Chapter 94
“I’ve heard that already,” Eryke said in a casual tone.
“So.”
Black haze gathered around his arms, solidifying and shaping itself into a sword that he gripped tightly.
“Why did you call me here?”
“Haha! Unlike you, those two idiots over there fell into my illusion trap. They’ve been bound for what feels like an eternity now. Even if they realized it, they couldn’t escape anymore. But you… you’re different. You broke through my illusion as if you were never caught in it at all.”
“That’s correct,” Eryke replied simply, his tone calm.
“…” The whale was silent for a moment.
“Just what are you?”
“Didn’t that big lizard already introduce me?” Eryke scoffed.
In the game of conversation, one must be careful not to reveal too much. The less you disclose about yourself and the more you learn about your opponent, the greater your advantage.
“I’ve heard some things, but…” The whale shifted its massive body and turned its gaze toward him, Eryke’s visage reflected in its eyes.
“You’re more interesting than I expected you to be.”
Eryke didn’t respond. His gaze wandered across the surroundings, thoughtful suspicion stirring within him.
“Is this an illusion too?”
“No. This is my Whale Space,” the whale replied.
“Whale Space?”
“That’s right. This place is my domain, a beautiful heaven for all. You can seek anything here and attain it. A true paradise of happiness.”
“Paradise of happiness, huh…” Eryke spoke lightly, ending with a scoff.
“Why? You don’t believe it?” the whale asked. “You can try it right now, imagine anything you desire, and it will soon come into existence.”
“I don’t doubt you,” Eryke replied in a crisp and clear tone.
“But that’s not true happiness.”
“Huh? What do you mean?” The whale’s voice brimmed with curiosity.
“This isn’t happiness, it’s just the gratification of desire. It might be fun for a few years, but eventually, you’d be left aimless, with nothing left to strive for.”
Eryke continued:
“If everything is handed to you on a golden platter, life becomes dull. How could that be paradise, if your existence turns meaningless?”
“Surely you can find endless entertainment here, anything you can possibly imagine. Your life would never grow dull,” the whale retorted.
“…You see,” Eryke said, “I might enjoy that kind of entertainment for a while, but there’s no sense of accomplishment in it. A life where you can have everything, one that everyone dreams of, sounds ideal, but in the end, it loses its meaning.”
He clenched his hand into a fist:
“I’m not speaking for others, only for myself. It would all become dull. With nothing left to strive for, there’d be nothing left to enjoy.”
“It’s not the goal I seek. It’s the journey toward that goal that I truly value.”
“Haha… certainly interesting,” the whale responded, its voice echoing in a guttural tone, as if carried through deep water.
“But I imagine many would disagree with you.”
Eryke shook his head:
“There may be those who disagree with me, but this is the path I enjoy.”
“Good, good. A different way of looking at the world, I must say,” the whale replied.
Slowly, the world around Eryke began to shatter like fragile glass, breaking apart before his very eyes.
In the next instant, Eryke snapped his eyes open to reality. A still pond lay before him, its surface undisturbed.
The Dragon and the Turtle remained in a trance, blankly staring into the water as if caught in a dream.
Eryke glanced around, confusion flickering in his boundless blue eyes.
“I am here, human,” the whale’s voice echoed from the sky above.
The moment it spoke, a vast shadow loomed over him, casting darkness across the land and blotting out the sun entirely.
Eryke tilted his head upward, eyes widening.
The whale was massive, an understatement, to say the least.
All Eryke could see above him was its endless, shadowy belly.
That was how colossal it truly was.
In comparison, the Dragon and the Turtle looked like newborns, mere specks before the titan that loomed above them.
“Not bad,” Eryke muttered.
“This will definitely help me defeat that guy.”
With a powerful push off the ground, he launched himself into the air.
As he soared upward, he reached out and caught hold of the whale’s thick, leathery skin with one hand.
Then, he began to climb, higher and higher, pulling himself up the whale’s body.
It was like scaling Mount Everest.
It took Eryke a solid ten minutes to finally reach the whale’s back.
Once there, he stood up and looked around, taking in the vast, open space atop the massive creature. A sigh of relief escaped his lips as blood pumped steadily through his body.
“This feels amazing,” he murmured, folding his arms as the wind rustled past him.
It was calming, soothing, even.
His clothes fluttered in the breeze, and his long golden hair danced in the air.
“You are the first creature to stand on my back, human.”
“…I’m honored,” Eryke replied. Then, with a hint of curiosity, he asked, “Could you tell me what happened between you and the Leviathan?”
“From the way the Dragon spoke, it seemed like the four of you once knew each other deeply… but now, you all appear completely estranged.”
“That is not something you need to concern yourself with,” the whale snarled: “Your mission is to kill the Leviathan and end this godforsaken world.”
“I don’t like being ordered around,” Eryke narrowed his eyes.
Black haze swirled around his hand, solidifying into the form of a sword.
For a tense moment, silence hung in the air.
Then, plop, an unexpectedly soft sound broke it, and the whale spoke again, this time in a much smaller, almost sheepish voice:
“I… apologize.”
‘This whale is amusing,’ Eryke thought to himself:
“Wake the big lizard and the turtle. We should be ready to go.”
“Okay.”
The whale emitted a strange sound wave that rippled across the space, striking the two beasts. Instantly, the Dragon and the Turtle snapped out of their trances.
At that moment, a small red dragon zipped through the sky, chirping with excitement as it circled once and then landed gracefully behind Eryke, nestling against his back.