72. Manifestation of the Martial God (Manifestation of the Martial God)
72. Manifestation of the Martial God (Manifestation of the Martial God)
Yuma walked across the sea.
Cheombeong─
A faint ripple spread.
Having endured a thrill far beyond even a forced bungee jump, Yuma—flung so far that the massive Leviathan seemed distant—rode Silvilia to reach the vicinity as fast as possible.
And then he simply let Silvilia go and began walking across the sea.
"Th-the Martial God walks upon the sea—!!"
Indeed.
He was literally walking on the sea.
Among the items inside God Inkrinu's divine pouch was a pair of shoes.
The shoes Yuma was wearing now.
[Footprint of Neptunus]
[Shoes imbued with the divine power of Poseidon, god of the Great Sea.
Ability: You can walk on the sea.
Ultimate - Almighty Voyage: No variable of the sea can obstruct the caster's steps.
Activated by speaking the trigger phrase while wearing the item.
Ultimate duration: 30 minutes
This is an ultimate ability with a usage limit.
[1/4] - Out of a limit of 4 uses, 1 has been used. Remaining uses: 3.
Ultimate trigger phrase - Open the path, my sea.]
That son of a bitch Inkrinew.
He had already used it once.
Still, he had to take solace in the fact that even after using the ultimate this time, he could use it two more times.
Yuma slowly opened his mouth.
"Open the path, my sea."
The trigger phrase for <Almighty Voyage> was recited.
Kugugugugugugu!!
In an instant, a deep blue light enveloped Yuma's entire body.
Jeobeok.
Without even stepping onto any kind of barrier, he simply walked across the sea.
The gazes of the Mulren Clan and the White Night Clan converged on Yuma, who walked the sea as naturally as if it were land.
Kurrrrrr...
A low growl rumbled from the Leviathan's dragon head.
The Leviathan had already been running its own calculations in its head.
That unidentified human was dangerous.
A direct physical attack using its tentacles was risky.
It had personally witnessed its own minions, the [Sea Serpents], fall to that unidentified human.
The Leviathan concluded there were two ways to hunt the man before its eyes.
One, once he came within sufficient range, use an all-out attack that he would not dare to resist.
Two, use nature. Meaning, the sea.
The Leviathan, having just used a waterspout to blow Yuma away, concluded that the human could not handle natural forces.
The Leviathan decided to use the second method first.
Because that damn human unsettled it in more ways than one.
Kurrrrrrr-
A blood-red glow bled from the Leviathan's eyes.
Those were unmistakably the eyes of a predator. A predator that commanded the Great Sea.
That a single gesture from the Leviathan could violently warp the sea was one of the continent's widespread legends.
And that legend was, astonishingly, very close to reality.
The Leviathan's colossal legs and tail moved simultaneously.
Kwapagagagagagagak!!!
A literal upheaval occurred in the sea. The currents twisted.
Ferocious waves surged toward Yuma as if to crush him down.
Yuma simply walked, even as he watched the twin walls of a colossal current, more than enough to bury and drown him, completely enshroud his body.
"Yuma-nim!"
Cloné's scream-like cry rang out.
Twin walls of an immense tidal wave, literally about to engulf Yuma.
Kwarareureureuk─
And in front of Yuma, a grotesquely raging whirlpool was even churning wildly.
And both the waves and the whirlpool distinctly bore black currents so clear they were visible to the naked eye.
The Leviathan's colossal body.
The black currents flowing in the sea now were clearly the black currents seeping from the gaping holes in the Leviathan's body.
'As expected.'
This was not the kind of force that could be handled with parrying.
This black smoke flowing through the sea likely possessed the power to shatter an Aura.
In the situation Yuma now faced, even a Sword Master deploying a Protective Energy Armor over their entire body could have their body crushed.
"Yuma...!"
Bel, her face frozen stiff, opened her eyes wide and shot him a gaze filled with worry.
Kwareureureureureureung─!
Yuma paid no mind to their worries.
Without hesitation, he stepped toward the twin walls of the tidal wave and the typhoon-like whirlpool of the Great Sea.
Conviction.
The azure protection shimmering across his body now assured him it was fine to keep moving forward.
Jeobeok─
He took a step.
The tidal wave did not engulf Yuma.
Chwaaaaaaaaak───!!!
Jjeoeoeoeoeok─!!
An intangible wave of ki crushed the tidal wave, pushing it outward and distorting it away.
Kwaaaaaar!!
The whirlpool, which had viciously coiled as if a hole had been punched in the sea, surged upward in reverse and flattened back into the horizon, as if a recorded video had been rewound.
Krrrrrrrr...!
The Leviathan's colossal frame trembled minutely.
Aura.
The blue energy that had been flickering behind that human's back moments ago.
A tremendous sense of pressure emanated from that energy.
The Leviathan had not moved the sea solely with its heavy body.
Will.
It had sent its will into the nearby sea through the black currents.
To engulf the area near him in a tidal wave.
To cause a whirlpool beneath him that could sweep everything away.
But that demigod-level will had been nullified in an instant.
The Leviathan, glaring with its crimson eyes shining from its navy-blue dragon head, could not even dare to guess the reason.
The one who knew the reason clearly was Yuma alone.
One of the 12 Chief Gods of Olympus.
The second-most powerful being of Olympus, whose victory even the foremost, Zeus, could not guarantee.
God of the Sea.
God of Earthquakes.
The great sovereign who ruled over all the Great Seas of this world.
A single being to whom all these pointed: [God of the Sea—Poseidon].
The [Footprint of Neptunus] was an item personally blessed with divine power by Poseidon, and what Yuma used just now was the item's ultimate ability, tied to a limited number of uses.
A protection personally designed by Poseidon, the Chief God who was called a god among gods.
It was not a force that could be stopped by an authority at the mere demigod level.
Having clearly witnessed the effect of <Almighty Voyage>, Yuma continued his steps without hesitation.
The reason the silver seahorse, Silvilia, could not approach the Leviathan was because of the black haze.
And the reason other Masters, including the warriors of the Mulren Clan, could not easily approach the creature was also because of the black currents spreading through the sea within its domain.
However, Yuma could approach the creature.
Gear power.
The power of overwhelming gear.
But in the eyes of those watching Yuma, all of this felt like Yuma's own power.
Even Cloné and Tisha, who had been told that Yuma possessed shoes that allowed him to walk on the sea, were at the point of being confused as to whether this was Yuma's power or the shoes' power.
Because there was not an inch of hesitation in Yuma's stride.
Because that sublime stride fit so perfectly with the cataclysmic events unfolding around Yuma.
The great monster of the sea raged.
The Leviathan's red eyes shed light.
The Leviathan continued to move the sea, carrying out attacks against Yuma.
The water path fiercely surged up once more.
It rushed forward like a hundred spears to engulf Yuma.
But then, that ferocious water path burst and returned to the sea.
Again, countless spears, and then a massive tidal wave.
Every form of wave that charged in perished.
Jjeoeoeoeok!
The Leviathan's brow twisted grotesquely like an evil spirit.
There was nothing behind that bastard but a blue aura draped over his back.
Yet all attacks using the sea, using water, were rendered futile.
Jeobeok...
Yuma took another step onto the sea.
A gentle ripple of waves spread out.
The man kept walking. Across the sea of the horizon. Yuma's figure was reflected hugely upon the clear blue sea.
The distance to the Leviathan steadily narrowed.
Krueuuuuuuuu!!
The Leviathan's massive maw twisted.
The Mulren Clan witnessed the Great Sea's ruler enraged like that for the first time.
The ruler of the Great Sea, who had slaughtered countless members of their clan, was utterly helpless before that Martial God Yuma.
"He's... completely toying with that Leviathan."
Awe.
No, admiration beyond awe.
"That is the Martial God...!"
"Isn't that... a god of the sea."
For the Mulren Clan to speak of a human as a god of the sea was something close to taboo. For it was praise that cast aside the pride of their clan.
Yet, no one rebuked the Mulren Clan warrior who muttered this dazedly.
Because everyone harbored similar sentiments.
Most of the Mulren Clan's hearts had already been drawn to a stage of worship beyond admiration.
Once more, the Leviathan's will toward the sea activated.
Kwareureureureureureung───!!!
A whirlpool even larger than before materialized before Yuma.
Yuma kept walking across the Great Sea.
Contact.
His right foot and the whirlpool.
In that instant, the water flowed backward.
Shedding its ferocity. Shedding its savagery.
It returned to the gentle horizon once more.
To a perfectly calm sea.
Jeobeok-
Chwaaa...
At the end of the gentle ripple of waves.
Yuma arrived right in front of the [Leviathan].
The Leviathan's entire body quivered.
The waves began to swell again.
Fear.
The Leviathan felt extreme terror toward the human before its eyes, who had rendered all of its attacks utterly useless.
Kreuuuuaaaaaaa!!!!!
Now it had to convert this terror into rage.
The Leviathan's mouth, closely resembling a dragon's head, gaped wide.
Kwakwaaaaaa!!
A blue light source gathered in the Leviathan's mouth. Dozens of strands of blue rays manifested sharply in the air.
Erase him.
Get this human out of its sight.
It had to bury him at the very bottom of this Great Sea's abyss.
The blue light source was not the only thing.
The sea currents writhed once more.
Chwaaaaaa!!
The place where the simultaneously surging water paths of the sea converged was none other than the light source gathered before the Leviathan's maw.
Shedding sparks of fierce light, the massively consolidated light source was overlaid with countless sea currents.
Soon, light began to flow over those currents too.
If this blue sphere fell onto land, a small kingdom could likely be annihilated.
That level of destructive power was condensed.
Begone.
The Leviathan wished so.
Never dreaming that this very moment was exactly the moment Yuma had been waiting for.
Kryaaaaaaa!!!!!
The sphere was spewed toward Yuma.
Yuma intended to eliminate as many variables as possible.
<Bullet Time>
Time slowed solely from Yuma's perspective.
<Hyper-Focus>
He searched.
For the point to use as the Parry Point.
The central point where the power was most clearly concentrated.
Yuma swung Balmung.
Kaaaaaaaang!
The sphere, rising skyward as if it had become a blue sun, was tilted diagonally across Balmung's blade face.
Beneath it, a golden ripple shimmered, signifying a successful parry.
<Absolute Counter—Disaster Split>
A skill that could originally use <Absolute Counter> with the same attack power on up to three enemies, including the target of 'Absolute Counter.'
Yuma had already determined the two remaining target points for Disaster Split.
The [Sea Serpents] clearly visible beyond the lifted fog, numbering at least a thousand.
East and west.
He targeted the [Sea Serpent] visible to his naked eye at the farthest point possible in each direction as the target points.
Activation.
The sphere, having risen skyward, surged forward at its same angle.
And that location was the upper body area, including the jaw, of the [Leviathan].
Kkwaaaaaaaaang!!!!!!!
Dark red blood literally exploded.
Gray smoke surged violently.
The upper body, including the jaw, was literally annihilated.
There was not even a moment to use divine power to restore its body.
The light in its crimson eyes died instantly.
The ruler of the Great Sea was now nothing more than a lump of meat.
Kugugugugung...
A colossal ripple spread.
And from both sides of that ripple, a violent wind shot out.
Both east and west.
A blue flash, as massive as the Leviathan's body, spewed forth a brilliant cluster of light and stretched out in a straight line.
The sight was.
Beonjjeok──
So dazzling that everyone watching the scene felt their eyes might have gone momentarily blind.
Chwaaaaaaaaaaaak──────
The sea split apart at both extreme ends.
Literally. Without an inch of exaggeration, the sea split wide open.
The ground.
The ground composed of soil, sand, and jagged rocks. The abyssal plain was clearly visible.
The sea of this deep abyss had split wide open on both the left and right, exposing bare earth.
The sea, pushed back from both east and west to form tidal waves, met at a single point.
Had it not been for even that single point, it would have looked less like the sea had parted and more like the sea had been turned into land.
The mouth of Yerkur, King of the Mulren, fell wide open.
"...He split the sea."
He split the sea to the east and west.
And all the forces the Leviathan had gathered within that parted section were utterly annihilated.
The remaining thousand-plus [Sea Serpents].
And three thousand or so demonic whales known as Illhveli, weaker than the [Sea Serpents] but far greater in number, were swept away by the miracle of the blue light.
The army the Leviathan had assembled was all but dust in the wind, killed entirely by the blue light. Not even a single bone fragment remained.
Kwareureureureureu... Cheolsseook!!
A disaster.
The phenomenon that could only be described that way ended.
And the parted sea very slowly settled back to the horizon.
"Manifestation of the Martial God..."
Hestia spoke, her scarlet cat ears trembling.
And at those words, both the Mulren Clan and the White Night Clan found themselves nodding their heads without realizing it.
Because they had witnessed with their own two eyes a level of martial force that could only be explained as a god manifesting.
Yuma felt a gaze.
From the Leviathan's head, floating on the sea.
From the left eye of the clearly dead Leviathan.
['An unknown god' is watching you through the divine power planted in the Leviathan.]
The notification from the status window echoed in his mind.
It was just as Yuma had vaguely anticipated.
"An Evil God, then."
Yuma spoke lowly, staring into the blood-red eye of the Leviathan.
However, no answer to his words came back. The probability was high that they could only see the view.
It didn't seem to be the same one that had sent the nun he encountered on his way back when he spent the day in the capital with Bel last time.
'Even for gods, having witnessed a fellow god die, are they all cautious about rushing in recklessly?'
Yuma continued speaking.
"How rude. When facing someone, proper etiquette is to meet face to face. Evil God."
Kkwaak-
Yuma readjusted his grip on Balmung.
"Next time, face me directly."
And he raised his sword.
"If you do not, I will assume you are cowering in fear, hiding away in the divine realm."
Sseogeogagyeok!
Unlike the right one, he slashed the left eyeball, which had been glaring wide open.
Was it because it had lost its divine power? Or because it was only an eyeball?
The red light was snuffed out in an instant.
Still standing on two feet upon the sea, Yuma turned his back.
Only then did he feel the countless gazes of awe and worship directed at him.
Yuma spoke quietly.
"We return."