Book 18 Chapter 7
Underwater Battle Royale,
Naga Kingdom (2)
The ghost ship, held by Lyn's magic, didn't sink but remained fixed on the surface for a while.
The hero party, having subdued all the Nagas, obtained all the information about this place.
Firstly, this ship was one of the Naga hunting vessels that became the culprit of the Damuver Triangle.
"I know this through books, but the Nagas have eight clans called the Eight Sea Star Clans, and their leaders can open underwater passages."
"Underwater passages? What's that, Friede?"
"The term sounds grand, but to explain it simply, it's a whirlpool. A whirlpool that extends to the seabed, connecting the surface and the seabed."
Nils Blanz stared at the corpses of the Nagas, resting his chin on his fist.
"Strange. But why did they kidnap both humans and ships? And without a trace. If they intended to dominate the sea, it would have been more rational to intentionally release some victims, as in their old strategy, to create fear."
Lista nodded once with a serious look in her eyes.
"I think the same. There's only one possible scenario: the Naga clan seems to be plotting something deep beneath the sea. I wondered how the Nagas arrived so quickly during the Seamunjang incident, but it turns out they had opened a gateway here."
At that moment, Lyn, who was participating in the meeting without being engrossed in her grimoire for a long time, was focusing on the name Naga.
"I've been thinking about this since we defeated the Seamunjang guys…"
"What is it, Lyn?"
"If 'Naga' is reformed… does it become 'Deureowa' (Come in)?"
At that moment, Lyn's eyes sparkled as she muttered seriously, and silence fell.
Pipi, Sval, and Link started laughing hysterically…
Lyn, who had been smirking with a somewhat satisfied smile at their laughter, let out a scream the next moment as Friede's iron fist judgment came crashing down.
"What the hell are you talking about at such a serious moment, seriously! You ruined the whole atmosphere! Do you want to die?!"
"No, sorry, I was wrong, ma'am, ouch, it really hurts!"
Meanwhile, Nils, who had only now understood the meaning of the words, slapped his palm with his fist.
"I see. So, you interpreted Naga not as Naga but as 'Get out'? And that's why you applied 'Deureowa' (Get in)? Profound, so very profound! Are all mages' puns this profound?!"
Lista's eyes widened then, finally realizing the meaning of what Lyn had just said.
"Th-that's right! This is a pun only mages can make! Lyn is the youngest Glados (4-star) mage ever, so her pun might be even more profound."
"No, it's not! Stop it, or he'll get more and more conceited!"
While Friede alternately hit Lista and Nils on the crown of their heads with her pipe, Kies sipped wine from his flask with a sigh.
[(ㅡㅁㅡ);;;]
Lista, with more than ten bumps on the crown of her head, brought the topic back to the main point.
"Friede, you know all ancient languages, so you can speak the Naga language, right?"
Friede, who was holding Lyn's head between her fists and lifting her up to head height, nodded.
"Of course. Who do you think I am? Lady Friede, the youngest oracle ever, the oracle of the Fire Dragon. I know all the languages of the demon race too."
"Lyn and Sval awakened immense power this time, so can we use that power to go to the seabed?"
"We'll have to try, but the probability of it not working is higher."
Nils gasped in surprise and exclaimed.
"Are you saying you're going to infiltrate beneath the sea? That's their territory. We strongly felt how disadvantageous land creatures are in the sea during the last fierce battle with the Seamunjangs!"
"But Nils, the kidnapped people might still be alive. If even one person needs help, as heroes, we must go and check."
Nils was momentarily moved by Lista's dazzlingly pure answer, but he grinned to hide his feelings.
"The reason I was surprised was whether you'd go without any countermeasures. To search underwater, you'd naturally need equipment."
"Equipment?"
"I see. If we're going down anyway, how about disguising yourselves as Nagas? You three said this guy you defeated was the leader of his clan, didn't you?"
Friede exhaled a long puff of tobacco smoke from her pipe and nodded.
"Yes. Kazshania Graca. This is an ancient word meaning 'worship the ruler of the old sea,' and the eight initial sounds of this phrase are held by each of the Eight Sea Star Clans as their clan names. This guy was the leader of the 'Ka' clan."
"Then the story will be quicker. I'll skin them and make equipment."
"What? No! No, no, no! It'll smell fishy!"
Friede recoiled, but Nils sternly rebuked her.
"Tsk! When we're going to save people, is a fishy smell a big deal? And don't worry too much. If we borrow the power of the artifact eroded by the [King's Flesh], we can hide your divine power and bring forth the abyssal energy of the demon race."
"But even if the appearance is like that, how do we move with that snake tail?"
"Don't worry. Didn't I say? We'll make equipment. We'll make it like a helmet and armor. Do you know a tool called a pedal? It's a structure that makes you move by winding a chain with both feet. We can mimic the Naga's lower body movement with this."
Lista's eyes gleamed at Nils's confident declaration.
"How much time will you need?"
"About three days should be enough. But there's a problem. There are rarely Nagas as small as Lyn. We can't make equipment that's Lyn's size."
"Then leaving Lyn here would be…"
Lyn, who was touching the bumps on both sides of her head, suddenly stood up at that moment.
"No, I have to go. I have a dream as the [Strongest Mage]. And I have a brilliant idea to achieve that dream."
"Brilliant?!"
"Idea?!"
"If you're talking nonsense again, it's 10 seconds of Hell's Fist Spin."
"It's not nonsense, I'm serious! I'll become a hostage captured by the Nagas. No one stop me."
Until now, one of Lyn's [Strongest Mage Bucket List] items, 'the strongest mage pretending to be captured,' had always failed due to external intervention.
'In <Central North>, there was no one in prison, and in <Homusen>, Lista suddenly intervened… Anyway, that's it.'
But a chance to be alone?
And by one of the six great demon races, the Nagas?
This was truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, not to be missed.
"Lyn, a hostage? That's too dangerous!"
Lista quickly waved her hands, but Friede caught her shoulder as if to restrain her.
"No, as Lyn says, this is a brilliant idea."
"Friede!"
"Lyn is capable enough to use self-defense techniques no matter what they do. And if someone becomes a hostage, we'll immediately know where they take and imprison the hostages, won't we?"
Lista's eyes trembled.
Lyn, why do you always willingly go into dangerous situations for us?
Even though you're the youngest here.
'……'
'……'
'……'
Wouldn't the extent of that bewilderment and emotion be any different for Kies, Nils, and Link? Friede gave a bitter smile.
"If you're going to be like that, I can't help it. Then, while Nils makes the equipment, let's study the Naga's magic rituals that lead to the seabed together."
However, at that moment, just as all the plans were about to conclude with satisfied smiles, a sinister laugh suddenly echoed!
"Shu, Shururururrut! You, Shurrut, I can't let you, Shurrut, go to our underwater kingdom, you pathetic humans…!"
It was Totashika!
He had clearly died by the holy sword's blade, and Friede had properly confirmed his death, yet could the life force of a demon race transcend even momentary death?!
Everyone immediately took battle stances, but Totashika had already opened the underwater gateway.
"The ship, the ship! A wh-whirlpool! Everyone, hold on tight to something!"
"Wow, amazing! A whirlpool that envelops the entire sea! Crazy awesome, crazy cool! What kind of power did you use, and by what principle? Tell me!"
"Is this really the time to be impressed, you crazy bastard!"
The phenomenon they actually witnessed was a little different from Friede's explanation.
It would be more accurate to say it was a hole drilled to the bottom of the sea, not a whirlpool.
As a cylindrical hole opened, the entire sea was rapidly sucked into that hole. As if caught and pulled down into the depths of that invisible ocean, into the grip of the abyss.
"Shurrut, this seabed… our territory received from that person… will be your tomb… Shu, Shut, Shurururururut…!"