Chapter 83
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 83
Chapter Title: The King of the Sunken City
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[Kaduel: Lord Karenden has uploaded the target information to the database.]
Shu'yulkelis, the ossuary of the old world.
A cosmic entity that transcended the history of the ages had built a city from mud, marshlands, and megaliths.
And the corpses of this land's mortals.
[Kaduel: The official designation for this high-risk target is Rulhamrei. Abyss Grade is 2.5.]
As I ran, monstrously large and tall green stone structures appeared one after another, dripping with water...
Was that all?
Statues of Shu'yulkula—octopus skulls with hundreds of writhing tentacles and demonic wings—grinned eerily from all corners of the city.
[Kaduel: It functions as a sort of train connecting the Sea of Valadon. We surmise they are not endlessly generated, but rather that warlords scattered across the sea are being gathered here.]
[Ryukael: A train? What's with those savages who despise civilization? Anyway, if it's a mode of transport, this won't be simple, Captain.]
[Alkaios: The cave confirmed by the Blood Fleet is the train's path. Unless it uses an anti-gravity track, a train's limitations are the same.]
[Kaduel: Yes, we just need to destroy the tracks. In this case, the cave serves as the track.]
[Alkaios: Shurviel, Enuel, you're the fireteam. Destroy it with your power.]
The cave designated as the primary target only had a form similar to a cave; it wasn't one.
All its geometric structures were misaligned, obscuring the view of what lay beyond.
But when the darkness twisted and madness erupted, a monster would burst forth with an unbearable stench.
[Alkaios: Enuel, over two hundred Rulhamrei reinforcements from the third wave have been detected on the satellite scan! Destroy that cave by any means necessary before they swarm in.]
The Rulhamrei...
Sack-like flesh hung from their long, flexible spines, from which countless servants of the Abyss poured out.
A horrifying sight, they swam through the water with sixteen pairs of limbs... resembling human arms and legs.
[Shurviel: B-Break them, Aizaiya!]
In the next instant, a saturation of light tore the monsters apart.
The moment Shurviel unleashed the unique ability of the True Holy Sword Aizaiya, the entire area was plunged into a state of explosive decompression.
A pressure of light incomparable to Gaumris... The wave of photon pressure was enough to shake the very atmosphere.
[Presenting Combat Synchronization Sample.]
- Eldia Katta (05)'s exclusive weapon, Sharrilion. Its unique ability is Form Absorption.
- It has the ability to absorb anything with energy, concept and all, then amplify and release it.
- Among the 11th-tier armaments, it is the only one with a release command split into two parts: 'Devour' and 'Pierce'.
I had no time to stand around gawking at Shurviel's display.
Because at that moment, the phantom of Enuel.
Once again used his phenomenal footwork to crack the earth, instantly moved behind the Rulhamrei, and thrust the tip of Sharrilion toward the torrent of light.
"Devour, Sharrilion."
The torrent of light that had pushed aside even the pressure of the deep sea rippled beautifully as it was drawn into the blade.
Beautiful, I thought, unconsciously.
The blade of Sharrilion, which had been gleaming with a dark light, began to burn dazzlingly with the golden heat of Aizaiya.
'The sword has become incredibly heavy. There's no way swallowing a power, concept and all, wouldn't have a backlash.'
I twist my waist far to the right.
I pull Sharrilion, held in both hands, deep behind my back.
I take a deep breath, then pour all my momentum into the exhale.
"Pierce, Sharrilion!"
The series of movements completes a powerful flow of energy.
The amplification and release of the absorbed power.
The amplification factor was sevenfold.
The very power that, in the Age of Myths, gave rise to the legends of the Hero who could split the sea, crumble mountains, and cleave the sky with a single strike.
Chaaaaaaaaang────!
Far ahead, beyond where the parted deep sea was rejoining, was the cave from which the Rulhamrei had been endlessly pouring out.
It crumbled away without a trace.
Crushed and pulverized amidst a light pressure so immense it created a pressure difference in my eardrums.
'This... is truly an absurd power. Not only does it nullify an attack, but it returns it several times over? It's so unreal I can't believe it.'
My fingertips were trembling.
It seems that even with the body of an AuthenticWarrior, wielding this level of power requires enduring a corresponding backlash.
Just as I was unconsciously grimacing and gasping for breath.
[Shurigan: It really took less than three minutes. Eldia Katta, that's incredible.]
[Alkaios: Well done, Enuel. The Blood Fleet will now guard the perimeter to prevent the Grade 1 Abyss from escaping. Kaduel, you stand guard here just in case.]
[Kaduel: Yes, sir.]
[Ryukael: Master Karenden, I can see the palace walls. It looks like the Grade 1 Abyss's residence.]
[Karenden: Found it. According to the records of the Outer Universe, that is Shu'yulkula's hallucinatory force field.]
[Ryukael: Hallucinations? What a gloomy bastard.]
[Alkaios: Shurviel and Enuel, proceed immediately to the center of the temple and regroup. We will commence engagement with the Grade 1 Abyss. Hurry.]
A Grade 1 Abyss signifies a True King.
In the modern era, he was one of The Forgotten Kings, a spreader of sticky, dark-green dreams of terror. The battle to subjugate Shu'yulkula had begun.
The Age of Myths,
Tarhe Rondel · Eldia · Rebirth (4)
[Objective Synchronization: Proceed toward the Grade 1 Abyss.]
The guardians of Shu'yulkelis Palace were not Grade 5 Abyss entities, but Grade 4.
Grade 4 entities were ancient Abyss, known in the modern era as the Old Ones.
One could deduce the standard of their power from the fact that the Adventurers' Guild assigned the Old Ones a minimum rank of A (access forbidden to adventurers below Gold rank).
[New Enemy: Deep Sea Tree.]
- The Deep Sea Trees are guardians of the ocean palace and are sensitive to sound.
The trees that stickily covered the city of megaliths... charged forward, using their roots like legs.
[Alkaios: It's nearly impossible to break through the palace with this hallucinatory veil and barrage of tentacles. We need more firepower.]
[Enuel: On my way.]
[Shurviel: Th-The Grade 3 A-Abyss are endless!]
Shu'yulkelis Palace was unrealistically vast, and all its geometric structures were distorted.
I'd think I was running on the ground, only to find I was frequently running on the ceiling or a pillar.
The water pressure seemed to defy the flow of providence, and even gravity was subtly misaligned, compounding the confusion.
[Kaduel: Your Holiness Karenden, would it be acceptable to eliminate the floor to clear a path for Enuel and Shurviel?]
[Karenden: No, distort the dimension where they are standing and adjust the field. I will transport them directly.]
[Kaduel: I will follow your command, but won't the field at the destination coordinates be uncontrollable?]
It was in the next moment that I saw Tersia, the leader of The Ones Who Came and the archetypal warrior.
[Tersia: Kaduel? Don't worry, the Abyss's field has no power around me, thanks to Verkensia.]
Something...
Something was completely different...
If the heart of the Creator God, who loves all things, could take physical form, would it not look like her?
A smile more dazzling than the dawn that brightens the morning shone from her lips and eyes.
Just hearing her voice over the communication network was enough to dye one's heart and soul with blissful fulfillment. Among The Ones Who Came, only Tersia possessed such a presence.
Tersia looked at everyone with such a warm, yet sorrowful, gaze.
Why Tersia wore such sad eyes when looking at everyone else is something I would only come to understand by the end of this story.
[Karenden: I will calculate the coordinates to Tersia myself.]
[Shurviel: W-We're ready, Kaduel.]
[Tervel: Hurry, Karenden. We have to finish the Grade 1 Abyss before it escapes. If we don't catch it now, it will use the sea to its advantage and become our most dangerous opponent.]
[Karenden: I am ready as well. Kaduel, begin.]
It truly happened in the blink of an eye.
The moment I registered that an arrow from Hisgivid had flown from somewhere and created a spatial rift at my feet, a black mist enveloped my entire body.
And I had only blinked once... but the battlefield before my eyes had changed.
What kind of unreal dimensional control was this?
"So you're Enuel."
And then, light.
Yes, it was light.
"I'm counting on you, hehe."
Verkensia, meaning 'Blade of Light,' was said to be an armament of the Creator God Geldharia.
It was exactly as the word implied.
If one could forge the sun—no, the primordial light—into a long blade, it would probably take that form.
An incomparably beautiful and noble sword.
Verkensia was illuminating this ancient, hidden realm, where not a single ray of light could penetrate, more brightly than midday.
[Ryukael: You're finally here! Now we can break through that disgusting, troublesome thing.]
But there was no time to bask in the light emanating from Tersia and Verkensia.
Enuel's Combat Synchronization.
A wall of seawater covered Shu'yulkelis's palace. Ominous waves churned on its surface.
A wall of power that blew away any who approached to the far sea.
If one tried to destroy the wall, Shu'yulkula's tentacles would appear endlessly from somewhere.
[Alkaios: Break through! I'll relay information as you advance! The throne is straight ahead, beyond the palace wall!]
Combat Synchronization. Again, Enuel pushed off the ground and accelerated.
He approached the veil at a speed dozens of tentacles couldn't match. Wind coiled around Sharrilion's blade.
And the blade cut the veil.
That strike was not a single slash. The sword wind racing along the blade erupted as sword energy, adding dozens more slashes.
- Kaisen, have you ever heard of the concept of a 'Dull Sword'?
A state where a single exchange contains ten moves, capable of blocking a hundred of the opponent's.
That was what Senior Roveris, the wielder of Scherpang, had told me.
Even the senior who said it shook her head after swinging Scherpang a few times.
- It's nonsense. There might be a sword that strikes a precise opening, but...
That very nonsense was now happening before my eyes, through my own body.
Engraved Slash, Rune Cut.
The word instantly carved onto the sea barrier was Benekom. Its meaning: Destruction.
Shhhriiiiik────!
The tentacles guarding the barrier rushed in hastily. Before their attack could land, the power of the word manifested in a tempestuous flow.
'Yes, this is it.'
This was it. This power was the prototype for Scherpang's Severing Origin, the Spacetime Flash.
Benekom, Destruction.
That power engraved a 'command' onto the entire dimension where the word was written. The power of the Creator God, who was said to have made the world with the words 'Let there be light,' now added the 'command' to 'shatter' to the sword's trajectory.
K-k-k-krak──── Chaaaaaang!
Shards of the shattered dimension flew back violently, pushing back and crushing the king's tentacles.
[Shurviel: A-Amazing...]
[Tersia: You're really dependable, aren't you, Enuel?]
[Alkaios: Don't let your guard down, Enuel. The engagement with the Grade 1 Abyss has only just begun.]
Of course, the price for a mere creature daring to wield the power of creation spread through my body as a backlash.
Just like when I used Spacetime Flash...
The pain of every muscle fiber in my arm tearing apart exploded. The only difference, perhaps, was that it regenerated on its own without the Dragon's Blood serum.
[Engraved Slash Acquisition Rate: 11%.]
Does this mean I can use it in reality if I reach 100% acquisition? While I was briefly composing myself, Yoniullan roared and tore the palace apart.
[Ryukael: It looked like our king locked his door to do something naughty in secret, so I tore it down for him!]
The darkness, the darkness that slumbered upon the eternal throne, took on a wicked form and rose.
[Madness Level: 120%]
As the wings of the deep sea spread wide, the entire space cowered in fear and the atmosphere warped.
[Madness Level: 150%]
With the stench of rotting providence and the sound of splashing footsteps, the king appeared in sight, dragging its feet heavily.
Wailing, frenzy, chaos.
What words could possibly describe the presence of that evil god, which stained the world with a dark, bluish madness?
'I thought I'd be fine since I've already met Neigallas once...'
The overwhelming pressure that distorted the entire space stimulated a primal fear. My heart pounded like crazy, and my face was drenched in a cold sweat.
[Tervel: Hurry, Tersia. There are too many Abyss entities. The Golden Fleet will soon reach its limit.]
That ghastly... mountain of the sea, a contradiction to the world's very order, walked forward.
[Karenden: Be careful, Eldia. This is information I just confirmed. Before becoming the lord of the sea, Shu'yulkula was a human sorcerer who used 'dreams' as a weapon. You might think you've defeated it, only to find you were caught in an illusion, dreaming. You die in your dream.]
One who destroyed a world.
One who offered the countless lives of that destroyed world as a sacrifice to the Abyss, and thus received a crown from it.
[Ryukael: Just like a gloomy shut-in. What should we do?]
The lost souls of the ruined world formed that sticky, filthy, slimy body, and they were weeping. Was that its crown?
[Karenden: The hallucinations won't work on Tersia, who is protected by Verkensia, or on Eldia Katta, the newest model. The three of you will support them. Tersia and Enuel will finish it.]