Chapter 142
Chapter 142
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 142
Chapter Title: Clash with Aqua and the Western Reunion
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Calling the Imperial Army his comrades must have genuinely disgusted him, because the blue-haired mage twisted his face in revulsion.
He had been about to flee, but seeing that ruthless woman who was cruel even to her allies changed his mind.
Drawing life force from his entire body, he unleashed aura from his right hand.
She must have been at least a master-level fighter herself, because she reacted before I could even fire. Seawater surged up like a massive wall, blocking her front.
The overwhelming mass of water collided with the aura beam and exploded.
I kept pouring aura to pierce the water wall, but she endlessly added more seawater, filling it faster than it burst apart.
No point in continuing when I couldn't break through, so I stopped the emission.
"Ha! A brute knight like you dares challenge me at sea? Where there's water, I'm invincible!"
"For someone so invincible, you haven't landed a single hit on me either."
Those waves were powerful, but they posed no real threat to me. Just annoying.
"Now the games are over."
As the blue-haired mage raised both hands, several tornadoes formed. The tornadoes rising high from the sea surface twisted into shapes resembling sea serpents, akin to dragons.
On land, it might be different, but at sea, the blue-haired mage displayed overwhelming power.
I soared into the sky to evade the attack and prepare my strike, but then looked back and changed plans.
Leading the water monster sea serpent chasing me, I stepped through the air toward the anchored Imperial warships.
I flew slowly on purpose to make it easy for the sea serpent to attack me, then veered at a right angle just as I neared the large warships. Unable to turn its massive body in time, the sea serpent slammed its head into the warship behind me.
The side of the massive warship, even larger than the sea serpent, shattered and was pushed into the adjacent ones, toppling them like dominoes.
Since things had come to this, I figured I'd take out as much of the Imperial Navy as I could.
"Evacuate! Evacuate! Leave it to Lady Aqua and pull back!"
The soldiers scattered in all directions, but those aboard the large warships were all swept away by the currents.
I kept darting between the warships, and Aqua obligingly smashed them all.
"The invincible mage barely handles this much?"
"You rat! Come here!"
She fell for the simple taunt so easily it was almost pitiful.
Not only that, but smashing her own allied ships? The blue-haired one might have power, but she wasn't smart.
Twenty large warships and countless smaller ones, along with all the soldiers aboard, sank.
Having recklessly expended her strength, Aqua's face paled as her power waned. Manipulating water might be easier for her than others, but her mana wasn't infinite.
I kicked off the air and charged straight at her in her weakened state.
Summoning her last reserves, Aqua raised another massive wave. Caught off guard and too close, I was swept up in the crashing surf.
"Why won't you die?!"
Waves pounded from all sides without end. Planning to wait until her strength fully drained, I stayed still underwater.
Water spears formed and flew at me from the depths, but they couldn't pierce my body.
I just took them all head-on. The impacts were negligible—like getting a massage.
Time passed, and the storm-like torrent of seawater gradually lost momentum and slowed.
"That all?"
I rose onto the surface and strolled across the water as if on solid ground, needling her.
"Aaaargh!!"
Aqua tore at her hair, but exhausted, she couldn't attack anymore.
"Now it's over."
I drew a long spear from my left palm.
And threw it.
"Lady Aqua!"
The greatsword knight who'd taken a chin strike from me earlier pulled Aqua back and blocked my spear with his sword blade infused with green aura.
But my spear shattered the greatsword, pierced his chest, and flew on. The light faded from his eyes as the knight fell limply into the sea.
"Protect Lady Aqua! Everyone, fire!"
Other soldiers retreated with the exhausted Aqua while numerous knights blocked my path, unleashing arrows and spells.
Looking around, the area was already a total wreck. I'd only meant to grab the blue-haired one, but the Imperial forces—who I hadn't intended to hit at first—were the only ones destroyed.
Incoming arrows struck my body and bounced off.
I had no intention of wiping out the entire Imperial Army, so I turned west and raced across the sea.
Water sprayed like fountains in my wake as I sped over the surface.
Running through the sky was great, but dashing across the ocean felt entirely different.
Fwoooosh!
After running for a while, a water pillar several times thicker than Aqua's sea serpent erupted.
Then, a colossal creature emerged on the surface—several, no, dozens of times larger than a whale.
It was less a living being and more an island in size.
"What... is that thing...?"
I gauged if I could kill it, but taking down something that massive wouldn't be easy. Unless it attacked first, I had no plans to kill a creature just sitting there.
After running for over two hours, the Western Continent came into view. I headed toward the area with the most anchored ships.
To reach Nayeong and Jaein, I needed to make contact with the Western Alliance forces.
No intent to threaten, so I slowed down.
"Attack!!!"
As if mocking my slowdown, dozens of ballista bolts targeted me.
Made with heavy weight and mithril tips, they could injure even a master if struck directly.
I deflected them with the back of my hand and kept running.
"Kill him! Kill the Eastern bastard!"
An orc commander bellowed furiously at his soldiers.
Rooooar!!!
Just before landing, one of those sea creatures from earlier burst from underwater, mouth agape to swallow me.
Less a mouth and more like a hole ripping open in the sea, draining the water.
During my fight with Aqua, I hadn't understood why the Empire couldn't cross to the Western Continent. Now I got it.
With behemoths like this blocking the approaches, mere wave manipulation wouldn't get you through safely.
I kicked off the air and leaped high.
As expected of something so huge, its speed was slow.
Boom!
The monster's jaws snapped shut on empty air where I'd been.
I kicked the air again and headed for land.
"Halt!"
I unleashed a roar of intimidation at the attacking Western Alliance forces. The ones firing ballistae and spells all collapsed in place.
Slipping through the gap, I landed onshore. A few knights who withstood the roar advanced on me with shaking legs, swords raised.
"I'm not your enemy. I'm Jiseok from Earth. I got caught in Imperial magic, ended up in the East Continent, and came back."
"Lies an Easterner would make!"
One knight steadied his trembling body and thrust his sword at me.
I caught the tip with my fingers.
"Call for Sonorim or Carlton. They'll tell you who I am."
I pressed the caught sword downward as I spoke.
The knight gripped it with both hands and resisted my strength, but the blade bent, and he dropped to one knee.
As the other knights swung at my neck in unison—
"St... stop! Sheathe your swords right now!"
Carlton came running.
"But this one's from the East..."
"Sheathe your swords before he gets angry! This is someone with Grand Master power! A distinguished guest from Earth!"
Carlton's face went white as he shouted, and only then did the knights lower their blades.
"Jiseok! You're safe. The gate malfunctioned suddenly—we were worried."
"Yeah, I exited into the Empire's Berwickness Harbor."
"Those Imperial bastards!"
Carlton ground his teeth.
"Did you see the others? Hundreds were reported sucked in."
"Afraid not. I'm probably the only survivor from in there."
"..."
Rage filled Carlton's and the Alliance soldiers' eyes.
"Carlton, what about Nayeong and Jaein?"
"Th-that's..."
"What's wrong?"
"We thought you'd been captured in the East, so Lady Nayeong went to rescue you."
"...Again? I told her to stay put if something like this happens... What about Jaein?"
I'd overlooked Nayeong's impulsive nature lately since she'd been behaving.
"Lady Jaein went to Earth to spread the news and is waiting in the Sleeping Fire Mountains."
"So Nayeong went to the East Continent alone?"
"...No. Followers from the Purple Goddess Church went with her."
"What?"
"Hundreds of volunteers followed Lady Nayeong. It's probably even more by now—the group's grown steadily."
"So they've already entered the Empire?"
"Yes."
"Wait... that doesn't add up. It hasn't even been a few hours since I got pulled in, right? Crossing the sea with hundreds in that time?"
I'd sprinted across the ocean at high speed, but moving hundreds by sea isn't simple. And assembling that many takes time.
"Pardon? No. It's been a week since you went missing."
"...I thought passing through the gate was instantaneous. Guess not."
My head throbbed.
"I need to go after her right away. Do you know her current position?"
"Last communication said she'd landed in the northwest of the Exbrian Empire."
"She didn't run into that blue-haired mage, did she?"
"You encountered the Water Ghost Aqua! Did you kill her?!"
Carlton asked excitedly.
"No. I was about to finish her when the Imperial Army intervened."
"Ah... I see."
Carlton looked deeply disappointed but didn't blame me. I wasn't involved in their war, after all.
"Water Ghost Aqua is a powerful mage, true, but she can't defend over a hundred thousand kilometers of coastline alone. Besides, we have someone called invincible at sea on our side."
Carlton pointed to a woman with dark blue-black hair that wriggled like seaweed.
"This is Lady Undaria. She commands sea monsters."
Stoic, she didn't speak even looking at me.
She didn't smell human. A faint fishy odor.
"That's why neither navy dares move carelessly."
"Ah, but I smashed the Imperial fleet on my way here."
I gestured to the Alliance warships visible outside.
"...Pardon? The whole fleet?"
Carlton's eyes widened.
"Yeah... I sank about twenty big ones. Hundreds of small ones, probably."
"You said you were finishing off Aqua just now? What's her status?"
"She overexerted and collapsed from exhaustion. That was about three hours ago."
......"Prepare to set out! We're crossing now!"
"Today we can feed that bitch Aqua to Charybdis."
Undaria, silent until now, grinned sinisterly.
"Wait. Aqua would've recovered by now, right?"
"She has massive mana befitting her master rank, but she's infamous for slow recovery. Three hours isn't enough—she won't be at full strength. With Lady Undaria, victory is assured."
"Sorry, but I need to head north."
"No worries. You've done plenty already. We'll formally thank you later."
"For now, open a gate north."
I could run, but I wanted to minimize time.
"Now... it's dangerous. Plus, you said a week passed after passing through one?"
"Ah, I broke that one."
"Pardon?"
Carlton sounded more shocked than when I mentioned smashing the Imperial warships.