Chapter 171
Chapter 171
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Warning
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(Gore Warning)
A towering pillar of water erupted, scattering in all directions, and from within it emerged a massive tentacle. No, two.
No, wait—three.
One more with every word I utter.
The tentacles were covered in suckers clinging densely to their surfaces, and they reeked with a nauseating stench. The sharp tang of brine mixed with rot assaulted my nostrils.
I wanted to ask Aria if things like that normally lurked in the sea, but replaying her terrified scramble up the cliff, I figured this was probably a first for her too.
Thud!
The three tentacles slammed down onto the top of the cliff simultaneously. I thought they were coming for me, but surprisingly, they behaved themselves, serving as a bridge linking sea and land.
The real question was, a bridge for what...
Scuttle scuttle!
Strange creatures that had been crawling around inside the sea began rapidly climbing the tentacles toward land. They looked insect-like.
Crustacean-ish, with five pairs of elongated legs, a pair of massive eyes up front, and chittering mandibles dangling loosely.
No matter my biology background, I had zero interest in fending off a swarm that had to number in the hundreds. Anyone could see they were charging in to hunt for prey.
"No, wait... Everyone, just get out! Don't stay in the house—evacuate now!"
The house wasn't the issue.
Against this cowardly swarm tactic, a tactical retreat was in order. Houses can always be rebuilt.
"I'll handle this. Dr., please stay inside."
But our bold Amy stubbornly grabbed an Ember battery and hooked it up to herself before slipping out. She had no intention of abandoning the home we'd built with care.
"Even if they come in a horde, no problem."
Those primitive crustaceans had no clue what Amy was or what she was preparing. They were just racing up the tentacles rising from the sea, eager to tear into fresh prey and fill their bellies.
That's why they'll die.
"I need to let them know this is our nest. So they never come back."
A blue energy barrier unfurled around our home. It was strikingly similar to the tech Rophuk had used in the desert temple.
Amy knew how to make full use of the records and legacies he'd left behind.
Thanks to her explosive growth that had long surpassed human knowledge, those writhing sea bugs couldn't even poke a single antenna through.
Zzzzt!
Popcorn-popping sounds echoed from all sides. The nameless crustaceans dropped dead, making those satisfying noises.
Watching Amy's performance from inside was nothing short of awe-inspiring. She was asymmetrical warfare incarnate. No pathetic attack like this would ever touch me again.
"Kee-it."
Amy wasn't alone. By our side was Jenny, who couldn't just stand by and watch Amy steal the show solo.
She was a far more terrifying existence than those rotten sea tentacles, yet she moved with elegant grace. Lithe and springy, hiding monstrous muscle beneath her deceptively slender frame.
"The mood was nice..."
She seemed pissed. Frowning, Jenny pierced straight through the energy barrier and strode outside.
Every part of her that touched it sizzled and charred black, but she didn't give a damn. Her rage was aimed squarely at the filthy tentacles that dared interrupt her sweet night.
"Jenny, don't do anything danger—"
I started to call out to her back, then gave up and sat back down.
"Dangerous?"
"Nah. Forget it."
I wanted to tell her to be careful, but honestly, wasn't she the most dangerous thing on this entire planet right now?
Jenny plunged into the sea without hesitation. Unlike Amy methodically dispatching the crustaceans, Jenny's razor-sharp teeth and aggressive tail speared straight for the colossal entity below.
Only then did the tentacles twitch and shudder violently. Even the ones clambering up lost their grip and tumbled off.
Looked like the outside situation didn't need any babysitting from me.
"Those two... they're incredible..."
"Yeah, aren't they?"
Even the terrified Aria had regained her usual composure.
I scooped her into my arms, carried her deeper inside, set her down, and checked on Isaac lying beside her.
"Isaac, you coming around now?"
He was still lost in unconsciousness. The shock of facing that vile moon beast must have hit him hard.
"Isaac!"
But as my voice repeated, he began to stir. Finally, he spat out the foam from his mouth.
Hack!
The moment he woke, Isaac clamped onto my shoulder with crushing force, coughing nonstop. His eyes were vacant with raw fear and horror.
The instinctive human reaction to the incomprehensible. But deep inside Isaac lurked an even greater terror that dwarfed mere fright.
"N-Nicole... Nicole and the other crew..."
Thanks to Amy and Jenny, we were still alive.
But his wife and the crew had only a single rifle to fight back with.
"Nicole's in danger..."
The anxiety of finally reuniting with his wife, only to fear losing her again. The sense of responsibility gnawing at this middle-aged man.
"Th-that fucking monster moon's gonna kill Nicole. Joo-ho, you gotta help... Shit! And what the hell are those?!"
Plus the belated shock of spotting the crustacean horde.
"Joo-ho, we have to go help them...! They might be in danger. How can we reunite just to die to those damn monsters...!"
"Isaac, calm down first. Jenny and Amy are handling things. We secure ourselves, then go rescue them."
I wanted to rush to the survivors too, but right now, Jenny and Amy couldn't tag along.
Groooowl—
"Urk, what the hell is that...?"
Outside, it wasn't just crustaceans—jellyfish-like things with grotesquely rotting outer skin were showing up too.
Jellyfish walking on land...
That one's kinda intriguing.
"Anyway! Isaac, it's impossible right now. Those things aren't after the survivors—they're coming for us."
Every freakish abomination imaginable was swarming our house, burning their flesh against the energy barrier.
The crustaceans almost seemed preferable by comparison. There were bizarre sea creatures so vomit-inducing I could barely describe them.
But they all met the same fate: smashed to bits by Amy's hand. Now she was wiping out hordes of those Ember-fueled monstrosities while personally crushing any that dared approach the house.
"If anything, we might need to go rescue Arachne or Nephyr instead of the survivors. They're tough, but against this mindless swarm—"
"Elder!"
Guess not.
Nephyr's urgent voice rang out from nearby.
"Elder, are you alright?! Please forgive this Nephyr's recklessness...! I've returned to protect you!"
Her voice was so impassioned it made the whole house reverberate.
But curiously,
the sea creatures encircling the energy barrier didn't so much as flinch at her voice—they were fixated solely on breaching the interior.
This isn't about hunting prey.
This is an attack targeted at me.
"Nephyr, the Dr. is safe. Clear out the creatures near the barrier first—help with that."
"Ah, thank goodness...! I thought I was too late. The worry that you might be hurt... hic..."
"Enough—just help already."
The moon still hung in the night sky.
Enraged by the Ember cannon hits, it seemed to be rallying every monster under its thrall to attack us.
But this was clearly a war of attrition that favored us. Amy and Jenny would never lose.
Was it really just petty revenge?
Or a threat that this would happen every night from now on?
"Nephyr!"
"Yes, Elder!"
"Only our side's under attack, right? The rest of the coastline's quiet?"
"Yes, I've been patrolling nonstop—everything else was dead silent except here."
The survivors are safe.
This is the moon's warning, meant solely for me.
"...Aria, it was fine during the day?"
"Yeah... Nothing weird."
"Does the sea get dangerous at night normally? No?"
"Not like today. They usually don't swarm like that... They hide from those guys instead..."
When night falls and the moon rises, the sea life goes berserk. Luckily, Aria wasn't affected, but if this keeps up, letting her venture into the sea alone could get risky.
"Damn it. Need to kill that thing quick."
I spat a curse and scanned outside. With Nephyr joining in, barely anything living remained near the energy barrier.
Most were already fried against it or utterly pulverized.
But at the cliff's edge,
something new was climbing up.
Amy and Nephyr had no qualms exterminating simple creatures.
But they hesitated before the hand and arm scaling the cliff. Amy spoke first, threatening the figure.
"I don't know who you are, but come up any further and I'll kill you."
Maybe native sea women. They only peeked out once the marine assault tapered off, facing off with us.
No response.
But the woman's hand that had briefly crested the cliff seemed to retreat—
"..."
Then a head rose up.
Amy took aim, ready,
but upon seeing the full head emerge, she glanced at me instead, unable to fire properly.
I knew that face.
Definitely one of the Paradise Ship crew.
Couldn't recall the name.
At first, I thought the stranger below was revealing herself,
but peering closer,
the head rising had no neck attached.
It was skewered on a long, coral-carved spike,
eyes rolled back,
tongue lolling grotesquely long,
fluttering in the moonlight, forever frozen in the final terror and misery of its dying moment.