It was unknown how Malik had boarded the ship. However, a crew member discovered him three days after they had left the shore. That was when a fight broke out, leading to a one-on-one battle proposed by the former Zuriel, who wanted to use the opportunity to unleash his anger on the main character after realizing that he was one of the key reasons the Zahara Household was facing such an escalating crisis.
Unsurprisingly, Zuriel lost and was attacked in the head by Malik's tamed beast, crushing his skull and suffering a severe concussion before he was pulled back and protected by Finn and his crew members.
Unbeknownst to them, the former Zuriel had died from that attack, which allowed him to take over this body at that moment. Unfortunately, he still felt the lingering impact of the attack on his skull, causing him to go unconscious again. He remained unconscious until he was well-rested and later awakened in bed.
Fortunately, the damage from the magical beast's attack on his head had vanished, so he didn't need to worry about suffering any lingering severe side effects.
Meanwhile, Malik was arrested and chained in the ship's brig until he came to meet him. He also realized that he wasn't the first son of the Zahara Household, but the third child, and he was on a quest to find his siblings and bring them back home.
'How is this small change? That madman has changed the novel's plot entirely?' Zuriel thought, his expression morphing into frustration.
How was he supposed to survive if the main character was determined to kill him right from the onset of the plot?
Without Malik feeling remorse whenever they interacted, how could he grow stronger after being chased to the ends of the earth by an individual with immeasurable willpower? Zuriel realized that his death had already been signed before the supposed determined moment.
"You seem to be knowledgeable about everything that had transpired, Finn?" Zuriel asked, looking at the sea slave standing beside him.
Since the plot had already shifted so drastically, it stood to reason that Malik must have already succeeded in turning the opinion of the sea slaves against him. And they were already plotting to steal the slave contracts and then release him.
Zuriel wasn't confident that Finn would remain loyal to him regardless of their situation. After all, he was no longer a mere fictional character. Even now, as a living, breathing individual, there was a chance that thegreatquill had already somehow thrown a wrench in their relationship that would lead Finn to abandon him later on.
He couldn't take any chances that could potentially lead to him suffering severe setbacks earlier on, or worse, death.
"You told me about everything when you first boarded the ship. Additionally, the young man had been speaking about everything that had transpired to get us to see the evil that the Zahara household had committed and switch sides to aid him. So, with two different points of view giving an account of a single story, it was easy to piece everything together," Finn responded, his voice firm.
Zuriel nodded at Finn's words. Fortunately, Finn was just as brilliant as he had expected. It would be troublesome if he had to look for another loyal companion.
'As expected, he had already been trying to get them to turn to his side. Fortunately, I had come on time before he became aware that everyone on this ship was a sea slave who could only answer to me and begin to entice their hearts with his beast by making promises about being capable of freeing them and changing their fate,' Zuriel thought, glancing at Malik, who was currently in deep contemplation after listening to Finn's explanation.
Zuriel hoped he could change Malik's heart and bring him to his side so they could take down the other main characters together and make it into the Tower of Extinct Beasts, but he knew it was currently impossible. The thegreatquill wouldn't have gone out of his way to entirely change the plot if it was that easy to draw him over to his side.
"Since you are already aware of everything that has happened, who do you think is telling the truth?" Zuriel asked, his tone and expression solemn as he looked at Finn, awaiting his response.
Even Malik appeared to have snapped out of his daze and narrowed his gaze, flaring intently at Finn.
"Who else would I believe but you, Captain. It's already obvious that a hidden party behind the curtain is orchestrating the chaos between the Zahara household and the shelter. The latter are incapable of arriving at this conclusion," Finn swiftly responded under the weight of the two intense gazes.
"The Zahara household seemed like an easy target for them to vent their emotions on without thinking deeper about the situation." His words caused Zuriel to nod his head in approval.
"You are correct. I made a good choice by picking you as my first mate," Zuriel replied with a smile.
"Thank you for your kind praise, Captain. I will always do my best to serve you until my contract is over," Finn responded, bowing respectfully towards Zuriel and sighing within his heart.
He couldn't think ill about the master of the slave contract with the risk of suffering severe consequences, so he did the most obvious thing any sea slave could think of and fully supported Zuriel.
Meanwhile, Zuriel refocused on Malik. "Do you still think the Zahara household was responsible for the beast horde's attack?" He asked, awaiting his response. He still had the intention of bringing Malik over to his side.
However, rather than words of reason, he was once again threatened.
"The Beastmasters of the Salt Rock Shelter are already on their way. I have already sent a signal alerting them about my current location, so you better prepare for your sentence rather than deceiving yourself about your innocence," Malik responded, glancing at Finn and Zuriel with a cold glint filled with the intent to kill flashed in his eyes.
Hearing his words, Finn's expression twisted into shock and realization. "Impossible! When did you reveal our location?" he asked. He found it difficult for someone like Malik, who was chained and had his mana suppressed, to reveal their location without them being aware.
"You will know the answer when they get here," Malik responded with a broad, crazed smile that sent a chill down Finn's spine. "I suggest you kill me now because the moment I'm free, I will make sure you suffer everything I endured during the beast horde attack while you hid within your estate walls. I will give you a personal tour of the torment before I kill you."
Finn swallowed, slightly shaken by the chained young man's menacing countenance.
"Captain, we need to do something about this matter," Finn said, his tone and expression anxious as he turned to look at Zuriel.
He had heard countless terrifying rumours about the formidable leader of the Salt Rock Shelter, so he was frightened about encountering him in person, especially after they had captured his stepson and treated him in such a manner. He didn't want to experience a live demonstration firsthand.
Contrary to Finn's expectations, Zuriel's expression was serene. 'As expected of a main character. You can threaten an individual's life and not expect them not to retaliate immediately,' he thought.
Zuriel glanced at the notification tab before his eyes with a sharp glint in his eyes.
┏━━━━━━༻✾༺━━━━━━┓
[System's notification ]
Action: (Combo x2) You have received a death threat from the main character.
Reward: +4,000EP
┗━━━━━━༻✾༺━━━━━━┛
The first time he received a death threat from Malik, he gained a +2,000EP. However, he obtained a combo the second time it transpired, resulting in an additional +4,000EP. Zuriel couldn't help but wonder if receiving a second death threat would result in a triple combo.
Despite the formidable strength of the Salt Rock Shelter Leader and those he may have selected to accompany him, he didn't have any reason to fear them when he was already at odds with the main character.
If he wanted to survive, he would need to earn more editor points to customize his tamed beast to grow stronger by increasing his strength. And the only way to do so quickly was through the individual bound in chains before him. He couldn't eliminate or get as far as he could from him due to his chances of survival plummeting, so he might as well use the opportunity presented before him.
"What makes you think I fear facing the Salt Rock Shelter leader? I'm even excited that he's the one who's coming so I can humiliate him in the presence of everyone and show everyone how incompetent he was to allow the Salt Rock Shelter to fall to its current state. I promise he wouldn't even be able to return with neither I nor the Zahara household's sacred magic tool," Zuriel responded, leaning forward to look at Malik and matching his crazed smile.