessary attraction. The thick threatening darkness seemed to stretch on for eternity.
Oddly, a faint greenish glow enveloped around Sheyan and the elf maiden. Indeed, Sheyan once again leached off the blessings of being around a twilight elf. Under the illumination of the green glows, although they could clearly sense odd movements beneath them speeding around the water, the 3 didn’t meet with any particular danger.
Yet after swimming for a relatively long period, Sheyan suddenly felt something was wrong. He lowered his voice towards Reef.
“Did you notice that the water is turning pretty warm?”
Reef was about to reply; suddenly, two coherent green flickers flashed to their side, and rapidly approached them. Reef had been constantly bracing himself staying in a combative state amidst this treacherous darkness; once this peculiarity arose, he instantly released his lightsaber and struck forward!
Being an expert in close combat, even amidst the blinding darkness, he accurately pierced his target! A clutter of faint greenish fluorescent rapidly dispersed, casting a neon layer against Sheyan’s face. It was obvious that creature had suffered a heavy blow, its blood carried a fluorescent nature. Hence, it explained this strange scene.
Following the dispersing of the fluorescent blood, speckles of green suddenly appeared around them. Sensing the blood, the creatures of the lake started gathering here. In this situation, Sheyan also stepped in as he swam and slaughtered. Massive clumps of green fluorescent dispersed densely within the lake.
Borrowing the illumination of the fluorescent, they could barely see the sinister fiendish nature of these fish; it was the exact replica of the one they ate. Fluorescent green blood gushed out from the injured fish, sparking a cannibalism within the fish as they swarmed them, tearing them apart.
They seized this strange scenario to swiftly flee; yet were pursued by several persevering fish, as the fish chomped and munched away at them.
The fangs of these fiendish fish were sharp, easily tearing off chunks of flesh with one bite. Sheyan could feel the bites like numbing tickles, yet it was oddly chilling; like pulses of cold air permeating into his bones. It felt like half his body was turning numb.
Fortunately, Reef’s innate ability was naturally resistant to abnormal debuff states. While Sheyan had the blessings of the twilight elf. Thus, the pangs of petrifying cold gradually dissipated, their wounds gradually patching up.
The two continue to cut a path forward, dealing frenzied retaliations against the fish while swimming for their lives. Yet they realized these fiendish fish suddenly lost their assaulting motive, slowly swimming away from them. Raising his head, Sheyan suddenly discovered a marble of white in the horizon. A chill welled up in his heart, as he frantically swam forward.
Why did the fish suddenly abandoned their prey, there was only one reason. Dawn was approaching, the greater threat was surfacing. Even these savage and cannibalistic fish wouldn’t dare to trifle with!
The black shadow of the distant shore finally appeared, undulating up and down; completely indistinct under the welcoming rays of dawn. This hope of climbing ashore fueled their final outburst of strength, as they finally arrived at the shore. However, despair greeted their hearts instantaneously.
As they gazed ahead, the surrounding shore of the lake was an impressive barrier of smooth precipice. Although the precipice was undulating up and down, its lowest height was still at least 2 floors high. If nobody received them from above, there was no way them could climb this themselves!
The lake was vividly turning warmer and warmer. Faced with this despairing reality, the two didn’t give up, as they felt along the precipitous shore, attempting to find a low ground to successfully ascend.
Yet this low ground never came. But they were completely devoid of energy and hope, a black rope suddenly dropped down from above. The two hastily swam towards it, shockingly discovering it was a climbing rope ladder!
A thousand notions swept past his minds in this instant. Yet he didn’t delay any longer; with Melody still slung across his back, he hurriedly grabbed the rope ladder and climbed up the precipice.