It was not easy for them to find a reef on which to stand, at least barely enough for the ice dragon to squat on it. Only a few feet away from the reef, the water fell straight down, and there was nothing earth-shattering at all, but ...... It was as if it had quietly fallen into the sky.

There is no endless abyss as the legend goes, at least not to them. All they could see was the night sky, adorned with jewel-like stars, hanging from the sky to their eyes like a huge tapestry, but they couldn't touch anything when they really stretched out their hands.

The ice dragon was already tired. Ed stood at its feet, and could clearly hear the heavy breathing coming from its chest. But his body was as light as a feather that would fly when the wind blew. And in the starry sky a few steps away, there seemed to be an ethereal singing voice coming from afar, a trace of it penetrated into his soul.

It was like some kind of summoning...... Call him to stand on tiptoe, forward, forward......

Fly, fly into the stars.

He clutched the thorns on the ice dragon's legs, as if he would really float away if he let go. For a few moments they were motionless and unable to say a word, until the tail of the ice dragon silently curled around his ankles.

The Staff of Eternity suddenly lit up, and the points of light in the wave at the head of the staff spun around rapidly, as if they were about to sing aloud. The expanding curtain of light enveloped both Ed and the ice dragon, and several huge black spears that rushed up from the bottom of the ocean pierced the light curtain like stabs, and only fell into the sea after a brief persistence.

Ed clenched his staff and watched as the black magic ship of Nine Toes broke through the sea.

The waves that suddenly rose into the sky with a roar were almost blinding, and the black shadows between the waves carried a heavy dead air. It was still the giant ship he remembered like a living thing, but it lacked a little bit of wisdom, only weirdness and horror - it looked more like the ancient beast drawn between the waves on the map made of dragon skin.

It must have lost some of its power, too—the power that the magic had given it. But it was so big, several times larger than the ice dragon's much-grown body. Its shadow......

It doesn't have a shadow at all.

He tilted his head, looking at the upper nine toes without warmth.

In the darkness and silence, in the dim starlight, the face of the nine toes was as white as a mask, the lips were arcs that seemed to be drawn, and the eyes were empty...... Like a ghost who has long since died, but wanders the world and refuses to leave, and forgets why he doesn't want to leave.

"What a coincidence. ”

His low laugh floated down, not loud, but unusually clear, "So you're here too." ”

Ed was silent, and the ice dragon remained silent. It had spotted the ship a few days earlier, although it had lost track of it before it could be confirmed...... It probably didn't follow them, and more likely just had the same goal as them.

It's just that it didn't expect it to catch up so quickly. It flew straight across the entire continent, and the ship should have been able to go around only from the sea......

No, no, it flies too.

Is it right behind it? It doesn't even notice it...... How could it be so fast? How could it be created by magic, unaffected?

Yes, Rosa and Bertram had said that the interior of the ship was originally very strange......

What shocked Ed even more was something else. The sea is full of reefs, and it seems that it is extremely difficult for such a large ship to pass through, let alone how many reefs are hidden under the surface...... How the hell did it avoid those reefs?

They had been prepared, but they were still caught off guard - the boat was even stranger than they had expected. The exhausted ice dragon no longer has much fighting ability, and he ......

He can cast spells. But just now, when he opened his defenses, he clearly felt the power rushing through his veins like a torrent, like a flood that would break the embankment in the next moment...... Powerful, but can lose control at any time.

The last time he lost control, he nearly burned Fili to death.

Ed was ominous, but there was no way back at the moment.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Nine-toed said quietly, to himself, "It seems that it is worth it to come here across half a world." ”

"I thought you didn't know what 'beauty' was. Ed spoke, trying to channel the power he could feel. But the power of the wind is generally erratic, strong and weak, and sometimes hidden.

He was a little flustered.

"Oh, I know. Nine Toes patiently replied to him, "I'm not blind...... It's just that beauty or not, it really doesn't mean much. ”

"What makes sense to you?" Ed asked, his eyes scanning the bow of the ship, but he didn't see Oylan, the necromancer, or the innocent, but equally fearsome female pirate.

"Actually, I don't know. Nine Toe replied, "I think I should find the answer...... I'm looking for answers, but sometimes I feel like it doesn't matter if I have an answer or not. ”

He wasn't lying, he wasn't perfunctory, he was really seriously answering the question that Ed was just to stall for time. This made Ed instinctively more vigilant.

He was his former friend...... But he knew very well that he could no longer treat him as a normal person.

"What about you?" asked Ninetoe, as if he were just chatting with his close friends, "why are you here?"

"Like you. Ed replied, "It's just ...... Find out. ”

"Oh. Ninetoe's laughter was so soft that it seemed to be gradually quieting down, slowly lapping on the waves on the side of the boat, "Maybe, I can help you?"

His voice grew lower and lower, so low that Ed couldn't help but concentrate on listening. As a tentacle-like shadow silently peeked out from beneath the surface of the sea, he was a little late in pointing the Staff of Eternity at the water.

The ice spread from the soles of their feet, freezing the water almost in the blink of an eye, and with some kind of small, eerie sound, it quickly condensed towards the huge black ship.

The extremely cold breath caused a misty white mist to rise on the black sea. In the white mist, the skeleton at the bow of the magic ship lowered its head a little, and its stiff spine made a palpitating crisp sound.

A dark red glow flowed magma-like across its black skeleton. The skeleton writhed in an eerie posture and jerked away from the bow. Its legs pulled out of the frozen waters were more like the claws of a dragon, and they were firmly on the ice. As it stood up straight with its long scythe, its tall body even exceeding the mast of the magic ship.

“...... Hell!"

The ice dragon scolded in a low voice.