Helplessness
The blood-red sea churned with a nauseating intensity. Its waters were far from clear—instead, they were so murky that visibility dropped to almost nothing right in front of one's eyes.
“I knew the lack of sight would be an issue.”
Even for Bagan, this was no small problem. With visibility reduced to zero, he had no choice but to rely entirely on his senses. While advancing under the protection of a mana barrier to keep the liquid from touching his body, he could never let his guard down against enemies that might strike from anywhere at any moment.
‘I thought the diluted liquid would interfere with my mana detection, but…’
Before entering the blood-red sea, Bagan had purified his mana and harbored one particular concern: what would happen if he couldn’t detect enemies underwater? Fighting in water restricted movement, and enemy attacks could come from any direction without warning. To make matters worse, the demons possessed the ability to sense living beings, putting him at an even greater disadvantage. He would be starting the battle at a complete information deficit.
Yet, contrary to his worries, the diluted liquid did not hinder his mana at all. Bagan could detect his surroundings with perfect clarity.
“Four from the left.”
The creatures caught in his detection were clearly hostile, closing in at high speed. The left was where Selena was positioned. Though he couldn’t see her, Bagan knew she had already turned that way, scimitar at the ready. He waited to give her the perfect timing.
A few seconds of tense silence passed.
“Now!”
Kwoooong!
At Bagan’s signal, a Draugr lunged at Selena. Three more followed in quick succession. One of them became Arien’s responsibility.
Crunch!
Arien had manifested the gills and tail of a Neo Shark, allowing her to move freely through the blood-red sea. Knowing the attack would come from the left, she had already claimed the optimal position. She even formed the Neo Shark’s snout and clamped down on the Dark Ray the Draugr was riding.
A Dark Ray was a demonic beast shaped like a manta ray, designed to be ridden with foot hooks near its gills. Though it resembled a stingray, its razor-sharp mouth and clawed wingtips made it worthy of being called a true demon. And now Arien, transformed into a Neo Shark, was hunting one.
“She doesn’t look nervous at all.”
Watching Arien engage in such proactive combat—something unimaginable for an ordinary Neo Shark—Bagan could only chuckle. He set aside his worries for her and focused on the enemies swarming toward him.
The method Bagan chose to fight underwater was straightforward.
‘Aqua Cutter.’
There was no need to overcomplicate things. Though Bagan preferred hand-to-hand combat, letting his magic go to waste in a life-or-death situation would be foolish. Besides, the terrain being liquid made it the perfect environment.
Aqua Cutter was a modified version of the Water Bullet spell, optimized for physical force. Since these demons felt no pain, a high-penetration Water Bullet would be less effective than a blade-focused Aqua Cutter.
Slice! Slash!
In an instant, the right-side enemy’s weapon arm was severed, and the left-side Dark Ray lost its entire left wing.
Kiiiieeeeek!
The Draugr showed almost no reaction, but the Dark Ray let out a piercing scream. No matter how immune to pain they claimed to be, losing nearly half their body had to hurt.
Bagan didn’t stop there.
‘Aqua Cannon.’
From blades to cannons. This spell was also a variation of Water Bullet. Thanks to his Release trait, Bagan could precisely control the output of his magic, making this possible. In essence, it was just a massive Water Bullet—but its effect was entirely different.
With his high proficiency in the Release trait, it now carried explosive power.
Boom!
He had come up with this for situations requiring wide-area attacks.
Fwoooosh!
Even underwater, the sound of roaring flames echoed. It was the fire of condemnation. Without the power of judgment, he couldn’t effectively annihilate these creatures, so he had summoned his spirit energy as well.
Once every last one of them had been wiped out, Bagan turned to Selena. Though she was full of motivation, handling a Draugr riding a Dark Ray was clearly no easy task. She still hadn’t finished it off. She had done well to tear apart the Dark Ray’s wings, but the Draugr itself remained completely unscathed.
The Draugr was armed and belonged to the legion under Leviathan’s command. Its weapon skills were exceptional. That was why Selena finally shouted,
She was admitting it wasn’t an opponent she could defeat alone.
In truth, Bagan had been observing on purpose, curious to see how far Selena could go. Even after the situation had been resolved, he hadn’t stepped in.
“Ah, sorry. I was wondering how far you could take it.”
Only then did Bagan realize he had been rude. He cast his spell.
Slice!
The Draugr’s limbs were severed in a single stroke. Immediately after, Sally’s flames engulfed it.
Hssssss!
Arien had already eliminated her target long ago. With Selena’s opponent now gone as well, a brief moment of respite arrived.
“Ugh! I really thought I was going to die.”
Selena let out a sigh of relief at having survived another crisis, then stared intently at Bagan. Feeling her gaze, he awkwardly looked away, suddenly feeling guilty.
“What?” he asked.
“Just… when I look at you, I think I finally understand what Lady Razetta must be feeling.”
Bagan, who had been expecting a scolding, was caught off guard by the unexpected remark. He tried to figure out what she meant, but Selena continued.
“Lady Razetta may be a Dragonian, but she inherited almost none of that power. All she ever felt when looking at her two older brothers was a sense of inferiority. Even her one younger brother, though not as strong as the eldest two, can still wield a dragon’s power.”
“So you’re saying you feel inferior too?”
According to Selena, simply watching Bagan filled her with a sense of inferiority. His overwhelming strength made her feel like she could never catch up. And yet she herself aspired to become strong.
“I don’t know anymore. I can’t tell if what I’m feeling is inferiority… or just helplessness.”
“Since I’m not the goal you’re striving for, it can’t be inferiority. And feeling helpless is only natural. You’re not really helping much, after all.”
For once, Bagan answered bluntly. So much so that both Arien and Sally, who were listening nearby, were visibly surprised.
Yet Selena didn’t argue or make excuses. She truly felt that way, and after witnessing Bagan’s power, she genuinely couldn’t imagine what she could possibly do to be of any real help.
“Still, don’t be too disappointed. There’s potential. Sometimes, having no hope at all is more despairing than simply being weak. If you fight with everything you have, you’ll grow even stronger.”
Bagan’s words weren’t empty. At least in all the countless plays he had experienced, she had never once been weak. This time it was reality, but if this counted as one of his plays, she would undoubtedly become stronger.
“Let’s keep moving.”
“Tch. You talk a good game.”
Somewhat encouraged by Bagan’s words, Selena rallied her strength. She forced herself up and manipulated her flight spell.
“Fine. Once this is over, I’m going to pull every string I can to get a vacation.”
In truth, she had always needed rest more than recognition, so her grumbling was likely genuine. Whether it was because of Bagan’s words or not, she seemed to have regained some energy, allowing the group to continue without further worry.
Following the aura of sin that Sally sensed, Bagan and his party continued onward. They cut down wave after wave of attacking Draugr legions as they drew closer to the massive source of sin.
At first, the Draugr had attacked in groups of ten or fewer. But the closer they got to the source of sin, the more relentless the assaults became. It was no longer small squads—it was a full-blown horde. A swarm so large that it made sense why Selena had become a hero for successfully defending against it with her fleet when the dungeon collapsed and the gate to Pangea opened.
Thinking about it that way, the Selena who would grow stronger in the future was an indispensable talent for fulfilling her long-cherished wish.
“Selena, I think we’ll need the Song of the Full Moon.”
The Draugr legion was simply too numerous. Even Bagan had reached the limit of what he could handle with magic alone. He had even begun using spirit energy again after so long, channeling Sally’s power alongside his own.
“Huh? How did you know about that song?”
“I know a bit about Siren legends. That’s not important right now. Hurry!”
They hadn’t even encountered Leviathan yet, and already the situation had grown far worse than he had imagined. Individually weak, but their sheer numbers made them a nightmare.
At Bagan’s urgent tone, Selena flung the Draugr she was fighting far away and opened her throat.
"O radiant moonlight~"
"A shy, approaching kiss~"
"Bestow your gentle glow upon the bowed flowers!"
⟨ Song of the Full Moon ⟩
The beautiful lyrics pierced through the water and reached their ears. Bagan felt his mana rapidly replenishing. The Song of the Full Moon was, strictly speaking, a song that enhanced the recovery of all forms of energy. That was how it had worked in the game. If the same principle applied here in reality, then the effect should be identical.
And the effect was tremendous. His nearly depleted mana was recovering at an astonishing rate. Normally, Bagan would have needed to concentrate and purify his mana to restore it, but this buff made that unnecessary.
Feeling his mana refill, Bagan simultaneously drew upon both mana and spirit energy, formulating a new plan. Mana spread outward with full force while spirit energy boiled up from within his body. As the spirit energy surged with indignation, Sally felt it too.
She looked at him and asked,
“What are you trying to do?”
“Given the location, it’s time to invite them onto our home ground. When I give the signal, everyone fly up into the air!”
Bagan combined his mana and spirit energy in perfect harmony and envisioned one thing: turning the blood-red sea into solid ground.
It wasn’t an absurd idea. Any liquid, once past its freezing point, becomes a solid. With Bagan’s mana, spirit energy, and Release trait, it was entirely possible.
He couldn’t freeze the entire blood-red sea, but he could certainly freeze every Draugr in the surrounding area.
Finally, his mana and spirit energy reached a critical point and began to destabilize. The two energies were never meant to coexist easily. Mana was drawn from nature, while spirit energy came from the bond with a contracted spirit. Using them together was nearly impossible—yet Bagan’s imagination made it possible.
Who else would even think of using two such incompatible powers at the same time? Spirit users were spirit users. Mages were mages. That was how it should be. But when people saw Bagan, that common sense simply vanished.
With Sally’s hand naturally clasped in his through the use of spirit energy, Bagan finally infused the power of a spirit into his mana-based magic.
From the tip of Bagan’s fingers, the blood-red sea began to crystallize.
“Now!”
At Bagan’s signal, both Arien and Selena shot out of the blood-red sea. Confirming they were clear, Bagan activated the technique. His own body slowly rose into the air as well.
Crrrrrrrrrack!
Bagan’s mana and spirit energy froze the blood-red sea with their respective powers.
“Ice Age.”
Pouring every ounce of strength he possessed into the spell, Bagan froze an entire section of the blood-red sea.