Chapter 44
Chapter 44. The Second Calamity
‘Huwaaam. Ah, is there anything fun happening?’
Yul was rubbing his belly along the shallow seafloor of the continental shelf.
Orcas were great in many ways, but they couldn’t scratch their own bellies. Whenever barnacles attached themselves there, the itch became unbearable, and today was one of those days.
Moments like this made him miss his octopus tentacles. If he had a companion nearby, he could just ask them to scratch it for him, but he was a Patroller.
‘I should quit this job soon.’
He planned to work as a Patroller for maybe one more year before becoming a runaway ninja.
‘Haven’t I worked enough by now? I’ve gathered plenty of experience points, and after Ascension, yeah, I'll say 'thanks and leave.'’
It was a shame that he would part ways with Tuana and Nugh, but they couldn’t stay together forever anyway.
‘What should I evolve into next?’
The Deep King Tribe? He had never even seen what they looked like. Aside from the fact that they could fly and communicated with ultrasonic waves, he knew practically nothing.
‘At the very least, I hope I evolve into something bigger than I am now. Maybe a kraken. Or maybe take a side-grade into some other sea creature.’
With such lazy thoughts, Yul drifted into a nap.
He was briefly falling into a dream when he heard an eerie voice that shouldn't have been audible.
-Seek it… the being of fate.
-Grasp the key of fate, open the pillars of the world. And usher in a new age.
‘Who was that?’
The instant the eerie voice resonated, Yul snapped awake with a jolt.
And the moment he awakened, a frantic voice followed through a mantra communication.
-Calling all Patrollers in the northwest territories.
A tense, hurried voice.
-The entity that appeared in the northwest has been identified as a Level 3 Calamity, a Hive. Currently, Gehenna, Nugh, and the Warrior Corps are out of contact.
‘…!?’
-All Patrollers, assemble and lend your strength. Coordinates are the Starlight Cavern watchtower! The fate of the Orca Tribe may depend on this.
Yul could hardly grasp the scale of the disaster unfolding somewhere he knew nothing about.
‘What in the world is happening!?’
He immediately abandoned his patrol zone and sped toward the assembly point.
On the way, he attempted to contact Rukit. The translucent projection of Rukit appeared and spoke at once.
-Rukit!
-The situation is urgent, so I’ll explain first. It seems the second calamity has begun. It is a monster from the Outer Ocean called the Hive.
-Calamity…
Yul immediately recalled Ogh of the Rising Tide. Would another battle against a monster of that magnitude begin?
- Why is the Hive attacking us?
-Hear the details when you get to the gathering area. Time is short, so I'll get straight to the point. Nugh is missing and presumed dead, Gehenna is fatally wounded, and Tuania is also seriously injured.
-What? Nugh and Tuana? And who is Gehenna?
-He is the strongest among the Orcas, has the epithet “The Conqueror of the North,” and is one of the Great Powers of the Phantaratsa Surface Layer, as well.
-Even a mighty orca like that was critically wounded…
- The Hive is the strongest monster of the Outer Ocean. We need a powerful warrior. And that warrior is you.
-…Understood. Assuming we’re going to bring it down, I need to assess the situation first. Do you know its weak point?
-Nugh showed it to me. There must be a scar he left behind.
-I’m almost there. Let’s talk more later.
When Yul arrived at the Starlight watchtower, he saw countless Patrollers.
Normally, Patrollers worked alone or in pairs. Seeing nearly twenty orcas gathered made it immediately clear that this was no ordinary crisis.
Among them, Yul spotted the only Patroller he personally knew, Borgin.
Borgin nodded to him silently, and Yul responded with body language as well.
And at the front of the assembly of Patrollers stood Matriarch Lancia. After waiting for enough of them to gather, she began speaking.
-There must have been many Patrollers who panicked at the sudden crisis. But the Great Azure Ocean is vast, and orcas are busy doing all sorts of things in all sorts of places. ‘The Conqueror of the North’ Gehenna’s role was to guard the waters between the Great Azure Ocean and the Outer Ocean, just like you, Patrollers.
Everyone looked like they had something to say, but they couldn’t open their mouths. It was because Lancia continued speaking.
-He had been watching for monsters crossing over from the Outer Ocean when, one day, he found a strange creature drifting on the surface. That was the Hive.
-…..
-We did not know why the Hive had come this way. They usually remained in the Outer Ocean, drifting around like buoys, and never entered the Great Azure Ocean. To seek counsel, we went to the Deep King Tribe. Isnael warned us that it was heading toward the sacred ruins of the Great Azure Ocean and that it would absorb every sea creature in its path. We made a decision. We would stop it. And the Warrior Corps departed at Gehenna’s request… and has now suffered a crushing defeat.
-…….
A suffocating silence hung over them.
-Perhaps… because of this incident, our species, us orcas, may be facing extinction.
-This can’t be…
-However, there is still hope. Some of the Warrior Corps managed to retreat. Gehenna has suffered critical injuries, but his resolve still burns. In that opening, we must seek aid, not only for the Orca Tribe, but from every intelligent creature in all of Phantaratsa.
An elderly Patroller said.
-So, you need our lives to buy that time.
-Unfortunately, yes.
Lancia forced the words out with difficulty.
Despite the heavy atmosphere, the Patrollers weren’t frightened.
These were individuals who normally carried a solemn demeanor, yet now they burst into spirited laughter.
-Easy enough.
-I’ve been itching for a good fight anyway. Perfect timing.
-Me, the last line of defense for our species? I’ll take it.
-More fun than patrol duty.
-For honor and devotion.
Among all these Patrollers, not a single orca refused the mission. That alone stirred something indescribably deep in the heart.
Yul was emotionally distant from them, yet he, too, was a member of the Orca Patrollers. Naturally, he intended to go.
-I’ll be going too, of course.
Yul, who always called Patroller duties unpaid labor and passion exploitation, had no intention of staying behind even in this situation.
-Thank you, everyone. Your mission is… first, to locate the survivors of the Warrior Corps. Ever since the Hive gained the ability to use the Mantra of Communication, we’ve lost track of the Warrior Corps and the other orcas.
-It can use the Mantra of Communication now?
When one orca asked, Lancia answered.
-It originally could not. But after it ‘absorbed’ a Patroller, it gained the ability.
-…Understood. We’ll depart immediately.
-May fortune follow you.
As soon as Lancia departed in haste, the Patrollers gathered and headed north.
During that time, the older Patrollers huddled together, discussed matters, and quickly reached a decision.
-Then, as discussed, Borgin will take command.
A leader was chosen among the Patrollers in an instant. Borgin, respected, skilled, and with many years of service, became their leader.
-Borgin.
-Yul. So the new Patroller has come as well.
-The northwest region, near the edge of the Turtle Kingdom’s border, is my assigned patrol zone.
-You must have had other options. I know about your past. Originally...
-Right now, I'm Yul, the Orca Patroller. Nothing more, nothing less.
-…Thank you.
-I’ll take the lead. I have some experience taking down a Deep Sea creature, after all.
-That's reassuring. I'll trust you.
* * *
Northern Sea.
The place where the Outer Ocean and the Great Azure Ocean meet. The moment all the Patrollers arrived in the Outer Ocean, they could feel that something was different.
-The density of magic… is different.
One Patroller muttered.
All seawater is infused with magic, and the density of magic varies from one sea to another.
‘A truly ominous sea.’
Yul thought so. Thanks to his trait Lithium Pressure Nerves, he could sense and see underwater, and this Outer Ocean’s magic itself felt different. The water’s color was also slightly more grayish.
The dark sea gave off the impression that the unfulfilled madness of devoured corpses was trying to draw in victims.
-This is the Outer Ocean…
Since they still had a long way to go, Yul summoned Rukit.
-Rukit.
-Have we reached the Outer Ocean? As expected, it’s an unpleasant sea no matter when I see it.
Rukit’s semi-transparent main body was far away; the one here was merely a projection, like a ghost.
-Tell me more about the Hive.
-Right, hmm.
Rukit’s explanation followed.
-The magic in the Outer Ocean is extremely condensed. Any creature that cannot withstand that density will die or be driven away.
-So, only the strong survive here.
For young orcas, the Outer Ocean is treated as forbidden territory.
Orcas attempting to sneak past Patrollers on their way to the Outer Ocean were often caught and returned home, and those who managed to get through would vanish without a trace.
-The Orca Tribe’s ‘Recorders’ classify the beings in the Outer Ocean as creatures beyond understanding, and assign each a rank.
-Rank?
-Yes. From low to high, the ranks go from weak creatures to strong ones. Rank 5 are prey even in the Outer Ocean. But in the Great Azure Ocean, they become predators.
-…..
-The magic density in the Great Azure Ocean is different from the Outer Ocean, so creatures don’t usually come here. But sometimes unstable currents carry them over. In such cases, a Great Power–level entity appears to repel them, that is Gehenna’s duty.
-I see. What creatures are Rank 4?
-Rank 4 are predators of the Outer Ocean. A single Great Power–level entity cannot stop them alone. Support from capable allies is necessary.
-Then, what rank is the Hive?
-Rank 3. From this rank onward, they are essentially disasters. Aid is required from the governing units of each sea region.
-Insane.
-Rank 3 monsters are bizarre. They are neither predator nor prey, their forms are grotesque, some are halfway across to another dimension, and sometimes it’s difficult to even call them sea creatures.
So among these disaster-level monsters exists the Hive.
-It starts small. The size of a sea anemone, drifting on the water surface. But the Hive gradually attaches the sea creatures it absorbs to itself, growing in size. The enlarged Hive multiplies exponentially, becoming an overwhelming monster.
If you saw a cluster of creatures floating on the water with no other life around, that would be the Hive.
-Found it! That’s the Hive!
Borgin, the Patroller, finely adjusting his ultrasonic waves, shouted loudly.
-Straight ahead! 20 km out!
Even in shallow waters, detecting that far with echolocation was impressive.
Soon, Yul could also identify the Hive’s form.
-Insane… what is that?
He could sense the Hive’s form, patched together from all sorts of creatures like a ragged collage.
It was like an island floating on the sea, but if you consider the “materials” were sea creatures…
-It’s coming this way!
Astonishingly, the Hive had also detected them.
Floating normally on the surface, it immediately began swimming toward them, closing the distance at an incredible speed.