Chapter 506
Chapter 506
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 506
Chapter Title: Aquarium (6)
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1.
Siwoo and Deneb had taken up position at the eastern edge of the city.
Meanwhile, the Kraken dragging its colossal body up from the pier was entering the plaza, swinging its massive tentacles.
Its tunnel-sized mouth sprouting from its head chewed relentlessly on the flying fish swarming through the air without pause, while the comparatively smaller mouths dotting its suckers pitched in with the meal.
Its elongated pupils rolled heavily, zeroing in on Siwoo and Deneb.
It was heading their way at a leisurely pace, but this wasn't an attack.
It wasn't particularly threatening, either.
However, when the simple act of greedily snapping up the fleeing schools of fish combined with its outrageous bulk, it unleashed physical force rivaling a natural disaster.
-Rumble rumble boom!
A long tentacle whipped out horizontally, smashing the bell tower base and first principles sending it flying clean over the castle walls.
It really hammered home where the phrase "size is the ultimate bully" came from.
No matter how tough Siwoo was, a direct hit from one of that octopus's kicks would leave him with shattered bones at best.
"♪ ♫~"
Meanwhile, under Siwoo's guard, Deneb was bringing her spell to completion.
Singing magic.
The beautiful melody, evoking a heavenly symphony, rippled outward with each note, amplifying the flow of mana in echoing waves.
Purple sparks now crackled around her, building into a majestic hum of vibration.
The Jemernai family's original hierarchy was 22nd.
She'd split one vessel with her twin, dropping her to 21st.
Even without Albireo, Deneb alone could wield power at the entry level of 20th hierarchy—the realm of a Great Witch.
Siwoo was just surrounded by an unusual number of high-ranking witches; in truth, Great Witches made up the top 1% of all witches worldwide.
Beings that defied the natural order and mysteries of the world.
And Deneb was proving the full extent of her magic's grandeur without reservation.
As the melody swelled toward its climax, a lance of condensed mana shot skyward.
The night sky, painted purple with flickering lightning, received its sentence of ruin in time with Deneb's dirge.
A blinding flash beyond any natural bolt.
The sheer volume of light turned Siwoo's vision stark white for an instant as the spear of mana hammered the Kraken's head.
Three tentacles flung up too late in defense vaporized without a trace.
-Rumble rumble boom!!!
One burst of light, a half-beat delay, then the thunderous roar.
"Kieeeek!!!!"
A full beat later came the Kraken's horrific scream.
Writhing like an octopus tossed into boiling water, it flailed its remaining tentacles in a frenzy, smashing everything around it.
"How was that? When I bring my real strength to bear, it's on this level."
Deneb wiped beads of sweat from her brow and stepped over beside him.
This was nothing like the attack she'd unleashed on Siwoo earlier.
She'd been holding back considerably at the time.
A direct hit from something like that would've killed even someone as durable as Siwoo.
But his expression refused to relax.
"......"
Because amid the glare like hundreds of flares detonating at once, he'd been watching Deneb's strike land dead on the Kraken.
The instant the keenly honed tip of her mana spear touched the octopus's flesh, Siwoo had seen it.
Transparent scales—something no ordinary invertebrate should possess—shattering her attack to pieces.
Mana waves that should've concentrated fully, slipping away along the scales like rainwater trickling between cobblestones.
"Siwoo?"
"Deneb-nim. It doesn't look like it's over yet."
"What? No way."
Deneb first reacted with disbelief, as if such a thing were impossible.
But soon enough, her face mirrored Siwoo's.
"Kieeeek! Kieeeek!"
The Kraken's screams showed no sign of stopping.
The way it rolled its massive body this way and that in agony was far too drawn-out and violent for death throes.
"I hit it dead center, though..."
"Is there no stronger spell in Jemernai magic?"
"There is, but... without my sister..."
This shouldn't have been possible.
There weren't detailed records on the Deep Sea Witch, but she'd been 21st hierarchy in life, commanding five beasts in battle.
Factoring in how much power got divided among multiple familiars, Deneb should've been more than enough to subdue that octopus.
Especially with a massive ritual unleashed via half her mana and a chant pushing a full minute, landing direct.
Some unexpected variable?
A powerful preemptive ward? Or just bad elemental matchup?
"It's got scales on its body. They deflected your direct-hit spell."
"What did you say? You saw that?"
She was the caster, and even she hadn't noticed amid the chaos?
There was plenty to be shocked about, but unfortunately, the situation allowed no such luxury.
"Kuoooo-!!!!!!"
The Kraken bellowed once more.
Its pitch-black body shifted to a mottled palette, like paints muddied with drab tones.
A roar brimming with clear malice and fury poured toward Siwoo and Deneb.
-Bang! Bang! Bang!
No longer moving with the languid air of a guest invited to a banquet, it was rampaging now purely for the hunt.
It began crawling forward at speeds incomparable to before.
The impacts were so tremendous that the building Siwoo and Deneb stood on swayed as if on the verge of collapse.
"Impossible... it's already regenerated..."
Deneb was right.
The tentacles that had evaporated without form had regained their former glory as if nothing had happened.
Ridiculous regenerative power and strength.
And the natural disaster-grade physical might pouring from its hefty frame.
"I'll try once more. Cover me again."
Deneb began gathering mana anew, preparing to sing.
"Can you finish in time? Fish maybe, but that thing... I don't think I can hold it off."
"There's still distance!"
"It'd be better to observe more calmly..."
"Cover me!"
Siwoo clamped his mouth shut.
In truth, his instincts—honed crossing countless limbs—were screaming a warning against Deneb's plan.
Now was the octopus's turn, not theirs.
But he couldn't just abandon Deneb mid-chant to argue.
As Deneb stubbornly pressed on with her incantation...
A shadow fell over the sky.
Far longer than any tentacle it'd swung so far, the hunting limb hidden beneath its belly lashed out like a whip.
So enormous it seemed sluggish, but the tip accelerated by centrifugal force via whip physics neared the speed of sound.
"Deneb-nim!"
"Kyaa!"
Siwoo scooped Deneb—still chanting—around the waist and rolled away.
This was less a dodge and more a frantic, grand escape.
-Kwaaaaang!!!!
The Kraken's leg cleaved the city district clean in two, from top to bottom.
A deafening roar left ears ringing, the ground quaking like an earthquake.
The limb retracted fluidly, only to crash down again overhead as Siwoo and Deneb fled.
"Dodge!"
Siwoo gritted his teeth, channeling copied mana entirely into physical enhancement and his ribbons.
He could've skipped this ordeal with a coordinate jump, but the flying fish swarming every corner of the city were the problem.
Overlapping coordinates risked a horrific catastrophe, so he couldn't use it recklessly.
-Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Meanwhile, the now even-closer Kraken added two more legs to its barrage of monstrous attacks.
Whether you could even call terrain-warping destruction an "attack" was debatable.
No matter his spirit body's durability or how sturdy his armor, a direct hit would pulverize his bones.
Even the debris from those sweeping strikes felt like bombs detonating nearby.
"Damn it."
"Siwoo, I can move on my own now."
"Bear with me just a bit longer. I'm faster."
"...Got it."
Even this sometimes scatterbrained, awkward little mother-in-law was undeniably a witch.
She kept her cool in a situation that would've had anyone else screaming bloody murder.
Deneb murmured a lullaby-soft tune.
Mana woven into her lovely voice infused their bodies with fresh vitality and strength.
Siwoo and Deneb's deadly game of tag with death dragged on until daybreak.
2.
One thing was certain.
This world knew only day or night—no dawn, no dusk.
The sky would lighten just a touch, only for the sun to suddenly blaze at midday, melting away the dense swarms of flying fish.
The Kraken that had utterly wrecked the city fled back into the sea like a whipped dog.
The city, which had collapsed without even leaving rubble, restored itself to its exact state upon their arrival, as if time itself had rewound.
A true closed loop—a world trapped repeating the same day.
"Haa..."
Confirming the chaos had passed, the pair shared a weary sigh.
Deneb and Siwoo alike were utterly spent from fleeing the enraged Kraken.
"At least the day isn't a full 24 hours."
"...In an isolated world this size? Without Kether Duke's handiwork, it'd be riddled with constraints."
Deneb plopped down on a nearby wooden crate strewn haphazardly about.
Spotting the unidentified black goo staining her nightgown, she cast a cleaning spell, washing away the dust and sweat clinging to both their bodies.
"...Shall we do a strategy session?"
"Yeah."
Still, they'd survived—and gleaned some intel. That was hopeful.
They settled on the interior of the cleanest cathedral around as their base and began the meeting.