༺ Sea King (4) ༻
[…I wonder if it’s necessary to go that far?]
Hearing the answer that came from the other side of the communication screen, Tatiana bit her lip.
Originally, she had absolutely no intention to seek help from the Prophet. After all, even though the Prophet had ordered her to kill that man, she hadn’t offered any items for her to use.
However, considering the power she had experienced not too long ago…
With just her current power, it was too much for her to handle.
[Shouldn’t it be enough to just call the Chieftain for now? You even want to use that artifact?]
“…Judging from the circumstances, the time axis has been twisted once.”
Tatiana barely managed to let out a reply. She could feel her mouth going dry.
“Even among the Rulers of Hell, only the most powerful existences can cause such an unbelievable event. There is no doubt that this had happened because of the Grey Devil’s Fragment.”
She had known for a while that the Grey Devil slumbered within Lady Tristan, but she had never expected her to use her power so… ’Devotedly’ for that man.
However…
[Hm…Who knows. It’s probably not like what you’re thinking.]
But, the Prophet’s response was completely different from what she expected.
“…Excuse me?”
[It probably didn’t come out just to help that man. If the time axis only got twisted, that meant the Devil didn’t descend with its true form.]
Tatiana blinked.
“…What… Does that mean?”
[If the Grey Devil’s true form had directly descended, things wouldn’t have ended with just the time axis getting twisted. That means, what happened back then was just the Vessel going berserk. Am I wrong?]
“…”
Tatiana was at a loss for words.
After all…
Even after such a phenomenon had occurred, this woman had merely dismissed it as ‘nothing’ compared to when a Devil’s true form manifests.
[And, if a Vessel goes berserk… He would definitely not be pleased about it. No matter how much unconditional love he gets from the villains, his constitution wouldn’t be of a help to him if the Vessel was filled to the brim with malice.]
Unfathomable explanations continued to pour out.
Of course, it was only a matter of course.
When it came to understanding Devils, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the Prophet was the most knowledgeable person among all the humans in the Material Realm.
“…Does that mean… There isn’t any reason to worry…?”
[Well, more or less~ That man won’t intentionally make a Vessel go berserk just to use their power. Though, I guess it won’t hurt to give it to you. If that man dies this time as well, it’ll be a little troublesome for me.]
“…?”
Tatiana looked at the Prophet, as if doubting what she had just heard.
“…Did you just say ‘this time as well’?”
[Yep.]
The Prophet let out a giggle before answering.
[That man… A Devil did something terrible to him a while ago. And he died because of it.]
“…?”
‘Aren’t the person we’re talking about currently living well right now?’
Such a thought crossed Tataiana’s mind, but the Prophet continued on as if it was nothing significant.
[If it happens again, I’ll get a little sad, you know~]
Tatiana’s eyes widened.
After all… Within that answer…
There were countless complex emotions mixed inside.
Has this woman, someone who had always adopted an inhumanly nonchalant attitude persona, ever revealed this much emotion before?
From remorse, sadness, anger, irritation, and most of all…
Regret.
It was as if this woman, who always seemed like they knew everything in advance…This woman, who detested any variables that were added to their decisions…
There was something that even she couldn’t do anything about.
Shocked by this revelation, Tatiana widened her eyes even further and stiffened, before suddenly realizing something odd.
“…But, Prophet. Didn’t you order me to kill that man?”
[Right, I did that, didn’t I?]
“Then, why—”
‘Why are you acting as if you don’t want to see his death?’
‘Didn’t you tell me that you had thrown an ordeal that could legitimately kill that man?’
Just as Tatiana tried to question her with such doubts…
[That guy is like a spring.]
The Prophet gave her a strange response..
“…Excuse me?”
[The more intense the pressure he receives, his power springs up several fold of that very intensity. He’s basically a guy who grows faster the more he is under the threat of death.]
“…”
[He’ll probably grow more, as much as you try to kill him. If you succeed in killing him, then… Well, it means it was fated to be a ‘failure’ this time as well. Or something like that, I guess.]
‘Failure? What is she even talking about?’
Tatiana’s expression stiffened.
After all, the Prophet’s attitude right now felt inexplicably out of place.
“…Prophet.”
[Yeah?]
“I apologize for my rudeness. But, I have one question.”
Right now, this woman’s words and actions seemed as if…
“All of your actions and goals seem to be aimed at ‘making that man stronger—-’”
[You know.]
Tatiana immediately shut her mouth.
Cold sweat dripped down.
She could feel the emanating chill coming from the Prophet’s voice.
[Let’s stop it at that, okay?]
“…”
Tatiana bowed her head without a word.
She could earnestly feel the pressure that signified she was stepping on the line.
To the point that she could feel that this topic was undoubtedly the Prophet’s ‘reverse scale’.
Fortunately, the Prophet, who saw that she had shut her mouth, immediately returned to her usual light-hearted voice.
[Well, anyway.]
The Prophet stretched her body before continuing to speak.
[I can give you what you asked for. Even the strongest artifacts can only seal the presence of a Devil for a brief moment, but… That should be enough for you, right?]
“…Yes. Thank you.”
[Well, I can give you this much at least. I’ll send it over, so do your best and work hard on what I asked you to do~]
With a light-hearted voice, the Prophet continued.
[And while you’re doing that, when that man has his hands full with you, I’ll continue working toward my ‘real goal’.]
“…I receive your orders.”
The call ended with that.
Tatiana bit her lip until it bled, silently watching as the Prophet disappeared.
As always, the Prophet prioritized that man over her. This was so plainly obvious from the way she spoke.
“…”
And so, she decided on what she needed to do.
To meticulously write up a plan and utterly crush that man.
If the Devil’s power was sealed, it was safe to say that there was no force within the academy that could stop the ‘Existence of an Ancient Era’ she could summon from beneath the sea.
As long as she was able to deploy it in the most efficient manner, it wouldn’t be hard for her to subdue that man.
Now, all she needed to do was to read the ‘moves’ that man had planned before the artifact arrived.
‘…Where is that bastard right now?’
The hologram set up in her room, which displayed the current status of the entire academy, unfolded itself. Thanks to it, finding the current location of Dowd Campbell wasn’t all that difficult.
If she could see where he was and how much time he was spending there, she could also get a rough idea of what he was up to. After all, he wasn’t someone who would idly twiddle his thumbs without preparing anything.
Before long, she found where he was; Out in the middle of the sea.
It was currently the Hunter’s Night, so she assumed that he was participating in it.
“…”
But…
When Tatiana realized ‘what’ was located where Dowd had stopped his ship, her expression momentarily froze.
That reaction of hers didn’t last long.
‘…No, there’s no way.’
No matter how much of a lunatic he was, all he had with him were a few students. There was no way that he’d ever consider making contact with that being while bringing only that much manpower.
And even if he actually made contact with it…
That would be nothing short of suicide.
After convincing herself as such, Tatiana closed the hologram.
‘…That bastard is just wasting time, I see.’
With that, she let out a sigh.
She didn’t know the godforsaken reason as to why he was trying to meet the ‘King of the Sea,’ but…
Whatever it was, in the end, he’d only end up cornering himself.
“Heuk… Heuk…”
While gasping for breath, I looked down at the guys sprawled beneath my feet.
They were the ones who rushed me in a rage after I knocked down that fat bastard who kept oinking his abusive words to Riru.
“Huh? They aren’t as strong as I thought.”
They had jumped out so ferociously, so I had assumed that they were quite formidable. However, since I managed to wipe them out even without Talion and Riru’s help, it was clear that they were merely fodders.
The fact that Desperation merely adjusted to B-Grade convinced me of that.
“…”
Well, in any case…
I was able to test the extent of the Fighting Arts’ stats adjustment when fighting bare-handed.
‘It feels better than I thought.’
The result was, not only did it increase my stats, it also felt like my athletic prowess was considerably improved.
For example, I became able to perform various movements that my previous self couldn’t even imagine doing.
From doing Somersault Kicks and Triple Roundhouse Kicks, to smoothly reacting to the opponent’s attacks with counter-punches.
‘…If it’s this much…’
If this was this level of performance after barely raising the progress rate by 10%, then completing it before the Main Quest Boss Battle arrived should be possible.
After all, if I remember correctly, there was an upcoming event where I could increase my proficiency in Fighting Arts exponentially.
I would probably be able to see this progress after leaving this sea and just by moving onto the next stage of the Hunter’s Night.
“…Is it okay to act so nonchalantly after knocking down this many people?”
Talion, who was collecting all the equipment these guys had after receiving my orders, spoke with an incredulous voice.
“I heard that properly equipped warriors of the Tribal Alliance had the power equal to, maybe even surpassing the Empire’s official knights…”
“Why are you even comparing mere academy students to actual warriors?”
Honestly, the battle itself wasn’t really anything to write home about.
They were buffed with their excellent equipment, but with the backup I received from my skills, I could easily handle them.
Just in case some incident would occur if they went near Riru, only Talion and I fought them, hence why I was so exhausted right now.
“…”
Like, seriously, did you know how scared I was when I saw that blue aura coming out because of that fat bastard’s idiotic rant?
If she were to join in the battle in that state, something would definitely go wrong!
“Rather than worrying about that, just gather the equipment properly. We’ll always have a use for them later.”
“Got it.”
At my command, Talion picked up the pace of his work.
Tribal Alliance’s ‘Workshop’ was considered to have the best technological prowess among all the academies. Since I had come all the way here, I couldn’t just not use it.
With that in mind, I recalled the list of ‘materials’ I had collected so far.
Starsteel, Adaptive Leather I had previously torn off of a Demonic Creature, Ectoplasm, Intermediate-Grade Artifact… When adding the equipment that we were collecting from these guys to all of that, I realized that I could make quite a useful item.
Something that would be enormously helpful in strengthening both this person and me.
As I gazed at Riru with such thoughts in mind, she suddenly looked back at me with an expression, indicating that her head was throbbing.
“…Why did you do that?”
“Excuse me?”
“Why did you fight them? You even made sure that none of them got close to me…”
“…”
I mean, if I had sent one over to you, the Blue Devil would have definitely gone berserk. And if that were to happen, everyone would die on the spot.
But there was no way that I could tell her that.
“I see. So you don’t want to explain? Whatever, forget about it.”
With a sigh, Riru mumbled in a low voice.
“…So, men really express their feelings without explaining anything?”
“…Huh?”
“It’s nothing. Anyway, rather than that…”
With a sulky face, Riru continued.
“…What are you planning to do with this guy?”
I had placed all the guys whose equipment had been looted on the boat. I was going to send them back to the docks.
All of them except for one guy whom I tied up tightly with a rope. It was the guy who badmouthed Riru out of nowhere.
“I’ll use him as a sacrifice, of course.”
Since I wasn’t able to find a sacrifice until now, this was simply perfect.
Just like how you had to use your gums if you didn’t have teeth, I had to at least use this guy if there wasn’t a suitable Demonic Creature.
“…Sacrifice?”
Riru narrowed her eyes as she scrutinized the tied-up pig.
His state did look a bit odd, to say the least.
To put it into words…
“…It kinda looks like bait being hung on a fishing rod, doesn’t it?”
Talion’s comment made me chuckle.
Since it was much more accurate than I thought.
“You did mention that you needed a…sacrifice… But is there a situation where we need a human-sized one…?”
“Of course there is.”
After saying those words, I gave Talion a command. We held the guy at both ends.
“Throw it as far as you can on the count of three. One, two, three.”
Following this, the body flew into the air, drawing an arc. Perhaps it was because Talion and I threw it with all our strength; that enormous figure turned into the size of a fist rather quickly.
I could hear the sound of someone falling into the sea with a splash, before being followed by a scream.
He had been sprawled unconscious all this time and seemed to have only regained consciousness after falling into the water.
While ignoring the guy’s sputtering screams, I glanced at my watch.
‘It’s not too late.’
The creature was quite the rare bastard. Even within the game, it was notorious for needing to match all sorts of conditions in order to meet it.
If I were to wait at this exact place while holding a similar-sized ‘sacrifice,’ during this specific time on the Hunter’s Night…
There was a creature that would come out to eat it.
A very, very terrifying creature.
As I recalled that information, I controlled the ‘fishing rod’ connected to the fat pig’s rope.
I dipped it into the water, then pulled it out, then dipped it into the water, and pulled it out again.
To make it look like a tempting prey, I moved it in a rather flashy way.
“Uu, uphew, y-you, s-son of bitches! What the hell is this! I am Krun Ger-Do! The successor of a War Chief!”
“I see.”
“The fuck do you mean ‘I see’? Pull me out immediately! If you don’t, you’ll pay a harsh—!”
“Okay.”
“…”
As Riru watched me indifferently handle that guy, she sighed and intervened.
“In any case, you still need to be careful. Even if he doesn’t look like much, like he said, he’s still a War Chief’s successor. The Tribal Alliance won’t stand still, you know?”
“Let them do as they please.”
“…What?”
“In any case, as long as they went out of their way to provoke you, that meant they were picking a fight with me as well. So, it can’t be helped.”
“…”
And hearing that…
Riru closed her eyes and rubbed her temples.
Her body language seemed to be pondering why this guy spoke this type of shit as naturally as breathing.
“…Why is that such a natural conclusion.”
Riru responded with a weak voice, but it was hard for me to focus on that at the moment.
You see, that thing was about to ‘take the bait.’
“…The wind… Stopped.”
Talion was the first to notice.
The storm that had been raging around us had come to a halt. The waves that had been surging in the sea also subsided.
It was like the calm before the storm.
“…”
Come to think of it, that was a terrifyingly fitting description.
After all, there was no word that would suit the existence, which would now reveal itself, better than ‘storm’.
“Hold on tight.”
I spoke to Talion and Riru, who were looking around quizzically.
“Otherwise, you won’t be able to keep your balance.”
Following that…
Right in front of me, where Krun was…
‘Something’ was gradually revealing itself.
First came the enormous horns.
When Riru saw the two horns on top of its head, she stiffened, as if she had realized something.
Since it was her, she probably knew it already.
Exactly what this existence was.
“You.”
Riru’s voice was trembling as she spoke.
“…Didn’t you clearly say that we were meeting an indigenous being?”
“It is an indigenous being.”
“That?!”
I chuckled at the screaming Riru.
Well, strictly speaking…
Since it had continued to occupy this vicinity and lived here for a long time, you could classify an indigenous organism.
It was just a bit much to call it a ‘Demonic Creature’…Since its ‘level’ was way too high.
After the horns, its figure revealed a body covered in scales. Whiskers. And, unmistakable even from so far away… A ‘Dragon Heart’ pulsating from its chest.
Sea Serpent.
Though it was said to be a distant collateral line, it still belonged within the Dragon race, which was classified as one of the strongest Demonic Creatures in this world.
And that very monster had revealed itself right in front of us.
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