Chapter 69 - From the Beginning (4)

"Is he human?"

A pirate, who had boarded the ship fully prepared for death, blurted out the question unconsciously. He couldn't help it.

"Are we... going to live?"

The person from the Temple who wove a barrier large enough to cover the bay. And the person flying without wings, slaughtering every demon in the sky.

Neither of them seemed human.

And because they didn't seem human, he wanted to believe in them.

"A damn human from the Temple..."

"Hah, normally I would've cursed out whoever let her on board."

They looked at the one praying while gripping her mace tightly.

The pillar of light striking down and the undulating golden glow looked disgustingly noble, and even holy. Had it not been for their ill-fated history with the Temple, they might have clasped their hands together and offered a prayer alongside her.

SLICE!

"Ah, the ship!"

"The ship is sinking..."

Meanwhile, a miracle occurred elsewhere as well.

The person traversing the skies while trampling the flying demons had just sunk a ship. It was a display of martial prowess that no knight could ever hope to replicate.

"Who the hell is that man?"

"Where is he from?"

At first, when a dark energy reminiscent of a demon emanated from the man's sword, the overriding impression was one of foreboding.

But the moment that vicious energy bypassed the demons and split an approaching ship in two, they accepted it.

No one could look unfavorably upon someone who not only saved them from the threat of death but also eliminated all of their enemies.

"This is unexpected. I'm actually a bit surprised."

"C-Captain."

Just then, the Outlaw Chimawa stood near him. What was considered the most beautiful face among all living pirates looked at him with eyes curving gently into a smile.

"Are you hurt anywhere?"

"N-No."

As if they could get hurt. The golden barrier spread by the Priest's prayer didn't allow the demons to attack, let alone enter.

It meant that it was structured so they couldn't get a single scratch on their bodies.

"True, anyone who gets hurt here would be a moron!"

The Outlaw, noticing his thoughts, laughed heartily. It was an exuberance that didn't match his delicate face, but his outrageously handsome features managed to pull it off beautifully.

Pirates from other factions who hadn't boarded the Outlaw's ship blushed.

CRASH!

In the meantime, another ship was destroyed once again.

The sail and mast were split diagonally, and even the hull of the ship could be seen splitting apart from afar. Water rushed in through the cross-section split in half.

"Uhahaha. I've never thought Suriya hyungnim had good luck with people, but I suppose I'll have to take that back from now on."

"Were they brought by Windhand?"

"Probably."

"Then that Priest too...?"

"Wouldn't she be?"

"Why...?"

"That I do not know. However, she is helping us right now. Isn't that enough?"

BOOM!

Yet another ship sank. There were still many monsters flying in the sky, but compared to the beginning, about half of them were gone.

"Of course, what wouldn't one do to live. Grudges and all that lose their meaning if you die right now."

Those words weren't entirely wrong.

He agreed with the captain's words. His parents, neighbors, and the village elders had all described the Temple as lunatics and things to be avoided... but he didn't want to follow those words even in a situation where his immediate life was at stake.

His immediate life, and the present of his friends, colleagues, and lover, were more important than the grudges of a grandmother and grandfather whose faces he didn't even know.

"Which is why I happen to like that Priest very—"

RUMBLE-RUMBLE!

For a moment, it felt as though the world was shaking.

In the distance, the seawater began to part.

* * *

I spat out bloody water and widened my eyes. A black shadow of sorts had been rising from beneath the sea, and that turned out to be the reason the water was parting.

RUMBLE!

As something surged upward, the displaced water churned into white seafoam in all directions. Continuing to erupt from within it were four legs.

"An octopus?"

As if responding to my words, an alert window displayed an information window.

「???│???」

I didn't even expect anything.

GRAB!

SCREECH!

I surveyed the situation while riding on the back of a passing Harpy. The Harpy shrieked and flapped its wings frantically. It seemed to feel a sense of crisis upon having an entity equal to its own body weight added onto it.

But I couldn't care less whether the Harpy crashed or not.

I stared straight at the four—no, five, as one more had been added—undulating tentacles soaring into the air. Even though there was quite a distance, the thickness of the tentacles appeared quite massive.

It was proof that the opponent's size was quite significant this time as well. Not quite as big as the Sea Dragon, but I reckoned it was bulky enough to wrap around an entire ship.

"A Kraken is way too much."

First a Sea Dragon, and now a Kraken? Of course, considering we seem to be about halfway through this episode, it wouldn't be strange for a boss like this to appear.

"Cthulhu is seriously way too much...!"

If it was going to be like this, I would rather face the Sea Dragon one more time. With that one, I only had to avoid the head and tail, but a Kraken has eight arms to dodge, maybe even more!

Not to mention, the Sea Dragon had a rough scaled surface, whereas that thing was smooth and slick just looking at it. Stepping on its body to jump around would be a nightmare. It was the worst.

"Giant octopuses are just tough and taste terrible!"

Taking advantage of the fact that there was no one to hear me, I freely expressed my inner thoughts and jumped straight off the Harpy's body.

SLICE!

My body did a somersault, severing the neck of a Gargoyle aiming for me, and plummeted downward.

SCREECH!

THUD!

Then, dodging the teeth of a Wyvern trying to chew on my leg, I grabbed its body and climbed on top. The sword blade buried itself into the Wyvern's nape.

SSHRRK!

I sprinted straight along the Wyvern's torso, stepping all the way to the tip of its tail. The blade sliced forward through the Wyvern's flesh and finally stopped only when it reached the end of the tail.

My body soared into the air once again.

CRASH!

"A-Agh! F-From the sky!"

"Raise your swords!"

How many meters did I fall? My legs landed on the yard of the mainmast. Along with a heavy impact sound, a fairly solid shock traveled up from my feet.

Luckily, there was no feeling of pain or any injury penalty. That was all that mattered.

"Kill him!"

Meanwhile, the pirates sitting on the mainmast's top or the yard charged at me with their weapons raised. My hand swiftly swung the sword stained with the Wyvern's bodily fluids.

Soon, a silver trajectory was engraved into the world, only to shatter out of alignment a second later.

A shower of blood splattered in multiple directions and plummeted downward.

"Fuck, what is that? Red rain?"

"L-Look up, you idiot!"

"An enemy boarded the ship!"

"He's like a ghost!"

SPLASH!

At that moment, the Kraken's arm, which had been quite a distance away, seemed to submerge into the water, and then it approached, cutting through the current using a movement method unique to octopuses.

The seawater displaced by the Kraken's massive body became a wave, surging over the surface and approaching the ship I was standing on.

CRASH!

The ship lurched and tilted violently against the raging wave.

Standing on a horizontal cylindrical pillar, it wasn't a very good situation for me. If I hadn't held my ground by stabbing my sword into the crow's nest, I would have slipped and fallen off.

"W-What the hell is that! Why is it coming this way!"

The men who had been climbing up the rigging to target me screamed.

Even if it was a creature summoned by their allies, a monster was still a monster. They seemed to feel a physiological terror as it approached. Honestly, just looking at its posture, it seemed like it was trying to attack this ship too.

SWOOSH!

CRASH!

... Wait, it really is trying to attack us?

What the heck, aren't you guys on the same side? I thought you guys summoned it!

SPLINTER!

Ramming straight into the ship apparently wasn't enough for the Kraken.

Several of its arms emerged above the surface and began wrapping around the ship. The railings and the deck near the gunwales began to splinter.

"Fuck, why is that octopus bastard attacking us!"

"They said we'd be fine, those damn demon worshipers!"

"Crew! To your stations! Prepare for battle!"

"What's all this commotion!"

I began to hear such conversations echoing from the lower deck. From the looks of it, those people hadn't expected this situation either.

"We should have boarded a ship with the demon worshipers on it!"

They were even saying things like that.

I wasn't sure about the ship I sliced up earlier, but it seemed there were no followers on this ship at least. That wasn't a bad thing.

CRACK, SPLINTER!

And the Kraken attacking this ship was also good news for me. I now had a tank to act as bait while I dealt damage.

I pulled out the sword that I had kept stabbed as a support and still hadn't drawn. THWACK! The sword came out, sending wood splinters flying. SLIP. My body slid down.

FLUTTER, THUD!

Dropping like flowing water, my body naturally rotated according to my will and assumed a stance. Landing right in the middle of the deck, I sheathed the scimitar and slowly brought my hand behind my back.

"...!"

"T-That bastard...!"

SHING. A faint sound of friction rang in my ears as the True Zweihander of Destruction was drawn.

"Victory to my sword, glory to the skies above..."

Pitch-black demonic energy sizzled as it coated the blade.

"Ruin to the demons."

My body lunged forward and severed the Kraken's arm. Softer and squishier than the Sea Dragon, a feeling like slicing through jelly struck heavily against my wrist.

THUD!

The giant octopus arm tumbled and rolled, still squirming even after being cut off.

"He cut it!"

"He landed a hit!"

Those who were essentially my enemies cheered as if they were on my side for a moment. I never thought I'd experience the saying 'the enemy of my enemy is my temporary ally' right here.

WOOOOOONG—!!

Immediately after, a bizarre cry echoed across the sea. The Kraken's arms simultaneously detached from the ship and began thrashing wildly.

The deck was a bit cramped, but it felt like a genuinely standard boss fight or raid.

CRASH!

Right. Things like it slamming down multiple arms at once, and the fact that there was still room to dodge them in the midst of it all!

"Aaaagh!"

Of course, just like I expected during the Sea Dragon raid, the masts and outer hull were getting smashed to pieces. As a bonus, the pirates were being crushed to death.

But I was going to drown them anyway, so it didn't really matter, did it?

Before the tentacles that smashed into the deck could retract, I swung my sword rapidly. Three tentacles were severed in succession, leaving their marks on the deck.

The last one wasn't cut all the way through and was left dangling, but that was a relief for now. Surely it wouldn't try to attack with that. Even if it did, it wouldn't have much of an effect.

WOOOOONG

However, my thought was immediately proven wrong.

"T-The monster's arms!"

"They're regenerating...?"

Right. An octopus was a creature that regenerated its severed parts...

Watching as bubbles boiled up from the cut cross-sections and the severed tentacles quickly regenerated, I was left at a loss for words.

Even worse, in the case of the arm that hadn't been fully cut off, the new growth bumped into the existing part and completely fused with it. Meaning, it grew out in a Y-shape.

What an absolutely crazy game!!

If it's going to be like this, show the enemy's HP too!

CRASH!

The Kraken's arms began to batter the ship, tenaciously targeting me.

Whereas before it had just been slamming the deck, now its patterns varied, from smashing and piercing the ship to grabbing objects and bringing them crashing down on me.

"Tch."

What do I do about this. It wasn't hard to dodge right now, but it would be a different story once the ship sank. The moment I fell into the water, a game over was 98% guaranteed.

Or, should I rely on my skills and intuition once again and fight while stepping across the Kraken's legs? Just thinking about it was already making my heart pound with anxiety.

Dodging a mast crashing down towards me, I stepped on one of the Kraken's tentacles. Even through the soles of my combat boots, I could feel the slick sensation, coated with something more like a mucous membrane than just moisture. This was definitely going to cause a slip.

STAB!

I frantically drove my sword into it. SLIIIIDE. My body slid down, inflicting a wound on the Kraken's tentacle.

TAP

Still, that bought me some time as the mast smashed into the ship. I stepped on it and swiftly leaped up.

No matter how I looked at it, fighting while stepping on the Kraken's body was impossible. Unless I had crampons or something.

Then what do I do now? Is there no way?

SCREECH!

Just as my eyes sank at the sight of the ship, which was more submerged than before, a single ray of hope flew towards me.

SCREECH!

It was a Gargoyle.

"...!"

... I choose you, Gargoyle!

I activated Survival Instinct to confirm an escape route, then smashed the mast to leap powerfully into the air. The tentacles aiming for me struck from all directions, but I was fine.

Doing a high jump, I rotated my body halfway through the leap so my back faced downward. I didn't intend to jump particularly high, but a cold, slimy sensation brushed past just beneath my back.

And what followed was a scorching heat. The fire spewed by the Gargoyle heated the air and spread in all directions. What warmed my back was that heated air.

But as long as I succeeded, I didn't give a damn about this heat.

I twisted my body once more. If the previous rotation had been like twisting my waist, the next step was to swap the positions of my legs and my head.

SLIDE!

My feet slid straight down along the Gargoyle's head, nape, and spine. Just at the moment when I might have lost my balance and fallen to the side or plummeted upon reaching its narrowed tail, my sword pierced the Gargoyle's back.

SCREECH!

The Gargoyle let out a scream and contorted its body. Naturally, its flight trajectory also shifted, and it began to ascend with furious flaps.

Thanks to my added weight, its altitude fluctuated wildly, but it was precisely because of that that the Kraken's tentacles couldn't catch me.

The Gargoyle climbed to an even higher altitude. It was the height at which the Harpies and Wyverns were flying.

"What kind of game makes the player create their own stepping stones."

To express my gratitude to the Gargoyle that had lifted me up, I swung my sword hard enough to rip its innards apart.

SLASH!

Streams of blood and chunks of flesh scattered into the air. My body went along with them.

SCREECH?!

Striking the body of a Wyvern and landing on its back, I began yet another aerial battle.

The goal was a ship tour. Assuming I had successfully drawn the Kraken's aggro, my plan was to use the Kraken to sink all four of the remaining ships before finally taking down the Kraken itself.

In short, Operation: Use the Enemy to Destroy the Enemy.