Chapter 153
Chapter 153. Kraken Hunt (2)
A heavy impact resounded through the Divine Light Spire.
But he recognized that it wasn’t a fatal blow.
In an instant, the creature softened its body into a limp, fluid state, dispersing the impact across its entire form.
-……!
-You’ve fallen for it! I lured you underwater!
Shouting so, the Kraken retracted the tentacles it had stretched onto land and pulled Yul in once more.
‘Tentacles like this are nothing…….’
Just avoid them. Yul was releasing ultrasonic waves in all directions. Through the senses returned by echolocation, he could perceive three-dimensional attacks.
As he spun and evaded, he noticed something strange.
The Kraken’s suckers were made up of multiple parts. They should have been there purely for adhesion, but from one of them, something sprouted and extended outward.
Yet another tentacle.
At its end, sharp protrusions had grown. Blade-like spikes grazed across Yul’s back.
Blood flowed from the split wound. He moved to avoid the new tentacle, but they were everywhere.
Within Yul’s spatial perception, those new blade-tentacles appeared from every direction.
Above, below, left, right—almost all space was sealed off.
The suction cups on all eight legs had become seeds that produced new tentacles.
If Yul wanted to escape, he would have to avoid the blade-tentacles filling the entire space.
Otherwise—
‘Then I’ll just destroy them all.’
Yul’s body began to glow red. Using the skill, 「Madness」, he pushed his physical abilities to the extreme.
He read the shortest path of escape and moved.
Placing the tip of the Divine Light Spire’s triangular horn forward, he spun it to form a vortex.
Using his Demon Eye, he reinforced the vortex and pierced through the ocean current.
Through the forest of blade-tentacles, he carved out a path that would not break. As he slipped through, several blades lodged into his back, but they failed to pierce deeply, only shallow wounds were made.
He got out.
The moment he thought that, Yul sensed something aiming at him from afar.
-Are you relieved that you escaped the trap? I quite like this thing that once hunted sea dragons.
The ship was flipped upside down.
Had it capsized? No. In the storm, the ships of the siren pirates could dive beneath the shallow sea surface.
On the deck, a massive ballista was loaded.
-When hunting sea dragons, one hunts from beneath the surface.
A weapon humans had never even used. Could the sirens use it?
He could clearly feel it aiming at him. He could see the magic fluctuating within it. If so, was it impossible to dodge? If he couldn't dodge, what should he do?
A dragon-slaying cannon bolt imbued with 「Sure-Hit」 magic was fired.
He tried to avoid it by altering the flow of the current with his Demon Eye.
But the bolt from the dragon-slaying cannon sliced through the water as if rejecting all interference.
Even if he fled outside its range, it was useless. It curved its trajectory and approached. Even when he struck it with the Divine Light Spire or tried to seize it with Telekinesis, the bolt only accelerated further, and by the time it reached Yul, it had surpassed the limits of perception.
Thud—he felt a horrifying impact. Seeing the bolt embedded in his heart, he felt the threat of death for the first time in a long while.
-Hahahahaha. Finally got you?
From afar, the Kraken, who had been disappointed that it couldn’t grab Yul itself, laughed upon seeing him struck by the dragon-slaying cannon.
-Stupid humans sank this thing, letting me find it. And you dropped it into the sea just as it was, allowing it to fall into my hands.
-So?
-What is with the confidence of one with a massive bolt stuck in his heart?
-No matter how sure-hit it is, it seems it can’t pierce everything.
From the gap in the wound on Yul’s chest, a streak of bright light burst forth.
That’s right. It had pierced through his chest and struck his heart, but it had failed to penetrate it.
Inside Yul’s chest, an Ultra-Fusion Heart like a star was beating.
Even in this split-body state, its structure was identical, and so was its durability.
-One more shot.
As the Kraken advanced toward Yul, it spread its tentacles wide again to recreate the all-encompassing net of blades.
At the same time, it ordered its subordinates to fire that troublesome magic-infused bolt once more……
Yul threw the spinning Divine Light Spire toward the siren vessel that was unleashing the most troublesome attacks.
The Divine Light Spire shot through the water and struck the siren ship directly, shattering it with overwhelming force.
And the dragon-slaying cannon sank into the depths of the sea.
At the same time, the Kraken’s massive tentacles succeeded in completely enclosing Yul.
-Die! I’I shall crush you like this!
All eight of the Kraken’s tentacles had now trapped Yul. To escape, he would have to break through the forest of blade-tentacles or go the opposite direction and pierce through the Kraken’s mouth.
Yul chose the latter.
He maneuvered by altering the current toward its enormous mouth, capable of devouring even a great sailing ship.
He no longer had the Divine Light Spire. All he could do was evolve his physical abilities to the extreme.
‘「Hardened Scales」, 「Steel Body」, 「Deep-Green Fish Skin」.’
He recited the three evolutions that came to mind, instantly evolving his body.
Then he looked ahead.
A pitch-black abyss like a bottomless pit loomed before him, and around it were things like the teeth of a giant eel, closing in from all directions. If he collided with those, it wouldn’t end with mere tearing.
He would be crushed beyond recognition.
‘「Seawater Vent」.’
He completed the final evolution. Using seawater passing through his body, he gained propulsion as if expelling it.
It was a very slight difference.
Just barely faster than the moment the Kraken brought down its eight pillar-like tentacles—strong enough to crumple steel like paper—into a single point, Yul slipped through the gap.
And Yul continued inward, to tear apart its insides……
‘What is this?’
But inside, a fragment of the universe unfolded before him. For a moment, he wondered if it might be an illusion.
Within that fragment of the cosmos, Yul caught a piece of a dream.
More precisely, it wasn’t that Yul seized it, but rather, because it was the scene most ‘connected’ to him, he came to know it.
* * *
That was the work of Heaven and Earth Resonance.
《Here, I, Oron, the Indeterminate of Creation, descend.》
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《Declaration complete.》
Oron, the Indeterminate of Creation, ascended just like that and headed for the Moon.
However, until the very moment the Heaven and Earth Resonance completely ended, he did not stop looking downward. There was something that piqued his interest.
As an Aeon, it was only natural that his gaze would be drawn to the being with the highest uncertainty—the most intriguing existence.
-Will he absorb all Karma and ascend to a Higher Realm on his own?
The Deep King Tribe, who had orchestrated all of this, might have been an object of hatred to him.
And yet, choosing the Deep King Tribe—it was interesting in itself.
-I shall designate him as a Mythic rank creature and seal him within a labyrinth. When he awakens, there will be another with a fitting narrative to accompany him.
Beside the Indeterminate of Creation, Oron, a flickering milky-white heron, appeared.
-The new world you’ve created is quite amusing.
-Linus, the Balance of Space-Time.
It was Linus, one of the most powerful beings even among the Aeons.
-But the seal you created is rather sloppy.
-I suppose so.
That one will soon open his eyes and then attempt to escape his destined fate using a ‘loophole.’
-My, my, isn't this quite unfair? A fellow who undergoes a self-powered ascension isn't coming to the Moon. Isn't it rather unfair for only one Mythic rank to wake up and run wild?
-So?
-I’ll restore the balance. If a Mythic existence awakens, I will wake another fellow as well.
-Have you forgotten the Cakeworld Treaty Agreement? This game board is not yours.
-Do you think my appearance here is solely of my own will?
Oron easily read the will of several other Aeons standing behind Linus.
Beings dissatisfied with Oron’s rules were lending their support to Linus.
-This round’s rules are supposed to be designed by me.
-But it’s no fun if only your ‘pieces’ are running rampant.
-If you do that, the【Deep Sea】 may interfere.
-Hmph. What does it matter whether those half-wits come up or not? They have no interest in what's above, busy chewing on the remnants of a dead universe at the deep, dark abyss
Linus sneered at the beings of the Deep Sea.
After several adjustments, Oron allowed Linus to intervene.
-Now it’ll get interesting. If two Mythic creatures awaken, the suppressive force of the Sky Island will collapse faster.
-Then 【Crisis】 will arrive sooner than we anticipated.
-All the better■■. If ■■■ sweeps away the things on the surface and ■■ arrives, we can raise the ■■ a little higher.
It seemed their conversation continued a bit longer, but the scene gradually began to fade.
* * *
It was like a memory, or a dream—something the creature harbored within itself.
But the moment he returned to reality, Yul immediately accelerated his propulsion.
He reached a portion of the swollen internal organs. This was the main body. He pulled out the UV Thermal Gun he had kept in his mouth.
‘Maximum output!’
A beam of intense heat fired, instantly piercing straight through the Kraken’s torso and its internal sac.
-Kugh!
As it was cooked by the heat, its insides began to collapse. But Yul did not stop there.
He adjusted the direction of the UV Thermal Gun and rotated it vertically, slicing straight through the body.
The Kraken’s body split apart, and Yul slipped out through the gap.
Without even time to leave any last words, that dying scream alone was enough for Yul to be certain of the Kraken’s death.
He could feel the soul drifting away from the creature. At the same time, he sensed a portion of its soul being absorbed into the Divine Light Spire.
Suddenly, the status window began to appear like mad.
[You have slain an avatar of a Mythic rank creature.]
[You have acquired a fragment of memories that should not exist.]
[The Divine Light Spire absorbs a portion of the avatar’s soul. Current Awakening: 21/100]
[You have absorbed the avatar’s karma. A portion is automatically converted into Faith.]
[You have stolen part of the opponent’s skills. You have acquired the skill 「Typhoon」.]
[1 empty skill slot available.]
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Right now, the status window wasn’t important.
‘What was that vision just now?’
A conversation between Aeons. There was clearly something immensely important within it.
‘The suppressive force of the Sky Island? The Crisis?’
Why had the Aeons created such rules in Cakeworld? Why do Mythic rank creatures exist? Are they watching me?
As for why the creature hunted the sea elves, that was still unknowable. But there was one thing he could confirm through the status window.
The Kraken was an avatar of a Mythic rank creature—one that wasn’t Yul.
‘Unlike me, it’s not using a split-body loophole to move around. It designated an avatar and concentrated its power into it…….’
From this, one thing became clear.
Aside from Yul, there was another awakened Mythic rank creature.
It, too, was acting through a loophole. Since it had yet to fully break its seal, it must be sending out its avatar to act in its stead.
‘So after dealing with the Kraken, I’ve automatically become hostile with another Mythic rank creature.’
For now, he decided to open the status window.