Chapter 871
Ron had finally arrived.
The Succession War had reached roughly the halfway point. Several princes were already dead by now. Ron hadn't paid much attention to the details—he'd only glanced at the remaining princes because of the crystal sphere's progress.
First Prince: Benjamin.
Second Princess: Camilla.
Third Prince: Zhang Lei.
Fourth Prince: Tserriednich.
Seventh Prince: Luzurus.
Ninth Prince: Halkenburg.
Eleventh Princess: Fugetsu.
Seven remained. Of those, five were upper-tier princes, while only two belonged to the lower tier. The disparity between them was clear at a glance.
And among the lower-tier princes, Fugetsu's condition seemed particularly dire.
Ron looked at the crystal sphere in front of him, then stepped into Sumas's space.
"Begin."
In the next moment, Ron felt his aura being rapidly drawn into the crystal sphere. The color of the crystal began to shift.
Boom!
A loud sound detonated inside Ron's mind. Immediately after, his consciousness seemed to plunge into another space entirely. One shadow after another entered his field of vision.
An unidentified creature clad in armor.
A girl with blonde hair, smiling sweetly.
A cold-faced young man.
A withered old man.
A golden-haired girl with a striking figure in a tight white combat suit. A greatsword was strapped to her back, and a sorrowful aura radiated from her entire body.
Each figure soon entered the crystal sphere.
Boom!
Another explosive sound rang out. Ron felt his awareness being pulled away at extreme speed.
Not long after, he opened his eyes.
With a thought, a figure appeared before him—long golden hair with a slight curl, slightly shorter than Ron, dressed in armor and a cape, wielding a massive sword. Her features were delicate, double-lidded eyes framed by a naturally serene smile.
Information flooded into Ron's mind.
Teresa. From the Claymore world.
This, Ron hadn't expected. The world of Claymore was somewhat niche. Or rather, it wasn't obscure, just a bit dated.
In that world, monsters—Yoma—and humans existed side by side. There were also beings that straddled the boundary between the two. These were known as Claymores.
Most of them fought with massive swords. But in reality, the Yoma were artificial creations—humans turned into monsters through experimentation. If they remained controlled, they became Claymores. If not, they became Yoma.
Still, Claymores could eventually lose control and transform into Yoma themselves.
In fact, many powerful Yoma—Abyss Feeders—originated as Claymores. They shared the same origin, yet fought each other to the death.
In that sense, it wasn't unlike the Succession War of the Kakin royal family.
And among them, Teresa stood above the rest. She quickly rose to No. 1 after becoming a Claymore. Against others of her rank, she could crush multiple opponents at once. Her dominance extended to fighting Yoma as well—she rarely needed full strength to kill them.
Across the timeline of her world, Teresa may have been the strongest of all.
But she violated the rule against killing humans, and the organization hunted her down. When facing her former comrades, she subdued them easily. Yet she spared one out of compassion and was ambushed and killed by Priscilla.
Ron assessed her power.
Rank: A. But she was at the pinnacle of the A-rank, on par with Natsu and Uchiha Sasuke right off the start.
A surge of energy flowed back into Ron's body. However, given his current strength, the feedback wasn't much—less than what he'd gained recently through the enhancement of his Gourmet Cells.
With a thought, Ron dismissed Teresa.
He reached forward and sliced the air. A door appeared.
Stepping through it, Ron returned to the deck of the Black Whale.
The sky had darkened. Thick clouds pressed down from above, so heavy they seemed ready to crush the horizon itself. The ocean surrounding the ship was pitch black—no longer water in the normal sense, but something denser, thicker, as if it carried a strange mineral weight. When the lightning flashed, the sea reflected nothing back; it absorbed the light entirely, swallowing it whole.
The waves rolled unevenly, twisting and colliding as though alive. Each time they struck the hull, a fine mist rose into the air, and wherever the droplets landed, a faint hissing followed. The metal railing already showed tiny marks of corrosion. Even the deck beneath Ron's feet bore shallow lines where the spray had eaten into it.
This was no ordinary ocean. Near the Dark Continent, the sea itself was poison. The air carried a biting metallic scent, thick with moisture and acid. Standing here for too long would corrode skin, lungs, and bone alike.
A regular person wouldn't last more than a few minutes in this environment—the air alone would be enough to burn their throat and lungs from within.
But Ron remained where he was, unbothered. His aura flowed steadily around him, forming a protective film that separated him from the atmosphere. Even so, he could feel the pressure in the air—the subtle, oppressive weight that made every breath heavy.
He looked up. "Is it going to rain?"
The sky gave no answer, but the wind shifted direction, sweeping past with a sound like a whisper through metal. The ocean continued to churn, waves rising higher with crushing weight.
"The rougher the waves, the harder the task," Ron said quietly.
"In these conditions, fishing becomes much more difficult… and much more dangerous."
He fell silent, his gaze lingering on the black, corrosive sea.
Before arriving in this world, he had assumed the Black Whale would complete its journey—after all, that was how it played out in the original story. But now, standing here, seeing the sea in person, he wasn't so sure. The conditions were far worse than anything he remembered from the manga. The air was toxic. The water itself could melt steel.
He had never seen the scene where the Black Whale successfully reached the Dark Continent. He'd transmigrated before it was shown. Everything beyond this point was unknown territory.
Could the ship really survive this journey?
Ron narrowed his eyes.
He wasn't certain anymore.
Ron's overall strength now qualified him as a Sequence-ranked being. His main body alone was already at S-rank. But he didn't let that make him complacent or arrogant.
He understood all too well that this world still held many beings far more powerful than he was—possibly even in this very sea. And this wasn't even the Dark Continent yet.
Ron made his way back onto the Black Whale.
"Captain."
He was on the second level.
Right then, Machi opened the door to the neighboring room and stepped out.
"Machi," Ron nodded.
Hearing voices outside, Ponzu and Misty quickly opened their door as well.
"Captain."
"Big brother."
Ron glanced at the three of them.
"Looks like you've all made solid progress during this time."
He could feel that Misty's aura had grown more stable. Machi hadn't changed much—not because she hadn't improved, but because her original issue wasn't with her foundation. Her problem lay with her ability. The one she developed earlier to support the team wasn't fully suited to her. As long as she reconstructed it, her strength would rise significantly.
Ponzu had improved the most. She had already broken into A-rank.
Misty smiled. "Ponzu made the biggest leap."
"You all did well," Ron replied, glancing around. "Let's talk inside. Too many people here."
"Yes."
The four entered Ron's room.
Clack!
The door shut behind them. A few glances were cast their way, but only from people who didn't matter.
The three began recounting their experiences—battles with Phantom Troupe members, personal changes, and recent developments aboard the Black Whale.
"Things on the ship are a mess now," Misty said. "Especially on the lower decks. Fights break out constantly. It's like there's no order anymore."
Machi followed up, "It reminds me of Meteor City. Looks like human nature's the same everywhere—put people in a place without rules, and strength becomes the only law."
"A lot of people have died already."
Ron spoke calmly. "There are nearly 200,000 people on this ship. That's about the size of a small city. It's no surprise things turned out this way."
"Big brother, where have you been all this time? What were you doing?" Misty couldn't help but ask.
"I played half a game of chess with Kakin's king," Ron said. "Then went out for a bit of fishing."
Suddenly, the ship lurched violently.