“After playing the hero, he ends up fish food.”
The voice belonged to the mercenary from before.
Seeing as he had survived this hellish island until now, his battle sense and survival skills had to be exceptional, at least.
…And from the way he talked, he seemed to have quite the temper, too.
At that single remark, slipping in between the cold sounds of the waves, several soldiers’ shoulders flinched.
Inwardly, they were probably all thinking the same thing. But he was the only one who dared say it out loud.
A dog’s death.
Because it was a truth no one could deny.
Had that death simply been the result of a sudden, impulsive judgment?
Or had some invisible pressure, or perhaps guilt, driven him into a corner?
From what I had seen, that commander was not that kind of man.
But what I had seen was only one side of him.
In the end, the dead told no tales, and there was no way to ever know the truth.
I stared for a long while at the severed end of the rope, then muttered inwardly.
‘Now, there’s no one left to bind us.’
The soldiers and mercenaries gathered here had all moved with that one commander at their center.
But now that he was gone, there was no longer any reason to remain here, nor any reason to risk our lives for the kingdom’s orders.
The talk of the kingdom’s destruction he had gone on about was, now, nothing more than an empty echo.
Surely a nation wouldn’t collapse over one thing of this scale.
And even if it did collapse, there would be no one to hold me responsible.
To begin with, I was an outsider in this world, without even a land I could call home.
All I had to do was move on somewhere else.
I silently exchanged glances with my companions.
None of us opened our mouths, but our thoughts were clearly converging on the same conclusion.
‘Should I tell them to turn the ship around?’
That was when I noticed Sergeant Jackson among the soldiers, head lowered as he stared down at the sea.
The hollow look on his face told me what his relationship with the commander had been like.
“What do we do now?”
At a soldier’s voice from somewhere, a stir began to spread across the deck.
“Shouldn’t we go back?”
“What changes if we go back? Those things will come swarming again anyway.”
“But this is impossible. You saw what happened when he went in with just one rope.”
Whispers and murmurs tangled together, growing louder and louder.
There was no one to command them, no authority to hold them in place. The air above the deck was instantly filled with the confusion of a group that had lost its direction.
I slowly looked at Sergeant Jackson.
He was leaning against the railing, still staring down into the sea below.
“Sergeant Jackson.”
When I called to him in a low voice, he flinched and raised his head.
His faintly bloodshot eyes turned toward me.
“Now is the time to make a decision.”
He could not answer for a while, then murmured in a low voice, as if crushed beneath a heavy weight.
“…He truly tried to take responsibility until the very end.”
“I understand responsibility. But if that responsibility means becoming fish food down there, then all that comes back to us is death.”
His lips trembled as though spasming. But he could offer no retort.
Behind us, the commotion among the soldiers was only growing louder. Some said we should go back, others said we had to see this through, their conflicting opinions flaring like sparks.
I quietly pushed my way into that gap.
“You’re the one who has to choose now. You’re the only person left the soldiers will follow.”
“But the commander—”
At that moment, every gaze on the deck turned toward Jackson.
As if realizing it himself, he closed his eyes heavily, then opened them again.
In that brief span, he seemed to have agonized over countless thoughts, his expression terribly complicated.
“…Very well. I’ll say it.”
As he took one step forward, the soldiers’ uproar ceased in an instant.
“…We return.”
Sergeant Jackson’s resolute voice rang out over the deck.
For a moment, complex emotions passed over the soldiers’ faces.
Relief, emptiness, and a subtle fear.
But no one opposed the decision.
“Raise anchor! Turn the ship around!”
Orders immediately followed, and the sound of soldiers bustling about filled the deck.
My companions also exchanged glances and let out small breaths.
“Whew… are we finally going back?”
“…”
Sileon muttered as he finally relaxed, while Baldik still wore a rigid expression, chewing over something in silence.
Without realizing it, I sat on the railing and stared down at the calm ripples for a long time.
‘What the hell was down there?’
A force strong enough to snap the rope. Something that had torn the commander’s body apart in an instant.
It felt far too alien to be dismissed as a mere deep-sea anglerfish.
‘Was it really a spawning ground? Or…’
Just as my suspicions began to chain together in my head—
Ssssss…
The once-calm surface of the sea rippled strangely.
One line of bubbles rose, then became two, then three, spreading across the water.
“…Wait.”
The word escaped my mouth unconsciously.
Soon, a low, resonant thud—“thump… thump…”—seemed to come from somewhere beneath the sea, vibrating through the bottom of the ship.
“Did you hear that?”
Baldik asked through clenched teeth.
Sileon nodded, his face turning ashen.
Bubble… bubble…
The seawater churned as if boiling. Bubbles burst one after another, the bubbling sound echoing across the surface like a massive cauldron coming to a boil.
The sound was so loud that even the soldiers busily raising the anchor stopped their hands and turned their heads.
“Uh… u-uhhh…”
A strangled scream slipped from someone’s mouth.
“Hurry! Raise the anchor!”
“Move, now!!”
Sergeant Jackson’s desperate shouts erupted, but the soldiers receiving the orders had already frozen in place.
No one could tear their eyes away from the sight unfolding before them.
The bubbles grew larger and larger.
And at their center, a black shadow slowly revealed itself.
At first, I thought it was merely a rock briefly reflected beneath the surface.
But it grew wider, longer, changing shape as it covered everything beneath the ship.
At that moment, I realized.
Thalassophobia.
The primal human fear of the deep, unfathomable abyss had been lying dormant within me.
“……”
My chest tightened, and I could not breathe.
Just the fact that something enormous—something human imagination could not dare measure—was directly beneath the ship made me feel as though my mind were shattering to pieces.
In that suffocating terror, I regretted seeing it at all.
Because after seeing that shadow, far larger than the ship itself,
there could not be a single person who would not feel fear.
“…!”
A soldier who saw my expression glanced down at the sea and instantly froze.
“Get a hold of yourself!!”
Sergeant Jackson’s sharp shout split the air above the ship.
“U-uh… yes! Yes, sir!”
The soldier staggered as he pulled on the anchor rope.
But even Sergeant Jackson’s own face had gone ashen.
His eyes were struggling to hide his fear, but they could not conceal the shadow growing ever larger upon the sea.
Creak… creeeak…
The anchor rope screamed as it was wound up.
At last, the oars were pulled, and the sails caught the wind, and the ship began to move heavily.
But it was already too late.
The boiling surface of the sea suddenly split open as if exploding.
Splaash!!
Seawater sprayed in every direction, sending up violent plumes of water.
What emerged through that torrent was only a part of a gigantic monstrosity.
Rising from the water was not scales, but smooth, wet chitin.
Lumpy protrusions bulged across it, and on each one, small holes opened, spewing scarlet foam.
Guuuuuuuuuu—
I could not tell whether it was the monster’s cry or the sound of the sea being overturned.
All I knew was that a vibration powerful enough to shake the entire ship came rumbling up from beneath my feet.
“D-damn it…!”
“Row! Row to the end!!”
Sergeant Jackson’s voice cracked, but it was still an order.
The soldiers began rowing with all their might.
But the ship was now nothing more than a small piece of wood.
As the monster’s shadow rose even larger above the water, no one believed this fight would end with our escape.
Fwoooooosh!!
The seawater split apart as though exploding, and a massive shadow tore through the surface and surged upward.
‘Fuck, what is that?’
The first things to appear were teeth—long like blades, not even resembling the fangs of a beast.
Hundreds of teeth were embedded there in jagged disarray, without even a hint of order, and between them hung chunks of half-rotten flesh it had apparently not yet finished chewing and swallowing.
Beyond them, its head was revealed, a grotesque shape like a deep-sea anglerfish forcibly bloated to monstrous size.
A bulging forehead and hollow, sunken eye sockets—yet within them, black eyeballs without even a trace of white writhed and rolled.
Splaash—!
Behind that head, a colossal body followed it upward.
Its black surface, impossible to tell whether shell or flesh, was covered in sticky mucus and gleamed disgustingly as seawater washed over it.
Along its spine, deformed lumps rose, and holes on each of them opened and closed, vomiting sticky mucus and blood-colored foam.
And the last things to pierce the surface were tentacles.
Splash, splash—!
There were not just one or two tentacles hanging like arms, but more than twenty.
Each writhed as it pleased, groping at the railing, whipping through the air, coiling around each other, then unfurling again.
Shwaak— Kwaaaang!
“Aaaaaaagh!!”
“The ship—!”
The instant one tentacle struck the side of the ship, the wood cracked and screamed.
The force was so overwhelming that the entire ship tilted for a moment.
As if I had been waiting for the monster to strike the ship’s side, I took out the sphere I had already compressed.
[Water Bomb]
Shwaaaaaak!
Tearing through the sound of the waves, two blue spheres were sucked into the monster’s gaping maw.
Kwaaaaaang!!
An explosion burst in the monster’s throat.
Its grotesque teeth shattered and scattered, and scalding steam erupted outward.
Part of the monster’s face melted from the bursting steam, and sticky flesh sloughed off.
“It worked!!”
“It did it, it went in!!”
The soldiers burst into cheers, but I bit my lip coldly.
Guuuuuuung—
The monster tilted back, spewing steam from its maw, then immediately let out a roar like the bellowing of a whale.
From the place where its flesh had burst apart, red mucus sprayed out, and within those hideous gaps, malformed lumps of flesh writhed as they began filling the wound again.
“…Regeneration?”
A powerless groan escaped my throat.
The blow had definitely landed.
But the speed at which that wound was recovering was far faster than the firepower I could muster.
Creak— creeeeak—
The tentacles that had bent to one side all began writhing at once again, surging toward the ship.
When the huge suckers attached to the railing, the wood splintered apart with an eerie shriek.
“At this rate… we can’t kill it.”
The voice that slipped from my lips was terribly dry.
It was certainty. With the power I had now, I could not bring that monster down.
Of course, it was not as though its regenerative ability could be infinite.
But that did not mean my mana was plentiful.
No matter how I calculated it, I had around twenty shots at most. And even then, firing all of them at maximum power would be impossible.
Since I could not fire all twenty at the same time, my firepower was hopelessly insufficient.
Piiing! Piiing!
Arrows and crossbow bolts flew one after another beside me.
The mercenaries and soldiers had belatedly joined in concentrating fire.
But before that colossal body, such things were no more than toothpicks.
They bounced off without even embedding in its shell, and even when some did stick, the creature paid them no mind at all.
Guuuuuuuuung—
A low rumble from the depths vibrated through the bottom of the ship.
We had clearly provoked it.
Instead of its tentacles, the creature chose another method.
Splaash—!
Its entire body surged above the water, and with the waves, it began charging straight toward the ship.
It was an attack meant to crush the ship with its entire massive weight.
“It’s coming!”
“Hurry! Row, hurry!!”
The deck became a living hell.
The rowers’ faces turned deathly pale as they began swinging their oars with sweat-soaked hands, and the soldiers grabbed the railings to keep their balance.
Gritting my teeth, I raised my hand again and began compressing another Water Bomb.
‘Come up…’
I gritted my teeth and gathered mana at my fingertips.
But the thing wasn’t stupid either.
As if wary of my magic, it didn’t so much as lift its head above the surface. Only its shadow rippled as it charged straight toward us.
“Everyone! Brace for impact!!!”
Kwaaaaaaaaang!!!!
With a thunderous roar that shook the very earth, the ship was lifted into the air.
For an instant, it felt as though gravity had vanished, and my entire body floated up into empty space.
“Uaaaaaaaagh!”
“Hold on! Grab the railing!!”
The soldiers on deck were flung in every direction.
Everything aboard scattered through the air like raindrops, and several soldiers were hurled straight into the sea.
Fwoaaaaaaash!!!
With a tremendous roar, the ship slammed back down onto the surface, and a merciless spray of icy water crashed over us.
The ship tilted, then tilted again, rocking back and forth like a tumbler doll.
Clinging to the railing, I forced down the scream rising to my throat.
Even in that suffocating moment, instinct told me that if I let go, it would be the end.
“Keugh…!”
Salty seawater seemed to seep all the way into my lungs, and my ears were still ringing.
With just one impact, the thing had nearly capsized the ship.
“W-water’s leaking from below!!”
“Damn it, Charlie!!!”
“Wh-what do we—what do we do?!”
As screams erupted, the deck instantly turned into chaos.
The soldiers’ faces had gone deathly pale, drained of every trace of blood, and some staggered and collapsed as their hands slipped from the railing.
Others had fallen to the floor, their knees or shoulders twisted from the violent impact.
Beside me, the cries of those who had lost comrades burst out, mingling with the sharp roar of the waves.
‘Keurgh, the others…’
For a moment, I looked around frantically, as if my breath had stopped.
Baldik was holding on through gritted teeth, his face smeared with blood, and Saillun was gripping the railing so tightly that both his hands had turned white.
Ranseon was barely keeping his balance while supporting a servant behind him.
Fortunately, they were all alive.
That fact offered a small measure of comfort, but—
Crack, crack, crack.
An ominous sound of splitting rang out once more from the bottom of the ship.
Seawater surged up through the cracks in the hull, and sailors ran around in a panic with buckets in hand.
“Seal the gaps below! Bring cloth!!”
“You two oarsmen, grab the ropes and secure them!!”
Sergeant Jackson’s voice burst out hoarsely.
But the terrified soldiers only fumbled about, as if they couldn’t hear him.
Still, the creature must not have escaped the impact unscathed either; aside from circling around the ship, it did not immediately continue its attack.
“S-save m—!”
Swaaaash!
Along with a soldier’s scream, what scattered across the seawater was red foam.
Only then did I realize it. Instead of devouring us right away, the thing had been collecting the prey that had fallen overboard.
At least in this sea, it was the absolute ruler.
And we were nothing more than a meal laid out on its table.
The only fortunate thing was that the ship had not sunk yet.
But even that, I had no idea how long it would last.
I gritted my teeth and called briefly to Baldik.
“Baldik, protect my body.”
As if he understood, he nodded and gripped his sword.
…There was only one method I could try now.
While staying on the island, I had leveled up three times in succession.
In the process, I had gained new abilities.
One was Enhancement, which increased power. Another was a mana increase card that contained a brilliant blue light.
Then what was the last remaining card?
I steadied my breathing and immediately closed my eyes.
Then, without hesitation, I began pouring my remaining mana not into my staff, but into the sea surging before me.
Slosh, slosh—
At first, it was a faint vibration.
Beneath the ship, the seawater slapped and shook violently once.
“Wh-what was that?”
“A wave? No, there’s no wind…”
As the soldiers murmured uneasily, I focused every nerve and poured mana into the sea.
And soon, I could feel the currents, from the surface down into the depths.
The sea sank as though taking a breath, then began to rotate.
Kwaaaaaa—
At first, a calm circle turned.
Then, little by little, the rotation grew fast enough to be visible.
As the waves were drawn inward, a whirlpool like a black hole formed at the center.
“L-look over there!”
“The sea is… spinning!”
The soldiers let out exclamations, as if entranced.
Cold sweat streamed down my forehead.
Along with the speed of my pounding heart, the seawater became more and more violently entangled.
Rrrrrrrrrrr—
The sea heaved, and the current twisted.
The creature’s massive shadow was caught up as if being overturned, and the sea began to spin even more fiercely.
Guuuuuuuuuung—
The monster thrashed, swinging its tentacles, but once it had set foot inside, there was no escaping.
I murmured in a low voice.
“…[Vortex].”
The whirlpool grew larger and larger, forcibly dragging the monster’s enormous body up to the surface.
Black flesh overturned, seawater surged upward, and the surroundings were covered entirely in spray.
At least for this moment.
The sea was my domain.