The Mullen Tribe’s legion advanced steeply.
The blue legion moved into the sea.
Beyond that sea, a black haze writhed.
The Mullen Tribe Warrior in the lead, mounted on a Silvery Beast, raised his spear high.
“Stop! The foes have revealed themselves!!”
At that shout, the Silvery Beasts that had densely surged through the sea all came to a halt.
Duke Yuma gently kicked the Silvery Beast’s side.
It was a signal to advance forward.
Next to Yuma, Bell, also mounted on her Silvery Beast, followed him closely.
Fwoosh─
They rushed past countless stationary Silvery Beasts.
They came to a stop next to the Mullen King, Yeerkur, who was at the front.
“Is that it?”
Yuma gestured forward.
Darkness.
A dark aura stretched out like oil leaking into the sea, filling Yuma and Bell’s eyes.
Yeerkur nodded vigorously.
Bell narrowed her brows.
Not only the black aura but also the mist that stretched out in front made it impossible to gauge the exact shape of the enemy.
Yuma used [Search Eye] to look beyond.
However, perhaps because it was obscured by the mist, nothing was detected.
“What are you hesitating for? How unlike the title of God of War filled with vanity!”
As Yuma and Bell stepped forward, a giant man on the left surged with a golden aura around the spear in his hand.
Rumble!!
He swung the spear, shooting the condensed aura straight as a cutting strike.
The golden strike plunged into the mist.
In an instant, the torn mist was restored as if sealed.
Kuuuuraaak!
A scream filled with agony echoed from beyond the mist.
And something shot out like a tentacle through the mist.
It wasn’t a tentacle; it was a sea serpent.
Crack!
“Graaaah!”
The scream reverberated along the coast.
It was the cry of the Mullen Tribe man who had just unleashed the cutting strike.
His right shoulder was torn apart, resembling gigantic teeth marks.
Blood gushed out from the man’s shoulder.
“Sea Serpent…!”
[Lv.122]
Sea Serpent.
“I heard that the water snake is under the command of that Leviathan.”
A black-scaled water snake approximately 40 meters long.
“Graaah!”
Yuma clenched Balmung tighter, ignoring the continuing scream of the man, Rugel, whose shoulder was almost ripped off.
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Kroaaah─!!!
The [Sea Serpent] bellowed loudly and charged at Yuma.
With its gaping maw, the [Sea Serpent] lunged.
Yuma wasn’t too afraid of the fangs, each one like a dagger of the water snake.
The monster’s head charging at him was akin to a fist of a martial artist.
There was no reason for him not to parry.
He had to aim for that big mouth’s parrying point.
The [Sea Serpent]’s blood-red eyes fixed on Yuma.
Yuma, riding on the silver seahorse Sylphiria, swung Balmung.
KWAAANG!
Balmung’s blade hit the fangs right in the center of the [Sea Serpent]’s maw.
The heavy recoil felt as if he had struck a gigantic rock, coursing through Yuma’s right arm and spreading throughout his body.
A golden circular impact spread, signaling that the parry was successful.
<Absolute Counter>
The Absolute Counter activated.
There was no chance for the power to go anywhere else. Instead, ten times Yuma’s strength poured directly into the [Sea Serpent]’s body that had just lunged its teeth at him.
The movement of the black serpent came to a sudden halt.
THUD──DU─DUDUD─DUMP!!!
A horrific sound echoed over the sea as the [Sea Serpent]’s spine and ribs shattered in an instant.
KWAJIK!
And then its heart exploded.
BOOM!!
The serpent, nearly 40 meters long, was turned into rags as it completely sank beneath the ocean. In reaction, a towering column of water shot up.
Yuma absentmindedly patted Rugel’s uninjured left shoulder, who was staring dazedly at his own injuries, momentarily forgetting his pain.
“Step back and get treated first, you’re in the way.”
“EEEEK! I’m so sorry!”
Rugel, who had huffed about the vanity of the title of God of War, felt Yuma’s light pat like a hammer strike.
Rugel, bleeding profusely, hurriedly pulled his Sylphiria back.
Splash…
The sea regained a brief moment of calm.
Voices of the Mullen Tribe warriors could be heard here and there.
“…It took at least 20 direct hits with focused energy to kill that thing.”
The murmurs were all trembling and shaking.
“It… it died in one hit.”
“Is that really the God of War?”
Admiration filled the Mullen Tribe warriors’ sharp gazes.
“The rumors that swept the continent weren’t exaggerated at all!”
Yuma listened to their chatter while fixating on the [Sea Serpent], slowly sinking into the depths.
He had killed it in one blow with the Absolute Counter, so he didn’t have the chance to gauge how tough it was.
‘That was quite a tough one.’
But then again, with a level of 122, the mere physical attacks it made indicated its destructive power and durability were that great.
Yuma sensed another pair of heated gazes.
The owner of those eyes was the King of the Mullen Tribe, Yeerkur.
“I had my doubts about you coming with just three subordinates, even if you are the God of War. I see now there was a reason for it. My apologies for doubting you.”
Yuma merely stared at Yeerkur’s expressionless face.
‘Don’t clear your doubts. Keep being suspicious.’
Yuma found YerKur’s overwhelming trust quite bothersome.
The more he had to do, the more tired he became.
And this was not solid land; it was a sea full of countless variables.
“Command the battlefield as usual. I will do my part, and the dominance of this battlefield is yours to handle.”
YerKur nodded vigorously while holding his spear.
“Sorry, I momentarily forgot my duties.”
YerKur raised his spear high.
“Water mages! Unleash your magic!”
At the king’s cry, all the mullen tribe mages, including Tisha, began to draw magical symbols in the air.
Moments later.
KROAAAAAK!!!
With a terrifying roar, over thirty [Sea Serpents] sprang forth from the mist.
Among them were some creeping up from the sea below.
KA-BOOM!
A heavy sound erupted from the seabed.
Before long, the transparent wall that had formed before the sea completely blocked the approaching [Sea Serpents], both those emerging from the surface and those from below.
It was the 4th Circle defensive magic [Water Veil] cast simultaneously by over a hundred Mullen tribe mages.
The characteristic of the Water Veil was that all incoming attacks or intrusions from the opposite side were completely blocked, while attacks cast from the mage’s side were allowed to pass through.
“Warriors, unleash your strikes!”
The booming voice of the king now urged the Mullen Tribe warriors.
WUUUUUUNG!!
Colors and variations of aura concentrated in their respective weapons shot forth as strikes.
KABOOOOM!
Hundreds of sword beams and energy blasts struck the [Sea Serpents] beyond the Water Veil.
The sound of endless explosions echoed.
The warriors took turns unleashing their strikes.
The mages also alternated casting the Water Veil magic.
Yuma observed the dazzling execution of attacks for a while.
Cloney, Hestia, and Bell, who were a bit distanced from Yuma, were also contributing to this onslaught.
Yuma glanced at YerKur beside him, watching the spectacle.
“Did you never consider advancing and finishing those beasts off?”
“You hit a sore spot, Duke Yuma.”
YerKur let out a sigh.
“The black haze overlapping that mist makes entry impossible. While we can somehow endure with magical enhancements, Silvyria cannot withstand it. However, moving with just our physical bodies while leaving such beasts behind is far too dangerous. And… the biggest reason is fear.”
“Fear?”
YerKur nodded heavily at Yuma’s query.
“Warriors of our clan that managed to penetrate through the mist and haze ended up torn limb from limb and discarded in the seabed. There were over fifty of them… all Expert rank.”
Monsters.
Yuma peered through the mist with his Search Eye but saw nothing.
‘Looks like they’re not planning to show up today.’
Leviathan.
It seemed that creature was carefully considering its hunt for the Mullen tribe.
Yuma had no intention of accommodating such cautious hunting.
“That’s it.”
“It won’t take long.”
Duke Yuma was planning to hunt the Leviathan soon.
At that moment…
Crash—!!
It seemed the duration of the [Water Barrier] had been miscalculated.
Beyond the shattered barrier, a dozen or so Sea Serpents rushed in.
Boooom!
Yuma swung Balmung at the snout of the water snake charging from the front.
Boom!
The Sea Serpent that had its snout parried let out a groan and flipped onto the surface.
[Absolute Counter - Division of Disaster]
A skill that allows the user to apply [Absolute Counter] with the same attack power to up to three enemies, including the original target.
Yuma focused one strike on a Sea Serpent clustered to the left.
The other strike targeted the one at the center of the Sea Serpents gathered beneath the sea, just barely visible.
Crackle—!
The originally targeted Sea Serpent was instantly killed.
Splash!
A beam of light sliced through the sea, sweeping away the Sea Serpents clustered to the left.
The remaining strike pierced through the water like a torpedo.
Boom!
Beyond the once again unfurled [Water Barrier], the bodies of the Sea Serpents began to rise.
The warriors also fought valiantly, ending the breaths of the remaining Sea Serpents with decisive blows.
In the silence…
Yuma gazed through the mist.
Grrr…
It sounded as if something was grinding its teeth.
“It’s… the roar of the Leviathan.”
The warrior’s voice trembled.
What appeared behind the roar was a pair of eyes.
A dense cluster of red eyes could be seen through the mist—at least fifty of them.
And those eyes began to slowly recede.
The black haze and mist were gradually fading away too.
“Next.”
At Yuma’s words, the gaze of the Mullen Tribe warriors focused entirely on him.
Yuma gently patted the head of the nervous silver seahorse, Silvyria, who had tensed up from the rushing Sea Serpents.
“When we next come to this sea, we won’t return until that creature is dead.”
The Mullen Tribe warriors found themselves shouting in agreement.
“We understand!”
Even King Yeerkur almost responded with formal speech in a moment of surprise.
“I understand.”
He barely managed to suppress the honorifics at the back of his throat.
“No one died…”
One of the warriors said.
That statement buried deeply in everyone’s hearts.
There had been quite a few serious injuries this time.
But no one had lost their life.
This was now their fifth battle against those monsters.
With each combat, there had been many sacrifices.
Yet this time, not a single person had died.
The Mullen Tribe’s army returned safely just like that.
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