Chapter 213: Seven Leviathans

Jake slowly peeked out from behind the rocks.

Then his eyes widened slightly when he saw the people gathered outside.

There were several figures, all wearing dark cloaks that covered most of their bodies.

They stood in a loose circle, speaking in low and hurried voices.

"...Shit! The Leviathan is waking up too soon!"

Jake’s expression changed slightly.

’Leviathan?’

One of the cloaked figures clenched his fists.

"Then what’s the plan?! We haven’t even reached the agreed time with Lord Sauro yet! And only one of its heads has awakened! That’s nowhere near enough to deal with the Azure Dragon!"

Another figure shook his head anxiously.

"There’s nothing we can do. It’s already beginning to wake up. We can’t stop it now."

"Then we need to leave before it fully awakens!"

"But what about the formation?! If we use it now to escape, won’t it cause the formation covering this ruin to collapse?"

"Forget the formation! If the Leviathan wakes up completely, none of us will be able to leave!"

The group fell silent.

They clearly understood the weight of those words.

The formation was the reason this ruin had remained hidden for so long.

If it collapsed, the entire place would be exposed.

But if they stayed until the Leviathan fully awakened, they might not even have the chance to escape.

Just as the group began to panic, a rough voice suddenly came from behind them.

"Enough."

The single word was not loud, yet everyone immediately fell silent.

A tall figure slowly stepped forward from among the cloaked people.

He was a broad-shouldered man, noticeably taller and more imposing than the others.

His dark cloak hung loosely from his body, revealing a pair of thick arms covered in faint scars.

His face was partially hidden beneath his hood, but the lower half was clearly visible.

He had a rough, weathered face, a short beard, and a deep scar running from the corner of his left eye down toward his cheek.

Unlike the others, he didn’t seem particularly panicked.

His voice was rough and heavy, carrying the authority of someone they were accustomed to obeying.

"We knew this might happen."

He glanced toward the ruins, his eyes narrowing beneath the hood.

"The Leviathan is waking earlier than expected, but that doesn’t change our objective."

One of the cloaked figures hesitated.

"But, Sir Vain—"

"I said enough."

The man cut him off.

"We will proceed according to the original plan."

He paused for a moment before continuing.

"The Leviathan awakening is inevitable. Go and prepare the formation so we can leave this place."

Several of the cloaked figures exchanged glances.

"But, Sir Vain... if we activate it now, the formation concealing this ruin will collapse."

Sir Vain’s expression remained calm.

"Then let it collapse."

The others were stunned.

He slowly turned his gaze toward the ruins.

"Even if the ruin is exposed now, it no longer matters."

His eyes narrowed beneath the hood.

"Once the Leviathan fully awakens, this entire place will be exposed anyway."

The others exchanged uneasy glances before finally nodding.

"Yes, Sir."

They quickly began moving to prepare the formation.

Hidden behind the rocks, Jake narrowed his eyes.

’This guy...’

Unlike the others, he could tell that this fellow called Vain was strong... very strong.

He had a feeling that this guy might be as strong as Henry and Garrick.

Jake remained hidden behind the rocks, carefully recalling their conversation.

’And Formation? Lord Sauro? Leviathan? Original plan?’

The more he listened, the more confused he became.

Clearly, these people had been planning something inside this place, and whatever they were doing seemed to involve the creature sleeping beneath the ruins.

But Jake still had no idea what their actual goal was.

’What exactly are they trying to do here?’

Before Jake could think any further, he suddenly felt someone tugging on his hand.

Jake turned around.

Aria was behind him, her face slightly pale.

Jake’s expression changed when he saw her reaction.

"Aria? What’s wrong?"

She didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, she glanced toward the cloaked figures before looking back at him.

Her hand tightened around his.

"Jake... we need to leave."

Jake frowned.

"Why? What happened?"

Aria hesitated for a moment before lowering her voice.

"If what those people are saying is correct..."

She glanced toward the depths of the ruins, her face becoming even paler.

"...then the monster sleeping here is one of the Seven Leviathans."

Jake’s eyes widened.

"One of the Seven Leviathans?"

From his expression, it was obvious that he had never heard of them before.

Aria noticed his confusion and quickly explained.

"You don’t know about them?"

Jake shook his head.

Aria took a breath before giving him a brief explanation.

"Well, to put it in simple terms, the Seven Leviathans were ancient rulers of the sea... or at least, they used to be. They are said to have existed long before humans built kingdoms or established the major factions on the sea and land."

She looked at Jake seriously before continuing.

"Each of them is an incredibly powerful sea monster. They’re ancient beings that ruled over vast parts of the ocean... and some people even called them calamities."

Aria’s voice became slightly quieter.

"And some even called them... gods."

Aria bit her lower lip.

"And... there’s another reason they’re feared."

Jake looked at her.

"What reason?"

Aria hesitated for a moment before quietly saying,

"They hate us."

Jake frowned.

"Us?"

"Yes... humans... and other races that live on land."

She glanced toward the darkness of the ruins.

"The ocean has always been their territory. They ruled over it long before humans ever appeared. To them, the sea belongs to them."

Aria’s expression became slightly tense.

"But as the Deep Aberration spread across the land and devoured the continent, we humans and other land species were forced to leave our land."

She tightened her grip on Jake’s hand.

"Some of them had nowhere else to go... so they entered the ocean."

Jake’s eyes narrowed as he began to understand.

"So... that’s how the humans ended up in the ocean."

Aria nodded.

"And during the First Era, when we first came to the ocean and began building settlements, it wasn’t exactly peaceful either."

She paused for a moment.

"From what I learned, there was a huge war between humans and the Leviathans. Many lives were lost during that war."

Aria’s expression became solemn.

"Humans and other races had to join forces to fight against those godlike sea beasts, and countless lives were lost. It was one of the bloodiest wars of the First Era."

"But in the end, the human alliance managed to defeat all Seven Leviathans. As for what exactly happened during that war, I don’t know the exact details."

She shook her head slightly.

"This is pretty much everything I know from the history lessons I was taught."

Hearing all of that, Jake remained silent for a moment.

He glanced toward the cloaked figures outside before looking back at Aria.

"Then... if the Seven Leviathans were defeated during the First Era, how is there still one here?"

Aria’s expression became complicated.

"That... I don’t know."

She looked toward the depths of the ruin.

"Maybe the history we were taught isn’t complete."

Jake frowned and added.

"Or maybe..."

His gaze shifted back toward the cloaked figures.

"...the Leviathans weren’t actually all killed but were probably sealed or exiled."

Aria’s eyes widened slightly and nodded.

"That’s possible."

After that, neither of them spoke for a moment.

If that was true, then the history they knew could be very different from what had actually happened.

Jake rubbed his chin.

’Hmm...’

The more he thought about it, the more questions came to mind.

The history of the Seven Leviathans didn’t seem to match what was happening here.

And there seemed to be a group trying to use one of these ancient gods to accomplish something.

But then Jake shook his head.

’Whatever. Why do I need to care so much? It doesn’t have anything to do with me.’

Right now, the most important thing was getting out of this place as quickly as possible.

’I can worry about all of this later.’

He didn’t want to stay here any longer.

But he couldn’t help but glance back at the cloaked figures.

They had gathered around several strange objects on the ground, seemingly preparing to activate some sort of formation.

Faint lines of light began spreading across the ground as they worked.

Jake narrowed his eyes.

’Judging by their words, it seems the only way to get out of here is to use some sort of formation...’

’If that’s the case, then we might as well follow them. There’s no need to fight or confront this group unnecessarily.’

However, another thought suddenly crossed Jake’s mind.

’But what if the formation has a limit on how many people it can teleport?’

He frowned slightly.

If that were the case, they might have a problem.

While Jake was pondering whether he should attack and kill a few of them or not, he suddenly noticed something strange.

’Huh?’

He looked toward the group again.

The others were still busy preparing the formation.

But one person was missing.

’Where did that Vain guy go?’

Jake’s eyes narrowed.

He quickly looked around, but he couldn’t see Vain anywhere among the cloaked figures.

Then, a voice suddenly came from above them.

"Hmm... looks like we got some unexpected guests."

Jake’s expression changed instantly.

He swiftly looked up.

There...

Standing upside down on the rocky ceiling above them was Sir Vain.

His cloak hung toward the ground as he calmly stared down at Jake and Aria.

For a moment, Jake and Vain simply stared at each other.

Then Vain’s gaze shifted toward Samu’dra.

And his expression immediately changed.