Chapter 60
Chapter 60
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Deep Sea Dungeon Conquest (10)
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[Song of the Beast] was a passive skill I had acquired at level 16.
In simple terms, it was a skill that allowed me to communicate with other races such as animals, beasts, monsters, and the like. It started with reading simple emotions and could extend all the way to full conversations. Of course, the quality of communication varied wildly depending on who—or what—the other party was.
For example, if the opponent was a slime, I could only pick up on things like "full" or "hungry." Creatures like slimes, which had virtually no intelligence, operated on extremely simplistic thought patterns.
But what if they had intelligence?
Then I could draw out information based on their knowledge and experiences. I could ask a Dawn Forest Deer about paths out of the forest, inquire about oasis locations from a Hook Camel, or beg a Maple Bear not to kill me.
As such, the skill's effects varied tremendously depending on the subject. With low intelligence, I received only the most basic information, but with high intelligence, sophisticated conversations were possible.
Come to think of it, I remembered a documentary I'd seen once. It said octopuses were incredibly smart. They could navigate mazes, open jar lids, and even play pranks on humans. One scientist had joked that if their lifespans increased, they might develop intelligence threatening enough to rival humans. The face of that scientist flashed through my mind.
...Isn't a Kraken a type of octopus?
'No, if anything, it's more like a squid? Or maybe half and half...'
My consciousness was fading, yet here I was, lost in such idiotic thoughts. Even I had to admit it was ridiculous.
"Hah, haaah...."
The Kraken's tentacle had pierced right through my side. The silver lining was that it was a newly grown tentacle, so it was fairly thin, and it had missed my vital organs. Of course, that didn't make it hurt any less. With its sharp suckers, the tentacle had torn through my side, sending waves of pain so intense that death almost seemed preferable. Cold sweat poured down, and my body trembled. I lifted my head and gazed into the Kraken's enormous eyes, shining as brightly as a full moon.
It wouldn't have been strange if the Kraken had ripped out my guts and killed me right then. Yet, as if time itself had frozen, neither the Kraken nor I moved an inch.
"......"
That was because memories were flowing in.
'These are... the Kraken's memories...'
I received them with vivid intensity, as if I had become the Kraken myself. But the Kraken's memories were far more vile and agonizing than the pain in my side.
In the memories, the Kraken was under attack by unidentified entities. Its infamous title as the archenemy of God Donar rang hollow; the Kraken was utterly helpless, losing two of its hearts.
'So that's why Lloyd...'
Only then did I understand Lloyd. He had aimed precisely for the heart, only to be baffled by its absence.
Having lost two hearts, the Kraken was sealed away in this dungeon. What followed was endless torment. The attackers implanted black gems in place of its missing hearts.
'...Black Worm.'
That meant the Crows were involved.
When Lloyd's sword shattered the Black Worm, the Kraken must have broken free from its mental control. That's how its memories could flow into me.
'Did the Crows create this dungeon?'
Reduced to a slave of the Black Worm, the Kraken was bred to their whims. It served as a test subject for all manner of curses and shamanic rituals, its tentacles, ink, and venom harvested. But the most horrific of all was...
The theft of its 'eggs.'
A Kraken laid eggs only once in its life, right before death. It produced anywhere from dozens to hundreds. Of course, not all hatched. In the harsh Abyss, more than half died before even emerging, and of those that survived to hatching inside the mother, half perished the moment they emerged. In the end, only about a quarter survived, and even most of those succumbed to the Abyss's environment. From dozens or hundreds of eggs, ultimately only one or two lived.
Thus, a Kraken's love for its offspring was unparalleled. It carried the eggs in its body until just before hatching and hid its young among its tentacles afterward. The Abyss teemed with ferocious monsters besides the Kraken itself.
The Crows mercilessly stole the eggs the Kraken cherished so dearly.
'So that's what those spiny octopus humans were slicing up.'
Slash, crunch, slash, crunch—the source of that chilling sound made my skin crawl all over. They were hatching the stolen eggs to raise baby Krakens.
'Did they plan to breed Krakens and release them into the Ekaitz Sea?'
A horrifying idea. If unleashed, they could wipe out the Ekaitz Republic entirely...
'Is that what they were hoping for with all this?'
Or perhaps something even worse...
"Theodore!"
A sharp voice snapped my mind back. Through my blurring vision, I saw the voice's owner. It was Lloyd.
"Y-You okay...? Gah, ugh...."
Hot blood surged up my throat, garbling my words. Lloyd raised his sword high, poised to sever the tentacle impaling my side.
"No!"
At my shout, Lloyd halted and looked at me.
I felt bad for the Kraken, but this was an opportunity. While our minds were linked, it couldn't move properly. It was trapped in a state of shock, reliving its painful memories.
"Now's the time. Right now... kill it now...."
As soon as I finished speaking, I vomited blood. Lloyd glanced down at me, then back at the Kraken. Its eyes were glazed. It stared at nothing, lost in the agonies of its past.
"There's no heart on the left side either...."
"......"
Lloyd's expression questioned how I knew that. But there was no time for explanations.
"So, target the central heart... right away."
"...Understood."
The unconsciously thrashing tentacles were handled by El and Roschnak. As I instructed, Lloyd leaped high toward the central heart. In this pitch-black darkness devoid of any light, only Lloyd's sword gleamed an eerie red.
-SPLURCH!!!!
Lloyd's sword plunged deep into the Kraken's final heart. Blue blood rained down like a storm.
And with that, the Kraken's heart stopped.
* * *
"Theodore."
Lloyd eyed the tentacle still embedded in my side and spoke.
"I'm pulling it out."
Without giving me time to brace, he yanked it free in one go. The agony was so overwhelming I couldn't even scream. Fortunately, I didn't collapse—Lloyd held me up. I swallowed the potion he poured into my mouth and cast [Wound Healing] on my side. Being a piercing wound, the recovery was slow. After patching the surface somewhat, I followed up with [Forest Healing]. Even if it looked fine on the outside, the inside was probably a mess, so maximizing regeneration was key.
I wrapped my side with herbal bandages from my spatial ring, then stood. The bandages numbed the pain, so movement wasn't an issue.
"......"
The Kraken's collapse had sent dozens of tentacles sweeping through, leaving the dungeon in ruins.
No, it wasn't really a dungeon. This was a sunken ancient temple, 'dungeonized' after the Crows kidnapped the Kraken.
"Theodore."
"Yes."
"What happened?"
"......"
"For a moment, it looked like you'd subdued the Kraken. Some kind of shamanic ritual?"
"...No."
"Then what?"
"......"
It had felt like an eternity peering into the Kraken's memories, but in reality, it was just an instant. No wonder Lloyd mistook it for a spell or ritual. After a moment's hesitation, I chose honesty.
"You know I'm a Druid, right?"
"Yes. But I've never heard of a Druid with abilities like these."
"...The world's vast, and people are diverse."
"I see."
"I didn't subdue the Kraken. I just shared its memories. They were so horrific that it fell into shock."
"Hard to swallow."
"Is it? But it's the truth. No grand ritual—just memories more vicious than any spell."
"......"
"Sometimes, those are what shatter a soul."
Lloyd fell silent. Limping, I headed to the temple's center altar. The Kraken's tentacles had razed everything yet spared the altar, leaving its surroundings pristine.
"Master, you need to rest."
El tried to stop me from climbing the altar, but I assured her I was fine and ascended. Lloyd, who had watched quietly, helped me up.
'As expected...'
Atop the altar lay shriveled, weathered shells and unrecognizable remnants scattered about. Likely traces of Kraken young that never properly hatched. Pushing through the desolate debris, I found one relatively intact egg.
The final egg was far smaller than normal. Even so, it was larger than a large dog. At that size, it was probably deformed—unfit even as an experimental subject, hence left until the end. I carefully moved it, placing it on a bed of soft sea moss.
"You're serious?"
Lloyd asked as if he already knew my intent. I nodded.
"I'm going to save it."
"......"
After vowing to conquer the dungeon, declaring I'd save the spawn of a monster deemed catastrophic might sound absurd.
But...
How could I call a mother who endured such torment for her child's sake a mere 'monster'?
I placed my hand on the Kraken's egg and began chanting. Mana drawn from my dantian gathered in my palm, slowly flowing from my fingertips into the egg. Its translucent shell let me faintly see the mana spreading throughout.
"...Thus, as we share the pain, our strength shall double."
With the final verse complete, I drew my dagger and sliced open the egg.