Chapter 105

〈 Chapter 105 〉 Part 1, Chapter 6 (11)

<5:02 AM, Milky Way Cruise.>

Hikari sprinted through the ship like a lunatic. Her breath was ragged, and her mouth emitted a metallic taste, but she had to endure the physical exhaustion for now.

Bang Bang Bang!

“Get up, Mr. Matsamoto!”

Hikari pounded on the cabin door. The room was firmly locked with no sign of opening. She continued pounding and shouting.

“Wake up! We’re about to sink!”

Hikari, already wearing a life jacket, rushed down the hallway. One by one, passengers startled awake by the commotion stumbled out of their rooms only to panic upon hearing the ship’s announcement.

– We are currently under attack by an SS-Rank Monster, Moby Dick. All passengers please put on your life jackets and prepare for emergencies…

“Aaaah?!”

“It’s insane!”

The passengers descended into chaos. Thanks to those who’d already bolted out of their rooms early, the confusion worsened.

Squeak. Finally, the door Hikari had been pounding on opened. A scruffy-bearded man pulled out his earplugs with an irritated expression.

“What the hell… What is this at dawn?”

“Details on the broadcast!”

Leaving the bewildered man behind, Hikari raced to the next cabin. Using a holographic keyboard, she hacked into the cruise’s check-in status to confirm each room.

“There’s still so many left…!”

Hikari bit her lip. Like the man before him, some people were still sound asleep despite the ship’s announcement and emergency sirens. They didn’t wake up even with their smartwatches’ alarms and vibrations, leaving no choice but to wake them individually. Meanwhile, crew members and Yu-Sung’s staff were also running around the ship waking people up.

Beeeep!

At that moment, red lights began appearing on the map Hikari had floating nearby. Intercepting the association’s signals mid-transmission, the map displayed Moby Dick’s predicted movement path.

“…!”

Moby Dick was ascending along Tsushima’s coastline in a curve heading straight toward Busan. And right in the middle of its path was the cruise Hikari was on.

“Suddenly…?!”

It was completely different from what was expected. Hikari leaned against the wall, typing furiously on the keyboard.

“This can’t be. The pattern’s entirely different from the Okinawa incident. Is this really the same monster?”

Sumaryong Moby Dick circled islands, occupying coastlines to prevent islanders from escaping.

It was an annoyingly effective tactic for a monster, which was why Hikari strongly argued for continuing towards Busan. Once they entered an island, they’d likely be cornered for a hunt in the center. Her prediction seemed to fit at first glance.

Until Moby Dick suddenly chased after the cruise’s route, heading up toward Busan.

“Distance?!”

She quickly checked the distance on the map, calculating Moby Dick’s speed based on its movement and time, then compared it to the cruise’s speed.

“…!”

No good. They’d be caught just before reaching the harbor. That was assuming Moby Dick simply chased the ship; it would attempt long-range attacks.

In about three minutes, they’d enter Moby Dick’s range. Hikari swallowed hard.

“Because I suggested going to Busan?”

What she judged as the best course of action might end up drowning everyone in the ocean. Tears welled up in Hikari’s crimson eyes.

“Big Brother…”

Amidst the overwhelming frustration and sadness, only one family member came to mind.

* * *

<Bridge.>

“We must continue heading to Busan!”

“No way! We’ll be caught by Moby Dick first! Better flee toward Russia!”

“Let’s return to Daemado! At least if we land on land, we won’t become fish food in the sea, right?”

There was utter chaos. The navigators fiercely argued their survival plans, but with no consensus, precious time ticked away.

The captain anxiously waited for a response to the distress signal. He’d sent it since Moby Dick first appeared, but due to its roar, the signal wasn’t reaching properly.

“Still no news?!”

“None! Neither Japan nor Korea!”

There was no hope. Even if there was some reply, at least they could act accordingly, but with no response from either side, the captain was desperate.

Ping. Finally, the long-awaited communication arrived. It was a reply from the Japanese branch of the Association. The chief navigator, closest to the screen, shouted.

“Currently dispatching heroes!”

“Wowww!!”

All the sailors cheered in joy. Realistically, it would take an immense amount of time for heroes to fly from the mainland beyond Daemado, but knowing that heroes were coming to save them made them happy.

However, their joy was short-lived as another reply soon came in. From the Japanese Defense Agency.

“The Association heroes will prioritize protecting Daemado…?”

“What the heck?!”

The sailors panicked. The chief navigator quickly confirmed the nature of the signal and shouted to the captain.

“The signals got mixed up! This one from the Defense Agency was actually meant for the heroes!”

The captain gritted his teeth. Due to the roar’s influence or not, the signal intended for the association heroes from the Defense Agency got intercepted.

“They’re planning to abandon us…!”

The people on the bridge discovered the movements of the Japanese heroes. They were planning to rescue relatively closer Daemado.

“Damn it! Why did we listen to that kid’s suggestion?!”

One sailor threw his cap to the ground in anger. He was the one whose opinion to dock the ship at a northern port near Daemado was overruled by Hikari.

“If we’d followed my advice and entered the port, we could’ve already been running inland by now! What is this?! That murderous younger sister is about to make us all fish food!”

Silence fell over the bridge. No one opposed or defended Hikari’s decision.

Hikari had strongly argued her point with evidence, and everyone on the bridge agreed to head towards Busan. Yet, the sailors blamed everything on Hikari, simply because she was the first to suggest heading directly to Busan.

Bang! The captain slammed his fist on the table and shouted.

“There’s nothing else to do! We keep heading to Busan!”

“Huh?! That’s reckless! Moby Dick will chase us!”

The captain grabbed the navigator by the collar.

“Reckless or not, don’t we have to escape?! Are you suggesting we drop anchor here and get eaten by Moby Dick?! Hey! What are you doing, you idiots! Stop standing there and immediately calm the passengers, and run the engines at full power!”

“Captain, we’ll crash into Busan Harbor like this!”

“Are you kidding me, do you want to crash into Moby Dick instead?!”

The captain threw the navigator to the floor and gave orders to the sailors. The sailors, tears welling in their eyes, struggled desperately to survive.

“…Damn.”

The navigator wiped the blood flowing from his lips and disappeared amidst the confusion.

“That damn girl, I swear I’ll kill her someday.”

The navigator’s eyes gleamed with killing intent. No one on the bridge noticed him vanish.

* * *

The presence of spirits became clearer.

Northward. Due to its existence, deep-sea creatures rising to land were clearly having their cores torn apart one by one.

The waves transmitting this vibration filled it with rage. The instinct to destroy and annihilate living beings and spirits surged.

■■■■■■!!

Moby Dick’s eyes turned completely purple. Its second form, which had changed since occupying Okinawa, evolved further in response to the spirit energy.

Crunch, crunch!

The streamlined body grew sharper lines, its teeth becoming serrated. The once glossy skin now bristled with sharp spines lying flat like scales, ready to pierce anything.

While maintaining the shape of a giant whale, it developed means to tear and chew humans.

■■■■■■!!

Far away, the presence of spirits was felt. Spirits were moving between land and sea, stealing the hearts of their kin. The cold spirit energy was reminiscent of the deep sea where it had slumbered.

And very close by, human presence was detected. Moving slowly yet hastily toward land, the massive weight indicated it was the ‘ship’ of humans. Moby Dick instinctively knew what it was.

Moby Dick rejoiced. Humans are powerless underwater.

■■■■■!

Excited, Moby Dick chased the ship. Its speed was incomparably faster than its leisurely swimming just moments ago.

Soon, a wave-cutting vibration was sensed in Moby Dick’s perception. Drawing magic power, Moby Dick opened its mouth,

■■■■■■■■!

And shot a breath of magical energy toward the source of the vibration.

* * *

“I see it!”

Harang, sliding on the ice road across the sea, spotted the ship. The cruise was speeding toward Busan at an unimaginable pace.

Harang quickly shouted into the smartwatch.

“Is that it?!”

[Yes! The Milky Way Cruise!]

With the administrator’s confirmation, Harang let out a sigh of relief. Thankfully, the ship was intact without a single hole.

At that moment, feeling a very faint vibration underwater, Harang’s heart sank. There was no time to report to the administrator as Harang immediately leapt off the ice road into the sea.

[Seok Harang?!]

As the administrator screamed, Harang opened his eyes underwater. Far away, a whale with shark-like sharp teeth was spewing something from its open mouth.

‘Breath!’

Whether water, ice, or sonic boom, the angle was far from ordinary. Harang quickly stretched out his hand, drawing magic power.

But it was too late. Moby Dick was about to unleash its breath.

■■■■■—!

The breath fired from Moby Dick’s mouth hit the rear of the cruise. Harang’s magic power spread rapidly underwater, blocking the breath’s path.

A tug-of-war of magic power between the spirit and the beast. The winner was Harang.

■■■!

Furious, Moby Dick swallowed its breath. Though far away underwater, both Harang and Moby Dick could sense each other’s presence.

An existence that absolutely must be killed.

‘Kill.’

Harang drew magic power throughout his body. The spreading chill froze the seawater violently. Moby Dick also seemed to be preparing something again, taking a large breath.

‘Come on…!’

Harang surrounded himself with magic power in front, completing his defense.

At that moment, Moby Dick’s mouth corners slightly curved upward. Harang shivered, thinking he might have misseen it.

‘Huh?’

He hadn’t misseen. Moby Dick was definitely mocking Harang.

■■■■■!

Moby Dick spat a short breath like spitting saliva. The high-pressure water jet shot through the sea.

Toward the cruise.

‘Too la-‘

KWAHHH!!!!

A massive hole erupted in the rear of the cruise.

* * *

Had he ever run this fast in his life? He asked himself, but there was never such a memory.

Even when facing the dragons of Dodgers Gate or being chased by an F-22 Raptor while crossing America, he always ran gracefully like the wind. As his real name Gale (疾風) implied, he traveled the world freely without ever feeling urgency.

However, now he was furious that this was the limit of the speed he could achieve.

Why hadn’t he trained hard like others to increase his limits? Why hadn’t he honed his talents and built strength like others? Why couldn’t these legs go any faster?

He was scouted into the Round Table’s Second Seat solely based on talent and had never faced mortal danger in life-and-death duels.

The fact that he was now anxious because his sibling might die made him laugh ironically.

“Association! Respond! This is Gale Guest!”

Hayette infused magic power into his smartwatch. While traveling at supersonic speed, his will transformed into a magic signal and reached the association.

[This is the Tokyo Branch Chief. …Gale Guest?]

A lazy yet annoyed voice perked up upon recognizing who sent the signal. Hayate glared fiercely at the man on the screen and shouted.

“Send support to the cruise immediately, you bastards!”

[What the, oh! The Chief Cabinet Secretary?!]

A man with dark sunglasses appeared beside the branch chief.

[I’m Sagami, Chief Cabinet Secretary. Long time no see, Hayate.]

“Enough nonsense, what do you mean?! Focus on defending Tsushima! You don’t know there’s a cruise?!”

When Hayate confronted him, the Chief Cabinet Secretary raised his sunglasses and smirked.

[The cruise is already heading toward Korea, so it’s too late for us to protect it. What exactly are you suggesting? To save hundreds on the cruise first and abandon twenty thousand citizens of Tsushima to die?]

[Chief, your words are too harsh!]

The branch chief tried to intervene, but the Chief Cabinet Secretary brushed him aside and tapped the screen with his finger.

[Because some illustrious hero gallivanted around ignoring national security, we can’t protect the cruise. Ah, I see.]

The Chief Cabinet Secretary adjusted his sunglasses on his middle finger and continued.

[How about the illustrious hero of the Round Table going to protect the cruise? Since you’ll abandon the monsters landed on Tsushima anyway, right? Like during the Naha Gate incident.]

“Shut up!”

Hayette cut off the screen. Despite regretting ending the call first in such a dire situation due to losing his temper, it was already too late to receive support from the association.

“Tch!”

A clash of magic power was felt from afar. Gale Guest placed his hand on the sword scabbard. Far below the breathtakingly beautiful ice road, a cruise was heading toward Busan.

It matched the data received from Oracle. On that ship, Hikari was aboard. Hayate sighed in relief inwardly and smiled.

“Finally here-”

A massive water column erupted from the rear of the ship, piercing through it. Gale Guest’s vision shook uncontrollably. His hand instinctively drew the sword.

“Hikariii!!”

A crescent-shaped slash imbued with magic power split the sea. The sea parted momentarily, revealing Moby Dick whose scales deflected the slash effortlessly before disappearing back into the water.

The attack, the slash, failed. Gale Guest’s magic power began to waver uncontrollably. Simultaneously, the sea where Moby Dick was located churned violently.

Puuuuuuu——!!!

A sound like a ship’s horn tearing the eardrums rang out as Moby Dick surfaced.