21
Chapter 21
Thanks to what she heard from Xiao, Parang already knew what kind of entity occupied this space.
Starfish. A species that could easily be considered the most famous among non-fish lifeforms on the seabed.
Its soft, star-shaped appearance was now an indispensable element in any painting depicting a shallow sea.
With an appearance that was cute at first glance, many people kept them as pets at home.
And what appeared before Parang's eyes was the most horrific form a Starfish could ever take.
---...!!!.........!!!---......
An irregular, arbitrary screech. It moved while emitting a bizarre noise, its volume, pitch, waveform, and even tone constantly shifting.
And Parang's ears were not mistaken. With countless Heads taking turns making sounds one by one, it was bound to sound like that.
The Samcheonbari Monster Fish, Gorgon.
Oceanus had traveled the seas of the World, encountering and hunting all sorts of Monster Fish.
As such, the question of what the strongest Monster Fish was often became a frequent subject of discussion.
Leaving the Kraken out of the question, this debate was so fiercely contested that it never seemed to end.
However, everyone unanimously agreed on the subject of what the most hideous Monster Fish was.
It was the Gorgon right before Parang's eyes.
Originally, the creature known as the Samcheonbari had five legs, and it was called so because of the countless Tentacles branching off from them.
And the Gorgon sprouted Heads instead of Tentacles.
Specifically, the Heads of the creatures it had devoured.
--...!!......-!!--!!!
Five massive legs. From there, like branches growing from a tree, countless Tentacles split, multiplied, and thrashed about wildly in all directions.
And at the ends of those Tentacles, the Heads of the Bellua, the Galecus, the Macula, and hundreds of thousands of other Monster Fish had sprouted and were moving on their own.
It looked like a tree bearing Heads as fruit.
Looking down from above, it almost resembled a giant tumor growing on the Floor.
The length of a single, largest leg extending directly from its body was 150 meters.
Like the Tubuca, the size of a Starfish-type Monster Fish was measured by the length of its longest leg rather than its body length.
Considering that the original species was about 8 centimeters in size, a grotesque Gigantification had taken place.
Being this massive, the Heads sprouting all over its legs generally matched their original sizes as well.
Parang hid herself for the time being. It was because there was something Xiao had asked her to check.
'The Skeleton's connection was severed the moment I approached, so I couldn't get a close look.'
Because the context of that request was something she absolutely could not ignore.
'Among its legs, there was something that looked like a human face.'
If she took out the Kraken, it would immediately start running away. She wouldn't have the luxury of holding it down and observing it closely.
Parang hid behind a nearby Stone Pillar and began examining the extended legs one by one.
There were some she recognized, and some she didn't.
Though the one Parang was actually looking for hadn't shown up yet.
The Gorgon inherently reigned as the apex Predator of the Monster Fish ecosystem. Furthermore, since it lived as a tyrant without natural enemies in this closed ecosystem, it naturally lacked any wariness. The creature was out in the open, casually stretching its body.
Thanks to this, Parang was able to carefully observe each and every leg.
Meanwhile, an Anglerfish Monster Fish wandering through the red water approached nearby.
The beast flaunted the ferocious Teeth sprouting from its lower jaw as it opened its massive maw.
Just one of those Teeth was about ten meters long.
And when the beast came close to the Gorgon,
Whoosh!!
One of the massive legs shot out at terrifying speed, wrapping around the Anglerfish like a fired bullet.
----!!!!
Only then did the beast realize it was facing the Gorgon and struggle to escape, but it was too late.
The Heads that had been thrashing wildly turned in unison to stare at the Anglerfish.
Then, the Anglerfish's struggles stopped as if someone had hit the pause button.
Petrification. It was too excessive a power for a living creature to possess.
The faces attached to the leg that had grabbed the prey each buried their mouths into the body of the Anglerfish Monster Fish. They were sucking its blood.
They had to get a share of the scraps before delivering the prey to the main body.
After a brief moment, the Anglerfish, now riddled with Holes of various shapes all over its body, was released by the Heads.
It looked like a sponge.
Then, the Gorgon's huge leg slowly began to curl inward toward its center.
Unlike a normal Starfish, the Gorgon lived with its mouth facing upward.
A circular Hole, much like a Squid's mouth, gaped wide open.
As the curled-up leg brought the Anglerfish to it,
Crunch!! Crunnnnch!!
It began to chew on the Anglerfish. Meat, Fins, Teeth, bones—everything was crushed and chewed up.
Sucked inside as if ground up in a blender, the Anglerfish quickly disappeared from sight.
Soon after, from the very leg that had just grabbed the Anglerfish,
Squish!! Crunch!!
A sound like a bug being crushed under a foot rang out, and then,
---!!.........
The Head of the Anglerfish it had just devoured sprouted, piercing through the skin.
It looked like a plant stem breaking through the dirt from underground.
Having become a part of the Gorgon, it thrashed around alongside the other Heads.
At that point, Parang finished her observation.
Because she had found what she was looking for.
.........!!
A human face, wailing with an expression full of Pain, was clearly jutting out from one of the Gorgon's legs.
Her once-beautiful platinum blonde hair was mostly torn out in patches from being dragged and smashed against the Floor as the Gorgon moved, and while she had the slender facial structure of a beauty, her features were already hideously crushed.
Judging by the condition, it had been at least three weeks since she was eaten by the Gorgon.
If the face had been intact, Parang might have at least tried to identify her, but looking like this... there was nothing she could do.
Fortunately, it didn't seem completely ruined yet.
If she cleanly severed and retrieved just the Head, then handed the Skeleton over to Xiao, they would be able to not only identify her but also view her memories from when she was alive.
She usually wouldn't go that far for humanitarian reasons, though.
Having made her decision, Parang moved swiftly.
......--!!!
Parang first gauged the Gorgon's reaction. If it weren't for that Head, she could just summon the Kraken and have it absorb the creature immediately.
The Gorgon was fast. When it needed to catch prey or flee—essentially, whenever it needed to move quickly—it didn't think about the consequences.
It would move violently, slamming its entire body into the Floor without caring whether the countless Heads attached to its legs were crushed or mangled.
It would be a disaster if she accidentally provoked it and the Head got crushed.
Parang took a moment to think.
Hmm, a surprise attack was the only option, after all.
After first distancing herself from the Gorgon, Parang circled around the inside of the Cave and arrived at the leg where the Head in question was located.
To be exact, she hid her body behind the Stone Pillar situated right in front of that leg.
Poking her head out. She sneaked a peek, worried she might make eye contact, and spotted the target Head not too far away.
Parang took a deep breath, and then,
Bubble!
She shot forward like a Bullet, leaving behind only the faint sound of Bubbles.
Swoosh-!!
Instantly, all the Heads of the Gorgon turned toward Parang.
It was expected. Rather, if it took more time for it to realize what was happening because it had to turn its Heads, it was an advantage for Parang.
Petrification?
[ The Skill, 'Unsinkable Ship' is currently active. ]
Such a trivial debuff did not work on Parang.
Actually, it wasn't trivial at all. Among Oceanus, only Parang and Diego were completely immune to Petrification.
The others would experience significant sluggishness, even if their bodies didn't completely stiffen.
Why did Diego give up? Simply because he didn't want to deal with the Gorgon. Even if he picked up the Artifact, Diego wouldn't be able to use it properly anyway. Artifacts were incapable of Gigantification.
That was also why everyone in Oceanus, except Parang, forfeited as soon as they heard it was a Gorgon.
Swish- Slash-!!
Parang's Harpoon, having dashed forward, severed the targeted Head in an instant.
Perhaps the flesh had already been rotting from the inside, as the moment it was cut off, the flesh—excluding the bone—fell away in chunks.
Swimming at a terrifying speed underwater likely contributed to that as well.
Since one couldn't tear through the hide of a Monster Fish with Human Teeth, the nutrient supply must have naturally been cut off. The more she thought about it, the more miserable an end it was.
That was why Parang was furious.
For that abominable fish to dare do such a thing to a Human. If they were going to run amok eating each other, they should have just stuck to other Monster Fish.
Of course, logically speaking, the question of how a Human got in here should have come first, but Parang was also Human after all.
Seeing a person suffer such a gruesome fate right before her eyes instinctively ruined her mood and filled her with rage.
Besides, she could find out how they got in here whenever she put her mind to it.
What she needed to focus on right now was that damn Starfish.
"...Kraken."
Parang summoned the Kraken while holding the Head, which had already been reduced to a bare skull.
Her fierce expression, like an evil spirit, combined with the distinctive vertical pupils from her transformation, openly displayed the emotion of pure rage across her entire face.
---!!!......!!!--!!......!!!
And the battle was over. The Tentacles grabbed the Gorgon, which was screaming and trying to flee the moment the Kraken appeared, and tore it into five pieces.
Blood, flesh, bones, and half-digested chunks of meat burst out from inside, fluttering about.
Soon, the Gorgon became part of the Kraken and disappeared into an unknown abyss, leaving only Parang and the Skeleton behind.
The Teeth were all ground down, leaving no intact parts. Parang controlled her surging emotions once again.
Fortunately, apart from that, the state of preservation was decent enough. Parang took a moment to pray for the dead before she began carefully inspecting the Cave to retrieve the Artifact.