Chapter 110

Crack.

The tentacle pierced the sea monster's chest roughly. The giant sea monster flinched but did not move, thinking perhaps Isaac had stabbed him with a dagger, and sank deeper into the abyss.

However, if there is pain, one should not self-diagnose but seek a hospital early, as it's a shortcut to longevity.

For a moment, the sea monster was under the illusion, during which the tentacle brutally tore through the thick skin and burrowed into the chest of the sea monster, devouring it.

The pain of having his ribs torn out made the giant sea monster belatedly realize something was wrong and tried to shake Isaac off.

However, Isaac, who had firmly rooted himself inside the creature's body, did not detach. Attempts to crush him with sheer strength only increased the pain without crumpling the solid armor.

The sea quickly turned red with the blood of the sea monster. Other sea monsters gathered around but seemed unable to understand the situation due to the blood, merely circling.

The giant sea monster, unable to detach Isaac, changed its strategy.

It began to move more furiously towards the deeper abyss, intending to suffocate Isaac to death—a decision too wise for a mere frog's brain.

Meanwhile, Isaac pushed his tentacles even more aggressively. The inside of the giant sea monster was already a mess. Even if Isaac were released, the creature was as good as dead.

But in a last-ditch effort or post-mortem spasm, it dug even deeper into the abyss.

"Just about now..."

As Isaac reached his limit of breath, the awaited effect occurred.

['You have devoured the Abyssal General (A).']

['The privilege of 'Dead God's Intestine' increases your absorption efficiency.']

['Abomination devouring effect progresses body fusion.']

['You can now breathe underwater.']

['Your movement in water becomes faster.']

Thin gills formed below Isaac's chest. He no longer needed to gulp sea water through his mouth; water entered his lungs, filtering oxygen in and out. The giant sea monster, waiting for Isaac's death, failed to see him die and slowly sank.

Tentacles burst from within the creature, devouring and swallowing essential parts in an instant. Isaac, not yet fully aware of the situation, leaped powerfully towards the other sea monster. Without the giant sea monster's pull, Isaac would sink naturally due to the weight of his armor.

However, Isaac was now under the 'Doctrine of Waves', the miracle of walking on water.

The moment Isaac kicked the sea, it propelled him ferociously. Like a torrent of arrows, he sliced through the sea monster, soaring upwards.

Blood foam followed him, with sea monsters strapped with siege weights at its end.

Slowed by the siege weights, sea monsters couldn't avoid Isaac.

Boom. Isaac burst through the water surface at high speed. Behind where he sprang up, pieces and cooked corpses of sea monsters floated up, along with ownerless siege weights. Screams or yells of the sea monsters echoed above and below the sea.

'The giant sea monster, or should I say, the Abyssal General? Its movements are disrupted because it's dead.'

The sea monsters could no longer approach Isaac recklessly. Without their siege weights, they had no means to sink his ship. Still, their numbers filled the sea.

Undeterred, they began to chant something together.

[The Nameless Chaos watches over you.]

A warning notification sounded to Isaac.

'The Siren's Song.'

A power that muddles the mind, drawing those who hear the song into the sea. Isaac tried to cover his ears immediately but soon realized that he was unaffected by the song.

'Is it because I ate the Abyssal General? Or is it because of the Nameless Chaos?'

For some reason, Isaac experienced no abnormalities. However, the crew might not be so fortunate. Isaac quickly scanned the deck. Even the trained sailors might have their own countermeasures, but the chorus of countless sea monsters was an attack difficult for ordinary people to resist.

Splash. Someone staggered and threw themselves over the railing.

'An attack more effective than siege weights, why only now?'

But soon, Isaac understood why the sea monsters had started their chorus so late.

Rumbling...

Isaac noticed that the sky and sea had turned a deep ash color. Currents twisted into a giant whirlpool below him. Waves lost their direction, splashing water everywhere. The sea monsters's chorus was belatedly halted, but it was already too late.

Isaac realized what was happening.

"Drowned King..."

The angel with the most colossal physique among them.

A being that could change the currents merely by moving was approaching.

***

Screams! Real screams began to burst from among the sea monsters. These were not cries of blame or pain but screams filled with terror. They started to flee too late, and it was futile. A dark shadow loomed beneath the surface.

The moment 'it' arrived, the sea monsters were no different than shrimps in a whale's mouth.

Roaring... A sound like a waterfall began to echo.

Isaac felt the sea itself rise.

The ship tilted as if it would capsize in the fierce waves. However, at that moment, a tentacle crawled up from the sea, preventing the ship from tipping over.

As the tentacle lightly wrapped around the ship, a crushing sound echoed, but instead of destroying, it surprisingly gently held the ship, protecting it from the waves. Then, with unbelievable delicacy, it picked up a sailor who had fallen into the sea and placed him back on the deck.

The entity revealed from the parting sea was a colossal kraken.

"Ha ha..."

Isaac couldn't believe that Hyanis had thought of confronting 'that'.

The head exposed above the water surface seemed to be about 500 to 600 meters in size. Much more of its body and tentacles, likely several times larger, were hidden beneath the surface.

The Drowned King lightly waving his tentacles underwater caused the sea monster to be swept by the currents, crashing into each other and bouncing above the surface. Isaac could sense their fate, as if they were being corralled for a round-up fishing.

But that did not happen.

The Drowned King, after gathering the sea monster, observed them for a moment with his luminescent turquoise eyes. The sea monster soon felt the movement of the currents loosening. They hurriedly escaped from the sea prison that held them and started to flee.

"O Drowned King!"

Hyanis urgently clung to the railing and shouted. The Drowned King did not turn his head, but his massive eyes made it seem like he was watching everywhere.

"We must catch them!"

[Why should I?]

The moment the Drowned King replied, the sea seemed to boil. It felt like each rising bubble contained his voice. The pronunciation was unclear and hard to understand, but the mere expression of his question allowed Hyanis to sense his will.

"They attacked your followers!"

Isaac was taken aback by Hyanis's bold appeal to the Drowned King, given that they had come to attack him. However, he quickly understood his intent.

Hyanis was questioning whether the sea monsters's assault was not orchestrated by the Drowned King.

Indeed, the Drowned King silently observed the sea monsters. Only after the sea monsters disappeared into the vast ocean did he respond.

[They are pitiable creatures.]

The Drowned King then turned his gaze towards the ship. However, when his gaze met Isaac's, Isaac felt as though the turquoise eyes were ablaze.

But that sensation didn't last long, and the Drowned King slowly looked away again.

***

When Isaac returned to the deck, he noticed a change in the crew's attitude towards him. If before they had begrudgingly accepted him aboard, now their looks were filled with awe and respect.

'Of course, that awe and respect is nothing compared to that octopus over there...'

Isaac thought bitterly, glancing at the Kraken quietly resting beneath the water's surface. The Drowned King had come to save his followers of the same faith but had quietly disappeared below the surface at Hyanis's request for more time. Yet, his dark silhouette still cast below showed he hadn't left.

It seemed that the lack of dialogue or confrontation with Hyannis was partly due to communication difficulties.

'He was definitely speaking in an ancient language...'

It was the same language spoken by the nameless creatures of chaos from the afterworld. The difference was that while the creatures of chaos spoke entirely in the ancient tongue, the Drowned King, perhaps having learned recently, mixed modern intonations and pronunciations into his speech.

Strangely, Isaac could understand everything.

'They are pitiable creatures, he says?'

Why would an angel of the Salt Council pity the sea monsters who had been hunting down his followers?

Given that many sea monsters lived as pirates, their relationship with the Salt Council would presumably be hostile.

"Sir Grail Knight, I'm relieved you're safe!"

Hyanis hurried over, arms wide as if to embrace Isaac. However, not feeling that close to him, Isaac pushed the embrace aside and went straight to the matter at hand.

"Are you not going to talk directly with the Drowned King?"

"That is... As you've heard, communication isn't smooth. Until now, it's been mostly the Drowned King conveying his wishes unilaterally, and we bring those to the council for interpretation. But since we need to have a conversation this time, it seems we'll have to wait for another ship."

"So, you plan to meet with the councilors to interpret and converse in real-time."

"Yes. They should be arriving soon anyway."

The fleet that had come to aid or possibly capture Hyanis was now quite close. It was natural for about a third of them to flee upon the Drowned King's appearance. If Hyanis had already started an assassination attempt on the Drowned King, it would be healthier not to be nearby.

"The chairman of the Salt Council, Captain Yenkos, is an expert in the ancient language. He's not capable of real-time interpretation, though. Our opinions are entirely opposite, but he will still want to verify if what you've claimed is true."

Isaac's statement that the Drowned King did not demand human sacrifices. Being opposed to Hyanis meant supporting the idea that sacrifices were necessary to aid the Drowned King, but Isaac wasn't worried. He was confident in his stance.

"We might not need an expert in the ancient language."

"Excuse me? But to uncover the true intentions of the Drowned King..."

"I can interpret myself. I can handle the real-time speaking and conveying."