The Fishmen Who Control Water
The Fishmen Who Control Water
Banner must have been seriously pissed off by my declaration to wipe out the fishmen, because he glared at me with bloodshot eyes.
"You bastard!! I'll tear you limb from limb and feed you to the fish!"
Even enraged, Banner didn't break his lotus position.
He just sat on a flat, wide rock and shouted at me.
At a glance, the posture made him look like he had no will to fight, but it was actually more dangerous.
That cross-legged pose was a method for fishmen to heighten their concentration.
By giving up movement, he could focus entirely on his ability to control water.
"Liquid Ring."
I drew a wave from the nearby valley stream.
Banner did the same, pulling a massive amount of water from the stream toward his body.
Our combined spells and abilities caused the stream to flood, turning the ground into a watery mess.
WHOOOOSH━!
"Kyaa!"
Bella flinched as the surging waters rose to her thighs.
I calmed the water's surface beneath her feet so she wouldn't lose her balance.
"Miss Bella. You mustn't stray from my side."
"Wh-why? I'll only get in your way! Chieftain Banner is stronger than most third-rate mages! If you fight while protecting me, you'll die, Luke!"
"I know. But the place for you is right beside me."
"What...?"
"Look. The fishmen have appeared."
I drew the wave close and scanned our surroundings.
Hannah had said there was a fishmen colony downstream. This wasn't just Banner's territory; it was where the tribesmen he ruled made their home.
Sure enough, as time passed, unfamiliar fishmen began to appear around the valley one by one.
"Churrrr! Chief Banner is fighting a mage!"
"Kerrrrk!! And it's a mage who controls water! No need to even watch to know who wins!"
"Who's winning?"
"Obviously Chief Banner, you moron!"
Seven fishmen surrounded the valley, watching the fight between Banner and me.
They didn't interfere yet, seemingly full of trust in their chieftain. But I couldn't just treat them as a passive audience and send Bella far away. She could easily be taken hostage, complicating everything.
"You Dream Demon bastard! A mere third-rate mage has the nerve to act casual while protecting a woman?!"
It seemed Banner had thoroughly mistaken my attitude for composure.
I had no desire to waste breath correcting his misconception.
I gave Banner a short answer.
"I'm not being relaxed. Protecting Miss Bella is my job right now."
"Haha! Are you saying that woman is more important than your own life?"
"......."
I didn't particularly plan on playing the hero, putting on airs while saving a girl.
But this was a job.
Guarding the Vice Guild Master from these filthy fishmen bastards was my duty.
"Then you can both float down the river and drown together!"
Banner violently spun the massive amount of water he'd drawn from the valley, creating a whirlpool.
A whirlpool equal in scale to my wave rampaged across the ground. The water pressure was so intense it scoured away the earth where the bottom of the whirlpool touched.
'It's like being hit by a drill made of water.'
Fsssssssh!
Banner's whirlpool tore up the ground as it approached Bella and me.
"A-A whirlpool is coming! Luke!"
I launched a magic wave toward the whirlpool.
BOOM! A deafening roar echoed as the two-meter-wide wave collided with the whirlpool. Amidst the spray flying everywhere, my wave pushed fiercely against the whirlpool, wrapping around it to keep it from rampaging.
For a moment, Banner's whirlpool lost its rotational force, constrained by the wave coiling around its body.
But it stopped for only a moment.
"Haaap-!"
Banner poured even more power into the whirlpool. With renewed rotational force, the whirlpool thrashed violently, trying to break free from my wave's constraints. I drew up my magic power to increase the wave's water pressure.
The wave and the whirlpool wrestled back and forth, tearing at each other.
Rather than cling to a contest of strength, I cast my next spell.
"Stone Wall!"
A spell to erect stone walls within five meters of the caster.
At closer range, it was possible to attack an enemy by raising a stone wall under their feet.
Of course, Banner was too far away for that kind of attack.
I had to use it another way.
Kugugung! Five stone walls erupted from the ground, creating cover.
I darted between the walls, breaking Banner's line of sight. Water splashed everywhere from the clashing wave and whirlpool, making it hard to pinpoint each other's position. Banner frantically rolled his fishy eyes around but ultimately lost sight of me.
"Dream Demon bastard! Where are you hiding?!"
Pop-pop-bang! I sniped at Banner, still sitting on his rock, with Mana Spheres.
In the blink of an eye, I fired eight spheres from my palm like bullets from a rifle.
The moment the first sphere reached Banner's flank, I inwardly cheered.
"Graaagh!"
Crunch! The Mana Sphere lodged itself in Banner's torso.
But only the first one hit home.
Banner rolled across the ground, evading the rest.
"Dream Demon bastard! Daring to use petty tricks...!"
Banner pushed himself up from where he'd tumbled off the rock, clutching his side.
Blood streamed from his flank where his skin had burst open.
'A human would be dead. Fishmen sure as hell have tough bodies.'
I'd landed a decisive blow, but Banner stubbornly clung to life.
He roughly plugged his bleeding side with water, staunching the flow. Sitting back down in a lotus position, Banner shouted to the fishmen who had been watching dully from afar.
"Brothers! Protect me!"
"Chief! Shall we attack that mage?"
"Your skills are useless for attacking! Stand still around me and act as shields!"
Meat shields!
That was the role Banner assigned to his fellow tribesmen.
It was a bit absurd for him to call them brothers while asking them to be meat shields.
"Hey, fish-head! Are you trying to get all your brothers killed?"
"Sadly, it's a sacrifice for the greater good. Keuh-heuh."
The fishmen approached their chieftain with terrified expressions and stood tall before him.
A crazy chieftain who used his own tribesmen as disposable meat shields. But the tactic was effective; my Mana Spheres couldn't reach Banner.
Bang!
"Graaaagh!"
The fishmen tribesmen took the spheres with their bodies.
"There you are!"
Banner launched a counterattack.
He created another whirlpool and fired it at the stone wall I was hiding behind. The walls that had served as cover were smashed to pieces one after another by the whirlpool.
Large stone fragments flew everywhere; getting hit in the head by one could be fatal.
"Miss Bella! Get down!"
"Ack!"
I made Bella lie flat and summoned a wave to block the stone debris. Soon, the whirlpool slammed against the wave I was using as a shield, producing an ear-splitting explosion.
"Tch."
The blast made my head spin, disrupting my control over the wave.
I gritted my teeth until my gums nearly bled, fighting to maintain focus.
The fight wasn't ending quickly.
Wounding a fishman wasn't easy, even in battle. Half-hearted hits did less damage due to their natural resistance to water.
Now that the surprise attack combining my Mana Spheres and Stone Wall had missed its mark, this duel was destined to be a drawn-out fight.
'Prolonging the fight is bad for me.'
I knew all too well I was at a disadvantage in a long-term brawl.
The fishmen's colony was nearby. If the battle dragged on, Banner's tribesmen would join him as reinforcements.
Banner could wage war with dozens of fishmen, but I was alone. As the old saying goes, no one can stand against a mob.
I was racking my brains for a way to take Banner out.
Bella, who had been lying quietly on the ground, spoke up.
"Luke. The Blue Claw tribe all work as ferrymen. The fishmen living here work as boatmen day and night. They even ferry passengers who come to the dock on dark nights."
Why the sudden explanation about the fishmen tribe?
What did it matter that these fish bastards were hard-working laborers?
They'd become murderers anyway.
"......."
I didn't question her and just listened quietly.
I trusted that as the wise Vice Guild Master, she had something in mind.
"Since they have to work at night, the fishmen here always wear special necklaces. They're magic necklaces that emit light when the wearer wishes. Couldn't you use that, Luke?"
Magic necklaces.
The moment I heard those words, I turned my head to look at the fishmen beyond the wave.
Every single fishman, including their chieftain Banner, was wearing a necklace.
They were magical tools that emitted light.
"Right. I can use that."
I increased the wave's pressure, collapsing Banner's whirlpool.
Banner created another whirlpool from a massive amount of water.
However, this time I had no intention of getting dragged into another indecisive power struggle.
"Water Walk!"
I cast the spell and climbed onto the crest of the wave I had created.
Soon, the magic wave carrying me surged furiously toward Banner and his fishmen tribesmen.
Banner's eyes widened as he saw me charging him on the wave.
"A mage dares to close in on us fishmen! He's insane!"
To Banner, I must have looked completely insane.
A mage charging headlong into a spot full of fishmen tribesmen. If they swarmed me and fought in close quarters, even insignificant tribesmen could beat me to death. But now, I was no longer afraid of mere tribesmen.
"Hup."
I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with air.
I drew up my magic power while balancing on the swaying wave. The mana stored in my solar plexus rose up, passed my throat, and reached my mouth.
"Don't just stand there! Kill that Dream Demon bastard!"
"Understood, Chief!"
Following Banner's orders, the fishmen tribesmen charged at the wave I was riding.
I opened my mouth and let out a thunderous cry loud enough to drown out the roar of the waves.
"Wunjo!"
The rune letter Wunjo, meaning light.
The moment I pronounced that letter, the fishmen's necklaces blazed brightly. As my voice swept through the area, every magical tool in the valley underwent a Rune Interference Phenomenon. I could now manipulate the fishmen's necklaces at will.
Fwaaaash!
I cranked the magic necklaces' brightness to maximum. Like a flashbang, the necklaces all emitted a blinding light at once. Banner, along with the fishmen running toward me, were blinded by the light blazing from each other's necklaces.
"Aargh! Who's the bastard who turned on his necklace?!"
"I-I didn't turn mine on!"
"My eyes! My eyes!"
The wave I was riding broke through the staggering fishmen in an instant.
"Gack!"
"Aaaargh!"
I closed my eyes to avoid the same blindness, and when I opened them, the wave had already reached Banner's face.
"Grrrrgh!"
Banner, still blinded, launched his whirlpool to block the wave.
With both masters now at close range, the wave and the whirlpool collided. Up until now, it had been just exchanging probing attacks, but this time, it was a life-or-death clash.
The wave pushed relentlessly while the whirlpool repelled it.
"I-I win if I run!"
At the final moment, Banner chose to flee.
He was probably counting on his tribesmen coming from the colony as reinforcements. I saw Banner turn his back and run.
But running was his mistake.
The surging wave smashed the whirlpool to pieces.
Having destroyed every obstacle, the wave chased Banner at a ferocious speed.
"Uwaaaaaaagh!!"
The huge shadow of the wave slowly fell over Banner.
With the deadly wave clinging right to his back, Banner screamed.
It was ironic—a fish terrified of water.
WHOOOOSH━!
The magic wave greedily swallowed the fleeing Banner whole.
I redirected the wave and returned safely to where Bella stood.
"L-Luke! What happened to Banner?"
"I dealt with him. Here's his body."
"Ah!"
Banner, swallowed by the wave, was now a corpse still held within it.
He looked like a fish in a tank shaped like a wave.
Of course, to use an analogy, he was a dead fish. The lethal water pressure had crushed the fishman's body as if flattened by a press.
A magic wave applies more pressure than a natural one. Anything swallowed inside gets crushed.
'Well, that's the normal outcome.'
The church paladin I faced before had reinforced his body to withstand it, but a fishman couldn't.
The Banner before us now was the ultimate fate of anyone swallowed by my wave for that long.
"Shall we head back?"
"Yes...."
I took Bella and returned upstream.
On the way back, Bella said to me:
"Have you ever thought about being a bodyguard? You."
Before I could even answer, Bella added one more thing.
"Ditch the adventurer gig, I mean."