“Patch the holes!!!” One Kshatriya yelled out while flailing his magnificent sword. “We can’t let the Paradise Hearts be damaged! All of you can lose your lives, but Paradise Hearts can’t have a single stain!!!”

“B-But, sir!” A Shudra came forward, his eyes shaky and fingers trembling. “The ship is sinking too quickly! Even if we had a thousand shipwrights here… I fear it’s far too late.”

The Kshatriya’s face boiled with intense rage, “What did I just say? FIX THE BLOODY HOLES!!!” A slap flew from one side to another, pushing the Shudra back over a dozen metres. “I know that the ship is beyond repair. I need you bastards to slow the sinking down, at least until Sir Brahmin concludes his battle!”

The Paradise Heart was far too mana-rich for any mere Spirit Lord, King or Emperor to handle. Just grabbing onto that dense ball of energy was enough to burn the skin off anyone that dared to touch it. Only those that had transcended their mortality twice would be capable of executing such a feat. Unfortunately, the Black Masks had only sent three Spirit Venerates on this mission while they had about seven Paradise Hearts. Losing four Paradise Hearts, particularly ones that haven't been used in a Payirci, would be a significant blow to the criminal syndicate. Not to mention, the Alliance would be sure to reverse-engineer the greatest invention of their time.

It was a risk that the Black Masks weren’t ready to take on at this point in time. Luckily for the criminal syndicate, they hadn’t placed all their eggs in one basket. The seven Paradise Hearts had been separated into seven different boats, and Shin had only sunk one of them. Still, if nothing were done, the young Prince of Water would continue to take down as more and more of their Paradise Hearts.

Therefore…

“Sir Brahmin!” The Kshatriya screamed at the descending armoured man. He was wielding a flaming claymore which burnt at intense volcanic heat. The blue fire was mesmerising as it was dangerous. If the Spirit Venerate so wished, he could melt all of the Black Masks’ faces off with just one swing of his sword.

“Paradise Heart?” A man of few words, the Spirit Venerate questioned his subordinate with succinct words.

“It’s fine, sir Brahmin!” The Kshatriya yelled back. “However, if nothing is done, the Paradise Heart would sink under the ocean! We’re trying to patch the holes, but the damage is too great!!!” The volume of his voice continued to increase until it was thoroughly hoarse.

“Mmmm, leave it to me,” replied the towering man. He sped straight into the half-broken hull and meandered his way through the flooding corridors. Whenever there was a hindered pathway, the Brahmin would simply tear a hole through the ship, not caring about the additional damage that was being left behind. For him, the Paradise Heart was far more important than the petty lives of his underlings.

In no time at all, the flaming claymore pierced through a final wall, revealing a completely sealed chamber. Airtight and void of any life, it was the optimal place to keep one of the most valuable treasures that the Allfather had. It was this chamber that sealed the Paradise Heart’s immense spiritual energies. If opened, the entire Lantis Navy’s attention would be focused on the longboat, but the Brahmin didn’t care.

With one stroke of his blade, the Spirit Venerate tore through the final barrier. A flurry of spiritual and elemental energy rushed straight towards the apex of the world. The Spirit Venerates, who had been preoccupied with their own tasks, instantly snapped their heads towards the supreme mana that was being released.

“The Paradise Heart...” The Ghost Corsair deflected Su Qigang’s staff and turned his entire body towards the leading longboat. The Admiral, seeing that his opponent had lost focus for a brief moment, somersaulted up and committed his entire weight to the next attack. A colossal whirlwind was followed up by Su Qigang’s staff, and it seemed like the Ghost Corsair couldn’t escape the eventual trip to the hospital.

However, what could go wrong will go wrong.

The Ghost Corsair, angered that the Black Masks had been rendered vulnerable, decided that playtime was over. The pure lightning in the bottle coiled around like a serpent and many branches leapt out. It was as if an entire tempest’s wrath had been contained within that small condensed state. Pop! It took a few seconds, but the Ghost Corsair’s eight spiritual ability was finally completed.

Why was the Ghost Corsair feared as the most powerful pirate in recent memory? Was it because of his coordinated crew that made the Lantis Navy’s teamwork seem subpar? Or was it because of his powerful ship that could tank through thousands of cannonballs? Well, those two facts did add to his legend, but they weren’t the real reason why he reigned supreme over the Lantis Sea. The reason why the Ghost Corsair was so dominant…

“Just die,” a soft voice, mostly reserved in its delivery, rang through Su Qigang’s head.

Before him, a colossal ship coiled out of pure, dense, cyan lightning, instantly ran out of the Ghost Corsair’s bottle. Though the lightning ship was at least a hundred metres away, Su Qigang could feel its heat as if it were just right in front of him. The air became so thin that no sane person would be capable of breathing within its dominion.

It had finally made its return to the mortal world… The Phantom’s Embrace had returned to haunt the Lantis Sea.

“Damn it!” Su Qigang twisted the staff that he possessed and created a giant windshield, akin to that of a rapidly spinning turn-mill. He had given up on escaping or attacking. There was only one thing on the Admiral’s agenda now. The man had to survive.

The Ghost Corsair held his cutlass up high as he continued to supply mana to the electric boat. He looked at Su Qigang’s useless attempt to protect himself and sneered, “There’s no escaping the Phantom’s Embrace. You can only face it and let the ocean gods decide whether you live… Or die...”

With one swing of his cutlass, the Ghost Corsair unleashed the most powerful ability of anyone present. The enormous boat that would dwarf any of the warships that the Lantis Navy had, disappeared… No, it turned into a flash of light. There was literally just a nanosecond for Su Qigang to react to the attack, which was impossible even with the reflexes of a Spirit Venerate.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVVMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!

Electric currents decimated the oceans. The typhoons created by the Spirit Venerates were evaporated into nothingness as the world spun into a standstill. Su Qigang felt as if the clock had been rewound and he was back in the cradle enveloped by his mother’s warmth. Everything was so comfortable and nice… Alas, it was just an illusion.

The Phantom’s Embrace unleashed all of its terror upon the Spirit Venerate, burning him into a fine crisp. Bits of burnt skin fell off the man’s four limbs, and every single strand of hair had been evaporated into nothingness. Falling straight down without a shred of consciousness, the man was certain to be engulfed by the ocean if nothing was done.

Lady Seph immediately sprung into action. Merging with the Iofiel Angel, the Divine Healer turned into a beam of light. Golden elemental energy flowed out from her pores and grabbed hold onto the burnt Admiral.

“Qigang!” The Fleet Admiral rushed out from the safety of the command centre and yelled. “Venerate Seraphim! Is Qigang going to be okay?!”

The golden-haired woman ignored the man’s question. She was entirely concentrated on treating the substantial damage that Su Qigang had took from the Phathom’s Embrace. Every single organ, be it external or internal, was severely burnt. It was a miracle that the man was still breathing, even with his Spirit Venerate mana. Only after a full examination did Lady Seph finally address the tall man by her side. “No, he isn’t… It’s going to take more than an hour of treatment for me to stabilise his condition.”

Bad news, but it wasn’t the worst. Heaving a sigh of relief, the Fleet Admiral begged the Divine Healer: “Please, Venerate Seraphim! We’ll make sure to pay you handsomely!”

“As I said, it’s going to take more than an hour to treat him...” Lady Seph shook her head in disappointment. “We’re in the midst of a battle now, I can’t just focus on one person.” The Divine Healer slowly got up and left traces of her mana within the blackened man’s body. As much as she wanted to completely heal the Admiral, Lady Seph didn’t like the feeling of losing sight of Shin, particularly in such a tense battlefield. “Get your best healer to treat him… When the battle’s over, I’ll heal him properly.”

The two angelic wings behind Lady Seph’s back flapped instantly, and she took the skies. Her objective was quite clear. The Divine Healer identified all of the friendlies that were injured using her high vantage point and then…

“All of you… Rise up again...” Lady Seph’s blue eyes glimmered with a golden light. Her wings, which were originally white, was now glowing in fluorescent-halcyon, sending heaps of starlight flying straight down upon the world. It mixed with the snow and coloured the azure light of the ocean, golden. It continued to grow bigger and bigger until finally, Lady Seph said the magic words.

“Let it rain...”

❖❖❖

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world...

“Hmmm, is it raining?” Shizen glanced up into the grey afternoon sky. The sweet smell of dew dominated the nature boy’s senses. Shizen raised his palms up, hoping to catch even a hint of water. However, no matter how long he held out his hand, Shizen couldn’t feel a single thing.

“Nope,” Venerate Maurice was quick to deny Shizen’s claim. “You’re just under the influence of the Mind-Elements that surround the Tree of Illusions.”

“Huh? Isn’t the Tree of Illusions located deep within the Illusory Canyon? How can it affect us when we’re not even inside of the Canyon yet?” Shizen continued to question the Spirit Venerate.

“Correction, the Tree of Illusions isn’t located deep inside of the Illusory Canyon.”

“Hmmm, then where is it?”

A single pout and raised eyebrows outlined the Spirit Venerate’s face. With shrugged shoulders, he elaborated. “No one knows where it really is. Due to the vast amounts of Mind-Elements that envelops it, the Tree of Illusions has the capability to morph any living being’s perception of reality, better than anything else. It could be deep within the Illusory Canyon, or it could be hiding in plain sight for all we know.”

“So… Even if we probably won’t be able to find it?”

“That’s the Tree of Illusions for you,” replied the man with a wry smile. “There’s nothing in the world that possesses such a dense amount of Mind-Elements. I can show you the safe way to explore the Illusory Canyon without getting completely lost, but we’ll most likely never find the Empyrean Wonder. Legend has it that the Tree of Illusions is sentient and only those it deems worthy would be able to experience its grandeur. So don’t get your hopes up, kid...”

“...” Shizen’s mouth was sewn shut. It would be regrettable if he’d travelled all the way from the Lantis Republic only to be rewarded with nothing.

“Still, no one’s questioning that it’s a good place to cultivate. Particularly for a Spirit Spectre like you,” Venerate Maurice chuckled and continued on with a suggestion. “I propose that you use the one month we have here wisely. Don’t overextend your boundaries. Not everyone can find the Tree of Illusions and many Spirit Saints in the past had lost their lives within the Illusory Canyon. Use this time to cultivate or something.”

“Right...” Shizen nodded. Though his head wasn’t totally with the Spirit Venerate.

The Adivinar Tree was calling out… It was lured to the mother of all trees… Shizen couldn’t pinpoint where exactly, but he could tell… Something deep inside of the Illusory Canyon, something so mystical that Shizen couldn’t explain it…

His answer… The answer to Shizen’s question… It was most definitely…

The Tree of Illusions.