Monster Wave (3): Plunge Against the Kraken
Thanks to Esila’s final words, a narrow crack of possibility finally appeared in the wall of despair that had been closing in on me. Of course, all it really meant was that I had scraped together just enough points to buy a mithril greatsword. There was no way that alone would let me defeat a kraken. At best, I could now actually injure the colossal squid. Whether I could land those blows or not was an entirely separate problem.
It was simply the difference between having no choice but to rely completely on Eunbyeol’s piloting and having at least a slim chance to do something myself. There was no point wasting time calculating every variable right now. The only thing that mattered was solving the problems directly in front of me, one at a time, without hesitation.
◈ Bring the opponent to orgasm through full-body massage
◈ Insert a non-bodily object into the opponent’s body
After completing those two achievements and claiming the final Awakening Point, I immediately purchased the mithril greatsword I had been eyeing in the point shop without a moment’s hesitation.
◈ A greatsword said to have been painstakingly forged over five years by dwarf aliens from a distant exoplanet.
◈ Metal that never rusts. Blade strength is exceptionally high.
◈ Only a handful of artisans on Earth can refine this material.
◈ Price: 1200 points
All the points I had saved over the past several days vanished in an instant, but I didn’t feel any regret. No matter how you looked at it, points could never be more precious than my life.
“The mithril greatsword has been stored in your subspace pocket. You may retrieve and use it at any time.”
Thanks, Esila.
I thanked Esila for her consideration in preventing the awkward situation of a strange weapon suddenly appearing inside the helicopter, then immediately asked a simple question.
Esila.
“Yes, Master.”
What are my chances of beating the kraken now?
Factoring in that the kraken has revealed itself on land rather than in the sea, Master’s Swordsmanship and Flame levels are 6 and 5 respectively, and that Master has now obtained the mithril greatsword… the probability of victory is estimated at approximately 30% or lower.
It was much higher than 2%. I supposed I should consider that fortunate. It was certainly better than complaining that thirty percent was still pathetic. Betting my life on odds that didn’t even reach fifty percent was disappointing, but at least it was no longer a completely hopeless situation where I could do nothing at all.
“Miss Eunbyeol.”
“Yes.”
“Can this helicopter get a little closer to the kraken?”
The moment the words left my mouth, Do Sihee shot me a look that said what kind of nonsense are you spouting?
“What are you saying, Mr. Seongcheol?! We need to get as far away as possible and escape this island!”
“You already know we can’t outrun that kraken. We have to try something.”
“But deliberately approaching a dangerous monster like that is even more insane…”
“And the important part isn’t whether we should go. I asked whether it’s possible for Miss Eunbyeol to do it.”
The only thing that mattered to me was whether I could carry out the plan I had in mind. The opinion of a passenger like Do Sihee wasn’t particularly relevant. What mattered was how well the maid holding the controls could fly the helicopter.
“…It is possible. However, this action provides no assistance whatsoever to escaping the island. Therefore, I will not do it.”
It was the answer I had expected. There was no way the expressionless maid would make a decision that would put her master, Do Sihee, in danger. So I leaned in and whispered the counter-offer that would let her save her master far more easily.
“I will draw the kraken’s attention by jumping from the air. In the meantime, please escape the island with Sihee.”
Eunbyeol, who had been quietly listening to me while dodging the ink cannon, asked in return.
“…Are you serious about what you just said?”
“Please make a wise decision, Miss Eunbyeol. Isn’t Sihee’s safety the most important thing to you?”
“……”
After a brief moment of hesitation, Eunbyeol turned the helicopter and began flying toward the shoreline where the S-rank monster kraken had appeared.
“Eunbyeol?!”
Inside the suddenly turning helicopter, Do Sihee called out her maid’s name in clear panic.
“Have you lost your mind?! You’re really going to get closer to that kraken?!”
“…It is Mr. Kim Seongcheol’s decision.”
“Mr. Seongcheol? Do you really think you can take that thing down?”
“I’m not certain, but I gave Miss Eunbyeol the plan with the highest chance of success.”
Eunbyeol ignored our conversation and continued steering the helicopter toward the kraken’s location. Before long, a heavy thud shook the cabin far more violently than before.
“Kyaaaaaah?!”
Now that we were closer, the impact of the ink shells had grown significantly stronger. After the vibration passed, Do Sihee spoke to me again.
“…Haah, fine. If both of you have decided this, there must be a good reason. Neither Mr. Seongcheol nor Eunbyeol would suggest fighting that monster without any thought.”
With those words, Do Sihee unfastened her seatbelt, stood up, and nocked an arrow on her bow, ready to fire her vision arrows at any moment.
…I felt a little sorry for her misunderstanding, but the arrows she was preparing would most likely never be used against the kraken.
“Miss Eunbyeol, open the left door.”
“I will open it in three seconds.”
“W-wait a second! At this altitude?! Aren’t we supposed to land together and regroup first?!”
“No. I will be the only one landing.”
The instant I finished counting down from three in my head, the helicopter door on my side slid open. Without hesitation, I threw myself out into the open air more than fifty meters above the ground.
“Mr. Seongcheol! If you do that, my covering fire…!”
Do Sihee seemed to be shouting something behind me, but it wasn’t important enough to focus on. Even if I had tried to listen, the fierce wind roaring past my ears would have drowned it out anyway.
If I kept falling like this, I would reach one of the kraken’s two longest tentacles—its “catching arms.” Whether it was pure coincidence or whether Eunbyeol had calculated it perfectly, I couldn’t be sure. Still, starting the fight by slicing off one of its most troublesome limbs wasn’t a bad entry point at all.
Soon, the ink shell that had been aimed at the helicopter flew straight toward me. I drew the mithril greatsword from my subspace pocket in mid-air and used “Draw Cut” to signal the start of battle.
With a sharp schwaack, the ink mass split in two. I pushed my body through the gap. Some of it splattered onto me, but fortunately it was just ordinary squid ink. I didn’t feel anything strange.
My target was the kraken’s eye. If I could kill it with a single thrust, that would be ideal, but of course things wouldn’t be that easy. The single eyeball wriggling between the disgusting, slimy tentacles had already hidden itself among its legs.
I would probably have to cut down about half of those tentacles before I could even reach its weak point. Whether I killed it or it killed me, this fight was inevitably going to be a long one.
The moment the right catching arm—the landing spot I was falling toward—reached up into the sky to attack me, I swung the greatsword and sliced the tentacle vertically in one long cut. The sensation of soft, squishy flesh parting beneath the blade was far from pleasant. The sound wasn’t any better.
As I severed the giant squid’s arm, which was nearly twenty to thirty meters long, my body rapidly approached the ground. The instant both feet slammed into the earth with a heavy crash, one of the creature’s strongest weapons was already rendered immobile.
Thududududu…
The sound of the helicopter’s engine, now quite far away, gradually faded into the distance. By taking the ink shell in mid-air for them, I must have given them enough altitude to take off safely. It meant Eunbyeol was following the plan perfectly, which put my mind at ease. At the very least, it meant the three of us wouldn’t all die on this island like dogs.
I will draw the kraken’s attention by jumping from the air. In the meantime, please escape the island with Sihee.
No matter how precious I was to Do Sihee, Eunbyeol was still her servant. Among the three of us, only Eunbyeol could pilot the helicopter. If one of us had to be sacrificed, it was only right that it was me.
After all, Do Sihee’s vision arrows couldn’t deal effective damage to its eye. In that case, betting on a roughly thirty percent chance was far less safe than guaranteeing a sixty-six percent survival rate for the other two.
As I listened to the sound of the retreating helicopter and organized those thoughts, one small regret suddenly surfaced.
…Still, I should have at least told her my real name at the end.
If I died here, they probably wouldn’t even be able to recover my body. Do Sihee would have to go through quite a bit of trouble to figure out who I really was. Not that I had any intention of dying quietly to this monster, of course.
A sticky, wet sound came from the kraken’s squelching body as something viscous began to move. Soon, a heavy mass sliced through the air and flew toward my waist. It was my first time using this weapon, but I had already tested its cutting power plenty while falling. There was no need for further experiments.
One of the kraken’s shorter legs that had lunged at me was sliced cleanly in half by the mithril greatsword.
The real battle had begun.