Part 1, Chapter 6 (7)

A Spirit is felt.

Woooong-

The ultrasonic waves sent by the monster spread throughout the sea. The small fry monsters following the monster began to rampage, purple mana flowing from their eyes.

■■■■!!

The monster shook its streamlined body, cutting through the waves as it advanced. Countless underwater monsters moved, following behind it.

The destination was north. To where the Spirit’s energy was felt.

4:13 AM.

Moby Dick appeared in the waters near Tsushima Island.

* * *

6 minutes ago. 4:07 AM, Milky Way Cruise Wheelhouse.

“Increase the ship’s speed right now! Otherwise, we’re all going to die!”

The girl burst into the wheelhouse, screaming. The captain and crew, looking troubled, refused the girl’s suggestion.

“It’s sleeping hours right now. If we push the engines more, we’ll get complaints from the passengers.”

“Our lives are on the line right now, and you’re worried about complaints?!”

“From our perspective, it’s you, student, acting like this that’s troubling.”

The captain let out an exasperated sigh. The girl took two large steps back from his foul breath, which smelled of a mix of cigarettes and instant coffee.

“It’s already past 4 AM. We’ll arrive in Busan in about four hours.”

The captain pointed at the map. The ship was already moving past the vicinity of Tsushima Island, cutting across the sea towards Busan Port.

“It’s already five or six hours since the onboard party ended and the passengers went to bed. They’re probably in a deep sleep right now, so if you cause such a commotion, there’s nothing we can do.”

“Commotion? Coooommooootiooon?? You called this a commotion when people’s lives are on the line right now?”

The black-haired girl’s blood-red eyes gleamed. The captain flinched at the manifestation of her ability, which involved mana moving, but he soon composed himself and replied stubbornly.

“A passenger coming into the wheelhouse and telling us what to do about the route is a commotion in itself. You’re still a student and young, so I’ll let it slide just this once. If you don’t leave now…”

The captain’s chest muscles twitched. The name tag pinned to his white uniform momentarily bounced off his chest.

“We’ll forcibly detain you and hand you over to the coast guard.”

“Ah, seriously! Mister, don’t you know me?!”

The girl pointed at her own face with her finger. More than just having her demands ignored, the girl was subtly fuming. The captain waved his hand as if a crazy dog was barking.

“Student, when I’m being nice about it…”

“What’s going on?”

A man in a black suit appeared amidst the commotion in the wheelhouse. The captain briefly squeezed his eyes shut, then offered an awkward smile as if nothing was wrong.

“It’s nothing. A curious student came all the way to the wheelhouse while looking around the ship, and I’m just quietly advising them.”

“I could hear the commotion all the way from the cabins… Jilpungek?”

The man blurted out his thoughts the moment he saw the girl’s face. The girl, though embarrassed, stomped her foot loudly as if to say “Look at this!” and shouted.

“That’s right! I’m Jilpungek Himeji Hayate’s younger sister, Himeji Hikari! Finally, someone who understands has arrived!”

“……The younger sister of a murderer?!”

The captain recoiled in horror, putting distance between them. One of the helmsmen in the wheelhouse even gripped the broom he was holding like a sword, on guard.

The girl, Hikari, slumped her shoulders in frustration, then soon lifted her head. People were gripped by fear at her red eyes, visible through her bangs that reached her eyebrows. Hikari shouted in a voice filled with malice.

“So turn the ship around right now! Unless you want to die at my brother’s hands!”

She didn’t want to threaten them like this. However, in Hikari’s mind, who was only a first-year middle school student this year, there was no other thought but to stop the ship, even if it was like this.

Of course, as her identity was revealed, the confusion only intensified.

“What?! How did you get on?! Jilpungek doesn’t have parents! How did you get on without a guardian?!”

“……I hacked it, okay?! Why?! Can’t a first-year middle schooler ride alone?! I’m old enough!”

Hikari put her fists on her hips and took a deep breath. Nothing changed. The man in the suit, looking awkward at her antics, pointed at his watch.

“It’s 4 AM, Hikari-student. Even if you’re the family of a Round Table Hero, you can’t forcibly stop a passenger ship.”

“B-But a monster is coming up right now! An S-class monster, Moby Dick?!”

Hikari shouted with a face that looked like she was about to cry. However, no one in the wheelhouse could easily believe her words.

“Then we would have received a call! Or it would have been caught on the monster radar!”

“Whoa, you’re a Round Table associate! There must have been some other way to find out!”

“Hey! There are 200 Japanese people on this ship alone! 500 passengers! We haven’t received any contact from the Ministry of Defense or the Association yet!”

“……No way.”

The man in the suit gasped. As everyone’s attention turned to him, the man unconsciously blurted out his thoughts.

“Did you get a call from Oracle? And Jilpungek told a student…?”

“That’s right! The man you call a murderer received a call from Oracle and told me! The Ministry of Defense will make an announcement soon too!”

At Hikari’s words, the wheelhouse fell into a panic. Although Jilpungek was treated as an outcast in Japan, the prophecy of Oracle, a fellow Round Table Hero and prophet, carried a different weight.

The captain quickly adjusted his hat and shouted.

“T-Turn the ship around quickly! Dock at any port!”

“Aye, sir!”

The crew was flustered and couldn’t even reply properly. Fortunately, they had just passed Tsushima Island, so all they had to do was turn the stern around and head back near Tsushima Island.

The navigator, who was examining the nautical chart, shouted.

“Hitakatsu! There’s the Hitakatsu Port International Terminal, the closest one! About 30 km!”

It was an international port in a bay on the northeastern part of Tsushima Island, where the sea deeply cut into the land. That was the closest port they could reach from their current location.

Current time, 4:13 AM.

Numerous red dots began to appear on the radar, in the waters approximately 60 km south-southwest of Tsushima Island.

“M-Monsters?!”

“It’s not just one!”

Hikari immediately took over a nearby PC and started typing. Her fingers, true to her name, typed at the speed of light, displaying a satellite image of the area on the wheelhouse’s status board screen.

“It’s Water Dragon, form 2! There’s no way it came alone then!”

It was a demon dragon that had appeared from a dimensional gate opened in Okinawa and hidden itself in the deep sea. The tyrant of the sea, who had emerged after nearly a decade of long dormancy, would not appear alone.

“It wasn’t hiding…! It was gathering monsters as it traveled the sea!”

Just before the satellite image blurred from the mana emitted by the Water Dragon, the number of monsters that appeared on the sea easily exceeded several hundred.

Among them, the most impressive was undoubtedly the giant whale swimming towards Tsushima Island at the forefront of the monster horde.

Its length alone appeared to be roughly 50 meters, even to the naked eye.

Hikari suddenly came to her senses.

“Keep the ship going!”

“What?!”

“Sail at full speed to Busan!”

“What are you talking about?!”

Hikari shouted, hitting her chest as if frustrated.

“Do you think an S-class monster will leave Tsushima Island alone?!”

Moby Dick’s bow was pointed towards Tsushima Island, the closest place with humans.

* * *

4:17 AM. Tsutsusaki Observatory, southernmost tip of Tsushima Island.

At the quiet observatory, devoid of even human presence, and on the land where waves crashed against the cliffs, human-like shadows began to appear one by one.

Kikikik.

They stood on two feet like humans, with their arms hanging limply, but they were not human. In the pre-dawn moonlight, sharp, twisted teeth like sawblades glinted in their mouths.

Kya-gak!

Approximately 20 years ago, after first appearing in Alaska, the fish-type monsters that frequently appeared on coastlines worldwide-Deep Sea Anglers.

These deep-sea monsters, which had been nothing more than fish with limbs, now moved their steps as if crawling towards land, like babies learning to walk, having come ashore.

Woooong.

They had no eyes at all, but they emitted mana from the bioluminescent organs at the tips of the tentacles on their heads. As the mana, emanating from the purple-glowing bioluminescent organs, scattered around them, the Deep Sea Anglers slowly moved, reading its waves.

Towards the civilian homes that were very close by.

* * *

At the same time, over the Bering Sea.

“Hey! Can’t you fly any faster?!”

Jilpungek, Himejino Hayate, couldn’t hide his impatience. Seeing the man, who usually didn’t lose his composure even in front of monsters stronger than himself, show such urgency, Oracle, who was sitting in the pilot’s seat, also became anxious and shouted.

“We’re flying at 600 knots right now! We’ve exceeded the speed limit!”

“Damn it! So damn slow!”

“Hey! Are you disrespecting my dad’s private jet right now?!”

“It’s practically yours, Pinkie Pie!”

The pink streamlined fuselage cut through the clouds, soaring through the sky. Oracle, sitting in the pilot’s seat, argued with Jilpungek, her light pink hair fluttering.

“Hey, that’s why I told you to go back to your country!”

“Then you should have told me earlier! You said Moby Dick already appeared! Your prophecies aren’t accurate at all!”

“Calm down, both of you.”

Gawain drew his sword, cutting between them. The two barely calmed down from the light emanating from Galatine, the sword bestowed upon him by the Queen.

The strongest knight of the Round Table and simultaneously the strongest Hero in the world. The top candidate to reach SS-class, a rank that the Association had only set as a standard but no one had yet achieved.

Gawain, who had even changed his own name to that of a legendary knight, took a breath and checked the map.

“Do you think we’ll arrive on time?”

“I don’t know. We’re not flying on a normal route. It’ll take at least 4 to 5 hours.”

“Damn it, what about Unjang?! He’s the closest!”

Jilpungek nervously tapped his Round Table-exclusive smartwatch. He had been calling Unjang Xiaolin, a Round Table member in China, ever since he flew in from California.

However, Unjang remained silent. Jilpungek punched the wall, annoyed.

“Why isn’t he answering! At a time like this!”

“……He probably can’t answer.”

Gawain let out a low groan. As the most experienced member within the Round Table and someone who had to be well-versed in the political landscape of each country, he was well aware of the ambiguity surrounding Unjang.

“What?! Don’t say something ridiculous!”

“Hey, seriously, calm down. I know you’re anxious because of your sister, but…”

“She’s my only family.”

Jilpungek’s jade-colored eyes flashed. A murderous aura surged, as if he would cut down even Oracle if she bothered him.

“I told you to calm down, Jilpungek.”

But soon, at Gawain’s momentum, who had raised his mana, Jilpungek suppressed his own mana.

“…Why did that idiot suddenly say she was going to Korea!”

“She must have discovered something. Something scientifically discovered, unlike me, a prophet.”

Oracle smiled bitterly.

“How many times have we received help from your sister since she was in elementary school? During the Dodgers incident, she analyzed all the demon dragons’ weaknesses. If not for her, half of America would be gone by now. And Unjang is the same as you.”

“What?”

Gawain explained, gritting his teeth.

“Unjang also has family involved.”

Though a little different from you. Gawain closed his eyes.

* * *

At that time, Beijing, China.

Her black hair, reaching her hamstrings, swayed in the wind. The woman, who usually wore a training martial arts uniform and focused only on combat, was now strolling through the garden in a dark blue qipao.

Like a drama set from a medieval backdrop, lotus leaves floated serenely on the wide lake situated in the middle of the garden.

“…….”

The woman’s footsteps headed towards the pavilion. Between the drooping branches of a street tree in the garden, a small sparrow perched in its nest was startled and flew into the sky.

“Ah….”

The woman sighed and reached out her hand. The sparrow flew high into the sky, but as if something was bothering it, it circled the garden. In the nest from which the sparrow had flown, very small baby sparrows were sleeping soundly, their eyes still closed.

“Hehe.”

The woman subtly released mana. The anxious mother bird, feeling the woman’s mana, descended into the garden with very relaxed wingbeats.

♪♬

“I won’t harm you.”

♬♪

The mother bird landed its two feet on the woman’s palm, then rubbed its head against the woman’s finger. The woman raised her palm towards the nest with a pleased smile.

Thump-!

A gunshot rang out. The mother bird’s body was pierced by a magic bullet, and it fell directly to the dirt ground, while the startled baby birds chirped.

“It’s a harmful bird.”

The man sent a hand signal with an indifferent expression. Soon, men in martial arts uniforms appeared and bowed at the waist.

“Clear it away.”

“Yes, sir.”

The men in martial arts uniforms, having received the man’s command, moved like machines. They collected the corpse of the mother bird, which had been hit by the magic bullet, and carried the entire nest away, disappearing from the garden.

Perhaps those birds would soon become food for monsters. The woman took a deep breath and parted her lips.

“……They were children who hadn’t even opened their eyes yet.”

“If the sprout is already rotten, you must pull it out from the root. Steel your heart.”

The man stood beside the woman. He didn’t seem very old, but the fine wrinkles around his eyes made him look well past forty.

“You are the future of Zhonghua. At a time when you should be dedicating yourself solely to martial arts, what are you doing here?”

“…From far away, I feel a battle. The deaths of people are carried by the sea breeze, flowing all the way here.”

The man clicked his tongue. The smartwatch, which every ability user would inherently possess, was not on the woman’s wrist.

The man had deliberately not given it to her. So that she wouldn’t be influenced by wicked people. So that she wouldn’t be instilled with useless ideologies.

“The wind is calling me, Father.”

The woman raised her head. The drooping corners of the man’s and woman’s eyes were clearly similar. The man glared.

“So, are you defying my words right now?”

“…….”

The woman swallowed her words. That was the best she could do. The man pressed her.

“I was the one who saved you from the birth mother who abused you. I gave a child whose existence I didn’t even know such a large house and assets for three generations to live off. I took you in, even risking having an illegitimate child in front of my political rivals. Have you forgotten?”

“…No, sir. How could I ever forget that life-saving grace? However-“

“Enough. I don’t want to hear any more. Xiaolin, your task is to finish your preparations immediately and go to Shenyang. I’ll give you two ke. Red Hare is already prepared. Get ready.”

The man turned and disappeared. On the name tag pinned to his chest, glinting in the moonlight, were the affiliation ‘Monster Countermeasure Management Bureau’ and the name ‘Mao Zeping’.

“…….”

The woman knelt, placing her right hand on the ground where the mother bird had fallen.

“You must have departed peacefully in death, Gwanggeom.”

As the woman’s mana scattered into the ground, the mother bird’s blood immediately vanished into the soil. The woman rose to her feet and lifted her head.

“How is the afterlife, are you at peace?”

There was no way there would be a reply. The woman smiled bitterly, reminiscing about old memories.

“‘Even rolling in a dog-shit field, this life is better,’ you used to say. You.”

The woman raised her hand. Dust scattered into the night sky, carried by the wind.

“You were wrong.”

The woman stared blankly at the dust, then her expression hardened, and she walked down the corridor. At the end of the corridor hung a green battle robe and a red mask.

“I will greet you again from your grave.”

Pushing her hair forward, the woman put on the mask.

A moment later, a God of War in a green battle robe, wielding a guandao, rode a red horse across the night sky from the garden.