Chapter 104
Chwaaarrrrk!
Tentacles poured down, densely filling the air. Simon flared his cloak and grabbed his greatsword with his right hand, swinging it.
Chaaaaaaaang!
The sky split apart, and dozens of tentacles were severed whole, tumbling across the deck.
"...?!"
Finch’s expression hardened rapidly as he watched the falling tentacles.
The scale of power had suddenly shifted. Just moments ago, he had been overwhelmingly pressuring his opponent, but now it felt like he was facing an entirely different person.
As Finch instinctively stepped back, Simon’s figure flashed like lightning behind him.
‘...What the—!’
Srrrng!
Simon raised his greatsword faster than Finch could retreat. Finch’s right arm flew into the air, spraying blood.
"Ugh, aaaaaargh!"
Finch twisted in agony.
"My arm! My arm!"
Even as he raged in intense pain, a question gnawed at him.
Just like with those tentacles, why wasn't he healing?
His gaze dropped to his severed arm. It looked as though the wounded area had necrotized, no longer part of his body.
"Give up."
Simon, wearing a skull-shaped helmet, calmly raised the greatsword with one hand as he spoke. His green-blue cloak without a shadow fluttered in the wind.
"Next, I’ll take your head."
"...!"
Finch was being overwhelmed.
By someone far younger than him, Finch felt a deep fear and terror.
More than twenty tentacles, and now an entire arm, were rendered irrecoverable in a single strike. The greatsword of Feer was a perfect counter to Finch, whose wounds normally couldn’t be inflicted at all.
Biting his lip tightly, he soon let out a resigned smile and tilted his head back.
"...Haaaah, yeah. I admit it."
"...?"
"Sure, I was called a genius at seventeen, too. But I was never as strong as you. If this is the level of the Number 1 Special Admission, then I guess it makes sense that I never got into Keyzen."
Simon’s expression twisted in irritation.
"Even in this state, you're still hung up about your academic background? What you should be thinking about now isn’t Keyzen, but the innocent people who died because of you."
"Well."
Still with his head tilted, Finch rolled only his eyes toward Simon.
"To a necromancer, death is as familiar as deep sleep. Ever since my sister passed, the deaths of others no longer stir any emotion in me."
"..."
"Besides, the undead you control look quite impressive."
Finch ripped apart his tattered shirt. A black magic circle spread across his entire chest.
It was too complex for a first-year student like Simon to fully understand, but the formulas drawn around the four directions were recognizable.
‘Eternal Truth!’
Once implanted into a living being, the formula would parasitize the entity’s darkness directly and remain effective until death.
That was likely why Finch’s body had been morphing like liquid and returning to form, because of that magic circle’s effect.
"Your undead, and the monster I control. Isn’t it exciting to find out which is stronger?"
Finch placed his palm over the rune in the center of his chest and twisted it like a knob. The darkness inside his body began to rampage.
"...What are you doing now?!"
Just as Simon gripped his greatsword to rush forward, Feer stopped him.
[Step back, boy!]
"...What?"
Finch’s entire body turned liquid, swelling like a balloon before bursting with a pop!
Simon’s eyes shook in disbelief. Chunks of flesh and organs rained down onto the deck.
"Urgh...!"
Simon reflexively gagged at the grotesque scene. Gasping for breath, he looked around at the remains of what used to be Finch.
Even the organs and flesh, which had seemed to pulse as if alive, soon slumped and ceased moving.
‘He took his own life.’
"Lord...! No, Commander!"
Erzebet, now in her female form, climbed onto the deck.
She was holding Shun in her arms, shielding his eyes so he wouldn’t see Finch’s remains.
"Is it over?"
"...Seems like it."
Simon glanced around.
"...Something’s not right."
Whiiiiiishhh!
Violent winds howled. Strange sea fogs spread thicker, blocking out the sunlight in the sky.
Swaaah!
The ocean currents surged violently, starting to swirl. Even the area where the three large pirate ships were entangled began to shake heavily.
"Commander! Behind you!"
At Erzebet’s shout, Simon spun around. From the sea, an enormous tentacle of a terrifyingly massive cephalopod rose up.
[What now?!]
Swaaah!
Swaaa!
More tentacles emerged from the ocean.
There was no place to run. The tentacles surrounded the entire ship, coiling around the anchor posts and even crawling up onto the deck.
"Ugh, it’s disgusting!"
"I hate this!"
Erzebet and Shun recoiled in horror.
Then, some distance from the pirate ship, the sea's surface began to rise unnaturally.
‘That’s...!’
Simon’s eyes widened. Soon, what emerged from the ocean was the massive body of a monstrous octopus.
—And this isn’t even its adult form. No one has ever captured a fully grown Kraken.
He recalled what Finch had said on their first day in Blue Harbor, during the exhibition explaining Overlord.
This was a fully grown Kraken.
"Master! Why is that monster attacking us?!"
"I don’t know!"
BOOM!
The Kraken’s body slammed against the ship.
Its midsection gaped open, and a tentacle reached down to scoop up Finch’s corpse from the deck, shoving it into its mouth. With a grotesque crunch, the Kraken devoured Finch.
‘What in the world is going on?!’
After swallowing Finch, the Kraken's body detached from the ship.
Its mouth submerged, and only its head remained visible above water. Then the top of its body began to bulge unnaturally.
Crack! Crrrack-crack!
A lump formed on the Kraken’s surface, twisting and writhing.
An arm burst out, then a face formed, with gaping holes all over.
The holes became eyes, nostrils, ears, and a mouth.
It was too bizarre to be called human, with eyes spaced too far apart and a crooked mouth, but it was still... “person-like”.
And that’s because—
[You see it, Simon!!!]
It could speak his name.
[I have surpassed you now! Surpassed even ‘them’! Fused with the Kraken, I am now the strongest in the sea!]
Kuguguguguguuu!
More than twenty tentacles surged from the ocean.
[With this body! With this power! I will drown every one of you and the humans of Blue Harbor in the sea! Then, I will head for Roke Mountain! Neftis will pay the price for making the wrong choice! I, Finch—who was not chosen by that witch—will make her pay!]
His vertically-split mouth at the center of his face opened wide, tearing his eyes, nose, and head apart.
[I am the strongest!!]
Chwaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrk!
Twenty legs surged forward with explosive force. Simon quickly leapt using Feer’s power.
Chaaaaak!
Chrrrk!
Tentacles lined with suckers brushed past Simon’s body. Fierce sparks flared across Feer’s armor, and as Feer took damage, Simon felt the pain as well.
These tentacles were on an entirely different level in power, speed, and flexibility compared to the ones Finch had used in his humanoid, liquefied form. Not even comparable.
"Erze! Take Shun and get inside the ship!"
"Yes!"
The cloak of no shadow spread wide. Simon’s speed ramped up, up, and up again, now launching like a flash of light. He pushed off the deck railing, a single dot darting forward as dozens of lines—straight and curved—chased behind.
"Khuhh!"
Simon turned and swung his greatsword.
Massive legs were severed and fell, but this time, instead of regenerating from the torn stumps, new legs sprouted right out of the cuts.
[Hahaha! I won’t fall for the same trick twice!]
Kwakwakwa-KWANG!
KOONG!
Everywhere he looked, the Kraken’s tentacled limbs with suction cups were closing in.
And more than anything, at this rate, the ship wouldn’t hold out, it would sink. They couldn’t afford to drag this out.
[Boy! Behind you!]
"!?"
Simon hastily raised his greatsword above his head. A Kraken leg struck down like a spear, driving Simon’s back into the deck.
"Ugh!"
With tremendous force, the floor broke, and Simon’s body dropped to the lower level.
He managed to avoid being impaled by the greatsword, but two more tentacles burst through the ceiling, and soon, three limbs pinned him down.
Kwaang!
Kwoong!
Crack!
Simon’s body dropped from the third floor to the second, and then from the second to the first. And then—
Crunnnch!
Five legs pushed Simon’s body, finally piercing through the ship’s hull and driving him into the sea.
From the impact, Simon lost his grip on Feer’s sword.
"Khrrgh!"
Simon held his breath. Entering the seawater, which was harmful to the undead, Feer’s power also visibly weakened.
[Boy!]
Chwarrrrrrrrk!
Under such powerful downward force, he couldn’t resist.
Finch, who had brought the Kraken underwater, reached out his arm. One tentacle wrapped around Simon’s waist and began dragging him deeper into the ocean.
[It’s all over now!! Keyzen’s lapdog!]
Finch’s maniacal laughter echoed.
Simon’s strength was draining. He was running out of breath.
[Boy!]
Even Feer’s voice in his head was fading.
Simon felt his mind going blank. All that frantic running under the rain on land, dodging tentacles—it felt like a joke compared to this. The seawater was peaceful and warm.
[Get a hold of yourself! Boy!]
Amidst his fading consciousness, Feer’s voice was the only thing keeping him awake.
‘I hear you, Feer.’
[What are you doing! Are you going to give up like this?!]
‘I won’t give up.’
Simon stretched out his right arm toward the receding underside of the ship.
‘Too much is riding on this.’
Shun’s life, the one who hired him.
Erzebet’s life, who had followed him here.
The lives of Blue Harbor’s residents and tourists. And the safety of his friends, who were on Roke Mountain carrying out missions or studying.
‘Come.’
Simon’s right arm, covered in Feer’s bones, was drenched in Darkness. Bubbles formed beneath the ship, now growing farther away.
‘Come!!’
CHAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Simon’s Absolute Order activated.
Like a fish slicing through water, Feer’s greatsword descended at incredible speed.
Finch, alarmed at the sight, sent tentacles flying at it, but the blade, imbued with the power of destruction, simply shredded them apart.
Chaak!
Then, in an instant, the sword landed in Simon’s grasp. He gripped the hilt with all his strength and swung down.
CRACK!
The tentacle coiled around his waist was sliced clean through. As the crushing pressure eased, Simon took a ready stance, sword forward.
[I’ll explain the principle of the slash only once, so listen well!]
Simon tilted the blade sideways, and following Feer’s guidance, began pouring all the Darkness into the sword. The greatsword trembled and surged with immense energy.
Bubbles rose in the surrounding seawater, and brilliant flashes of light erupted beneath the dark ocean.
Chrrrk!
Chwarrrrrrrrk!
Finch immediately sent twenty more tentacles. The attacks filled Simon’s entire field of vision, but he held his ground.
[Slashing doesn’t mean cutting what’s in front of you.]
Feer’s voice came clearer than ever.
[You swing the greatsword to cut something far, far away. But the moment you recognize the ‘distance’ between you and the target, the slash becomes a meaningless swing through empty air. Instead, erase the concept of distance. Envision yourself cutting through the space itself!]
KUGUGUGUGUGUGUGU!
Darkness churned wildly in Feer’s greatsword. The water around them raged like crashing waves.
Twenty legs obscured everything ahead, but Simon clenched his teeth.
‘Through the space itself!’
His hips turned, and his right arm moved. The bones of Feer embedded in his body recreated the countless repetitions and karma of a thousand slashes.
‘I will cut it!!’
As the condensed Darkness erupted from Feer’s sword, a white slash cut through the sea in a straight line.
CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAK!
The towering ocean split apart.
The slash sliced the sea, soaring to the sky above.
Kraken tentacles and its main body, caught within the rift in the ocean, were cleaved completely in two.
Finch’s eyes shook with despair.
‘How...’
The Kraken’s body split from the waist down, disintegrating.
‘...How can such power even exist?’
Krrruuuuuummm!
Then, Simon surged toward Finch’s face, cutting through the waters like a missile, using the remaining Darkness in the greatsword as jet propulsion.
Without a word, Simon swung his sword.
CRACK!
At last—
Finch’s body was split in two.
Superb.