Chapter 23: Terra Australis Incógnita (II)

The sound of whales singing, the deep sea creating powerful sounds around the ship. The lights that couldn't penetrate all the darkness and figures that seemed to move in the distance, right on the horizon created by the powerful spotlights. Jon lay on the deck, relaxed but still amazed by what he was experiencing. 

At that moment, as he traveled more than four thousand meters deep in the Antarctic Ocean, he thought that he wouldn't change his life for anything; a chance to be a knight in Westeros? No way. Not even if they threw him a crown and told him he could be King. The life of a bastard, in a world dominated by Houses and Lords, now seemed simply disappointing and boring. He had dreamed of those things many times in the past, he even wished to have Winterfell for himself, but he always dismissed that last idea. It scared him to think that Catelyn Stark could be right, and that for that dream to come true, his brothers would have to be dead. It wasn't worth it. The death of his brothers was not a price he would pay to have Winterfell.

But now? Winterfell seemed to be a dull and overly gray thing compared to a deep sea voyage, fun battles, a friend and brother in the form of a Celestial Dragon, and his new friends from other races. Besides, in the future, having things like castles, servants, animals, etc. would be easy. His own work at his restaurant already gave him a comfortable living. If he added the things he received from Sirzechs, then he didn't even have to work anymore.

And while he didn't have territories, he was considered an Emperor. The Red Dragon Emperor, one of the existences that could grow to frighten the Gods.

"What do you think?" Ddraig asked curiously. "You always make a weird face when you think."

"I don't..." Jon sighed, remembering Arya, who said similar things. "I was just thinking that I wouldn't change my life from now."

 "Oh? Not even for those things you wanted on your planet?"

"Not even for that. I would miss all of this too much. And you too, partner."

".... ", Ddraig fell silent, but he felt Jon's affection reach his heart. He knew that Jon was not yet powerful enough to face those characters of the world considered true monsters, but he felt that with a little time, they could do anything.

At that moment, when both felt the bond that united them, something deep within the Sacred Gear began to emerge. Not even Ddraig could feel it at that moment, but in the future, he would realize that...

"Jon!", Sahariel's voice came from the hatch. The head of the chief researcher protruded from the hole.

"Sahariel? Did something happen?"

 "We've reached five thousand meters deep. We should start seeing some peaks soon. I want you to look carefully from now on. Even we haven't gone this deep before."

"I see," Jon stood up as he put on his helmet. It was white with a black visor. Inside, that visor worked as a screen. A dim green light appeared with a circle in the middle, which moved around trying to detect any movement.

"Ddraig, do you think we'll find anything?"

"I don't know. At this depth, finding a meteorite would be like looking for a needle in a haystack," Ddraig commented doubtfully. "Sahariel said that the sunken parts of the continent are large enough to create a small country."

"Yeah, you're right. But I was referring to other things."

"Mm?"

 "Monsters. Even though I don't really feel like fighting, I do want to enjoy myself. And seeing monsters..."

"Ah, yeah. That would be interesting. We saw a giant squid a little while ago. But I don't think so. I mean, they're probably fossils, if they weren't crushed by the pressure."

Jon just muttered as he looked at the screen near his eyes. The circle suddenly stopped before Jon ordered the AI to zoom in. Less than a thousand meters directly in front, there was a mountain. It didn't look too big, but it was evidently a steep and wide piece of land.

"That's quite a mountain—" Jon stopped abruptly as his visor began to get interference. It flickered constantly before it shut off.

Shjrk!

A sound came from the side of his helmet as he had to move his head to the side and squeeze his head a little in pain.

Just as he was wondering what was going on, all the lights in the submarine went out. Looking back, Jon could see a bit of Sahariel's figure standing right in the middle of the cabin. It was too dark to see properly. Deciding it was best to go inside to see what was going on, Jon opened the hatch. He turned the handle a few times before pulling. He climbed down the ladder before closing it, then opened the door by lifting another handle. Alarm sounds reached his ears at that moment, as a yellow light flickered down the hallway.

Frowning, Jon closed the door and walked a little nervously towards the cockpit. When he reached the stairs, he found the cockpit door open as he heard the voices of the technicians and researchers.

"Boss, magic detected is quite high! Normal technology doesn't work."

 "Don't be silly! There's no way technology can stop working just because of magic!" Sahariel shouted angrily. "I want to know the exact amount of magic we can detect!"

Jon walked in, seeing several screens flashing with alerts. He looked at Sahariel in concern.

"What happened?"

Looking at Jon, Sahariel shook her head as she looked out at the deep sea. "I don't know exactly. For some strange reason, we've detected magic in the surroundings. That should be impossible though. There's nothing here that can emit that much power!"

Jon frowned a little. He knew that magic couldn't make technology stop working. If that was the case, then cities around the world wouldn't be able to function properly.

"I don't know everything about magic, but aren't there phenomena or spells capable of causing this kind of effect?"

 "Spells capable of affecting the functioning of technology? Not really. That's kind of useless. If you want to make certain devices stop working, you just have to destroy it, right? You throw a fireball, ice spikes, explosions, whatever." Sahariel replied as her frown deepened. She stroked her chin a bit as she thought.

"As for a magical phenomenon...," the Grigori researcher's eyes widened in shock. "Use the perimeter magic analysis device!"

"Understood!"

"Display it on the main screen," Sahariel ordered, then the screen hanging just above the holographic table, lit up showing the submarine in the center with the deep sea surrounding it. Analysis waves began to appear and spread across the entire screen. And right in front of the submarine, almost off-screen, the circle was falling apart, as if it collided with something.

"I knew it! Good thinking, Jon."

"Me? I didn't do anything though."

"No, but your words gave me a clue," Sahariel smiled. "When a dimension is created that is too large, it causes ripples in space."

"Wait, if that's true, shouldn't the Underworld and Heaven cause the same effect?" Jon asked in confusion.

"No. The Underworld already existed before the creation of the demon race, as did Heaven. Even though they are considered different spaces, the reality is that they are worlds within a main world. Imagine a large sphere; in the center is the Earth, inside the Earth, there would be the Underworld. At the top of the planet, there would be Heaven. It's not so exact to explain it that way, but it's the easiest to understand. However, if a dimension was created using spatial magic right now, then it would create ripples in space that would cause technology to deteriorate."

"So…" Jon put on a strange expression. "Did someone create a dimensional space in front of us?"

 "It's the only alternative. And it shouldn't be that big either, because it would have affected us earlier if it was that way. Who would do that kind of thing? It's too obvious! If someone from the supernatural world

"He- Boss...", a slightly nervous voice decided to speak at that moment.

"What's wrong?", Sahariel turned her head to look at the man.

"I- It's... the magic detected by the analysis device shows that it's high-grade holy magic. I... Sahariel-san, this could only have been created by 'that person'."

Sahariel's eyes widened before she ran to the man's screen. Looking at the result, she gulped before looking out the cabin's windows. "Advance. Proceed with caution."

Jon didn't know what to say at that moment. Seeing the always calm Sahariel nervous made Jon nervous and afraid of what lay ahead. In the end, he decided to walk up to the windows to look directly.

He was holding his breath as he waited. Something told him that something incredible would appear.

"This feeling..." Ddraig growled at that moment. "I remember this feeling perfectly. Grrr. It's that idiot."

"Ddraig?"

"Just look ahead, partner. He should be making his presence felt by now," Ddraig said before snorting. It was just in time for an unearthly glow to appear in front of the submarine. It started with a point of golden light before it released rays everywhere. The submarine lit up so brightly that everyone had to cover their eyes.

Jon heard at that moment: "Oh, father. How many secrets did you keep until your death?"

As he felt the light fading, Jon pulled his arm out from in front of his face and looked: huge... No, gigantic golden circles of magic appeared in his sight. They were surrounding a piece of land submerged in the depths. Circles upon circles, stacked and arranged like gears to work together.

"This is..." Jon narrowed his eyes a little. "Are they seals?"

"They are, partner," Ddraig answered affirmatively. "And they're very powerful. There could be something dangerous inside, though perhaps it's something that guy planned. His skills at foreseeing the future were quite good."

"In any case— Huh?!" Ddraig let out a stupefied cry. It was so sudden that Sahariel, who had been muttering while looking at the seals, was startled. "What the hell?! That guy could even do that?!"

"Ddraig?"

"Look ahead, mate! I can feel it better because I know what it looked like. But that light approaching, it's definitely... !"

"So it's one of my fallen children, huh?" a voice rang out throughout the submarine, surprising everyone. A golden light was approaching from the seals. It was traveling fast. First it was like a speck, then it looked like a glowing sphere, until it arrived in front of the windows, like a large ball of light that emitted faint rays of white light.

"Hey, hey, hey..." Jon opened his eyes wide as he better felt the presence that existed in the ball of light. "Don't tell me that..."

"Father..." Sahariel looked with eyes full of tears.