Book 18 Chapter 6

128화

The Hero (Yongsa), Rests Here.

Unlike what was recorded in history, Lysta's party's journey actually ended here.

"What nonsense! We're still alive, you know?"

Fride snapped.

"I, my heart is already dead……"

Rin muttered blankly.

The shock of the [Heartfelt Barrier Series], which he had earnestly deployed, being instantly shattered by Lysta, still hadn't faded.

The survivors of the hero's party were hanging onto the wreckage of a shipwreck.

If Rin hadn't used gravity control, they would have sunk long ago due to Link and Shurpeng's weight.

"I've decided. These crazy Manuki bastards… I will never travel with you guys again. From now on, let's move separately and only meet up at battlefields."

Nils was relatively better off because the all-weather six-legged tank (六足戰車) Kaptilt-II could perform simple movements even at sea.

"What nonsense! This happened because you suddenly fished up something weird, you crazy dwarf bastard!"

"Link……"

"What?! Did the priestess just make a racist remark?! And to begin with, this happened because that hero bastard left our food behind on his own accord! Who are you to discourage my Link and make such a fuss?!"

"Hmph……"

"Why are *you* discouraging *our* Lysta and causing a ruckus?! Want a taste of some magic?"

It was then. At the far end of the southwestern sea, a shadow appeared, silhouetted against the twilight.

It was a massive ship (巨船).

It was so enormous that everyone initially thought an island had appeared.

"A ship, it's a ship!"

Lysta, who had been wallowing in self-reproach due to his blunder, suddenly stood up and shouted.

Fride grabbed his shoulder.

"Wait a minute! I heard from the Witch's Association before we set sail that ghost ships appear in the Damuver Triangle!"

"G-ghost ship?"

"Yes, they supposedly lure people and kidnap them! It looks suspicious no matter how you look at it. We absolutely shouldn't go near it!"

Then Rin and Nils simultaneously opened their eyes in a look of disbelief.

"A ghost ship? Where would something like that even exist?"

"Exactly, there's not a single scientific basis for ghosts existing, so what nonsense are you talking about? This is why liberal arts folks are useless."

"No, I just meant it like that! You can just understand it as 'it's dangerous'! Don't needlessly nitpick, just empathize! That's why you guys aren't popular with women!"

Lysta suddenly grabbed Fride's hand and nodded his head vigorously.

"S-so, there's no such thing as g-ghosts, right? Right?"

His head-nodding was so fast that it left afterimages. A master of dog-shit antics!

"T-those things, th-they're all just tall tales adults made up to keep us from doing bad things when we were kids, right? Right? Say it's true. Please."

"Argh! And why are *you*, a hero, cowering in fear of ghosts?!"

"There's no time to be doing this here! Link, take Rin and me and jump onto that ship! It's going to pass us by soon!"

Link hoisted Rin and Nils' Kaptilt-II onto his shoulders, leaped high, and landed on the rapidly sailing massive ship.

It was a very gloomy place.

The sails were grotesquely torn, the wood was so old it was rotten, and the humans who were presumably the original crew lay scattered across the deck as skeletons.

"Shlurrrrrrp."

And, there were passengers.

At first glance, they might have looked human, but they were not.

No human has four arms, nor could their heads or lower bodies be so exactly like a snake's.

"The finest prey has come to us of their own accord, onto the trap of Totashika, leader of the 'Ka' clan."

Indeed, humanity had named these demons with their unique racial characteristics 'Naga'.

A sinister, low, and murky fog lay over the ship, and Naga soldiers hidden within it pushed themselves up from the deck with their snake tails, revealing themselves.

The Naga, an individual at least twice the size of a typical Naga, who had haughtily introduced himself as Totashika, widened his eyes.

"No, what happened? Where did they go?"

But what was happening?!

The intruders were nowhere to be seen!

The Naga soldiers of the 'Ka' clan, who had emerged under their leader's command, couldn't hide their bewilderment and flicked their tongues around.

"Shlurrt, didn't they flee in terror the moment they faced the Great One's esteemed presence?"

"No, what kind of thoughtless remark is that? This ship immediately activated a barrier to prevent escape the moment humans, blinded by treasure, infiltrated it──!"

Totashika couldn't finish his sentence.

Because suddenly, the ship began to tilt.

A Naga urgently scrambled up from below deck.

"L-leader! It's a disaster! Sh-shlurrt! A h-hole has been punched in the bottom and the ship is starting to sink!"

"What?!"

Cold sweat trickled down Totashika's forehead.

'Surely, those humans… did they know from the beginning that this was Lord Totashika's trap and entered anyway?'

Of course, absolutely not.

It was simply that the bottom of this old ship absolutely could not withstand the massive weight of Link and Kaptilt-II!

"L-Link! Pull yourself up! We're all going to die at this rate!"

The more Link struggled, the more the ship's bottom was destroyed, and the speed of its sinking accelerated.

"K-kraaak!"

"The ship, the ship's balance!"

"These atrocious humans!"

Of course, the Nagas on deck could only scream amidst the chaos.

They display strength and speed that surpasses even the Uruk in water, but on land, they are inferior to land-dwelling creatures.

In the first place, there would be no need to explain the difference in balance and stability between moving on two legs and slithering on a snake's body.

"J-jump into the water! Shlurrp! Abandon this ship! I will open the underwater passage."

It was then, as the Nagas, following Totashika's command, were retracting the layered traps and barriers they had set up on the ship.

"I, Lysta Alter Shurpeng, the hero who rushes wherever there is evil (魔)! B-but th-there are no ghosts here, just Nagas, right? Right?"

"Where are there ghosts, you foolish human! This ship is our Naga hunting vessel!"

"Phew! What a relief! In that case, I'll confidently deliver righteous judgment, you Naga gang!"

The holy sword slaughters the completely defenseless Nagas with brilliant light!

On both sides, the raging dragon's breath and the World Tree's white light violate the demons' bodies!

'Th-this is impossible.'

Leader Totashika shrieked.

'Have our plans been exposed by mere humans?!'

Totashika had never imagined that humans would strike him at his weak point with such a perfect strategy.

'I-is this the true power of the hero's party…!'

It was not.

It's true, but anyway, it's not.

It must not be.