"Look around, it's breathtakingly beautiful!"
"And everyone thinks the collection is so precious!"
"And everyone thinks there's nothing..."
The lyrics echoed with an enchanting allure, momentarily casting Liam into a daze.
"Such a... wonderful voice..."
But just then, he shook his head repeatedly to snap out of it, though a faint trace of discomfort still lingered on his face.
"It's like a lullaby or something..."
Liam turned to James and asked:
"Hey, James... Do you know anything about this?..."
James didn't respond. He continued staring vacantly at the mist ahead, his gaze distant.
"Perhaps... it's a siren..." James mumbled.
He had heard many stories about this from his grandfather's tales. Yet, he never truly paid much attention. The only thing he remembered was that if you heard singing from the sea, you should run immediately. People ranked E or lower were especially vulnerable to being affected by these songs. But by now, it was already too late—James had been listening for quite some time.
"Siren?..." Liam was slightly alarmed upon hearing this word. He had heard many legends about sirens but wasn't sure if this world followed the same rules. He felt a mix of fear and curiosity about them.
"Could you tell me more about sirens?"
But James was completely lost, standing frozen in place. Seeing this, Liam anxiously moved closer to him.
"Hey, snap out of it..." He slapped James's face several times, but all his actions were in vain.
"THUD... THUD..." A sudden impact caused the ship to shake violently. Liam collapsed as the ship abruptly stopped.
"Damn... I hope it's not a reef..." Liam muttered in frustration, glancing at James with a look of helplessness.
"Maybe after his grandfather's death, he still hasn't fully recovered."
Since boarding the ship, James had never seemed to focus, and Liam had thought that with time, things would get better. But at this moment, it was far too late for James to recover mentally.
Liam dragged James into the cabin and tied him up to avoid any unexpected incidents.
"That should do it..." Liam nodded in satisfaction, then headed below deck to investigate what had caused the ship to stop.
***
Standing on the sea's surface, surveying the surroundings, the thick fog made Liam shake his head in dismay.
"If things get worse, we might have to use the smaller boat to get past this area..."
He moved to the bow of the ship to inspect, and finally, the worst had happened. A reef had caused a massive crack in the ship's hull. The sight of it made Liam frown.
"Why is everything always so unlucky..." Liam muttered angrily, clenching his fists. From massive storms to the dense fog, James's unstable mental state, and now the ship... everything was happening too fast for him to react. At this point, he didn't know what to do. The top priority was to deal with James's condition, and then he could figure out the rest. After all, the ship wouldn't sink immediately.
"Perhaps we need to wait for the singing to stop..." Liam prepared to return to the ship and keep watch over James while waiting for the songs to end.
Just then, Liam felt an unusual energy surrounding the ship. From the water's surface, large fish tails emerged, slapping the water, creating gentle ripples. Combined with the singing, it painted a scene both romantic and eerie.
From the depths of the sea, beautiful women began to rise. The first one revealed her voluptuous upper body, a young woman with a radiant face and long, jet-black hair reaching her back. One by one, other women appeared around her. They gazed at Liam with seductive eyes, as though he was an old lover.
The closest one to Liam was a stunning blonde woman. She embraced his leg, resting her cheek against it, spreading her arms as if asking for a hug.
Caught off guard by the sudden turn of events, especially for a young man like Liam, it was hard to resist. His gaze went blank as he stared at the women like a man entranced. Slowly, he reached down and gently caressed the blonde woman's cheek. His eyes filled with affection, he gradually opened his arms to embrace her. The softness of her body and the salty scent of the sea in her hair made Liam wish time would slow down.
But then, a sensation within him stirred. It made his skin crawl, his body tremble, and in an instant, he snapped out of his daze. Energy surged through him, radiating across his body. His hands, which had been cradling the woman's head, suddenly gripped her hair tightly, pulling her away. And what he saw before him was a monster, its wide mouth bared in a snarl.
"Damn it... So ugly..." Liam gasped, his eyes wide in shock at the grotesque creature in front of him. Without hesitation, he hurled the siren away, her body crashing into the water with a resounding splash. In one swift motion, Liam's hand grasped the silver sword that had appeared from his ring.
A powerful surge of energy suddenly rushed toward him from behind, but Liam didn't need to turn around. With quick reflexes, he swung his hand back and caught the siren by the throat before it could strike. In a flash, he slammed it down onto the surface of the sea, sending water spraying in all directions. Without hesitation, Liam drove his sword deep into the creature's belly. The blade pierced through its rough skin, embedding itself into its body, causing the siren to thrash violently like a raging storm.
Desperately trying to free itself from the sword, the siren flailed in agony. But with every passing second, its strength dwindled. In mere moments, it went limp, its lifeless eyes staring blankly at Liam as its vision blurred, divided by the sword still lodged deep within its body.
Blood from the creature spread in a vast red streak. Witnessing the ease with which their companion was slain, the other monsters began to retreat, their shrill cries fading. They quickly withdrew into the ocean's depths, disappearing from Liam's sight, leaving behind a tranquil and empty sea.
"Damn... I almost became food for those ugly fish..." Liam collapsed onto the sea's surface, his heart still racing.
Looking around, with no more singing to be heard, he finally let out a long sigh of relief.
"Their songs are gone..." His ears perked up, attuned to the silence around him. This was the perfect time to escape this cursed place. It was truly too dangerous. If not for the innate powers of his body, he wondered what might have happened to him. The mere thought made Liam shudder.
"I need to get the boat ready immediately... James must've woken up by now..." Suddenly, Liam remembered his friend, alarm spreading across his face.
"This isn't good!" Liam quickly scrambled back onto the ship and rushed to the cabin where he had tied up James. What he found were burnt pieces of rope scattered across the floor. With a scowl, Liam shouted in frustration:
"THOSE DAMN FISH... YOU BASTARDS!"
After the shout, only the sound of hurried footsteps and splashing water remained.
***
"I can't find him anywhere." Liam thought to himself as he dived into the deep sea. He had been swimming for quite a distance. But there were no signs of James. He quickly swam deeper. As time passed, the urgency within him grew. Just when he felt the urge to give up, he spotted a dark shape in the distance. Narrowing his eyes, he squinted.
"Seems like it's those fish..."
Liam quickly swam toward them but kept a safe distance, ensuring they wouldn't notice him, as the monster he saw wasn't carrying James. The best option now was to follow it. After some time, the creature led him to a location.
"A cave at the bottom of the sea?" Liam's eyes widened in surprise at the sight before him. The fish slipped into a dark, massive, rugged cave. Sea cucumbers clung to its walls, and occasionally bubbles rose from the smaller rocks scattered around.
Liam hesitated briefly, pondering his next move, but within seconds, he immediately swam after the creature into the entrance where it had disappeared. The longer he delayed, the slimmer James's chances of survival became.