Chapter 231 – The Arctic Sea Monster 3 (1/2)

Amaterasu’s clan leader, Ryosuke, couldn’t make sense of the reality in front of him.

When the sea monster appeared, he gathered his subordinates to organize an attack plan, but a young man suddenly came out of nowhere and wiped out everyone and everything in the blink of an eye.

For the Amaterasu Clan, which was proud to belong to the upper-middle-class amongst all clans, this one-sided defeat was shameful.

“Do you admit defeat, Matsuda Ryosuke?”

“…”

Ryosuke’s complexion turned blue when Woohyuk held Grandia up to his neck.

He had survived by doing any and everything, so he felt at a loss to meet his end in such an embarrassing way. He knew that he was at his prime, so he had to cling on no matter what.

‘I have to survive somehow,’ he thought to himself.

He didn’t have it easy from the beginning.

In the tutorial area, he served as a general under another leader, and after he moved to the Eeth Continent, he was almost killed when he got caught up in the war among the large clans.

He believed that if he could just survive and overcome this moment, he’d be able to rise up again.

When his thoughts reached this point, Ryosuke abandoned his pride as a clan leader and spoke up,

“Your sword skills are great. My subordinates have gone through many trials, tribulations, and battles, but for them to be overpowered like this… even if one were to call you a Sword God, it wouldn’t do you justice.”

“… It seems that you’ve realized your level and situation.”

Woohyuk put Grandia back into its scabbard and sat down in Ryosuke’s luxurious chair.

Then, from the entrance, Helena and Roan entered the room atop the snow lion.

“I took care of all the guys outside. Well, all I did was use a magic spell to put them all to sleep.”

“Good job, Helena.”

Helena was both a Saintess and an outstanding Sage Class mage.

It wasn’t difficult for her to deal with the general clansmen.

There was no need for Roan, who’d probably cause larger trouble to break out, to act.

“Then, let’s listen to the story.”

A sea monster threatening the Northern Sea.

It was something he had never heard of before.

When Woohyuk asked for an explanation, Ryosuke, who was lying flat on the ground, raised his head to speak,

“I-It hasn’t been long since the sea monster started attacking the island’s coast.”

The sea monster looked like a mix between a sea snake and whale, and it used wide area-of-effect magic.

The monster’s two pumpkin-like eyes froze those who looked at it, and the dark blue scales leaked out a poison that was strong enough to stop one’s heart if one was unfortunate to touch it.

If such a monster was only threatening at sea, it would be okay, however…

“Yes, unfortunately, if you fall under the spell, your whole body slowly freezes, starting from the sole of your feet, and eventually you’ll die. However, the larger problem comes after that.”

Ryosuke further explained that the corpses became undead and attacked their surroundings at random.

So, the Amaterasu Clan was about to minimize the damage by burning alive those who were cursed.

“Hmm. It’s a very troublesome monster. I’ll have to stop by this place again, later on, so I should just get rid of it now,” Woohyuk murmured to himself.

“D-Do you intend to kill it right now? With your level of swordsmanship, you’d definitely be able to contend against it, but…” Ryosuke said with a trailing voice.

Ryosuke was afraid that, for Woohyuk’s plan to work, his clan members were probably going to be used as meat shield fodder.

Just as he thought…

“We’ll have to lure the sea monster to the shore. To do that, I’ll need some of your guys to act bait.”

“…”

“Ryosuke, you can supply the manpower, right?”

“O-Of c-course. Ha…haha…”

Ryosuke laughed brilliantly while sweating profusely.

For him, options didn’t exist from the start.

***

A biting blizzard fell upon the island.

On the decks of large and small ships afloat in the sea, a heavy sense of fear was flowing amongst the crew.

‘Ah… even I was mobilized as fodder…’

Ryosuke resented his situation, but there was nothing he could do but resign himself to his fate. He double-checked his preparations.

There was a large harpoon loaded with magical power, a bucket of shredded fish, and a guardian stone statue, which created a defensive barrier against the monster’s poison.

Even though all were in good condition, his anxiousness didn’t disappear.

Usually, when the sea monster appeared, they only attacked from long range from land and expelled the monster, as they were defending themselves from it. They had never tried to lure it out, especially while they were at sea.

However, since it was Woohyuk’s order, Ryosuke had to play a decoy role, even if he hated it.

“C-Clan Chief. How about we just run away? Even if we defeat the sea monster, it’s unlikely that he’ll treat us well.”

“Yes. Let’s go to a corner of the world where the influence of large clans doesn’t reach and start anew…”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Ryosuke screamed out ss the clan members silently clamored.

It wasn’t his choice to live in such a harsh environment.

The reality was that the entire Eeth Continent, and the world for that matter, was hell itself.

The competition between human beings was fierce. Furthermore, the 72 Demon Kings and the Seven Witches of Sin didn’t leave humanity alone either.

‘It’s difficult to stay alive myself, but you’re asking me to challenge for a seat on the Divine Thrones…? Bullshit.’

Ryosuke cynically recalled the contents of the quests he had recently received from the system.

How many humans were there who could win a one-on-one with any of the 72 Demon Kings on the Eeth Continent?

Though he didn’t consider himself insignificant, Ryosuke could tell the difference between the possible and impossible.

“Do you all think we can live better lives if we go elsewhere? We only came to this place after being pushed around by other forces. Keep in mind that if we give up here, there’s no future for our clan! If there is someone who refuses to accept this and wants to protest or run away, I’ll cut his neck with my bare hands!”

“Y-Y-Yes, sir!”

“We will fight to the death!” the Amaterasu clansmen shouted out as if they had made up their minds.

Not long after, a white, hazy object rose from a distance, revealing the appearance of the sea monster with maddened eyes.

“Ki-Yaahahahahahah!”

At the same time, the seawater around them started to freeze.

Ryosuke urgently shouted at his clan members,

“Come on, come on, go to the shore! Keep in mind that our mission is simply to be bait!”

“Yes, yes!”

If they moved slowly, they would freeze and die.

Of course, they could abandon the ship and try escaping by water, but then they wouldn’t receive the protection of the guardian statue. Thus, one would be struck by poison before reaching land.