Chapter 94
Chapter 94
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: Dragon King (5)
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“H-Hiiiik-!”
The terrified scream from Krun, floating far away as the sacrifice, reaches all the way here.
Of course, this time I don’t feel like calling him a coward for it.
Talion and Liru’s mouths are hanging wide open at the sight in front of them, with no intention of closing.
“...Is that a dragon? From the creation myth?”
“It’s called a Sea Dragon, but strictly speaking, it’s not one of those dragonkin.”
In the Sera world, dragonkin aren’t just... that ‘lightweight.’
They play a kind of trigger role in maintaining the entire world, so in the game, they never show themselves directly unless it’s a truly special case.
Of course, that doesn’t mean.
The Sea Dragon is an easy opponent by any means.
At least in terms of ‘combat power’ specs, it’s not quite on par with the real ones, but it’s worthy of being called dragonkin lineage.
Just look at what happens next.
[ A crisis situation has been detected. ]
[ A powerful entity that could turn hostile is watching you. ]
[ Skill: Desperate Situation applied at A-rank. ]
---!!!!
As soon as the massive Sea Dragon reveals itself and roars with its mouth wide open, a ripping sound tears through the air around us.
It’s a shout carrying such a fearsome ‘wave’ that Talion and Liru beside me clap their hands over their ears and collapse to the ground in panic.
“Howling, you damn...! This level just from that...!”
Liru grits her teeth and mutters through it.
Roars from monsters above a certain rank carry special effects on their own. Usually, they debuff your stats before battle even starts.
And for one belonging to the dragon species.
[System Message]
[ Physical defense reduced! ]
[ Magic resistance reduced! ]
[ Instinctual fear from the difference in power. Movement slowed! ]
At this point, it’s safe to call this less a roar and more a curse skill.
It dishes out debuffs that even a general mage would need tens of minutes to barely cast, just by yelling loudly once.
‘...No, it actually is a curse, isn’t it?’
In the game, dragonkin roars are judged as such.
And fortunately.
I have a skill that can handle that kind of judgment reasonably well.
[ Unique Skill: Anti-Demon ]
[ Those who face curses for long periods naturally learn ways to resist them. ]
[ ◆ Unlocks the ‘Anti-Demon’ stat against curses. ]
This one I ripped off from Yuria.
[System Message]
[ Rolling ‘Anti-Demon’ stat... ]
[ Resistance successful. No negative effects applied! ]
That’s right.
While Liru and Talion around me are gasping for breath and sprawled on the deck, I activate the boat’s emergency safety device, perfectly fine.
A blue barrier generates around the boat. The howling that had been pounding our ears cuts off, allowing Talion and Liru to barely struggle to their feet.
“...How are you moving fine against something like that...?!”
“I train hard on a regular basis.”
“...”
He shoots me a look like, “Says the guy who turned pale and huffed after a little jog the other day.”
But it’s true that planning ahead and preparing pays off.
If I hadn’t snagged the Anti-Demon stat, I’d be frozen like those two right now.
“...So, what do we do about that guy?”
Talion points at Krun, slumped limply a bit away from the boat.
Looks like he passed out from that roar, not even twitching.
“Hmm.”
I nod and yank back on the fishing line connected to him.
With Desperate Situation at A-rank, hurling a guy his size away isn’t hard if I put my strength into it.
He draws a huge arc and splashes into the sea far behind the boat.
Good. That drastically lowers his chances of dying to the Sea Dragon.
“...And that’s it?”
“People don’t usually die just from someone yelling loudly in front of them.”
“...”
“Though he might get some trauma out of it.”
Floating unconscious in the water and all.
But he’s the next clan chief, so he’s bound to have something on him to keep him safe if he falls in.
As long as he doesn’t die, whatever.
“As expected of big bro. No mercy for the same gender.”
“...Sounds like you’re implying special treatment for women?”
“Isn’t it?”
“...”
Tch.
“You two, if you’ve got time for chit-chat, figure out how to get out of here now!”
Liru whispers quietly, watching us.
She clearly doesn’t want to provoke the thing in front of us.
“It doesn’t seem interested in attacking us yet.”
In fact.
The Sea Dragon, having lost its sacrifice right in front of it, blinks its massive eyes, looking back and forth between where the sacrifice was and us.
It just vanished from right in front of it, and it doesn’t seem to understand where it went or why.
“...Isn’t that thing dumber than it looks?”
Talion mutters in disbelief.
“Yeah. Tons of power, but a brain worse than a regular monster.”
This is the biggest difference between dragonkin and Sea Dragons.
Intelligence levels worlds apart from dragonkin, who master knowledge of Pandemonium and the heavens through superintelligence.
No wonder I look down on it as neither a monster nor a native creature.
It popped out now because it’s around its waking time, and something edible was floating in the water.
Doesn’t seem particularly hostile toward us right now.
“Right. So we just slip away while it’s still out of it...!”
“...Agreed.”
Talion echoes Liru’s hushed words, dripping cold sweat, in an equally subdued voice.
They clearly agree: don’t provoke the thing in front of us.
Sure, yeah.
Considering the spec gap between it and us, it doesn’t make sense for Desperate Situation to be at A-rank right now. Better to assume it’s barely paying us any attention.
“No, there’s something even better.”
I scratch my cheek boredly and say so.
While the Sea Dragon stays quiet, I kick the lever to deactivate the barrier around the boat.
“Talion. You brought the spears, right? Not your family’s ones. The disposable throwing spears.”
“I did, but why...?”
“Yeah. Hand ’em over.”
Talion hands one over with a puzzled look.
“Hup.”
I hurl it at the Sea Dragon with all my might.
It bounces off its snout with a dull thunk, limp and harmless.
Talion and Liru stare at me blankly.
“...”
Hm.
Surprisingly, zero damage.
My Tristan-style Swordsmanship gives damage correction regardless of weapon, so I figured it’d at least chip a tooth or something.
But.
I succeeded in getting its ‘attention.’
Its gaze, which had been blinking around looking for the vanished sacrifice, now fixes on me.
“...Didn’t you just say that thing’s power is on par with dragonkin?”
“Yeah.”
“And you just provoked it?”
“Yup.”
“...Why?”
I look at Liru like she’s the weird one as she speaks in exasperation.
“You wanna score high, right? Said it’s important.”
“...”
“Isn’t dragonkin enough?”
“...”
Liru quietly closes her eyes.
Her face takes on that transparent expression unique to someone who’s given up everything.
“...I’ll head out first, granny.”
“...”
While she mutters something like last words.
[ A crisis situation has been detected. ]
[ Judged as a direct threat to life. ]
[ Skill: Desperate Situation applied at EX-rank. ]
The Sea Dragon’s furious roar crashes toward us.
●
A tidal wave surges.
There was a storm earlier, but this is incomparably massive. Dozens of times the height of our boat.
One of the Sea Dragon’s most effective abilities is controlling water currents. This is child’s play for it.
“Wait, at this rate the boat’ll flip...!”
You can’t panic over something like this.
I grab Talion’s shoulder as he starts to scream and shove him toward the inside of the control stick.
“Grab the helm.”
“...Huh?”
“I taught you everything about steering the boat on the way here. You handle steering.”
I grin at Talion’s dazed stare.
“Get it together. I trust you.”
At least, among those I could bring into this without worry, he’s the only one who can properly handle something like this.
Quick-witted, focused, good with his hands, great memory, and above all, no need to worry about the aftermath.
That’s why I picked him from the start.
“...If you trust me, can you at least consult me before doing crazy shit like this, big bro?!”
Even as he yells that, he faithfully grips the helm as instructed. He pulls off evasive maneuvers to dodge the crashing tidal wave.
As we surf down the wave’s center with a whoosh, Liru and I get tossed around on the rocking boat.
“You really planning to fight that thing?!”
“I wouldn’t have provoked it if not!”
Liru bites her lip and glares at me.
“...This is why you’re entrusting Yupa’s future to him, granny?”
“What?!”
What’s she mumbling in a situation like this?
I can’t hear, speak up!
“It’s nothing! More importantly, what’s the plan to win?!”
“Win?”
“You didn’t throw your life away on this without a plan, right?!”
Sorry to Liru as she vents.
“Can’t win!”
“...”
I continue to her blank expression.
“How could we beat something like that from the start? It’s dragonkin! We couldn’t win even if we came back to life!”
“...Then why the hell did you start the fight, you crazy bas—!”
“I need it!”
I like building plans step by step like stairs from the beginning, whatever it is.
Bringing Talion into the tribal alliance was for this, and snagging the Anti-Demon stat from Yuria was because it’d be useful now and later.
And what I’m doing to the Sea Dragon now.
Isn’t fighting... it’s more like.
‘Imprinting’ it.
So that whenever it sees me, it triggers a ‘specific reaction.’
And that work.
Will definitely provide crucial help later. At the end of this chapter.
“Whatever, if we keep going like this, we’re all dead! There has to be some way to fight...!”
“Of course there is!”
I say that and bang on the cockpit door.
“Talion! Slow down!”
“Huh?! Slowing now will flip the boat...!”
“Do it quick!”
“...I seriously don’t know about you!”
As Talion slows with that yell, the boat gets fully exposed to the massive wave and rocks wildly.
But it buys Liru and me a brief moment to move.
“Hup!”
So, in that window.
I grab Liru and climb to the top of the boat.
It has a mast, so rushing up there gives us a whole different altitude from before.
Close enough to feel the fury in the Sea Dragon’s eyes.
The Sea Dragon that spotted us raises its front paw. Planning to smash down on us, no doubt.
If it hits, we and the boat will shatter.
And what I need to do here is.
“Liru.”
“What! Move already or we’ll get smashed—!”
“Stay still.”
Adjust Liru’s position.
I pull her slightly behind me and fine-tune it.
So that.
It looks like I’m covering her body to ‘protect’ her.
And I hug her tight.
Like lovers.
“...”
“...”
Liru opens her mouth in a voice straining to hold something back.
“...What are you doing?”
“Figuring out how to fight the Sea Dragon.”
“...This?”
“Yes.”
I say it with conviction to Liru’s hollow echo.
“...”
Of course, it looks utterly ridiculous on the surface.
But this is the only way to break my current ‘situation.’
Not just the Sea Dragon.
But for whatever comes after.
I flick open the system window.
And read the ‘log’ there.
[System Log]
[ An emergency event may occur soon! ]
‘...They say people learn from repeated experiences.’
What I’ve realized these past few days is that the devils’ obsessions are way more intense than I thought.
Even Elnor, who was so mild toward me, went berserk the moment things went wrong a few times.
In other words.
By now, something far more sensitive to my ‘relationships’ than that side is due to show up—and I’ve learned that without anyone teaching me.
With that in mind, I naturally pull out one of my countermeasures.
Liru sees it and forgets the situation, blinking blankly for a moment.
“...Another mask here?”
“I don’t use it, I die.”
“...”
“Seriously. Can’t even resist.”
That guy’s coming.
More terrifying than this near-natural disaster of a Sea Dragon.
Dozens, hundreds of times more.
As that thought crosses my mind.
--!!!!!!!!
A ‘white slash’ clearly swung by someone utterly pissed.
Slices clean through the Sea Dragon’s front paw as it descends on us.
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