Hello again, everyone. It's time for Chapter 50, and as a little celebration , the length of this chapter is about 50% longer than average chapter. Better grab some drinks before you begin.
Here we go. See you again in the afterword.
[X][X][X]
The portal provided by Ainz brought the Foresight team right in front of the door which belonged to the central mausoleum of the tomb. Everyone in the team knew about this place since they had entered the tomb through this door after all. There were no hostiles around, and the path to the exit was clear. Feeling relatively safe, the Foresight members felt their fatigue catching up to them, both physically and mentally. They felt that their legs could give in anytime soon, and resting right there and then would not be a bad idea.
THUD!
But to their surprise, someone beat them to it, and not in a good way.
"Sheep!"
Sheep fell down to the floor, Rose barely managed to catch her before her face hit the hard floor. In that instant, everyone forgot about their own fatigue and went to assist her. Within seconds, a makeshift bed was made from their luggage and Sheep was put there. Blood was flowing from her nose, and she had a pretty high fever. Thankfully, she was still awake.
"Heh... it seems... I overdid it..."
Sheep was still smiling as she said it, though her heavy breathing clearly indicated that her condition was far from good.
"Is there anything we can do to help?"
Hekkeran asked out of genuine concern. Sheep had just once again saved the lives of the entire team, and unlike before, this time her action had taken a toll from her well-being. He had to make sure that Sheep would survive, because he would never want to live knowing that someone had exchanged her life for his. Nobody in the team would.
"Don't worry... I just need rest... Nothing more..."
"Alright, but not here. We should move"
Everyone in the team were a bit surprised by Rose's suggestion.
"We never know how long this place will be clear of hostiles"
Hekkeran gave her words a quick thought, and he concluded that he agreed with it. Right now there were no hostiles, probably thanks to Ainz. But nobody in the group could know for sure how long his generosity of keeping this place clear would last. By all chances, he might put more undead guards here later for protection against future intruders.
"Right. Rober, could you give Sheep a lift?"
"Sure, leader"
With the help of the other members, Sheep was put on Roberdyck's back for him to carry. The group then quickly took their luggage and began walking away from the mausoleum.
"Sorry about this..."
"We are the ones who should be sorry for having forced you to overexert yourself, Sheep. If only we were stronger..."
Roberdyck spoke those words with an upset expression. He was upset over his weakness, and the same could apply to the rest of the team.
"You saved our lives again, Sheep. I have no idea how we could ever possibly repay you"
Hekkeran spoke, genuinely having no idea. He felt that he ought to repay it somehow, but this time the save was on an unfathomably larger scale than before.
"You don't... have to..."
Hekkeran somewhat expected that answer, but it still wouldn't feel right for him and the rest of the team. His mind was in limbo between being grateful that Sheep didn't demand anything in return and being guilt-ridden for the same reason.
Not knowing what to say, and in order to give Sheep some needed rest, nobody said anything further and they kept walking until they reached the camp. The adventurers on duty in guarding the camp at the time noticed them coming and stood up.
"Ah, you have returned"
The whole team couldn't help reacting in a strange way as if they encountered an enemy, because the adventurers were Momon and Nabe, the real ones.
"Huh? What's wrong? I don't see any enemies around here"
The entire team let out a sigh of relief.
"We will let you know later, but for now we need to go back to our tent. One of us needs rest"
"Alright"
After Momon approved, the team went to their tent and gently put Sheep down on the bedding inside. She was now sound asleep, but blood kept flowing from her nose without any sign of stopping. Arche gently wiped the blood with clean cloth, and then she quickly made a stuffing from another cloth which she then put into the bleeding nose.
"You guys keep watch on her. I will go report our findings to Momon"
In truth, none of the Workers taking this job was in any obligation to report to the Adventurer escorts. Hekkeran just thought that a powerful threat like Ainz needed to be reported to pretty much the only one who could stand a chance against him. Hekkeran wouldn't be able to forgive himself if someday a calamity which could have been avoided happened because he was withholding information.
"I will go with you. She won't need this many people in this small space"
Imina stood up and followed Hekkeran. The two of them left the tent and approached Momon, who was sitting in front of the burning campfire alongside Nabe. To their surprise, there was another man sitting with them this time. Hekkeran immediately called in joy.
"Gringham! You're safe!"
"Aye, lad. Thou hath no idea what horrors I hath faced down there"
"Right back at you"
Hekkeran and Imina then sat alongside the three. The warmth of the campfire felt really comforting after all the adventure they had had inside the cold ruins.
[X][X][X]
Back in the throne room of Nazarick, Ainz had just returned from the Amphitheater. Albedo stood by next to the throne, waiting for Ainz to take his rightful seat. Without saying a word, Ainz sat down on the throne and let out a small sigh.
"Things didn't go according to plan on my end, but I'm glad it still went well. Anything to report, Albedo?"
"Hamsuke has successfully slain the man from that group, and as the result the three elven slaves he brought along have been freed from his control. She is now awaiting orders whether the unwilling slaves should be eliminated or not"
"Elves, huh...?"
Ainz gave a little bit of thought, and then he came into a decision.
"Aura and Mare could use some company from fellow elves. Send the former slaves to the twins"
"As you command, Ainz-sama"
"Huh, is there someone else around?"
Ainz noticed that just now Albedo didn't address him with his old name even though she had been given full permission to do so when they were alone. While he wasn't really comfortable with it, it was a privilege he had given in order to atone for his irreversible mistake. So when she didn't address him with his old name, he couldn't help questioning it.
"There was nobody other than us, Ainz-sama. Not even the stealth sentries"
"I'm just wondering, why are you still addressing me with my current name?"
"I realized that addressing Ainz-sama with your old name distracts my mind and causes me to lose focus, so I have made the decision not to use the privilege during important times like now. My apologies if this was not to your liking. If it is so, I will correct my mistake immediately"
Ainz couldn't help being astonished by Albedo's work attitude. What she just said convinced Ainz that she truly deserved to bear the title of Guardian Overseer.
"No, Albedo. You are right. This is an important matter, and therefore we must not lose focus. Nevertheless, what about the other group?"
Albedo smiled and bowed hearing Ainz's approval, and then she immediately gave her answer.
"Everything went according to plan. That group had no casualties, and they had been sent back to the surface ten minutes earlier than the group Ainz-sama personally attended to"
"I see. It seems the twins and Cocytus played their role well over there, while on my end everything fell apart and we are going to have extra expenses thanks to my mistake"
Albedo seemed to be concerned about Ainz blaming himself, so she quickly tried to reassure Ainz.
"It was an unexpected turn of events, Ainz-sama. In fact, I was impressed on how Ainz-sama had responded"
"Hmm, is that so?"
"Yes, Ainz-sama. In the end, the result was the same as planned and I believe it was still a win for Nazarick. I personally believe that the extra expense is still well worth the result, Ainz-sama"
"I see. Thank you for easing my mind, Albedo"
Albedo showed a reaction for a brief moment, but she quickly reverted back into her calm self.
"The pleasure is all mine, Ainz-sama"
Ainz leaned back on his throne, his body settling into a slightly slouching position. He allowed himself a moment to reminisce of the good old days, back when the newly formed guild of Ainz Ooal Gown was awarded the World Item [Throne of Kings] he now sat on for completing the Great Tomb of Nazarick in one go. The events were essentially over for today, and he could rest for a bit. Now that he had nothing to do, his mind began drifting to various things again.
I wonder what Ryu's team is doing now. Well, it's night so they are probably sound asleep now. I'll try contacting him once morning comes. Come to think of it, it's been a while since the Kashin Koji spy inside Lily last contacted me. Perhaps it's time to extract him again for report, but I have to be prepared for the fact that inserting him again without her knowing might be impossible. Hell, even extracting him will be difficult without using expensive spells this time. Her evolution bites me back in this aspect.
BEEP! BEEP!
Suddenly, a notification of [Message] was heard. Ainz picked it up immediately.
"Ainz-sama"
Speak of the devil.
"Kashin Koji. Is there something urgent to report?"
"A new Dark Falz has appeared"
"...What?"
Ainz's reaction to the information was similar to the reaction he had showed back then when he had been informed about Shalltear going rogue. This was mainly because his mental fatigue had caught up to him that he couldn't quickly process the new information he had just been informed about. Perhaps it was also his subconscious trying to deny this news, because he already had enough problems to deal with already.
[X][X][X]
A Few Hours Earlier. The Western Ocean.
"SKREEEEEEE!"
The Sea Dragon's roar was deafening and pierced through the spines of those who heard it, sending chills all over. No one knew whether it was some kind of magic embedded in the roar, or just simply their fear kicking in. Nevertheless, it was no question that every man onboard the command ship, which was right in front of the Sea Dragon, were in a state of panic. Their preparations and weaponry were not for an encounter at a very close distance like this.
Ryu's group was floating on a distance away from the command ship because they were on their way to assist the left forward ship which was under attack by merfolk combatants. Now Ryu was in quite a panic state, unable to decide whether his group should immediately return to the command ship, continue their trip to assist the left forward ship, or split up and try to do both.
"Ryu-san. What do you want us to do?"
"Uhhh... Liz, Lily, assist the forward ship. I will return to the command ship"
Ryu's decision was made without much thinking. He just thought that Lily and Alice could sweep through the hostiles relatively easily while they could protect each other if needed. Also, he didn't want Alice, a local of this planet who was the weakest among the group, to face the Sea Dragon. Therefore he came up with this arrangement.
"Alright, Ryu-san!"
"Be careful out there, Ryu-san"
"You too"
The group then split up, with Ryu trying to fly back as fast as he could. He actually could just blast the Sea Dragon with full power Photon Techs, but he might end up hitting the command ship as well. Moreover, there was one thing he had just noticed about the Sea Dragon.
It was not infected.
Ryu had just quickly scanned the Sea Dragon, and the result clearly said that the Darker Factor level of the Sea Dragon was zero. That meant, the Sea Dragon was fully conscious about its actions. If the Sea Dragon had never been infected, then there should have been a certain reason for the recent change in its behavior. Seeing that there were actual infected hostiles nearby, Ryu could come to a guess. However, he was worried the soldiers onboard the command ship didn't think the same, so he had to go back quickly.
"Captain, sir!"
Ryu quickly approached the captain once he arrived back at the command ship. The captain was standing straight, watching his men move into formation on the deck with all their weapons in hand. His face didn't show fear, either because he was truly a brave one, or he was good at hiding his fear.
"Ah, Ryu-dono! Glad you returned! Now please assist us in this battle"
"Tell your men to hold their fire"
"They won't fire unless I say so, but we could use some explanation"
"I scanned the Sea Dragon on my way back here, and it is not infected. Considering that there are infected merfolks out there, I think that all this time the Sea Dragon has been trying to tell the ships to get away before the infected merfolks notice them and attack"
"I don't want to doubt an Adamantite Rank, but are you sure?"
"Honestly, no. But look, we have been talking like this, and the Sea Dragon has not done anything to this ship other than roaring once"
The captain folded his arms, thinking for a brief moment.
"You have a point there, but it still doesn't give answers about the sunk ships"
Ryu couldn't answer that remark. It was indeed known that the sunk ships had likely been destroyed by a large creature, and the only large creature acting somewhat hostile recently was the Sea Dragon, which right now was staying still right next to the command ship.
"SKREEEEEEE!"
The Sea Dragon roared again, making every men onboard covered their ears. Right after that, a mound of water emerged near the other side of the command ship, which tilted towards the Sea Dragon as the result. Ryu, who was still floating with the [Fly] spell, easily stayed in place, but the other men onboard had a hard time keeping their balance.
Thankfully, the ship didn't get flipped over. Once the ship got back to its upright position, everyone could finally see what creature had emerged from the water.
"A Kraken! But I don't remember any Kraken this big!"
The captain shouted his remark, while Ryu could only utter a short sentence.
"Oh no..."
Ryu couldn't think of anything other than bad things after seeing what he saw. The Kraken itself was a gigantic octopus, about the same size as the Sea Dragon, maybe even slightly bigger. But what had put Ryu into full alert was the thing on the forehead of the Kraken. It was a strange, white glowing thing which looked like a skeletal hand emerging right from under the skin. Its size was large enough to cover a large part of the Kraken's forehead, so it was easily noticeable.
Ryu knew that thing very well. It was a Darker Corruption Core on its highest stage, signifying that the Kraken was corrupted beyond saving and also strengthened to the maximum potential. As far as his experience could tell, any creature with maximum level of Corruption Core was at least as strong as Darkers of tier SH, the highest tier of difficulty known to ARKS. Having a Max Darker Core on such a large creature was definitely bad news.
"GURUROOOOOOW!"
The Kraken let out a roar as loud as the Sea Dragon's, and it flailed its tentacles on the water, creating huge splashes all over. The waves created by the action shook the command ship, once again causing the men onboard to lose balance.
"SKREEEEEEE!"
The Sea Dragon roared in response to the Kraken's roar. It was clear to Ryu that the two large creatures were about to fight, and now the command ship was positioned right between the two. At this rate it would get sandwiched by the colossal creatures.
"Run away"
"What?"
The captain, not knowing any information about Darker Core, could only ask in confusion.
"The Sea Dragon and The Kraken are about to fight! This ship will get crushed if it stays here!"
Ryu didn't know if his assumption was true, but seeing the strong implication, Ryu decided to assume the worst for the time being. The captain, noticing the horror implied in Ryu's words, nodded and shouted a command.
"Full speed ahead!"
Complying with the command, the men immediately moved into action. The sails were spread wide and the many oars below moved to row the ship forward. Ryu, thinking that the ship could use some extra boost, flew to the spot right behind the sails and charged a Photon Tech on his weapon.
Nazan!
WHOOSH!
A strong gust of wind came out from Ryu's weapon, forcefully blowing the sails of the command ship with an enormous gale. The sails bloated forward, accelerating the ship's forward momentum. Unfortunately, the boost had an adverse effect. The wind gust was so strong that some of the sails ripped. Ryu was worried that he had made a mistake, but nevertheless the ship had accelerated enough to get clear from the spot which would very soon become a battle zone, and that was a relief.
Ryu returned to the captain who was instructing his men to stand by and keep themselves prepared for battle. Ryu believed that none of them would stand any chance against the infected Kraken, so he wanted to tell the captain to retreat. It might feel like a spit to the face for their resolve, but he believed it had to be done.
"Captain, I must tell you and your men to escape from this area"
"But this battle is what we came here for! We now know that the real culprit is the Kraken, and we will fight!"
"You're risking the lives of so many men, captain sir!"
"All of us are trained to risk our lives for the Kingdom, and that's what we will do"
Ryu could only let out a sigh hearing the captain's response. It seemed that they really had the resolve to fight no matter the odds.
"Just, don't attack recklessly, alright?"
Without waiting for response, Ryu flew away towards a spot nearby the Sea Dragon, keeping his distance from the Kraken. He knew that having a Max Darker Core meant the Kraken would likely deal fatal damage to him easily. He couldn't afford to get hit even a single time, and there was another thing he had to be very wary of.
SCHWING!
"There it is!"
As Ryu had been expecting, the Darker Core on the Kraken's forehead launched an energy bolt straight towards Ryu. Thanks to the sufficient distance, he had enough reaction time to evade. The bolt hit the water behind him and caused a small explosion, still large enough to punch a hole on any ship it could have hit. This was one of the threats possessed by a Max Darker Core; random small shots.
Ryu looked at the Sea Dragon, which seemed to glance back at him. Strangely, it seemed to understand Ryu's intention to fight as its ally against the Kraken, because it nodded slightly.
Ryu then repositioned himself behind and above the Sea Dragon, keeping himself at a relatively safe distance from the Kraken.
Shifta!
Deband!
Ryu casted the two buff Techs he had, empowering himself and the Sea Dragon. The Sea Dragon then immediately opened its mouth wide and seemingly gathering power from within. The Kraken raised one of its tentacles, apparently trying to strike. But the Sea Dragon was faster, shooting a compressed stream of water from its mouth.
"GUROOOOW!"
The water stream struck the Darker Core directly, staggering the Kraken and stopping it from striking. Its roar was likely a roar out of pain.
"Be careful!"
Ryu shouted, even though he was not sure if the Sea Dragon would understand him. Thankfully, nothing dangerous happened yet. The Sea Dragon then ended its attack, while the Kraken was still reeling from the apparent pain.
"Ryu-san!"
Suddenly, Ryu heard a familiar voice. Ryu looked and indeed it was Lily flying straight to him, with Alice right behind. Once they both arrived, it was easy to notice that Lily was quite soaked in blood, probably from the merfolks she had slayed just recently.
"We took care of the hostile merfolks. Well, to be exact, she sliced off most of them by herself. Anyway, I presume the Sea Dragon is our ally and the real enemy is that Kraken, isn't it?"
"Yes. That strange thing on its head is a Darker Core. It is a weak point, but it can attack independently. Be careful"
While speaking, Ryu took a glance at the horizon to the west. The sun was barely visible and the sky was getting dark. Soon, the battlefield would become a complete darkness and that might be a major disadvantage for his team. Lily, whose helmet had night vision as one of the many enchantments within, wouldn't have such problem though.
"Liz, you have night vision spell? The two of us might need that soon"
"Yeah, I see that"
[Night Eye]
Alice immediately casted a spell on Ryu and herself. Ryu felt the effect immediately, suddenly being able to see the surroundings at higher brightness.
"It only lasts for half an hour, so remind me to reapply it every so often. Anyway, what's our battle strategy?"
"Focus on destroying the Darker Core on its head. If it's destroyed, the Kraken will die along with it"
SCHWING!
"Watch out!"
Lily put herself right in front of Alice, who was the target of the Darker Core's energy bolt shot just now, and put her magic shield up with her left hand. The bolt hit her shield head-on, pushing her back a bit, but she was generally unharmed.
"Woah, thanks"
"Liz, taking a single hit from any attack is probably fatal for you. Keep your distance as far as possible from the Kraken, and watch for that random bolt"
"Alright. I will support you two from behind"
"Liz, Lily... be careful"
After Ryu said his words with a determined tone, all three of the group nodded to each other. The Sea Dragon below them let out a growl while glancing at them, seemingly saying that it understood their intentions. At the same time, the Kraken had recovered from the pain caused by the Sea Dragon's attack before, and it was now ready for battle again.
WHOOSH!
The three of the group flew to different directions. Lily flew straight towards the Kraken, Alice towards the Sea Dragon's head, and Ryu following Lily but at higher altitude. Lily stopped right in front of the Kraken's face and her body let out a red aura.
[Battle Taunt]
[Intimidate]
"Your opponent is me!"
Lily shouted at the Kraken with an intimidating pose which seemed to draw the attention of the Kraken as it immediately flailed with one tentacle in an attempt to strike Lily, but she gracefully evaded and followed up with a counter attack.
[Shield Toss]
Lily materialized her shield with her right gauntlet and threw it straight at the Darker Core with incredible speed. One could say that the shield flew twice as fast as an arrow.
SMACK!
The shield struck the Darker Core cleanly and vanished into thin air, but it immediately reappeared on Lily's left gauntlet. Ryu had no idea what Lily had just done, but he just assumed that those had been some skills she had gained when she had evolved back then. Ryu soon realized that it was no time for him to watch in awe. He had to attack as well.
Zonde!
Ryu casted a Photon Tech which made a single lightning strike right above the Darker Core. The lightning hit the core directly and it should have dealt damage. However, Ryu couldn't measure how much damage the core could withstand in total since it shared vitality with the Kraken and he had never fought a Kraken before.
I must try to deal big damage.
Ryu then charged photon into his weapon, aimed at the Darker Core, and began casting a Photon Tech he had once used to deliver significant damage way back then during his first days on this planet.
Ilbarta!
Ilbarta!
Ilbarta!
Ilbarta was a Photon Tech which would mark the target with a blue sigil and increase its power with repeated hits to the marked target, doubling its power and sigil brightness starting from the fourth hit, and finally dealing its peak damage on the seventh hit, which would then reset the sigil to the starting state. The sigil's lifetime was only five seconds, but each hit would refresh the lifetime.
Ilbarta!
Ilbarta!
Ryu had done five hits with Ilbarta on the Darker Core. Just two more hits were needed to complete the whole package.
Ilbarta!
On the sixth hit, the Darker Core generated a ball of energy and threw it at Ryu. It was slower than the random energy bolt and also arching instead of straight, but Ryu knew very well that the ball was dangerous. He easily evaded by maneuvering his flight, and the ball fell down to the sea, creating quite a big explosion upon touching the water. This was another threat possessed by Max Darker Core; retaliation bomb.
Ilbarta!
Ryu casted the finisher hit of the Photon Tech, and a large explosion of ice occurred at the Darker Core.
"GUROOOW!"
The Kraken reeled in pain again, flailing its tentacles on every direction. At the same time, the Sea Dragon which seemingly had been preparing another attack opened its mouth and once again shot a jet stream of water at the Kraken. Not only that, this time the water around the Sea Dragon was launched straight at the Kraken as a swarm of small projectiles. This would have hit Lily as well, but she had positioned herself in a way that she was shielded by the Kraken's body.
It was apparent that the Kraken was losing the battle. The cooperation of Ryu's team and the Sea Dragon had pushed it into the corner. All they needed to win the battle was to deliver the finishing blow.
THWACK!
BOOM!
Suddenly a large steel bolt punctured the Kraken and exploded, opening a large burning hole on its side. Immediately, more bolts rained down on it, along with regular arrows. Ryu looked at the source of those projectiles and saw that all four ships were lined up in a broadside formation, unleashing all they got via bows and ballistas towards the Kraken. Cheers from the soldiers could be heard in the distance, seemingly announcing that they, the usually disregarded humans, were not to be taken lightly.
However, this was the part where the allied forces were at their highest, and what went up must eventually go down.
The barrage of attacks from the warships triggered multiples of retaliation bombs from the Darker Core. Numerous energy balls were thrown from the Darker Core towards all four of the warships.
"No, no, no, NO!"
CRASH! BOOM!
The ships were unable to evade the bombs, and all of them were obliterated within an instant. There were nothing left other than shredded pieces of the shipwreck and lifeless bodies afloat, drifting by the sea current. The Kraken then submerged into the sea, and soon a gigantic whirlpool was created in the middle of the shipwrecks, with the Kraken appearing right at its center.
"GURUROOOOW!"
The Kraken roared, flailing its tentacles around hitting all the debris and dead bodies. Even if anyone had survived the bombs, nobody had any hope of surviving the whirlpool of slaughter. Sometimes, several wisps of light appeared from a spot the Kraken had just smashed and floated towards the Darker Core which absorbed them, healing the Kraken. This was the last threat of Max Darker Core; granting lifesteal attack to the infectee. This meant whenever a wisp of light appeared, the Kraken had just hit and killed a survivor.
While all these were happening, Ryu just stood still with his hands on his head and horrified expression, his mind and body freezing up after witnessing the demise of all the soldiers. Lily couldn't take further action without a command from Ryu, and Alice knew she would just add herself as casualty if she tried anything against the Kraken. Therefore, all three members of the group were pretty much frozen still at the bleak situation.
"Urgh..."
Clap!
After grunting briefly, Alice did a single hard clap of her hands right in front of Ryu's face. The sudden loud sound was effective in giving Ryu a shock, seeing that he twitched with a surprised expression as a response.
"I know that you are horrified by the sight, but we don't have time to either grieve or be frozen still! If the Kraken isn't stopped here and now, more lives will be lost! Not just the soldiers and the merfolks!"
Ryu didn't respond to Alice's angry words for a few seconds, but that few seconds had been all he needed to process his thoughts and recover from his state, though not completely.
"O-Okay, you're right. But to be honest, that Kraken is astoundingly tough thanks to the Darker Core. I don't know how much power is needed to take it down, and whether I have that much power to begin with"
"Then I suggest we retreat and inform the people on land, and perhaps request help from Lily's father. But do you have something different in mind?"
Ryu tapped his finger on his forehead, his expression clearly indicating that he was trying to come up with something as fast as he could.
"Okay okay, let's do it like this. I do one big final attack, and if the Kraken still survives we go with your suggestion"
"Alright, but what attack do you have in mind?"
"I have one Photon Tech which I haven't used for a long time. The thing is, I can't move around while charging it. Can I trust you two to cover me?"
"Leave it to me, Ryu-san!"
"Alright. I will do what I can"
After Alice and Lily nodded in approval, Ryu looked at the Sea Dragon which had been staying near them and watching the Kraken with cautious eyes. Ryu wanted to make sure about something before beginning his attack, therefore he spoke to the Sea Dragon.
"Uhh, I don't know if you can understand me, but if you have an ultimate attack or such, please help us and use it against the Kraken. A lot of lives are at stake if the Kraken isn't stopped here and now, and we need all the help we can get. Please help us!"
Ryu bowed as he said the last sentence. The Sea Dragon looked at him for a few seconds, and then its head made a nodding gesture with a slight growl. Ryu felt a bit delighted seeing this.
"Thank you"
After saying it, Ryu then turned around to face the Kraken at a distance, which was still flailing at unfortunate survivors and shipwreck debris to heal itself with the lifesteal trait from the Darker Core. Without further delay, Ryu raised his altitude to be higher than the Sea Dragon was tall, and began charging the Photon Tech. The Sea Dragon also began doing something which seemed like charging up energy, but this time its whole body began radiating blue aura which gradually grew brighter.
The Photon Tech Ryu was charging up was actually not among the best Photon Techs in ARKS because while powerful, the long charge time made it impractical. The mysterious boost from this planet had a somewhat unique effect to this particular Photon Tech, in which the tech now could be charged continuously and it would keep increasing its power and draining Ryu's photon energy reserve until casted. During the days he had been training in Nazarick, Ryu had tried charging it to the maximum charge he could afford, but he had cancelled himself from casting it in fear of causing too much damage to the arena structures.
In order to reach the full charge, Ryu would need three full minutes, during which he would be a sitting duck for the Kraken to attack and interrupt his charging. This was the main reason he had asked Lily and Alice to protect him during this time of vulnerability.
The Kraken, seemingly noticing what Ryu and the Sea Dragon was doing, grabbed some large pieces of debris with its tentacles and threw it at them. Lily immediately moved to intercept one large piece of debris, putting herself right between Ryu and the debris piece.
[Fortification]
Lily's body let out a green glow as she raised her magic shield in front of her. Ryu once again wondered if what she was doing was another ability she had obtained from her evolution. Nevertheless, Lily braced herself for the impact which soon came.
CLANK!
Lily blocked the debris piece head on and deflected it away to the side, successfully keeping both Ryu and the Sea Dragon safe from harm.
[Lightweight] [Magic Arrow]
Meanwhile, Alice used two spells on a different piece, interrupting its flight and making it fall down to the water without hitting either Ryu or the Sea Dragon. The Kraken, seeing its failed attempt, threw more debris pieces furiously.
Noticing the coming danger, Lily put her shield away, unsheathed her other sword, and changed her grip into backhand grip.
"Raging Waltz!"
Lily activated a Photon Art which launched her body straight at her target and made her do an upward slash at it. The debris piece was slashed cleanly in two and fell down to the waters below.
"Raging Waltz! Raging Waltz! Raging Waltz!"
With incredible speed, Lily moved from one debris piece to another, slicing them all in half and making them fell harmlessly to the waters below.
[Lesser Rejuvenate Stamina]
Alice, seemingly assuming that Lily had spent a great deal of stamina from the repeated use of Photon Art, casted a spell at Lily, which would recover a small portion of Lily's stamina.
[Fireball]
Alice also casted an offensive spell at a debris piece Lily had missed. Both her and Lily was trying their best to protect Ryu and the Sea Dragon while they were charging their attack.
"SKREEEEEEE!"
The Sea Dragon suddenly roared, which surprised Lily and Alice. Ryu was surprised as well, but he had to maintain his concentration on charging the Photon Tech, so he held himself unflinching as best as he could. Lily and Alice glanced at the Sea Dragon, which was now glowing bright blue with a fiery aura of the same color.
"Liz-san! Let's move out of the way!"
"Yeah, I see that!"
Both Lily and Alice could conclude that the Sea Dragon had finished charging its ultimate attack, and the roar was its way to tell them to move away from the line of fire. As soon as they flew away from their position, a strange voice could be heard from the Sea Dragon.
"Gunehdr Te' Xisy'tu"
Immediately, a tsunami as tall as the Sea Dragon emerged from its front in a way that would violate common sense. The tsunami advanced quickly towards the Kraken, growing bigger and taller as it moved to the point that none of the team could even see the Kraken anymore. The tsunami then violently collapsed onto the Kraken's posiition, engulfing it along with the whirlpool, and creating a gargantuan, explosive splash. Within seconds, a different whirlpool appeared, with double the size of the previous. It dragged the Kraken round-and-round like a washing machine until it was swallowed whole at the center. Just less than five seconds later, a huge pillar of water shot up from the center of the whirlpool, with the water pillar launching the Kraken so high into the sky, that it could probably reach the clouds.
"GURUROOOOW!"
The Kraken's wailing cry could be heard as it fell back down into the center of the whirlpool and disappeared from sight.
BOOM!
Instead of splashing sound, the sound which was heard from the spot was a loud thud of a heavy object hitting solid ground. Everyone on the team had the same question popping up in their mind, questioning whether the eye of that giant whirlpool reached all the way to the bottom of the sea for real.
The Sea Dragon, who just now had lost its body glow, looked at Ryu and opened its mouth.
"Now... Attack..."
All three of the team were quite surprised hearing the Sea Dragon speaking a relatively coherent sentence, but Ryu still understood what it wanted and unleashed the Photon Tech he had been charging up.
"ILFOIE!"
Ryu raised his weapon pointing upwards, and suddenly the sky became bright as if it was day. Everyone other than Ryu himself looked above and saw what had just caused the brightness.
Ryu's Photon Tech summoned a fiery meteor as big as a noble's mansion. It fell down vertically straight into the eye of the whirlpool.
BWOOOOOOM!
An enormous explosion occurred directly on the Kraken's location, creating a massive mushroom cloud of fire, steam, and light. One could say that the explosion was like a nuclear bomb going off, if they were familiar with the concept.
"SKREEEEEEE!"
The Sea Dragon roared once again, and the waters around the outer edge of the whirlpool rose up, creating a tall wall of water around the ground zero. The water wall contained the explosion, preventing further damage to the environment.
After a few minutes, the water walls came down and disappeared, leaving only calm waters as if nothing had ever happened.
"Is it over?"
Ryu asked with a rather heavy breath. His photon energy reserve had already regenerated back, but his body stamina was already near the point of total exhaustion. He could faint anytime if he pushed himself further than this.
"Yeah, I guess it is over"
Alice's answer overcame everyone present with a feeling of relief. The battle was over and they had won, although at a huge cost of human lives.
All three of the group then looked at the Sea Dragon. It was still there with them, staying still. Exhaustion was clearly displayed on its face. Whatever attack it had done, it must have costed a lot. Ryu put himself in front and slightly below the Sea Dragon's face and started speaking.
"You have our deepest gratitude for assisting us. Thank you"
Ryu bowed to the Sea Dragon as he spoke, and the other two followed suit.
"The enemy was strong. This one was unable to win alone. This one thanks you"
The Sea Dragon lowered its head, seemingly bowing as well. The feel of surprise had just now kicked in for the entire team, seeing that the Sea Dragon was fully capable of coherent speech. Its voice was deep and masculine, anyone would immediately assume that the Sea Dragon was a male.
Nevertheless, now that the battle was over and the waters have calmed down, the feeling of grief Ryu had felt back then began creeping up his mind again. All those soldiers could have survived if they had just run away instead of attacking the Kraken. They had died unnecessarily because Ryu had not been more adamant in not letting them participate in the battle. Ryu couldn't help letting out a quite big sigh at this fact, promising himself that if such situation happened again in the future, he would insist and not accept refusal.
But then, as if it knew about his Lament, the Sea Dragon spoke.
"Those ones' deaths were not in vain. Without those ones' deaths, these ones might not have won"
"What?"
Ryu was confused from what the Sea Dragon had just said. At the same time, Alice seemed to understand something and therefore she approached Ryu.
"Ryu-san. The ultimate attack back then was not the regular, common magic of this world. I believe it was an ancient draconic magic which, as its name implies, can only be used by ancient dragons"
"That is true. This one's magic was inherited by this one's predecessor"
"My foster father left behind some notes about it. The thing about this type of magic is that it requires a large amount of soul sacrifice to gain strength"
"So that means..."
"Indeed, those ones' deaths were what made this one able"
"So rest assured, Ryu-san. Those soldiers have done their part. If they know about this they all will be proud of what they have done, sacrificing themselves to bring us victory"
Ryu was silent for a few seconds before he spoke again.
"Yeah, I guess you're right"
Ryu smiled and nodded, agreeing with what he had just been told. Now everything had been settled and it was time to go home.
However, suddenly something emerged at a distance. All of them noticed and couldn't believe what they saw. The Kraken was still alive. Heavily wounded with the Darker Core seemingly falling apart, but it was still alive.
"It's still alive!"
"Good grief. Can you finish it off, Ryu-san?"
"I can't promise anything. I'm now already at my limit"
"This one is too exhausted"
"Leave it to me then!"
Lily immediately unsheathed her swords again and held them backhand. She was prepared to fly straight at the Kraken and strike it with all her might.
SCHWIIIIIIING!
But suddenly, a thick pillar of light fell down from the sky with a screeching sound straight on top of the Kraken. For Ryu the light pillar was more like a giant laser of violet color. The giant laser engulfed the Kraken, disintegrating it and the Darker Core without leaving a trace of their existence. What was left after the laser faded away was only a crater which was immediately filled by the sea water around it. Everyone, including the Sea Dragon, were left speechless by the event.
"What was that!? Was it your doing, Ryu-san?"
"No way, Lily. I have no idea"
"Look, up there!"
Alice pointed to a spot high above the place the Kraken had been, and everyone saw a flying figure. Ryu was startled seeing the form of the figure, and he uttered something as the result.
"Falz Angel...?"
"Wait, what? Is that a different Dark Falz?"
"Y-Yeah, I think..."
"Oh, come on! Is that a Dark Falz? Yes or no?"
Ryu actually was not so sure about what he saw. Indeed, the shape and form of the flying figure was highly similar to Falz Angel, the humanoid form of Dark Falz Loser. Its appearance was like a winged knight in shining golden full plate armor that covered its body and wings. However, the figure he saw now was somewhat different. The most striking difference was that instead of the three pairs of slender wings Falz Angel had, this Falz Angel figure only had one pair of big wings, each with four sharp blades protruding downwards from the top part. In addition, this Falz Angel figure somewhat didn't feel sinister at all, unlike the spine-chilling Falz Angel Ryu had faced several times in the past.
Nevertheless, Ryu decided not to take risks at this time.
"Yes. Let's say yes"
"Then I suggest that we all retreat. We're all too out of shape to fight any more than this"
"Right. Let's fall back for now"
Alice and Lily nodded hearing the command from Ryu, who then looked at the Sea Dragon and spoke again.
"Are you going to be fine?"
"The ocean is this one's domain. This one shall retreat to the depths and recuperate"
"Be careful. Don't hesitate to retreat to the lands if needed"
The Sea Dragon only responded with a slight growl and nod, and then it retreated to the depths of the ocean. Ryu and the rest of his team immediately flew straight back towards Re-Lobell with Alice as the forward navigator.
Another Dark Falz... Come on, where's the fleet? What's taking them so long?
Ryu couldn't help questioning the situation and how the ARKS Fleet was taking their time. Darkers, infected creatures, and Dark Falz should have been more than enough reason already for them to come and help, but until now there has been no signs of them coming at all. The situation was really bleak, and Ryu seriously considered asking for more assistance from Ainz.
[X][X][X]
Afterword:
With this chapter, Ryu's side of the story is mostly over. All that is left is to bring closure to the job he is taking, and then he will return to E-Rantel for a big surprise.
In response to the question posted by the recent guest, Ainz knows that ARKS people never have any intention to keep their existence and purpose secret, so there's no use for Ainz to withhold that info since the public will know anyway once the fleet eventually arrives. In addition, Ainz himself is about to reveal his existence to public soon anyway as part of Demiurge's world domination plan, so the same applies to himself.
See you again later.
