“Under the sea, huh… of all the places to hide, it had to be there…”
As I pointed to the spot where the witch was detected, a voice full of frustration murmured from somewhere. Everyone was sighing in agreement, as the sentiment of “Why there of all places?” resonated amongst us.
“Ugh… what are we supposed to do now?”
A sigh escaped my lips as I stared at the ocean blocking our path. For humanity, the sea was a massive barrier.
It limited our breath, visibility, and movement, making it one of the most terrifying obstacles imaginable. And that wasn’t the only problem.
I glanced back at Ari and the Fury Beasts behind our formation.
-■■■■■■…
-■■■■…
They had fought valiantly against the Witch of Lust’s minions, but now, faced with the ocean, they were trembling as if thinking, “Captain, what do we do…?” “I don’t know either…”
Realizing this, Sylvia murmured to me.
“Scarlet, those beasts can’t exactly dive into the water, right?”
“Looks like it. Also, I doubt I can wield my powers underwater.”
I replied with a sigh. Well, it was expected that beasts made of flames can’t enter water, but the troubling part was that if the beasts feared the water, it meant I wouldn’t be able to use my flames effectively either. That was the real issue. If I couldn’t harness my strength while facing the Witch of Lust, our extermination plan would fall apart.
An entire mission being thwarted just because of the presence of the ocean meant I had to admit that the Witch of Lust chose an incredibly effective hiding spot.
From the perspective of someone trying to confront her, it made me want to shout, “What a btch, hiding in such a shtty place, seriously…”
“What do we do then? Isn’t it too risky to just plunge into the water…?”
“Yeah… if it weren’t for the water, we wouldn’t have any worries…”
As everyone sighed in contemplation about the ocean, someone stepped forward among the extermination team.
“If that’s the case, I think I might be able to handle it.”
A voice rang out, claiming confidence.
“It doesn’t matter as long as we’re not underwater, right?”
I recalled a story I had read long ago as I watched the figure stretching their hands towards the sea. It’s said that unlike swordsmen or mages who have singular abilities, most psychics possess a variety of powers, making it hard to judge their levels.
So, while it’s not easy to determine who the most gifted psychic is, there was a common agreement among psychics: if Yoon Si-woo is the most talented swordsman and Dwight Neinhart is the most skilled mage, then the most talented psychic is none other than Marin Eloise.
And as Marin spread her hands slowly, her blue eyes shining brightly, she declared:
“Part!”
I witnessed a miracle—the vast sea parted in two.
“Whoa! Marin, that’s awesome…!”
“…Is that all you got?”
The astonishing sight, reminiscent of Moses in the Bible, shocked everyone, not just me, and the surroundings erupted in excitement. Particularly, Flone and Dwight, who had spent much time with Marin, were astonished, while Marin gave them a confident smile and exclaimed:
“How about that? You see? When I’m not creating water, it’s a piece of cake for me.”
“…I get that it’s impressive, but first, wipe the blood dripping from your nose.”
“Geez, I’m bleeding? I was trying to look cool here.”
Marin wiped the blood from her nose with a grin. Though she played it off as if she was fine, it was quite a stretch for her ability.
After all, even for a talented psychic, parting the sea wasn’t an easy feat. But thanks to her effort, an opening was created for the extermination team.
The seabed, now revealed, showed remnants of structures from the past.
“There! That’s where the witch is hiding!”
“Is that an underwater cave?”
It appeared to be a massive hole resembling the entrance of a cave. But at that moment, as everyone gazed at it, we soon realized it was not a cave at all.
“Wait! The entrance is closing!”
“That’s not a cave!”
We watched as what we thought was a dark entrance to the abyss began to slowly close. And then came an even more shocking sight.
“What the hell is that!”
With a booming sound, the ground shook as it revealed itself.
What we thought was a cave entrance was the creature’s mouth, and its body, buried beneath the sea, was long and enormous.
If I had to describe its shape, it was like a massive centipede.
“Centipede, it’s a centipede!!”
“It’s moving!”
The colossal centipede, which had been hiding beneath the sea, now reared its head, ready for battle, causing everyone to tense up. But just when we thought it might charge at us, it quickly twisted its head away.
Recognizing the intention of its master, I shouted urgently.
“Damn! It’s trying to escape! We have to catch it! Ari, go after that thing!”
I leaped onto Ari, who was waiting at the back with the beasts, and we charged after the fleeing centipede.
We were much faster than the crawling beast, soaring through the air. But that crafty creature swiftly realized we were in pursuit and changed direction right towards the wall of water Marin had parted.
It charged straight ahead.
It seemed to know that we wouldn’t be able to follow it if it jumped into the ocean.
I rushed to unleash a flame to burn it, only to stop abruptly.
“Sh*t…! Damn it!”
If killing the Witch of Lust was our only goal, it wouldn’t matter. But our mission was to eliminate her and capture the Sacred Remnants she possessed. If the flames caught the remnants, it would all be for nothing.
So, I couldn’t use my flames which required precise control.
Just as I was thinking this, the centipede was already nearing the water’s edge.
“Don’t run away! Face me!”
I shouted in frustration, but the beast ignored me and leaped toward the wall of water.
Just as I thought it was too late to catch it, a loud bang echoed.
The centipede slammed its head against the suddenly frozen sea.
“Cough… I can control more than just water, you know…!”
I heard Marin’s voice from behind. Using her inherited psychic ability of chill, she had temporarily frozen the ocean.
But the centipede chuckled at Marin’s actions and launched itself again.
The ice wall Marin hastily created was cracking and about to shatter from the collision. The centipede had realized it wouldn’t be able to react to a second blow.
But just then, magic circles appeared in the air around it, binding the centipede in place.
It was Dwight and the mages from the extermination team that had incapacitated the beast.
“Scarlet! Where is the witch?”
“About its torso!”
“Then we need to target its head! Everyone focus on the head!”
To avoid damaging the Sacred Remnants, all of our attacks concentrated on the centipede’s head. In an instant, we devastated its massive head.
But to think that would be enough to restrain it was a misconception.
“Kiiyii!”
“What the…! It’s still moving even though its head’s been destroyed!”
“What kind of chicken is this?!”
Like a headless chicken, the centipede continued to thrash around despite having lost its head, even more vigorously than before, determined to reach the sea.
“Ugh, the binding magic…!”
The overwhelming force emanating from its giant body seemed to be too much for the spell alone to hold, and the magic circles holding it began to fade.
Yet, even as the magic unraveled, the centipede couldn’t move any further.
“Stop it no matter what!!”
“Block it!!”
Ari, the Fury Beasts, and the other extermination members rushed to restrain the centipede.
“If we don’t use our strength here, we might as well have never come!”
The descendants of those said to have moved mountains stood firm against the giant centipede.
“Not gonna pass here!!!!”
Gripping a morning star made of adamantium that grew larger with her strength, Flone shouted while jamming it into the ground, ready to confront the centipede.
But merely stopping it wasn’t enough. More beasts swarmed in from the land, unwilling to leave their master in danger.
“Those pests…”
Marin had temporarily blocked the path from the land to draw in the beasts, but the ones that survived were swimming toward us, undeterred.
Moreover, even with Ari ensuring some order, flying insects continued to pour in from the open skies.
Assessing the situation, I posed a question to Marin.
“Marin! How long can you keep this up?”
“Huff… huff… at most 30 minutes, any longer would be tough…”
30 minutes, huh.
Our current goal was to locate the Witch of Lust hidden inside the centipede, eliminate her, and secure the Sacred Remnants during the time Marin maintained the sea.
But we also needed to hold off the advancing beasts and protect our forces.
That meant clear personnel allocations.
I looked at Sylvia and said, “Sylvia, I need you to hold the fort outside.”
“Scarlet…”
Sylvia was about to say something but fell silent.
She realized it too.
With people needing to stay outside, she couldn’t follow me. This was the best division of our forces given the current circumstances.
Having made my decision, I shouted to everyone.
“Everyone! Hold on for just 30 minutes! I’ll come back as fast as I can!”
With that, I twisted the mouth of the incapacitated centipede and dove into the dark abyss.
And thus began the solo boss raid with a time limit of 30 minutes.
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