CHAPTER 60: SEA OF BETRAYAL [1]

"Why are there so many monsters?"

"Run! Everyone run!"

"Where to? We’re in the middle of the sea!"

"Fight!"

With the swarming sea worms, the rocking ship, and students thrown into chaos.

The deck was nothing short of pandemonium.

"...What in the world is this!"

Don’t draw your sword.

’I know...!’

Officially, weapons were prohibited at the yacht club.

Of course, since this was a rule set by students, there wasn’t a strict need to follow it.

However, since those students included the bloodlines of the prince and Margrave families, it felt even weightier than the academy rules.

Aint wrapped his aura around both hands and struck the head of a sea worm that was opening its filthy mouth.

With a popping sound, the headless body of the worm returned to the sea.

"They’re just many in number! Don’t panic!"

"Kill them all!"

"Don’t let them climb up!"

"Don’t use fire magic, you idiots!"

It wasn’t just Aint.

The students, initially confused about how to respond, one by one regained their composure and began slaughtering the sea worms.

The special environment of the sea, the sudden appearance, and the hundreds or thousands of creatures.

These were enough factors to cause panic, but in reality, the level of a single sea worm wasn’t that high.

And those gathered here were all top-ranked students even within the academy.

Due to the academy’s emphasis on practical experience, they had fought countless monsters and were talents who could more than hold their own on the battlefield right away.

Though the sea worms appeared to cover the sea at a glance, they returned to be buried in their homeland as soon as they climbed onto the deck.

"Prevent them from eating away at the ship!"

The problem was that the sea worms were gradually eating away at the hull as they climbed up.

The corrosive component mixed in their saliva even dissolved the magic formations applied to the ship.

The increasingly bare ship was losing its strength to withstand the waves.

"The deck isn’t the issue. We need to prevent them from approaching the ship at all!"

"The Knight Department will take the front. Don’t overdo it since we don’t have weapons!"

"The Magic Department will support the Knight Department. Try to refrain from fire magic, lightning magic..."

"Block them from attaching to the ship in the first place! If the ship sinks..."

It was then that Rudger Schwaben began to stand out as he commanded the students.

He naturally took control of the students, and they had no particular complaints about his status and reasonably rational instructions.

"They’re blocking better than expected."

But Gerhard wasn’t worried.

If it had ended with just sea worms, the ship would never have sunk in the first place.

And not long after, the moment he had been waiting for arrived.

Rumble-

In the distance, beyond the sea worms, a waterspout rose.

Like torrential rain, the waterspout disappeared, scattering water everywhere, and a massive body emerged.

"...Crazy, what is that!"

"It’s a monster!"

The screams of students and...

"It’s here."

Gerhard’s smile crossed.

"It’s a sea serpent!"

The giant sea snake charged toward the more delicious prey, swallowing the worms.

***

Wake up! Wake up now!

His body temperature dropped in the cold seawater.

Did you live only to die to such creatures!

His hazy consciousness gradually emerged from darkness at the incessant shouting.

I said wake up!

The dream-like darkness instantly cleared with the vibrating tremor of the necklace.

Aint opened his eyes.

’...Where am I?’

Cold sea. Around him, the carcasses of sea worms and fish occasionally appeared, feeding on those carcasses.

Are you awake?

The one who had awakened him let out a sigh of relief.

Get up immediately. You’ll die like this.

Even without that, he was already suffocating.

Aint barely endured using his aura and rushed to the surface as fast as possible.

"Haahhh...!"

He exhaled all the breath he had been holding at once and breathed heavily.

He checked his surroundings first, but aside from some debris that seemed to be from the ship, there was no ship to be seen anywhere.

"...What happened?"

Don’t you remember the last part?

"...The last part, you mean."

He remembered.

The sudden appearance of a huge sea serpent over 10 meters long, known as the king of the sea.

Students tried to block the creature charging toward the ship by pouring magic, but it was insufficient.

The hull, weakened by the sea worms, couldn’t withstand the monster’s body collision and was split in half.

The fortunate thing was that the sea serpent, which had split the ship in half, had put itself between the two halves of the ship.

And the academy students, though surprised, weren’t dull enough to miss the opportunity.

The sea serpent was instantly dealt a fatal blow by the combined attack of dozens of academy top-rankers.

However, it didn’t die quietly, and the process was quite intense. Aint lost consciousness after being hit by the breath the sea serpent expelled in its death throes.

"...How am I still alive?"

Normally, you would have died. After being hit by the cold-filled breath of the sea serpent, you were half-frozen and sank into the sea.

It would have been natural to die from hypothermia, becoming an ice statue.

If it weren’t for the legacy left by the first emperor, the sword in which the first Royal Knight resided.

I protected you. I dispersed the sea serpent’s breath and maintained your body temperature so you wouldn’t die in the sea.

"...Is that possible?"

This sword is more than just a vessel to seal my soul.

It’s a tool to assist the successor as much as possible for the future.

"...It’s more impressive than I thought."

He had simply thought it was a very solid sword with a soul residing in it.

Your opponent isn’t just humanity trying to unify the continent. It’s demons, and because they’re demons, this much is basic.

It also meant that one shouldn’t take the task of facing demons lightly.

"...I’ll keep that in mind."

There’s an island nearby, head there. I don’t even want to imagine meeting monsters in the sea.

"Yes."

Fortunately, there was a small island not too far away, and Aint was able to reach it after swimming for quite a long time.

"Huff, huff...!"

Stretched out on the beach, Aint exhaled rough breaths.

After swimming for a long time in a state where his whole body was throbbing from the aftermath of battle, he had no strength left.

"...I survived."

There’s someone over there.

Not too far away on the beach, two people could be seen collapsed and unconscious.

"Golden Turtle Company...?"

The pattern engraved on their limp clothes was a golden turtle.

They seem to be sailors from the ship. Check if they’re alive.

"Yes."

Aint dragged his heavy body over to them. He properly laid the bodies face up and checked their breathing.

"Thankfully, they’re alive...."

That was the moment.

Aint, be careful!

The eyes of the two men, which had been closed, suddenly opened.

Daggers were already in their hands, and they were flying toward Aint’s chest and throat.

"...!"