Book 18 Chapter 13
Episode 132
Underwater Battle Royale, Naga Kingdom (6)
According to the history of creation, humans were designed at the moment of creation to walk and stand on land with two feet.
Modeled after the form of the Creator God.
This suggests a primal impossibility (不可能) that humans can never become aquatic creatures and have clear limitations underwater.
"Lister!"
Tentacles of madness ravage the hero party's formation.
If it had only been tentacles, it wouldn't have been a big problem.
However, it is an avatar of the ancient sea ruler, capable of controlling even the ocean currents at will.
"Mwahahahahaha… Before madness, everything shall be submerged in a frenzied sea and remade anew."
Lister, having already taken 16 direct hits, barely managed to stand up, spitting up blood.
"Link, Link, Link!"
The tentacles that flew in, aiming for that momentary opening, were fended off by Link.
[All our attacks are nullified, but all of its attacks land!]
Nils shouted when he saw the light bullets being pushed away by the ocean currents.
[(ㅁ-ㅁ);;;]
For Kees, the situation wasn't much different.
His specialty, trajectory-altering shots, was completely ineffective underwater.
Lister barely regained his stance, his battle-forged brain whirring.
'I definitely felt how disadvantageous underwater combat is during my previous duel with the Sea Gate Commander.'
But Friede had also created an 'underwater action-type barrier' based on that experience, and they had held a somewhat optimistic outlook…
'I never imagined it would be this bad.'
It's more than the Sea Gate Commander.
A high-level demon…!
It would have been a tough opponent anyway, but by using the [King's Flesh] as an abyssal amplifier, it seemed to have become twice as strong as in its normal state.
'Damn it, the battle is so disadvantageous that I can't concentrate on reciting the psalms…!'
At that moment, Friede could understand the feelings of a frog being swallowed alive by a snake.
This sea… it's the snake's coil.
We are merely frogs tightly wrapped in that snake's coil. This entire sea is its domain.
'Are we fools who walked into that snake's coil on our own feet?!'
Just then, as doubts about whether they could truly win began to infest the minds of the party members.
Light drenched their brains.
It was the light of the holy sword.
The holy sword, forged and born to eradicate evil (魔), a light inheriting that will.
"Friede, don't stop reciting the psalms! An opportunity will surely come!"
"!"
"Kees and Nils, prepare your maximum output strikes too!"
At Lister's baseless shout, Nils Blanc, representing the Ain, the most rational of the three races, rebelled.
[What are you talking about! Our attacks are less effective than trash thrown into the water because of the currents!]
Kees didn't actively agree but felt the same. He had just vowed never to enter the sea again.
[(▼-▼);;;]
Before such shouts, such murmurs discussing hesitation, all those hearts faltering before the impossible, Lister spoke with his 'back'.
"I will open the way."
That they could do it.
That they could do it.
That this night would not last forever, and a brilliant dawn would surely rise.
"We just have to part the sea like in the fairy tales, right? Because I'm a hero (勇士)."
Is strength truly what's needed to slash the sky and part the sea?
No, it's will.
What is primarily needed is an absolute conviction to accomplish that task.
"I am Lister Alter Shilpeung."
Pioneer of Courage, Holy Elmine Knights.
"I wish for the whole world to be filled with genuine laughter."
The Eldia heroes who heralded the dawn in the mythical age would have attempted such feats even if they didn't possess such abilities.
Because they were heroes.
Therefore, it was a natural progression for Shilpeung, a holy sword modeled after Sharilion, the holy sword of Eldia Cata (05) Enuel, who was daringly called the strongest among those heroes, to respond to that will.
"……!"
A light pressure (光壓) that made even the ancient king's avatar momentarily flinch, an primal vigilance born from ancient fear.
"Let's go, Shilpeung."
The next moment, as Shilpeung's light reached its zenith, time split into exactly twelve fragments.
Within each of those fragments.
Lister swung. The holy sword, at a speed that left no afterimage, a speed impossible to describe even with the concept of 'simultaneously'.
'No, stop, Lister! If you do that… your flame of life!'
By the time Friede, who was reciting the Changmyeong Sipy, thought that, all phenomena had already manifested (發現).
CRACK, CRACKCRACKCRACK─────!
That abnormal and unconventional wave of power created cracks in the realm of spacetime, which Providence had fashioned.
As many as 12 branches of those cracks.
Faykori's power source is lifespan; how much lifespan would Lister have had to use for this '12-shot Spacetime Slash'?
─────CHAAANG!
However, at the cost of that lifespan, which no one could precisely know and he himself never precisely spoke of!
At that moment, Lister!
He embodied a mythical verse from the ancient age of myths in this era: [The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it]! Just like the ancient heroes, by parting the very sea itself!
'Th-the sea…!'
'It-it split…!'
'Lister, that idiot actually…!'
And that wasn't all!
That power, which even slaughtered spacetime, tore apart even the body of the high-level demon Kraken into multiple pieces!
"Finish it!"
No one, absolutely no one, shouted that at the time. They didn't even have the luxury to shout.
But everyone knew.
That this opportunity, the path created by the hero, must never be missed. That this was their only chance for victory (勝機).
'Friede…!'
'Until the power of the Changmyeong Sipy is complete…!'
'Somehow, buy time…!'
The torn body was incinerated into ashes by Captylt-II's barrage of light bullets. Master!
Serwebon's arrows, passing through the gaps thus created, left World Tree roots at the entry and exit points, delaying super-fast regeneration. Crazy Master!
Link's fists and chains, rushing forward with a sea-shaking roar, tore and shattered the demon's bodies into even smaller pieces. A literal Demon Slayer!
'Link, that guy, I had my doubts, but does he really have the power to face a demon?!'
What human, what creature in history, could have faced the ancient king's avatar at such close range and torn its body apart with mere physical strength?!
'We can do it.'
'We can do it.'
'Its regeneration isn't happening!'
At the moment everyone harbored such certainty of victory, Lister's eyes caught sight of a nightmare (惡夢).
"No, no."
He should have yelled it out, should have shouted so everyone could hear…!
Was the problem that he tried to activate his power and rush forward at that instant?
His body was already suppressed by power overload due to the 12-shot Spacetime Slash. Severely damaged internal organs and surging hematoma blocked his voice.
"Link, no! Retreat!"
That one moment, truly that one moment, the time it took to shake off the hematoma and make his vocal cords vibrate again, caused a fatal crisis.
This was the authority of the ancient king.
Super-fast regeneration must mean something like this. The way lower nobles pieced their bodies back together was merely a faint imitation of this immortal ability.
[Link───!]
Centered around the soul's nucleus (核), a new body was instantly constructed (構築).
[───Get out of the way!]
The body that Nils, Kees, and Link had been tearing apart until now was already a discarded body.
[Right there, immediately───!]
It is said that the sea demon, Kraken, can arbitrarily change the location of its nucleus (核). It had moved the nucleus's coordinates to the first torn-off body.
[───I said, get out of the way!]
Nils's powerless scream was buried by the barrage of light bullets fired by Captylt-II.
The light bullets suppressed a few tentacles, but they weren't enough firepower to stop the tentacles flying simultaneously at Link.
Kees also immediately contributed his power, but two tentacles survived, aimed precisely at Link's brain and heart, and flew in to pierce the 'target'.
"Ossa-rius style Beastman, 5 Star. Ice Crystal Thunder Dew (氷昌雷霆露)."
No, it didn't pierce. It clearly reached that location, but merely touched it without posing any threat.
Ice (氷), the origin of the attribute.
Crystal (昌), a quality of prosperity.
Thunder (雷), the origin of the attribute.
Bolt (霆), a quality of lightning strike.
Dew (露), a quality of dew.
The parallel axiom, one of Zelniks' 5th Axioms, enabled coordinate calculations performed so perfectly and swiftly it could be called art.
If two straight lines intersecting a single line segment are extended infinitely, the sum of the two angles will intersect on the side where it is less than two right angles.
Three ice shards (氷石) pierced straight through the newly constructed body of the Kraken, severing its connection with the tentacles.
That straight line set the coordinate plane.
Furthermore, the 'Crystal' (昌) quality was amplified to its extreme by the Ice Dragon Asurva, expanding it by exactly 5.7 times.
"!"
"!"
"!"
One after another, the power of runes manifested. The runes adding qualities to the Thunder (雷) attribute were Bolt (霆), the quality of lightning strike, and Dew (露), the quality of dew.
The young mage, whom the archivist recorded as the 'greatest genius in history', focused on condensing even this extremely short time spent on conduction (傳導).
He judged even sending current across the entire area of three ice spears (氷槍) with a single lightning strike to be too slow.
As a result, currents scattered like dew settled across the entire area of the three ice spears, leading to the adoption of the rune Dew (露), which instantly conducted and amplified power.
The Ice Crystal Thunder Dew (氷昌雷霆露), which would later be counted as one of the ultimate secrets of ice magic, was born from this momentary struggle of the genius boy.
"You guys are unfair! You're taking on such a strong enemy all by yourselves!"
"Kyooong!"
That genius boy was Lynn.
He is a historical figure who would later leave a distinct mark under the epithets 'Elemental Master' and 'Archmage of the Hero Party'.
"Lynn…!"
Lister gasped and cried out.
It's Lynn again.
Whenever I'm about to sink into the depths of despair, Lynn appears. His purity, like the twilight of dawn, illuminates the path I must take.
"What's up with that octopus. Why is it regenerating again? So fast! Amazing! What is it?"
Pipi flew down and landed on Lynn's head, quickly explaining information about the enemy.
"Wow, really? That's a demon?"
With Lynn like this, I… shouldn't be satisfied with merely parting the sea, should I?
Lister unbuckled his belt.
He instantly injected three dragon's blood serums, stored there, into his thigh. All three had to be injected for regeneration equivalent to using a single dose previously.
"Now that we know it can freely change its regeneration location, there's nothing more difficult!"
If he had been alone, subduing this high-level demon, torn into multiple pieces, would have been impossible at this moment.
'But I'm not alone.'
Lister ran.
He slashed, slashed, and slashed the demon's body again, thinking.
That he had never been alone.
[Taste the modern technology that has evolved over a thousand years, master of the ancient kingdom!]
"Link, Link, Link!"
[(★ㅅ★)!!!]
If each of them could suppress their allocated portion of the body before the nucleus (核) completed its new regeneration…
They could win.
It was possible to defeat the King's avatar demon, whose very appearance was close to a disaster, without suffering any damage…!
"Tsuaaaaaaaah───!"
That continuous succession of slashes, transcending even the bonds of time, cut, minced, and split the royal body of the King's avatar at an unfathomable speed.
"───Aaaaaaaah!"
If a scent could emanate when a sword was swung, this must be what it referred to… Lynn thought.
'I still don't know why a light similar to the Dean's appears when he uses magic.'
Will I ever reach such enlightenment?
'Yes, someday…'
For now, it's fine.
For now, it's fine not to have such ambition.
At a moment like this, being able to push that back is enough.
'Go.'
No one.
No one there at that time.
Directly placed a hand on Lister's back.
'Go.'
At that moment, Lister clearly felt the touch and warmth of his comrades reaching his back.
'Go.'
That touch was the light of magic, the arrow of magical power, the light bullet, and the roar.
That was what!
Was pushing Lister's back, enabling him to head towards the end of that path, towards the marker.
"MuuuuuuuuTTTTTTTTTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA──────!"
For a single moment, as the mortal body reached its limit and the offensive slightly faltered, a regenerated Kraken tentacle targeted Lister's heart.
A single decisive strike.
The demon's twisted obsession to concentrate all its power on one point (一點) and at least sever the breath of that insolent mortal.
"───────AGrbAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
However, there was no need to avoid or block that strike, that attack which even the sea trembled in fear of.
Because it stopped on its own.
By the chains of characters that completely isolated the Abyss (深淵), which allowed the demon to manifest in this world as a demon, outside the providence of creation.
"The moment you couldn't even successfully check Lady Friede once, the outcome was already decided, you damn octopus bastard."
It was Changmyeong (彰明), characters containing the very words of creation that commanded 'Let there be light'.
Those words gained power.
And with the hand of that power, the darkness of the Abyss was embraced; it is a natural order that no darkness can exist as darkness before that vast light.
"Now that you've heard Lady Friede's full-throated serenade, something money can't buy, are you satisfied? So, fall willingly to the bottom of hell prepared for you, demon."