Chapter 65: Mermaids and Elves
Thud. Thud...!
The mermaids' attacks grew fiercer.
Their numbers had already overwhelmed the elven spirits' forces, and they kept hammering the ship, trying to break it apart.
Plip. Plip.
Water splashed onto the deck.
Every time a mermaid slammed hard into the barrier, seawater forced its way through the momentarily weakened spots.
"Those fishy bitches."
Audrey glared at them and spat over the side in disgust.
But I didn't get it.
They were gorgeous.
— Mermaids are pretty, sure.
'Exactly.'
If they didn't have fish tails down there, I'd have dragged one off and made her shake that ass all night.
That was how stunning every single mermaid looked.
Maybe not on Reina's level, but definitely on par with Isabel's crowd or Roana.
— What are you talking about? They grow human legs when they mate.
'Huh? Really? Explain in detail.'
Beres cleared her throat.
Then she started to speak... and paused for leverage.
— What's in it for me if I tell you?
'Damn it. You learn the bad habits fast...'
— I learned it all from watching you. Hehe.
I thought for a moment, then made my decision.
Looking at the woman standing at the bow, hurling insults.
'If I get to fuck that one, I'll open her backdoor first. How about it?'
— Deal!
Beres showered me with praise, saying it was an excellent offer.
She even claimed she'd have given me a donation function if she could.
Anyway, she organized her thoughts and began spinning her tale.
— You know the mermaids and elves fighting right now? If you trace their bloodlines back far enough, they share the same ancestors.
'What? That's bullshit. You're saying the two races are the same bloodline?'
— Yep. They used to walk on land together, but one side went up into the trees while the other went down into the water, and they split.
Because of that, when mating season comes, they transform into human legs just like they did on land.
They even come up onto or near the shore to mate before returning to the sea.
It was the first I'd heard of it...
With that kind of steamy affair, it should have been recorded somewhere in history, but I had no memory of it.
— Do you think they're animals? They're intelligent beings. They know what shame is. Don't assume everyone's like you.
Hey, what's that supposed to mean about me!
Listening to this was starting to piss me off. Tch.
According to Beres, they went to uninhabited islands to mate.
They even timed it for beautiful nights when the full moon was out.
'But why are they so desperate to kill each other if they're the same blood?'
— I don't know that part. All I know is that something happened and the two races fell out.
Fell out... Just how badly did they fall out that they'd pick up weapons to kill each other?
I always thought elves were kind and gentle, but seeing this, they weren't much different from humans.
"Kael~"
"Yeah, Bella?"
"How much longer do we have to wait like this? I'm bored."
"Just a little longer. Pass that on to Reina too."
"Tch."
Bella puffed out her cheeks.
She whined "bored" five or six more times before finally relaying my words to the princess beside her.
— At least she listens well now.
'Yeah, she does.'
Honestly, if Bella had fought seriously earlier, even Audrey would have struggled.
Historically, a magic swordsman armed with the Sage's Stone was considered on the level of an entire knight order.
But she'd only been playing around and got caught...
When I asked why she was dangling right next to me, she said she didn't fight because she figured something fun would happen if I stayed still.
Her instincts were terrifyingly sharp.
'That aside... how long do I have to keep hanging here...'
It had already been over forty minutes since we dove toward the deep sea.
We'd gone deep.
The moonlight from above was no longer visible.
Blood wasn't circulating well and my body was starting to ache.
Just as I was thinking about moving despite the hassle, a faint light suddenly appeared in the distance.
The light grew brighter the closer we got.
Whatever it was, the mermaids' resistance became extremely fierce.
They were slamming their entire bodies against the ship's barrier.
Because of that, the surroundings suddenly filled with red blood.
Their bodies burst from the impact with the speeding ship.
Thud. Thud thud.
Several mermaids fell onto the deck in miserable condition.
One landed in front of Audrey. She was still alive, gasping and twitching.
The elf kicked her without hesitation.
The impact burst the struck area and sent her flying off the ship.
"Disgustingly cold. (Elvish)"
Audrey rubbed the blood off her shoe on the floor with a disgusted expression, then used the ropes on the ship to throw every mermaid that fell back into the sea.
The soldiers who had been excitedly whispering about the elves' faces and figures fell completely silent at that cruel sight.
It must have been quite a shock.
'I thought she was nice, but her personality is complete shit?'
— She's probably a special case? Still, the shit personality part is true.
'Why?'
— That's just how white elves are.
White elves... Meeting one was like stepping into death's door, but somehow I wanted to see one at least once.
What about the celestial race?
— What about them? They're just blocks of stone. Fucking one wouldn't be much fun~
'Hey! Do I look like some pervert who only thinks about that all day? I'm purely...'
— Yeah, shut the bullshit. I can hear your inner voice loud and clear, you know? Wondering what color celestial pussy hair is, whether it's a white bush... Ugh, you're worse than a demon.
Damn it. I couldn't make any excuses to Beres.
I felt completely stripped bare by shame.
— Enjoying it?
'Fuck off.'
Just then, the light suddenly flared brighter.
I felt my body lift, then the ship began to plummet forward with a sudden pull.
"Aaaagh!"
"S-Save me!"
Screams rang out.
"Kyaaang♥"
Along with Bella's excited cry, the ship crashed into the seabed.
BOOOOOOM.
It plowed through the sand, half-burying itself before finally stopping.
When I lifted my head, I saw a glowing blue membrane and the vast space beneath it.
Where is this...?
But my question vanished in an instant...
Vwoooom. Vwoooooooom.
Vwoooom. Vwoooooooom.
A massive lifeform was breathing.
An existence so enormous that even this huge ship felt tiny in comparison.
Its breathing alone sounded like massive trumpets blaring from every direction.
A soft yet tough-skinned cephalopod with multiple legs.
Its enormous head expanded and contracted with each breath, its eyes tightly shut as if sleeping.
Everyone stared with mouths agape.
One person muttered its name.
"The Lord of the Deep Sea, Kraken...!"
That was it.
What stood before us was the legendary monster said to be the strongest in the sea after the Blue Dragon—the Kraken.
At its appearance, Reina, the princess, and Tanya's faces twisted.
They seemed to hate creatures like this, big or small.
They'd volunteered for this mission to avoid seeing one, only to encounter an enormous specimen instead.
Life really was cruel sometimes.
"But why did we come to where the Kraken is?"
"Curious, are you?"
I'd only muttered it, yet an answer came from right behind me.
When I turned my head, Audrey was there—somehow already on top of me.
She lay flat against my back and whispered into my ear like sharing a secret.
"We brought humans here to seal that thing."
"Seal the Kraken? Why? Wouldn't it be better to just kill it?"
Wasn't that right?
With this ship, it should be possible to take it down even if it was tough.
We wouldn't have to keep repeating this annoying sealing ritual every year.
But the elf shook her head.
She said something incredible.
"I'm sorry, but that thing can't be killed. That's why we seal it as a Kraken."
"Huh? What do you mean? That Kraken is already sealed?"
My thoughts froze for a moment.
It felt like facing a scale humans could never imagine.
Audrey clung to me like a monkey and met my eyes from below.
Then she whispered softly.
"I'm only telling you this because you're my friend. There are originally two types of elves. Forest elves. And sea elves."
What she told me next was astonishing.
The one sleeping down there was the leader and queen of the sea elves.
"Right now, it's not sleeping. It's struggling to break the seal even a little faster. Well, it doesn't matter anymore since I've arrived."
The elf smiled brightly.
Then she kissed my lips. Peck♥
A kiss?
"This is a farewell gift. I'm truly sorry for offering you as a sacrifice, as a friend."
No, if she was really sorry, she should've offered her pussy instead of a kiss!
If she said sorry after getting pregnant with my kid, maybe. But this was just messing with me...!
Before I could protest, others shouted first.
"Hey, what the hell are you doing!!!"
"Audrey, how dare you...!"
Reina and the princess were furious.
They didn't like the kiss either, just like me.
Bella instantly broke free from her bindings.
Reina did the same.
Surprise flashed in Audrey's eyes.
"Oho...! Not bad at all."
But she couldn't just stand there surprised.
Bella wrapped herself in a physical enhancement buff and shot toward me at incredible speed.
Audrey's eyes widened further. She quickly jumped off the ship and fled.
The princess chased after her just as fast.
Meanwhile, Reina began untying everyone else's bindings.
I also casually broke free and landed on the deck.
'I guess we can fight now?'
— Yeah. The spirits can't come out here. They're trapped on the ship.
I looked up at the sky.
Thousands of mermaids had their palms pressed against the blue membrane, staring down at us.
They couldn't enter either.
In that case...!
'Finally, time to go wild.'
I'll give her a pass for the kiss, but...
Threatening my and my women's lives? That's a serious crime!
'I'll punish you so hard your pussy and holes won't close.'
— Ooooh! Nice, let's go!