Veronica poured out her mana and a blue energy poured out of her body, completely enveloping the ship and the players aboard.
With her eyes closed, she felt her entire consciousness surround the vessel and the players, where she could feel everything.
Their fears, hopes, and confidence were all amalgamated inside her hollow form, a transformation that turned her into a phantom and allowed her to phase through anything, at the cost of feeling everything simultaneously.
In her phantom form, she can feel the entire presence of everything and everyone, dead or alive, within a 10km radius. Although it is a great power, it comes with a massive drawback.
Veronica slowly went insane the more she used this ability. Since she could hear anything and everything, dead or alive, and even inanimate, she could hear multiple voices inside her head and feel multiple hearts beating within her chest.
But, she held strong and managed to prevent herself from going insane. How did she do that? By embracing the voices she heard.
"The world will give us exactly 60 seconds to get to the eye of the storm. If we fail, the world serpent will devour us whole!" Veronica warned as she steered the ship in a straight line.
"The world serpent?! There's no way!" Jax shouted. "What would something like that be doing here?!"
After he said that, a roar emerged behind the ship, and the water level decreased. As it did, so did the waves' impact on the boat. The sea level reduced itself and the speed of the boat was impeded.
"This is bad!" said Nico as he looked behind to see a giant serpent's head emerging from the shallow waters of the ocean. The head was half the size of Madagascar Island and had thick scales that seemed impenetrable.
{ Side Quest!
- Cause -1 damage on Jörmungandr
Reward: ??? }
Nico watched the red screen flash in front of his eyes and swallowed his spit in nervousness. Then, he opened his inventory and pulled out his gryphon heart, which was still beating.
He looked at the other players and noticed that they didn't receive the same notification as him, which told him one of two things:
The system had chosen to eliminate him next since Veronica's skill allowed them to survive the storm. And with Jörmungandr's arrival, their only problem would be speed, and they were relatively far from the world serpent.
Or, Nyx had given him an opportunity to use this gryphon heart. Either way, he wouldn't let the opportunity go to waste.
Without hesitation, Nico dashed for the railing of the ship and jumped off, blasting fire from his hand as he flew towards the serpent. Jörmungandr saw the foolish player approaching him and opened his mouth widely, devouring him within a second flat.
"What the fuck was he thinking?!" Victor exclaimed as he tried jumping off, only for Sophia to drag him by the shirt and trip him, causing him to fall on his back.
"That's fucking Jörmungandr! If you follow Nico, you're as good as dead!" she warned.
"He could still be alive!" Victor fought back.
{ Vortex_7 has been slain }
Victor gritted his teeth as he glared at Sophia. "Don't look at me like that. At least you're still alive."
"We only have 20 seconds before Jörmungandr catches up!" Veronica cautioned as she felt her strength waver.
The world serpent was now a few seconds away from devouring the ship. He widely opened his mouth and growled, sending cold wind at the players with his icy breath.
The time grew closer to them being eaten alive. Until...
Suddenly, as if he had felt something stinging his tongue, Jörmungandr abruptly closed his mouth and released a cough. Veronica wore a confused expression.
"What's going on?!" Jax inquired.
"We now have a whole additional 30 seconds to reach the eye of the storm! But, how?!" explained Veronica.
Just as they assumed it was pure luck, Jörmungandr shrieked and opened his mouth, allowing a bright orange flame to soar out of his stomach and into the rain.
The players watched in awe as the burning amber flame soared through the sky and made its way on the ship. Landing on both his feet, Nico looked at Jörmungandr and the world serpent glared daggers at him, silently cursing the mortal.
"We've reached the eye!" Veronica said with a bright smile as she released her mana and held onto the ship. They safely reached the eye of the storm and the players took deep and heavy breaths.
Surrounding the ship was black smoke cyclone and harsh waters, but where the ship stood, everything seemed normal.
The sky was blue and the water was calm, indicating that they did indeed reach the eye of the storm.
{ You have reached 1/2 safe zones }
The system notified the players, which meant they still had a long journey ahead of them. This was only the beginning. After that was over, the players turned their attention to Nico and his burning body.
He grabbed the makeshift fire cloak surrounding him and stripped it off, allowing his normal skin colour and clothing to return to their base. Then, he turned around and looked at the players, who were questioning how he was alive.
"Explain yourself. How did you survive Jörmungandr?" Sophia asked without even trying to hide her hostility. "How are you not dead?"
Nico didn't respond. Instead, he pointed at the sky. Sophia looked up high and noticed the Sun slowly shifting its direction. And, with its shift, so did the surrounding cumulonimbus clouds and the cyclone around them.
"This isn't a safe zone; this is merely an overpass we're supposed to use in order to make it to the actual safe zone. So, instead of asking useless questions, how about we find a way to help Veronica use her ability without tiring herself out too much," Nico retorted as he walked towards Veronica.
Sophia furrowed her brows and crossed her arms while Nico crouched down next to Veronica. "You did a good job. Thanks for keeping us alive," he said as he smiled behind his mask.
Veronica smiled softly. "I-It was nothing..." she humbly said as her cheeks slightly reddened.
"Alright, Nico. You gotta tell us, man," Victor said in a serious voice. "Why aren't you dead?"
"... I have an ability that allows me to trick the system," Nico said carefully.
"What?" Jax said.
"You've seen how the system glitched and assumed I was dead? I can jam right through the system and input any piece of information I want. It just so happens that the only thing I can alter in the system is my 'death,'" Nico explained.
"So, basically, you can override this system? That's basically the same as overriding the entire world!" Sophia exclaimed. "I don't believe you!"
"Jeez, that's enough, Sophia," said Jax as he scratched the back of his head. "Look, we all saw the death screen. And, he's still standing here in front of us. Why don't you humour him for a while?"
Sophia groaned and rolled her eyes. Then, she pointed her index and pinky finger at Nico. "If you're lying..."
"We're all liars here. Don't you remember what I said? We're allowed to use each other until we leave this place. This isn't about trust, it's about how useful you are to me. With that being said, Veronica is a very important piece to this puzzle. I'll protect her as if I'm defending my own life."
After he said that, every other player started to realise how dangerous and how valuable Veronica was. Suddenly, everyone wanted to defend her. If she died, they would all follow shortly after. For this floor, they would need her.
***
{ A few moments ago... }
Without hesitation, Nico dashed for the railing of the ship and jumped off, blasting fire from his hand as he flew towards the serpent. Jörmungandr saw the foolish player approaching him and opened his mouth widely, devouring him within a second flat.
While inside Jörmungandr's stomach, Nico opened his mask and began devouring the gryphon heart in his hands, eating and chewing the whole thing before swallowing it.
Then, his chest spiked and he felt a sharp and agonizing pain. Then, as fast as a cheetah, his health was chipping away by a poison that had started taking effect.
His white skin turned ghostly pale and was covered in purple veins. His vision blurred and he could no longer feel anything. Shortly after, he died.
{ A Night Phoenix has been reborn! }
After coming back to life, Nico garnered the Dancing Fire and wore it, which now enveloped not only his body but his entire attire, turning his hoodie into a flaming cloak and his white hair into flowing silver hair.
As he fell, he fixed his mask and conjured up his fire, blasting himself out of the world serpent's mouth. The rest was merely history.