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Chapter 469. The “Monster” of the Lake

It was a strange sensation to enter the water without so much as a splash.

With no resistance at all, Arthur dove into the water.

And before him, a gigantic yellow eye, as large as his own height, wriggled ominously.

“Hey, it’s been a while.”

What the heck is this thing—was the look it gave him.

In the next moment, a huge tentacle silently coiled around him from behind.

And naturally, it slipped right past him.

No, that wasn’t all. The part that tried to touch him was evenly scorched by the holy silver spell that formed Arthur, causing the Kraken’s massive body to involuntarily shrink.

(This is terrifying; if I were flesh and blood, I would’ve been grabbed just now.)

Being a spirit meant no damage was dealt, but the speed of the attack was so extreme that Arthur couldn’t even react. Truly, it was as if it were invincible underwater.

However.

“Invincible, huh? Not today.”

Here comes the arch-nemesis.

With Excalibur readied, Arthur charged forward. Despite the absence of water resistance, he moved at high speed as if swimming. He thought, wouldn’t it be nice if flying felt like this too, as he aimed for the Kraken’s eye.

In the city-state surrounding Aulitos Lake, Kraken dissections had been conducted for ages. Therefore, it was known that, like other creatures, the monster also had a brain deep within its eye.

“I’ll pierce right through—!”

Piercing its eye, he intended to flood its brain with the holy silver spell!

But the foe was no fool; sensing danger instinctively, it blew out a jet of pitch-black ink and showed signs of trying to escape.

Was it the instinct of a ghost? Even though his physical view was blocked by the ink, he could still sense the Kraken’s presence rising within it.

So, pursuit wasn’t a problem, but letting it escape was bad news. If this aquatic beast swam seriously, would he be able to catch up even without water resistance…?

With such a massive body combined with ferocity, its carefulness in escaping from unknown threats was likely what allowed this Kraken to grow into a demon lord.

But.

“[Divine Thunder!]”

“[Divine Roar!]”

“[Electric Shock!]”

Silver lightning cleaved the pitch-black water like a raging storm.

“I’ll lend you a hand, Arthur!”

It was Bishop Lexar and the others. The vampire hunters descended with even more precision than Arthur, unleashing their lightning magic upon the Kraken’s enormous body.

Numerous fish that had been feasting on the scraps of the smaller Kraken convulsed violently for a moment before bobbing to the surface like bubbles.

Of course, the demon lord of Aulitos was no exception.

The tentacles shrank, and movement ceased.

“[Holy Radiance!]”

An eerily silver gleam shone through.

“[Come to me!]”

The brilliantly shining blade drove deep into the giant Kraken’s eye.

There was a sound like burning meat being pressed against hot iron.

“――――――ッッッ!!”

The water rumbled with a voiceless roar.

The yellow eye scorched from within quickly started bubbling and turning milky.

As the Kraken’s massive body accelerated, shaking off the lightning magic of Bishop Lexar, it made a full-power escape, but Arthur clung tightly to it.

No—he should say he possessed it.

Despite essentially being a ghost that slipped through objects, when he put his mind to it, he could stand or sit on the ground. He could also grip onto moving things.

—No one had a method to physically shake off a ghost that clung to them.

The moonlight visible through the ink grew distant as vision turned completely dark. Though he couldn’t sense the water pressure, it was likely they were diving rapidly.

Until now, that must have allowed them to escape all threats.

—But this opponent was worse than any evil spirit; it was a sacred spirit.

“Now, I’ll make it quick for you!!”

With a ferocious grin, Arthur shoved the blade into the Kraken’s eye, pushing himself deeper.

He wanted to destroy its brain quickly, but the beast possessed enough magical power that the closer he got to its center, the more resistance he felt, even as a spirit.

So.

Reluctantly, he continued to dig with Excalibur.

“――ッッ!! ――――ッッッ!!!”

Unimaginable pain—numerous tentacles surged as if they were trying to claw out his eye.

But all of it slipped futilely through, only serving to burn away with the holy silver spell.

“[Divine Roar! Divine Roar!]”

He could still hear the lively voices of Bishop Lexar and the others. They seemed to be moving while also clinging to the Kraken, and it felt like they were having fun.

And—

The end came abruptly.

The holy silver spell flowed into the pale, cotton-like mass deep within the eye.

The moment it completely charred, the Kraken halted like a marionette with its strings severed.

Simultaneously, the magical resistance that had entangled Arthur vanished. The magical beast had perished, and its magic scattered into nothingness.

The once formidable demon lord of Aulitos Lake, the super gigantic Kraken’s demise, was astonishingly anticlimactic.

“It seems it’s over.”

“Yeah, thanks to you.”

Passing through the corpse and emerging outside, Bishop Lexar and the others also floated in the water, gazing down at the Kraken’s remains.

In the pitch-black depths of an unfathomable lake—

Aside from the floating body of the Aulitos demon lord, they could see only their own silver-shining figures.

“I must say, I feel a bit drained.”

As Arthur dissipated Excalibur gently, he remarked.

“However, about that mental exhaustion Alex mentioned? I don’t really feel that. At this rate, I could easily continue fighting for a while.”

“I feel the same. It doesn’t seem as though my ego has frayed as much as I feared. Wasn’t it said that one could feel sleepy? I’m not sleepy; if anything, I feel energized.”

“I don’t feel it much either—doesn’t seem that way to me.”

“…I feel a little tipsy.”

The group’s reactions varied slightly.

“Hmm… I see.”

Bishop Lexar nodded. The vampire hunter who had reported mental exhaustion didn’t seem particularly eager about joining forces with Alex—rather, they strongly insisted, “I cannot accept this death.”

While they were originally powerful in magic, maintaining a natural demeanor seemed to be one of the points influencing their continued sacred transformation, didn’t it?

Arthur and Bishop Lexar thought intuitively. Though they didn’t vocalize it.

“But considering we cast such powerful spells, I find it terrifying that we aren’t feeling much backlash.”

Zzap! Bishop Lexar’s voice flowed with circling lightning magic.

“Did you notice? The moment this beast perished, there was a sensation of magic flowing into us. We must have consumed some of this beast’s power.”

“Whoa.”

Arthur reacted with an expression of surprise.

“That sounds rather undead-like…”

“Sounds undead like, or rather, it’s basically that. Wait! Could we possibly use this to consume the magic of vampires if we possessed them…?”

“It seems quicker to just kill them outright.”

“Ha ha ha, that’s true. No doubt about it.”

Bishop Lexar chuckled at Arthur’s calm observation.

“…Hmm. I can’t believe we’ve come this far.”

Looking up, Bishop Lexar sighed.

Far away—both in distance and existence…

“If I were flesh and blood, I would’ve definitely died by now.”

Arthur, perhaps oblivious to the latter implication, responded while curiously surveying the surroundings.

If he had a physical body, he would have been shaken off partway through, and even if he somehow managed to endure, being dragged to the bottom of the lake like this would surely have crushed him under the water pressure.

“Oh! There’s a weird crab-like creature here! Life even exists at this depth!”

“Oh! If it weren’t for this situation, I would want to embark on an exploration.”

“There seems to be plenty of fun to be had just by digging around at the bottom.”

“That’s true. There could be unknown caves… Wait, this ability is perfect for hunting vampires lurking underground!”

While Arthur and Bishop Lexar chatted leisurely, the other vampire hunters looked on with a mixture of exasperation.

No—those who had been about to furrow their brows over their current predicament couldn’t help but smile at the duo’s laid-back demeanor.

“Well, although I feel a bit nostalgic, it’s time to head back. Alex might be worried.”

“Yes, indeed. …By the way, don’t you call him Alex?”

“Hmm, to be honest, I’m uncertain… In my mind, he’s still… well, he feels like Alex.”

“That works too, right? It communicates just fine…”

“Indeed…”

Leaving the corpse of the giant Kraken, Arthur and the others floated upwards.

…But once they broke the surface, they realized—

It appeared that the demon lord of Aulitos had traveled an unexpectedly long distance, as there were no dragons to be seen in the sky.

Being offshore and with no landmarks, reuniting would prove to be quite a challenge.

 

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