noveltune Chapter 298
Chapter 298
Under the Sea...
I pointed toward the location where the witch was detected, and I heard someone sighing and muttering in response.
The phrase, that kind of place, resonated with us all, triggering sighs from various corners.
Hah... What are we supposed to do now?
With a heavy heart, I gazed at the ocean that blocked my path, feeling a sigh escape my lips as well.
For humanity living on land, the ocean presented a formidable obstacle.
It restricted breathing, visibility, and movement, making it hard to find anything more menacing.@@@@
Moreover, that wasn’t the only problem.
I turned my head and sneaked a glance at Ari and the furious lesser demonic beasts at the back of the line.
-■■■■■■...
-■■■■...
They had been valiant in battles against the lustful demonic beasts, yet before the ocean, they were paralyzed with fear, trembling as if thinking, What do we do, captain...? I don’t know either...
Noticing this, Sylvia muttered to me,
“Scarlet, the demonic beasts obviously can’t go under the sea, right?”
“It seems so. Also, I might struggle to unleash my powers underwater.”
I sighed and replied to Sylvia.
Well, it was expected that the demonic beasts made of fire couldn’t enter the ocean.
However, the fact that the beasts feared the water meant that my flames would also struggle to perform underwater, which was the biggest issue here.
While it might not matter for others, if I couldn’t exert my strength against the lustful witch, the whole extermination plan would fall apart.
Because of one single location—the ocean—our smooth extermination mission hit a snag. I had no choice but to acknowledge that the lustful witch indeed chose a brilliant hiding spot.
Facing the enemy, you’d be compelled to praise, That damned witch really hides in a damned place...
“So, what do we do now? It would be dangerous to recklessly dive into the ocean...?”
“Right? If it wasn’t for the water, we wouldn’t have to worry...”
At that moment, everyone sighed heavily before the ocean.
“If that’s the case, I think I might be able to do something.”
Someone stepped forward, saying so.
The owner of that voice murmured,
“So, as long as it’s not underwater, I can manage?”
I looked at the person extending their hands toward the ocean and recalled a story I once read.
In the case of psychics, unlike swordsmen or magicians, they often possessed a variety of abilities, making it difficult to gauge the level of their powers.
Thus, determining who was the most outstanding psychic was not easy. Yet among these psychics, there was an undisputed consensus:
If Yoon Si-woo is the most talented swordsman, and Dwight Ninehart the most talented magician, then the most talented psychic is Marin Eloise.
As Marin stretched her hands wide, her blue eyes sparkling, she declared,
“Part!”
I witnessed the miraculous spectacle of the vast ocean splitting in two.
“Whoa! Marin, you’re amazing!”
“...Was this your level?”
Naturally, I wasn’t the only one astonished at the incredible sight reminiscent of Moses’ miracle in the Bible; the surroundings erupted in excitement.
Especially, Flone and Dwight, who had been with Marin for a long time, were even more surprised. With a confident smile, Marin addressed them,
“So, you’re seeing this again, huh? It’s because I had to allocate my abilities to create water when there’s no water, but simply handling water is this easy for me.”
“...We get that you’re amazing, but first, wipe the blood from your nose.”
“...What, I have a nosebleed? I was trying to act cool here.”
Smiling, Marin wiped away the blood flowing from her nose.
Despite pretending to be fine, it must have been quite taxing.
No matter how talented a psychic she was, parting the ocean wasn’t an easy task.
“Where do you think you’re going?!”
This time, magic circles materialized from thin air, binding the centipede’s body.
It was Dwight and the extermination team’s magicians who halted the creature.
“Scarlet! Where’s the witch?”
“Around the body!”
“Then let’s destroy the head! Everyone, aim for the head!”
To avoid damaging the relic, the extermination team’s attacks concentrated on the centipede’s head.
In an instant, the giant centipede’s head was shattered.
Yet, it was our misconception to think that would stop its movements.
Kiiiii!!
“What the hell...! This creature keeps moving even after losing its head!”
“What kind of chicken is this...!”
Like a headless chicken, the centipede continued thrashing, even with its head gone.
In fact, it was thrashing even more violently, desperately trying to reach the ocean.
“Kuh, the binding magic...!”
It seemed that stopping its massive body with magic had its limits; the magic circles restraining the centipede started to dissipate gradually.
But even with the magic fading, the centipede couldn’t push forward anymore.
“We have to stop it somehow!!”
“We’ll block it!!”
Ari and the furious lesser demonic beasts, along with the extermination members brought by Sylvia, rushed toward the centipede.
“If we don’t exert our strength here, we lose the reason we came!”
The descendants of those said to have moved mountains stood in the centipede’s way.
“You can’t pass here!!!!”
Flone, growing a giant adamantium morning star the size of a building, slammed it into the ground as she challenged the centipede in a struggle of strength.
Yet, simply stopping the centipede wasn’t enough.
Demonic beasts started flooding in from the land, as if they couldn’t bear to see their master in danger.
“These things...”
Marin temporarily sealed the path from the land, sinking a multitude of beasts in her wake. But a few surviving beasts were dead-set on reaching this place even if they had to swim.
Moreover, even though Ari was clearing the way, swarms of flying insects continued pouring from the open sky.
Assessing the situation, I turned to Marin.
“Marin! How long can you hold this?”
“Hah... Hah... At most 30 minutes, anything longer than that is impossible...”
30 minutes, huh.
In the current situation, our goal was to find the lustful witch within the centipede’s body while Marin maintained her grip on the ocean, kill the witch, and snatch the relic.
Simultaneously, we would need manpower to keep the centipede from escaping while protecting against the encroaching beasts.
Looks like the division of labor was set.
I looked at Sylvia and spoke.
“Sylvia, I’ll leave outside to you.”
“Scarlet...”
As I spoke, Sylvia gazed at me, as if wanting to say something, but ultimately fell silent.
She also realized.
That as long as people needed to stay behind, she couldn’t follow me.
In this situation, this was the best division of labor.
Having made a decision, I shouted to everyone.
“Everyone! Please hold for 30 minutes like this! I’ll be back as quickly as possible!”
With those words, I twisted open the mouth of the battered centipede, throwing myself into the gaping, abyss-like black hole.
The solo boss raid with a 30-minute time limit had commenced.