Crimson and Furs

Chapter Thirty Nine: The Black Fog

A ship drifted slowly on the vast sea, leaving trails of waves on the surface of the deep. The sun stood high up in the sky, casting its radiance on the sea. Seagulls flew here and there, dolphins diving out of the water as they released gusts of water from their nostrils. Once in a while sharks would dive out of the water to attack the seagulls and dolphins. The unfortunate ones got killed and flesh and blood filled the whole region, dying it crimson.

On the deck of this ship stood man with brown hair and eyes. Although he was in his mid 30s he had this twinkle of experience in his eyes. It was as if he had seen so many things that even old people hadn't seen. Well, he was an adventurer and so it was natural he would experience so many things.

"Mr. Stark!" someone yelled at him. It was a young man in his early 20s who was holding a telescope in his hands. He had a white hair and green eyes.

Mr. Stark tugged at his cotton trenchcoat before walking towards the man. He was one of those bold adventurers he had brought with him on the voyage. Last year at Crimson Springs he had heard rumours about a cult operating in the shadows within the city. It was called the Abyss Cult. Intrigued by it he had borrowed several books and began reading them in order to know what or who the Abyss Cult worshipped. After so many days of reading indoors he finally got a very valuable information that was even more valuable that the Abyss Cult worshipped the Abyss, the ultimate end of everything. The information he got was that an abyssal zone existed somewhere on the vast sea. It connected the Abyss with the real world, making corruption and degeneration gradually seep into reality.

In order to know if the information was really true he decided to embark on an adventure to look for it. He gathered several other adventurers from all walks of life—bold and daredevil adventurers. There were ordinary people, Lycanthrope hunters, Werewolf hunters, Wizard hunters, Witch hunters and other hunters you would think of. There were also several Cursed among them. In total he had brought a group of fifty adventures who were bent on discovering the truth with him. He decided that if he discovered that this was true he would immediately return to report to the Special Cops. He knew them very well.

"What?" Mr. Stark asked. "What's the matter, Don?"

"Look what I found," Don said, his green eyes shining with excitement. "Look what I found."

He passed the telescope to Mr. Stark who immediately placed the telescopic len before his eyes. What Don had been looking at came to his view. What Don had been staring at came into his view. It was a part of the sea covered in a black fog which he couldn't even see through. It was so dark down there that it seemed the fog had been painted with blackness in the real sense. Also that part of the sea seemed to be ethereal.

Is that where the abyssal zone is? Mr. Stark asked himself as he quickly removed his eyes from the telescopic len and handed the telescope to the young man who grabbed it with delight. He had read in several books that spying on something dangerous was capable of endangering the person's life. Hence when he saw the pitch black fog he quickly removed his eyes. Since he suspected there to be the area where the abyssal zone was, it was likely one could get corrupted by looking at it for so long.

But that's where I'm going, Mr. Stark muttered to himself. He made up his mind that when he saw the abyssal zone he wouldn't linger there and would immediately turn the ship around. It was powered by steam engine so it was very fast unlike the ships which uses sails. It could cover several miles in hours.

Although the ship was fast he didn't allow the sailors to sail it at full speed. This was because the sea was unpredictable and dangerous. There was an abyssal zone rumoured to be on the sea and it could be anywhere. Just a little mistake and the whole ship would be moving into the abyssal zone. When that happened there would be no one to save them. And from what he had they would all be corrupted and transform into monsters. Those who could resist the corruption to some degree would be immediately killed by their companions who had turned into monsters.