Chapter 145-146

Chapter 145 – Proof of Power!

"GRRRROOOOOGGGGHH!!"

The giant, green-skinned Mappa continued to emit this sound from his mouth.

Roydon…no, everyone on the island, including me, were looking up at Mappa, mouth agape.

"Thi-this is bad…Heal! He's the real Demon King of Hellfire, isn't he!?"

"You bloody fool! I am the Demon King of Hellfire! How dare you suggest it's that idiot!"

Elto was quick to reply to Roydon.

"GRRRROOAAAA!!"

Even now, Mappa didn't really talk… Huh?

I realized that there was a disturbance in a part of the sea.

And after a moment, a big squid came shooting out.

No, 'big' didn't quite describe it. This octopus or squid-like creature was half as long as the World Tree.

"That's a…Giant Octopus!?"

The words spilled from my mouth.

Giant Octopuses were almost as famous as Krakens, and were considered to be one of the most dangerous sea monsters.

In terms of size and strength, the Giant Octopus was a little inferior to a Kraken.

However, there were more of them, and so the damage they inflicted on royal ships was often worse. Besides, even if there was only one of them, humans could not beat them on the sea.

"Di-did it appear because that old man turned into a dragon?"

Roydon asked. But I thought it was a coincidence.

After all, Sheorl had attracted many monsters and creatures up until now.

Regardless, the Giant Octopus was moving towards us now. We had to stop it from reaching land.

However, the Mappa Dragon let out another deafening roar, and then beat his wings until he was carried up into the sky.

And without a second's delay, he flew towards the Giant Octopus.

"Mappa, it's too dangerous!"

I quickly cast Shield around Mappa.

That being said, he had likely charged ahead because he was confident. His magic energy was enormous now, and perhaps he really wanted to test it.

But you never knew what might happen. What if he was dragged down into the sea? I had to support him.

As we watched, Mappa closed in on the Giant Octopus and raised his fist before slamming it down… However, the Giant Octopus swung its tentacles, sending Mappa flying into the air.

Mappa was unable to catch himself, and he fell hard onto the surface of the water.

Hmm…maybe it was no use.

"Uh… He went out so confidently. And now he's going to lose?"

Roydon watched with exasperation.

By now the other Earth Dragons had arrived, and they were watching the scene from the entrance of the cave.

I wasn't sure what they were more surprised by, the Giant Octopus or Mappa. But they were clearly stunned.

However, Rienna then raised her voice with a worried expression.

"Lord Heal! I think Mister Mappa is in danger!"

The Giant Octopus was now swimming towards Mappa.

If this continued, it would probably use its tentacles to drag Mappa into the water.

The Mappa Golem seemed to realize that he was no match for this foe either, and it was attacking the Giant Octopus from afar by breathing fire.

However, the Giant Octopus's skin was enveloped in a membrane that protected it. And so it did not burn.

Baris was able to fly. Unfortunately, he was currently below ground.

Perhaps I could ride Fal or Heath and…

It was just as I was thinking this. Elto suddenly shot out into the sky.

"Hahh! Leave it to me!"

She flew straight towards the sea and arrived in front of the Giant Octopus.

"You wrecker of the sea! I am your opponent now!"

Upon hearing her voice, the Giant Octopus unleashed a chain of black liquid towards her.

And before the barrage ended, countless tentacles attacked Elto.

I quickly cast Shield around her.

But it was unnecessary.

Because Elto was dodging all of the Giant Octopus's attacks as if it was nothing.

"Hell…Flame!"

Elto chanted, and a great flame was unleashed from her hand.

She had taught us to use Hell Explosion before, but she clearly felt that it was too powerful to use here.

Black flames assaulted the Giant Octopus.

There was a loud boom, and smoke rose into the air.

When the smoke faded, we could all see the Giant Octopus, burnt to a black crisp, slowly sinking into the sea.

Elto returned calmly.

"Did you see that? That is my power. Pretty useful, eh?"

Roydon nodded at her.

"Uh…ah…yes. And the other Earth Dragons witnessed it as well. I think that they will all listen to what you have to say now, young lady."

"Good! We'll do just that while dining on this roasted Giant Octopus!"

After that, the Mappa Golem pulled the Giant Octopus out of the water, and we decided to eat it with everyone.

As for the Mappa Dragon… Mappa returned to his normal form and came back to the Island as if nothing had happened. But he must have been embarrassed, as he quickly ran back to his smithy.

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Chapter 146 – The smell of an incident!?

That night, after defeating the Giant Octopus.

We held a feast under the World Tree, in honor of our Earth Dragon guests.

"So this is how Giant Octopus tastes…it's so soft…"

I couldn't help but smile as I tasted the meat of Giant Octopus for the first time in my life.

I had expected it to have a tougher texture, similar to squid. But it was not the case.

There was no harsh smell either, and it was easy to eat.

Though, a lot of that could be attributed to Rienna's skill with cooking.

After a while, I noticed that someone was sitting at the far corner of the table and eating quietly. It was Mappa.

He did not appear to be in his usual cheerful mood.

Perhaps he was embarrassed about his swift defeat after turning into a dragon earlier. After all, he had eaten the Dragon Transformation Stone without a second's hesitation.

Well, Mappa's magic energy really had been enormous at that moment.

I even wondered if he rivaled Elto.

Perhaps he could become much stronger if he learned to use magic.

And so I got up from my seat in order to encourage Mappa.

"Mappa… About earlier today… It wasn't because you are weak."

I said. But Mappa tilted his head to the side as if he had no idea what I was talking about.

Then his head turned to a certain Goblin girl.

It seemed like the Goblin girl was with a Goblin boy of about the same age. And they were enjoying the Giant Octopus together.

Mappa looked at them with tearful eyes.

Uh? He was just shocked and heart broken… I just wasted my time.

Mappa started to cry as he fled from the table. This time, he tried to latch onto Macha for comfort.

However, Macha rejected him, and went off to a certain Earth Dragon.

Mappa sniffed loudly and then started clinging to me.

"Well, uh, cheer up, Mappa."

But then again, Mappa's problem was that he was not loyal…

Ah, now he's gone to the cave.

As for Elto, she was currently discussing the Elto continent with the other Earth Dragons.

At first, she would make loud exclamations every time she heard about the situation there. But she was more quiet now.

I had been listening to some of it from the side, and it was clear that the Elto continent really was a great wasteland where trees and grass no longer grew.

Still, if they could mine the Evergreen Stones, then it would be possible for them to return their lands to its past glory of being rich with nature.

Of course, it will be pointless if it all gets burned down. And so Elto would have to stop it.

"I wish there was more that I could do to help, but… Hmm, now that I think about it, those two aren't here."

I noticed that the Kobold brothers, Ashton and Haines were missing.

In fact, they were practically the food connoisseurs of the island.

Haines was always saying 'this is amazing!' when eating something delicious, and while Ashton always had a severe look on his face, he would relax his mouth and say, 'it's fairly good.'

They would have known about the Giant Octopus, and so it bothered me that they had not come.

And so I asked Baris, who was attending the feast.

"Baris. Are Ashton and Haines not back yet?"

"Hmm… Now that you mention it, I haven't seen them. Perhaps that matter has not been settled."

"That matter?"

"Yes. It was what kept me in the underground city during the day."

Baris usually stayed on the surface, but he was underground when the Giant Octopus attacked.

And so Baris explained why he had been underground.

"What happened was…the slimes that were in the underground city…the ones that have now returned to being human. Some of them say that they cannot find their families."

"You mean, families that they know are still alive?"

"Yes. They are likely somewhere with their souls still trapped inside of slimes… But there are many slimes who are working in the city who no longer have human souls in them. And we cannot tell such slimes apart. And while Shiel is instructing them, the slimes of the underground city are rather free spirited."

According to Shiel, their ability to reason is weakened when they turn into slimes.

So there might even be some who lost all of their memories of when they were human, and became slimes entirely.

"We better find them quickly then…"

"Yes. And Ashton and Haines are in charge of public safety in this country."

"So they want to solve this case, I suppose?"

"Yes. However, I think they may be working too hard."

I understood why they would want to reunite these families as soon as possible. Perhaps it reminded them about how Ril had lost her mother at such an early age.

"Very well… I'll go and take a look. Perhaps it's due to the Chimeras that still remain there."

And so I headed to the underground city.