Chapter 139

Underwater (2)

Milene let out a sigh and pulled in the student beside her. From her perspective, possessing exceptional combat ability even among the royal family, the current situation wasn’t particularly threatening, but it was obvious that ordinary civilians with no special abilities would feel very differently.

‘……Especially that thing is the problem.’

With her armor clanking, Milene looked at the enormous pillar that the people around her were staring at with their mouths agape.

They called it a pillar, but to Milene it looked like one of the ‘legs’ of a gigantic soft-bodied creature.

If that alone was about the size of the dragon that had thrown the surroundings into chaos before, she couldn’t even begin to estimate the scale of the main body.

“…….”

Of course, regardless of that, it was obvious that what she could do right now was limited.

A dark, murky divine power rose around her body. Among divine powers, already known for being the most destructive among supernatural abilities, the black flames especially specialized in laying waste to the surroundings, sharply raising the temperature around them.

Heat intense enough to make the surface of the sea bubble surged outward, and the barrage of flames pouring forth was soon fired toward the massive creature.

“Phew—”

◆ First Vow: Modification

◆ Sanctified Body

◆ Primal Power

◆ Beastification

Among the skills he possessed, he selected the basic set first.

Their common trait was that all of them greatly helped with “not dying when injured.”

Even in ordinary times he constantly felt the need for them, but what Aiden needed right now was a level of “tenacious vitality” comparable to Katya’s.

‘……What I should enhance further.’

He checked the remaining points in the Point Shop.

Since he had also secured a stable source of points from the ducal territory before, quite a considerable amount had accumulated.

At the very least, he had enough to scrape together and purchase several potions related to “vitality enhancement.”

He probably wouldn’t be able to use the Point Shop at all for a while afterward, but if it let him overcome the immediate crisis, it wouldn’t be a wasteful investment at all—

-System Message

▶ !Warning!

▶ Enhancement agents from the Point Shop may cause side effects if too large an amount is administered.

▶ Temporary changes in emotions or personality may occur.

“…….”

Hmm.

A window that was slightly concerning briefly appeared before his eyes, but instead of focusing on it, he casually pushed it aside.

As he had said, overcoming the immediate crisis was what mattered.

‘……Changes in emotions or personality?’

◆ Holy Flame Operation: Hellfire

Creates divine flames that will never extinguish once they latch onto a body. Compared to other divine powers, it requires more than double the output, and if one attempts to produce divine power beyond their output, it will also consume the user’s vitality.

…The effect written down was clean and brutally powerful, but the usage conditions attached afterward were truly terrifying.

Perhaps the reason Milene wore that bizarre armor all day long also stemmed from this.

But still.

If he didn’t use even something like this, dealing with ‘that thing’ would clearly be impossible.

‘……The God of Death, huh.’

“That’s quite a grand nickname.”

Though in truth, it was merely a name borrowed directly from the scriptures.

Deep underwater where even light barely reached, a yellow-green iris, large enough that someone might mistake it for a massive natural structure, flickered as it locked onto Aiden.

Judging by size alone, it was almost on par with what he had seen in the Otherworld when he entered it with Noel before.

Anyone with thalassophobia would probably faint on the spot and start foaming at the mouth if they saw it, but Aiden calmly examined the gaping maw with steady eyes.

He knew the word used to refer to this.

‘……It’s a kraken.’

Come to think of it, because cephalopods were believed to feed on the corpses of people who drowned at sea, they were treated as messengers of death in some cultures.

From Aiden’s perspective, that honestly felt like a rather unfair misunderstanding.

After all, when sliced up and eaten raw, it tasted incredibly good.

“…….”

The creature before him, several buildings in size, opened its mouth wide as it approached to swallow him whole, and even Aiden had to acknowledge that thinking about such things at a time like this meant he probably wasn’t quite sane either.

Of course, regardless of that.

After seeing a dragon earlier and now something like this, he was starting to feel like he could finally grasp what kind of bastard was orchestrating the situation he was currently caught in.

The dragon as well. And this thing too.

From beginning to end, instead of truly existing creatures appearing, wasn’t it more like creatures from “stories” were being similarly “reproduced”?

And certainly.

He had made a vow before.

If someone ever tried to pull that kind of trick on him again, he wouldn’t let it slide.

“…….”

Divine power flared around Aiden’s body, and bubbles began rising everywhere.

If he poured out every divine-related skill he possessed and unleashed them at maximum output, he could create a massive fireball that refused to go out even in a place completely filled with water like this.

At the very least, the set of skills he had diligently copied until now was armed with enough power to make that kind of miracle possible.

The absurd output caused the merfolk approaching nearby to suddenly stop in shock. Even though they were clearly creatures moving on nothing but instinct, that very instinct must have been screaming at them not to go any closer.

And into that output mixed the skill he had just copied from Milene. Beneath the water, pitch-black flames that would never extinguish billowed upward.

‘……I’ll be using this in a rather horrifying way, Princess.’

Aiden offered her a brief apology in his mind.

Probably. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Even Milene herself would stare at him in shock if she knew what he was about to do.

And what he was about to do with this terrifying divine power was—

‘The God of Death, huh…….’

He muttered the same words in his mind as before.

‘Then how many times have you died?’

Most likely.

This was a fight taking place in a field he could call his specialty.

One that would deal quite a blow not only to this creature, but also to the human beyond it who had summoned it.