Chapter 6:
Animals
FRAN WAS ABOUT TO RIDE Jet back to the Valussa when it happened.
“Hrm?”
Did you feel that, t—whoa!
“Woof?”
The Wishkar rocked slightly, then shook as if it were being struck by great waves. However, the waters around us were calm.
It’s coming from the bow…
“Wishkar’s acting funny.”
Fran was right. The Sea Dragon was convulsing violently, sending vibrations up the chains.
“No…no!”
“Marle?”
Fran turned around to find her panicking. The sight of the calm and composed girl losing her cool was off-putting. What was going on?
“Wishkar’s in pain!”
The Sea Dragon was hurting? How?
Fran, toss me into the water!
“Hm! Haaa!”
With Fran’s help, I dove into the ocean. Moments after I hit the surface, I saw a large shadow in front of me. This was Wishkar. There was something strange about its figure, however. There appeared to be some kind of lump attached to it. I drew closer to get a better look, and was greeted with a strange sight. There were two large protrusions attached to the dragon’s belly.
Those are…Krakens!
Two large, red monsters that looked like octopuses had latched on to Wishkar with their tentacles. They probably picked up on its scent. We had lingered here for too long. Wishkar was a sitting duck, in the middle of immobilizing Valussa. It had no way of retaliating.
This was bad! I had to get rid of those Krakens! But what to do? I couldn’t use most of my attacks. Wishkar would get hurt if I used a fiery explosion or electric shock. Under normal circumstances, I doubted if I could penetrate its manatech-powered barrier—my spells hadn’t done much against Valussa the other day, after all. But it was probably under considerable strain right now. Water spells were likely ineffective against the Krakens’ giant bodies, and underwater conditions made Wind Magic difficult to use.
Telekinetic Catapult it is.
There was a loud rumbling in the water as I launched myself at the Krakens like a torpedo. They didn’t react to me at all. I didn’t know if they hadn’t noticed me, or if they lacked eyes to begin with. In any case, they certainly weren’t going to bother evading. I understood why once I made contact with them. Their hide looked soft, but was actually as tough as thick rubber. Underneath that gelatinous hide lay flexible muscle, reinforced with mana. The creature easily absorbed the impact of the Telekinetic Catapult.
Tch!
I was hoping to pierce through both of them, but was stopped in my tracks by the first. I was lodged inside the giant squid, however, and I saw my chance to attack it from within.
How about some grilled Kraken?
I burned my surroundings with Flame Magic. The surrounding moisture was no match for mana-generated flame. I thought about moving through the Kraken’s body to absorb its crystal, but it convulsed more violently. Its flesh was burned away and seawater rushed inside.
Wh-what’s going on?
I was caught up in the torrent and ejected out of the beast’s body. I felt like I was being tumbled around in a washing machine. I couldn’t tell up from down. I caught a glimpse of light and went to it. The sunlight that broke through the surface of the water became my guiding star.
I-I made it somehow.
I was hovering a few meters off the surface of the sea.
Now I see it. Wishkar’s fighting back!
I had a better vantage point now and could see Wishkar fighting off the Krakens. I couldn’t tell whether its newly found vigor was due to Marle calling off the seal or me attacking the Kraken. The Sea Dragon bared its fangs and the Krakens looked terrified. With them weakened, Wishkar turned its attention toward me. I barely missed getting bitten to pieces. I didn’t blame it; it couldn’t tell whether I was friend or foe.
I worked together with Wishkar, and we soon killed one of the Krakens. It had a high Life value, but all I had to do was destroy its crystal. The Sea Dragon mangled the other one with its jaws, and the situation was under control.
However, this meant that Valussa was now free to move. I turned my attention toward the other Sea Dragon. Valussa craned its proud neck over the waters and let out a shrill roar.
“Krrrroooooo!”
That sounded bad. We might end up with a Sea Dragon fight on our hands. I had to return to Fran, fast! I floated back to her side, and she grabbed me by the hilt. To everyone present, it only looked like she was using her Dimension Magic to control me.
Welcome back.
Yep. Things are looking bad down there.
Marle was looking uncharacteristically frantic. “Fran! The Valussa is running amok!” she said.
“Hm. What should we do?” Fran asked.
“Either get the rat bastard to stop it or destroy the Dragon Enhancer on board the ship!”
The Dragon Enhancer was the manatech used to supply mana to the Sea Dragons. Marle was tight-lipped about it, but she couldn’t afford to be confidential in the current situation. She told Fran what the Dragon Enhancer looked like and where it was located. Worst case scenario: we might have to kill Valussa afterward.
“I’m counting on you, Fran.”
“Hm!”
The Algieba was already suffering heavy damage. One of its masts was broken, and it was only a matter of time before the Beastman ship sunk to the bottom of the ocean.
“Come on, Jet!”
“Grr!”
We rushed to the Valussa at top speed.
“Krrrr…”
It sees us!
This was a great stroke of luck. Now that we had Valussa’s attention, the Algieba might have a chance.
“Kroooooo!”
Careful, Jet!
“Woof!”
Valussa fired its dragon breath on us. It wasn’t a stream of fire, however. Its breath attack was like a high-pressure water cannon. The stream advanced rapidly toward Jet, but he had no trouble avoiding such a straightforward attack. He had already dodged a storm of arrows, after all. Although it missed, I could feel the power of Valussa’s water breath.
“Woof!”
“Krrrr!”
Jet shot shadow spells at Valussa’s face. It didn’t do much damage, but it definitely made it angry. Valussa now added water spells to its repertoire of attacks, but Jet dodged them, too, still pelting the beast’s face with shadow spells. We let Jet distract Valussa, while Fran and I quietly land on the deck.
“Krrrrr!”
“Grrrrr!”
Valussa was now completely preoccupied.
“Black Lightning Princess! You’re back!”
“Hm. How’d it go?”
Mordred and his party were on the deck of the Sea Dragon. It looked like he had successfully beaten Varthez. Suarez was still lying in his metal shackles. His body was covered with wounds. They looked like spear wounds, and I guessed that Mordred had kept busy while we were away. The adventurer wasn’t one for sadism, so there must’ve been some reason.
“This bastard did a number on us!” Mordred shouted, pointing at Suarez.
“Heh. He heh…”
I couldn’t quite see his face, but I knew it was Suarez. His eyes hadn’t lost their arrogance. If anything, he was smirking smugly at this predicament.
“Mordred, what happened?”
“Well—”
After we left, Mordred ordered Suarez to stop the Sea Dragon. Suarez started his incantation, but then he pulled a fast one. Suarez ordered Valussa to go wild. Mordred beat Suarez to get him to revoke the order, but the desperate man stood his ground. He seemed ready to die for it. We wanted to keep him alive. We needed him to stop Valussa. The worst part of this predicament was that Valussa was free now. The berserking Sea Dragon could do what it wanted.
“What now?”
“The best way would be to get him to revoke the order.”
“True.”
I didn’t think that was going to work, though.
“I’ll go look for the Dragon Enhancer.”
“That’s the manatech?”
“Hm. I know where it is.”
“Alright. I’ll keep working on Suarez.”
“Hm!”
Hopefully, Mordred and his party could get Suarez to stop Valussa. Otherwise, we would have to destroy the manatech and kill the Sea Dragon.
“I’ll leave him to you.”
“Yeah. You be careful out there.”
Fran made her way to the ship’s lower decks. There were no enemies left, and we reached our destination in a manner of minutes. Our nerves stood on end every time the ship rocked.
This is the one!
“Really? There’s nothing inside.”
The room looked like an ordinary store, but there should be a hidden door that led to the manatech. Marle said we should check the walls, and I spotted a suspiciously empty space on the other side of the room. Suarez was the only one who could open it, but Marle had told us an easy way of breaking in.
“Haa!”
Fran cut it into pieces. Marle was right. The wall was a bit hard, but it was nothing that I couldn’t handle. Fran kicked the last of it in.
“There’s something weird here.”
That’s it! That’s the thing we’re looking for!
We stepped into the room. A giant machine was enshrined in its center. The device looked otherworldly—like a cross between magic and machine. The first thing that caught my eye was a delicate white pedestal holding a large crystal. The pedestal looked to be carved out of bone, perhaps ivory or the rib of some animal. It had six clawlike protrusions, which held up a sparkling blue crystal. It looked like something out of a fantasy novel.
The pedestal was surrounded with a metal cage. At first glance, the thing reminded me of a modified sports car, like the pipes leading out of an engine into the modified muffler. This manatech looked like a cross between a fantasy and cyberpunk device.
“Hrm…”
That’s a lot of mana.
The room was built to dampen it, and the machine’s powerful mana signature could not be felt from the outside. I wondered if we could take it with us. It seemed like such a waste to just destroy it. Surely, the Sea Dragon would be severely weakened if I put this thing into Pocket Dimension? No, that wasn’t going to happen. It was top-secret Seedrun manatech, after all. The fact that even we wanted to take it meant that it had to be destroyed. If we stole it, Seedrun might come after us. Besides, I doubted Fran would let me do anything that might anger Sellimea and Miriam.
We’ll place a Beacon here for now. Let’s head back to the top deck.
“Hm.”
Beacon was a dimension spell that would allow us to ping back here. I wanted to see if Mordred made any progress on Suarez before destroying the Dragon Enhancer.
But before I could set the Beacon up, the ship rocked violently. The walls creaked as if they were in pain, and the shaking went on for several minutes.
“Earthquake?” Fran asked.
It can’t be! We’re on a ship! Come on, we have to go back to the deck!
“Hm!”
We rushed back up, worried about what was going on. When we arrived, we saw the source of all the commotion.
What the hell is that?!
“A giant octopus tentacle?”
No, that’s a Kraken!
“I see.”
They were after Valussa, too.
“Krrrrooooo!”
Tentacles as thick as tree trunks wrapped around Valussa’s back and neck to choke it.
“There’s a lot of them down there,” Fran said.
Five, I think.
Can Valussa kill them?
I don’t know…
Wishkar’s earlier encounter showed me that, individually, the Krakens were no match for a Sea Dragon. But a swarm of C-Threats made for a terrifying foe. Still, Valussa was aggressive enough that it could take on a number of them at once. The problem only came after it defeated the first swarm. These waters were called the Kraken’s Nest for a reason, and by the looks of it, the Krakens were entering into a feeding frenzy.
We can probably get out of here while they’re busy killing each other. We’d lose Valussa, but at least we still had Suarez.
“Alright. Let’s go back to the Algieba.”
“We’re all ready for transport,” said the cadets. “Can you take care of it?”
Good initiative. Even Fran’s students had made it out of the scramble in one piece. Some of the Algieba’s fighters had lost their lives, but that was to be expected. It was a sad loss, but that was the risk of being a foot soldier. I opened a Dimension Gate to the Algieba’s deck, and everyone went through. The last ones on the Valussa’s deck were Fran and Mordred.
“After you.”
“Hang on,” Mordred said. “Let me stall this Sea Dragon for a little longer.”
“What’s the plan?”
“You’ll see,” Mordred said, taking out a bottle containing a poisonous-looking brown liquid.
Even if it weren’t poison, I could guarantee that it wouldn’t taste good. I Identified the concoction, and it seemed that it greatly boosted your mana and proficiency with Steel Magic.
“There goes a year’s worth of savings,” said Mordred.
“It’s that expensive?”
“It’s the price you pay for amazing results with no side effects.”
How much did a B-Rank save in a year? I estimated a cool five million at least. But if the potion was as strong as it seemed, it was worth the price. Mordred drained the contents, and I felt his mana swell. He started casting. It was a long spell, especially considering that he had Speedcast… It must be extremely powerful. I could feel him focusing his mana.
“Vulcanus Order!”
Mordred unleashed the powerful Steel Spell. His target was the ship’s gigantic anchors. The spell instantly transformed them into long and slender shapes, as if they were made of molding clay. The two steel rods spiraled together like a helix as if they were alive. Finally, they took the form of a metal snake over twenty meters in length.
I guessed that Mordred could only control this much metal because of the potion. He sent the metal snake at both the Sea Dragon and Krakens. The steel python wrapped itself around them all to bind them. The anchors were initially constructed out of hard metal, and with Mordred’s magic reinforcing it, even a Sea Dragon would have a hard time escaping its clutches.
“That should hold them for a while.”
“Steel Magic is so cool.”
“Right? But I don’t think it’s going to last very long against those beasts. We should get going.”
“Hm.”
Fran and Mordred walked through the portal. The crew of the Algieba cheered as they returned.
“Alright, you scallywags! Full speed ahead!” Jerome shouted.
Despite its broken mast, the Algieba still had its propulsion devices. We weren’t completely dead in the water.
Looks like we can make it out.
I looked back to the Valussa where a full-scale giant monster battle was now taking place. Valussa bit and shot at the Krakens with its breath, but it was having trouble moving in the grip of Mordred’s steel serpent. Even if its attacks managed to land, more and more Krakens lashed out to pull it under. Their bodies were soft by nature, and they were less affected by the metal snake.
“Krrrrr!” Valussa roared pitifully. The chains that held it to the ship stopped it from complete freedom of movement.
“There’s more of them now.”
Our ship wouldn’t last a minute out there.
More Krakens appeared from beneath, attracted by the blood and noise. Jerome shouted again, giving the order to retreat.
Teacher, I see something. Over there. Fran pointed out across the water.
What…? No. No no no. YOU’RE KIDDING! I wished it was nothing but a bad dream. We’re in big trouble now! What the hell was that thing doing here?! I thought the Krakens were the biggest thing that lived in these waters! Fran! We have to tell everyone!
“Hm. Big one incoming!”
“Big wha—WHAT?!”
The crew had my exact reaction.
“What?!”
“Is that for real…?!”
“Looks real enough to me!”
“Oh, gods!”
Didn’t think we’d meet again, and here of all places!
It wasn’t something I could forget. Brown tubular body mottled with red dots. A head with teeth like an anemone. It might as well be the root of all fear. The Maritime Monstrosity. Midgardsormr.
It’s one thing after another, I swear!
The Sormr’s body rocketed through the waters. Fortunately, it wasn’t swimming toward the Algieba yet. It was closing in on the Valussa. I expected it to join the frenzy.
“Huh? The Midgardsormr disappeared.”
Did it dive…?
I thought it was after the Sea Dragon and Krakens. I craned my neck and saw that the Sea Worm had returned.
“Gyagogogoooo!”
It popped out of the water and gobbled up the Krakens and the Sea Dragon as if to show off its power. Its gigantic mouth and length easily accommodated all of its prey. It even carried the Sea Dragon vessel effortlessly on its back. The large ship was nothing compared to this beast, and the ship cracked in two as it fell into the waters.
“What the hell was that?!”
“Do not fall into the water!”
The Midgardsormr crashed down and unleashed great waves on the Algieba. We were all hanging on for our lives.
“Set thrusters to full speed!”
“Aye, Captain!”
“What the hell is that monster doing here?!”
“Here it comes again!”
The Sormr had reared its ugly head back up above the surface. Within its pulsing jaws were the tentacles of Krakens and the head of a Sea Dragon.
“Krrr…” Valussa whined.
It was a disconcerting sound, coming from a monster that could easily destroy a capital state. The Sea Dragon was done for.
“Gyooooo!”
The Midgardsormr roared, proclaiming its victory.
“Crap…take us out of here! Hurry!”
“Doing our best, Captain!”
“Can we outrun it, Captain?”
“I don’t know. It’s faster than we are. The best we can hope for is that it gets distracted by other Krakens…”
The Midgardsormr didn’t really chew its food. It gobbled up its prey and let its digestive system do the rest. That was how it hunted: once all the food in the vicinity was gone, it went to a different hunting ground as it digested. The Krakens, Valussa, and the Valussa’s men could buy us a few minutes of extra time, at best, but it didn’t look like we were even going to get a moment’s repose.
“It saw us.”
It’s coming for us next.
The Midgardsormr surveyed its surroundings before fixing on us. The Algieba was the biggest thing for miles. The animal’s instincts ordered it to attack us. The Midgardsormr launched itself toward us.
“Fran! We need you to get in the air!” Jerome approached us with men carrying a barrel.
“What do you need?”
“This barrel is loaded with a concoction that Sormrs love.”
Well, that was convenient.
“I need you to dump it as far away from the Algieba as you can.”
“Alright.”
“I just hope that thing falls for it.”
Jerome normally used this method at a greater distance. Hopefully, with the Sormr occupied with Valussa and the Krakens, it would work at closer range. That said, the captain didn’t know for sure.
Let’s try.
“Hm. Come on, Jet.”
“Bark!”
Fran stored the barrel and rode Jet at full speed toward the incoming Sormr. When we dropped the barrel, it broke open upon impact, scattering the concoction within. I couldn’t smell it myself, but Fran winced at how strong it was.
Well?
“Hm…nope.”
The Midgardsormr didn’t even stop.
Dammit.
The presence of the Algieba was far more appealing. The Midgardsormr ignored the barrel and made a beeline for the ship. From above, the thing looked like it came out of a monster movie.
Attack it and see if you can grab its attention.
“Hm! Thunder Bolt!”
“Grrrr!”
Flare Blast!
We fired one spell after another at the thing’s back. I was hoping it would draw its attention, but…
It’s ignoring us! These attacks were useless. How about this? Thor’s Hammer!
A blast of electricity exploded against the Midgardsormr’s back. The lightning tore into its flesh and damaged it, but the worm showed no signs of stopping. It was more interested in food than fending off its enemies.
What do we do, Teacher?
I dunno…might as well keep attacking and hope something works.
I didn’t think we could beat the monster, but I didn’t see any other option. We had to hit it hard and force it to stop. The last time we fought a Midgardsormr, our best efforts barely slowed it down. Hopefully, we were strong enough to stop the creature now.
We hurried back to the ship and told them of our plan. The exertion would probably take Fran out of commission for the rest of the voyage.
“Don’t be stupid! There’s no way you can beat that thing!”
“Maybe I can slow it down.”
“Perhaps… No, you’re definitely the only one who has a chance out there…”
“I’ll handle it.”
“Promise me you’ll come back alive…”
“An adventurer’s life is her greatest asset.”
“A textbook answer! Ha! Alright! Godspeed!”
“Hm!”
Our plan was simple. We would hit the Midgardsormr with everything we had. When we were done, Jet could just carry us back.
Jet, focus on getting Fran back safe and sound.
“Woof.”
Worse come to worst, I would take matters into my own hands. We focused all of our mana on the Midgardsormr.
Here we go!
“Hm! Awaken! Flashing Thunderclap!” Fran opened with her strongest move. Black lightning covered her body and the static electricity made Jet’s fur stand on end.
Go for the face to get its attention.
“Got it.”
“Woof.”
Wait for it to open its mouth first.
“Hm! Jet.”
“Bark bark!”
Jet slowed down and took up position in front of the Midgardsormr. We aimed where its head should be and started casting.
I’m going in.
I dove into the water and positioned myself under the creature’s head, pelting it with flame and thunder spells. The giant sea serpent squirmed, unable to ignore us any longer.
For good measure… I used Telekinetic Catapult to launch myself at the creature’s head. I knew it wasn’t going to do much damage, but it should be enough to draw its attention.
The Sormr out a ferocious roar. I got a far better reaction than I was expecting.
“Gyobobobobo!”
The roar sent shockwaves through the water. It felt like an explosion.
Whoaaaa!
While not powerful enough to harm me, the waters churned up so much that I couldn’t tell up from down. At least we had its attention, but why did it sound so angry? I hurried back to Fran’s side as the Midgardsormr’s eyeless gaze set on me. The creature craned its neck over the waters and glared at us with its cyclopean maw.
“What’d you do?”
I was just trying to draw its attention with a Telekinetic Catapult. I don’t know why it’s so pissed!
I couldn’t make heads or tails of it, but Fran slapped her fist into her palm and nodded.
“I think it remembers the last time we fought it.”
The last time?
“You know, you blew its head off with a Telekinetic Catapult last time, too.”
Wait, so you’re saying this is the same Midgardsormr?
“Hm.”
I…couldn’t tell. Was this a special sense only beastmen had? I Identified it to make sure, but I still couldn’t tell. Its Life was a lot higher than last time, that was for sure, but then Midgardsormrs didn’t really stop growing so it must’ve eaten a lot since our last encounter. The last time we met, I filled its stomach with giant boulders.
I’m surprised this oversize worm remembers me. I guess everyone and everything could hold a grudge. Good. I still have a score to settle with you.
We escaped from our last encounter. It was time to show this thing how much stronger we’d gotten since then.
Fran, fight a while before hitting it with your strongest attacks.
“Got it.”
We had a good chance of playing bait now, and I was sure Jet could transport our tired bodies back to the Algieba when we were done.
“Gyogyooo!”
“Haaa!”
The Midgardsormr roared menacingly, and Fran charged. She hopped through the air and cut the creature’s head.
“Gyooo!”
Black lightning leaped out as I cut into it. Its low defenses were no match for us, and portions of its flesh were stripped away by the shock. With Flashing Thunderclap active, the Midgardsormr couldn’t track Fran.
Get it, Fran!
“Haaaaa! Rah!”
Fran danced through the air, hopping off of the worm’s body and at times even using my Telekinesis to jump. From a distance, I imagined that streaks of black light darted all over the Midgardsormr’s head. I think she unleashed at least two hundred attacks. Its head was beginning to look more and more pitiful. Fran’s sword and black lightning tore off great chunks of flesh, until it was riddled with holes. It looked like a sponge. Or maybe coral. Either way, we were wearing it down. But even with its head in such a state, the Midgardsormr continued to rage. It twisted its gigantic body and maintained its pressure on Fran. The deep wounds slowly but surely began to heal.
Teacher?
Okay, this isn’t working.
We had only taken a fraction off the creature’s Life. Chipping the giant worm to death was not a valid strategy.
Teacher, Ship-Slayer.
Roger that.
Fran had the same idea about the name. It was nice we were on the same wavelength. I Transmogrified myself.
“If chipping won’t work, then surely a big chop will.”
Agreed!
Still in the air, Fran shifted my gigantic blade and prepared her Pressurized Quickdraw. The Aerial Pressurized Quickdraw with Ship-Slayer might be our strongest attack yet.
We’ll call it the Aerial Pressurized Ship-Slayer! Hah!
“Yaaaah!”
Fran dove like a bullet and used my weight to accelerate faster. Pressure was already building up in my sheath.
“Gyoooo!”
The Midgardsormr must have felt like it was watching a giant sword fall out of the sky. The attack landed on its head with impossible speed, but I didn’t feel like I had crushed its head. In fact, there wasn’t even a faint thud. I had sharpened my blade to make sure that the attack would be a proper slice. As proof, the Sormr’s head was split in two, peeling away from its center. This attack could’ve killed the Sea Dragon if it hadn’t been reinforced by the Dragon Enhancer.
“You alright, Teacher?”
I’m fine. I’ll heal back soon enough!
Ship-Slayer took more of my Durability than I thought. It would take some time before Self-Repair could fully fix me. My blade creaked, and Fran gave me a worried look.
Did that do it…? I hope I didn’t jinx it…
“It’s still moving.”
Sure looks like it.
“Is it healing itself?”
I think so, yeah.
Our victory didn’t last long. The Midgardsormr’s wounds were already closing before our very eyes. We thought we did a lot of damage, but the creature disagreed. The Sormr was more than capable of enduring great physical damage.
“Hrm…”
Fran was vexed. Of course she was. The thing just ate our biggest attack and it only provided a mild distraction. At least we had the creature’s full attention.
I don’t think we’ll kill it, but we have to keep attacking!
“Hm…!”
We needed to lead it a little bit farther away from the Algieba, but we weren’t ready for what the Sormr did next.
“Gyoroooo!”
“Wait!”
It’s going to ignore us?!
Had it given up on trying to kill us already? Perhaps it prioritized satisfying its stomach over vengeance? In any case, the Midgardsormr sped toward the Algieba again. We shot out a lot of spells in a panic, but they failed to slow it down.
Dammit! It’s completely focused on the Algieba now!
“What do we do?”
We’ll have to go back to our initial plan of killing it with our strongest attack.
“Hm!”
As powerful as Aerial Pressurized Ship-Slayer was, it was nothing compared to our next move. We circled round to the front of the Sormr and charged our most powerful attack. Then we waited for the perfect time to strike, masking our intentions. Surely this would be enough.
The Midgardsormr came within a hundred meters of the Algieba and opened its mouth. All of its previous wounds had healed.
“Gyooo!” The Midgardsormr was the world’s foremost glutton. Its gaping mouth looked more like a cave. “Gyoaaaaaaaaa!”
Now!
“Haaa!”
Fran jumped. The Midgardsormr followed suit to satisfy both its hunger and its vengeance. Its terrifying maw turned toward the sky, as if it were trying to eat the sun. That was exactly where we wanted it. We let out our most powerful attack right into the glutton’s mouth.
Kanna Kamuy!
“Black Thunderfall!”
My white lightning dragon fused with Fran’s inky black lightning and drove down into the Sormr’s mouth. I put as much mana into Kanna Kamuy as I could, and Fran spent all of hers, too.
The fifty-meter-long worm convulsed and exploded into blood, guts, and ash.
The explosion was so violent it looked like a missile launch. We would’ve been blown away if it weren’t for the barrier I hurriedly set up. Waves, several dozens of meters tall, almost carried the Algieba away.
Crap! Are they okay? Alright, looks like they’re fine.
Ironically, the Midgardsormr’s thick body absorbed most of the force. The shockwaves might have capsized the Algieba otherwise. The big worm actually saved them.
The thing was in a gruesome state by now—no ordinary creature could survive this. A third of its upper body was blown to smithereens. Even snakes and centipedes, notorious for their durability, would’ve died. But leave it to an A-Threat to be tough beyond measure. The creature’s magic defense was bottom of the barrel, and it didn’t have much physical defense either, considering its size. But size was all it needed to survive.
Name: Midgardsormr
Race: Sea Serpent
Level: 60
HP: 28,117/39,823; Magic: 591; Strength: 4,139; Agility: 108
Skills: Absorb 2; Regenerate 2; Predator
This thing was ridiculous. The attack only took a third of its HP. To make matters worse, it was already healing itself.
Tch. This stupid trash compactor… At least have the decency to slow down!
“This is bad…”
The thing was missing its head—how was it regenerating so fast?! And it was still moving toward the Algieba like nothing had happened! Maybe its brain wasn’t in its head. Maybe it didn’t have a brain. Or maybe it had as many brains as it had hearts.
No, stop! Now wasn’t the time!
Jet! Cut it off again!
“Woof!”
We were at the end of our rope. I had enough mana for one more attack, but what if that wasn’t enough?
“Teacher…you okay?”
Yeah. Just take it easy, Fran. I’ll be fine.
“Hm.”
Fran was drained, too. I left her and Jet and flew off on my own. I focused my energies for another Kanna Kamuy, but I knew that it wouldn’t be as powerful as the first…
We’ll go back to the Algieba if this doesn’t work.
Then we would have to convince Jerome to abandon ship. The Wishkar was still at a reasonable distance. I could easily open a Dimension Gate to its deck. Leaving the Algieba would be a tough decision for Jerome, but it was better than going down with the ship.
I focused my mana, making sure to leave just enough to cast the emergency Dimension Gate, but then something happened.
Wha—?
The presence was still several kilometers away, yet I could feel its intense strength. It was something like a Dark Lord or even the Evil One himself, and it was moving in fast. The thing must’ve been moving at about five hundred kilometers an hour. And something else about it startled me.
This thing’s huge!
It was so gigantic that “huge” was the only word I could come up with. Its dorsal fin was a hundred meters long and twenty meters high. I couldn’t think of any monster that gigantic…
Jet, get us out of here!
“W-woof!”
I shot back to Fran and gave the order to retreat. Jet was terrified. He shivered like a newborn puppy with his tail between his legs. He managed to get over his flight or freeze response and darted all the way back to the Algieba.
“Teacher…what’s that?”
I don’t know… Identifying its fin didn’t work.
I had a guess, though. This fish was larger and more powerful than the A-Threat Midgardsormr. I could think of only one monster that fit the bill.
“Teacher…look.”
I knew it!
The unknown monster closed in on the Midgardsormr and attacked.
“Gaoooooo!”
Its jaws clamped around the Sormr and held it high in the sky like a trophy.
Its head was close to a hundred meters long, and its neck was serpentine like a dragon. It had scales like polished jade and horns like carved amethyst. Its eyes were brilliant rubies, and there seemed to be two in each socket. The creature’s divine beauty took my breath away.
Name: Leviathan
Race: Ocean God Dragon. Godbeast.
Level: 87
HP: 92,336; Magic: 36,887; Strength: 18,139; Agility: 3,123
Skills: Unknown
Lore: Unknown
Ha. Ha ha ha ha…
I could only laugh at this ludicrous situation. This was an S-Threat monster. A beast that had the ability to destroy the whole world. Its immense power made it impossible to fully Identify, but one look was enough to tell me that it was on a whole other level. I could never even build up the will to fight it. Such was the overwhelming power of a Godbeast.
I started thinking of ways to get Fran off the Algieba and leave the ship to fend for itself. My chance would come when the Leviathan started moving again, but then the strangest thing happened. I didn’t feel a trace of hostility from the Godbeast. Maybe it didn’t think us worth bothering about. Was it giving us a chance to escape? That didn’t seem right, either.
Huh…?
A strange feeling welled up in my heart. Was I going crazy with fear? The feeling threatened to overwhelm me. Irritation, impatience, sentimentality, desolation… Those were the words that came closest, but they still felt off the mark. Perhaps a better word was nostalgia—if I had tears to shed, I would be bawling.
As I was lost in a storm of emotions, I felt the Leviathan’s piercing gaze. Why was it looking at me? I was so confused I didn’t know what to do. All I could do was return its gaze.
Eventually, the Leviathan turned back and disappeared into the deep. I thought I saw the faint glimpse of a smile in its eyes. Maybe I was reading too much into it. After all, I was so desperate not to be eaten. The giant god of the oceans dove into the abyss with the Midgardsormr in its jaws. When the waves subsided, there was nothing but a deafening stillness. Slowly, we returned to our senses.
We’re…saved?
“Hm…”
“Woof…”
Fran and Jet were exhausted and at a loss for words.
Our return trip to the Algieba was a quiet one. Jet fluttered back on deck and we found that the crew was in no better shape than us. They reacted to the disappearance of the Leviathan in different ways. Some stared at the Godbeast’s last known location in shocked silence, some laughed like lunatics, while others prayed to the heavens. Captain Jerome was laughing, though his laughter was more restrained than that of his men.
Surprisingly, the Leviathan’s waves didn’t capsize the ship…which didn’t make sense, now that I thought about it. The giant dragon’s body barely caused any waves as it left. Was it actively trying to protect the Algieba? That was unlikely. If anything, it probably used some kind of Skill to reduce its water resistance and swim faster. We probably got really lucky.
Mordred was the first to recover his senses, followed by Jerome and Buffet. Fran had to coax them into waking up. The last hour had traumatized Mordred. His voice wavered as he spoke. “I broke into a life’s worth of cold sweat… I have no idea how my heart didn’t stop… I’m not going through this again! We’re taking time off of ship duty!”
We’d been caught in a battle between Sea Dragons, Krakens, and a Midgardsormr. Our savior turned out to be the S-Threat Godbeast Leviathan itself, and even then that was purely accidental. Mordred was right to be terrified. Meanwhile, Suarez looked even more haggard than before. His cheeks had sunken significantly.
Jerome was practically screaming. He leaned over the railing and stared at the water. “What the hell was that?! Tell me you saw that! You saw it, too, right?! Tell me I’m not crazy!”
“Yes, Captain, I saw it, too… What was that thing doing here…? But…no…” The first mate muttered to himself in disbelief.
Fran approached Jerome. “I thought you said the Leviathan lived in the Enchanted Ocean?”
Jerome frowned and gave it some thought. “That’s in the past now, by the looks of it.”
That was the only answer he had. The Leviathan was still a monster after all, and we couldn’t understand what it was thinking. It had previously only been sighted in the Enchanted Ocean, but there was no guarantee the legendary creature would stay there—especially as people rarely passed there now. Maybe it left to look for food. Maybe it just decided to change its address. Who knows? Considering how fast the Leviathan moved, it could go anywhere it wanted. It might have only been sighted in the Enchanted Ocean, but there was no reason to suppose that the beast couldn’t lurk elsewhere.
One thing was for sure: these waters would make it very difficult for the Leviathan to move about. I remembered its gigantic face—it was close to a hundred meters long from its neck to the tip of its snout, and forty to fifty meters from the top of its crown to its chin. At their deepest, these waters were only about three hundred meters. This was not an area where the gigantic Leviathan could easily move. I imagined its belly was practically grazing against the bottom of the ocean. All things considered, what happened to us might as well have been a miracle.
“As I was saying, let’s get out of here!”
“This is our chance. The Krakens have fled in fear.”
Looks like the Wishkar’s doing all right.
“Hm.”
The Sea Dragon was several miles away from the Algieba.
“What do we do with this guy?” Having regained his composure, Mordred tapped Suarez with the tip of his boot. The tyrant had fainted during Mordred’s beatdown.
“I’ll take him to the Wishkar,” said Fran.
“That’s for the best.”
“Thanks, Fran.”
Suarez still had royal blood. Jerome and the others couldn’t really do anything more to him without risking repercussions. I didn’t see a point to letting him live, though. Suarez’s only worth was his ability to control his Sea Dragon. Now that dragon was in the belly of a Midgardsormr—which itself was in the belly of the Leviathan. Suarez was pretty much worthless.
Perhaps his royal blood gave him some worth, but his temperament made it liable to backfire. I had to agree with Marle. The rat bastard was worthless. In fact, what with everything we went through to capture him, his value was a significant negative. Fran took Suarez by his feet and climbed onto Jet’s back.
Hanging upside-down with his blood gathering in his head, he soon woke up. “Wh-what is the meaning of this?! What are you doing, girl!”
“…”
“Say something! I command you! Let me go! Do you know who I am?!”
“…”
“Don’t ignore me, girl!”
Fran had no time for his nonsense. She made no attempt to humor him, but Suarez kept yapping away. Without warning, she let go of his feet. Suarez’s head plunged into the sea.
“Gyaaaah!”
“Teacher.”
Sure thing.
I used Telekinesis to hold Suarez several inches over the surface of the water. I stopped his freefall and brought him back to Fran.
“…”
Fran grabbed him by the legs again, and this time Suarez didn’t say a word. When we reached the Wishkar, an exhausted Marle came to greet us.
“You’re here…”
“You alright?”
“All things considered, very much so, thank you.”
The loss of one of her kingdom’s Sea Dragons, followed by the sudden appearance of a Leviathan, had taken their toll on Marle. Her young shoulders were hunched over and she looked absolutely haggard.
“Marle! You traitor! You sided with the usurper against me!”
“Silence, rat bastard.”
“What did you call me! I don’t remember authorizing you as captain of a Sea Dragon! Going against the word of the king is a capital offense!”
This guy was unbelievable. He was still claiming the throne after all that had happened. Did he lack the capacity to learn? Suarez might be the most stubborn and foolish human I’d ever met.
“Former king. You are now nothing more than a common criminal.”
“To hell with you! How dare you address me in such a manner!”
“You’re the one that’s going to hell. Ah, but what am I doing? I’m wasting my time talking to an idiot.”
“What?! I am Suarez, the King of Seedrun! And I hereby sentence you to death!”
“By gods, you’re annoying. I can’t believe a mad fool had the throne. How shameful.”
Marle cast a spell. The next moment, a sheet of ice had covered Suarez’s mouth.
“!!!…?”
“Now be quiet.”
His nostrils weren’t covered, so I guessed he could still breathe.
“Now, then. I suppose I may receive this rat bastard?”
“Hm. We don’t need him.”
“Ha! Who does? But as much as I would love to throw him overboard, I can’t. We’ll keep him locked away in cold storage. Keep a close eye on him, you hear me?”
“Yes, ma’am!” Bike saluted Marle and carried Suarez away.
“You’ve done a great many things for us this day. I’ll hold up my end of the bargain and invite the Beastman Nationals to the negotiating table.”
“Hm…”
“It pains me that we lost Valussa, but at least we caught the rat.”
“Hm…”
“My sister will be well pleased. I’ll tell her of your involvement.”
“Hm…”
Fran was nodding off as Marle still talked. I couldn’t tell whether she heard anything the princess said. She was very sleepy after using all of her mana. But Fran liked Marle and wanted to talk to her. Still, she had her limits.
“Are you alright, Fran? You seem tired.”
“Hm…I’m fine.”
No, you’re not.
“I still have much to talk about, but you should go back to your ship and rest.”
“Thanks.”
“I’ll make sure the rat bastard stays in his cage.”
“Hm.”
“We’ll talk again soon.”
With her mission accomplished, Marle was free to leave, but it sounded like the Wishkar was going to escort the Algieba for a little while longer. Fran waved goodbye and returned to the Algieba where Jerome and the others welcomed her happily. Unfortunately, Fran was already falling asleep.
Mordred noticed what was happening and tossed Fran a lifeboat. “Captain, the Black Lightning Princess is exhausted. We should let her rest.”
“Whoops! Sorry about that!”
“Only natural after all those powerful attacks. She won’t be of much use in battle for now. Go back to your room and get some sleep, Fran.”
“Hm…”
Jet stayed behind on deck in her stead. With his detection skills and Mordred’s abilities, we wouldn’t have to worry about an ambush.
Counting on you, Jet.
“Thanks.”
“Woof!”
Fran returned to her room and did her signature dive onto the bed. Her cute breathing soon followed. “Zzzz.”
And she’s gone. Hmm, what now?
She’d fallen asleep with me still attached to her back. I didn’t mind, of course, but I didn’t think she could get a restful night with a heavy sword pressing against her back. She might end up getting nightmares. I quietly floated out of my sheath. Fran stirred slightly, noticing the change in weight.
Did I wake you?
“Zzz.”
Good. She was resting easy now.
Good night, Fran.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login