Chapter 100
Chapter 100
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 100
Chapter Title: Daughter of the Sea King
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"W-what the hell is going on here?!"
Spotting Ian's position from the shout, Sylvia led the Latent Dragon Squad forward, but they couldn't hide their shock at the dire scene unfolding before them.
They could understand Ian and Ryu An locked in battle with trolls.
They had just fought trolls themselves, and it was the sounds of combat that had allowed them to pinpoint Ian's location in the first place.
But with the captain right there fighting alongside him... how was Ryu An on the brink of death?
No one short of a major faction leader in the Great Flood could withstand the captain's blade...
And what was that lizardman Ryu An was desperately protecting?
"Everyone, snap out of it! F-First, let's save Ryu An!"
"R-right!"
At Helena's cry, the dazed Latent Dragon Squad pushed aside their bewilderment and charged toward Ryu An.
The details could wait until after they sorted out the situation.
"Grrrk!"
Bam!
As if sensing the sudden appearance of the Latent Dragon Squad, the trolls wasted no time and swung their massive clubs toward the fallen Ryu An.
One hit from those brutal clubs, and Ryu An's head would shatter like a summer watermelon.
"Shield!"
Eyes widening at the club descending on Ryu An's head, Dane hurriedly cast his shield.
Crash!
But Dane's shield, which hadn't even held against the trolls' thrown hand axes, had no chance of fully blocking a full-powered club swing.
It shattered like glass in less than five seconds.
But that brief moment was enough.
Enough time for the Latent Dragon Squad to reach Ryu An's side.
Thud!
Ralph closed in on Ryu An in an instant, twisting his massive frame and pulling his halberd back.
"Get away from Ryu An..."
Whoosh!
With a ferocious roar, Ralph's coiled body unleashed, his halberd carving a deadly arc.
"...now!"
Crunch!
The halberd sliced through the troll's head and club in one stroke, igniting the battle between the trolls and the Latent Dragon Squad.
In battle, psychological factors have a far greater impact than one might think.
A calm mind like a still lake and one rattled by impatience can never be equal.
Even if invisible at first, the difference reveals itself meaningfully over time.
Just like in Ian's fight with Olga.
Boom!
"Grrk... grrk..."
Olga knelt on one knee, leaning on his battle axe as he gasped for breath.
"...Heh! Never imagined I'd end up like this... It's so damn futile, utterly futile."
Glance!
Turning his gaze aside, Olga saw his vice commander's corpse sprawled there.
Not even stirring amid the fierce battle's aftermath.
He had fallen to Ian's sharper strikes after Ian confirmed Ryu An's safety, losing his head in the process.
And it wasn't just the vice commander.
All his subordinates who had moved to deal with the lizardman and other human had been wiped out by these unknown humans.
The fact that these humans showed up instead of his awaited reinforcements meant the ones sent to scout the branch river had been annihilated too.
The overwhelming sense of futility left no room even for anger.
"...Hahaha! Life truly is unpredictable, not a step ahead."
Death held no fear.
For the revival of the great earth dragon, he had taken the glorious vanguard position.
He had anticipated possibly losing his life in battle against the false ones ignorant of this land's true master.
But... he had never once imagined that moment would come so soon.
Where had it all gone wrong?
He had merely let one lizardman slip away on site... He could never have dreamed it would spiral to this.
–This is why a commander's role is so damn crucial.
"Heh! See? That damn elf's snide remarks were spot on."
The dark elf Aelion's mocking words echoed in his ears.
This operation was a grand scheme the Great Veil's Fingers had meticulously prepared over long years.
That magnificent plan... twisted this far by his own sloppy handling.
'...I'll leave the rest to you, smartass. Handle it well, elf.'
Aelion had sneered at his mistake... but that guy knew full well how vital this operation was to the Great Flood's balance.
Once he noticed the silence, he'd realize something had gone wrong.
Then... he'd move to untangle the knotted mess of the plan.
No worries there. Hate to admit it, but the guy was far smarter and slyer than him.
Just... one lingering concern.
'Lord Galtrow...'
The earth dragon Karaktus's devotees, the Great Veil's absolute five Fingers.
Among them, the fourth Finger he served, the troll lord Galtrow...
It was bitterly unbearable to bring the dishonor of this failure—caused by Galtrow's own subordinate, Olga—upon him.
Slash!
"Any last words?"
Ian pressed his longsword to the gasping, kneeling Olga's throat and asked.
"...Heh heh heh!"
Olga snorted at Ian's cold words.
"I'll grant you're quite strong. Achieving such power at your age must've taken no ordinary talent and effort. However..."
Smooth!
Raising his head to meet Ian's eyes, Olga flashed a mad grin and bellowed.
"It's too late! Even if that wench reveals the truth, the massive wheel of fate already in motion can't be stopped. The day this continent's true master awakens is nigh!!"
...Slice!
Judging the curse-like ravings worthless, Ian swung his longsword, severing Olga's head.
Perhaps because Olga's final cry carried such raw desperation.
The Latent Dragon Squad fell silent, and an eerie quiet settled where the trolls lay defeated, as if no fierce battle had raged.
Only one held the key to unraveling this mystery.
All eyes turned to her.
"Looks like our chat took longer than expected."
Smooth!
Finally, the Latent Dragon Squad surrounding the lizardman began their gentle interrogation.
"Kerrk! I should start with greetings. Thank you for saving me."
Smooth!
The lizardman bowed her head in gratitude.
"My name is Rasna. As you can tell from my appearance... I am the Sea King Zakura's one and only daughter."
"...!"
A heavier silence descended on the Latent Dragon Squad at her words.
"...Just to be sure, if you're lying, we won't go easy. Are you truly the Sea King's daughter?"
Ian pressed threateningly for any chance of deceit, but Rasna's expression didn't waver.
"You're working with Uncle Regulus, right? Take me to him, and he'll know immediately if I'm lying."
No surer proof existed.
Before the Four Dragon Envoys utterly loyal to the Sea King, impersonating his kin would mean a fate worse than death.
'...I suspected as much, but I never thought she'd really be Zakura's daughter. Ryu An, your efforts weren't in vain.'
Smooth!
Ian briefly glanced at Ryu An, lying in the rear receiving Helena's treatment, offering silent praise, then continued questioning the lizardman who had revealed her name as Rasna.
"To think you're truly the Sea King's daughter—a most precious one. But isn't it strange? As his daughter, you'd hold high status even in Turbid Flow. Why were you being chased by Great Veil trolls out here in the boonies?"
"......"
Rasna paused at Ian's piercing question, organizing her thoughts.
Unsure where to begin such a long tale.
"...Kerrk! It's quite a long story. Tell it on the way to Uncle Regulus. Time's short."
Moments later, having sorted her thoughts, Rasna finally began.
Sea King.
Many phrases described him.
The apex of Turbid Flow, a terror reigning over merchants crossing the western continent's seas.
A conqueror who transcended the lizardman race's limits, dominating countless monsters across fresh and salt waters.
Alongside Golden Eye, an unparalleled warrior in Great Flood history.
That was the Sea King.
The singular reason he built Turbid Flow and became its ruler?
His strength.
In the Great Flood, strength was the ultimate proof.
The colossal force ruling the Amatres River and central Great Flood regions: Turbid Flow.
For the Sea King at its pinnacle, entanglement with countless lizardman females was almost inevitable.
Yet despite bonds with so many.
Whether due to his special body, freely navigating salt water without issue unlike ordinary lizardmen.
Or because ordinary females couldn't handle his overwhelming power—the exact reason remained unknown.
The Sea King had no children for ages.
After countless efforts and hardships, his sole daughter was Rasna.
"...Father was overly protective, ridiculously so. He rarely let me leave Hasfel Island in the Amatres main stream's center, and even then, always with escorts. I understand. To him, I'm the precious child won through arduous effort. But... to me, Hasfel felt like a prison."
'A common tale. Human or monster...'
Overprotecting a hard-won heir in a family valuing lineage, only for the heir to chafe and wander out.
A story heard not just in the Great Flood, but in books or neighborhoods everywhere.
Just... the scale here was grander.
"That's when Uncle Duke, head of the Sixteen Branches, looked after my escapades best. Unlike others, he empathized with me. I just visited as usual this time too... when those trolls raided."
Rasna gnawed her lip, glaring at Olga's corpse as if her anger lingered.
Then she unraveled her tale bit by bit.
The raid by Great Veil trolls; how she luckily rested in the swamp and escaped the massacre.
Moving to meet nearby Fourth Dragon Leader Regulus to thwart the Great Veil's plans.
And evading pursuing trolls until now.
Ian nodded after hearing it all.
"If that's the Great Veil's scheme... we need to reach Regulus fast. To inform Turbid Flow via the Sea King, he'll need that status."
"T-this... things are getting way too big."
The squad members' faces paled upon hearing Rasna's story.
What were they hearing?
A simple mission to investigate Amatres pollution.
Now part of the Great Veil's plot to ignite war between Golden River and Turbid Flow?
It could upend the entire Great Flood.
One might think Lichtenauer Martial Clan benefits from Turbid Flow and Golden River clashing, but that's shortsighted.
Yes, those Great Flood giants threatened Aslan Kingdom.
Paradoxically, their presence imposed some order on the demonic Great Flood.
Knowing monsters like Paon guarded Sea King and Golden Eye kept them from human lands easily.
Thus, paradoxically, the giants brought unprecedented stability.
But if they collided and shattered that order, suppressed instincts could unleash hordes into clan lands.
Worse: this was all the Great Veil's deliberate scheme.
'If Great Veil devours the weakened Golden River and Turbid Flow... complications arise.'
Ian recalled Paon's words upon returning from Shurton: he'd slay earth dragon Karaktus.
Catching one dragon would demand the clan's full might; if Great Veil unified the Great Flood and bolstered its followers... everything could turn to ash before Ian's first step of vengeance.
"Ralph, carry Miss Rasna. She's exhausted, so Helena, cast recovery magic on her en route."
Sorting his thoughts, Ian ordered to boost speed.
"From now on, full speed to Western Heaven."
Ian considered meeting Rasna a stroke of fortune.
Knowing the truth now, they could still avert war if they acted swiftly.
But both Ian and Rasna overlooked one thing.
Between Turbid Flow and Golden River...
The flames of war already kindling burned far fiercer than they imagined.