There's No Way the Guy Who Named It That Way Could Be Smart

The distance between us and the monster army shrank rapidly. On the third floor, the mini-kraken that had blocked Poppy's path now faced a transformed beast.

Using Gigantification, Poppy's claws sliced through the creature's tentacles like butter. With its resistance casually crushed, Poppy drove its talons straight into the mini-kraken's forehead.

"A mini-kraken is easy now, huh?"

"Kwang!"

Poppy's level had risen from 10 to 20, increasing its body size by roughly 1.3 times. Its weight had more than doubled in the process, so the mini-kraken could no longer withstand the difference in mass.

The void hounds had reached level 20 as well.

"Were those dogs always that big?"

"Focus on the fight!"

What were once merely large dogs had grown into massive beasts that evoked images of the Great Danes you'd only see online.

At this size, even Kim Min-cheol—the former SS-rank martial artist—could no longer guarantee victory in a one-on-one bout.

The void hounds hurled themselves forward, shoving the sea monsters back. Commander-level enemies swarmed in to prevent us from breaking through to the Kraken Lord. Ten-meter giant crabs and four-legged sharks blocked our path.

"We'll carve the way through!"

The royal knight commander surged with blue aura and charged the giant crab. Though the void hounds had grown larger, they still couldn't compare to warhorses bred from the finest bloodlines.

Armored mounts and knights pushed the commander-tier monsters aside, opening a corridor.

The most striking figure was, of course, the aura-wielding knight commander. He severed a giant crab's claw in a single stroke, then punched a gaping hole through its torso. At first glance, it looked like a total rout.

But then—

"Huh? Wait—uwaaack!"

Knights were falling from their saddles everywhere. Horses tumbled across the ground. Even the monsters marching toward the city were wheeling around to encircle us.

"It's still doable! Don't stop the charge!"

"Don't look back!"

Far more knights continued fighting than not, yet…

The god that had been lurking in the distance finally stirred. The Kraken Lord planted its tentacles against the ground and hauled its colossal body upright. Eyes rising dozens of meters high glowed crimson as they fixed upon us.

"Ughhh..."

"Hehe... hehehe..."

The ordinary knights without mana lost their minds and froze. Horses bucked wildly in terror. Knights tumbled from their saddles all around us.

"Damn it! Get a hold of yourselves!"

The knight commander was the only one who had resisted, and he barked at his men. But a god was still a god, even a lesser one. A few shouted words weren't enough to break its hold.

-Slap!

"Wake up!"

-Thud!

"You idiots, snapping out of it already!"

"Urk! C-Commander?!"

The commander yanked off a knight's helmet, slapped his cheek, then drove an aura-coated fist into the man's gut. The knight's eyes finally focused.

"Woof."

"...It actually works?"

As the Martial God grandfather had said, a lesser god was really just an unaging monster with special powers. It was nowhere near the omnipotent, omniscient beings people imagined. Even a crude method like this could break its mental grip.

The recovered knight ran to the next victim and threw a punch.

-Thud!

"Get up! Get up, damn you! Want to die here?!"

"Keuk! Haa... haa..."

The commander was doing everything he could, but the situation remained dire.

At least my legion and I could resist the assault. But when the royal knights—the ones with real breakthrough power—halted, our entire advance stopped with them. The void hounds threw themselves forward to protect the unconscious knights, buying us precious seconds.

"Poppy. Looks like this is as far as we go."

"Woof!"

Roughly three kilometers remained to the Kraken Lord. I'd hoped to close the distance further with the full legion, but this seemed to be the limit.

I slid from Poppy's back and stepped onto its massive forepaw. My small foot looked tiny against the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠enormous pad.

"Throw me well, okay?"

"Woof!"

I opened the jeweled box and took out the mummified finger. The knight commander's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠gaze, which had been busy rousing his men, snapped toward me.

"Miss Haram! Don't feed that holy relic to the... I mean, to Poppy!"

The reason the commander had handed me the relic was probably because he'd hoped Poppy would grow stronger by consuming it.

"You couldn't even beat a mini-kraken. Think you can take the Kraken Lord?"

"Grrrrr..."

"Just kidding. Your role is important too."

I gave Poppy a small smile, then swallowed the relic. My base stats were lower than Poppy's, but the beast became nearly helpless against enemies it couldn't overwhelm with sheer size.

The moment a stat ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠crossed into the quadruple digits, power surged dramatically. Rankers—the top 0.1 percent on Earth—were defined by having at least one stat over one thousand.

Above them lay the realm of High Rankers, the top 0.01 percent, who possessed two or more stats over one thousand.

I had just stepped into the same territory as Earth's strongest awakened.

The flow of the wind slowed. The shapes of the monsters before me grew razor-sharp. Their formations, species, and movements flooded into my mind. Even the distant Kraken Lord became perfectly visible.

"Poppy."

"Woof!"

Poppy swung its foreleg with all its might. My body shot skyward, hurtling forward. The speed was so great that the surrounding monsters couldn't react, yet to my heightened senses it unfolded in slow motion.

The monsters charged Poppy without realizing I was airborne. The only being that tracked me through the slowed world was—

The Kraken Lord's eyes burned crimson.

The slowed world sped up again. A headache bloomed. But this was still within expectations. Before entering the fifth floor, my transcendent mentors and I had compiled a list of possible enemies. The lesser god Kraken Lord had been among them.

The main attacks are mental and physical—which one is primary?

The commonly known powers of a Kraken Lord leaned toward the physical, but individuals varied. I'd have to fight to find out for sure.

As the distance closed, the Kraken Lord swung a colossal tentacle at me. Flying through open air, I had no way to dodge. I recalled the lesson the Forgotten Swordmaster had given me.

-Aura and mana are essentially the same kind of power. Mastering one is enough.

"But I can't handle either."

-Then start with meditation—

"No, I already know that. What if I gain power through an item? How do I use it?"

-Ah, that's easy. Since it's not your own power but the item's, just swing it like a weapon.

I hadn't fully understood back then. Now that I was using the holy relic, it made perfect sense. Something like clay rested in my chest, moving according to my will.

I focused the holy aura into my feet, head, and heart, then kicked out at the incoming tentacle at the perfect moment.

The Kraken Lord's tentacle exploded. The recoil slammed me into the ground.

-BOOM!

Bones shattered and organs ruptured on impact, but as long as it wasn't instant death, I wouldn't die. Marine monsters swarmed toward my fallen form.

"Ptoo. This isn't your fight."

I spat out the chunk of flesh in my mouth, spread the holy aura from my feet, head, and heart into a thin blade, and swept it horizontally. Hundreds of sea monsters were bisected instantly and collapsed.

This was the world High Rankers lived in. Before I could even savor the feeling of overwhelming power, a new tentacle from the Kraken Lord flew at me.

-KWAANG!

"I wanted to say it's slow... but that's actually pretty fast."

Even with over a thousand in both perception and strength, I barely reacted in time. It seemed this lesser god specialized in physical ability rather than mental attacks.

Normally a lesser god required multiple High Rankers working together. Even with temporary High Ranker power, I was still at a disadvantage.

I slipped between the marine monsters, using them as cover while closing in. Since the Kraken Lord was their master, it might hesitate to attack its own—

-KWAANG! Boom! KWAANG!

"Those are your own soldiers!"

The Kraken Lord swung its massive tentacles without regard for its minions. Thousands of monsters were flattened like dried fish.

Damn. Do I have to use Poppy already?

It was my hidden card, saved for the most critical moment. But at this rate I wouldn't even reach the main body before five minutes passed. Just as I debated summoning Poppy, the Kraken Lord's attacks suddenly stopped.

"Huh? Why did it..."

The Kraken Lord had retracted its tentacles and was glaring at me. My senses picked up a familiar monster nearby.

"Kiiiieek!"

A short distance away, the mini-kraken was fleeing. If the Kraken Lord had swung its tentacles, the mini-kraken would have been hit too.

"I didn't expect this."

I dashed to the mini-kraken, severed all its tentacles, and left only the body. The creature that had blocked my path on the third floor couldn't last three seconds now. Its torso writhed, regenerating tentacles. I hoisted the mini-kraken onto my back and charged the Kraken Lord.

The Kraken Lord unleashed a barrage of mental attacks, but most were blocked by my Mental Barrier. A slightly darkened field of view and a faint haze in my mind weren't enough to stop me.

When my speed didn't decrease, the Kraken Lord finally brought out its tentacles again. This time, instead of trying to crush me, it attempted to capture me.

"Now it's slow."

The slowed tentacles couldn't halt my advance. As I weaved between them, the Kraken Lord gathered its tentacles into four enormous walls.

Each was the size of a building, stretching hundreds of meters tall. The blue sky vanished. Darkness fell.

Gaps still remained between the walls for now, but soon every direction would be sealed. There would be no escape.

"Is its intelligence low? The attack patterns are simple."

The problem was that the Kraken Lord's own vision had been blocked as well. It wasn't a higher god; a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lesser deity wouldn't possess omniscience. Right now, it couldn't see me.

All the previous attacks borrowed its minions' sight, right?

During the assault on the second floor, the Kraken Lord had always attacked through its servants' eyes.

But thanks to its own rampage, no marine monsters remained alive around me. The only survivor was the mini-kraken on my back.

I drove the sword I carried into the mini-kraken's forehead. Color drained from its body until it turned pure white.

-Gwoooooooo...

A massive cry echoed from beyond the tentacle walls. The walls that had been slowly closing in to retrieve the mini-kraken suddenly accelerated the moment they realized it was dead.

"Woof!"

"Please!"

I leapt onto Poppy's forepaw again and shot through the last remaining gap. Just before the walls sealed shut—

I vanished from sight and slipped free at the last possible second.

Have to save the trump card, right?

'Woof!'

The SSS-rank Eye That Chases the Sky had seen through my stealth, but I'd already used that skill at the start of the battle. With the tentacles focused on Poppy, the space between me and the Kraken Lord was wide open.

The instant the tentacle walls slammed shut and crushed everything inside, I was already falling toward the Kraken Lord's forehead.

"What? It's a passive?"

A minor complication had arisen, but I had already reached the Kraken Lord's forehead.

-Squelch.

The blade infused with holy aura sank deep. The giant Kraken Lord's body color drained away in an instant, turning pure white. The sight suddenly brought back the Martial God's words.

-Martial God: How can those brainless, oversized beasts call themselves gods! Who the hell set the standard for divinity anyway…

"Yeah. For a god, it's pretty pathetic."

It possessed a massive body and powerful authorities, yet its intelligence was no different from a child's.

"Then again, how smart can something be if it names its own creations Squishy and Bighead?"