Chapter 22 : Chapter 22
Chapter 22. Foothold
Black Whale Hunt.
It was no exaggeration to say that the success of the hunt depended on the damage that could be inflicted with the first attack.
In that sense, Hyunwoo's first attack could be called very excellent.
Kieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh―!
The Black Whale's monstrous scream, seeming to tear through the eardrums, covered the entire sea.
‘That’s one.’
What Hyunwoo was aiming for were the four hearts located throughout the Black Whale's body.
The Lad he had shot was properly embedded in the heart located in its fin.
Although a Lad was stuck in its heart, the Black Whale still seemed perfectly fine.
‘It’s only the first heart.’
Besides, only the Lad was embedded; he hadn't been able to burst the heart yet.
Kieeeeeeeeeeeek―!
The frenzied Black Whale’s roar shook the heavens and earth.
As if it had identified Hyunwoo who had attacked it, the beast twisted its body.
If I collided with that massive body, it was obvious I would be shattered, even with Physique I.
Hyunwoo immediately tore the scroll he had prepared.
A lightning scroll.
The blue lightning contained within it poured out in an instant.
Crackle―!
Keuk―!
For a moment, Hyunwoo's eyes widened.
A jolt so strong that even Hyunwoo, holding the scroll, felt his body tremble.
Being underwater, he couldn't completely escape the effects of the lightning.
If not for ‘Pain Tolerance,’ he might have lost consciousness.
The pain was only for a moment.
Flash―!
Immediately after, the blue lightning was sucked into the Lad embedded in the Black Whale's body.
The Lad served as a lightning rod, absorbing the surrounding electricity.
Just as Hyunwoo had predicted, it was a very effective combination.
Pajijijijijik―!
Kueek―!
The Black Whale's body twitched with a short, final scream.
The electricity lingering on the Lad not only destroyed its heart but also stiffened its body.
‘A chance!’
He didn't miss the moment its body trembled.
Without delay, Hyunwoo unleashed his Skirma Swordsmanship.
The target was the second heart in the opposite fin!
Swish―!
He drove in the Lad in an instant.
Crackle―!
Blue lightning flashed from the scroll he tore next.
Grrrrrk―
As if it no longer had the strength to scream, the Black Whale barely managed to make a sound that scraped its throat.
Now, not only had the beast lost the hearts in both its fins, but it had also lost its mobility.
‘All at once―!’
Riding the momentum, Hyunwoo immediately aimed for the third heart.
The heart in its belly, connected to the tail.
However.
The beast was faster.
Shiiik―!
The twitching Black Whale's tail surged forward in an instant.
‘……!’
Hyunwoo barely managed to twist his entire body, evading its tail.
No, he hadn't completely dodged it.
‘Keuk…….’
Its tail had grazed his left thigh.
It seemed like a light graze….
But the wound was anything but light.
A wound larger than his palm had appeared on his thigh.
It looked as if a chunk of flesh had been torn right off.
As Hyunwoo swam backward, he chewed on a new Rigur Berry and caught his breath.
Only then did the announcer's voice reach his ears.
[…Ah!]
The announcer let out only a short gasp, as if he had forgotten his lines.
He seemed flustered by my unexpectedly strong performance.
He was speechless for a while before he finally managed to open his mouth.
[…An unexpected performance! At this rate, could a human really… no, could the Rookie Hyunwoo actually catch the Black Whale…!]
The announcer was rambling uncharacteristically.
It was a good sign.
His flustered voice was proof that the hunt was going well.
Destroying two of the Black Whale's hearts was more important than the wound on my thigh.
Just then, a variable occurred.
[Will the owner of the 10,000 mana stones and the Cheonbyeondo be decided just like this! What are the other gladiators doing!]
At the announcer's continuing words, the moths began to gather.
The expressions of the gladiators who had been observing the Black Whale's condition slowly began to change.
Their faces, once filled with fear, transformed into those of hunters eyeing their prey.
“The Black Whale seems to have weakened, doesn't it?”
“Should we take it?”
“Let's go! We can't let some human bastard catch it!”
In the end, greed for the reward filled the hearts of the piranhas who had been lying in wait.
It was only natural for the piranhas, having smelled blood, to swim closer.
The sudden shift in the tide of battle could not be stopped.
‘Damn….’
Watching the gladiators swim toward the exhausted Black Whale, Hyunwoo retreated for the time being.
It was for the best, anyway.
He had lost too much blood and needed time to rest.
Tightly―
Hyunwoo bandaged the wound on his thigh and watched the gladiators.
Dozens of surviving gladiators were swarming around the Black Whale like hyenas.
Led by the gladiator at the forefront, they attached themselves to the Black Whale's body one by one.
The gladiators clinging to it looked like cicadas on an old tree.
The gladiators began to plunge their weapons and limbs into the Black Whale's body.
“Die!”
Puk―!
The Black Whale seemed as if it had no strength to resist.
It staggered left and right from the gladiators' attacks, creating a spray of water.
Blood slowly seeped from its hunched, massive body.
[Ah, ah! Blood is pouring from all over the Black Whale's body! This is a crisis, a crisis!]
Thanks to the Black Whale taking the hits quietly, the gladiators' morale soared.
“The beast is exhausted!”
“Kill it!”
The gladiators continued their attacks in excitement. Seeing this, more gladiators swam over and joined in.
At that, Hyunwoo thought.
‘Is it time for Phase 2?’
The Black Whale looked like it was dying, but that was far from the truth.
It was a monster among monsters that could only be killed when all its hearts were destroyed.
Hyunwoo gripped a Lad in his hand and waited.
Just then.
Ssssss―
The Black Whale, which had been passively taking the attacks, began to stir.
As it unfurled its hunched body, a large wave was generated.
A commotion arose among the gladiators.
“It's moving. Fall back!”
“No. Is this bastard trying to hog the reward! Just keep attacking!”
One calling to retreat, another insisting they couldn't stop attacking, and yet another who warily began to sneak away.
As each acted on their own judgment, the situation devolved into chaos.
Just before the commotion in the arena turned into complete pandemonium.
The Black Whale's massive mouth opened.
The surrounding seawater was sucked into its mouth.
Kugugugugugung―!
“Uh, uh, that's….”
The gladiators who sensed the danger had but a moment to think of retreating.
Kuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa―!!!!!!!!!
Along with the Black Whale's roar, the water held in its mouth was shot out in all directions like a cannon.
The gladiators hit by the water cannon were shattered to pieces without even a chance to scream.
Hyunwoo, who had been keeping his distance, immediately cut through the current and twisted his body.
Kururuk―!
The water cannon, packed with incredible force, passed him by.
A feat made possible only by feeling the flow of the water through Skirma Swordsmanship!
Crisis was also opportunity.
Having narrowly dodged the water cannon, Hyunwoo reversed course and charged toward the Black Whale.
Puk―!
The Black Whale, with a Lad embedded in its lower belly, let out a monstrous shriek.
Kueeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh―!
Hyunwoo's eyes shone as he tore the scroll.
Pajijijijik―!
The Black Whale's pure white body was scorched black.
Three of its hearts were neutralized.
‘One heart left.’
Just one step away from a successful hunt.
Kueeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh―!
Hyunwoo’s gaze was sharp as he watched the Black Whale thrashing and screaming.
***
The retired gladiator, Frogman.
He, who had vowed never to come to the arena again, had visited the stadium.
‘A master of Skirma Swordsmanship….’
A master of the Frogman race's swordsmanship, something that hadn't appeared in hundreds of years.
The fact that it was a human was still unbelievable.
[Black Whale Survival! Begins now!]
He could now understand why the human had learned the sword from him.
‘I see… so that was the reason.’
A swordsmanship for escaping from the Black Whale.
There was no swordsmanship more suitable for this match than the Skirma Swordsmanship, which allowed for underwater movement.
Since it was a match he himself had participated in in the past, he was certain the human would just run away.
‘…Because there’s no way to stand against that thing.’
The Black Whale.
It wasn't a match where you were supposed to catch that giant monster.
It was simply a match for survival.
He had come with great resolve, but once the match was decided, he felt drained.
‘At this rate… I won't even get to properly see his mastered swordsmanship.’
However, his thoughts soon turned to astonishment.
“No…!”
Because the human, whom he expected to hide or run, had begun to attack the Black Whale.
‘How can he be so reckless…!’
The colossal ruler of the sea, whose mere presence made one's legs tremble.
But the human, as if devoid of the emotion of fear, continued to fight a desperate battle with the Black Whale.
Ah―! Ahh―!
Gasps of admiration erupted from the audience each time one of the Black Whale's hearts burst.
The scene where he dodged the Black Whale's water cannon, something even he was seeing for the first time, made his clenched palms tingle.
The human's struggle was that astonishing.
‘Skirma Swordsmanship isn’t all-powerful in the water….’
It was true that the higher the level, the more freely one could move in the water.
However, if asked whether he could drive a sword into the Black Whale like that, he would easily shake his head.
‘It’s impossible.’
Something more than just a giant living creature.
The mindset to hunt a monster like the Black Whale was not something an ordinary person could possess.
The human was not simply a man overflowing with talent for swordsmanship.
‘…Is that what it is.’
An existence whose perspective was different from that of ordinary people like himself.
He couldn't be evaluated by talent alone.
Because the very caliber of his existence was different.
As he realized the human's true nature, the faint jealousy remaining in his heart disappeared completely.
Once the jealousy was gone, all that was left was cheering filled with respect.
‘The sea… what a shame it has to be the sea.’
The pinnacle of the Skirma Swordsmanship.
The legendary swordsmanship of the Frog King begins with a foothold.
A state that transcends riding the water's current to dominate it!
In the sea, where there is no place to set one's feet, he wouldn't be able to use that technique.
Frogman was deeply disappointed by that fact.
***
Kieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh―!
The beast, its third heart pierced, had a seizure and shot up and down through the sea.
One heart remained.
‘The problem is… I only have one Lad left.’
There was only one chance left.
He had to succeed.
The location of the final heart was between the Black Whale's horn and mouth.
The most dangerous position.
Paaaaaaaaah―!
The enraged beast shot water cannons in all directions, but only innocent gladiators died.
Uwaaak―!
There was no chance of me being hit by its water cannon while moving with Skirma Swordsmanship.
Hwoooooooooong―
The Black Whale let out a long cry like a ship's horn.
Then, it slowly retreated.
It seemed to have no strength left to fire more water cannons.
‘Now!’
As Hyunwoo moved, a water cannon flew at him.
But it was not enough to block his approach as he moved freely, cutting through the current.
The location of the final heart was just below the horn.
Shuuuk―!
The Lad in Hyunwoo's hand flew straight toward the heart.
Just then.
‘It reach—!’
The Black Whale threw its head back and went berserk.
Its violent struggles created a huge waterspout in the sea.
Kurururung―!
If he got swept up in the waterspout, he wouldn't make it out unscathed.
Hyunwoo hastily twisted his body and succeeded in escaping the waterspout, but the Lad in his hand was not so lucky.
In the midst of it all, the Black Whale tenaciously aimed for the Lad.
In the end, the Lad struck the beast's horn and ricocheted away.
‘…Dammit!’
Before he could retrieve the Lad, the Black Whale charged again.
Woong―!
Cutting through the white waterspout, the Black Whale charged with its mouth wide open.
Like a bullfighter, Hyunwoo twisted his body to evade its charge.
He barely managed to cling to the horn of the Black Whale as it passed him.
[The Rookie Hyunwoo has grabbed the Black Whale's horn and ridden on its back! Ah, ah. He's trying his best, but this is really the end!]
Woooooooooong―!!!!
The Black Whale swam at a high speed as if to shake Hyunwoo off.
The fierce current pressed down on his entire body.
‘Damn it―!’
Hyunwoo curled his body as much as possible, gritted his teeth, and drew his sword.
A sword optimized for the thrusts of Skirma Swordsmanship.
He stabbed at the area of the heart beneath the horn.
‘Too shallow…!’
The sword was pushed back by a strong recoil.
Its hard skull was the problem.
Hyunwoo held onto the horn with one hand and madly stabbed at the heart area with the other.
…In this position, he couldn't possibly break through.
However, he could frighten the Black Whale.
Kuuuuuuuuuung―!!!!!!
As the shallow but continuous strikes continued, the beast let out a terrified cry.
Before being a Demon World monster, the Black Whale was a deep-sea fish.
The terrified beast, following its instincts, dove deep into the sea.
[He's falling endlessly downwards! Don't worry about him going too far to be seen on screen! We've made a 'bottom' down there too, you see. We should at least be able to recover the Rookie's corpse!]
‘The pressure…!’
The deeper he went, the greater the water pressure crushed his body.
A pressure that was hard to endure even with Physique I.
But he never let go of its horn.
‘This is the last chance…!’
The moment he let go of this horn, there would be no more chances to hunt the beast.
No, rather, it would be his own end.
There was no way to deal with the beast in the depths of the water.
Soon, the Black Whale reached the ‘bottom’ the announcer had mentioned.
Having reached the bottom, the Black Whale plunged headfirst.
Kwaaaaaang―!
‘…Keuk!’
Hyunwoo vomited blood and slid a long way.
His flailing arms were in a dimly visible darkness.
Using the faint light shining from above as a beacon, he felt for the bottom.
He pushed his exhausted body up and let out a soft sigh.
Bubble―
…The effect of the berry had worn off.
Hyunwoo, who was about to take out a new Rigur Berry, froze.
‘…It's gone.’
It seemed they had all been swept away while he was clinging to the beast's body and falling.
‘Huu….’
There was no turning back.
A chill seeped into his very bones in the cold seawater.
The water pressure pressed in, as if it would burst his body at any moment.
If there was one silver lining….
It was that he could faintly sense the Black Whale's location through the flow of the water.
The beast was circling above his head.
Even with three hearts destroyed, it still seemed full of vigor.
‘Persistent bastard….’
This battle would end only when the last heart was destroyed.
Hyunwoo checked his now-empty pockets.
‘Two scrolls left.’
No, there was also the sword in his hand.
Fortunately, he had been able to protect the sword he had clutched with the resolve to never let go.
‘All that's useful now is my swordsmanship.’
It was too early to give up.
He still had his sword.
Hyunwoo took his stance.
Just then.
‘…Huh?’
A small whirlpool began to form from his sword.
This had never happened before.
At the sudden phenomenon, Hyunwoo lowered his stance and surveyed his surroundings.
And soon, he realized what had changed.
‘The bottom.’
The tips of Hyunwoo's feet, a master of the Skirma Swordsmanship, were touching the bottom.