Quert was the only S-class Awakened in the group. As he watched the humanoid creature burst from the solid ice, he recognized the all-too-familiar Frost Power suffusing the area. He knew instantly.

’As I thought!’

’It’s you, you brat!’

’Where’s that rotting whale!?’

Blood rushed to his head. With a low roar, he leaped from the deck of the [Constantinople], like the mightiest Gladiator entering his personal arena. He didn’t tear open any of his scars, however. Instead, he simply activated the standard state of his Invincible War God ability, causing the 69 scars on his body to glow with a fiery, magma-like light that provided a basic boost to his strength.

Tearing open his scars could boost his power, but its primary effect was restorative. Using it just once or twice wouldn’t produce a significant result, so there was no point.

He had his comrades and a King-level ship for support.

’Better to just use my base strength and test this guy’s limits!’

’I’ll see if he really managed to kill that rotting whale I already crippled!’

’Quert?!’

Shi Ming had just leaped from the solid sheet of ice when he noticed three massive ships in the distance.

’Just as the Eye of the World predicted. Has this loser I beat before really come back for more?’

’And he brought backup this time?’

A single glance at the three wandering ships in the distance, each six to seven hundred meters long, was enough for Shi Ming to identify them as three Admiral-class Wandering Ships from the European Sea Region.

He recognized the [Fontainebleau]; the other two were most likely from among the [Constantinople], the [Tudor Rose], and the [Great Bullfighter].

Of Europe’s four Admiral-class Ships, three were now gathered here.

’There’s no doubt they’re not here for me. Odds are, their target was the Dusk Whale.’

’Too bad,’

’you’re all too late!’

He activated Dusk of the Gods, deliberately shrinking the domain of the Fallen God Battlefield to its smallest possible size.

It now covered a combat zone of only about fifty meters. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

The smell of rust drifted across the sea as dim yellow light and the stench of decay descended once more.

Shi Ming’s six-foot frame didn’t change in size, but his presence swelled, becoming towering and majestic. He no longer seemed like an ordinary human, but a giant descended from the Sacred Plateau, his shoulders bearing the weight of countless epics.

A human form, capable of holding up the heavens.

Even his shadow, cast upon the sea beneath the moon, stretched into a giant’s silhouette.

The Dusk Giant.

"So it’s true! You killed the whale!"

Quert grew even more furious.

’I’ve been played from the very beginning! I was just a part of this brat’s plan! I did all the work, and he reaped the rewards!’

Shi Ming, however, paid his fury no mind. In fact, he was thrilled.

’I just got this new ability, and a punching bag shows up to help me practice with it? A chance to get used to it in a real fight—could it be more perfect? The only thing is, I can’t go all out. I have to be careful not to drag in any uninvolved people and start a conflict I can’t walk back.’

...

...

...

’He’s human?’

Elizabeth watched the six-foot-plus "giant" in the distance, her brow furrowed. As the captain of an Admiral-class Ship, her senses were incredibly sharp. Even from this far away, she could tell the mysterious man’s aura was extraordinary—even stronger than Quert’s.

Her rosy lips parted slightly, unsure for a moment if she should get involved.

The [Tudor Rose]’s defensive systems, forged with the full might of the old Sun Never Sets Empire, were exceptionally robust. It could hold its own against an S-class sea beast for a short time, and if fighting wasn’t an option, escape was trivial. Nominally, they were the vanguard, but their real mission was to scout the most time- and energy-efficient route for the King-level ship, earning some contribution points along the way.

’If she were to actually encounter an S-class sea beast head-on, she had no intention of engaging.’

’Why risk her life for a few tens of thousands of contribution points?’

’Someone else would get the credit for the kill, but the losses would be all hers.’

But now, the sea beast was gone, and in its place stood a human.

’Could it be that this man already killed the sea beast? Is that why Quert is so enraged? Did he just get hot-headed and attack?’

...

Wright recognized Shi Ming as well.

Unlike Elizabeth, who was coolly assessing the situation, Wright was overcome with a wave of complicated emotions. All he could do was sigh.

He didn’t hold much anger toward Shi Ming. During the battle at Olympus, he had been tricked at the last moment by that scoundrel Iwami from the Vortex Country, causing him to lose the Calm Sea Pearl. Then Iwami was killed by Miss Yan. Faced with a fully-powered Miss Yan, he had lost any and all hope.

If he hadn’t fled so quickly, Miss Yan might even have killed him to tie up loose ends.

The fact that Shi Ming had emerged as the final winner was, ironically, a result Wright found easier to accept.

’But that Calm Sea Pearl...’

’And that obvious one-sided crush from back home...’

SIGH!

’If I’d known it would end like this, I never should have joined the expedition.’

...

Behind the [Fontainebleau], the silhouette of the [Twelve Stars] appeared on the horizon.

Wright and Elizabeth watched the two fight without intervening. The situation was clear: the Admiral-class Wandering Ships’ radar detected no other life forms in the area, though it had picked up a massive skeleton on the seabed—likely the remains of the giant rotting whale from their reports.

And judging by Quert’s fury, the S-class sea beast was, in all likelihood, already dead.

Wright’s mind raced.

’The objective of this mission is now impossible to achieve.’

’But if I could recruit such a powerful expert for the [Twelve Stars], perhaps that would be an even greater accomplishment.’

’But this isn’t a fight I can interfere in. I can only wait for an opportunity.’

!!!

DWOOOM!

A strange pulse spread across the sea.

A flicker of joy crossed Quert’s face, but then a punch from Shi Ming sent him tumbling into the water. Wright and Elizabeth, however, were visibly shaken. This was the "King Trait" of the King-level Wandering Ship, the [Twelve Stars].

Reign Over All!

Each King-level Wandering Ship possessed a unique King Trait. The [Twelve Stars]’s Reign Over All was perfectly suited for maritime expeditions.

In the face of Reign Over All, any Admiral-class or lower wandering ship was no better than scrap iron!

All A-class and lower sea beasts would be reduced to a mere 10% of their strength!

As Reign Over All descended, two more figures appeared simultaneously. They were the two S-class Awakened traveling with the [Twelve Stars], and they had arrived on the battlefield ahead of the ship itself. Shi Ming was quite familiar with one of them.

It was Mr. Lei, master of the S-class ability, Endless Purple Thunder.

"Quert... Shi... my young friend, what is going on here?"

’We were supposed to be hunting a sea beast, so why are you fighting a human?!’

’And besides,’

’isn’t that Shi Ming? The guy who killed Miss Yan, infuriated the Lighthouse, and even survived two reprisal attacks from the Pharaoh?’

’This guy is a bona fide Evil Star. He has no attachments, nothing to hold him back, and fears nothing.’

’He’d pick a fight with a power like the Lighthouse on a whim and kill their members just as casually!’

’What were you thinking, provoking him?’

"The sea beast! He stole the kill!"

A sense of dawning, surreal realization washed over Mr. Lei. For a moment, he felt that history was repeating itself in a stunningly familiar way.

Shi Ming rolled his wrists.

"So,"

"are you planning to gang up on me?"

’In the fight just now, Quert hadn’t used his Invincible War God, and I wasn’t using my full strength either. I was just getting a feel for my new ability. It’s not every day you find such a durable punching bag. Besides, the effects of Dusk of the Gods are powerful, but delayed.’

Shi Ming was still in his Dusk Giant form.

His voice was deep, yet it was magnificently resonant, imbued with a powerful, penetrating quality. It was low and majestic, carrying so far that it could be faintly heard even aboard the [Twelve Stars], over ten nautical miles away.

"Speaking of which, you of the [Twelve Stars] should be thanking me. I’ve eliminated two S-class sea beasts in the European Sea Region."

"The Deep Sea Titan and the Dusk Whale."

As he spoke,

he looked from Mr. Lei to Quert.

These were facts that could be easily verified.

"The sea beasts in this ocean are a common enemy to all of humanity. The kill belongs to whoever lands the final blow. I don’t care about rewards or bounties. But Quert, you were simply outmatched. What’s the meaning of getting a King-level Wandering Ship and three Admiral-class Wandering Ships to hunt me down?"

"Are King-level Wandering Ships meant to be used against our own kind?"

He had seized the moral high ground.

Quert’s face went pale with rage.

’The absolute shamelessness!’

In the first light of dawn, Shi Ming and the distant [Twelve Stars] faced off across the water.

Despite facing an ocean fortress that stretched for dozens of kilometers, his back was as straight as a javelin. His presence was not the least bit diminished by the ship’s Reign Over All. The space he occupied seemed to form a pocket of absolute silence.

For a moment,

the ocean seemed to split into two separate worlds.

One belonged to the steel fortress, arriving from the horizon to reign supreme.

The other belonged to a single, tiny human, standing proud and unyielding, like a monolith against a thousand years of frost and snow.