A Desperate Plea in the Calamity Mist

The water rose to their chins, and the icy cold sent a shiver through Saranya.

“Hold your breath.”

Talia quickly gathered Saranya’s hair, deftly tying it into a knot to prevent it from snagging on any debris lurking in the water.

Seizing the moment, Saranya drew in a deep, fortifying breath.

The next instant, the seawater swallowed her entire face, submerging her nose.

…

The world beneath the waves was a profound, inky black. She instantly lost her bearings, flailing her arms desperately, yet grasping at nothing but empty water.

Talia was nowhere to be found.

The sight of her own ruptured body beneath the surface, with blood spiraling out in crimson wisps, sent Saranya into a terrifying panic. She thrashed wildly, inhaling great gulps of water.

“Ta— *cough* *gurgle*!”

Just as Saranya succumbed to the water, a small hand latched onto her chest, and its owner crashed directly into her embrace.

Instinctively, she believed Talia had found her. Yet, as her hands explored, she felt only a small, soft form, utterly unlike the sturdy build of the female sailor.

Saranya lowered her head, and as her vision cleared, she recognized the face. Hot tears immediately blurred her sight.

“Master…”

To bridge their disparity in size, the small witch embraced Saranya from the front. Her own diminutive chest pressed firmly against Saranya’s taut, slightly prominent breasts, while her legs gently wrapped around Saranya’s back, hooking her waist. This ensured they were locked in a tight embrace, impervious to the water’s currents.

Kaelan’s small face was as white as porcelain, her cheeks puffed out, occasionally releasing a few bubbles from her lips. Her crimson eyes, faintly glowing with magical energy, fixed on Saranya as she drew closer, and then—

Her Master’s small, tender yet icy lips sealed against her own.

Air… precious, sweet air, slowly transferred from her Master’s mouth, flowed into Saranya’s.

“Mmm!”

A tingling sensation spread through Saranya’s nape. Her fingers gradually tightened, clutching her Master’s shoulders.

It was less Saranya embracing Kaelan, and more Kaelan’s body entwining with hers. They drifted out of the shipwreck’s remains, then abruptly accelerated, tearing through the drag of the surrounding seawater, and shot directly towards the shimmering surface above.

…

“Splash!”

Saranya burst through the surface, gasping for air and sending spray everywhere. Kaelan surfaced beside her a moment later, her arm circling Saranya’s waist to steady her against the crashing waves.

The ghost ship had vanished entirely beneath the waves, leaving only an expanse of bubbling water where it once floated. Approximately twenty meters away, the Monster remained steadily docked.

Saranya’s extensive wounds, having been submerged in seawater, were now abruptly exposed to the sharp, salty sea breeze. The agony was akin to being flayed by countless knives, eliciting a loud wail from her.

Still reeling from the excruciating pain of her mangled flesh, she hadn’t yet fully recovered when the scene before her stole her breath once more.

Before she had descended onto the deck, the sky had been clear and cloudless, a picture of serene tranquility. Other than an unnerving silence, there had been nothing amiss.

Now, however, dense, rolling grey-purple mist had swallowed the entire sea. The bright sunlight, meant to cascade onto the waves, was first devoured by the fog, then transformed and spewed back towards the world beneath, manifesting as an eerie, distorted, and dim luminescence.

The Calamity Mist. In such a brief span, the dreaded mist had suddenly descended…

An ocean shrouded in demonic catastrophe was undoubtedly far more perilous than any land.

But… Saranya had no capacity to care about any of that now!

“Master! There are still people down there—”

“Westir, encased in ice? Borok has already dispatched men to hoist him onto the ship.”

“No… that’s not right!”

Saranya, gravely wounded and unable to move, grew frantic, tears streaming down her face.

“Talia! Talia is still down there!!”

Only after the words ripped from her throat did Saranya realize her voice was already a ragged, hoarse whisper, utterly broken.

Upon hearing her desperate plea, Kaelan’s crimson pupils constricted ever so slightly. She glanced towards the bubbling site of the sunken ship, then turned back, her gaze scrutinizing Saranya’s eyes.

“We must go.”

Moments later, Kaelan issued her command, her tone devoid of even a hint of emotion.

Indifferent, cruel, utterly devoid of sympathy for anyone beyond Saranya herself.

Saranya knew her Master had always been this way.

Had Talia’s overtures of kindness somehow threatened her Master? Was her Master afraid that her control over Saranya would wane due to the sailor’s presence, prompting her to seize this chance to eliminate the woman?

The mere thought of this possibility sent a shiver down Saranya’s spine, as if she’d plunged into an icy chasm.

“She’s still down there! Before you arrived, she saved me… Please… please save her!”

“Saranya, this isn’t a question of whether I can save her—”

Realizing her Master remained unyielding, and that she seemed powerless to sway her decision, Saranya grew increasingly frantic. She thrashed against the seawater, her pleas to her Master filled with utter despair.

“Please, take Talia with us! I—I have no connection to her, I swear I won’t see her again once we return! I… I’ll serve you even harder, even more diligently, more passionately! Please! Just grant Xiao Ya this one request! Xiao Ya will never resist again, Xiao Ya will be your obedient s*ave for life, Master! Master, Xiao Ya begs you… I beg you!!”

“Calm yourself!”

Purple magical light flared in Kaelan’s eyes as she issued a command to Saranya. A pang shot through Saranya’s abdomen, yet compared to her physical wounds, her Master’s torment paradoxically offered a thrilling kind of solace.

Based on past experience, she could discern that her Master hadn’t employed overwhelming force to bend her will this time. Just as her Master implied, she merely wished for Saranya to calm down.

“Xiao Ya, I was the one who saved you.”

“I know, but before that, Mejga used dark magic on me! It was Talia who severed me from Mejga’s grasp!”

“That was…!”

Witnessing Saranya’s distress, Kaelan herself appeared pained, a delicate mist clouding her eyes.

“Xiao Ya… that was me.”

“Eh…?”

Saranya froze, waiting numbly for Kaelan’s explanation.

“When I arrived, the seawater had already flooded that space. I found you and Mejga in the early stages of the Flesh Fusion Art, and I rescued you. At that time… there were only the two of us below. Your Master arrived late… Xiao Ya, I truly saw no one else…”

Kaelan’s words detonated like a bomb in Saranya’s mind, instantly obliterating her thoughts into a blank expanse.

“Ugh…”

‘My head… my head aches terribly.’

“No… impossible…”

Saranya’s courage crumbled, and she murmured, her voice trembling.

‘It can’t be.’

Yet, when she was on the verge of losing consciousness, it had clearly been Talia who surfaced from the depths to save her.

She had felt Talia. After leading her away from her brother, Talia had embraced her, urged her to accept herself, joked with her, and… even sought a kiss.

‘That… that couldn’t possibly have been an illusion…’

Her expression vacant, the same scene began to replay endlessly in her mind: Mejga plunging an ice blade into Talia’s back.

Summoning the last vestiges of her rationality, she desperately tried to construct a plausible scenario where Talia could still be alive.

‘Her back… most likely a punctured lung. With a lung pierced and the cabin rapidly flooding with seawater, could Talia truly have dived, withstood the rushing currents and whirlpools, and then resurfaced?’

‘So…’

‘So Talia was dead…’

‘The female sailor was gone.’

…

A soft, damp touch graced her forehead—Kaelan’s lips.

“I must remind you, Xiao Ya… this isn’t the first time something like this has occurred. Thanks to that dryad beast, your mind hasn’t fully recovered. Auditory and visual hallucinations, as well as general illusions, are all normal for you. You simply need to rest, and you’ll be…”

Saranya didn’t hear the end of her Master’s words. Her gaze unfocused, her body went limp, and she slid back beneath the water’s surface.

Her final memory fragment was of Kaelan gripping her tightly with all her limbs, propelling them swiftly towards the Monster.