Chapter 49: Very Depths of the Abyss (3) (1/2)
Splash–!
Water gushed out after being carried up by the body, and as it splashed off to the sides, a large circular head was revealed from beneath.
With a body 35 metres in length, it was as big as apartments. A large cephalopod with the rank S- given to it, that could destroy one large city just by itself;
Kraken.
As it rose up from beneath the surface of the water, it raised a thick leg which was larger than human bodies.
“Front Guards! Spread out!”
Hearing Ryuunosuke’s shout, the superhumans that acted as the shields at the front line scattered, which was immediately followed by the thick leg swooping down like a large whip.
The target of its attack was a large box made of wood. From the monster’s perspective, it must have been the largest, and the easiest target to go after.
Kwaaang–!
The wooden box was instantaneously crushed into shatters and a large pillar of water reaching dozens of metres in height was created as an aftermath. Due to the overwhelming aftershock, some superhumans failed to dodge it properly and thus bled from their nostrils.
This was a true showcase of the might of large species. Even world rankers who could fight it alone wouldn’t be able to remain unscathed if they received an attack like that head on.
However, straight after the water pillar disappeared, something grabbed onto the Kraken’s leg. An artifact with a steel frame had left the broken wooden box as it tied up its leg like large chains.
Feeling its leg suddenly going heavy, the large squid used one of its other legs in an attempt to escape from the steel chain that bound its leg, but despite the tremendous power of the large species, the chains remained stiff.
“Did you think we came all the way here empty-handed–!?”
Ryuunosuke shouted.
Large species above the boss rank could rely on mana to have a rough understanding of the opponent’s intention. Rolling its black pair of eyes, the large squid stared at Ryuunosuke.
“Strike it–!”
In response to his words, the superhumans started moving left and right. Flames and lightning struck the body as ice picks that were a few metres long appeared from thin air. Those lances of ice were aimed at the squid’s eyes but were blocked by its large legs and deeply pierced the legs instead.
White liquid splashed from its wound. At the same time, parasitic monsters that lived inside the Kraken’s body ripped the squid’s skins apart and started crawling out.
Gaaaah…
Kraken’s [Fear] began to resonate and marked the true start of the battle.
While they were in the middle of their combat, the operators were gathered at one spot towards the back. In small-scale raids, the operators wouldn’t be a part of the battle at all but those that were currently present had their names listed on the world’s ranking list.
They therefore had a job as well, which was to deal with monsters that approached from a distance.
In other words, they had to take care of the mobs.
Occasionally, nagas, mermans and sea serpents would approach them but none of them came near Yu Jitae. That was because of their instincts which were more developed than humans.
Thanks to that, Yu Jitae took one step away from the battlefield, and carefully observed Ha Saetbyul’s actions.
A sea serpent jumped out of the water behind and aimed for her back. Turning around, Ha Saetbyul slashed with her sword and drew a line on the snake’s body mid-air.
She, who had feared even the fruit knives, was now able to use longswords at a high level.
Meanwhile, she spared some of her time to check the surviving superhumans and their exhaustion level. Her blessing, [Danger-sensing Eye] could sense the approach of an enemy but could also sense the death of a person as a risk factor.
Ha Saetbyul was looking for people that became weak.
Splash–!
That was when Kraken spitted out a barrel of poisonous ink at the leader, Ryuunosuke, who immediately responded by enchanting his arrows. Shooting five arrows that contained the aura of the wind, he created an artificial wind flow and dispersed it, but a portion of the ink landed on his armour.
Ha Saetbyul’s gaze stayed on Ryuunosuke for a long time, as her tongue licked past her lips inside the steel helmet.
“What a shame.”
Yu Jitae, who had merely been watching on, said that as the steel helmet turned towards him.
“Sorry what was that?”
“Like I said, what a shame. Don’t you think so.”
“…I have no idea what you are talking about.”
“Surely you feel a bit contradicted. It would be good if the body remained in full but if they are completely dead, it would be difficult to use them.”
As soon as his words came to an end, the pair of eyes hiding behind the steel helmet, was painted in red.
“Bastard.”
A unisexual voice escaped the helmet.
“Who in the world…”
Right when that existence wearing Ha Saetbyul’s skin was about to say something to Yu Jitae,
“Finished tying it up on the spot!”
A superhuman’s voice echoing from mana was heard by every member present. 7 of the 10 ‘Steel Restraints’ that had been prepared were sealing seven of Kraken’s legs.
It was time – Ryuunosuke floated up in the air as an enormous amount of mana gathered behind him. Soon, a 5 metre long longbow flashing in light as well as an arrow of light appeared from thin air.
Before long, a large person appeared behind Ryuunosuke’s back while holding that said bow and finally, his necklace, rings and earrings resonated from the mana and reverberated.
[Giant Godly Bow (AA)]
The mighty authority which raised Ryuunosuke to his current position was revealed.
“Monster of the depths.”
When Ryuunosuke opened his mouth, the large figure of a man pulled the bowstring back.
“May you enter a deep slumber.”
It then let go of the string.
In that instant, Ha Saetbyul who had let out a black poisonous fog to block Yu Jitae’s vision turned her body around, and Yu Jitae, who had been glancing through the smoke likewise moved his body.
After being shot, the arrow caused a large tempest. The surface of the water was suppressed by that aura and the water was pushed down by several metres following the trajectory of the arrow.
From the body of Ha Saetbyul who had jumped in a millisecond after that, a black aura came exploding out. At the same time, her body as well as the armour grew by a large margin and the metal around her body turned into tentacles of a horrendous beast.
What Ha Saetbyul was aiming for was Ryuunosuke who had just shot the arrow. His back was left completely unprotected.
Krrrrh…
[Extrication]
As she transformed into a full demon form, six tentacles left from her chest, back and shoulders in an appearance resembling a spider. The tentacles splashed the water and moved her body forward and acted like springs which allowed her to dash forward at a rapid speed.
At a speed resembling a cannonball, she shot herself towards Ryuunosuke.
The old archer was feeling a shortness of breath from the aftermath of a fierce skill, but sensed the danger and turned his head around.
Kwaaaang!
Right when his eyes were about to open wide, Yu Jitae closed the gap and grabbed on the head of the extricated Ha Saetbyul. He then rammed that large body into the water.
Kyuaaaaak-!!
Her face covered with tentacles roared with a splitting scream. While driving Ha Saetbyul’s head down, Yu Jitae started going deeper into the depths of ‘Hetheia’s Ocean’.
“Y, youuuu–!”
A voice that could belong to either a man or a woman left her mouth through the tentacles. She then used those tentacles in an attempt to rid herself of Yu Jitae and as thorns grew on the tentacles, they aimed for his neck and face.
Those ended up creating small scratches on Yu Jitae’s skin but couldn’t actually stop his movement. Despite blood leaving his face, neck and forehead, and merging with the water, Yu Jitae continued pushing Ha Saetbyul down to the very depths.