Chapter 155
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 155
Chapter Title: The True King Awakens
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To that question, the creature's massive head nodded.
Though it couldn't speak, the King of the Golden Realm possessed remarkably high intelligence.
"What the hell is this?! What the hell is going on?!"
From Vania's perspective, this was utterly absurd.
She had spent years preparing this ritual to summon the King of the Golden Realm and forge a contract with it.
Yet when she asked it to eliminate her enemies on the first summon, not only did it tear apart the contract on its own, but it was acting like old pals with the foe?
It was a situation that defied all common sense.
In truth, even I was a bit thrown by this turn of events.
Who could've guessed that helping the octopus-whale in its territorial dispute during our Golden Realm expedition would snowball into this?
The creature that had gifted me before now stared silently at me.
Summons and contracts meant nothing to it—there was no reason for it to fight me or be bound by such things.
The ritual had merely called forth a denizen of the deep sea; it couldn't compel obedience.
Or more precisely, while they had slapped a collar on it, a mere collar couldn't restrain something like this.
In the end, their long-prepared ultimate weapon fizzled out into nothing.
Had I not ventured into the Golden Realm, the octopus-whale would have lost that territorial battle.
The two monsters had been evenly matched, but that shadowy tentacle beast had the home-field advantage in the darkness.
The outcome was inevitable.
And had that battle gone as expected, it would have been the tentacle horror summoned here instead.
The Phinas Archipelago would have geared up for another war centered on that monster.
But the power struggle flipped, the king changed, and the new king was friendly toward me.
Every circumstance had been completely upended by the result of that territorial fight.
"Smacks of cultist tactics, doesn't it?"
Seeking to control a powerful entity and wield it as their own strength was a classic cultist ploy.
Vania slumped to the ground in despair, and the rest of the forces lost all their fighting spirit.
The looks on their faces, robbed of their last hope... it was quite the sight.
"This can't be happening... It just can't... How could this...?"
Vania muttered blankly, half out of her mind.
Her trembling eyes turned toward me.
Their strongest asset—a Sword Master who sacrificed his life as the offering—had summoned a being that provided no aid before vanishing.
The already demoralized troops and knights had taken heavy losses besides.
In this mess, they couldn't easily decide how to deal with me.
And so, they resorted to desperate gambles.
"Listen to me! I'm your contractor! Kill that bastard right now!"
The octopus-whale gazed calmly at Vania before turning to me.
It said nothing, but its actions conveyed...
Is she telling me to kill you?
I made my request boldly.
"Friend, it seems like they're threatening me."
With that, the octopus-whale's gaze shifted back to Vania.
"Wh-what are you saying?! I'm your contractor! Obey me! Why listen to him?!"
Its eyes returned to me.
"Hey now, friend. They dragged you here against your will while you were just minding your business. And you're going to listen? Does my friend lack pride or something?"
The gaze swung back.
"We paid the price to summon you! Obey me now!"
The octopus-whale seemed to reach a swift decision and moved.
It curled a massive limb into a fist and swung at Vania.
Had an Expert-level knight nearby not shoved her aside in the nick of time, she would have died instantly.
"What is this...? I heard the King of the Golden Realm would be restrained once summoned by the ritual..."
"Just a heads-up, in case you were wondering—the King of the Golden Realm you tried to summon is already dead."
In other words, the ritual that used Rophal as payment held no real binding power over the octopus-whale.
"Aaaagh! This can't be! After all these years of preparation!"
"Friend, could you do me a small favor?"
At my call, the octopus-whale fixed its gaze squarely on me.
"My little sister was held captive here. She was being brutally tortured."
What would be the most agonizing end for House Remlish? Simple.
Being annihilated by the very summoned entity they'd spent years preparing—the King of the Golden Realm.
Plus, using this thing would tie up all loose ends.
If the monster they summoned went berserk and killed everyone, the Phinas Archipelago would have no grounds to complain to the central continent.
Rampaging wildly like with Tibel was fine, but I didn't want to burden Melissa any more than necessary.
She was already handling things alone to spare me the stress.
Piling on more would be an unfair load for her.
So, shall we paint it red, friend?
Though its expression was unreadable, it seemed to ask as much as I nodded.
Get rid of them.
At once, the King of the Golden Realm unhesitatingly gaped its maw wide.
I'd seen it fight in the darkness, but I hadn't gauged its full power.
This was a chance to scout it—might come in handy at sea later.
Then, immense energy began to converge around its beak.
A bizarre flow of magic.
Nothing a human—including me—could imitate.
Not quite a divine authority, but something close.
[Amplification]
In other words, even if I couldn't assist with magic, my Word of Command could influence it.
The sphere of power now emanating at least double its previous strength seemed to satisfy it. With a thunderous roar, it slammed its massive arms into the ground, anchoring itself like a fixed turret.
Then it unleashed its breath attack straight at the enemy lines.
Kwaaaaaaaa!!!!
The colossal breath swept across an enormous area, vaporizing dozens of foes in an instant and reducing the buildings behind them to ash just as quickly.
Some mages desperately tried to block it, but the King of the Golden Realm scoffed, tilting its head back slightly before thrusting forward and blasting another breath.
"Hold the line! Protect the young lady!"
"Activate every artifact! Don't hold back!"
Dozens of mages vomited blood as they cast spells, bolstered by massive devices, barely managing a defense.
As the breath's range began to narrow, hope flickered on their faces.
Even in its wide-area form with low concentrated firepower, they hadn't expected to withstand a breath attack. Impressive, but...
Unfortunately, the goddess of luck wasn't on their side.
The breath compressed into a narrow beam just thirty centimeters across.
Its power was on a whole other level now.
"What the—?!"
Tzzzzing!!
It carved through the earth and sky like a massive laser.
Even after incinerating everything in its path with a gaping scar, it fired additional blasts.
What a ridiculously powerful beast.
Not weakened like a kraken.
No, it felt even stronger than in the Golden Realm.
A true harbinger of disaster. Its breath didn't stop until it had turned every soldier, knight, and mage in the area into piles of ash, regardless of who they were.
The sole survivor: Vania Remlish.
Just her.
"This is a lie... a lie."
She muttered blankly, lost to the world.
Her fate gave me pause.
Should I drag her back alive?
If she spilled what happened here, Melissa's rage would be uncontrollable.
She'd want to kill the ringleader, Vania Remlish, herself.
But that wasn't wise.
Besides, Saintess Nadia was handling the Hael Tribe matter alone.
My gut told me something big was brewing, so I decided to end Vania here without hesitation.
Whatever the case, with the octopus-whale rampaging through the castle, rumors were already spreading.
More likely as "that monster went berserk" than "I infiltrated."
No other survivors but her anyway.
So I drew my ghost sword and approached her.
As I did, I addressed the King of the Golden Realm, the octopus-whale staring intently at me.
"You can head back now. I'll handle the cleanup."
At my words, it churned the ground with its massive bulk.
Miraculously, the floor rippled like water, and its huge body sank into the earth like a submarine diving.
"Oh, and get along with the mermaids. You might not go deep into the Golden Realm, but patrolling the surroundings could earn you some nice gifts down the line—who knows."
It let out a short cry in response before vanishing completely.
Standing before Vania Remlish, she slowly lifted her head to look at me.
Her eyes held resignation mixed with denial of reality.
"How could this happen? It's not fair. This makes no sense."
"Arsha probably thought the same."
"What?"
"She did nothing wrong, yet she was tortured here."
She clamped her mouth shut.
"Beyond that, you'd best abandon any hopes of an easy death."
"Ha. Think I'll bow to central continent trash?"
I stared at her evenly.
Yeah, confirmed.
Decision made, I walked past her toward the castle exit without a second glance.
"Kill me! Kill me now, or someday I'll rip you apart!!"
Ignoring her hysterical screams, I said curtly as I went.
"How can a dead woman seek revenge?"
"What?"
At that instant, bizarre changes began wracking her body.
"Aaaagh! What's happening?!"
Holes began punching through her flesh everywhere, like paper burned in spots.
"What's this?! What is it?!"
A broken contract wouldn't come without backlash.
No matter what method she used, she'd summoned the Golden Realm's new king.
And that king had forcibly severed the contract link.
Naturally, she bore the full brunt of the reaction.
Her eyes bulged as grotesque sensations and agony assaulted her.
She rolled on the ground, screaming her lungs out.