Chapter 38: Ex Machina (7)
Rumble!!
Just by wriggling its tentacles, the Kraken created massive waves, as large as houses, that spread out in all directions.
Even though it hadn’t taken any specific action, the sea became as wild as if a giant typhoon had hit.
The ocean continued to churn violently, and five massive whirlpools had formed, spinning furiously.
Each one was large enough to easily swallow an enormous sailing ship.
This was truly a disaster-level monster.
The once peaceful and calm sea had turned into a hellscape with the Kraken’s mere appearance.
What kind of powers and skills would be needed to hunt down a monster like this?
He had witnessed the hunting of an Elder Lich and even finished it off himself, but this Kraken was beyond comprehension.
If there was one possible solution…
‘That spear.’
Though the outcome had been disastrous, Akula had managed to make the Kraken suffer momentarily when he used that spear.
Hyun Suho quickly flew over and grabbed the spear.
Clunk!
The moment he held the spear, a sharp current ran through his body.
It didn’t hurt him; instead, it felt invigorating.
At that moment, an unexpected system window appeared.
《Hidden Epic Quest Discovered》
◆Quest
Nightmare of the Deep
▷Objective: Defeat the Kraken, the demon sealed by ancient Atlantis
Reward: ???
“A Hidden Epic Quest?”
As far as Hyun Suho knew, Epic Quests were the highest-level quests you could encounter in a typical field.
They were highly challenging missions that even rankers couldn’t easily clear.
And this wasn’t just an Epic Quest; it was a Hidden Epic Quest.
For now, he put his curiosity aside and focused on the spear.
◆Item
Trident of the Sea (바다의 창)
(Quest Item)
Attack Power: ???
All Stats +50%
Reduces all nearby hostile monsters' stats by 35%
Attack Power +250% against Boss Monsters
Attack Power +300% for each seal released
Remaining Seals: (1/5)
“A totally overpowered item...!”
Seeing the spear’s abilities, Hyun Suho couldn’t help but exclaim.
It increased all of the user’s stats by a whopping 50% while reducing the stats of nearby monsters by 35%.
Though the attack power was marked as a question mark, he could feel the immense destructive force just by holding the spear.
Additionally, there was an option to increase attack power by 2.5 times against boss monsters.
“No wonder Akula was so confident.”
Mathematically speaking, if all stats are reduced by 35%, it would seem like the Kraken’s level drops to around 6.
But there was a catch.
With each level increase, stats nearly double.
So, even if its stats dropped by 35%, the Kraken’s effective combat power was still in the mid-to-high range of Level 8.
Even with an overpowered spear, the Kraken was still a terrifying monster.
Akula had been taken down easily, so Hyun Suho knew that getting caught by those tentacles would mean the end for him too.
But the real crisis was just beginning.
[Keeeeeeek!!!]
As soon as Hyun Suho grabbed the spear, he obtained the Hidden Epic Quest, and the Kraken became the quest’s target.
But it seemed the Kraken was aware of this as well.
As soon as he grabbed the spear, he could feel the Kraken’s gaze fix on him.
It was as if the Kraken knew the spear was a threat to it.
Rumbleeeee!!
As the Kraken approached, the sea began to tremble violently as if it were exploding.
Hyun Suho quickly glanced at Akula’s ship before starting to move.
“I absolutely can’t let the ship get caught up in this.”
He assumed that the people were likely imprisoned on that ship.
The mere presence of the Kraken nearby could cause the ship to sink.
He quickly flew away, trying to relocate, but the Kraken wasn’t going to just let him go.
Hyun Suho had expected the Kraken to use its massive tentacles to try to grab him.
The Kraken’s most powerful and sole method of attack.
But this Kraken was different from the “normal” Krakens.
As a powerful energy surged from beneath the surface, Nova urgently warned him.
[It’s a mana reaction! Evacuate immediately!]
Thanks to its advanced magical technology, Nova could now detect mana.
No sooner had Nova spoken than a massive jet of water shot up from the ocean’s surface.
Swooosh!!
A gigantic water cannon, as thick as a large log, was fired toward where Hyun Suho was flying.
It wasn’t something the Kraken spat out from its mouth; it was launched from its tentacles.
This wasn’t just a special technique; it was more akin to a water-based spell.
Hyun Suho quickly accelerated his engine to dodge the attack, but unfortunately, the Kraken had more than one tentacle.
To be precise, it had dozens of suction cups on each tentacle.
Soon, a barrage of enormous water jets was fired in quick succession, aiming to shoot Hyun Suho down.
Boom boom boom!
"Nova!"
[Calculating trajectory and guiding you to a safe route!]
Holograms began to pop up rapidly within Hyun Suho’s field of vision.
Fortunately, the water cannon attacks required the suction cups to contract and then release as a preparatory motion.
Nova calculated the angles and timing, displaying them on the screen as holograms.
Thanks to this, Hyun Suho could clearly see the trajectories the water cannons would follow in a few seconds.
The problem was that there were dozens of them.
Boom boom boom!
The formidable power of the water cannons was enough to pierce through the sky and reach space.
With the Kraken’s immense magical power infused into them, even a glancing blow would likely open a massive hole in his body.
Despite the considerable mana expenditure, the Kraken continued to relentlessly fire the water cannons.
Boom boom boom boom!
“Damn it!”
Hyun Suho frantically dodged and weaved through the complexly displayed water cannon trajectories on the screen.
Thanks to Nova’s analysis, he hadn’t been hit even once, but at this rate, he knew he was reaching his limit.
‘I can’t just keep running away...’
Hyun Suho was at risk of depleting his mana faster than he could keep flying.
In the end, the best defense was a strong offense.
Hyun Suho twisted his body in midair and swung the spear powerfully.
Then…
BOOM!!
Just like when Akula had used it earlier, a powerful thunderbolt shot out, striking the Kraken's tentacle.
[Groooooooaaaarrr!!]
The Kraken screamed in pain.
As expected, this attack was highly effective against the Kraken.
[You must keep attacking!]
“I need time to recharge it first!”
Unfortunately, the thunderbolt wasn’t something that could be used continuously.
It needed time for the spear to recharge its electrical energy, but the good news was that, unlike plasma, it didn’t require mana.
From then on, Hyun Suho continued to evade while swinging the spear each time it recharged with lightning.
BOOM!!
Each time the overpowered spear struck, the Kraken writhed in pain, but only temporarily.
Even the tentacles that had been charred black by the lightning attack quickly regenerated and returned to their original state after just a short time.
Its regeneration was comparable to that of a troll.
This was one of the reasons why it was so difficult to defeat a Kraken.
“What the hell was Akula thinking, trying to take this thing down?”
Akula was ruthless, but he wasn’t stupid.
He had spent years painstakingly searching for the Hidden Epic Quest and finally gained the confidence that he could hunt the Kraken.
There must have been some miscalculation.
The answer lay in the spear.
“One seal still hasn’t been released.”
Each time a seal is broken, the spear’s attack power increases by a staggering 300%.
Whatever method Akula had used, four of the five seals had already been released.
The last one was the key.
Unfortunately, unlike Akula, Hyun Suho knew nothing about this quest.
He needed some sort of hint to figure out how to release the final seal.
[Your current chance of success is less than 1%. You need to escape.]
Even Nova viewed the situation as dire, and deep down, Hyun Suho knew it too.
The problem was that the quest had already been activated, and the demon Kraken had appeared in the East Sea.
Even if he escaped, there was no guarantee that the Kraken would simply return to the depths of the ocean.
No, it was more likely that it would attack passing ships or even assault a city.
[Still, now is not the time. You must retreat and regroup.]
Hyun Suho glanced at Akula’s ship.
Could he just rescue the people and return to the city?
While he was hesitating, something unexpected happened.
Through the sound of the raging waves, a beautiful singing voice began to reach his ears.
[%#&@^!]
At first, he thought he was hallucinating.
It made no sense to hear a singing voice in the middle of the ocean, especially in a place where the Kraken was rampaging.
But the sound didn’t fade; instead, it grew louder and clearer.
It was then that he realized what was happening.
“The Sirens?”
Before he knew it, a swarm of Sirens had gathered, surrounding the Kraken and singing.
No matter how powerful the Sirens were, they were no match for the Kraken.
They knew this too, so instead, they were using their magic-infused song.
Individually, their power was negligible, but with hundreds of Sirens gathered together, they managed to suppress the Kraken’s movements.
Among them was also Aerin, an 8th-level named monster known as Golden Tail.
The first time Hyun Suho saw Aerin, she seemed weak and dejected.
She likely believed that the man who had promised her peace and even gifted her a ring had betrayed her.
Aerin had endured the bitter experience of betrayal and had restrained herself even after learning that her fellow Sirens were being hunted by humans.
When she finally began to unleash her full power, an immense magical energy erupted from her.
[%#&@^!]
Aerin’s voice cut through the voices of the many Sirens, reaching Hyun Suho’s ears clearly.
As if leading a chorus, her song guided the other Sirens, and their voices became increasingly distinct.
When their voices finally merged into one, two significant changes occurred.
The first change directly affected the Kraken.
[Groooaaaarrr!!]
The constantly writhing tentacles began to slow down as if they were being restrained by iron cuffs.
The Sirens' song wasn’t meant to attack but to bind.
Under normal circumstances, the Kraken’s power would have easily overcome such magic and launched a counterattack.
However, with the spear suppressing its stats, even the Kraken seemed to be struggling.
The second change occurred with the Sea’s Spear.
《All seals on the Sea’s Spear have been released.》
《The Sea’s Spear is now revealing its true form.》
◆Item
Trident
(Quest)
Attack Power: 999
All Stats +100%
Reduces surrounding hostile monsters' stats by 50%
Increases attack power by 500% against boss monsters.
With all its seals released, the Sea’s Spear transformed into a more majestic form, and its stats increased dramatically.
As the song echoed, Hyun Suho could clearly feel the spear resonating with it.
At last, the secrets of the entire quest were unveiled.
“So that’s why the quest location was near the Sirens’ island.”
This was the crucial detail that Akula had overlooked.
The reason the Sirens were near the seal of the demon Kraken was to obtain their cooperation and fight together.
“Not realizing this, he ended up hunting the Sirens…”
What was the point of working on a quest for years?
The moment he used the Sirens as a means to make money, the quest was as good as failed.
“Let’s end this.”
An attack power of 999 was practically equivalent to infinite attack power.
Moreover, the other options were perfectly optimized for hunting the Kraken.
As Hyun Suho grasped the fully completed spear, he could feel the immense energy surging through it.
Crackle!!
The spear, filled with overwhelming power, began to fly out of Hyun Suho’s hand as if it had a will of its own.
At that moment, countless lightning bolts began to pour down from the dark clouds that had already filled the sky.
BOOM!!
Every single bolt of lightning struck the spear precisely as it flew.
The spear, now charged with all that electrical energy, was drawn straight into the Kraken’s mouth.
A blinding explosion followed.
Flash!
The released energy appeared like a radiant sphere of light.
The immense energy, large enough to completely envelop the Kraken’s body, disintegrated the Kraken down to the molecular level.
Hyun Suho turned his eyes away from the intense light and only turned back after it had completely faded.
There was nothing left.
[Confirmed: target has been completely annihilated.]
It was unfortunate that the legendary spear had disappeared, but it was inevitable.
At the same time, a system window appeared.
《Hidden Epic Quest Cleared》
▶Nightmare of the Deep Sea
▷Reward: Divine Power Stat Unlocked
“Divine Power…?”
Now he understood the true nature of the “Power of the Gods” that Akula had mentioned.
