Chapter 65: Goose Chase

After the alarms blared, Ash immediately ordered a lockdown of Paradiso. Though, there was one problem after he did so.

"No signs? We can't find the intruder? Check the feeds. The window was open when Specter got taken, check the areas there. And I want the tape yesterday." Ash stated with steel in his voice.

"Who the hell could've invaded us?" Ash frowned heavily and was thinking of possible intruders. "Yan can't be the one, the black coats aren't that good. The emperor's blades aren't stealthy too."

Ash was having a headache and one of his ghosts arrived, giving him a video feed of when the alarms got tripped.

Everybody watched and they saw a woman that looked eerily similar to Specter and Skadi. (pic)

"Gladiia..." Skadi blinked and then she gaped like a fish out of water.

"Who is that Skadi? Do you know her?" Margaret raised a brow and she nodded.

"She's the team leader of our squad. Specter is on the other group, so why did she come to get her instead of me?" Skadi was confused.

The orca felt complicated about it all. She wanted to talk to her, to ask if there were more of them out there. But she just picked up Specter and left the area.

"What can you tell us about her?" Ash squinted his eyes and Skadi thought about her skills.

"She's very impressive in combat. Team leader Gladiia is the strongest abyssal hunter, period." Skadi began and Ash thought that might be the case.

"Gladiia can move faster than the eye can see. Even the drag because of water barely inconveniences her. Up here on land, she can move faster than the speed of sound." Skadi nodded in pride, but she quickly shook her head.

"Her weapon of choice is a glaive-like lance. Similar to Margaret's swordspear, only longer. And she can use water extremely well in combat." Skadi ended her little report and Ash sighed.

"So that's how she was able to get Specter without a fuss. The only person that can probably catch up to her here barring me is Shining." He massaged his temples and thought this was going to be troublesome.

Skadi then raised her hand and he nodded at her. "The captain left me a message. She said that should I want to see Specter and her. Go to the country that is the nearest to Aegir."

"Iberia? What's going on there? Ahhh, the seaborne? Is this connected to that?" Ash grimaced. Terra was not ready for that kind of crap.

"I already translated it, there's also a cryptic message." Skadi handed it to him and he read it.

"The terror of the depths lies asleep. Fools dare tread a path that will lead to damnation. Eternal silence is on the horizon." He furrowed his brows and rolled his eyes.

"Ugh, why does your captain have to give you this kind of crappy message? We'll be going with you to Iberia either way." Degenbrecher groaned.

"I'll be going with Skadi myself. You guys can handle Paradiso by yourself. Go to the Infy icefield and we'll go to Iberia. You already know this, Specter is extremely important." Ash ordered and everybody saluted.

The abyssal hunters aren't just exceptional soldiers. They are also valuable specimens. The research on their genes might be put on hold for now. But They're the key to get rid of the buggers or to use seaborne genetics for their benefit.

Ash already tried augmenting their cells with his current supersoldier mix. But they just fought with it until the cells got exhausted and it died.

Having Specter and Skadi increase their parameters multiple times wasn't the important part. It's an army of abyssal hunters that was beneficial.

An army that is the strongest in the world, able to adapt to anything. They would be the ultimate peacekeepers. Innovations against them won't matter, they will just get stronger and stronger.

"Do you have everything you need Skadi?" Ash asked her and she nodded. "Ahhh, I'll just get my sword."

The abyssal hunter ran to her room and Ash followed her so they could go to Iberia immediately.

Even if they arrive first, it wouldn't matter. They would be landing there anyways. They might be in a war against Ursus right now, but the others can handle it without him.

Skadi was able to get her large sword and she just stared at him. He shrugged and put his arm on her waist. They then flew towards Iberia, breaking the sound barrier.

At no man's land, en route towards Iberia. Gladiia was carrying Laurentina and the nun was beginning to stir.

Gladiia looked at her expectantly. But when the nun sniffed the air. She opened her eyes widely and snarled.

Her kidnapper did not expect for her to punch her right in the face and Gladiia went flying.

"Who are you? Where is this? You dare take me away from my master!? I'll kill you and feast on your flesh!" Specter's bloodlust rolled in waves and Gladiia held her cheek in shock.

"Laurentina, it's me... Gladiia, Ulpianus was your captain, but Skadi, you, and I dealt the final blow to Ishar-mla." Gladiia explained to her.

But the only answer she received was an animalistic growl. "It's much worse than I thought. The church of the deep... You'll pay for this you fools." Gladiia squinted her eyes and they were ice cold.

Specter lunged at her with immeasurable ferocity and prejudice. Her teeth sharpening as a sign of her aggression.

Gladiia wasn't one of the captains without any reason though. As she dodged all of her attacks with ease. It was like seeing her blows in slow motion.

"Keep still and let me kill you!" Specter roared and she tried to immobilize Gladiia by putting her in a bear hug.

"As you wish." Gladiia stood still and Specter grinned with glee. Her smile a bloodthirsty one.

But when she was in striking distance, Specter suddenly felt her vision darken and her eyesight shifting.

Gladiia socked her right on the chin and Specter blacked out for a split second. But her endurance was no joke. The shark immediately recovered and tried to get to Gladiia.

Though it was for naught. Gladiia kept on hitting her on the chin multiple times and she went at it even harder than earlier.

Specter reeled back from the blows and she shook her head for a few seconds.

Gladiia watched her next move and waited for her to attack again. "Captain Gladiia? Skadi... Where's Skadi. And Ash?" Laurentina held her head, wincing from the pain.

"Laurentina! Are you okay?" Gladiia went up to her in worry. Feeling her animosity disappear.

"Ash... Skadi is with Ash... Captain Gladiia, you're damned stupid. He'll be coming for you. You can't hide, he'll find you. Hope that he won't gut you for abducting me." Laurentina glared at her.

"What? The surface dwellers? You know that they are no match for us Laurentina." Gladiia snorted and Laurentina stared at her harder.

"Keep on believing that, the man can eat deities for breakfast. I will calm down Specter for you. It is still too taxing for me to appear." Laurentina went back to being Specter.

She squinted her eyes at Gladiia and then she gave her a shit eating grin. "Your reckoning will be an amusing one. My lord is most likely already at our destination."

Specter cackled madly and Gladiia just raised a brow. She was the best of Aegir. Nobody was her match. Even Skadi who has unbelievable strength can't hope to beat her.

The nun then followed her silently. Though the little chuckles she was giving unnerved her a bit.

__Iberia__

Ash and Skadi appeared at a city that was closest to Iberia. The east most one, and it looked like a ghost town.

Nobody was on the streets. The stone houses were growing mold and it looked like nobody was cleaning up the place.

"What the hell are the authorities doing here? This place looks like crap." Ash raised a brow at the situation there.

MountainDash and Penguin logistics were delivering goods to Iberia. There were no problems in doing so. The question is, why is the place so gloomy?

Ash and Skadi looked around more, and they saw some kids around the plaza. They were healthy and looked good, but something was fishy.

"Skadi, any thoughts about the message Gladiia left you?" Ash asked his companion and she shook her head, ashamed that she didn't understand it at all.

He sighed and went towards a bench. "I'll be thinking for a few seconds, look out for me." Ash closed his eyes and concentrated.

Enhancing his mind, Ash was partitioning his mind. Parallel thoughts began to emerge and he brainstormed with other independent parts of him in his mind.

And after a minute of discussions, they agreed on something. He opened his eyes and he sighed heavily.

"A group in Iberia must be trying something with the Seaborne. Terror of the depths can only be those vicious things. And fools must be the ones trying to weaponize them or something." He was done with a hypothesis and Skadi clapped at him.

"Now that I think about it, that makes sense." She continued clapping while giving him a slight smile.

Ash gave her a deadpan look and Skadi tilted her head. "Nevermind... Come on, we have to find suspicious people." Ash was about to stand up.

"Halt, who are you and what are you doing here?" A girl with a scar on her eye stopped them. (pic)

Skadi didn't like her animosity and was about to give her a piece of her mind. But Ash stopped her, she was armed and was obviously a part of the authorities there.

"We're just travellers, we heard that there's a lighthouse here. We never saw one before you see? So we travelled here to check it out. It's supposed to lead ships while it's dark, right?" Ash quickly made up a story, seeing the lighthouse on a nearby hill.

The orca thankfully doesn't really have an expressive affect. Because she was simply surprised by how good he was while under pressure. It was pretty much an instant believable story.

"Is that so? Then do come with me to check out if you have anything suspicious with you." The woman was stubborn though, making Ash annoyed.

He sighed and stood up fully, towering over the woman. "Are you saying we're under arrest? You sure you want to do this?"

The woman glared at him and was tense, preparing to reach for her weapons. "What if I say yes?"

Ash snorted. "How are you going to do so? With your big ass forehead?"

The woman bristled and she tried to reach for her swords immediately. But Ash appeared in front of her and he was already holding her up high through her head.

"Make a noise, your head explodes. Move, your head explodes. Look at me wrong, your brains splatter all over my hand." Ash glared at her in exasperation.

She stayed still and he nodded. He then put her down. "Tell me what's happening here. We're not tourists, something is fishy." Ash demanded.

"There... There are unsavory personages here that are trying to convert people. Unexplained attacks have been happening and a lot of people are starting to get missing too." She explained with a scowl.

"So a group really is trying something weird here..." Ash squinted his eyes at the word convert. That means there's a cult there.

"Fuck, there's a cult here. I hate those kinds of pricks. They're fanatics that will do anything for their goals." Ash growled and Skadi sighed.

He looked at the girl and she flinched. "Tell me your name. I'm Asmodeus Naumann, you should know me. Unless you have no newspapers or TV's in this backwater place." Ash introduced himself.

"I'm a member of the inquisition, Irene... And no, I do not know you." She glared at him.

"Your big forehead seems to be for display. You know that Liberi uses feathers to attract mates right? It seems you don't use your big brain enough. I can wage war on Iberia by just breathing wrong in my presence." Ash scoffed.

Irene was shocked by his words and was offended to high heaven. "And tell me, with you and what army?" She sneered.

"He's the emperor of Leithanien you know?" Skadi pointed at Ash and Irene just stared at him, up and down.

With him being barefoot and wearing a kimono that was ripped at the bottom. He looked more like a mercenary, especially because he was topless. So she assumed that he was trying to be intimidating.

Irene was about to argue again when a man that looked like a vampire hunter appeared.

"Sir! I'm glad you're here. There are suspicious mercs here! And he's saying that he's the emperor of Leithanien. Can you believe this guy?" Irene pointed at Ash.

But she didn't expect that her superior took a look at him and he suddenly gasped. He immediately grabbed her head and made her grovel on the ground with him.

"Y-your majesty! Please have mercy, forgive her folly! She's a good kid! She just didn't know what you looked like!" He sweated bullets and Irene's brain suffered a short-circuit.

"Y-you're t-the e-emperor? B-but why are y-you here?" She broke into a cold sweat. They received some news that they marched into Yan and blasted their country to smithereens.

That was a couple of weeks ago. Then they also had some info from their scouts that Kazimierz and Leithanien were waging war on Ursus too. With how their troops moved towards them.

It was simply unexpected that he was there. Inconceivable even, except Gladiia kidnapped Specter. If that didn't happen, he wouldn't be there for a long time. Not until they'd had talks with Iberia to fortify the country against the Seaborne.

"That's none of your business. Now, if you really like your big forehead to stay where it is, you'll fill us in with everything that's happening here, understand?" He demanded.

Irene and her superior gulped, they looked at each other. It was a chance, to take care of the mysteries happening there. And the mysterious appearance of the church of the deep.

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Thanks for reading everyone, ciao.