Chapter 112
Chapter 112
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 112
Chapter Title: Buoyant Archipelago (2)
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Clank, clank!
Portholes opened across the hull, revealing the cannons one by one.
All of them were the latest magic cannons, bought at exorbitant prices from the Magic Tower.
Boom! Kwaboom! Boom!
Each time the muzzles spat flames, the ship rocked violently, and sprays of water shot up from the sea surface.
-This is an announcement. Due to the detection of sea beasts in the vicinity, all passengers please follow the crew's guidance and move safely to your cabins...
Bang! Bwoom!
The cannon fire drowned out the announcement entirely.
At the same time, the mercenaries who had been watching Theo's group sprang into orderly action.
They all moved with the familiarity of veterans.
‘So that’s why sea beast sightings have been so frequent lately?’
Theo infused his eyes with mana and carefully scrutinized the elite mercenaries.
Fwoosh!
“The cannons aren’t hitting a damn thing! Those Magic Tower scammers! All they’ve got is a high price tag—none of them aim worth shit!”
A dog-headed beastman grumbled as he swung a spear far larger than himself downward.
A sea beast climbing the railing just then was flung back violently into the ocean.
“Tell me about it. Next time, we really should tell Antonio to cut ties with them.”
The gunslinger assembled parts from his backpack into a massive bundle of machine guns, then raked the sea surface with bullets.
Rrrat-tat-tat—
The sea around them turned red with the blood from large and small sea beasts riddled with gunshot wounds.
“Quit your yapping and try herding those things together! It’s hard to hit them scattered like this!”
The fire mage Theo had been eyeing—the only one who interested him—clamped a cigarette between his lips and flicked his fingers repeatedly.
Thanks to the gloves etched with magic circles, his spells rained down like a bombardment, but they did little to the beasts lurking underwater.
Still, their power was undeniable, wreaking havoc on any sea beasts targeting the ship.
Other mercenaries wielded various weapons, slashing and shoving back the sea beasts in a display of diverse prowess.
Some even flashy auras for good measure.
They weren’t lacking by any means—they’d just been overshadowed by Selphid and Arin.
And sure enough, a few among them were “special-grade” caliber.
Thud!
Thud!
「Theo! How long are you going to stand there?」
「Decide what to do, quick.」
Selphid and Arin stood guard at Theo’s sides like bodyguards, urging him to decide.
‘Found him.’
Theo spotted the mercenary he’d been looking for and flashed a satisfied smile.
He had the same vibe as the Slow Gang he’d dealt with before.
Good thing he hadn’t warned anyone in advance about the approaching sea beasts.
No—in fact, Theo was the one who’d lured them here.
He’d analyzed the Sea King’s mana and used a crafted mana lure to draw in the cluster lurking on the seafloor.
「You two, keep the sea beasts away from the civilians. I’ll handle things separately.」
「What are you planning? Fine, got it.」
「I’ll hold back on showing my full strength for now.」
Flash—
The moment Selphid and Arin unleashed sword auras into the air, the sea beasts’ heads exploded in unison.
-Sword aura! A sword aura swordsman’s stepping up!
-We can hold them! Push back!
The crew and mercenaries lit up with hope.
Terrifying as enemies, but as allies? Unshakable.
Meanwhile, Theo moved in the opposite direction from the pair.
[Wind Thunder God – Gale Step]
“Goddammit! I hoped it wasn’t, but it’s a real Sea Serpent!”
Groooar!
Just then, a sea serpent over dozens of meters long emerged from the ocean and began coiling around the ship.
Crunch—
It gouged scars across the hull.
The cannons fired again to shake it off, but the shots ricocheted off the beast’s body, shattering the deck in the chaos.
A top-tier sea beast among its kind.
No wonder it had devoured a couple of ships lately—it lived up to its infamous reputation.
“Fire! Lightning bolt! Hurry!”
“I’m on it! Quit distracting me!”
The fire mage, Gray Gang, gritted his teeth and chanted his spell.
‘And I’ve got that Rant or whatever bastard to deal with too—what the hell is this?!’
Gray’s secret identity: a 2nd-grade Black Skull operative.
He usually posed as Antonio’s guard detail, secretly extracting needed intel for the Spinola family.
Earlier, he’d overheard Theo’s group mentioning the Sea King by chance.
The Sea King was a top-secret entity, even to the maritime trio and Black Skull alike.
If they were hunting it, they might be connected to Troyvan somehow.
He’d planned to seize the moment, reveal his hidden strength, and capture Theo alive.
But these damn sea beasts had crashed the party at the worst time.
‘Deal with them first, then think...!’
「You’re Black Skull, right?」
His thoughts cut off midstream.
He whipped his head around in panic, but something lunged at him.
Lightning fast. Utterly stealthy.
“Gray! Gray’s gone!”
“What? He was right here a second ago!”
“Damn! Did a sea beast grab him? Find him before it drags him into the sea! Hurry!”
As the mercenaries panicked, Gray Gang found himself dangling from the crow’s nest atop the mast.
‘This guy!’
Thump-thump-thump!
His heart pounded like mad.
Theo pinned his mouth shut with one hand and smirked coldly.
Mentioning the Sea King, knowing he was Black Skull...
The guy’s background was impossible to pin down.
“You recognize this, don’t you?”
Theo produced a sword from gods-knew-where.
“Mmph! Mmmph!”
“Thought so.”
Gray thrashed, demanding he drop it.
But he couldn’t overpower Theo’s grip.
Balmun!
It was the treasure from their homeland they’d desperately tried to reclaim!
The one they thought Troyvan had taken!
‘How the hell...!’
“Troyvan used this to blackmail you lot, right? Promised to return it if you behaved. Said he’d put the Sea King back to sleep. That about right?”
“......”
Gray schooled his expression as best he could, but Theo caught every flicker of agitation.
‘As expected. Troyvan faked recovering the Dragon Slayer Sword to manipulate the maritime alliance.’
He’d guessed it based on similar schemes from his past life—spot on.
With this, he could sever the link between the maritime alliance and Troyvan entirely.
“I want to talk to your boss in exchange for giving this back. Can you arrange it?”
Gray squeezed his eyes shut.
No more resistance.
Just kill me.
“Yeah, I get it. Demanding a meet-out-of-the-blue would raise suspicions. Can’t blame you for thinking Troyvan’s pulling some scheme. Right?”
“......”
“So I should prove I’ve got nothing to do with Troyvan first?”
Theo released his hold on Gray.
Thud!
“What... are you planning?”
Gray scowled the moment he regained control of his body.
Theo grinned.
“Told you. I’ll prove I’m not with Troyvan. But not right now—something else instead.”
“......?”
“That you need me.”
Before Gray could ask what he meant, Theo was already leaping toward the sea.
Flash—
“Umbra!”
In an instant, Umbra burst shark-like from the Sea Serpent’s shadow in the waves and chomped into its body.
Crack!
Kieeeek—
The Sea Serpent boasted scales tough enough to shrug off cannon shells, but Umbra’s jaws were far stronger—it writhed in agony.
Umbra ignored the thrashing and tried dragging it underwater,
Keeek!
The Sea Serpent finally couldn’t hold out and sank beneath the surface.
-The Sea Serpent’s free!
-What happened? Looked like something dragged it off...
-Who cares! We can use the cannons now—that’s what matters!
-Right! Concentrated fire! Crossfire barrage!
Boom! Kwaboom!
Bwoom—
Amid the sea beasts’ shattered chunks spraying everywhere,
Theo arced into the ocean right then.
Splash!
‘He... actually jumped in?’
Gray rushed to the edge of the crow’s nest and peered down.
-I’ll prove you need me.
Theo’s words echoed relentlessly in his head.
Part of him wondered if Balmun was sinking to the seafloor at last, and he stomped in frustration.
“Sea Serpent! Take out the Sea Serpent first! That thing first, I said!”
Gray’s scream was swallowed by the cannonade.
Meanwhile, Theo watched Umbra tussle with the Sea Serpent underwater.
The Sea Serpent coiled its long body around Umbra like it was paying back the earlier wound,
While Umbra kept its jaws locked, biting harder and pulping the flesh outright.
A deadlock neither seemed likely to lose.
But left alone, Umbra was in danger.
This was the Sea Serpent’s turf, and Umbra couldn’t breathe underwater.
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!
Theo activated Wind Thunder God to close in fast on the Sea Serpent while directing Deathbite.
Four lightning dragons rose.
Empowered further by Chain of Ten, the superheated dragons twisted, sending massive bubbles surging to the surface.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The four dragons slammed into the Sea Serpent, ramping up output to pry it off Umbra.
The lightning, already prone to spreading in seawater, exploded outward, engulfing the beast’s body and searing deep into its wounds for massive internal damage.
Groooar...!
[Activating ‘Skill: Wyvern Taming’ to entice the Sea Serpent.]
Theo closed right in and triggered his prepared skill.
Specialized for taming dragonkin beasts or spirits.
[Sea Serpent resists fiercely. Enticement fails.]
[Reactivating skill.]
[Sea Serpent resists fiercely. Enticement fails.]
[Reactivating skill.]
.
.
[Casting ‘Skill: Hatchling Synchro’ to erode the Sea Serpent’s mental barrier.]
Skills fired off in seconds.
And at last, he achieved his goal.
[Succeeded in breaching part of the Sea Serpent’s mental barrier.]
[Reading fragments of its thoughts.]
Fwoooosh!
Visions flashed before Theo’s eyes.
A deep-sea plain, reachable only by delving into an abyssal trench.
There writhed an ancient dragon of colossal, elongated form—too vast for the eyes to take in—twisted in agony.
The Sea King.
Theo knew it was the being Lord Brok had mentioned.
Rumble—
The Sea King’s pressure and mana gale were overwhelming.
Each twist stimulated its mantle, triggering seafloor volcanoes and continental quakes—disasters untold.
-Father.
The Sea Serpent gazed at the Sea King with pitying eyes.
Having lived eons as its child and servant, it wanted only to ease its pain.
-Just wait a little longer. I’ll find someone who can help.
After that, the Sea Serpent led its sea beast followers outward.
Hoping humans—who wielded the wondrous power of magic—might alleviate the Sea King’s suffering.
‘I got it wrong.’
Theo finally realized his mistake.
The Sea Serpent and sea beasts had never intended harm to humans.
They’d only fought back when the fearful humans attacked first.
They’d even tried talking at first.
Every time, in vain.
-Human.
Back in the present.
Theo locked eyes with the agonized Sea Serpent.
-You carry a scent like Father’s, unlike other humans. Can you help him?
A desperate plea.
Theo nodded.
He would.
-I believe you.
A bell rang.
Ding!
Ding!
[Enticement successful.]
[Tamed Sea Serpent as familiar.]
[Name your familiar.]
‘Pontus.’
An ancient word for sea.
[‘Sea Serpent: Pontus’ bows to its new master.]