The Giant Octopus Guardian rose up, bringing the stormy sea with it.
“Woooooah—!”
Boom! Boom!
Its thick arms, resembling mighty tree trunks, rested on the breakwater, and its tentacle-like beard and hair shivered as if thousands of people were shouting at once, while four pairs of eyes gleamed wildly.
Its beak-like mouth opened layer upon layer, revealing a hideous throat.
Moreover, as the guardian rose, the waves it created threatened to sweep away everything in its path.
Swoosh!
Wriggle, wriggle!
Hundreds and thousands of otherworldly starfish riding the waves were an added disaster.
Even the bravest adventurer would have thrown down their sword and spear to flee at the sight.
Clang!
However, Tenitia lowered her helmet visor, aiming her radiant sword, Hwanhan, forward.
Swoosh!
The maddened waves violently battered the knight’s body, draping her cloak and helmet ribbons, but her vigor did not diminish in the slightest.
‘Prince Valen will capture the Blue Robe Priestess. I will prevent that monster from attacking Prince Valen until then.’
Swoosh!
From within the waves, a crimson tentacle lunged out like a snake hunting its prey.
It was called a tentacle, but it was thicker than a barrel.
Tenitia swung her sword without blinking.
Slash!
The radiant sword carved through the tentacle, and just like that, the tentacle was severed as if struck by the blade.
“Zzz-zap!”
The Giant Octopus Guardian shook its body as if displeased, raising its enormous hand.
Whoooosh!
A flash of lightning illuminated the stormy sky, and the shadow of the hand with eight tentacles loomed over Tenitia’s head.
Tenitia unleashed her Empire Swordsmanship Level 6, Self-Nature Discrimination, and awaited the hand.
Swoosh!
A state of cutting right through as it is.
All fears and tremors melted away from her sight, and only the joint connecting the massive hand to its thick wrist was visible.
Crash!
The Guardian’s hand completely shattered the middle of the breakwater.
Rock-sized boulders flew, the eight tentacles flailed in all directions, wreaking havoc, and seawater gushed in through the shattered gaps.
“Haah!”
Tenitia dodged the boulders, severed two of the eight tentacles, and firmly planted her feet on the precarious ground between the shattered stones.
What was captured in her red eyes was the monster’s wrist, and what her ears had forgotten were the incantations of Valenciaunos and the Blue Robe Priestess; thus, there was no tremor in the mana blade that blazed upon her sword.
Whooooosh!
Tenitia swung her sword toward the Giant Octopus Guardian’s wrist.
Slash!
Though the Guardian’s body was tougher than a ten-layer shield, Tenitia’s sword cut through bones, penetrated between muscles, and mercilessly severed veins and nerves.
“Return to the Abyss!”
She climbed atop the Guardian’s hand, slashing at the wrist.
Squelch! Squelch! Squelch!
Five tentacles that grew from the Guardian’s beard shot toward her.
Tenitia gripped Hwanhan with her right hand and drew out Mana with her left.
Fwoosh!
With a sound like burning, the dragon’s bone sword was engulfed in the mana blade, and Tenitia raised the sword skyward.
Swoosh!
A crescent-like Mana Blast soared upward.
Craaaash!
The shattered tentacles fell to the ground and writhed.
Swoosh!
“Wooooar!”
The maddened waves and fierce winds howled, and amidst the ancient monsters filled everywhere, Tenitia stood firm with two swords, blocking her lord’s path.
“A knight does not die alone!”
“Fight! Brave warrior! Eventually, we will die, but our names will remain forever!”
“My body will remain in the imperial tomb, and my soul will ascend to heaven, so what should I fear!”
With a feeling of becoming the protagonist of a book she read in her youth.
*
Valenciaunos watched as Tenitia fought the Giant Octopus Guardian.
‘She has gotten stronger.’
He smiled contentedly as he looked around.
There was not a single person who could get hurt, no ceiling ready to collapse, and aside from one reliable ally, everyone was an enemy.
Valenciaunos utilized the powers of incantation, spirit, and Az simultaneously.
Crack!
His face, overflowing with royal elegance and dignity, twisted momentarily, and long, black, savage horns sprouted from both temples.
His eyes also split vertically like a dragon, and a red crystal rose and settled momentarily on the back of his hand.
He offset the recoil of the transformation with Az’s stabilization and cried out, looking up at the sky.
“I will purify you sea filth with fire! Monsters fit only for compost!”
Fwoosh!
Bright red flames roared into life.
The flames spread widely, forming a massive ring.
It was the same power that had caused a 500m firestorm at the border of Doroysen and Instrumentum.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The starfish monsters exploded as soon as they touched the flames, their entire bodies igniting.
Neither the pouring rain nor waves high enough to obscure the sky spared the monsters from the flames.
He advanced toward the Blue Robe Priestess, embodying the vengeful spirit of divine wrath.
“In this expedition, my original role was just to serve as decoration next to Cariosa. Am I really going to fight against such monstrous bastards? Let me show you how to envy the dead!”
The darkness beneath the Blue Robe Priestess’s hood stirred violently.
The Blue Robe Priestess began to sing again.
“Ra- RaRaRaRa. RaRaRa. RaRaRa.”
Valenciaunos tried to offset it with the flames of spirits, but this phenomenon was occurring in the sea.
“!”
Swoosh!
The low-hanging wave formed a door-like shape, swirling and glowing a deep blue.
It seemed a door leading into the depths of the ocean had opened.
Valenciaunos knew what kind of magic it was.
‘The Door of Currents? No way.’
The Door of Currents was an extraordinary teleportation magic comparable to Gestarte’s Flash Move.
Having long been forgotten, he had never seen humans use it even before his return; only a few elves, merfolk, and Justianus had employed it.
The Blue Robe Priestess continued to sing.
“RaRaRaRaRaRa-.”
As the door became increasingly stable, a powerful blue aura surged and flew toward Valenciaunos.
Swoosh!
Fwoosh!
The abandoned fire of incantation and spirits merely offset the blue aura.
Fwoosh!
Valenciaunos glared within the darkness of the Blue Robe Priestess’s hood.
‘Offset? Not just a collision, but an offset? Does this old one truly adapt in this world? This is dangerous.’
That “adaptation” did not mean conforming to this world’s rules but rather learning how to utilize them.
Emotional adaptation meant coming to understand how to leverage the societal norms of this world, like the High Priest he fought last time, while physical adaptation was exemplified right before his eyes.
“Solletarass.”
A distant summoning echoed.
It was a voice as enchanting as the memories of Kui-s Az.
Back then, it had been a voice so sweet that even knowing it was poison, he couldn’t shake it; now, it was a voice wishing to question why it would be poison.
“This world isn’t yours.”
“Gah!”
“We have waited long enough.”
“Shut up!”
“The Daughter of the Storm? You aim to become the queen of this island? Don’t be absurd. Your arrogant lover knows nothing.”
“I commanded you to be silent!”
“This world is not yours!”
The dizzying sweet voice shook the mind of the young duke.
However, Valenciaunos caught a single word in that voice that grated on him immensely.
Fwoosh!
He halted, closing in on the blue-robed priestess as if intending to completely burn the starfish monsters and her.
He dropped his head for a moment, and a deep shadow enveloped his lofty face.
The Blue Robe Priestess felt a moment of relief and focused on creating the Door of Currents.
‘It’s not over yet. If I can gain support from the Eastern Continent, rally the remnants of the pirates, and unite forces with the merfolk….’
“……Yes. This world is not ours.”
Valenciaunos muttered softly.
Crack, crack.
Cracks like shattered pottery appeared in both his hands, and from within them, a red crystal began to poke its head out.
“This world belongs to Jeilliris. It is all hers.”
His voice gradually grew louder, echoing as if thousands were speaking concurrently, and the crystal that burst forth from his hands hummed with intensity.
Zzzz-!
“The first Solletarass swore to protect this world from the ancients and, in exchange, gained dominion over the Empire. For a thousand years since, we have received noble loyalties from the great lords across the lands. She too swore and was sworn in as the forty-seventh. She fought, took responsibility for her future. Thus, this world belongs only to her.”
The darkness beneath the Blue Robe Priestess’s hood quivered.
It seemed she had been properly offended.
“……You filthy monsters, made of all kinds of blood!”
Though the voice remained beautiful, it was laced with malice.
Valenciaunos’s eyes gleamed with intensity.
“And the way she takes responsibility is by me. It means slicing the throats of anyone who whines that she has no rights and hanging them on poles. I’m the Emperor’s bandit, after all.”
“Those who will decline due to their misfortunes, how arrogant-!”
He repeated the purpose of his arrival to the island over and over.
“I will slay every monster on this island and assist the Cariosa I yearn for to claim this island. Then, once the East settles down, I’ll deal with the heterogeneous races and infiltrators, and the Southern Continent.”
‘Yes. Now you will listen to me.’
Clank.
Something clicked in his mind.
A natural change returned, and simultaneously, a line was drawn in the unchanging realm.
Time reversed, horns and scales sprouted, hands and feet became translucent, and crystals erupted, yet he remained the Emperor’s bandit.
‘This is enough.’
“I will ensure she receives her rightful love, then revel in eternal glory beneath her.”
The Blue Robe Priestess gazed up at the sky while Valenciaunos unleashed a psychic wave.
“RaRaRaRaRaRa-!”
“Ah, aaaaaaaaah-!”
The blue wave and golden wave clashed in the air.
The stormy night sea was illuminated by blue and golden light.
Crash! Crack, crash!
Sounds like breaking glass echoed from all around.
“Gyaah!”
“Grooaaah!”
The starfish monsters and the Giant Octopus Guardian writhed in agony.
‘A gap.’
“Ha!”
Tenitia kicked off the ground and leaped onto the elbow of the Giant Octopus Guardian, then leaped again to reach eye level, swinging Mana.
Slash!
The Mana Blast shot out, bursting the Guardian’s three eyes.
Crash!
The Guardian fell back, bleeding white, while fierce waves surged up to cover the breakwater.
Swoosh!
“This time, freedom is mine!”
“This world belongs to the emperor!”
The staggering Blue Robe Priestess and Valenciaunos, who was also gulping seawater, presented a peculiar contrast.
Crash!
With the final crashing sound, the Door of Currents collapsed, and the Blue Robe Priestess vomited blood beneath her hood, collapsing to the ground as if fainting.
“Cough!”
Valenciaunos confidently approached, grabbing the Blue Robe Priestess’s robe to tear it away.
“You always transform into a disgusting mass of flesh. If your mind and body are meant to achieve unity, it surely means your mind is equally grotesque.”
Thud!
“Let’s see just how horrifying you truly are.”
The high-grade recognition-decreasing magic tool, the robe, temporarily held its ground but could not withstand his power, ultimately revealing its owner’s face.
Flash!
Just then, lightning flashed in the sky, and Valenciaunos clearly saw the Blue Robe Priestess’s entire body.
“……Ugh!”
He trembled, surprised.
“Why are you like this, your highness? Are you more grotesque than imagined? Since the waves are fierce, you should come inside first. Otherwise, I could just cut off your head and burn the body….”
Tenitia rushed forward, asking, but upon seeing the Blue Robe Priestess’s face, she fell silent.
“……I never imagined you could be this beautiful.”
