71
Chapter 71
"......."
Parang's stomach churned.
The scene she had just witnessed still flashed vividly before her eyes.
Just what in the world was that?
Why did such a thing even exist?
A million questions exploded within her all at once, but not a single one made it past her lips.
Everyone else was likely in a similar state.
Parang barely managed to steady her breathing, speaking up in a trembling voice.
"......Let's, let's take a quick break."
Everyone gathered there was unable to say a word for a while.
As if by unspoken agreement, they all grimaced and clutched their foreheads.
Xiao crouched down on the ground, burying her head and shivering violently.
Since she was the caster of the Skill, she must have borne a far greater burden than Parang or the rest of Oceanus.
Elvira approached Xiao and gently stroked her.
When it came to mental fortitude, she was the best in Oceanus.
"I don't think we can hold a meeting right now. First, let's move her somewhere she can rest, and then we'll talk. Taking her to my place should be fine."
Everyone agreed with that suggestion.
"And this......what should we do with it?"
Parang said, looking down at Kang Yuri's corpse.
Normally, they would hand it over to Cylo, who was waiting on a Ship at the surface, but the risk was too great to do that right now.
Who knew what state Kang Yuri's body was in.
Considering the Dive time was forty minutes, and that she was entangled with such an entity, it was crazy to expect her body to be completely fine.
"......For now, let's temporarily leave it in the sea in front of my house. It's a remote area, so it should be fine."
Elvira replied.
It made sense to some extent.
For one, Elvira's house was beyond just being a 'remote area'.
That land wasn't meant for human habitation in the first place.
Meaning, it was the place where the potential damage caused by Kang Yuri's corpse would be minimized.
Since it was an incredibly cold region, the decay of the corpse would also be delayed to some degree.
Above all, it was close. It was only about a twenty-minute swim.
Therefore, everyone agreed. They decided to head to Elvira's house.
Even after thinking it over, no other brilliant ideas came to mind.
Getting Xiao to rest as quickly as possible was more important than anything else. The shock seemed quite severe.
When they informed Cylo of the entire situation, the reply came back that they understood.
They knew very well that if Oceanus said it was dangerous, it truly was dangerous.
If only everyone in the world was like this.
Thus, Uelkal. It was a place located at the absolute extreme of Siberia. Bordering the Arctic Ocean, the ground was frozen and snow fell all year round—the most extreme of polar regions, the most remote of backwaters.
And in the sea just off its coast, Oceanus appeared carrying a corpse.
It sounded a bit strange to say, but anyway.
"Diego, take her and go inside the house. Bertea, stay by her side and keep an eye on her condition. And......."
Elvira skillfully delegated the roles. Normally she was a total mess, but at times like this, she was truly reliable.
Soon after, Diego, who had taken Xiao out of the water, returned with a massive iron coffin and thick iron chains. After temporarily sealing Kang Yuri's corpse inside, Oceanus was able to gather at Elvira's home.
"......No matter how many times I come here, I can't get used to it."
Parang said as she held onto the iron ladder and climbed down.
Elvira's house was a bunker. The solid frozen ground had been excavated along with the bedrock to build an enormously spacious bunker inside.
There was nothing money couldn't do. Especially in a world straight out of a hunter genre.
The inside of the bunker had a generally dreary atmosphere. It looked exactly like an emergency evacuation bunker you'd see in a disaster movie.
This was the result of Elvira's tastes being heavily reflected.
Parang had more and more things she wanted to say every time she stepped foot in here, but for now, she decided to hold back.
Because the situation wasn't right for it.
Now accustomed to the bunker's layout, she skillfully navigated the winding passageways and arrived at the bedroom.
Inside, Xiao was lying on a cozy-looking bed, with Bertea sticking close by to monitor her condition.
"......How is she?"
"I don't see anything particularly wrong with her body. She should be fine after getting some sleep. I'll need to keep an eye on her progress just in case, though."
"Phew......Understood."
Just like that, a little time passed.
The four of them, excluding Xiao and Bertea, gathered in the living room.
Once again, Parang was the first to speak.
"Does anyone have any idea what that was?"
A heavy silence hung over the group. It wasn't as if she had asked the question expecting an answer, either.
Parang opened her mouth in a trembling voice.
"Actually, I......felt it. I'm certain."
Where it came from, what it was, why it was on Earth—she couldn't understand any of it, but there was one thing. One thing she was sure of.
"That thing, it's somehow related to the Kraken."
"What......!"
The members of Oceanus, who had each been staring forward with complicated expressions, looked at Parang in unison with sheer astonishment.
Because it was a name they never could have imagined hearing here.
But it was true. If they asked how she could be so certain, honestly, it was just a feeling.
"What, does that even make sense? How can you say that just from a feeling......."
"No, hear me out. It wasn't just a simple feeling. It was closer to something much more fundamental than that."
Whenever Parang summoned the Kraken to use her Skill, there was a peculiar sensation she always felt.
A feeling of her chest being somewhat heavy, welling up with emotion, as if something was filling her up completely before suddenly fading away.
However, it was so incredibly shallow, fleeting, and subtle that even Parang hadn't been aware of it for the first few years.
She had only realized it after Alice passed away like that, as she went around indiscriminately wiping out the Monster Fish across the World.
And looking at that Eyeball in Kang Yuri's memories, Parang strongly felt an incredibly similar sensation.
"I'm sure of it. Both were the same kind of feeling. It's just that......what I felt from that Eyeball was overwhelmingly powerful."
To put it into perspective, summoning the Kraken felt like looking at a candle, while seeing that eye felt like walking into a fiery Pit.
"What, so you're saying that thing is the Kraken?"
"No, it's not. I'm certain. That entity is related to the Kraken, but it isn't the Kraken itself."
"And how exactly are you sure of that?"
"......."
Parang couldn't easily answer that question either.
If she really had to find an answer, then yes. This time, too, it was a 'feeling'.
It was far too intense and clear to simply dismiss as a feeling, but nevertheless, it was nothing more than that.
When Parang couldn't find the words to say, Russell stepped in.
"Well, it's not anyone else, and we should completely trust what Parang says, at least when it comes to the Kraken. I'm not doubting you or anything. But separate from that, I'd like a more detailed explanation. If that eyeball isn't the Kraken, then what kind of relationship does it have with the Kraken? Like, is it a friend of the Kraken, an enemy, or something like that?"
"......Honestly, I'm not sure about that either. Once isn't enough to tell. But......."
Unable to bring herself to suggest they Dive one more time, Parang trailed off.
At that, everyone lowered their heads as if they understood.
"Right. If you think of anything else, let us know. And now, onto the fundamental issue."
Elvira's eyes turned cold for a moment.
"......How can we possibly beat it? That thing."
"......Well."
Parang stroked her chin.
If Parang were to be placed in front of that Eyeball right now, what were the chances she would win?
'Probably average.'
At best, fifty percent, a fifty-fifty chance.
Actually, even this was a remarkably high probability.
Because it meant a fifty percent win rate against a being beyond the heavens that had annihilated the Slayers.
The problem was the meaning behind that fifty percent.
It didn't mean Parang and that entity could fight on equal footing; it was literally closer to a coin toss.
That was the nature of Parang's Skill.
[ Gain an overwhelming advantage against all lifeforms in the sea. ]
As long as it was a lifeform, without any questions asked, Parang would hold an overwhelming advantage.
In other words, she would win.
If it wasn't a lifeform, she would obviously be slaughtered.
And the probability of that Eyeball being included as a lifeform designated by the Status Window was, objectively speaking, quite low.
Who in the world would look at that and think it was a creature with Cells?
The only reason she even bumped the odds up to fifty-fifty was because the Status Window referred to it as a living thing.
Without that, Parang would have set her chances of winning at less than one percent without a second thought.
She also had to consider the possibility that, even if it actually was a lifeform, the Status Window's description might not apply.
"To put a strain on the Status Window, I've never in my life......."
Experienced, seen, or heard of such a thing.
It meant it could simply push through, completely ignoring the overwhelming advantage or whatever else.
In short, it was a gamble.
And Parang was a bit too faint-hearted to gamble with the fate of the World.
If possible, Parang wanted to make her winning chances one hundred percent.
Because if even Oceanus fell, then there would truly be no one left.
Coexisting with that monstrosity on Earth wasn't even a valid option to begin with.
Amidst a situation where everything was uncertain, if there was one single definite fact, it was this.
The fact that Oceanus and Parang needed to prepare.
A very meticulous preparation in order to wage a battle with the fate of the World on the line.