Chapter 59
Chapter 59
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: Deep Sea Dungeon Conquest (9)
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“Kyaaaaah!!!!”
-Boom boom boom!!!!!!!!!!
A scream, followed by an explosion.
This time, the deep sea eel human’s body shattered into pieces, rolling across the floor.
“Well done, Roshanak.”
“Th-this, th-this! What the hell are you doing?!”
“Hmm, monster extermination?”
I grinned at Roshanak, who was yelling at the top of his lungs. His magic skills were truly impressive. Sure, it was crude, but the opponent was a kind of ‘chimera’—a powerful lifeform crafted with fairly sophisticated magic. Grinding them down like this would be impossible without considerable skill.
Roshanak used magic ‘instinctively.’ The whole process of chanting spells and arranging mana flowed as naturally as breathing. It was probably thanks to the mermaid blood running through his veins. His responses were quick and his effects potent, despite the clumsiness—an enormous advantage. Once he got used to it, he’d become far stronger than this.
“Good job, Roshanak. Keep it up just like that.”
I patted his shoulder.
‘If I could keep this guy as a companion, it’d be great in all sorts of ways.’
Greed bubbled up inside me. But I’d already promised him ‘freedom’ once this job was done. No, not a promise—a vow. No matter how much I regretted it, I’d have to let him go.
‘Such a waste.’
My leisurely thoughts ended there. Whether thanks to Roshanak’s magic or the screams, the thorn octopus humans and deep sea eel humans were now zeroing in on us. They stopped what they were doing and charged toward us.
Alright, my turn now.
‘It’s still imperfect, but this is the best way.’
I rode the ocean current and leaped high. My stomach churned and nausea hit, but I gritted my teeth and focused my mind. My vision flashed brightly.
-Swoosh!
Along with a massive surge of water, my body transformed in an instant.
Thanks to [Beast Form].
I hadn’t spent much time with the armored shark ‘Sharp,’ so this [Beast Form] was unstable. That meant I had to take them out as fast as possible.
‘The real opponent isn’t these guys—it’s the Kraken.’
The sensation was different from when I’d used [Beast Form] with the shadow wolf. Back then, everything felt natural and comfortable, but now, in armored shark [Beast Form], it was like wearing ill-fitting clothes—the discomfort dominated my entire body.
‘Let’s end this quick.’
I swam swiftly. Cutting through the currents toward them, the deep sea eel humans began spewing electricity at me. But it was pointless. Why do you think it’s called an armored shark? The electric attacks couldn’t penetrate my rock-hard skin.
-Thud!!!!
-Kieeeek!!!
I clamped down on the deep sea eel human’s thick body. With hundreds of teeth gripping its slimy form, I spun rapidly, and its head—attached like a mismatched part—tore right off. I smashed the rolling head with my tail and swam toward the next one.
-Crunch!
-Kiii!
-Chomp!
-Kyaaak!
The deep sea eel’s body tasted utterly revolting. Its elongated form was coated in slimy mucus, making me want to puke every time I bit down—it was maddening. I couldn’t be more grateful for being in armored shark [Beast Form] right now. Thanks to the shark’s powerful jaws, I could rip their bodies apart in one go.
-Slash!
The problem was the thorn octopus humans.
Unlike the deep sea eel humans, the thorn octopus humans wielded weapons. Massive blades they’d been using to slice things up—rusted, yet sharp enough to pierce an armored shark’s skin.
‘Not ordinary blades.’
They were clearly infused with some kind of magic. But now wasn’t the time to analyze them. My armored shark body was huge and bulky, so dodging the blades stabbing into me from all sides was disorienting enough. And on top of that….
-Slither….
Probably because the [Beast Form] was incomplete, the skill flickered—my fins vanishing and reappearing intermittently. Before it fully unraveled, I bit down with all my strength on the deep sea eel human in front of me. At the same moment, I felt a blade dig into my side.
-Skreeek!
Was my lower body about to get severed? That was beyond what [Wound Healing] could handle….
“...Huh?”
Contrary to my expectations, it wasn’t my lower body that got sliced—it was the head of the thorn octopus human swinging the blade.
With [Beast Form] released, I tumbled across the floor. The pain in my side hadn’t been an illusion; blood was seeping out steadily.
“You okay?”
Lloyd, who had beheaded the thorn octopus human, helped me up.
“I’m fine.”
“...Sorry I was late.”
“Late? The timing was perfect.”
Supported by him, I activated [Forest Healing]. The essence of the sea mosses gathered, maximizing the healing power as the sliced wound regenerated. Ow, regenerating hurts more than the wound itself.
“These aren’t normal blades. Probably magic….”
“I know.”
Lloyd calmly sliced through the thorn octopus humans. One, two, three, four… Wait, doesn’t that make him the monster here?
His swordsmanship was textbook yet oddly twisted. The excessive finishing blows weren’t very knightly either.
‘He’s got some backstory.’
And it probably wasn’t the kind you’d want to hear.
Anyway, unless Lloyd brought it up himself, it wasn’t my business or something I needed to know. Getting deeply involved with someone like him wouldn’t end well. I pushed away the speculations rising in my mind.
“Once we finish these off….”
I glanced beyond the pillar. A sharp sense of foreboding lurked in the darkness.
“That thing will start moving.”
The Kraken.
It seemed there was a rule against attacking the thorn octopus humans or deep sea eel humans. The Kraken hadn’t budged from the shadows. In this tangled melee, if it extended its tentacles, it’d kill allies and enemies alike without distinction.
Lloyd glanced at the Kraken out of the corner of his eye and nodded. His face remained calm even knowing it would move. Impressive.
“The Kraken has three hearts.”
I recalled a deep sea raid video I’d seen once. One heart next to the right eye, one next to the left, and one between the eyes. Like left- and right-handed people, Krakens had a dominant side—either left or right—and it was random per individual. The unscathed, pristine side was the weaker one, so the standard strategy was to target that heart first, then the opposite one, and finally the central heart between the eyes.
The tentacle that attacked me had come from the left. The one that pierced Sharp’s body had also come from the left. So this one was probably left-tentacled… meaning its right side would be relatively sluggish.
“Let’s take out the right heart first.”
Lloyd nodded without a word. El looked tense, and Roshanak was chattering his teeth in fear. Having lived in the sea so long, he must have a deep terror of Krakens. I patted his shoulder.
“Don’t tense up.”
The moment El and Lloyd felled the last thorn octopus human, the entire space shook as if warping—like a massive earthquake. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t an earthquake. The Kraken was finally moving.
-Rumble rumble rumble….
-Thud!
-Thunk!
-Boom boom!
We rolled across the floor, dodging tentacles slamming down from all directions. The silver lining was the dust clouds from the tentacles hitting the ground, shrouding us and hiding our movements from its eyes. Within the dust fog, we stealthily severed tentacles, over and over.
-Splish!
The Kraken’s tentacles had incredible regenerative power—severed ones regrew in minutes. To counter that, I fired arrows into the cross-sections where Lloyd and El had cut.
-Pffft!
Black seaweed sprouted from the embedded arrows, wrapping the stumps like nets. The tentacles tried to regenerate but clumped up grotesquely, blocked by the seaweed.
Sever, shoot, sever again, shoot again.
They said the Kraken’s tentacles were countless, but endless slashing revealed their limits. Its movements began to slow.
-Rumble rumble rumble….
It changed tactics, trying to turn its body. I didn’t miss the opening.
-Splash!!!
I shouted at Lloyd as he charged, slicing through tentacles.
“Right eye, next to it!”
With his sword skills, he could definitely pierce the Kraken’s heart. Lloyd darted in like the wind, weaving through the horde of tentacles. Sensing the danger, the Kraken spewed ink-black liquid. Not ordinary ink—it was toxic, like the tentacles’ mucus. If I hadn’t given him the antidote beforehand, Lloyd might have collapsed right there.
But.
-Squelch!!!
He didn’t.
A sword terrifyingly huge and chillingly sharp plunged deep into the Kraken’s body. The impact burst one of its eyes, spreading its signature dark blue blood like mist.
-Grind!
Lloyd didn’t stop there, twisting the blade deeper for overkill. At that position, without a shred of fear…. I watched in stunned silence.
That level of attack should stun the Kraken long enough with its heart ruptured. If we quickly took out the left heart in that gap, we might defeat it easier than expected….
“...!”
Suddenly, one of the Kraken’s eyes gleamed. What? I looked back at Lloyd. His expression was strange—no certainty he’d hit the heart.
No way?
“Dodge!!”
No time for more thought—I leaped through the tentacles, grabbed Lloyd, and rolled across the floor. Black ink and Kraken blood blinded me.
-Squelch!!!!!
Then the crashing pain.
A familiar sensation I already knew. The agony of a tentacle piercing my body, twisting my guts.
“Guh….”
But something even worse awaited me.