Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Slaying the King Squid
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33
3
“Reload!”
“Prepare to fire a full volley as soon as you’re ready!”
“Javelins ready!”
“Good! Javelins first, then full volley!”
A cacophony of voices echoed chaotically.
Even calling themselves pirates, Carolina’s voice brimmed with commanding presence.
Perhaps because of that, the crew maintained their composure amid the King Squid’s rampage, unleashing attacks steadily.
Cannonballs and javelins sliced through the night sky.
Each one was a menacing strike, yet the King Squid seemed utterly unfazed.
The initial barrage had only grazed it slightly.
Sharp javelins slid off its skin, and cannonballs bounced away unless they exploded.
Even explosions left mere scorch marks and scratches—virtually no damage.
Still, Carolina’s relentless assault didn’t let up.
She poured every resource they had into the barrage, as if determined to expend it all.
“Tentacles incoming!”
No matter how ineffective the damage, being pummelled unilaterally must have irked it, for the King Squid extended its ten tentacles toward the Going Thunder.
Before they could maneuver to evade, the tentacles coiled around the ship’s hull.
Suction cups gripped it firmly, rendering the Going Thunder immobile.
“Ugh…! Don’t panic! Just reload the cannons and focus on repelling those tentacles first!”
“Weapons up!!”
Clang! Click!
The crew drew sabers and muskets.
Leading the charge, Carolina gripped a musket in one hand and a hand cannon in the other, firing off flashy shots.
But this was an opponent cannonballs couldn’t dent.
Bullets and sabers didn’t even scratch it.
Harpoons managed to pierce the slick skin somewhat, but it was like a mosquito bite—the King Squid didn’t flinch.
“At this rate, we’ll all drown together amicably…! Hey! You just gonna sit there!?”
Louis urgently asked me, clutching his magic sword.
At the same time, I swung Deathwise lightly.
Slash!
Like filleting sashimi, I carved deeply into one of the King Squid’s legs.
I’d controlled my strength to avoid slicing the hull, so it wasn’t severed completely.
Still, the unprecedented damage made the King Squid hastily retract one tentacle.
“Who said I’m sitting? I’ll attack the main body like this, so handle those tentacles over there, senior.”
“You cheeky bastard!”
Louis tugged at his leather glove.
Was he planning to punch it like at the Minenvar Library?
In my bewilderment, he drew a grimoire from his coat with his gloved hand.
On closer look, it was the book he’d swung at me before.
Rustle. The book flipped its own pages in his hand.
Once the pages stopped turning, Louis swiftly moved his lips.
What emerged from his mouth was a chant like poetry.
Unlike rune magic, which only required reading the right words, standard spells demanded rituals.
Procure catalysts like magic wands, draw specific magic circles with mana, prepare sacrifices or costs in some cases, then perform the ceremony.
Chanting was the simplest and most basic ritual of them all.
Simple, yet the content and length could self-hypnotize the mage, enhancing the spell’s effect and power—hence why it was foundational.
Louis’s chant was three verses long.
Not short by any means, and its effect was spectacular.
Crackle!
Green lightning surged around Louis.
It arced upward from the deck like rising from earth to sky, striking the King Squid’s leg.
A mere lightning strike might have had little effect.
The King Squid’s hide boasted immense defense against both physical and magical attacks.
In other words, piercing the hide drastically reduced its defenses.
And the leg Louis targeted had several crew-driven harpoons embedded in it.
Lightning and metal were inseparably linked.
Riding the harpoons, the green lightning burrowed into the King Squid’s leg.
With intense shocks and the smell of searing flesh, one leg went limp, twitching.
The main body took a solid hit too, making the King Squid shudder violently.
Soon, its body flushed bright red, and the remaining tentacles thrashed the surface more ferociously.
A hit from those would cleave the Going Thunder in two.
“Hey! Hit the main body quick!”
I ignored Louis’s shout.
I wanted to end it in one go too, but pushing too hard would burst me like a balloon.
In the meantime, the rampaging King Squid had exposed more of its torso above the surface.
Its heart was located at the base of the torso where an ordinary squid’s mouth would be—impossible to reach until now.
Finally, its torso fully surfaced.
The night sea’s darkness was deep, but the magitech lights barely illuminated the target.
The footing was unsteady, the distance far, but the necessity remained unchanged.
The form of the magic sword gripped in both hands distorted.
Deathwise lost its sword shape, transforming into a bow in an instant.
Worthy of being called a magic bow rather than sword, its jet-black surface glowed with red runes.
“Miss and you die.”
-Hah! What nonsense. This body never misses. If I do, it’s your fault. Besides, I possess the means to prevent such errors!
Deathwise boasted.
Ignoring it, I nocked a pre-prepared javelin onto the string.
A crude setup, but no issues.
-I’ll assist. Let this body guide you thus. Miss, and you’re the dead one.
With Deathwise’s intent, my vision rippled.
A green frame overlaid my sight like a filter.
Just like a fighter jet cockpit HUD.
No explanation needed—I understood instantly.
Place target in center, switch. Target in center, switch….
The frame locked on the King Squid’s torso amid the shaking ones.
The moment they aligned, I released the string and shouted.
“Senior, lightning!”
Louis hastily chanted again.
Two verses—shorter than before, but manifesting swiftly—the green lightning enveloped the flying javelin.
Wreathed in green lightning like a comet, it streaked across the night sky and embedded in the King Squid’s torso.
“Two more!”
Another followed suit.
Louis didn’t miss a beat, infusing it with green lightning.
The three comets burrowed into the King Squid’s torso as if sucked in.
The King Squid froze abruptly.
Its tentacles, savagely pounding the surface, slowly slumped.
Its flushed-red face paled to white, black ink spewing from its mouth.
Finally, the King Squid lay still on the sea.
Motionless, rocking limply with the waves, the crew erupted in cheers.
“We did it!!”
“We finally got that damn squid!!”
Cheers swelled like waves.
I backpedaled before getting swept up.
Truth be told, my legs gave out, forcing the retreat.
The ship rocked, nearly toppling me, but I grabbed the railing to avoid embarrassment.
“Haha….”
I couldn’t twitch a finger.
Leaning on the railing, Deathwise reverted to sword form.
-Phew, reduced to this from mere visual sync assistance?
Shut up….
Barely thirty seconds, yet the exhaustion surpassed my first time wielding the magic sword.
-Obviously. Did you think swinging a sword equals visual sync in exertion?
Then say so beforehand….
My head spun, but the seasickness meds kept nausea at bay.
As I caught my breath to stand, Deathwise added.
-Oho, something felt off… This is quite the delicacy.
Delicacy? Eating alone?
-A remnant left by the Demon of Illusions. Lingering inside that oversized squid. Thanks to it, I’ve recovered a bit more power.
A demon here?
So that’s why Deathwise noted the King Squid’s oddity.
-Indeed. If a Demon of Illusions was involved, someone might have been controlling the squid.
Controlling it?
If someone deliberately controlled the King Squid, that meant they intended Bayford’s disaster.
Frowning at the grim thought, Carolina slung an arm around my shoulders, laughing heartily.
“Haha! Thanks to you, we felled that pesky King Squid—why the deathly face?”
“Just a bit tired….”
“Then perk up! You’re practically Bayford’s hero!”
Smack!
Carolina clapped my back heartily.
Loud, but painless.
“Puff out your chest with pride. Back home, you’ll get a welcome that dwarfs this.”
“Huh?”
“Alright, lads! Soon as we tether the King Squid, full speed back to Bayford! Course east! Maximum velocity ahead!”
My question drowned in the crew’s roars.
The Going Thunder proudly turned toward Bayford with the rising sun in the distance.
4
By the time they entered the harbor, dawn was breaking.
Bayford’s mornings started early; by the dim twilight, crowds already guarded the docks.
Reactions varied wildly.
Cheers for resuming fishing, tears for families no longer starving, awe at the King Squid itself.
None negative.
All sincerely relieved and joyful that the crisis was over.
Watching Bayford’s residents, a tickling warmth stirred in my chest inevitably.
I smiled unwittingly; Louis quipped beside me.
“Didn’t you say you just came out craving King Squid?”
“…Still just craving King Squid. Dinner turned breakfast, though.”
“Sheesh… How do you even plan to eat that?”
Louis nodded at the King Squid.
Still massive, tied to the Going Thunder.
Hauling it ashore would be no small feat.
Dismantling and cooking it? Even harder.
“Don’t worry—we’re sea folk, after all.”
Carolina replied cheerfully.
Then shoved me forward with another back clap.
Caught off-guard, I stood at the bow; she bellowed behind me.
“The outsider who slew the King Squid is right here! Sending off our problem-solving benefactor like this stains Bayford’s pride! Right!?”
“Damn right!”
“Bayford tradition: festivals for all triumphs! Not grand, but today’s a feast! Unleash every drop of booze!!”
Carolina raised her fist high.
The crowd roared in sync.
Her shipboard words had foreshadowed this.
Or rather, a sudden festival…?
“Solomu, coordinate with the craftsmen for immediate dismantling! Ship maintenance and settlements later—festival now!”
“Yes, ma’am. On it.”
Solomu leaped off the ship, grabbing a rope.
Less than five minutes later, craftsmen arrived; hauling the King Squid ashore took under twenty.
Dismantling the colossal body afterward felt surreal.
“Perfect. You get to eat that long-awaited King Squid dish. By the way, you used a bow too?”
“Senior, just wipe your drool.”
“What….”
Too bothersome to explain the magic sword, I deflected; Louis wiped his mouth with his sleeve.
Of course, nothing was there.
It was a lie.
“You….”
Feigning ignorance, I disembarked too.
Even Bayford’s craftsmen couldn’t fully dismantle a 10-meter-torso King Squid overnight; they carved sections and moved them.
“Do you cook the dismantled parts right away?”
“Yeah, calamari first, then every squid dish imaginable. Squid steak’s exclusive here!”
Carolina puffed her chest.
Feeding troughs everywhere.
“Mind if I take a bit?”
“Hm? Obviously. You caught it—who’d argue? We should be asking if we can have some!”
“Don’t worry. Can’t eat it all, and I’d get sick of it first. Share with everyone. I just need enough to cook myself.”
“What a big-hearted young lord. Tell the craftsmen; they’ll portion what you need!”
Dodging her back pat, I got a hunk of King Squid torso from a craftsman.
Borrowed the kitchen too, wielding a kitchen knife after ages.
It’d been a while since I scrimped on food costs by cooking in my old apartment.
Recalling those days, I thickly sliced the King Squid.
Onions, carrots, green onions—available here.
Chili powder substitute existed, but no soy sauce or gochujang.
Gochujang approximated with chipotle paste.
Soy sauce? Gave up cleanly; settled for chicken stock and salt.
Grill the King Squid, add veggies and seasonings, stir-fry.
Before veggie juices released, taste test… Slightly off, but familiar enough.
Chewy yet not tough, it crunched satisfyingly between teeth.
Outsides umami-packed, insides grew sweeter with each chew.
Spice added nostalgia.
Emerging with more stir-fried King Squid than expected, the harbor reeked of festival.
Shabby tents and spread food sufficed.
Everyone stuffed on King Squid.
Only after booze flowed did folks relax.
I savored my stir-fry amid them.
“Oh, your cooking?”
Carolina, tankard in hand, took a bite.
Eyes widened at the spice, then she smacked her lips and draped an arm over me.
“Not bad at all. How about it? I’m hiring a cook for the Going Thunder.”
“I’ll pass.”
“Aw, shame! Then feast now!”
Too much for me alone anyway.
“Eat up,” I said; soon Louis was picking at the stir-fry too.
“Never imagined it’d turn out like this….”
“Yeah, me neither…!”
Approaching were Ivan and Sophia.
They bowed repeatedly, thanking me profusely.
I waved it off, but nearby folks expressed gratitude too.
Inevitably, I became the festival’s star soon enough.
Peaceful meal? Gone.
But occasionally, this wasn’t so bad.