Chapter 37: Ex Machina (6)
Hyun Suho watched intently as Akula resurrected without a scratch.
It wasn’t just simple healing.
A fatal wound that would have killed even a troll was completely healed at a certain point.
At first, he planned to strike Akula down again, targeting the moment right after the recovery, but unfortunately, no such opening appeared.
As soon as he resurrected, Akula moved and launched a counterattack.
clang, clink, clang!
Hyun Suho's sword and Akula's Serrated spear clashed and then separated.
Despite the threatening rain of arrows from all directions, the battle was entirely in Hyun Suho's favor.
In terms of strength and skill, Hyun Suho was a step above.
In the brief moments when their weapons collided and separated, Akula’s shoulder was inevitably slashed deeply.
"Argh!!"
Akula's face twisted in pain as his arm drooped.
This was because the chain sword had sliced through his shoulder ligaments.
As Hyun Suho frantically dodged the incoming arrows, Akula did something shocking.
He brought the sharp spikes of his saw spear to his own neck and then slashed it.
Slash!
Blood spurted out like a fountain from his severed neck, but the wound quickly disappeared.
Not only the wound on his neck but also the injury on his shoulder was healed.
Akula had sacrificed the life of one of his subordinates just to heal his shoulder.
Realizing this, Hyun Suho wore a look of disbelief.
“This crazy...!”
Of course, his subordinates were unforgivable villains as well.
But they weren’t just disposable lives, not to be wasted so pointlessly like some kind of living potion.
“Shut up! I can always recruit more of them!”
Akula, realizing that even with many lives, he couldn't take on Hyun Suho head-on, opted to use his skills from a distance.
“Sharknado!”
When Akula shouted, the surrounding seawater surged upward.
Rumble!!!
The rising seawater soon transformed into the shape of a massive shark.
A translucent shark made of water, with its body partially visible through it.
Amazingly, it even opened its jaws wide, writhing as if it were truly alive.
[Grrrrrr!!]
The water shark, letting out a monstrous growl, flew through the air towards Hyun Suho as if swimming in the sky.
Whoosh!
Despite its massive body, it flew swiftly like an arrow.
Hyun Suho, not letting his guard down, swung his sword, deflecting it.
Bang!
This was the same sword technique that had parried the front paw of the bone dragon.
The water shark, which had flown at him with its fearsome jaws wide open, wobbled and lost its direction, flying off elsewhere.
But it was too soon to relax.
Even though it had staggered greatly, the water shark made a loop in the air and flew at Hyun Suho again.
Realizing this opponent wasn't going to be easy, Hyun Suho switched from his chain sword back to his lightsaber.
Buzz!
With a flash, the lightsaber sliced the water shark cleanly from its crown to its tail.
Bubbles rose from the bisected water shark and then burst like a water balloon.
Pop!!
A heavy pain in his shoulder came belatedly.
It seemed the pressure on his shoulder when he deflected the water shark earlier had been significant.
Although he barely managed to destroy it with the power of the lightsaber, it had been an attack as powerful as the bone dragon’s strike.
‘Akula’s name isn’t just for show.’
This skill must be Akula’s true weapon.
Its power was enough to make even Hyun Suho tense up.
Although Akula had clearly lied about his level, it was evident why his forces were regarded as an invincible fleet.
The problem was that Akula's attacks were only just beginning.
When Hyun Suho came to his senses, there were already more than ten water sharks floating above the surface.
[Grrrr!!]
“This is going to drive me crazy.”
"Die!"
Akula's Serrated spear, the arrows fired by the sailors, and the water sharks swimming through the air all came flying at Hyun Suho simultaneously.
Flash!
Even though Nova had told him to conserve it, he had no choice but to use teleportation this time.
Teleporting into the air, Hyun Suho activated his battle suit and soared upward.
"I'm going full power! Let’s blow the entire ship away."
[That’s not advisable, Master.]
“Why?”
[According to what Akula said earlier, there’s a high possibility that the missing people are inside the ship.]
“Now that you mention it, he did say something about offering the last sacrifice.”
There was no sign of life inside the ship, but that was probably due to some device that hindered detection.
If that was the case, using the plasma cannon recklessly wasn’t an option.
“This is driving me nuts!”
While he was gritting his teeth, the water sharks were chasing after him fiercely.
Flight mode consumed too much mana.
Having no choice, Hyun Suho landed back on the deck and immediately switched to attack mode.
“Vulcan mode!”
Genocide fused into his body, and a Gatling gun appeared in his left hand.
Even before, Hyun Suho was capable of taking down level 2 or 3 monsters easily with his gun attacks.
After acquiring the magic engineering skill, he could now infuse mana circuits into his bullets.
So-called mana bullets.
They couldn’t compare to plasma rounds, but in terms of mana efficiency, they were far superior.
He decided to test them out on the water sharks first.
Ratatatatata!!
The rapidly spinning bullets burrowed into the water shark’s body but eventually got stuck.
With the destructive power of mana bullets, he could easily penetrate several dozen meters underwater, but the water sharks were also made of mana.
They weren’t a good match for bullets.
But it was different when it came to humans.
Ratatatatata!!
As the Gatling gun swept through, the sailors who had been firing arrows collapsed, their bodies riddled with bullets.
“Aaaargh!”
A few high-level ones managed to hold out by using their skills, but most were helpless against the bullets infused with mana.
In the era of hunters, bullets were looked down upon, but when combined with mana engineering skills, they could become this powerful.
With the number of archers dwindling, Hyun Suho finally had a moment to catch his breath.
But that thought was short-lived.
As he turned around, he saw that the swarm of water sharks had doubled in number and were fiercely pursuing him.
It was a skill with an impressively long summon duration.
“Damn it!”
Hyun Suho once again picked up his lightsaber and began slashing through the water sharks.
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
If bullets had been ineffective against the water sharks, the lightsaber was the opposite.
Just grazing the water sharks with the superheated plasma beam was enough to make them burst.
Each time Hyun Suho swung his sword, the water sharks exploded like water balloons.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
The problem, as expected, was mana.
Just maintaining the lightsaber's form consumed an enormous amount of mana.
The only reason he could hold out this long was thanks to the mana stone that had replaced his heart and the Eldritch Circlet.
Artifacts that significantly increased mana capacity and regeneration.
The helmet Hyun Suho was currently wearing was a modified version of that Eldritch Circlet.
It was barely enough to keep him going.
Fortunately, Hyun Suho wasn't the only one short on mana.
“Huff! Huff! Huff!”
Akula, who had been summoning the water sharks one after another, was panting heavily, his tongue lolling out in exhaustion.
The water sharks were an incredibly effective skill, aside from the critical flaw of requiring water nearby.
With their long duration, destructive power, and ability to freely maneuver in the air, they surpassed most spirit summoners' summons.
Naturally, they consumed a lot of mana.
While the Slave Contract skill allowed Akula to heal wounds seamlessly, it couldn’t restore his mana.
As his crew's numbers dwindled and the trusted water sharks kept bursting as soon as they touched Hyun Suho, Akula became desperate.
“W-wait a minute!”
Hyun Suho reflexively turned his head at Akula's words.
“What, are you going to surrender?”
Hyun Suho tried to appear calm, but the situation was not in his favor.
He had been forced to use too much mana during the fight.
With his current mana levels, he could probably only swing the plasma lightsaber a few more times.
While pretending to listen to Akula, he slowly regenerated his mana.
Luckily, neither Akula nor his sailors, already demoralized, dared to attack.
To avoid revealing his state, Hyun Suho deliberately put on a strong front.
“If you surrender quietly, I won’t kill you. I’ll make sure you get a proper trial. I might even let you hire a lawyer. But if you resist, I’ll cut off your head and take it back.”
“D-damn it!”
Akula had believed he would never lose to anyone at sea.
Didn’t he even have over 50 spare lives?
But to Hyun Suho, that was nothing but arrogance.
A frog in a well who had never encountered a true powerhouse.
Even if it hadn’t been Hyun Suho but Demoness (Nacheonryeo) who appeared, she would have easily subdued him.
And wasn’t Nacheonryeo ranked the lowest among the rankers?
Hyun Suho scoffed incredulously.
“You thought you could hunt the Golden Tail with skills like this? Ridiculous.”
Golden Tail was a powerhouse who could even overwhelm the Bone Dragon.
If she got involved, Akula would have ended up as fish food in no time.
At this, Akula ground his teeth and shouted.
“The Golden Tail hasn’t shown herself in years! There must be something wrong with her!”
It wasn’t that Akula didn’t fear the Golden Tail. About two years ago, he had been very cautious.
But after hunting several Sirens without the Golden Tail appearing, he came to his own conclusion.
That the Golden Tail had either died or was gravely ill and unable to move.
Akula wasn’t a fool.
He had never intended to hunt the level 8 named monster, having deceived even the mayor of Myeong Eun-sook to acquire the divine power hidden here.
Of course, if things went well, he had planned to take control of the waters off Wonsan as well.
His grand plans had been completely derailed by a single man, Hyun Suho.
“I-I was wrong. I’ll surrender to the Knights now. I’ll do whatever they tell me!”
Akula still mistakenly thought Hyun Suho was from the Knights.
Hyun Suho deliberately pretended to contemplate, buying time.
[Mana has recovered to over 40%. You’re in the safe zone now.]
With his mana partially restored, Hyun Suho was ready to capture Akula for real.
But Hyun Suho wasn’t the only one stalling.
As he slowly approached Akula, something strange began to happen in the sea.
Bubble, bubble, bubble!
Near the ship floating on the water, a large number of air bubbles began rising to the surface.
It was as if the entire sea was boiling.
“Hmm?!”
Thinking Akula was using some skill again, Hyun Suho gripped his sword.
He was half right and half wrong.
It wasn’t Akula’s skill, but it was the target they had come for.
“Hahaha! Finally!”
Akula spread his arms wide in joy.
Only then did Hyun Suho realize what was happening.
“A human sacrifice! Was that it?”
Akula had planned to offer the kidnapped Wonsan citizens as sacrifices to break some kind of seal.
Fortunately, Hyun Suho had arrived before any of the citizens could be harmed, but there were still some who had died.
Whether they were the sailors who had been sacrificed in place of Akula or those who had fallen to the bullets, their bodies were now missing.
While Hyun Suho had been busy fighting the water sharks, others had likely thrown the bodies into the sea.
“I’m going to become a god! No one can stop me now!”
Akula was ecstatic, but Hyun Suho had no time to pay attention to him.
He could feel a terrifyingly powerful presence rising from the depths of the sea.
“What the hell did you do?”
At that moment, something shot up from the ocean's surface.
Boom!
It was a golden trident, shining brightly.
It was clearly extraordinary, radiating an immense power that was palpable even at a glance.
Before Hyun Suho could react, Akula leaped high into the air and grabbed it.
Rumble!!
As soon as he seized the trident, the clear sky was suddenly filled with dark clouds, and lightning began to strike.
Kraaack!!
The trident’s power was so immense that it caused these powerful natural phenomena.
Though its origin was unknown, it exuded a destructive power that even the legendary weapon Balmung, once wielded by the Silver Knight, couldn’t match.
‘Is this the power he was trying to obtain by sacrificing people?’
Akula had called it divine power.
It was likely an exaggeration, but the power emanating from the trident was enough to make him confident.
But for Hyun Suho, the event was far from over.
Even after the trident had emerged, the bubbles boiling up from the sea continued unabated.
Something else was still down there.
Just like the trident, it soon burst through the water’s surface.
Boom!!
What emerged was a massive, monstrous creature.
Something long and serpentine slithered out of the water, revealing itself above the waves.
It was at least 50 meters long, as large as a skyscraper.
The problem was that this was only a part of it.
“A squid tentacle?”
It was clearly a giant tentacle with suction cups, like the kind you might find on a squid.
Or perhaps an octopus, but it didn’t really matter.
As expected, the first tentacle was only the beginning.
Soon, more tentacles and a gigantic head emerged, the creature’s size rivaling that of the enormous island where the Sirens resided.
Finally, Hyun Suho recognized the creature's identity.
“A Kraken!”
Among legendary sea monsters, it was the most famous.
It was a mythical creature capable of swallowing a blue whale whole and sinking ships with its tentacles.
Despite its terrifying appearance, it was also highly intelligent, often playing with and devouring humans.
There had been occasional sightings of Krakens in the open sea, but they were usually only 30 to 40 meters long.
The Kraken now before him was well over 200 meters in length.
He had never heard of a Kraken this massive.
Nova urgently warned him.
[The power it exudes is at least Level 9! You must retreat!]
This monster was comparable to an Elder Lich, which had taken six rankers, including a Bone Dragon, to subdue.
It was a catastrophic monster capable of destroying an entire nation.
And it lived in the sea, making it even more difficult to hunt.
“How are we supposed to deal with this...?”
Akula must have known the Kraken would appear.
Hadn’t he immediately grabbed the mysterious trident when it emerged?
Indeed, Akula reacted as soon as the Kraken appeared.
“With this, I can become a god!”
Currently, Akula was floating in midair, holding the trident.
Just holding it seemed to grant him the ability to fly.
As Akula pointed the trident downward, it began to descend like a lightning bolt.
Kraaack!!
It moved so quickly that shockwaves rippled through the air as it traveled.
It was even faster than the battle suit powered by the Genocide Core.
His target was clearly the Kraken.
From the start, Akula’s goal had been to use the trident to hunt the Kraken.
As he neared the surface, powerful lightning began to surge from the trident.
Crackle!!
The voltage was higher than any lightning that might strike from the sky.
He gathered all that power and drove it straight into the Kraken.
Kraaaack!!!
It looked like a carpet bombing.
No matter how powerful a Level 9 Kraken was, it couldn’t easily withstand such force.
The Kraken's body began to twist and contort, like dough being kneaded, as it suffered.
Seeing the Kraken in agony, Akula cheered.
“Hahaha! Now give me your power...”
But Akula had underestimated the power of a Level 9 creature.
Despite the countless lightning strikes, the Kraken withstood the assault and swung its tentacles.
It then wrapped Akula’s body tightly.
“Huh?!”
Akula screamed as he realized something had gone wrong, but it was already too late.
The Kraken coiled its tentacles around him and swallowed him whole with its sawtooth-like mouth.
“...”
Hyun Suho, watching this, still thought Akula’s plan was in progress.
Maybe he planned to attack the Kraken from inside its stomach?
But that thought quickly vanished as Akula’s subordinates began to melt away.
“Aaaahhh!!”
The sailors screamed as their bodies melted rapidly, as if they had been doused in acid.
It was likely that the Kraken’s digestive fluids were dissolving Akula as well.
Even if he revived, he’d still be trapped inside the Kraken’s stomach.
No matter how many spare lives he had, they would be useless.
One by one, Akula’s subordinates, who had numbered over 50, dissolved like slime.
Now, all that remained was Hyun Suho and a lone ship floating in the sea.
“...Is this for real?”
[Yes, it’s real. And it’s still happening right now.]
At that moment, when Hyun Suho had no idea how to deal with this monster, something glowing emerged from the Kraken’s body and began floating in midair.
It was the mysterious trident Akula had grabbed earlier.
