Ch.4545. The End of Dolphin Man

“Kiriririri (haaaa)……”

A Dolphinman was sighing while looking out from a watchtower built using thick seaweed stalks as pillars for the purpose of monitoring the surroundings.

Named Ppubukkeu, this Dolphinman was a resident of the 4th City and an elite junior warrior (7th grade Dolphinman) in charge of guarding the 4th City. Originally from the working class, he had worked hard to become an elite junior warrior.

The position of elite junior warrior was the highest status realistically attainable for the common class, making him successful by any Dolphinman’s standards. However, even Ppubukkeu was not without worries.

‘Ppururi ppupubu…….. ppikirikki ppubabeu (Surely but…….. they won’t invade, right)?’

His recent concern was about a group of monsters that had suddenly appeared and started rampaging nearby.

It was obvious that the upper echelons were trying to cover up this incident, but one could easily notice something was wrong when dispatched units failed to return or when water mixed with blood occasionally flowed through.

Moreover, the entire city had visibly strengthened its defenses, warriors who should be out hunting remained stationed in the city, and some simple laborers were even being hastily conscripted. Practically all Dolphinmen must have noticed that the situation was not normal.

But…….. what could they do about it?

Ppubukkeu was merely an elite junior warrior who commanded infantry, not someone with a special military role. His subordinates consisted of only ten junior warriors stationed at this watchtower—he was just a squad leader.

So despite knowing the gravity of the situation, all he could do was worry deeply and personally maintain his weapons and equipment.

After cleaning off meat residue from his armor—made of steel salmon fish skin and man-eating crab shells that had cost him half his life savings—he laid out his well-maintained weapons on the table.

He sharpened the tips of his trident made from the tail of a sea scorpion he had hunted himself, along with two short swords and a small shield made from the same sea scorpion’s pincers.

Having originally been a worker in a weapons factory, he was glad he didn’t need to spend money on maintenance.

With plenty of time left in his shift after diligently maintaining his weapons, Ppubukkeu took out some hard seaweed and shell fragments he had prepared in advance and began crafting a harpoon as a secondary weapon.

Using an expensive knife he had purchased, he carefully carved the shell fragments, then similarly shaped the hard seaweed to just the right thickness and length.

Pleased that the shell offered slightly more resistance than usual, he was about to connect the tip of the completed harpoon to the shaft when—

Whoooosh—KWAAAAAAANG!!!!

Suddenly, something came flying through the air, eventually colliding with the watchtower and causing a magnificent explosion that completely blew away the lower part of the structure.

“……..Ppigi (……..Damn it)!”

Of course, only the lower part of the watchtower with no particular facilities was destroyed, while the upper part containing the living quarters remained safe.

However, with the lower part that had been supporting the upper observation deck now destroyed, the upper section naturally began to drift along with the ocean currents, causing the Dolphinman warriors inside to hurriedly exit.

The warriors wore gambeson (quilted armor) made from extremely tough seaweed, and each carried a trident as their basic weapon, with a few also wielding shields made from monster shells that they had purchased individually.

As they had been trained, they moved to cleverly concealed spaces hidden among the dense seaweed growing around the watchtower, concealing themselves while keeping watch on their surroundings.

No one spoke as they observed their surroundings in a state of high tension. At that moment, one junior warrior spotted something and shouted.

“Kkikkippiiiiii (They’re comiiiing)!!!”

“Ppi kkittippibibi (What are you doing)?! Kkilil ttik…….. tti (Right now sil…….. ence)?”

Ppubukkeu was about to scold the warrior for suddenly shouting while they were hiding, but the moment he saw what had caused the junior warrior to shout, such thoughts instantly vanished.

This was because the monsters now before their eyes looked incredibly powerful.

‘Ppichichitteu ppeu…….. tturettukka ppichuki (Why does Ppichichi…….. have Tturettu’s shell)?’

As he thought, the creature—the monster—that appeared before the Dolphinman warriors was a giant beast resembling a monster black tuna (Ppichichi) covered in armor similar to that of a man-eating crab (Tturettu).

Moreover, the armor this monster wore appeared incomparably thicker than that of a man-eating crab, and a large, imposing horn protruded from its crown.

Even at a glance, it seemed like a monster that would require at least intermediate warriors to handle, but…. what could they do now that their position had been revealed by the shout?

“Ppiru, kkikkippi (Everyone, formation)!”

“”””””””Ppi (Yes)!!!!””””””””

Believing in the slightest possibility of victory and resisting to the end, hoping that at least some might survive—this was the only option available to them.

So they gathered together, forming a defensive formation with their regulation tridents pointed forward, and used their shields to cover their bodies in an attempt to somehow increase their chances of survival, but…….

Woooooong—KWAAAAAAANG!

Those efforts were easily nullified by a single energy bullet fired from the horn of the giant monster.

The energy mass exploded upon contact with the junior warrior at the front, and six Dolphinmen caught in the explosion were reduced to shreds of flesh without even being able to scream.

Even those not directly exposed to the blast radius couldn’t possibly survive such an explosion occurring right in front of them—consequently, the remaining three junior warriors were also reduced to pulp.

In this horrific situation, Ppubukkeu’s survival was nothing short of a miracle resulting from several coincidences.

The nine heavily armed junior warriors had served as meat shields, and his armor and shell shield had completely vaporized instead of him, protecting his body…….. but.

“Kuhuk, kheuk, keuuuu……….kuk!”

Though he hadn’t died, Ppubukkeu had sustained severe injuries and was now helplessly drifting in the water.

All his ribs were shattered, and both legs and his tail were bent in directions they should never bend.

His left arm, which had been holding the shield, had vaporized along with the shield, causing serious damage to the left side of his body, even crushing his left eye completely.

Literally barely clinging to life, Ppubukkeu blankly stared at the monster that had attacked him, and in his eyes—he saw despair.

The monster that had attacked him earlier was advancing endlessly. There were at least 200… no, 300 visible, easily exceeding that number and possibly reaching 1,000.

“Ki, kikikikikikikikikiki…….. (Ha, hahahahahahahahaha…….).”

According to what he had learned during political education sessions, the Emperor commanded over 10,000 intermediate or higher-grade warriors. But…….. not only was that number dubious, what difference would it make anyway?

While these warriors were dispersed throughout the vast Dolphinman territory, these monsters, estimated to be intermediate warrior-grade, moved in groups of 1,000.

So, squeezing out the last bit of strength remaining in his life, he laughed hollowly as he watched the monster approaching him, then closed his eyes.

The pain lasted only a moment.

※ ※ ※

The Hive Mind’s legion, with sturdy Hive Tunas at the front line, advanced rapidly.

They defeated scattered small units of Dolphinmen who seemed unable to properly grasp the situation, and annihilated Dolphinman trainers who had been bringing tamed monsters.

Using a strategy that leveraged their overwhelming numbers, the legion pushed forward steadily and before long reached the green land—the Dolphinman city.

Of course, the resistance from the Dolphinmen living in the city was fierce.

“Kkippippi (Attack)!”

“Ppukkeutteupeu peupeueu (Stand against the enemy)!!!”

Perhaps because they were underwater, there were no walls, but instead, they had prepared for urban warfare among seaweed structures arranged in a complex maze like skyscrapers.

In addition, perhaps due to their warrior culture, all Dolphinmen fought bravely, prepared to die—but—

‘Begin synchronized firing. Erase the city.’

Unfortunately, reality was cold.

The legion, which had no intention of recklessly entering the urban area, formed a wall like front-line infantry and unleashed energy bullets from Energy Horns and Great Energy Horns toward the city.

A total of 3,000 Hive Tunas, over 50,000 Hive Piranhas, and 500 Hive Octopuses positioned at the rear.

Against this long-range firepower capable of destroying even the latest safe apartment complexes built with reinforced concrete and monster by-products, structures made of mere seaweed had no chance of withstanding.

The energy bullets easily penetrated the buildings and put holes in the bodies of the Dolphinmen—whose forces consisted mostly of close-combat monsters—who were using the buildings as shields while approaching.

And exactly 1 hour, 36 minutes, and 14 seconds after the ranged attacks began.

When the last survivor of the city, a Dolphinman hiding in the ruins of a collapsed building, was pierced through along with the building debris, the Dolphinmen’s 4th City, which had existed for 67 years, vanished into history.

……Though it’s uncertain whether any Dolphinmen would survive to record that history.