"Make it look like this."
"Got it! All done!"
Cold sweat ran down Rick's temple.
Had it been three seconds since he made the request?
The result, perfectly reflecting his needs, popped out.
"What else should I make?"
"Uh, yeah. Now this, and that, and that."
"Got it!"
Wham!
"Done! Faster than the eye, Momotari... no, Momo's hands, how about that?!"
Rick found himself clapping like a seal without realizing it.
He thought this chubby thing was just a pig that wasted food, but he was wrong.
Her hands were so nimble and fast that what would take an ordinary person over an hour, she finished in seconds.
Nom nom nom!!
She ate as much as she worked, but still, her productivity was incredible.
"Hey, Momotari! You're not working, just eating again!?"
"I'm done with work!"
"You're not lying, are you!? Don't eat alone, give me one too."
Of course, not everyone was like that.
Jwibangul, carrying a small club he must have gotten from somewhere, was bustling back and forth.
He seemed to act as the discipline officer usually, but he just ran around without doing much.
Picking a fight like just now was a bonus... Ah, crap, we made eye contact.
"Hey, Mugu artisan! What are you doing just standing around instead of working?!"
He quickly turned his head and focused on crafting the equipment.
One thing he learned in the short time was that it's better to avoid that Jwibangul.
Responding to him just makes things tiring.
"Huh?!"
Kancho, who had been loitering around, perked up his ears.
"It's the Commander-in-Chief's call! Momotari! From now on, you're the discipline officer! Watch them so they can't even breathe!"
"Got it! Leave it to me!"
Kancho tossed his cute little club and dispelled his manifestation.
Then, as he manifested again, a pitch-black dark sea spread out before his eyes.
For some reason, Jinhyuk, Camilla, and Seira were standing around the shoreline.
"Chung! Seong! Yodel Ranger Deputy Commander Kancho! You called for me!"
"Oh, Kancho's here."
"Do I need to beat up the old raccoon lady!?"
"Why do you want to beat me up for no reason?"
"Was there ever a reason?"
"...I suppose that's true."
Jinhyuk, with Kancho on his shoulder, pointed to the middle of the dark sea.
"Can you shoot some explosive clay over there?"
"Won't they all come swarming?"
"That's what I'm hoping for. I'm going fishing from now on."
Camilla had made the request.
She wanted to take a closer look at the pollution here.
So, he was trying to catch one.
"Fishing?! Are we going to grill and eat it too?"
"No, not that."
"Good thing. Eating contaminated stuff will make you sick."
Kancho gave a thumbs-up and took a small lump of clay from his bag.
It seemed he intended to start small.
Whoosh!
The clay flew insignificantly and sank into the dark sea.
A moment later, a huge explosion erupted, sending black water surging.
"They're not coming."
"Right. I thought they'd react to anything except the contaminated divine power, but I guess not."
Raghar's words came to mind.
He said it would be best not to underestimate the divine beasts.
That they were one of the species that had survived in the Tower for a very long time.
'Do they know what fishing is?'
He smirked.
They seemed to be on guard, probably because they got properly cut down last time.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!!
Kancho, seemingly feeling competitive, pulled out an assault rifle and opened fire.
Explosions followed one after another, but the result didn't change.
The dark sea remained still.
"Maybe it only reacts to living things."
It was something he had expected to some extent.
He stripped off his shirt and did some warm-up exercises.
The water had been there when he went in last time.
"Yodel Ranger Deputy Commander Kancho! I will enter the water with you!"
"No, I'll go alone. It takes too long for your fur to dry. There's no hairdryer here either."
"Is that so? Understood! I'll aim and shoot as soon as it appears... Huh?!"
He carefully put Kancho's assault rifle into his bag.
If he got hit by that, he might actually die.
"Usage prohibited."
"Roger that!"
After giving a thumbs-up, he used the Iron Imprint.
A massive number of scales hovered in the air.
Leaving the scales in the air, he first launched his body into the dark sea.
'Ugh.'
The unpleasant stickiness was still there, but it was much better than last time.
Humans really are adaptable animals.
He took a deep breath and dived into the water.
The pitch-black water rose, swallowing the light and sound.
Once he was completely submerged, his unique trait, [In the Darkness], activated.
His senses sharpened rapidly.
'Oh, crap.'
He still couldn't see anything.
But he could clearly feel it.
The presence of countless beings watching him from afar.
He slowly turned his body to face them.
How should he put it? A smirk crept onto his lips.
Because he realized something.
Just as he knew, they also knew he was watching them.
He subtly moved his fingers.
He felt a flinch from beyond.
But it wasn't a feeling of fear.
They were just like him.
They were baring their teeth too.
Ready to bite him at any moment.
'I'm not here to kill today.'
He overlapped the scales to create a foothold on the surface.
Judging by the lack of reaction, it seemed they could only detect movement within the water.
He slowly turned his body so his feet faced the surface.
The masters of the dark sea flinched, realizing he was up to something.
Ignoring them, he gathered his fighting spirit beneath his feet, which were planted on the scales.
Boooooom!!!!
He shot off towards them.
They reacted to the sudden recoil, but he was a step faster.
He extended the Evernight Iron Chain and hooked it onto the one in front.
Craaack!!
It thrashed wildly trying to escape, but it was useless.
The Evernight Iron Chain wouldn't break.
The masters of the dark sea began to move violently, perhaps realizing one of their own had been caught.
Gulp!
Damn, that's terrifying.
He caught one, so let's get out of here quickly.
He swam in the opposite direction and submerged the tens of thousands of scales that were on the surface.
The ones behind him, unable to wait even a moment, chased after him fiercely.
Kwaaaaah!!
They were so huge that he could feel the changes in the water current in real-time.
He gathered the scales and created a wall between him and them.
Thud!!!
They hit it so hard that the vibration reached him.
Did their heads not explode?
Of course, he didn't have the luxury to look back.
Truly a high-intelligence lifeform.
They circled around the point blocked by the scales and shot towards him.
When the distance between them was as close as possible, he stepped on the scales he had moved under his feet and leaped as high as he could.
Kwaaaaaaah!!
They seemed really angry.
The masters of the dark sea jumped out of the water following him.
"Fools."
He smirked and looked back.
They probably didn't realize it in their fierce pursuit.
That they themselves had taken the bait.
Sreung.
Seira, who had been waiting on the scales, drew her sword.
The Thunder Sword Raven, gleaming with its characteristic light green under the moonlight.
Today's menu was electric barbecue.
He kicked off the scales again and threw the captured creature onto the land.
"A whale is flying!!"
Kancho seemed incredibly excited for some reason.
Fortunately, he wasn't holding the assault rifle.
Flash!
A tremendous flash of light brightly illuminated the entire area.
Raven's starting skill, Lightning Rain, struck the masters of the dark sea as they fell vertically.
The sticky pollutants seemed to act as a primary barrier, but it was impossible to withstand the ceaseless barrage of lightning.
The masters of the dark sea were roasted as they were and fell into the sea one after another.
They were larger than a blue whale, so the sight was quite spectacular just by itself.
Click, click, click!!
"Very good, Battalion Commander! Totally cool! A black knight amidst the lightning!"
At the sound of the busy shutter, Jinhyuk and Camilla turned their heads.
Kancho, the aspiring influencer.
Today, too, he was taking a cute step towards his dream.
"You really do all sorts of things."
"And he's surprisingly good at sorting and posting the photos."
As they exchanged a few words, Seira, who had roasted the dark sea, landed beside them.
Seira brushed back her radiant silver hair and looked behind her.
"What strange water. It felt like the flow of electricity was being blocked."
Camilla nodded.
"Pollution is a mixture of all kinds of impurities. The water is saturated with that kind of pollution, so it's only natural."
If the current had flowed properly, she could have annihilated them all with Raven.
What a shame.
"Commander! The hideous whale is thrashing!"
Kancho stepped back cautiously, making a disgusted face.
"Kancho, aren't you taking a picture of that?"
"If I take a picture of something that ugly, I'll get bad luck!"
"You're surprisingly cowardly."
"What did you say?"
"Ugh."
It seemed the hideous whale was preferable to Satan.
Camilla backed away towards it.
"Whoo-hoo! Fishing success!"
Elia, who had popped out of the Star Workshop, ran towards the master of the dark sea.
"It's huge..."
Slam!
Eliiiiaaaa!!
She got hit by the tail and went flying.
"That old hag is no good. Useless."
"The master of the dark sea friend is quite feisty, huh?"
Elia wiped her nose and flashed an evil grin.
Camilla stood beside her, emitting thick smoke.
It seemed they were about to begin.
The joint dismantling operation of the Demigod and the Alchemist.
* * *
The Edilen Mansion.
Raghar, who had come out onto the terrace, looked towards the shore.
'I wasn't mistaken.'
The immense energy he had felt the day the Outsider visited.
Along with the lightning that had struck the dark sea a little while ago, that energy had appeared again.
Raghar let out a hollow laugh.
"Mercy, is it."
Even if it didn't reveal itself before his eyes, that being must have always stayed near the Outsider.
The only reason his own life was still intact was because the Outsider wished it so.
"No, calling it madness would be more fitting."
In the eyes of the Outsider who had wanted to fight, there was not a single shred of falsehood or exaggeration.
He truly, sincerely desired it.
Swaaah...!
Just recalling those eyes sent a thrilling shiver through his entire body.
Raghar looked down at his slightly trembling hand.
It was the first time since he had come down from the Tower.
That he had felt such a thrill.
'My body has aged, but the flame hasn't been extinguished, has it?'
Chuckling, Raghar left the terrace.
Several subordinates came rushing up from the lower floor in a panic.
"L-Lord Head! The Outsider has caught a master of the dark sea..."
"Enough."
He raised his hand to stop the report.
Passing by his bewildered subordinates, Raghar headed to the basement of the mansion.
He didn't care about Famiran's Island or the masters of the dark sea anymore.
That wasn't what was important now.
'Winning a war is impossible anyway.'
A being that absurd was attached to him.
It wasn't something that could be handled with strategy, so he wasn't even going to look at it.
'But that doesn't mean it signifies my own defeat.'
He flung open the door to the space that had been firmly sealed.
A fight that would inevitably be his last.
He had no intention of losing.
He was going to give it his all and show this brat from the new era.
The strength of the old era that had survived until now.
----------
T/N:
Just for being a free member, you'll get 5 advanced chapters every week!
Access 35 chapters in advance on my Patreon:[email protected]//towerup