Chapter 212
Chapter 212
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 212
Chapter Title: Kraken in the Depths
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"Baron, sir! Reporting! Deep in the sea, sirens are under attack from some unidentified monster!"
Starting with Ravins, the Blizzard Knight Order members who had witnessed the scene below the surface with their own eyes began climbing up onto the deck one after another.
'So it was under the sea after all.'
No land in sight no matter where he looked around. If that was the case, the only place the screams could be coming from was beneath the waves.
"Sirens? That can't be right."
Jean, who was gripping the ship's wheel, sounded puzzled at Ravins's report.
"Sirens have such thin, delicate skin that they struggle to survive without the warm southern seas bathed in plenty of sunlight. There's no way they'd be in the West Sea—let alone out here in this endless ocean where they can't even sunbathe."
Ravins and the knights who had surfaced from the sea bristled and shouted in response.
"No, it was definitely sirens!"
"B-but..."
With not just one or two, but everyone unanimously insisting they had seen it, even Jean's confidence wavered, his voice growing quieter.
'This is odd.'
As the captain said, sirens were a race occasionally spotted by fishermen conducting large-scale operations in the southern seas.
And just as he described, they were beings who couldn't survive without warm seawater and sunlight.
Back when he had gone to the Merkada auction house to rescue Millia, even there the sirens had been kept in specially made tanks.
They were a species highly sensitive to their environment.
For such sirens to appear in the unrelated West Sea—and being chased by a monster, no less.
It wasn't unreasonable for Jean to doubt it.
'But those screams were unmistakable.'
Whatever it was, he couldn't just ignore what was happening right beneath the ship and sail on by.
Swoosh!
"Aria, can you create an air barrier with wind magic?"
As he stripped off his shirt and shoes, he asked Aria, who promptly replied.
"I can make one, but... the water pressure means it won't last long. Maybe ten minutes at most?"
That was more than enough.
"The Blizzard Knight Order and Miron, come with me to check out the situation underwater."
Given the circumstances, he dropped the formal speech.
"Understood!"
The knights and Miron roared in unison, immediately stripping down just like him.
"Everyone else, stay behind to protect Captain Jean and the crew in case of danger. If any monsters surface, intercept them."
In a way, Jean and the crew were the most vital people on board.
If they died, the ship would become a aimless ghost vessel lost in this vast ocean.
Besides, Set, who wielded fire, and Aria would be useless in the underwater battlefield. Princess Seira's magic was far too dangerous.
Misha's spirit arts and Saladin's puppetry faced the same issues.
Fighting unknown foes underwater came with far too many limitations.
"Priest, I'm coming with you."
At that moment, White Wing Ramfang stepped forward.
"Gotta earn my keep."
There was no reason to refuse help from Ramfang, whose name was etched on the Throne of Jade.
Finally, after asking Luna to prepare potions in case of injury, he dove toward the sea.
Shrieeeek!
A rust-red leg thicker than the keel of an ordinary galleon whipped through the water beneath the surface at tremendous speed.
As its size suggested, it possessed insane weight and destructive power, yet its movements were astonishingly soft and flexible.
All eight of those ferocious legs lashed out at the sirens simultaneously.
Kraken.
Just as Leviathan ruled in terror over the sailors of the distant North Sea, the Kraken was a nightmare for those of the South Sea.
Both were monsters so dangerous that sailors had to flee with all their might at first sight, but the Kraken was far worse.
Unlike Leviathan, the Kraken never gave up on prey it had targeted, driven by its enormous appetite.
Shrieeeek!
'Damn it!'
Siren Faye barely dodged the menacingly incoming Kraken leg, gritting her teeth.
Not long ago, the clan had made a fateful decision that would shape their destiny.
To abandon their beloved homeland and migrate en masse to this unfamiliar West Sea.
Every clan member, Faye included, had shed tears at that choice. Faye's father, his father before him, and generations beyond... The sirens had lived in the South Sea for time beyond counting.
To them, those warm southern waters were not just home—they were their history.
Choosing mass migration was tantamount to turning their backs on their ancestral home and legacy.
But misfortune never comes alone, as they say.
To make matters worse, during the migration, they had the rotten luck of being spotted by a starving Kraken.
The beast, which never dared approach their sanctuary in the South Sea, had seized the opportunity the moment they left it.
There was no choice. Once detected by that relentless ocean hunter, they had to flee desperately to a place it couldn't follow.
The North Sea of Leviathan.
No matter how bold the Kraken, it wouldn't easily trespass where that monster lurked.
The plummeting water temperature made survival impossible, but there were no other options.
Not when death loomed right before them.
But even that had reached its limit. Clan members were already slowing down from the West Sea's dropping temperature.
The Kraken, however, with its massive bulk less affected by the chill, remained full of vigor unlike the sirens.
Faye had somehow dodged this strike too, but she didn't know how much longer she could keep it up.
In her vision, she saw her kin trapped on the suckers of the other seven legs she had evaded.
'Is it all over...?'
Even the Sea God Aegir had turned a blind eye.
How could he impose such cruel trials on his faithful creations?
Craaaack!
The clan members caught on the legs were slowly dragged toward the massive mouth beneath the Kraken's body.
As the enormous maw—like an unfathomable abyss—opened, teeth that sent chills down the spine emerged.
Soon, those pulled into that mouth would meet a gruesome end beyond recognition.
Unlike her kin, who couldn't bear to watch and wept, Faye kept her bloodshot eyes fixed on the scene even through her tears.
She would never forget their deaths. As the one leading the young of the clan, it was her duty.
Just as her kin were about to be sucked into the Kraken's maw...
A golden light flashed above the Kraken's head.
Grooooowl!
Soon, the Kraken's cephalopod head crumpled into a bizarre shape.
-Kyaaaaaaaah!
The Kraken, unmoved by ordinary impacts, screamed in agony—it couldn't ignore the power within that golden light.
Shrieeeek!
Rather than devouring the sirens, the Kraken prioritized ripping apart the attacker.
It released its captives and swung all its legs toward the light above.
Splash!
Surrendering his body to the blue beneath the surface revealed a world utterly different from the deck-side view.
Thanks to the air barrier from Aria and Princess Seira, neither Ramfang nor any Blizzard Knights struggled with breathing.
Free from respiratory limits, they could focus aura on their vision.
Looking down, sure enough, a colossal octopus was assaulting the sirens, just as the knights had said.
Sirens were called elves of the sea for their role in fostering bountiful oceans.
No need to question right or wrong when a monster attacked such beings.
Besides, a beast that size could easily smash the Cimarria without much effort.
It was distracted by the sirens now, but it might turn on the ship anytime.
This vulnerable moment was the perfect chance.
He glanced at Ramfang beside him, who nodded.
Gulp gulp!
As Ramfang worked her mouth silently, dolphin-like phantoms settled over her slender arms and legs.
True to her moniker of Beast Master, she drew on the dolphin's power, moving almost unrestricted even underwater.
As planned beforehand, he circled behind her, wrapping his legs around her waist to secure his upper body.
Grrrrrrumble!
Golden aura surged in his right hand, forming a massive vortex centered on it.
Ramfang soon signaled with her eyes: ready? He nodded affirmatively.
Nod!
At his cue, Ramfang's body shot toward the octopus like a dolphin.
He slammed the Vortex down onto the octopus's head filling his view.
Grooooowl!
The head dented like rubber but didn't burst.
'The water cushioned the impact.'
That wasn't all. The octopus's soft body was resisting his heavy blow.
Blunt weapons like fists or hammers weren't suited for such a form.
-Kyaaaaaaaah!
As the octopus screeched in pain, its legs thrust toward them in unison.
Ramfang, cloaked in the dolphin phantom, evaded with ghostly agility. Swimming up belatedly were the Blizzard Knights.
They held not swords, but skewers.
The reason was simple: water pressure slowed sword swings, so skewers minimized resistance.
The Blizzard Knights plunged their aura-charged skewers into the octopus's head while it was distracted by him and Ramfang.
Stab! Stab stab!
Unlike his heavy Vortex, the keenly sharpened skewers sliced through the head effortlessly.
-!!
Feeling the pain, perhaps? The octopus's eyes bulged wide.
The Blizzard Knights didn't miss the opening, unleashing their aura in unison.
Under Beskin's command, the Blizzard Knight Order wielded cold aura like a blizzard.
Craaaack!
As they released their chill simultaneously, frost formed on the octopus's head, freezing it solid.
The knights' cold was potent enough to freeze the surrounding sea, but the Kraken's size was even more immense.
Its absurd bulk meant only part of its head froze despite the fearsome chill.
But that was sufficient.
The legs, mid-swing, halted from the head's pain and cold.
Ramfang seized the gap, darting toward the head at full speed.
His right hand, clinging to her, swirled with vortex once more.
'This time it'll be different.'
Craaaack!
Unlike before, when it had deflected and reshaped around the vortex, now frozen solid, the head couldn't yield.
The frozen section collided head-on with the Vortex, exploding violently and spraying the monster's blue blood into the sea.
-Kyaaaaaaaah!
Threatened by massive bleeding, the octopus bellowed, gathering its legs to flee—but Ramfang was a fraction faster.
She casually swung her left hand; a massive shark head materialized and bit into the weakened skull.
Crunch!
-!!!!!
No monster, however mighty, could live with its brain destroyed.
The octopus shuddered violently from the blow, then went limp.
'Good thing we wrapped it up easily.'
In truth, either he or Ramfang alone could have handled it.
But it would have taken far longer, potentially causing casualties—to the sirens or the Cimarria.
With the Blizzard Knights and Ramfang piling on, even a colossal monster stood no chance.
Above all, preventing siren losses was the greatest achievement.
Among non-humans, sirens were the most friendly toward humans.
Tales abounded of them rescuing shipwrecked sailors.
They'd surely repay their lifesavers handsomely.
'Sirens should know the South Sea inside out. I don't know why they drifted here, but they'll be a huge help...?'
Excited at the thought of "settling" with the sirens, he felt odd stares and looked ahead.
Beyond the floating Kraken corpse, the sirens eyed them warily.
Huh?
One young siren even hid behind her mother, sniffling.
Huh?
And the mother soothing her glared at them coldly.
That look was just like his mother's suspicious gaze toward "strange adults" in his childhood.
...No.
This reaction was nothing like what he'd expected.