30 Minutes Ago
Prince Torsen of the Nodrian Kingdom wiped his parched face.
A dark night. Torrential rain poured down. The winds howled fiercely. The sea churned violently. Crossing the ocean to Asgard in what was little more than a small sailboat had been a miracle. And Torsen had pulled off that miracle. He even wondered if the gods spoken of on the continent had truly guided him.
But there, before him, was a scene that utterly dismissed all his hardships.
“What are you lot doing!? Our speed’s dropping! Row harder! Overcome this headwind with sheer grit!”
Splash-! A massive wave crashed against the steel hull.
“Ugh-! Ugh─! Ugh──!”
In sync with their breaths, the Nod warriors heaved their oars. The colossal warship crested the giant wave in majestic glory, then plunged down, charging through the sea.
“Good! That’s it-!”
At the dwarf’s roar, the Nod warriors curled their lips into grins. Their rippling muscles mocked the pounding rain.
“……”
A galley ship. A dwarf gripped the helm, while over two hundred Nod warriors rowed to the drum’s beat.
‘This isn’t an ordinary ship.’
It defied Torsen’s everyday common sense.
‘Why…’
The deck beneath his feet was made of stone.
‘How…’
The oars in the Nod warriors’ hands were wood, but the plates slamming into the waves were steel.
‘Is it even floating!?’
A ship of stone and steel. The first deck for rowing, the second for rest areas, food stores, and armories. The third lined with ballistae on both sides.
Something impossible to build with current technology—a vessel straight out of myth. If someone claimed it existed, others would scoff at the delusion.
‘No ship could bear that weight unless designed with magic, or…’
…crafted from equivalent materials.
‘And yet such a ship…’
Torsen recalled Asgard’s harbor. Dozens of steel ships under construction in that enormous port. The Nods had called their land the land of gods. They were right.
“…I’m glad I came out. Fishing here when I’ve got time later will make for a nice breather.”
A voice rang out suddenly. At the bow’s center stood a man, tall and imposing. Raven helm, a hefty longsword gripped in hand, standing firm.
His hair peeking from beneath the raven helm wasn’t Nod coloring. Yet everyone hailed him as the King of the Nods.
‘…It took me over a month to reach those frozen northern wastes.’
Scarce food and water. Attacks from sea monsters. He’d barely made it. Yet they ignored all that hardship and would arrive in under two weeks.
‘No, no. Don’t mock the sea.’
The sea was perilous. A realm unconquered by man. Teeming with monsters that ruled its depths.
To warn of that, he approached the Nod king, Loki.
“Great King of the Nods.”
Loki turned his head to regard Torsen.
“We of Nodrian thank you for heeding our plea.”
Even as he spoke, doubt gnawed at Torsen. Why had they accepted the request for troops?
‘…The scale is all wrong.’
He’d expected maybe fifty Nods and a hundred continental slaves at most. But here were three hundred Nod warriors—twice that. An elite army, clearly invested in heavily.
It was like a rural village head petitioning the emperor of an empire. Cold sweat beaded on Torsen’s brow. The price they’d demand. He racked his brains over it.
“We’re no charity.”
Torsen flinched.
“So make sure you repay us handsomely.”
“…O-of course… Yes. We’ll… do our utmost.”
“Asgard needs food and horses.”
“W-we’ll give our all!”
“Good.”
“Um… Your Majesty. At this rate, we may face danger.”
“Danger?”
Torsen nodded. He hesitated, then spoke.
“Ahead dwells the ruler of the seas. A monster that’s lived for centuries.”
He’d dismissed sailors’ tall tales, but the beast was real.
“Its tentacles bear horrific suckers—once gripped, escape is impossible.”
Torsen paled, recalling his comrades’ deaths.
“Hundreds of teeth shred flesh to bits—.”
Yes, his comrades had been ground up in that maw.
“The ink it spews melts the eyes, blinding you.”
The murky ink birthed fog and burrowed into eyes with agony. A truly nightmarish horror!
Loki blinked, then cocked his head.
“That… sounds like.”
“Yes. The legendary monster known to sailors.”
“An octopus?”
“…Kra… Yes?”
“You’re scared of a mere octopus?”
“N-no! It’s no mere octopus!”
“Tentacles, suckers, spews ink. Octopus, no?”
Well, it was—but no being deserved such a trivial name!
Yet he couldn’t object. It did take octopus form!
“Or squid, maybe?”
“P-please, don’t underestimate it. Invade its domain, and it treats you as merciless prey…!”
“Hold.”
Loki raised a hand. Torsen fell silent. As if on cue, the drums, the dwarf Reran’s shouts—all ceased.
The ship, charging ahead, gradually slowed.
“Rain’s stopped.”
In the hush, only Loki’s voice echoed.
“Wind’s gone too.”
No breeze stirred; the waves had calmed. The night’s blackness? The ship seemed afloat on ink.
Perhaps that’s why. And so, this place was named…
“M-my god… We’ve reached the Death Swamp already!?”
The Death Sea. Astoria islanders called it the Death Swamp.
“Death Swamp?”
“Named so because once entered, no escape—!”
“…But didn’t you escape?”
“W-well, yes, but… that was a miracle—! Without divine aid, impossible—!”
Loki glanced at the dwarf Reran.
“Says if god helps, you escape—so we’ll get out fine. Ah, without me, you’d sink?”
“Hahaha! Quite the jest!”
Reran guffawed, clearly amused. Torsen stared at them, stunned.
What’s funny about that? A joke?
Chills ran down his spine. The sea where his comrades perished. They’d entered the sea dominator’s domain!
Yet these folk chatted and laughed at leisure!
Kuuuuu-.
A faint noise. Tiny ripples stirred the eerily still sea, flat as land.
Moonlight glinted, casting a massive shadow passing beneath.
Something the warship’s size.
“Damn, it’s that bastard!”
Torsen relived the nightmare. Panicking, he yelled to the Nod warriors on deck.
“That thing sank our ship!”
A massive surge erupted mid-sea.
“We’ll all die! Hurry, flee—!”
Loki stared ahead. A colossal black shadow began engulfing the ship.
“Q-quick, row… Uh, aaahk!”
Turning mid-sentence, Torsen spotted the rising behemoth and fell flat on his rear.
“I-it’s him!”
He pointed, shrieking.
“It’s here!”
Hundreds of slimy tentacles, enormous eyes. A monster with hundreds of teeth.
The legendary sea horror!
Kra—
“Octopus confirmed.”
Torsen gaped at Loki.
‘Still cracking jokes…?!’
Loki smacked his lips and hefted his longsword. A hefty blade, straddling the line between longsword and greatsword.
“No ultra-long reach is a shame—but.”
His eyes gleamed.
“Sashimi feast after ages, unlimited.”
「Koooooo-!」
As tentacles lashed toward the ship, Loki slashed upward from below.
A simple stroke. Torsen winced and shut his eyes. To him, it looked like swinging at empty air.
‘They’re insane!’
Insane. Drunk on the warship’s power, arrogant—especially their king, hubris to the heavens. Soon, he, the Nod king, everyone aboard—all sucked into those whirling teeth, doomed.
“……?”
Yet silence reigned. Torsen cracked his eyes.
A tentacle tip hovered right before him.
‘Eek-!’
Poised to skewer his brow—
Plop.
—it thudded to the deck.
A roar split the air; space itself tore.
“……!”
Boom-!
Air rent asunder, wind slamming Torsen’s face.
‘Space split!’
Or so it seemed. Hundreds of invisible blades had severed the tentacles!
Crunch-! Crunch-!
Not just that—the Kraken’s body bore wounds too.
「Kuoooo-!」
Ink, not blood, spurted from the gashes.
“Ah…”
Torsen stared at the Kraken in disbelief, then at Loki standing tall before it.
Loki hoisted a twitching severed tentacle from the deck.
And bit in.
“……!”
Crunch crunch.
He stuffed his mouth and chewed. Torsen felt an inexplicable dread at the relish.
Not him alone. The wounded, writhing Kraken’s massive eyes bulged wide at Loki.
Shocked, no doubt. The humans it devoured now devouring it!
“Oh! This is…”
Loki’s gaze shifted to the Kraken.
“Delicious.”
「……!」
“To savor it fresh, you’ll stay alive.”
Loki blinked at the stump linking to the Kraken’s body. The tentacle was slowly regenerating.
“Impressive regeneration too.”
He raised a hand. Ballistae swiveled to target the Kraken in unison.
“Perfect timing for our food woes. Regenerating grub?”
The Nod warriors’ eyes flashed. Seeing green glints in the dark, the Kraken shuddered.
“This is the creative economy.”
Loki dropped his hand. Harpoons launched.
Chained barbs embedded across the Kraken’s flesh.
「Kuoooo-!」
The Kraken thrashed its legs to flee, shoving the ship. Loki slashed; legs severed anew.
Yet as they slowly regrew, Loki nodded in satisfaction.
Infinite food for the famine?
“Aum’ll love this.”
Plus, it had rocketed from the depths awfully fast?
“Reminds me of a movie.”
Caribbean… something.
Loki grinned at the Kraken.
“They farmed octopus there. Wonder if it’d work here.”
He stepped up to the bow, peering down at it.
“You. Time to tow our ship.”