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Chapter 353: The Krakenlord’s Graveyard and the Fimbulvetr. [Release Version]
🕑 Added 2022-09-15 02:15:02 +0000 UTCEdit: Concerning last chapter
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<Hostile Territory detected! [The Krakenlord’s Graveyard] has been activated!>
“Kmmmmmmmmm!”
Are you kidding me?!
The earth underneath me shook as the sky darkened with black clouds. In an instant, it turned from the clear afternoon sky to a stormy mess. Rain poured down like crazy, falling onto the barrier with “pip pip pip” sounds. Just like, the mana of a monster changed the weather itself.
Mana was the foundation of this world, and through a Territory — a being’s aura and mana made manifest — you could change the environment into your most beneficial arena to fight in. Which meant, that rain wasn’t the only thing this Territory could do. This was the power of an SS rank leviathan here, after all. A strong shower couldn’t be the end of it!
[“Ghorush! You’re that damn golemancer!”] Snapping back to reality, I snarled at the damn lion bastard as the Territory notification appeared. [“You mole!”]
This wasn’t just a plain switcheroo, this guy might be dressed differently and showing a new set of skills compared to the berserker lion during his match with Sis, but it was definitely him. Not only that, but was he a spy all this time? Did he get close to Jethro to get all the information he needed? Was this the reason why that ambush attempt Sis and Larent mentioned failed?
The leonid bowed while the world rocked underneath us. As the shrine began to change shape, he smiled at us coldly. “Streiga the Pacidus, formally Ghorush. Third head of the Yanderu Eluseuss. Pleased to meet you, Dragon Princess.”
“Kraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” I roared, disliking the face he was making. The mockery.
Damn it, Yanderu! Its always you!
“Huhahaha!” the leonid laughed in the face of my threat. “This is Qaltil, the seventh head. Not much of a talker, but you met him before. I apologize on his behalf for trying to assassinate you, but a job is a job for him. Our employer’s coins spoke, so we had to listen. Although, seeing as you are here, it seemed like he wasn’t successful either.”
[“You damn bastard!”]
<[Music Resonation (Moderate)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]>
The Will to Fight and Survive, on!
“Is this the fated battle, the light shines ♫
It’s blinding my sight ♫
But I’ve gotta hold on, the stage calls ♫
The cries of a thousand, the flames of war will descend ♫”
No sun, no regeneration. No solar energy meant I had to act conservatively with my Mana. I wasn’t fit to fight now that the sun was blocked, so I now had to rely on my Stamina-related skills more. I couldn’t play this like a mage, I had to fight this like a melee combatant.
With [The Will to Fight and Survive] pretty much giving me unlimited Stamina, I dashed forward with my rocket boosters, destroying the walls and other structures of the shrine with my sheer size. Setting my tail aflame, I cleaved down at the enemies with [Hellblade Edge.]
However, my attack was stopped by what seemed like a black tentacle grabbing my tail before it could hit the two mercs. It swung me up and would have slammed me into the ceiling if I hadn’t bisected it in half.
I turned my body around, only to notice water puddles appearing from the ground all over the place. From them, actual tentacles the size of cars, with lengths that even snakes would be envious of, appeared. They sprouted everywhere inside this shrine, just as a deep, booming growl came from below me, shaking not only the ground but even the air, making me feel like I got tinnitus.
“An ancient lord of the oceans has been released,” Ghorush exclaimed while nodding. “Oh land, oh sea, witness its wrath firsthand. Fleeting your time might be, observe, honor. For—”
[“Shut it!”]
“Conceited fool!”
Simultaneously we shouted at this irritating leonid, even asTehmrayn cast a custom spell of his, summoning a watery serpent while I breathed out a [Hellflame Breath]. His spell ripped right through all the golems and the skull mask assailant before it enveloped Ghorush and helped him dashright through the tentacles blocking my breath attack.
Ghorush smirked and raised his left arm up, causing his bejeweled gauntlet to shine before the rocks around the shrine joined up into a golem arm hovering in front of him. It clashed against Tehmrayn’s trident, prompting the champion to jump back for a moment before his water serpent gathered around it. Using his lower body — his snake-like naga tail — like a spring, he jumped right forward, demolishing the golem and nearly hitting the two Yanderus.
“Huhaha! I might have the mana, but I am still not a really competent mage! A real golemancer would have created something better!” Ghorush shouted ecstatically before readying his rapier.
It was just a short confrontation, but Ghorush’s skill with the rapier was mesmerizing. Swift and deadly; he moved in and out against Tehmrayn’s attacks while creating more and more golems without rest. Still, this gimmick was nothing against the naga as he demonstrated the power of an experienced champion, forcing the leonid back with his masterful control of the water he conjured, moving it around like whips and blades.
<[Various Spell Buffs] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]>
This short skirmish ended immediately the moment I reapplied my buffs on myself, sharing them with Tehmrayn through [Music Resonation]. Ghorush was pushed back, and the naga champion even managed to cut down the tentacles blocking my path by summoning a giant grab claw to cut them into pieces.
“Qaltil!”
“Ready! Come!”
Before I could fly in to join the battle, Qaltil cut his finger and smeared his blood on an amulet before shaking it thrice before shouting “Home Return!” My eyes widened as the air ripped apart, revealing what looked like a beach on the other side of the thing. It was a portal!
“I bid you goodbye!” Ghorush bowed while his comrade entered the portal. “You aren’t the only void-touched in this world, Princess Hestia. Surely, you know of its applications.”
[“Ghorush!”] A vein burst in my head as I unleashed another [Hellflame Breath] at the smirking leonid, only for him to jump backward. With a simple “We will meet again” the portal closed, allowing the two thugs to escape. [“Dammit, are you kidding me?! Fuck!”]
My eyes snapped to a broken wall in this large shrine, tall enough to accommodate my mammoth-sized dragon form. Before those mercs blasted it open, the pictograph on it displayed the story of Yeostar’s battle against the giant leviathan. There was no sign the seal was there, but those mercs somehow knew. I thought the altar or Yeostar’s statue was the more obvious answer.
“Champion!” Tehmrayn called out at me while carrying Jethro in a fireman’s carry. “This isn’t the time to worry about this. I failed my task. We must leave the island now before the leviathan destroys it upon his release.”
I darted around the shrine, noticing the earthquake and the periodic tentacle spawning hadn’t resided, not how this place was looking like it would break apart. I grit my teeth and hurled both Tehmrayn and the unconscious Jethro onto my back. Strangely, he wasn’t seriously injured. My parallel minds told me he just had a concussion.
Sadly, this was the only good news in this whole mess. As I ran out of the shrine, Tehmrayn mentioned how he had to fend off those golems on his way back to the shrine. The warrior-priests tried to hold on, but the overwhelming number of golems and the surprising entrance from the skull masks took all of them out.
“KMMMMMMMMMMMMH!!!”
Woah!
The earthquake intensified even further as we made it to the forest, almost to the point I lost balance and fell. Abandoning the ground in favor of flying, I flew myself to the beach by Tehmrayn’s order. Once there, the storm created by the leviathan’s Territory got to the point even whirlpools were being created, spawning even larger tentacles.
“Transform into your dragonewt form. Flying with this weather is a sure way to get you killed.” I nodded and did as Tehmrayn wanted.
<[Humanize (Moderate)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]>
Once I was small again, Tehmrayn gestured for me to jump on his back. Now in a piggyback ride, I curled my tail around his torso to hold onto him tightly, before holding onto Jethro for him as he used his [Hydrokinesis] to slide on the water like a jetski.
The waters were tulmultuous from not only the heavy drizzle but the random whirlpools turning into water cyclones. This was a whole bloody monsoon. With the tentacles also attacking us, Tehmrayn seemed even more focused than usual to get us through this. Then again, he wasn’t usually communicative anyways.
[“I’m sorry for asking, but how did they get on the island?! I saw Ghorush at the port fighting one of the naval commanders. How did they get passed all the defenses and traps you and Master set up?”] Still, my confusion about all of this wouldn’t stop me. I needed to ask.
Surprisingly, he answered, [“You saw it for yourself. We didn’t account for the fact the enemy might have a void-touched with them. [Space-Time Magic] can even bypass that restricted shrine barrier, which I presume you might have figured out considering you’re used to its spells. It doesn’t matter how rare void-touched are, this is a major mistake on my part. Depth Goddess, forgive me.”]
[Warp Point] probably wouldn’t have worked since I couldn’t place the exit on the other side of the portal, but that didn’t mean [Space-Time Magic] wouldn’t have worked. There was a reason why it was called “space-time,” as I proved to myself with [Room] and the nexus teleportation. I didn’t know how the Yanderu did it exactly per se, but if I could figure out fast travel, others could also.
From the looks of it, the amulet that skull mask leader used probably was the catalyst for it, similar to how I used Grimnir’s runes to establish my nexus teleportation. Even then, I was nowhere near an expert in this. The lack of materials to read and the fact that even Master couldn’t help much proved to be a challenge for me.
But, more importantly… Plesia, huh? God Yeostar, I—
<Do not be, Hestia. This isn’t your fault.>
H-Huh, but this was one of the problems I had to stop, right? Won’t Karhalantheel be freed at this rate?
<It is as you say, but your Quest is to prevent the destruction of my blood. Nothing else. Whether Karhalentheel was freed or not was not the issue. However, I know you’re worried about what Erithia mentioned. Banish that idea, I shall deal with that woman. After all, as a god, I cannot blame you mortals for everything.>
He saw right through me. I still remembered how much that Aurena-Simp Goddess was ready to scold me about everything. Just being in her presence felt more suffocating than when I first met Kramps. She did warn me to protect the seal, so I thought the next time I visited Yeostar’s divine realm, she would appear and lecture me. As the Goddess of Wealth and Nobility, guess she was as haughty as one, too.
<I lost track of Ghorush when the high ogre at the port blasted him away. He probably made his way to the island with the skull mask and space-time magic. I should have anticipated something like this from how much he lingered around Jethro. Never asked many questions, he just listened. Still, this is my Quest. Even if I cannot inform you of everything per the rules, I should have at least warned you of him! Forgive me, Hestia, I am a failure of a god.>
Wha-What?! Hey, hey, don’t say that about yourself, jeez! One mistake, it was just one mistake.
<It is fine. I know when to take responsibility for my actions. I’ll handle the repercussions of this, so meet up with your mother. If that damnable monster is coming out, then the only one left to stop him is the only other SS rank currently in this land. I need to inform her on how to defeat him, so please meet up with her, now! Also, watch out for those tentacles. The suction cups can spawn drowned — water undead.>
Got it!
Suffice to say, Yeostar’s warning came into play the moment we made it far enough to see the ships. The tentacles were assaulting the vessels like a kraken from a pirate movie, wrapping itself around while skeletons and rotting merfolks were pushed on board through its suction cups.
[“Leave this to me!”] I told Tehmrayn.
[“Holy mage for an undead extermination. Finish it quickly. I will lead the boats back to shore.”]
There were nine ships and he wanted to “lead them back to shore?” Crazy, but this guy was a Champion, after all. My senior in this case, also. If he said he could do it, then I better believe him and leave him to work.
[“However, do not use your Territory.”]
I nodded. As useful as my Territory was, using it while an enemy one was up was just suicide. The rebound of losing a Territory dispute meant you had to take in all the arcane corruption from its usage. Seeing how large this Territory was, it most likely was using a lot of mana.
Halo of Consecration. Uhm, let’s play The Heir of Hope! Prioritize survivability.
<[Shield of the [Light]] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]>
“In the midst of the desert ♫
A bright ray of light shines ♫
Pure and brave, that she was, as she walked ♫
She was the ideal for me ♫
The bringer of children’s smiles ♫
Alas, the world seemed bleaker without her ♫”
I handed Jethro back to Tehmrayn and jumped off his back onto the closest ship, noticing two knights leading the front. Mercs and sailors were helping, but with the ship in danger and the undead pouring out as if a lich was around, it was just a matter of time before everything turned into the Titanic.
This was a nightmare scenario.
“Woah!” The boat was rocking like crazy from the monsoon. Flying was dangerous with how the wind was moving, so I decided to ditch my wings with another [Humanize] and began using [Air Walk] and [Tailwind] to control my balance.
Considering the intensity of the storm, I had to amp up the volume a bit more, spending more mana so people could start hearing my song. The moment I saw a bright veil appear on the bodies of the fighters, I couldn’t help but smile a bit.
Can’t stop now. Need to hurry! Spark Crescent!
Taking out my glaive, I charged into the mix with [Sanctified Blaze: Halo of Consecration] blasting waves of white flames at the undead. Purifying them with impunity as I began to cleave them down like a reaper. All of them were Rank E, so they weren’t even worth the experience to fight, but I had to do this in the most economical way possible.
“Sir Knight, I have buffed you with holy fire and sacred light! Listen to my song, and fight these things back! I’ll take care of the tentacle!” I called out before using my glaive to shoot out fire bullets.
““Y-Yes, Princess!”” They responded immediately after recovering from my sudden appearance.
“Not ‘Princess!’ I am here as a Champion! I’m sorry for being late. Let us drive these things away from your home!”
““… Our swords are yours! Mercs, soldiers, if you want to live, follow us! Drive these things back for the Champion to slay the beast!””
<2 human have become your followers>
<Total follower count updated. Total followers of [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]: 14711>
Good thing they still remember my appearance. Thank goodness I announced that ultimatum to everybody, not only the grimgarians. Now…
My eyes locked onto the tentacle. The floor and walls were creaking from the pressure, and the torrential rain was blocking my sight. They wouldn’t regenerate, but this was still a race against time.
Gale Steps! Hellblade Edge!
After drinking some dragorade to help me stave off the arcane corruption and get some mana regeneration, I poured mana into my catalyst and ignited the scale-dust stored in my weapon. Made using my own body parts, this glaive was just like my tail — a severing blade from the inferno.
With it burning white, I also ignited my tail simultaneously. Unless I allowed it, not even the fiercest torrents or the most harrowing cold could extinguish them. Once I reapplied my buffs on myself, I charged forward.
Spark Crescent!
Stomping and putting my back into it at the moment of impact, I sliced off a piece of the tentacle before twisting my body in to kick the air. With the momentum, I landed right at the thickest part of the appedange and used my tail to sever it completely from the ship. Takoyaki, done.
[“Tehmrayn!”]
[“Done! Next!”]
““W-Woah!”” The people onboard almost fell as Tehmrayn materialized chains made from water to pull the whole ship by himself.
“Exterminate the rest! Champion Tehmrayn will bring you back to the harbor!” I informed everybody to ease them up.
“““YEEEEAAAAH!””” Hearing me say that and seeing the tentacle fall into the sea, the crewmates roared out their excitement before continuing their frenzy.
<61 human and beastman have become your followers>
<Total follower count updated. Total followers of [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]: 14772>
With a wide smirk, I blasted myself to the next ship with [Wind Blast] and my rocket boosters, continuing the same thing for five more ships. Every time I would do the same: ease their worries, play my song, and then kill off the tentacle. Sadly, the tentacles didn’t give any exp at all, and the undead were worthless as fodder.
Still, even with my belly getting more and more filled with dragorade, to the point I wanted tovomit, I endured it all to blast the music up! I kept my flames burning brightly, even breathing out white [Hellflame Breath] at other ships for emergency healing. When I had the time, I would put down [Sacred Field] for the final patch-up. After all, unless the flames were on me, they could be extinguished.
<479 human and beastman have become your followers>
<Total follower count updated. Total followers of [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]: 15251>
The mission was to free them all and make sure no one died. That was why I had to keep [The Heir of Hope] blasting. The more allies who could hear it, the stronger the barrier would become. A larger barrier meant more extra Health to keep people alive.
With Tehmrayn eliminating any tentacle as they spawned and keeping the ships together, I jumped over to the last four ships, only to see I didn’t have to. The saurians and Master had already handled it all.
“Hey, hey, took you a while!” Krim-Slak waved at me with his dinosaur head, grinning as he tore off a piece of the tentacle to eat. “Mind cooking this thing for me? Had enough rations!”
Haaa, this idiot.
“Ha ha ha ha! Relish, humans and beastmen, for this is the power of Xohulotel! God of Serpents and Saurians! Give thanks to the Depth Goddess for not dying today! Ha ha ha ha ha!” A lone velociraptor mage cheered maniacally as his army of water dinosaurs destroyed everything on the remaining ships.
… Nah, Master is even more of an idiot.
With everyone safe, Master and Tehmrayn teamed up as they drove the ships back to the harbor, helping everybody avoid the whirlpools and tsunamis created from all of this. Although drenched and cold, I kept on drinking more and more dragorade. I had to keep my resource regeneration up, especially since it didn’t seem like I could level up from these weak fodder!
<48 human and beastmen followers lost>
<Total follower count updated. Total followers of [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]: 15203>
Once at the port, we noticed the situation there wasn’t any better. Tentacles and hordes of undead were invading the harbor town. I could see some grimgarians in the distance, but what also caught my eye were two combatants — Sis and Chahayat.
“Run, you damn rats! Run! A damn B rank dares to fight me?!” Neill roared on top of a building while holding up the head of an ogre. The purple highlights on her hair and scales were shining brightly, not to mention the visible mana paths on her body.
She had to be using [Battle Frenzy].
“Capture them!” On the other side, Chayat was strutting around inside his water giant with over 60 enemies stored in its aqua body. They probably drowned there.
It wasn’t in the perfect state, but I was relieved things got cleaned up despite the mess the Yanderus caused us. We really were played like a fiddle.
“KuuuuUuuUUUUUUUURRRRR!”
“Huh?!”
The roar… it just sounded louder than before. Enough for everybody to hear from here, despite him being trapped on the island.
“KUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHH!”
And that was when it happened — a single giant appendage burst from the ocean near the island, large and long enough compared to the [Heaven’s Sword] I cast. Then, another appeared from the other side of the place, before another deep, booming growl appeared.
“KuuuuuuuUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHH!”
The island… it was breaking apart before my very eyes. Even from here, where it looked merely like a pebble, I noticed it crumbled into the ocean as more appendages appeared. Just like that, it disappeared into the ocean… only to be replaced by something else in the distance.
At first, I thought it was just an island, then it became larger and larger until I noticed it opening up to reveal a set of humongous teeth, to the point they looked like the size of cars from here. I took a step back as more of its head revealed itself from the ocean. Not long thereafter, it rose its scaled head out of the water, flapping its numerous fins and hard-looking carapace around.
If the leviathan I met in Belzac forest was more like a crocodile, then this was your authentic and classic serpentine giant. The dragons of the sea. With four large, bulging fish eyes, the beast barred its maw out to roar, only to reveal something like a kraken inside its mouth. It wiggled around, trying to grab the raindrops outside before it closed its mouth, staring down at us with a regal, alien-like posture.
About the size of Mother, this gigantum monster was long enough to make skyscrapers look tiny. A giant even larger than the Belzac leviathan, it felt like I was an insignificant ant in his wake. From the looks of all the people around me, it seemed I wasn’t the only one.
[“Karhalantheel. Remember it as I wash your lives away, descendants of the warrior.”]
Aloof, cold, as if its voice wanted to consume my mind. The sight of this creature in this monsoon… terrifying. I couldn’t even properly see its face in this darkness.
[“The world has changed since I was imprisoned. Origin Gods? I see… we have gods in this world now. Kargryxmor is gone… all my rivals, as well. I am… alone… in this depth. Be honored, you will become my first servants. Serve thy Emperor, plankton. But, first… a deal, is a deal. I keep my word. So, embrace me now, children. I shall grant thee mercifu—”]
[“You will be fertilizer for this land and its children.”]
<Neutral Territory detected! [Fimbulvetr] has been activated! Foreign Territory Dispute detected in the area>
Plip plip plip… plip… plip…
The sound of the rain… it suddenly stopped falling on me, however, it was immediately replaced by a chill. I glanced around, only to notice the sky slowly turning whitish-gray, all while everything in sight began to dazzle for some reason. Looking closer, I saw the raindrops having been frozen in place.
The whirlpools in the seas began to slow down until their colors changed into snow-white. Even the sea was freezing before my eyes. The tentacles, having no source to spawn from, meekly froze up and fell on the ground and sea, crushing even the undead they spawned. This was unlike the Territory Dispute I had with Tehmrayn, this was a true battle between auras, one meant to kill the other the moment one side lost.
“Mother!” I turned around as I noticed a signal closing in.
Mother slowly walked up to the harbor as everybody stared at her in awe. Everything about her was exuding sheer cold, too dangerous for anybody to touch. [“Leave it to me, dear. This is my battle… the new generation should show this ancient scale he isn’t needed anymore!”]
She was raring to go! Her body was already exuding mana clouds.
“No, wait, I need to tell you something! God Yeostar has—” However, I was too late.
[“Tell me when you’re done with everything else, dear. This senile old man’s Territory is causing trouble everywhere. Unless you want the city to fall, you should help the front gates. Also, go meet up with your friend Amelia already. She’s been stuck in the arena without you to teleport her… save her before those thugs arrive.”]
“W-What?! Arck!”
“KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
A gust of wind blew against me and everybody around, sending us flying away as the mana cloud dissipated. Even with my eyes closed, I could see a shadow suddenly appear above me, darkening my sight. I opened them up, only for my chest to suddenly feel more … chilled out.
Mother…
In her entire splendor. Glistening, diamond-like scales exuding elegance and regality at the same time. Her silver powder began raining down on us like snow, and even if a single one touched our skin, it felt like it could freeze up our entire bloodstream in one go.
Her size was as always titanic. Seeing her back in her form after our trip into the dimension breach was a comforting sight. A being probably taller than the Empire State Building in New York was about to face something almost as gigantic.
[“… I see the world has not abandoned all its strength in the bosom of these gods.”]
[“Then, allow me to show it to you, ancient scale.”]
Her silver dust began to harden up her outer layer, hardening it up to the point it began to glisten like ice. The very rain froze at her command, congregating into a giant frozen claymore with her [Cryokinesis].
[“Pleeeeeeaaaaaseeee!”] He smirked. “Kuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhh!”
“Kraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
In a flash, the battle between two SS ranks began.
Comments
Big pog
brunoid
Let´s go! Thanks for the chapter.
