Chapter 250: Exile in the Mist

"Who are you, and why have you disturbed my eternal slumber!"

The female mage composed of green light, her cloak also glowing with a faint green hue, made it impossible to discern her figure or face. One could only sense that she was a petite woman, her voice wavering and eerie in such an environment.

3D apparitions were nothing new to Liszt; he wasn’t particularly startled by the ghostly form before him. Instead, he found it intriguing that a soul could exist independently and retain its consciousness. He sheathed his steel battle axe and drew the Red Blood Sword, channeling his inner martial energy in preparation for any counterattack. Only then did he speak, "Are you Curtis Truth?"

"Curtis..." The ghostly female mage lowered her head as if in deep thought, taking a long moment before lifting it again, the green glow in her eyes flickering, "That was my name before I exiled myself. Knight, why have you disturbed my eternal slumber!"

Exile?

Liszt was a bit puzzled. He hadn’t even opened the magic book titled *To His Highness Anut—Curtis Truth*.

Now, thinking about it, that book might have been a kind of “will,” written as a book.

"It’s not that I wanted to disturb your eternal slumber. In fact, it was you who disturbed my journey. My ship encountered a storm at sea, and then your ghost ship approached, pulling me onto this inexplicable ghost ship."

"Ghost ship..." The ghostly female mage fell into contemplation again. After such a long slumber, her mind seemed somewhat dull. Judging from the time since Duke Andite ascended the throne, it must have been over a hundred years, "Has the *Goat* become a ghost ship? Anut... Uncle Cohen..."

The green light flickered as the ghostly female mage immersed herself in memories of the past, her voice growing increasingly ethereal.

Liszt, however, paid no heed to the atmosphere and rudely interrupted, "Stop, wait a moment. My friends are being deceived by the ghost ship and are fighting each other on the deck. Can you first lift the ghost ship’s deception?"

"I have exiled myself, and the *Goat* becoming a ghost ship is beyond my control... Hmm?" The ghostly female mage’s previously ethereal voice suddenly turned sharp, "My resting place, you, damn it, you actually destroyed my resting place!"

"You mean those walls carved with magical runes?"

"Damn it, I used the souls of the entire crew as materials to cast a curse array, creating a resting place for my self-exile!" The ghostly female mage trembled with rage, her entire body glowing green, causing the ghost ship to shake violently.

Rotten wood began to fall off, as if it would shatter at any moment.

"Using the souls of an entire ship’s crew as casting materials?"

Liszt’s scalp tingled. He never imagined that the female ghost before him had been such a cruel archmage in life. No wonder some of the faces he saw cursed her as a madwoman.

"Dead is dead, but to drag an entire ship’s crew into a living hell with you, Curtis, you’ve truly impressed me!"

"I let them die because they deserved it. On the *Goat*, they were either traitors who betrayed Anut or followers willing to sacrifice everything for him!"

Her matter-of-fact tone was infuriating.

He had no patience to argue further with the ghostly female mage and demanded, "Enough, we can chat later. Now, you need to release my friends from the ghost ship’s control. If you refuse, I’ll tear the *Goat* apart, leaving you nowhere to stand!"

"Where did you put my resting place? It was crafted from dragon remnants and soulwood, impossible to destroy. Where are they!"

"Burned."

"Burned? Impossible!"

"Really burned. Where else could they be?" Liszt held the Red Blood Sword, trying to extract useful information. Only by understanding the purpose of the so-called soulwood could he leverage it against the ghostly female mage.

"Burned!"

The ghostly female mage trembled violently, the ghost ship shaking along with her, creaking as if it would disintegrate at any moment: "Since you burned it, then you shall die too!"

She transformed into a green light and lunged at Liszt.

Liszt quickly unleashed his fire elemental martial energy, raising the Red Blood Sword and unleashing a powerful wave of flame. The martial energy, burning with fire, exploded upon impact with the ghostly female mage.

Boom!

The ghostly female mage was instantly shattered into fragments, which reformed into magical runes in the air, swirling and coalescing back into the form of Curtis Truth.

Her hateful green gaze fixed on Liszt, she no longer attacked: "You didn’t burn the soulwood. You couldn’t burn the soulwood. After my soul was exiled, it merged with the soulwood. Burning the soulwood would have caused me to vanish, not continue existing!"

"It seems you’ve regained your senses." Liszt still held the Red Blood Sword, highly alert, "The soulwood wasn’t burned; it’s in my possession. If you want it back, first release the ghost ship and let my friends regain their senses."

Liszt’s Magic Eye revealed that the people on the deck were still circling, occasionally attacking each other.

Many had already fallen.

"Return the soulwood to me, or your companions will all die." The ghostly female mage’s voice returned to its previous eerie tone.

"In that case, I’ll dismantle this ghost ship and find a way to save them myself." Liszt directly ordered Hiddleston, "Hiddleston, Multiple Rock Spikes!"

Thud!

Thud!

Hiddleston’s rock spikes pierced the ghost ship, splintering the rotten wood. The rock spikes then sank into the sea, as if the wooden hull was nothing but an illusion. Yet, the broken planks remained shattered, unable to repair themselves.

"Woof woof!"

For a while, Hiddleston had been restrained, but now, with orders, he unleashed his full power, piercing the ship with rock spikes without restraint.

His violence far exceeded Liszt’s.

Under Hiddleston’s assault, the ghost ship soon groaned under the strain, its keel seemingly breaking. The outline of the ghost ship, drawn by magic, gradually faded.

Watching the ghost ship deteriorate piece by piece, the ghostly female mage’s chest heaved violently. Finally, she couldn’t bear it and spoke in an eerie tone, "Make your dog stop. I’ll tell you how to dispel the Exile Fog."

"Exile Fog?"

"Between reality and illusion lies the source of magic, the land of exile! The ghost ship sails on the ocean of exile, taking everything it encounters." The ghostly female mage said irritably, "You wouldn’t understand the explanation. Now, do as I say!"

"Tell me."

"The figurehead at the bow is the key to opening the gate to reality, and the ram-headed flag on the mast is the beacon of the Exiled Lands. Remove that flag and place it on the dragon's head of the figurehead, and it will guide the ghost ship out of the Exiled Lands and back to the real world. Then, you will be free from the ghost ship."

"And what about you?"

"Return my soulwood to me, and I will continue my self-imposed exile... I brought disaster upon Anut and Uncle Cohen; eternal exile of my soul is the only fitting end and atonement."

At this moment, the ghostly female mage.

The face beneath the hood, once indistinct, became clear.

It was neither beautiful nor ugly, for it was merely a mass of light and shadow, but the expression on the shadowy face was one of deep piety.