Chapter 108: The Tomb of Insects (7)

Massive, writhing tentacles plunged down from the sky onto the blood and rain-soaked deck.

Crash!

𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"Grab on!"

A hand clad in a black glove shot toward me. Just as the intense impact threatened to fling me backward, I caught the gloved hand just in time.

Crunch! Crackle!

The writhing black tentacles tore the deck apart mercilessly. A thunderous explosion shook the ship violently.

Rumble... Rumble...

Dozens of massive tentacles rose from the sea, slamming onto the ship from all sides. Mermaids clung to the tentacles, the same mermaids who had lost their comrades to the marquis. They had been hanging below the ship, leading it straight to the Kraken.

Elwin stood nearby and exhaled deeply. "

Sigh

."

I heard the despair in her sigh. Just as she clenched her fists and was about to leap into action, a glowing blue sword pierced a massive tentacle thrashing the deck.

Thwack!

The blade extended over two meters from the hilt, emanating a bright blue aura as it explosively split apart the Kraken's thick tentacle from bottom to top.

Black slime spilled heavily onto the deck from the bisected tentacle.

Splash!

The tentacle, thicker than the mast, flailed briefly in the air before retreating into the sea. Startled, the other tentacles followed suit, splashing beneath the surface.

Did he drive them off?

The marquis leaped into the air and landed lightly on the deck with a thud. He then pointed his sword at me and Elwin.

A spray of water rocked the ship violently once more.

Splash!

The marquis walked across the slime-covered deck as if it were nothing.

"The High Lord of the Empire passes judgment!" the marquis bellowed, his voice trembling with madness as he advanced toward us. "Imperial Border Control Act, Article 4! Any individual disembarking from a vessel not registered within the Empire's jurisdiction shall be sentenced to no more than three years of labor! Imperial Penal Code Article 52! Any individual who conspires with a foreign entity to act against the Empire shall be punished with death or life labor! The meticulous planning and organized nature of this crime make the severity of it—"

Lightning split the rain as it struck down, absorbed by the marquis' sword.

Rumble! Crash!

The energy coursed through his drenched form, leaving him trembling for a moment.

He steadied himself and once again pointed the sword at us.

"The defendants conspired in the murder of ninety-seven individuals! They violated the sanctity of life, a value beyond exchange!" the marquis yelled.

Watching him approach with madness in his eyes, I grew more perplexed.

What nonsense is he spouting now?

According to the passive skill I had absorbed that gave me information about the laws of the Empire, a marquis of the Inner Council had absolute extraterritorial jurisdiction within their domain. The High Lord of the Empire held absurd authority, acting as both prosecutor and judge.

Yet, although this man was in such a high position, he seemed entirely unconcerned with the assassination of the emperor. He said nothing about it.

So this chase... wasn't about the emperor's murder.

It was bizarre for a marquis ranked within the top twenty of the Empire's ceremonial hierarchy to be acting alone.

This is personal.

This was a private grudge, a quest for personal revenge.

As I recalled the moment his eyes blazed blue when I asked about his connection to the commander of the imperial guard, my speculation solidified into certainty. The marquis had chased us here to avenge the commander's death, something I had witnessed. The mithril armor I had taken only added to the marquis' motive.

Perhaps I shouldn't have touched that armor...

Swoosh!

The tentacles that seemed to have retreated suddenly coiled up and re-emerged, straightening vertically around the ship. Their tips were as sharp as spears. Dozens of tentacles shot toward us simultaneously from every direction.

Elwin grabbed my hand, and from behind her fox mask came a calm, smooth voice: "Synchronization—Projection."

Crack! Crackle! Crackle!

The dozens of inky-black tentacles, harbingers of doom, pierced through every visible space, obliterating every structure on the ship to dust.

The master of the sea, the Kraken, unleashed its fury as if to punish us for our insolence. The pitch-black tentacles speared, crushed, coiled, and shredded everything, leaving nothing but a mangled mess.

Then, the sea opened its maw.

Swoosh!

The Kraken swallowed the ship's remnants whole, leaving us clinging to mere fragments we barely managed to stand on. Its maw was so vast that it was impossible to discern where its maw began or ended.

The sound of the ship's remnants being ground into pieces filled the air. Thousands of hard, grinding parts devoured the fragments relentlessly.

Crunch! Crackle!

Yet, all the attacks passed through us harmlessly.

Darkness engulfed us. We were swept into a chaotic tunnel, spiraling uncontrollably inward.

Beside me, the smooth voice of a woman echoed. "Legacy—Starlight Blue Fox requires recharging. Remaining battery: 15 percent. Segmented usage mode is recommended. Remaining battery: 14.75 percent..."

"Adjust brightness," Elwin said from behind her mask.

She was still gripping my hand tightly. I turned to look at her.

"Entry failed," Elwin murmured.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"Inside," she replied.

"Inside the Kraken?"

She nodded. The ground beneath us was soft and spongy, like an enormous corrosive swamp.

Sizzle!

Sizzle!

The ship's wreckage hissed and smoked as the Kraken's gastric juices dissolved it. Wood and metal alike melted into the acidic waves, releasing clouds of steam. Half the space was air, and the other half was a churning swamp. The inside seemed endless.

The glow from Elwin's fox mask illuminated our surroundings, but it was impossible to tell where the Kraken's stomach began or ended, or how much more lay within.

The voice emanating from the mask echoed within the Kraken's stomach. "Remaining battery: 12.5 percent..."

"

Kaahhh!

"

A mermaid that had been swallowed whole screamed and lunged at me as they dissolved in the surrounding black liquid. When consumed by the pain of dissolution, anyone would instinctively lash out, attacking whatever was within reach rather than the true source of their suffering.

Swish!

However, the scythe-like claw passed straight through me.

Sizzle!

Momentum carried the mermaid forward and splashed into the Kraken's gastric juices, corroding the mermaid as they were still thrashing about in agony. It didn't seem like the mermaid could die quickly. I saw other mermaids in similar states of torment throughout the space.

It was a horrifying sight. The remaining creatures, crushed or chewed up by the tentacles, were slowly being digested in this gruesome environment.

"Pitiful," I said.

"Remaining battery: 10.75%..." the mask echoed.

"In a few minutes, we'll probably end up like that," Elwin stated.

"How are we still alive?"

Elwin pointed at her fox mask. "The legacy's Synchronization—Projection. I made sure it extended to you, too."

"Projection?"

"It allows attacks perceived as hostile to pass through us. However, it's less effective against this kind of consume-and-trap scenario."

Elwin glanced at me. "I failed the initiation. I didn't think Gith-Za-Rai would be taken down by a party without one of the Empire's Four Swordmasters or a tower-level wizard. I didn't think I'd fail to protect even you... I'm sorry."

I looked at her, and instead of remaining silent, I decided to ask more questions. "I'm curious. How did the marquis manage to follow me?"

I thought it was an important question, but her answer was underwhelming.

"Maybe he tracked the traces left at the assassination site. Or maybe there was tracking magic on the items you took. It's likely both."

"And crossing the wilderness?"

"If he could follow at all..."

Then, the mask emitted an alarm. "Warning! Fuel has fallen below ten percent!"

"If that guy fought like he did on the ship, he probably melted through the floating debris with his Sword Energy. He had three days while we recharged fuel... plenty of time to catch up." Elwin paused briefly and then said, "Our intel was wrong. We lack experience facing a swordmaster, but that guy was much stronger than expected. There's no way he's the weakest of the Four Swordmasters, nor could he be someone with a marquis' title. He's been hiding his strength."

"We never should've gotten involved with someone like him," Elwin muttered under her breath.

Clatter.

I nodded. "I agree with that."

I wholeheartedly agreed that getting entangled with him had been a terrible idea.

Another eerie sound echoed from outside the mask. "Warning! Fuel has fallen below 8%!"

Just then, chaotic screams erupted through the chlorine-filled, dark air of the stomach.

"

AAAAARRRGH!

"

I heard the sounds of something solid breaking, shattering, and tearing from the Kraken's mouth. The destruction steadily moved inward.

Elwin murmured, "It's him. He's alive."

The splash of a waterfall cascaded through the air.

Splash!

"Did he poke it in the wrong spot..."

"

KRAAAAAAAA!

"

A blood-curdling scream burst from the Kraken, drenched in its own blood. The entire creature convulsed, diving deeper into the ocean.

Rumble!

Its speed was incalculable. Even within its stomach, the crushing pressure intensified, and the mermaids dissolved further, bursting one by one. Their grotesque innards spilled out rapidly, floating in the gastric juices.

"Warning! Warning! Warning! Fuel has fallen below 1%!"

"Better to die on my own terms than end up like that," Elwin muttered as she swept around violently in the enormous stomach.

With a swift motion, she raised her hook and slashed her own throat.

She's gone.

Sizzle!

I reacted to the real world again. Like the dying mermaids, smoke rose as my bones started to dissolve.

Suddenly, a thunderous roar came from the entrances of the Kraken's stomach. "

AAAAAAHHHH!

"

Blinding blue light tore through the Kraken's stomach and heart, ripping them apart relentlessly. The Kraken, which had been furiously swimming deeper into the ocean, lost its strength.

As it slowed to a stop, the marquis, shrouded in a glowing blue aura, approached us in a flash. With energy radiating from his feet, he propelled himself forward and grabbed me with one hand.

Clatter!

The marquis gripped my spine with one hand. With the other, he grabbed Elwin's neck. Whether it was from the crushing pressure or sheer exhaustion, blood streamed down from his eyes and ears.

He opened his mouth, thick with blood, and screamed, "I'll take you both to Spellhold!"

Thud.

No one had touched him, yet the marquis' neck bent unnaturally. The blue glow vanished.

Huh? He's... dead?

However, it felt strangely natural. As he held me, I thought it was odd that he had even been alive. It made more sense for him to be a corpse lying within the Kraken's stomach. By all rights, my skeleton should've been destroyed by the tentacles or the explosions on the ship, yet it kept moving. The damage had clearly accumulated.

Even in death, the marquis didn't release his grip on me or Elwin.

Silence fell.

Messages flashed repeatedly, indicating that my bones were corroding and my stamina was dwindling. Amid it all, I realized something absurd.

Everything around me glowed green: Elwin's corpse, the marquis' corpse, and the Kraken's corpse.