Chapter 93
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 93
The first thing to come into view was a massive humpback whale, nearly forty meters long—the transformed state of the Mermaid King.
Unlike the other royals, his mana had become even more potent than it was before his transformation. At this moment, even Meisa would find it difficult to guarantee a victory in a one-on-one fight against him.
Under normal circumstances, Turan would have marveled at the sight of such a magnificent creature and its sheer power, but he couldn't afford to now. The presence of the monster approaching from behind was far more overwhelming.
The Great Sea Serpent…
Back when he first obtained the Mimic Relic, Turan had marveled at the majestic dignity of a dead Great Sea Serpent alongside a man presumed to be of the Frea Divine Clan.
But the sight of a living, breathing Great Sea Serpent made that memory seem paltry. There was a world of difference between admiring the grandeur of a natural landscape like a lake or a mountain and seeing that landscape actually come to life, leaping and moving.
Furthermore, the serpent’s appearance was quite different from the one he had seen before. Unlike the moss-covered corpse of the past, its entire body was covered in shimmering silver scales. In places where the scales were damaged, a swirling, wind-like energy filled the gaps, much like how spirits used a green glow to mend their forms.
Finally, there was the vast amount of mana within its body, felt through the senses of his relic. The quantity was on par with the Head of the Lavitas family.
That creature would be the prize of this hunt.
"Incredible..."
Turan turned his head to see Solif muttering with a wide grin. Having always been obsessed with ancient myths and legends, the reality of facing a truly mythical monster seemed to bring him genuine joy.
"Let's go!"
Turan shouted as he took to the air with Meisa, moving toward the Great Sea Serpent. Solif followed a moment later, clutching Bije’s legs as they soared, while the mermaid royals approached the serpent through the sea.
For a moment, Turan felt a shiver as the target grew larger the closer they got. He came to a halt and manifested a Wind Path. It was more difficult than usual due to the violent vortices whipping around them, but he managed to stabilize it.
In that state, Turan pulled his secret weapon from his pouch. It was a sling similar in shape to the one he used before, but its scale was entirely different—both in the length of the cord and the size of the pouch.
While his old sling was meant for throwing stones the size of eggs, the one he held now was large enough to hold a boulder the size of a man's upper torso, with only a slight bit of exaggeration.
Turan loaded a large, pre-prepared rock into the sling and began to whirl it.
It still feels a bit awkward…
He didn't lack the physical strength, but throwing a projectile of a completely different specification than what he had used his entire life meant he couldn't be as precise as usual. He had trained for the past few days, but how could that compare to a lifetime of experience?
Reinforced by mana, the sling didn't snap. It spun smoothly, building centrifugal force with the massive boulder inside.
A moment later, the launched rock rode the Wind Path, flying at several times the speed of sound until it slammed into the Great Sea Serpent's head.
[□-----■-----□-----!]
The monster, which had been cutting through the sea toward the island without hesitation, writhed its body and let out a piercing shriek. To a being of that size, the hit should have been no different than a normal person being struck by a pebble, but the immense mana infused within the rock exerted physical force far beyond its scale.
Naturally, the serpent's scream didn't end as a mere animal's cry. The shriek—or rather, the roar—erupted from its gaping maw, sending ripples and tsunamis surging through the surroundings. Had ordinary people heard this sound from a short distance, the sheer shock would have killed them. Even Turan had to grimace and cover his ears with both hands.
"Ugh..."
After letting out that scream, the Great Sea Serpent turned its eerie, yellow-green glowing eyes toward Turan and immediately launched a counterattack.
Waterspouts rose from the sea, and several pillars of water shot up like swaying serpents, hurtling toward Turan. He quickly used flight magic to dodge one or two, but there were more than a dozen water pillars flying his way. Considering that flight magic wasn't structurally a very sturdy technique, a single direct hit would likely knock him out of the sky.
In that moment of crisis, Turan quickly detonated a handful of Soul of Fire beside him. With an impact like someone slamming into his ribs, his body was instantly propelled away, allowing him to escape the attack range of the water pillars.
"Whew..."
One of the water pillars that missed Turan struck the shore of the island behind him, and the impact was staggering. A trench dozens of meters long and several meters deep was gouged into the sandy beach. While a direct hit might not kill him instantly, it would certainly deal significant damage.
While Turan drew the serpent's attention, attacks began from other directions.
"Aaaaaah!"
Meisa, who could now fire lightning bolts almost without consuming mana thanks to the thick dark clouds, relentlessly scorched the serpent's body. Solif, hanging onto Bije, circled the creature's torso, using a golden whip to burn and tear at its scales.
Meanwhile, below them, the mermaid royals—transformed into various sea beasts—harassed the serpent by gnawing at its body with their respective specialties. The most prominent among them was the Mermaid King in his giant whale form. When the great whale rammed its head into the serpent's flank, a thunderous boom echoed as if two mountains had collided.
"Ha..."
Compared to Rowina, whom he had fought recently, the serpent didn't necessarily have dozens of times more mana, yet the fact that it could exert such power through sheer physical mass alone was awe-inspiring. Then again, even if the whale was less than half the serpent's length, its torso was much thicker. In terms of overall weight, there probably wasn't much of a difference.
Perhaps deciding that the pests bothering it from the sea were easier to catch than those flying in the sky, the Great Sea Serpent roared and coiled its long body around the whale. A jellyfish that had been emitting electricity while digging its tentacles into the scales was struck by the serpent's tail and crushed instantly.
That one's dead.
At the appearance of the first casualty, the mermaid royals visibly faltered. Seeing the serpent open its maw to bite the whale's flank, Turan flew close and poured Soul of Fire toward its face, immediately attempting to ignite it.
However, contrary to his expectations, no grand explosion occurred. The black powder had been caught in the storm and drenched before it could ignite. It was one thing to use it near his own body, but protecting the powder from the rain while throwing it a distance was difficult.
"Damn it..."
He knew the explosive power of Soul of Fire dropped significantly when in contact with water, but he hadn't expected it to fail to explode entirely. Though momentarily flustered by the unexpected turn of events, Turan immediately wiped the failed method from his mind and threw a stone toward the serpent's large eye, which was fixed on the whale's flank.
In his haste, he didn't use a large boulder like before, but a small stone he usually threw. To such a massive creature, it was an attack smaller than a speck of dust, yet the serpent writhed its entire body like a human poked in the eye, slamming its tail against the sea.
Dozens—no, hundreds—of water pillars like the ones that had attacked Turan rose up, churning the sea for hundreds of meters in every direction.
"Watch out!"
Turan quickly projected his voice with wind magic, but Solif and Bije, who had been circling the serpent's torso, were unable to escape the attack range in time. Through the raging storm, he saw the man and the bird falter before they were eventually engulfed by a pillar of water and dragged beneath the waves.
Oh no...
The only saving grace was that Turan could maintain his vision even in the storm thanks to the senses of the Mimic Relic. Flying toward them immediately, Turan saw Solif manipulating the water to emerge from the sea.
"Are you okay?"
"I am! But I think Bije's wing is broken!"
Turan lifted Bije and Solif and dragged them to the shore of the island behind them. Solif looked at the whimpering Bije and spoke in a tone filled with self-reproach.
"Damn it. If I hadn't been there, she could have dodged it easily."
One of the chronic weaknesses of flying magical beasts was that their physical durability was low compared to their mana capacity. Of course, as a high-ranking magical beast, Bije could normally withstand most enemy attacks, but the creature before them was literally in the realm of myth. It was only thanks to the defensive magic tool Turan had placed around her neck—one he had obtained from the remnants of Baraha—that she wasn't more severely injured or killed.
Turan carefully set Bije's broken wing and fed her a recovery potion.
"Are you feeling better, Bije?"
Bije nodded as if to say she was fine, but Turan could indirectly feel the pain she was experiencing through the Soul Tether. Flight was a delicate skill, and considering the madness of the storm, she wouldn't be able to participate in the battle for the time being.
Turan instructed Bije to stay further inland and placed Solif on the back of a nearby sea turtle mermaid. Though it would be hard for him to get close, providing cover fire from there would still be helpful.
Returning to the site of the struggle against the Great Sea Serpent, Turan frowned at the changed situation. Though not much time had passed, two more mermaid royals had died, and the great whale was bleeding from various parts of its body.
["Are those two okay?!"]
Meisa, who had been attacking the serpent, sent her voice through wind magic, having seen Bije and Solif get shot down. Turan gave a hand signal that they were fine, then pulled out another large boulder, created a Wind Path, and threw it.
With a loud crash, the Great Sea Serpent staggered.
It seems to be taking a fair amount of damage, but...
The problem was that the mermaid royals had begun to act noticeably more passive. Unlike Turan’s group, who attacked from the sky, the serpent prioritized attacking those in the sea within its immediate reach. Having suffered significant losses, the mermaid royals were now merely retreating slowly instead of engaging aggressively.
They were likely thinking the same thing as Turan. If they suffered too many casualties and the balance of power shifted, Turan’s group might try to purge them after the fight. With three already dead, they clearly weren't willing to sacrifice any more unless Turan’s side took more risks or suffered casualties of their own.
It can't be helped.
Turan whirled a boulder in his large sling, flying around the serpent's head to draw its attention. The creature tried to intercept the annoying fly threatening it by creating whirlpools as before, but Turan evaded them each time using high-speed movement powered by Soul of Fire. After repeating this several times, his entire body felt stiff and sore, as if he had been beaten.
This is exhausting...
Still, his efforts paid off. Seeing Turan’s desperate struggle, the mermaid royals, who had become passive, began to take an aggressive stance once more. From a distance, Solif was also drawing the serpent's attention by firing arrows and spears made of light.
As for Meisa, for some reason, she had switched from lightning to physical light-based attack magic like Solif. Perhaps she felt that lightning magic wasn't as effective as expected against the massive serpent.
The fierce exchange continued for dozens of minutes.
Realizing the mana in his body had significantly depleted, Turan stepped back to catch his breath. Meisa then stepped forward to take over the role of drawing the serpent's attention.
I'm starting to get tired... when is it going to fall?
According to the senses of his relic, the Great Sea Serpent's mana had dropped to less than half of its original level. Its body was also destroyed in various places, replaced by the swirling storm common to spirits. Although spirits were structurally much sturdier than living creatures, they weren't immortal; the damage was definitely accumulating.
The problem was that Turan’s group and the mermaid royals were just as exhausted. Three of the nine mermaid royals who had initially joined the battle were dead, and with Bije incapacitated, it was difficult for Solif to participate actively. Given that the current balance was held precariously, a single mistake could flip the tide of battle.
Should I give up?
The thought flickered in his mind, but Turan quickly shook his head and dismissed it. It would be a waste to give up after coming this far. It felt like they only needed to push a little bit more.
If only it weren't for this storm, it would have been easier.
If he could have launched and detonated large quantities of Soul of Fire from a distance, the battle would have been much simpler. Attacking with the sling was a good way to conserve mana, but it couldn't match the explosive power of Soul of Fire. If he could stop the rain or place the Soul of Fire directly inside or on the surface of the serpent while shielding it from the storm before detonating it, he might be able to deal a decisive blow. Especially since an explosion is maximized when one side is contained...
As he thought this, an idea flashed through Turan’s mind, and his eyes widened.
The pouch of the sling shields the contents from the rain, and detonating it would create a powerful reactionary force.
At the same time, he remembered the magic devices the dwarves used to use—objects that fired metal fragments using the principle of liquid turning into steam and expanding in volume. What if he used a similar principle to propel a boulder with Soul of Fire? What if he packed the inside of the sling with Soul of Fire, placed a boulder on top, and detonated it the moment he fired?
The moment the idea struck him, Turan pulled out several handfuls of Soul of Fire and placed them in the large sling. He then placed the boulder on top to shield the powder from the raindrops, fixed the shape with telekinetic magic, and soared into the sky.
[□--■---]
Having recognized him after several encounters, the Great Sea Serpent, which had been snapping irritably at Meisa as she hovered nearby, glared at Turan with hostility. It knew he was the one who had dealt the most painful blows.
The mermaid royals fighting below also seemed visibly heartened by Turan’s reappearance. If the Mermaid King, who had repeatedly tanked the serpent's charges with his body, was the ultimate defender, then Turan, who had repeatedly struck its head with massive boulders, was the ultimate attacker.
Seeing the Great Sea Serpent on guard against him, Turan gave a smirk. He swung the sling, and at the moment of release, he detonated the Soul of Fire.
A searing heat washed over his hand as the boulder flew faster and harder than ever before. Its target was the crown of the Great Sea Serpent's head—the very spot where the previous owner of the Mimic Relic had once plunged his hand.