340. The Deep Sea Matriarch (1)
340. The Deep Sea Matriarch (1)
- 1 -
Thump.
While chatting with Esther and Leticia, I felt an unpleasant wave that subtly shook my heart.
'This is...'
It wasn't a simple presence.
The reverberations of a fierce struggle happening far away, and... a scent of fate that was both familiar and grating.
I took a crystal ball from my bosom.
The crystal ball emitted a dusky light that seemed to swallow the light around it instead.
The surface of the crystal ball, originally red, was flickering precariously.
It was an involuntary emergency signal sent by an entity bound to me by fate.
"Master. That's...?"
Even as Esther's puzzled voice reached me, my gaze was fixed through the crystal ball, toward the distant, far-off sea.
I gave her a gentle smile, but my insides had turned cold.
"There's somewhere I must go. Finish the tea with Leticia and then depart. Pass the word to Evangeline as well."
"Ah, yes."
She realized the meaning immediately, her face stiffening as she bowed her head.
"Please return safely, Master."
"Of course. See you next time as well, Leticia."
"Y-yes? Yes..."
There was Esther, rising from her seat and bowing politely with her hand placed before the opposite shoulder, and Leticia, who, having no idea what was happening, followed suit and bowed.
Their forms blurred before my eyes.
To be precise, I vanished before their eyes.
Leaving Hylash behind, heading for the wide, deep sea of the Central North Ocean.
Rumble...!!!
The moment I closed and opened my eyes, a sound of thunder that tore at my ears greeted me.
I stood in the middle of a storm-swept sea, on the deck of the 'Lily', the eldest of the three Black Goddesses.
- 2 -
Kwang — !!!
At first, one. Then two, three...
Eight Kraken, excluding the two that had been felled or killed, swarmed toward the remaining four ships.
Whenever dozens of tentacles pounded the deck, the hull shook precariously.
The barrier made from Wepar's mana blocked some tentacles, but there were far too many.
The screams of ordinary sailors and the shouts of soldiers blanketed the sea.
"Dammit...!"
Saya's sword flashed, drawing a golden radiance, and the desperate baptism of magic from the mages dyed the entire sea in various colors.
But Gertrude's retainers swarmed endlessly.
Like anglerfish crawling up from a deep hell, they devoured and vanished one by one.
Kwang!!
"Shue!!"
Just as the White Wolf beastman, who had blocked an attacking Kraken, was sent flying toward the sea...
Right at that moment.
—— ...
Suddenly, all sound disappeared.
As if the world's sound had evaporated in an instant, all noise on the battlefield was sharply sucked away.
An absolute stillness, as if the soldiers' shouts, the explosions of magic, and even the Kraken's roars were devoured.
The fanatics let go of the ropes they were holding as if entranced, and even the giant Krakens retracted their outstretched tentacles, sensing an instinctual threat.
A thick darkness bloomed from a single point in the void like mist, encroaching on the stormy sea in the blink of an eye.
Sswaaa...
Splash!
Even the fierce rain, wind, and sound of waves seemed to fade into that inscrutable darkness, and a curious silence settled over everything.
From the center of that absolute silence, a clear, solid sound—Tok—caused a ripple, like a stone tossed onto a tranquil surface of water.
Clink.
On the highest deck of the black warship, a woman dressed in a jet-black dress revealed herself.
The silver cross ornaments hanging from the hem of her skirt drew gazes, producing a clear sound.
Even in the violent storm, her long black hair and the hem of her dress didn't stir in the slightest.
It was a transcendent scene, as if time and space warped around her, and all natural phenomena avoided her in deference.
The moment her half-closed eyelids slowly lifted and her unfathomably deep amethyst eyes swept the battlefield, Flunch...! All hostile entities, including the Krakens, recoiled backward involuntarily.
"Master..."
"Are you okay, Shue?"
"Yeah. Just a little scratch... Master."
Shue, who had been sent flying from the deck, had been retrieved and was now at her side.
It was thanks to Libertas summoning her from the sea as if plucking her out with mana.
"You're hurt."
Libertas's gaze lingered on Shue's wounds.
A slightly torn forehead and an arm covered in bruises.
Though they were minor injuries incomparable to the Battle of Botis, the fury that bloomed in Libertas's heart was no different from back then.
Her precious retainer was hurt.
That alone was enough.
Sensing this, Shue's eyes narrowed.
Her heart, too, blazed with a desire for revenge against the Krakens who had upset her master.
Chak!
"Master."
"My liege."
Then, Saya and Wepar also landed beside her.
"Shue, Saya, Wepar."
As Libertas called them, the women raised their heads.
The master wore her usual gentle expression toward them.
"I see you've been having a hard time."
"My apologies, my liege. That is..."
Wepar bowed her head and confessed her error.
That the number of Krakens was far greater than what she had gathered from the rumors.
That she hadn't known there would be retainers as well.
"It's alright."
Wepar looked up in surprise.
Instead of the expected reprimand, she received a gentle voice that seemed to say it was only natural.
'If it had been Dantalion, he would never have let this slide.'
This benevolence... was something she had never felt from any being she had served before.
Before she knew it, Libertas, who had approached without a sound, lightly stroked her head.
"Did you not prepare to the best of your abilities? And..."
A faint arc formed on Libertas's lips.
"I also wanted to come to this place."
That gaze passed beyond Wepar, toward the deep sea beyond the battlefield where chaos unfolded.
As if greeting a moment long awaited.
- Guoooooo......
The Kraken and their fanatics began to move, having heard the low-frequency sound resonating from the distant sea.
"Heh..."
Seeing this, the corners of Libertas's mouth only grew more serene.
"Saya, Shue. Follow me. Let us purify this sea."
"Yes!" "Yes!"
It was a relaxed smile, filled with overflowing fighting spirit and a will for revenge.
Her power began to overturn everything around her.
- 3 -
"The 'Great Mother' is?"
Saya immediately answered Libertas's calm question.
"It sent those things at us and then disappeared somewhere!"
Her appearance was clearly different from just moments ago.
Her hair, which had been losing its power and turning a brownish color, was again shining brilliantly like lightning-infused gold.
Her two eyes swirled with mana, twinkling like starlight.
The mere fact that her master was beside her had elevated all her power to its peak.
And this phenomenon wasn't unique to her.
"I'll tear them apart and kill them."
Shue's eyes blazed with overflowing power, her fists clenched together.
Intense fury.
Of all times, the very moment her master arrived, she had been sent flying by an enemy attack, thoroughly losing face.
Now that her lost stamina had returned, it was time for revenge.
Fwoooosh —— !
The 'darkness' that rippled out from Libertas like a wave settled over the sea.
- Kirik...! Body, heavy...!
The Kraken's retainers shrank back, while Libertas's monsters cheered with shining eyes.
"Hehe... power surges...! For the glory of the Great Master...!"
It was the influence her presence exerted.
A Dungeon Lord who had begun to digest a core displayed an even stronger influence over their existing monsters.
All summoned creatures grew stronger at their Dungeon Lord's side, and hostile monsters weakened.
Although it didn't exert power as strong as when staying within the dungeon, it was at least enough to lightly recover lost stamina and more.
This was the reason every Dungeon Lord inevitably became the dungeon's strongest force.
Her mere presence was enough to overturn the tide of the battlefield.
- Kuuaaak — !!
As if refusing to accept this change, all the Krakens except those suppressing the individual ships swarmed toward Libertas.
Their number was four in total.
"Where do you think...!"
"Die."
Regaining their stamina, Saya and Shue did not permit their approach.
Kwarrrreung — !!
Intense lightning surging from a thin sword coiled around Saya's entire body.
Her form, soaring into the air and tearing through the ink-black sky, was the very incarnation of lightning itself.
The power manifested through Saya's sword was the same as when she first stood on the battlefield—no, it was even greater than that.
A golden trajectory bisected the sky before reaching the Kraken's hard shell.
Kwakwakwakwak — !!
'Wrath', containing both speed and strength, created spiderweb-like cracks across the Kraken's gray skin.
The Kraken's tough outer hide was torn away like paper.
Here, where her master was present, Saya's strength drew even closer to its zenith.
- Kuuaaak!!
"... Tsk."
Though she hadn't been able to completely kill the individual that had swiftly fled, Saya clicked her tongue and moved toward another one.
Kwajik!
- Kuuook, kuuaaak...!!
On the other side, a Kraken was being pitifully pummeled.
Shue, having extended one hand to hold several of the Kraken's tentacles in place with her mana, gathered violent power into her other hand and continued to pound the area corresponding to the Kraken's philtrum.
Kwang! Kwajik!! Kwadeuk!!! Kwang!!!!
Though the word 'pummeled' was used, every time Shue's fist detonated, a powerful roar resounded.
The sound of bones breaking was clearly audible even underwater, a sound of destruction exploding like thunder.
The Kraken's hard cortex dented or was shaved away.
Kwajik!!
Shue didn't stop her barrage until she shattered the tough bone beneath the shell.
"... Hmph."
Even after exerting power that seemed excessive for a single individual, her body still overflowed with vigor.
Because the master she served, the one who gave her strength, was beside her.
Shue's eyes glinted as she launched herself toward her next prey.
- Kuuuuu — !!!
"Such a rough rush..."
The corners of Libertas's mouth curled up.
"...won't work on my girls."
She even looked kindly upon the last two Krakens recklessly charging at her.
They could be considered the luckiest of the four.
"「Twisted Triaina」."
Because even though the result of death was the same, they didn't even feel pain.
Libertas's mana seized control of the battlefield in an instant.
Centered on where she stood, a black wave spread out in a swirl.
Peopeopeopuk!!!
As Libertas split the air with the tips of her fingers, the seawater instantly turned black and churned into a whirlpool.
It then condensed into tridents of twisted form and pierced through the Krakens' heads from behind.
With a single attack, two individuals were suppressed simultaneously.
Black ink and innards scattered in all directions from the heads of the impaled Krakens.
A magic that embodied pure destructive power, unlike her innate dark magic.
The aspect of the magic was similar to when she projected Shue's power.
Thus, just when the original ten Krakens had been reduced by more than half.
- Kuoooo —
Libertas raised her eyes and looked in the direction the sound came from.
A sound of lower frequency than the Krakens' cries radiated from a single point in all directions.
At that spot on the sea's surface, something massive was pushing up the water and revealing itself.
"So, you finally come out."
Libertas murmured lowly, raising one hand.
Pitch-black darkness seemed to coil and condense like yarn at her fingertips, before its shape transformed into a flash of light.
She whispered coldly.
As if to make it pay the price of its arrogance.
"「Silent Deathblow」."
Seuak — !
Following the descending hand, a black lightning that devoured light and sound fell mercilessly toward the nearest Kraken.
- Uaak — !!
- Kyaaak !!
Although the magic itself silently pierced its target, the terrible screams of the directly hit Kraken and the fanatics caught around it conversely proved its might.
The giant eyeball burned black, and the surrounding sea area instantly transformed into a space of death, covered in the corpses of monstrous beasts.
- Kuuuuu — !!
Chwaaaak!!
"My liege!"
Wepar's urgent voice.
A giant tentacle, shooting out swiftly through the water, charged in a straight line toward Libertas.
The tentacle, surrounded by a semi-transparent membrane, had condensed an immense amount of mana that seemed as if it could crush everything before it.
But Libertas, the target, merely brought the tip of her parasol to meet it with composure.
Teong — !!
With a dull sound, the tip of Libertas's parasol and the tentacle collided.
"Kkeheok!"
- Kyaaak!!
The mana scattering from the tip of the parasol and the tentacle swept the surroundings in concentric circles.
A power so strong that even its swath alone could sweep away anyone it hit, whether they were on a ship or underwater.
Libertas narrowed her brows slightly and focused.
'It lives up to its name, at least.'
Though she pretended to meet it leisurely, the power contained within was by no means something to be taken lightly.
The single blow she had received with one hand was imbued with mana that felt as if it could overturn the seabed.
She felt a minute crack seeping into her own mana.
But even so, she smiled.
- Kuuuuu — !!
Because she had discovered a single opening.
The emotions imbued in the Great Mother's cry were conveyed to her directly.
Wrath, hatred, fear... and above all, intense...
- Aaaaa — !!!
'Grudge.'