Chapter 505
Chapter 505
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 505
Chapter Title: Chapter 505 - #107_어항(5)
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 505
Chapter Title: Aquarium (5)
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1.
I had a vague intuition about it.
Si-woo's fate was tumultuous through and through.
He's the type who gets dragged into trouble just by breathing.
From the moment he got inexplicably tangled in that suspicious incident, I'd anticipated that a cozy hand-in-hand package tour with my mother-in-law was off the table.
The expected follow-ups: the sudden appearance of a homunculus with dubious powers, or maybe a public enemy gunning for the male witch Si-woo.
And right on cue, faint blue omens appeared in the distance.
Shadows that dyed the already blackened night sky even darker.
Looking closer, each one was a massive fish.
Flying fish with pectoral and ventral fins fused into long glider-like wings spread wide, occasionally flapping as they hurtled in at ferocious speeds.
The sight of these fish-shaped monsters naturally conjured up a memory.
The grotesque piranha swarm that was no homunculus or anything else.
The mass slaughter the Witch of Cowardice unleashed at COEX back when Si-woo lingered in the present world.
That nightmare resurfaced, hardening his expression on instinct.
"What's going on?"
Deneb hopped up onto the roof beside him, taking in the same scene.
The spectacle of easily tens of thousands of flying fish flapping their wings in unison as they swarmed was a sight to behold—if you could call it that.
"Countess, what do we do? Looks like they're after us."
One regret: forgetting the red branch usually stashed in the Jemernai estate's lab.
If she'd known this was coming, she'd have kept it closer.
Si-woo conjured a long spear from shadows and asked,
"For now, if it were me, I'd shake the pursuit as best I could and flee while scouting the situation."
Even calling it a crisis right now, his heart stayed remarkably steady.
No surprise there—before becoming a witch, he'd thrown his life on the line over five times amid every kind of shitshow.
Twice, his heart flatlined, nearly sending him across the Styx.
Those desperate deathmatches had forged Si-woo into a powerhouse.
Now, he could smash the massive wild dog homunculus he and Sharon barely took down before—like curb-stomping a stray.
No matter the numbers, a swarm like that was manageable.
Plus, right beside him was Deneb, who could sling 20th Hierarchy magic solo.
"Countess?"
But Deneb didn't respond to her name, staring off into the sky with her mouth half-agape.
Tense, maybe?
I'd heard both Deneb and Albireo had real combat chops as witches.
Even so, a horde charging like the goddamned air force could rattle anyone for a second.
The unexpectedly adorable mother-in-law needed time to shake it off, but the situation wouldn't wait.
"I'll take point. We fall back to the church, wall at our backs, and make a stand. Countess Deneb, you handle support…."
"…No!"
Deneb suddenly shrieked, cutting Si-woo off.
Startled, he whipped around.
Deneb was raking her hair, clutching her forehead, confusion spilling out full force.
"If my hunch is right… that's not the real danger."
"Those flying fish?"
"Not the flying fish! Those are monsters whipped up by the Deep Sea Witch too!"
Deneb gnawed her lip, thumping her chest in frustration.
"The Deep Sea Witch…."
The grim ring of it made Si-woo grimace on reflex.
The déjà vu from the flying fish had nailed it.
"The Deep Sea Witch is dead. But her curses linger on, and some witches exploit them. You know that much."
"Got it up to there. Like Paola Sochitl, yeah?"
"Right. The Deep Sea Witch spun legends and folklore into her familiars."
Before science bloomed, the sea's whims—sudden gales and storms swallowing ships whole—was an enigma to sailors.
The lightless abyss depths? Forget it.
Humans dread the unknown, turning mystery to terror.
Terror-fueled imagination birthed endless sea monster myths, and the Deep Sea Witch made five of those beast legends real as her familiars.
Each one a powerhouse with a killer rep.
Unlike homunculi, though, her monsters couldn't tuck into pocket dimensions or hop realms.
These behemoths, ballooning bigger and badder by the day, unleashed biblical disasters just let loose for a bit.
To cage them and yank 'em out when needed, she built five 'aquariums.'
"This is one of hers. The whole city is the tank holding the monster—and the hunting ground."
A closed-loop world forged in a day, shattered the next.
To feed the bottomless abyss hunger.
To keep the hunt instinct razor-sharp, fake prey scattered willy-nilly.
In a realm of pure illusion, two 'real' morsels wafting mouthwatering magic scents.
The predator sprawled in the depths caught wind of them.
"We've turned into chum."
-Kugugu!!
A colossal boom rocked the air.
As Deneb finished, the distant sea cleaved open.
No.
Something had sliced the black surface and surged.
Just its sheer, overwhelming scale turned a twitch into tsunami-tier havoc.
Looked like an extra island popping up mid-sea.
Never seen it before, but its shape screamed its name.
Cephalopod sea horror octopus-style: Kraken.
Tentacles lashed out with earth-shaking force, snatching the galleon hurtling skyward.
The ship's grand mast snapped like kindling, hull folding like wet cardboard.
The flying fish lagging behind? No mercy.
Suckers clocking over 5 meters across snatched them with freakish speed and grace.
The beast jammed pulped fish and galleon scraps into its maw—lined with tens of thousands of razor fangs—and bellowed.
Kuooh———!!!
The low-frequency roar transcended sound into shockwave, thumping chests.
In that instant, Si-woo felt hackles rise all over.
The cry evoked thousands of drowned shades shrieking from the abyss in unison—pure nightmare fuel.
"Guess we're the main course."
He joked off the chill down his spine, clenching the spear.
"Flee and assess for now."
"Smart call."
Flying fish now dangerously close, Deneb and Si-woo kicked off the roof and bolted.
2.
The panicking mega-swarm fleeing the Kraken vacuumed up everything that caught their eye along the way.
Jaws gaping like famished locusts, they chomped whatever crossed their path.
Where their flight scythed the city, nothing but carpet-bombed wreckage remained.
Man-sized omnivorous flying fish raiding a medieval port?
Pure B-movie cosmic horror vibes.
Trailing like an orca herding sardines, the Kraken crunched debris, steadily gaining.
Its bulk made speed glacial, sure.
Si-woo and Deneb could ditch it clean if they pushed.
But they were netted in the same clusterfuck.
Before plotting anti-Kraken moves, shake the giant fish blob first.
-Chwarrrlk!
Si-woo's spear spun in a blur, shredding charging fish without mercy.
Fishy reek stung the nose as a perfectly halved flying fish splatted on the roof.
-Crunch crunch crunch
Half-gone body or not, the head kept gnawing the roof—earning Si-woo's queasy side-eye.
"What a pain in the ass."
One of Si-woo's guesses nailed it; one whiffed.
Spot on first: as predicted, the flying fish swarm couldn't really threaten Si-woo or Deneb.
Easier wipe than the black mutts that bitch dog popped out.
No breather needed—his nonstop kicks turned the roof into a fish-gut no-go zone.
Deneb's purple gleams flashed, blasting craters in the packed horde.
They weren't homing in on Si-woo and Deneb; just snapping at anything fleeing-side.
The swing-and-miss?
Still annoying as hell.
That 'mere' tens of thousands? Wishful thinking.
Even now, endless reinforcements bubbled from the sea—six figures easy at a glance.
Kill 'em all day, they poured from every angle, schooling hard on swarm rush terror.
Movement choked, stamina trickling away like rain on silk.
Kraken grinding the city to dust on its slow march? No quick fix in sight.
"Countess! How tough is that squid?!"
Si-woo edged toward Deneb, bellowing over the din.
Else the roars and wingbeats drowned him out.
She caught on, flicked her hand—a line linked them.
Her calm voice cut through clean.
"I'll hit it first. Can't just evade forever."
"You good?"
"Sis out means headaches all around… but yeah. Deep Sea Witch was a beast, but Kether Duke smoked her 300 years back. 21st Hierarchy then—one familiar's no sweat solo."
Familiar power scales with the witch's, usually.
She solo-sank a nation against hordes back in the day, sure—but now? Just another has-been heavyweight.
Deneb laid it out solid, then asked a favor.
"Buy me one minute."
"On it."
No red branch.
But post-Bianca takedown, his ribbon count exploded—plenty for a minute's defense.
All the crap they'd endured.
One free carry from mom-in-law? No one's griping.
"Bloom."
Ribbons bloomed from Si-woo's back, kicking off flying fish defense.
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