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The one who attacked the Prophet Ship, carrying Jeong Gyeoul and Jeong Ha-yul, was the Sea Dragon, Sea Serpent.

A monster shrouded in mystery, like the creatures of Loch Ness or Baekdu Mountain’s Cheonji, the Sea Serpent.

Some dismissed it as mere fabricated horror stories.

Others claimed it was already a defeated monster.

It’s said that sea-dwelling extinction-class monsters are even rarer than land-dwelling ones.

There were rumors that it was a gentle monster, mainly feeding on deep-sea fish, large sharks, or whales, and didn’t attack humans…

But that’s because almost every ship that faced the Sea Serpent ended up sinking.

Regardless, it’s a monster, an extinction-class one.

A terrifying creature that destroys everything in its path.

This monster sensed the magic power of Jeong Gyeoul and Jeong Ha-yul and was drawn to the Prophet Ship by instinct.

“Sis, protect the ship.”

“How are you going to catch it?”

“Maybe if I just keep hitting it, something will work out?”

“Sounds like a solid plan.”

Deputy Ha Jun-seok, trembling but staying put, felt his head spinning.

It was partly due to the aura emitted by the extinction-class monster… but listening to Jeong Gyeoul and Jeong Ha-yul’s conversation made it worse.

“Y-you’re going to b-beat that m-monster? If it goes berserk, this ship will sink!”

“That’s why I asked Ha-yul to protect it. If you’re scared, just go inside.”

“B-but… no! I can’t! I-I’m the deputy of the Hero Care Team! It’s my duty to t-take care of you all!”

Despite his stuttering and trembling, Deputy Ha Jun-seok’s sense of duty was both pitiful and admirable.

‘He must be capable enough to be assigned as Ha-yul’s assistant.’

Though in reality, he’d probably just be extra baggage.

Feeling a bit touched, Jeong Gyeoul’s lips curled into a smile.

Of course, she was confident that nothing bad would happen as long as they were on the ship.

“Alright. I’ll go catch it now. Sis, keep protecting the ship.”

“Thanks.”

Jeong Ha-yul had just finished enveloping the entire ship with her magic power.

Now, it could withstand most attacks.

“Y-you’re really going?”

“…Yes. Should I knock you out and put you in the cabin?”

“…”

Leaving the now silent Deputy Ha Jun-seok behind, Jeong Gyeoul rose into the air.

She could have used telekinesis, but considering the possibility of a prolonged fight, she opted for the more efficient Fly magic.

Kwaaaaaaang—!!

At the same time, the Sea Serpent slammed its tail into the Prophet Ship.

The first attack was more of a probe, so the ship held, but this time, it was a tail strike strong enough to take down thousand-ton cruise ships.

However, thanks to Jeong Ha-yul’s magic, there wasn’t much damage.

Swoooosh—

The ship still shook violently, and waves high enough to engulf the ship crashed down, but even Deputy Ha Jun-seok, a regular human, was fine.

Jeong Gyeoul, now floating in the air, finally felt reassured and activated her magic.

‘It should withstand my attacks to some extent.’

She started with Ice Spears.

It was Lee Ha-yoon’s signature magic, but Jeong Gyeoul had always wielded it with telekinesis, so it was her most familiar spell.

In an instant, she created over ten ice spears and shot them toward where she presumed the Sea Serpent was.

Given its massive size, she could have thrown them anywhere around the ship, so it was more like a random barrage.

She expected to hear the sound of the Sea Serpent’s flesh being pierced and a tremendous scream, but…

The ice spears, upon touching the seawater, froze the surrounding water and slowed down drastically.

By the time they reached the Sea Serpent, they were almost at a standstill.

The ice spears, now mere chunks of ice, couldn’t possibly pierce the Sea Serpent’s hide.

“Ugh… I didn’t know Ice Spears had this weakness.”

But she couldn’t exactly spew fire into the ocean.

Using electricity would destroy the ecosystem and risk damaging the ship.

As she considered going back to the cabin to grab a sword, Jeong Ha-yul’s voice rang out.

“Weren’t you trying to capture it? Then don’t pierce it, just beat it up, Gyeoul.”

“Ah… right.”

Typical advice from Jeong Ha-yul, the queen of violence.

‘The hero suit the Association prepared is in the cabin…’

Even if she enveloped her entire body with magic power, she couldn’t stop water from seeping in.

Without the suit, getting soaked was inevitable.

She couldn’t pierce it with magic, nor could she go in and punch it directly.

‘Guess I have no choice but to use the Demon King Punch.’

The Demon King Punch, infused with a ton of magic power, could hit the Sea Serpent even from a distance.

It might be less powerful than a close-range strike, but that’s easily solved by hitting it multiple times.

As soon as Jeong Gyeoul made up her mind, her magic power surged.

Whoooosh—

Deputy Ha Jun-seok, who had been trembling from the Sea Serpent’s aura, felt like he was about to have a seizure as Jeong Gyeoul’s magic power rose.

This level of dense magic power would at least knock out any regular human nearby, if not seriously injure them.

It was the main reason Jeong Gyeoul rarely unleashed her magic power in the city.

But this time, with Jeong Ha-yul around, she didn’t hold back.

Coincidentally, Jeong Ha-yul neutralized the impact on the ship, and Deputy Ha Jun-seok gradually calmed down.

“…If you could do this, why didn’t you do it when we were trembling from the monster?”

“…You have to endure this to grow stronger. It’s all for you, Deputy.”

She had actually forgotten, but she smoothly turned it around as if it were intentional.

Just as Deputy Ha Jun-seok was giving Jeong Ha-yul a resentful look.

Kwaaaaaaang—!!

A tremendous explosion erupted from the sky.

The wind pressure from Jeong Gyeoul’s attack was visible.

For a moment, it seemed like the sea itself had split.

“Wow… I heard Jeong Gyeoul became an S-Class Hero, but… this is insane. Ugh!”

Deputy Ha Jun-seok, who had been marveling, suddenly felt like the ship was flipping over and collapsed onto the deck.

A massive hole had formed in the sea, and the aftermath nearly capsized the 200-ton ship, but to Deputy Ha Jun-seok, it just looked like a simple punch.

“T-this is the punch of an S-Class…”

The concept of transcendence wasn’t widely known even within the Association.

Even Deputy Ha Jun-seok, assigned to care for the Jeong sisters, didn’t know about it.

Thus, misunderstandings about S-Class were forming in real-time.

Aside from Jeong Ha-yul and Jeong Gyeoul, Korea’s S-Class Heroes couldn’t unleash this level of destructive power with a single punch, but Deputy Ha Jun-seok had no way of knowing.

“Sis! A bit more magic power!”

“Got it!”

The seawater had absorbed much of the force, so the Sea Serpent didn’t feel much pain.

Frowning, Jeong Gyeoul prepared a second Demon King Punch.

Since the first punch nearly capsized the ship, she asked Jeong Ha-yul to use a bit more magic power to reinforce the protection and used telekinesis to hold the ship in place.

It was more like holding the ship together, as without Jeong Ha-yul’s magic, the ship would have crumpled under the force.

With the waves crashing and the wind pressure rising, they had firmly secured the ship to prevent it from flipping.

Kwaaaaaaang—!!

She unleashed the second Demon King Punch without hesitation.

The sea, split by the first punch, hadn’t fully recovered, allowing the second punch to land squarely on the Sea Serpent’s body.

“Grooooooar!”

The massive extinction-class monster roared and thrashed.

The waves generated were stronger than when the Sea Serpent rammed the Prophet Ship, stronger than when it attacked with its tail, and stronger than when Jeong Gyeoul unleashed the Demon King Punch.

“Ugh, I think I’m gonna throw up.”

“…Hold it in, but if you really can’t, let me know.”

Deputy Ha Jun-seok, suffering from severe seasickness, groaned in pain.

“Can you really block this with magic power too?”

“Nope, only magic category users can control it that finely.”

“Then why…”

“I’ll knock you out. I don’t want to see vomit.”

“…Huh?”

Though she was a Hero meant to protect the people, Jeong Ha-yul prioritized protecting her own eyes.

Deputy Ha Jun-seok, thinking he might never witness an S-Class Hero and an extinction-class monster battle—no, one-sidedly beat each other—clamped his mouth shut and tried to endure.

Kwaaaaaaang—!!

The third Demon King Punch landed.

Kwaaaaaaang—!!

By the time the fourth Demon King Punch landed.

Just as he felt he couldn’t hold on any longer and was about to call for Jeong Ha-yul.

The Sea Serpent’s thrashing subsided.

Deputy Ha Jun-seok seemed to have won the battle against seasickness.

“We… we did it! We held on! Ughhhh!”

But in his joy of victory, he ended up kneeling.

“…Ew, gross.”

***

The Prophet Ship was heading toward America at a speed faster than an airplane.

If not for Jeong Ha-yul and Jeong Gyeoul’s thorough magical protection, both the ship and its crew would have been knocked out by the tremendous speed.

Then, the speed gradually decreased.

Could the lackey already be exhausted?

“Speed up, or you’ll get another punch!”

“Kyaaaah…”

The Sea Serpent, after four punches, had become as docile as a lamb.

It had been hired as the Prophet Ship’s newest crew member.

Thanks to this, the 15-day journey to America was reduced to just a few hours.

 

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