Waves grow increasingly fierce, surging through the sea, tinted red.
The ghost ship dashed through the crimson sea unabated, clinging to Egeir’s leg.
[How dare a ghost stick to anyone!]
The ghosts that collided with Egeir all latched onto his leg. In the old days, he would have easily shaken them off, but with the strain of forcing his way back to the original world, he was in a tough situation.
Given that Johann was waiting for an opportunity, Egeir had no choice but to look at him, despite being attacked by the ghosts.
“I hope this ends soon.”
[What crime is it for us to return to this land? Is it a sin to come back to our beloved homeland?]
Johann spoke without changing his expression, his voice tinged with frustration.
“Everyone has their circumstances.”
[If you understand that, why do you stop us? We merely want to return as the rulers of this sea!]
“How did you return after so many centuries? Did you not borrow the strength of another being?”
‘Based on all the information so far, it’s certain that there’s something powerful backing them. They arrived here with its help, so that being must have some kind of purpose.’
[So you know that too?]
“You are nothing more than bait.”
Bait.
The former gods returning to this world are mere bait.
An outsider who made a contract with Harpas.
Something believed to be a fragment of an outsider that attempted to corrupt the World Tree.
Bella.
Information relayed by Eligos and Lugaru.
[Yes. It’s disgraceful, but… we made a pact with that guy. To draw the attention of Kalon and his minions.]
‘Kalon?’
So that guy really did chase away the gods.
Thoughts flitted through Johann’s mind.
“I don’t understand why you want to return so badly.”
[Is there a need for a reason to want to return home?]
His face revealed an undeniable longing for home. Johann clicked his tongue and ignited his great sword again.
“Home, huh? If beings like you come into this world, it will surely be destroyed.”
[But what can we do? We simply wanted to see the sea of our homeland.]
“That’s quite a nuisance.”
[Whether we return to this land or not, with ‘that guy’ intervening, the end is already predetermined. I only wanted to kill Kalon before that…]
“…I sort of understand, so it’s time to wrap this up.”
[I will avenge my brothers.]
“Try if you can.”
A massive tidal wave crashed into the Foggy Sea Area. A tsunami large enough to wipe away an entire city.
Johann calmly commanded Rue.
“Rue! Throw me into the sky!”
[Huh?]
“Quickly!”
[Ah, got it!]
They say there are wings to those who fall. Recalling words he’d heard long ago, Johann looked down at the tsunami hurtling past him, barely missing him from dozens of meters above ground.
‘A little later and I would have been in trouble.’
No matter how superhuman, it’s hard to withstand natural disasters.
[You’re trying something funny.]
Once again, a tidal wave surged.
But this time, he could not rely on Rue’s help. He had to navigate the situation with his own strength. Johann looked up at the towering wave.
‘I’m not sure if I can make it.’
But if he failed, he would die.
He gathered the power of the Phoenix on his back.
As the tsunami approached, enormous wings unfurled. The flaming wings lifted him upwards.
“Hell of a hassle to control this thing.”
‘Should have practiced beforehand.’
The attempt succeeded, but it couldn’t be maintained for long.
The power of the Phoenix didn’t rise indefinitely, and he had no control over the wings. While he could rise a bit, delicate adjustments were impossible, so maintaining this wasn’t wise.
The wings scattered from his back just as he narrowly avoided the tsunami.
[You! That…]
“Did you just realize now?”
[With Quartz, the Phoenix, and the World Tree? There’s no way a human can accept three blessings!]
“I’m a bit special, you see.”
Johann’s body plummeted down due to gravity. If it continued, he would crash into the sea.
But while going up was tough, moving forward wasn’t as difficult.
Gathering power into his feet, he burst forth.
The explosion from his feet changed the angle of his downward fall.
“I’ll wrap this up soon.”
[You think I’ll fall so easily?]
Egeir swung his hand once more, creating a geyser from the sea. Each one formed barriers to hinder Johann’s approach. But that alone couldn’t stop him.
“Rue!”
[Yes!]
Following her contractor’s call, Rue led the Kraken’s body and clung onto Egeir.
No matter how gigantic it became, a Kraken with a length of several dozen meters clinging would lose balance. Egeir wobbled.
[This is…!]
‘This was the plan, wasn’t it?’
At the beginning, it’s hard to deal with anything that’s ‘new.’ Egeir quickly tried to shake off Rue, who stuck to him, obstructing his movements, but it wasn’t easy to shake off a determined cephalopod.
Even the tsunami was meaningless to the Kraken.
The Magic Book, borrowing the body of the giant monster that had dominated the Foggy Sea Area for so long, clung tightly to Egeir per the contractor’s will.
[Let go! You damn monster!]
“Isn’t it Egeir you should be worrying about now?”
[There’s no way I can die like this!]
In a final desperate act, the tsunami swept through the ghost ship and lunged toward Johann. It was a life-or-death situation.
But this time was different. The tsunami he’d faced so many times before couldn’t become an obstacle.
Johann exploded power from his toes and jumped. The tsunami brushed past his toes, and he landed on Egeir’s brow, driving his sword in and pouring in power.
“Goodbye.”
[I can’t die like this…]
The light in Egeir’s eyes faded, and his body crumbled.
———————-
That was a tough battle.
I alternated my gaze between the sinking corpse of Egeir and the dead Sedna, bound on the ship.
I regretted not being able to kill that god, Ran, but there was no way to dive into the sea, so for now, I had to let it go.
By the way, the tsunami was ridiculously massive; I hoped it wouldn’t reach Lorelei.
[Contractor! We did it!]
“Don’t stick to me with that body. Are you trying to squash me?”
[Yes!]
Rue popped out from the Kraken’s eye, clinging to my waist. The unconscious body of the Kraken stared vacantly at the sky.
“I suppose I’ll have to finish this one off too.”
[That body looks fun…]
“I can’t exactly drag that along, can I?”
That hulking mass couldn’t be left anywhere safe.
I swung the Flame Sword again, completely incinerating the Kraken’s body. The stench was horrid, and the flame of the once-dominant sea monster flickered out.
“That’s done, and the ghosts…”
Just tragic.
No matter how World Tree-like it was, sinking guts were unbearable; the ghost ships were left with barely half as they approached me.
As the ghost ships gathered, I spoke to the crew.
“Thank you for your help.”
“Ah… not…”
“Thank… you…”
“We’re… free…”
Huh, was becoming a saint just a matter of intent?
Contrary to my concerns, the crew on the ghost ship began to fade one by one. It seemed they truly achieved sainthood.
I blankly watched them disappear.
“It seems like our affairs at sea are concluded for now.”
It felt a bit uneasy with Ran still lurking around, but for now, there was nothing to be done.
“Rue. We’re going back.”
“Okay!”
We set our sights on Lorelei, where the sky had somehow cleared up.
——————-
“…What a mess.”
Looks like the aftermath of the tsunami wasn’t negligible.
I sighed as I saw Lorelei flooded. I had thought it was a pretty far sea area, but apparently, a tsunami is a tsunami. I docked the ship at the relatively intact pier and jumped off.
“Sir Quartz! You’ve arrived!”
“What happened?”
“Suddenly a tsunami struck…”
The widespread nuisance was no joke.
I shuddered at the thought of what would’ve happened had they remained. Killing all the outsiders might be best for this continent. If this is the result from a little brawl from a distance, I couldn’t even fathom what disaster would strike if they went all out.
“By the way, where is the Saint?”
“She is treating patients at the Grand Temple. Thanks to her, many citizens have been saved…! Truly, the Saint is…!”
I cut in before the fervent praise of the saint continued.
“I’ll head to the Saint, so work hard on the reconstruction.”
“Yes! Sir Quartz!”
I left behind the diligent workers and headed to the Grand Temple.
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