Chapter 57: Deep-sea Dungeon Raid Part 7

-Boooooooooough!!!!

A dense stench of blood suddenly filled the air.

"Master!"

My ears seemed to be deafening, and my vision blurred as if I was submerged in fog. My grip weakened and that caused me to inadvertently release the time flower from my grasp.

It felt as though the world was turning upside down. No, that was an illusion. In reality, I was merely collapsing. Fortunately, being under the sea meant the fall did not impact my body harshly.

"El, take cover."

Through my blurry vision, I saw Lloyd swiftly draw his sword and call out to El to protect herself.

And beyond them…

Shit

I saw the armored shark Sharp flipped upside down. A mist of blood seemed to spread around him like fog.

Yes, Sharp, who had been leading the way was ambushed.

And it was instant…

There was no time to even notice. Had there been a moment to perceive it, I would have severed the mental link between me and Sharp. Maintaining a mental link through [Subjugation] when the counterpart dies instantly inflicts severe damage on the spellcaster. It was a huge drawback of the [Subjugation] and the [Familiar] skills.

Roshanak supported my falling body while remaining vigilant of our surroundings. I wanted to say something, but my lips wouldn't move. It was to be expected. The fact that I hadn't fainted was miraculous enough. The mental link with Sharp wasn't as intensely close as with Ayla, due to the short time we'd spent together, which perhaps spared my consciousness. It was a stroke of luck. After all, tales of witches dying alongside their familiars were not uncommon.

– Jurrrrr....

Blood trickled from my mouth. Even though I was lucky, it might be because I also suffered a lot of damage. I managed to place a hand over my chest and cast [Wound Healing] My consciousness flickered in and out, so I was forced to recite the spell multiple times, which took much longer than usual.

The issue isn't physical…

It was my mind that was in turmoil. Intense headaches and dizziness struck, leaving me almost out of my senses. It was a natural consequence of having indirectly experienced "death"….

"Ugh… Ughhh!"

I retched and vomited blood. My surroundings spun as if I'd woken up after a night of binge drinking.

Ah, I'm craving hangover soup…

Come to think of it, it's been ages since I last had some. Ah, I can't think straight. The nausea was overwhelming, and I couldn't stop heaving.

It seems the immunity to fear, confusion, and shock from the title "Nemesis of Evil" doesn't cover this. I need to be careful. If something like this had happened while I was mentally connected to Ayla instead of Sharp, I would have died or at least fallen into a vegetative state.

Thanks to my skills and totems, I could feel my physical condition improving rapidly.

But it's not enough.

I pressed my hand against the ground and cast [Blessing of the Forest] on the sea moss growing there. Although it was a meager amount, the moss began to emit a purification energy which seemed to clear my mind slightly.

I gathered my thoughts.

This is dangerous.

It was something I already knew, but this place seemed more dangerous than I had anticipated.

Firstly, there must be a monster capable of instantly killing an armored shark here.

But a monster that can instantly kill an armored shark …is that even possible in here?

Unless it's a deep-sea creature of the Abyss, like a Kraken…

However, a Kraken is, by definition, a deep-sea monster of the Abyss.

Banished by the god Donar, they could only exist in the Abyss beyond the eastern oceans.

Such creatures couldn't possibly be in the waters of the Ecahits Union…

"...."

Could…. they?

I dove into my memories. The carvings on the door were filled with unidentifiable entities…

Now that I think about it, did I see something like tentacles?

Yes, the Kraken was a deep-sea monster that looked like an octopus and had dozens of tentacles. From what I knew, each tentacle was said to rival the spears of the god Donar…

Could what I thought were teeth actually be the tips of tentacles?

If that were the case, it meant that the Kraken might have already established itself in this deep-sea dungeon.

I don't want to believe it, but…

It was possible that I had inadvertently "released" the Kraken from the dungeon.

That would truly be fu*king disaster.

Even in my foggy state of mind, I was certain of that much.

***

When I regained consciousness, I found myself being carried on Lloyd's back. El and Roshanak followed behind us while sobbing. From the look on their faces, they must have thought I was going to die.

"Ugh."

Do you really think I am going to die here? I am supposed to return to my original world. I tried to lift my heavy body. Or at least, I attempted to.

"You need to rest a bit more."

I stopped at Lloyd's words because they rang true. My mind had somewhat recovered from the shock, but I would still need more time to fully recuperate.

"…. Have we returned?"

"No need to worry. We didn't walk far."

"Is that so."

"It just took some time to figure out where the safe zone was."

"Safe zone?"

"Yes. The creature doesn't go beyond a certain distance."

That was a relief. As long as we didn't venture into that zone, we wouldn't be attacked, and whatever unknown monster there was wouldn't be released from the dungeon either.

"Did you manage to identify what attacked us?"

"I couldn't see its form, but it definitely had tentacles."

"Aaah…"

I let out a deep sigh. Tentacled, then. Could it really be the Kraken?

"It seems you have a suspicion?"

"I'm not certain, but…"

"It wouldn't hurt to keep it in mind."

"Have you ever seen a Kraken?"

Lloyd was silent for a moment. Well, he was of noble birth, after all. It's unlikely he would have encountered a Kraken… Some nobles even disbelieve the tales of deep-sea monsters or monsters in general.

"I have."

"....."

His unexpected response left me speechless.

"Only a part of it."

"…A part of it?"

"A preserved leg."

"Just a leg…"

"Then, 'that' would make sense."

"That"?

Before I could even pose the question, Lloyd continued.

"I saw the wounds on the armored shark. It was brief, but…"

"....."

"It was a puncture wound. Its internal organs had been completely torn out."

"It must have been the Kraken's suckers."

"Likely so."

The Kraken pierces through its prey's body with its tentacles, then extracts the internal organs with its suckers as it withdraws. Hence, a single penetration can be deadly. Death is certain. At best, one might sustain a critical injury. While most monsters pose a threat to humans, the Kraken is in a league of its own, earning it the moniker of "death incarnate".

This was a troublesome development.

"The silver lining, if any."

"...?"

Was there really a silver lining? Lloyd's remark made me puzzled.

"Is that it's not fully grown yet."

"A juvenile?"

"It's an assumption based on the size of the puncture wound… but it's highly likely."

That was, indeed, a small comfort.

Among the adult krakens, some were said to be as large as ships, and some were even as big as entire islands. If the creature in this dungeon wasn't fully mature, that was somewhat fortunate.

Even if it's not fully grown, it must be at least as large as a house.

Still, there was a glimmer of hope.

We found a suitable spot and took a moment to rest. I would have liked to light a fire and prepare a feast to satisfy our hunger, but that was impossible in the depths of this underwater dungeon. We settled for some dried meat and fruit and washed it down with potions we had brought along. I checked over my companions for injuries. Fortunately, El and Roshanak were unscathed. Lloyd had some wounds, but none were life-threatening, and they could be treated with a [Wound Healing] spell.

The problem was me.

I was speeding up my recovery with [Nature's Healing] but as I mentioned before, there was nothing I could do about my mental injuries. Of course, good sleep and rest would naturally heal the strain, but sleeping and resting well in this deep-sea dungeon was tantamount to suicide.

The deep-sea environment was another issue. If this place were a forest, I could have drawn upon the forest's energy to heal much faster. But this place was the deep sea. This was an area of Donar that was difficult for Lynshaka to observe.

I spread some sea moss I had collected earlier on the ground and used [Breath of the Forest] and [Forest's Healing] in an attempt to draw even the slightest bit of vital energy for recovery. Using the thriving sea moss as a makeshift bed, I lay down to catch my breath. I then had the illusion that I smelled blood.

"..."

No, it was not an illusion. In the darkness, I saw Sharp's head slowly rolling towards me.

Shit…

Since Sharp which was my weapon in the sea was dead, I was left with no choice but to face the next challenges unarmed.

Let's think this through. It's not like I didn't expect something like this to happen.

The armored shark was a formidable beast, but it wasn't immortal. It could handle sea goblins as easily as one could devour a hot pot, and even fend off sea serpents, but taking on a Kraken was out of the question.

Sharp had done as much as it could before departing. Had it not been there, one of us would have been impaled by the Kraken's tentacles by now.

I buried my gratitude for Sharp deep in my heart and stood up. Dwelling on the past wouldn't change anything, and it was far more productive to focus on making plans for the dungeon ahead rather than wallowing in regret or sorrow.

After a brief rest, we regrouped and prepared to move forward. While everyone else checked their weapons and magical power, I collected some sea moss. From Sharp's head that had rolled our way, I extracted the sharp teeth to fashion new arrows. Sharp, I'll make sure your vengeance is served.

"Theodore."

"Yes."

"How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine."

"We still have the option to retreat."

I shook my head at Lloyd's suggestion. It would be foolish to turn back now after coming this far. There was no guarantee we could ever return to this place.

"If we decide to go back, Katharina will likely try to recruit mercenaries from the Abyss. But the mercenaries from the Abyss won't return to Echaits until after autumn. We don't have the luxury to wait that long."

"...."

"No one knows how fast a Kraken can grow. It could reach full maturity by tomorrow. If that happens, we'll regret having retreated from here for a long time."

"…Understood."

"Don't worry about me; I'm fine."

"...."

Lloyd glanced at me then turned and walked away.

I never knew what the hell this guy was thinking because his expression never changed… I grumbled and put the arrows back in my quiver.