Part 1 Chapter 6 (11)

5:02 AM, Milky Way Cruise.

Hikari ran like mad through the ship. Her breath was ragged, and a sweet, metallic taste filled her mouth, but she had to endure this physical exhaustion somehow.

Bang bang bang!

“Wake up, Matsumoto-ssi!”

Hikari pounded on the cabin door. The cabin was firmly locked and showed no sign of opening. Hikari continued to pound on the door, shouting.

“Wake up! We’re in danger of sinking right now!”

Hikari was already wearing a life vest and running up and down the corridor. Passengers, one by one, woke up and came out into the corridor, startled by the commotion, only to be horrified by the ship’s announcement.

– We are currently under attack by the S-class monster Moby Dick. All passengers on board, please put on your life vests and prepare for an emergency….

“Kyaaaak?!”

“M-madness!”

People fell into a panic. The chaos was further exacerbated by those who had already rushed out of their rooms.

Creak. The door Hikari was pounding on finally opened. A bearded man, looking utterly annoyed, pulled out the earplugs he had been wearing.

“What are you doing this early in the morning…. What is this?”

“The details are on the broadcast!”

Leaving the bewildered man behind, Hikari ran through the cabins again. She hacked into the check-in status of the ship’s cabins with a virtual keyboard, checking each one.

“Still a long way to go…!”

Hikari bit her lip. Like the man, there were some people who were in such a deep sleep that they didn’t wake up to the ship’s broadcast or the emergency siren. Since they didn’t even wake up to their smartwatch alarms and vibrations, there was no other way but to wake them up one by one, and the crew and Yuseong staff were already running around the ship, waking people.

Beep beep beep!

At that moment, red lights appeared one after another on the map Hikari had displayed beside her. The map, which had intercepted the Association’s signal, showed Moby Dick’s estimated movement path.

“……!”

Moby Dick moved north along the coast of Tsushima, then curved directly towards Busan. And in the middle of that path was the cruise ship Hikari was on.

“Suddenly…?!”

It was distinctly different from the expected path. Hikari leaned against the wall and typed on the keyboard.

“No way. The pattern is completely different from Okinawa. Is this really the same monster’s behavioral pattern?”

The Water Demon Dragon, Moby Dick, would circle islands and occupy the coastline, effectively starving the islanders by preventing their escape.

It was a surprisingly effective tactic for a monster, which was why Hikari had strongly argued to keep heading for Busan. If they entered the island, they would be hunted down in the center of it. That prediction seemed to be correct, at first.

Until Moby Dick suddenly chased the cruise ship’s path and headed up to Busan.

“Distance?!”

She quickly checked the distance on the map. She calculated Moby Dick’s movement path and speed over time. Then she compared that speed to the cruise ship’s speed.

“……!”

No. They would be caught just before reaching the port. And that was only if Moby Dick simply chased the ship; Moby Dick would attempt an attack from a distance.

In approximately 3 minutes, they would enter Moby Dick’s range. Hikari held her breath.

‘Is it because I said we should go to Busan?’

The decision she had made, believing it to be the best, was now about to get everyone killed on the water. Tears welled up in Hikari’s red eyes.

“Oppa….”

In her maddeningly unfair and sorrowful state, the only person who came to mind was her only sibling.

* * *

Wheelhouse.

“We must keep going to Busan!”

“No! Moby Dick will catch us before that! It’s better to escape towards Russia!”

“L-let’s go back to Tsushima! If we just land on solid ground, at least we won’t become fish food in the sea!”

It was utter pandemonium. The navigators each vehemently argued their opinions, searching for a way to survive, but instead of reaching a consensus, precious time was just ticking away.

The captain anxiously awaited a response to their distress signal. They had been sending distress signals since Moby Dick first appeared, but perhaps due to Moby Dick’s emissions, the signals weren’t getting through properly.

“Still no news?!”

“None! From both Japan and Korea!”

There was no hope. If only some reply had come, they could have taken action accordingly, but with no response from either side, the captain was beside himself.

Beep. Finally, the long-awaited communication came. It was a reply from the Association’s Japan branch. The closest First Mate saw the screen and shouted.

“Heroes are currently being dispatched!”

“Woohoo!!”

All the crew members cheered with joy. Even if it would realistically take an immense amount of time for Heroes to fly from the mainland past Tsushima, they were simply happy that Heroes were coming to rescue them.

However, their joy was short-lived, as another reply came in. It was from the Japan Ministry of Defense.

“The Association’s Heroes will prioritize protecting Tsushima…?”

“W-what are you talking about?!”

The crew fell into a panic. The First Mate quickly identified the signal and shouted to the captain.

“The signals are mixed! The signal from the Ministry of Defense wasn’t for us, it was for the Heroes!”

The captain gritted his teeth. Whether it was due to the influence of the monster’s emissions or not, the signal sent by the Ministry of Defense to the Association’s Heroes had been intercepted.

“Are they going to abandon us…!”

The people in the wheelhouse had learned about the movements of the Japanese Heroes. They were planning to save the relatively closer Tsushima.

“Damn it! Why did we listen to that brat’s words!”

One of the crew members threw his hat to the floor in anger. He was the one whose opinion to turn the ship around and dock at Tsushima’s northern port had been dismissed by Hikari.

“If we had gone into port like I said! We’d be on land right now, escaping inland! What is this?! That murderous little sister is going to make us all fish food!”

Silence fell over the wheelhouse. No one refuted his opinion or sided with Hikari.

Even though Hikari had argued her opinion with evidence, and everyone in the wheelhouse had agreed to head for Busan, the crew members shifted all the blame onto Hikari. Simply because she was the first to advocate for going to Busan.

KWAANG! The captain slammed his fist on the table and roared.

“No choice! Keep heading for Busan!”

“What?! That’s impossible! Moby Dick will chase us!”

The captain rushed over and grabbed the navigator by the collar.

“Impossible or not, we have to escape first, don’t we?! So, you want to drop anchor here and get eaten by Moby Dick?! Hey! What are you doing, you idiots! Don’t just stand there, calm the people down immediately, and put the engines to full!”

“Captain, we’ll crash into Busan Port!”

“You son of a bitch, do you want to crash into Moby Dick instead?!”

The captain threw the navigator to the floor and gave orders to the crew. The crew members, holding back tears, struggled to survive somehow.

“…Damn it.”

The navigator wiped the blood from his lip and disappeared into the chaos.

“That damn bitch, I’ll kill her before I die.”

The navigator’s eyes gleamed with murderous intent. No one in the wheelhouse saw him disappear.

* * *

The aura of the Spirit is felt even more clearly.

To the north. Under the influence of its presence, it clearly felt the Core of the abyssal creatures that had risen from the deep sea being torn out one by one.

Rage surged at the vibrations transmitted through the ocean waves. The instinct to destroy and annihilate living beings and Spirits rose within it.

■■■■■■!!

Moby Dick’s eyes turned completely purple. Its second form, which had already transformed since occupying Okinawa, continued to evolve in response to the Spirit’s aura.

Crunch, crunch!

Its streamlined body became sharper, and its teeth became as jagged as saws. Its smooth skin was now covered in sharp spines, lying like scales, poised to pierce anyone.

While maintaining the original form of a giant whale, it equipped itself with means of attack to tear, chew, and swallow humans.

■■■■■■!!

Far away, the aura of a Spirit was felt. The Spirit moved between land and sea, snatching the hearts of its kin. The Spirit’s icy cold aura was enough to remind it of the deep sea where it had slumbered.

And very close by, the aura of humans was felt. A massive presence, slow but nevertheless rushing towards land. Moby Dick instinctively knew it was a human ‘ship’.

Moby Dick cheered. Humans could do nothing in the sea.

■■■■■!

Moby Dick excitedly chased the ship. Its speed was incomparably faster than its leisurely swimming just moments before.

A moment later, Moby Dick’s senses detected a vibration moving through the waves. Moby Dick gathered mana and opened its mouth,

■■■■■■■■!

And fired a breath of mana directly towards the source of the vibration.

* * *

“I see it!”

Harang, who was sliding along the ice path across the sea, spotted the ship. The cruise ship was rushing towards Busan at an unimaginable full speed for a vessel.

Harang quickly shouted into his smartwatch.

“That’s the one, right?!”

[Yes! The Milky Way Cruise!]

At the Praetor’s confirmation, Harang let out a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the ship was safe, without a single hole.

At that moment, Harang’s heart sank at a tiny vibration felt from deep within the sea. Without time to report to the Praetor, Harang immediately jumped off the ice path and plunged into the sea.

[Seok Harang?!]

Along with the Praetor’s scream, Harang opened his eyes underwater. Far away, a whale with sharp, shark-like teeth opened its mouth wide and spewed something out.

‘Breath!’

Whether it was water, ice, or a sonic boom, its angle was unusual. Harang immediately extended his hand and gathered mana.

But it was too late. Moby Dick was already on the verge of spewing its breath.

■■■■■—!

The breath fired from Moby Dick’s mouth struck the stern of the cruise ship. Harang’s mana rapidly diffused underwater, blocking the breath’s path.

A tug-of-war of mana between a Spirit and a magic beast. The victor was Harang.

■■■!

Moby Dick swallowed its breath and threw a tantrum. Although far apart underwater, Harang and Moby Dick could confirm each other’s presence.

A being that must be killed.

‘I’ll kill it.’

Harang gathered mana throughout his body. The seawater churned greatly from the chilling aura spreading even underwater. Moby Dick also took a deep breath, as if preparing something again.

‘Come…!’

Harang surrounded himself with mana, completing his defense.

At that moment, the corner of Moby Dick’s mouth subtly turned up. Harang felt a chill, wondering if he had seen it wrong.

‘What?’

He hadn’t seen it wrong. Moby Dick was clearly mocking Harang.

■■■■■!

Moby Dick spat out a short breath as if spitting. A high-pressure jet of water shot through the sea.

Towards the cruise ship.

‘Too la-‘

KWAANG!!!!

A huge hole was torn in the stern of the cruise ship.

* * *

Had he ever run this fast in his life? He asked himself, but there was no such memory.

Even when facing the demon dragons of Dodger’s Gate, or when being chased by an F-22 Raptor while traversing America, he had always run with ease, like the wind. Roaming the world like his true name, Jilpungek (疾風, Gale), he was certain he had never once felt ‘urgency’.

But right now, he was infuriated that the speed he could achieve was limited to this extent.

Why hadn’t he trained diligently like others to extend his limits? Why hadn’t he honed his talent and built up his strength like others? Why could these legs only produce this much speed?

He had been scouted into the Round Table’s Second Generation purely by talent, and in life-or-death battles, he had never once felt his life was in danger.

The fact that he, such a person, was now so anxious because his sibling might die, was utterly ridiculous.

“Association! Respond! This is Jilpungek!”

Hayate infused mana into his smartwatch. Even while moving at supersonic speed, his will transformed into a mana signal and was transmitted to the Association.

[This is the Association, Tokyo Branch Manager. …Jilpungek-ssi?]

A languid, annoyed voice suddenly startled upon confirming who had sent the signal. Hayate glared at the man on the screen with chilling eyes and shouted.

“Send support to the cruise ship right now, you damn bastards!”

[What’s suddenly, ah! Chief Cabinet Secretary?!]

A man in black sunglasses appeared next to the Branch Manager.

[This is Sagami, Chief Cabinet Secretary. It’s been a long time since last year, Hayate-kun.]

“Enough of that, what is this nonsense! Prioritize protecting Tsushima?! Don’t you know there’s a cruise ship?!”

As Hayate pressed him, the Chief Cabinet Secretary pushed up his sunglasses and smiled wryly.

[The cruise ship is currently heading for Korea, so it’s too late for us to protect it. What do you propose? That we let 20,000 Tsushima citizens die to save a few hundred on the cruise ship first?]

[C-Chief Cabinet Secretary! Your words are a bit harsh!]

The Branch Manager tried to restrain him from the side, but the Chief Cabinet Secretary shook off his arm and tapped the screen with his finger.

[Because a certain distinguished Hero abandoned the nation’s security and roamed freely, it’s impossible to protect the cruise ship as well. Ah, I see.]

The Chief Cabinet Secretary pushed up his sunglasses with his middle finger and continued.

[Why don’t you, the esteemed hero of the Round Table, go protect the cruise ship? After all, you’re going to neglect the monsters that landed on Tsushima anyway, aren’t you? Just like during the Naha Gate incident.]

“Shut up!”

Hayate turned off the screen. He regretted cutting off the communication first, even though he was in a much more desperate situation and couldn’t control his temper, but it was already too late to receive support from the Association.

“Tsk!”

From afar, he felt the vibrations of mana clashing. Jilpungek placed his hand on his scabbard. Far in the distance, a cruise ship was heading towards Busan, beneath an ice path that was almost beautiful.

It matched the data received from the Oracle. Hikari was on that ship. Hayate let out a sigh of relief inwardly and chuckled.

“Almost th-“

A massive jet of water erupted from the stern of the ship, piercing it. Jilpungek’s eyes began to tremble uncontrollably. His hand instinctively drew his sword.

“Hikariii!!”

A crescent-shaped slash, imbued with mana, cleaved the sea. As the sea parted, Moby Dick briefly appeared, its scales effortlessly deflecting the slash as it vanished back into the water.

The attack, the slash, didn’t work. Jilpungek’s mana began to fluctuate wildly. Simultaneously, the sea where Moby Dick had been churned violently.

BWWOOOOOOOO——!!!

With a deafening horn-like sound that threatened to burst eardrums, Moby Dick surfaced.