Chapter 126:
One hour before entering the sea.
I recalled the conversation I had with the client.
‘Hmm… How should I cook this squid?’
The giant kraken.
It suddenly appeared on Gold Reach Island and sprayed ink on people.
Normally, ink wouldn’t harm anyone.
But this is a monster, not an animal.
So, we can’t treat its ink the same way.
Monsters and animals are fundamentally different.
Perhaps because it’s a monster?The client’s parents and some others who were hit by the ink were poisoned.
Fortunately, it wasn’t a serious poison.
‘It just caused paralysis.’
But that’s still a problem.
Paralysis in the sea?
If something goes wrong, they could drown.
In reality, even a leg cramp in the sea can be life-threatening.
What if they become paralyzed?
It’s not safer, it’s more dangerous.
Paralysis means they can’t move their bodies at all.
‘But that’s not the only problem.’
The giant kraken’s ink is said to be almost permanent on humans.
As evidence, the client’s parents were bedridden until we arrived.
It’s a good thing Ange was able to heal them immediately. If not, they would have been like sentient vegetables.
Well, even if she hadn’t, they could have recovered with potions.
‘But it’s not easy to obtain.’
The giant kraken’s poison is highly addictive, and it can’t be cured by ordinary potions.
It can only be alleviated, at best.
So, we need to obtain high-quality potions.
But to get them, money alone isn’t enough.
We need to make a reservation and wait for a long time.
Many people want to get high-quality potions.
It makes sense that the clients couldn’t get the paralysis cured.
In reality, how could a young man with no connections and a girl obtain high-quality potions so quickly?
‘Well.’
That’s not the important part.
Anyway, the giant kraken is a more dangerous opponent than it seems.
The Constellation asked for only four people, including me, to face it.
To be honest, we can handle the poison by force or avoid it, but
‘Why did she specifically ask for four people?’
I don’t understand why she asked for only four people, including me.
At that moment,
“Hey, Kaine.”
Skaya called out to me, breaking my train of thought.
I turned my head towards her.
“What?”
“Isn’t that the dungeon you mentioned?”
I followed her gaze and turned my head.
A temple that could appear in a myth.
A space surrounded by a barrier.
I knew right away that this was the dungeon the Constellation mentioned.
“It seems like it. But it feels strange to be able to talk underwater.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s strange that we can talk underwater.”
Unlike me, the others didn’t seem to find it strange.
But for me, this was a first-time experience.
There’s no magic in the real world.
Moreover, even though we’re deep in the sea, we don’t feel any pressure due to magic.
As I wondered about this, Skaya shrugged.
“What’s the big deal?”
“I guess so.”
“Yeah, let’s go in quickly.”
With those words, we headed towards the temple in front of us.
________________________________________
We finally arrived at our destination and entered the barrier.
[The maximum number of entrants is four.]
A message appeared in front of us.
Lise and the others, except for Ange, were startled, as if they had never received a message from the Constellation before.
‘What is she preparing that requires such a grand setup?’
Do I feel a bad premonition? It must be my imagination.
Whenever she does something like this, something bad happens.
I tried to hide my uneasiness and entered the barrier.
At the same time,
-Whoosh!
The water around us disappeared, as if it had never been there.
“Wow… Is this dungeon capable of making the water disappear?”
“I’ve never seen a dungeon like this before.”
Skaya and Lise were amazed by the barrier’s power.
I ignored the barrier and looked around.
A clean statue of a goddess.
A flat floor and an old building that didn’t seem to be inhabited.
I don’t know when this dungeon was created, but judging by the statue, it must be quite old.
It’s covered in dust.
As I was observing the surroundings,
-Kyaek?
A monster with a fish head and human-like lower body appeared behind the building.
‘It’s been a while since I’ve seen this monster.’
This fish-man, which also appears in games, is rarely seen outside of sea dungeons.
They can’t use their full strength without water.
The monster showed its sharp teeth and charged towards us.
-Kyaek!
Its luck was terrible.
Normally, I wouldn’t feel sorry for a monster.
-Bang!
But it picked the wrong opponent.
Everyone here is a skilled fighter.
One of them is even one of the strongest beings in the world.
I silently prayed for the nameless fish-man who had his head smashed by Ange.
‘Next time, choose your opponent wisely.’
As I was thinking this,
-Kyaek.
Countless fish-men appeared, unaware of their situation.
About a few hundred of them.
Usually, anyone would run away without looking back when faced with such a large number of enemies.
But
‘We’re different.’
An assassin from the David family.
A magician with the greatest talent ever acknowledged by the great sage.
One of the strongest beings in the world.
And finally, me.
With this team, I guarantee that we could even beat the high-level demon we encountered earlier.
To be precise, Ange alone could do it.
As I was thinking leisurely,
“Hey, Kaine. Let’s try that magic together.”
Skaya looked at me with sparkling eyes, like a magician in an isekai anime who only uses explosion magic. (Megumin, is that you? XD)
“Yeah, this is the perfect place to test it.”
“Then grab my hand!”
Skaya smiled brightly as she said this.
I felt an impure intention to hold hands rather than test the magic.
‘But we should try it in a real battle.’
Ignoring the piercing gaze from behind, I grabbed Skaya’s hand.
Was it because it had been a while since we held hands?
Her face turned slightly red.
But unlike the first time, she seemed to have adapted and wasn’t as flustered.
“Let’s begin.”
“Yeah.”
We released our magic power, focusing on each other.
-Whoosh!
Blue magic power emanated from our bodies.
The combined magic power of Skaya and me slowly rose into the sky.
As I recited the incantation for image manifestation, Skaya interpreted the spell.
Meanwhile,
-Kyaek!
The fish-men charged towards us, determined not to let us escape.
As they approached, showing their sharp teeth,
“Magic Explosion.”
The spell was complete.
And then,
-Boom!
The rising magic power slowly descended, like a falling meteor.
As it touched the ground,
-Kaboom!!
It began to explode.
A mushroom cloud rose.
-Kyaek!!!!
The fish-men were engulfed in the explosion, turning into dust without a trace.
They couldn’t even resist.
-Boom!
The powerful aftermath swept through.
We waited for the lingering effects of the magic explosion to subside, then released the barrier.
“Phew.”
“They’ve all turned to dust.”
I shrugged at Skaya’s calm remark.
“Yeah, but this is a failure, right?”
“Well, yes. Our magic power wasn’t completely synchronized, and the spell was a bit messed up.”
At Skaya’s words, Lise, who was listening nearby, was startled.
“Is this a failure?”
“Well, to be precise, it was 70% successful, so it can be considered a failure.”
“Hmm…”
Lise looked a bit dazed, her face blank.
It’s not surprising that she was shocked.
Considering the power of the magic explosion we just demonstrated, it’s hard to believe it was a failure.
There were almost a hundred fish-men.
It’s unlikely that a single magic spell could turn them all into dust unless it was a top-tier spell.
But with just one couple magic, we completely obliterated them without a trace.
And it wasn’t even a complete success.
“I was a bit curious about the couple magic taught by the Great Sage, and it’s truly amazing.”
Even Ange, who rarely shows surprise, was slightly taken aback.
I don’t think she would suffer serious injuries if she were hit by it.
‘But it’s not completely ineffective.’
I’m sure that even she would take damage if she were hit by the completed magic head-on.
Of course, she would recover immediately, but still.
“Well, anyway, now that we’ve gotten rid of the annoying guys, let’s proceed.”
“Yes, let’s do that.”
So, we began to investigate the dungeon.
.
.
.
About an hour had passed since then.
This dungeon was incredibly vast, as we had been walking for an hour and still hadn’t reached the end.
‘Damn, why did the Constellation make this dungeon so huge?’
I expected it to be difficult since it was created by the goddesses.
‘But still.’
It’s too much that we’ve been searching for an hour and haven’t found any clues.
As I cursed the Constellation in my mind,
“Kaine, I’ve found a suspicious path.”
Ange brought an unexpected gain.
I trusted you, damn it!
As the saint of the goddess of fate, she lived up to her reputation by finding a clue that no one else had noticed.
As if it was obvious,
“What? Why do I feel like I’ve lost?”
“I feel the same, Skaya.”
The two of them looked frustrated.
Ange smiled, lifting one corner of her mouth, as if she had won.
As the three of them exchanged glances, I followed the trail that Ange had found.
Soon,
“A door?”
We discovered a sturdy-looking iron door.
The three who had followed behind me realized that the path was blocked and resumed their serious expressions.
Then, Lise tilted her head and casually said something scary.
“Should we break it, Young Master?”
I was about to say to wait a moment when
[Who is the most beautiful woman you have ever seen? Only the male among you can answer.]
A message appeared in front of us, as if by coincidence.
Did it only appear to me?
The three of them turned their gazes towards me, silently pressuring me to choose one of them.
Damn, why is the Constellation asking this question?
I understood his intention.
Why she sent such a message.
She probably wanted me to choose one of them in front of the others.
But objectively, the three of them are not far behind the Constellation in terms of beauty.
All three of them have distinct facial features.
Honestly, if I had to choose, it would just be a matter of preference.
Nothing more, nothing less.
But even if I think this, they would surely
“Kaine, choose wisely.”
“Young Master, we trust you.”
“Kaine…?”
They would surely misunderstand.
In fact, the three of them were already giving me scary looks.
I’m sure that if I choose one of them, the other two would be upset for the rest of the day.
So, in this case, I needed to take a firm stance.
“My answer is this!”
I raised my middle finger towards the message that appeared in front of me.
Then,
[The goddess of fate knew you would say that.]
The Constellation sent a message as if he had expected it.
I wondered if it only appeared to me, but the three of them tilted their heads.
At that moment,
-Woong!
What? Damn it?
Suddenly, a crack appeared in the void.
And then, out of nowhere, a tentacle appeared.
-Grab!
My body was wrapped in the tentacle.
“Ugh!”
Didn’t anyone notice because of the Constellation’s power?
The group was startled to see me suddenly wrapped in the tentacle.
“Ugh! Ugh!!!!”
Soon, I was dragged somewhere.
Feeling the slimy touch of the tentacle, I cursed.
Damn it!
.
.
.
About ten seconds had passed, to my perception.
The tentacle that had wrapped around my body loosened.
My focus slowly returned.
“Hehehe, finally, it’s just the two of us.”
The Constellation appeared in front of me, blushing, as if a yandere had finally gotten her boyfriend alone.
“Son of a bitch.”
At that moment, I realized why the Constellation asked me to bring only three others.