Duke Yuma and the Mullen Tribe Warriors returned to the island.
As soon as Yuma got back, he had to jump into action.
Because there were people waiting for him.
Before departing from the Princess Palace, the elite warriors of the White Night Tribe had arrived, having requested help through Cassiela.
There were only 30 members of the White Night tribe who had set foot in Mullen’s land.
But they were not just any ordinary group based on their numbers.
Their pure white coats fluttered in the chill.
Out of the 30 who arrived, 2 were Sword Masters.
The rest were at the Expert level.
The White Night warriors had been weighed down by their burdens.
They were so skilled in swordsmanship that they could easily be called a clan of swords.
That’s who the warriors of the White Night tribe were.
The men of the clan were still young. There was no telling how many more superhumans might be born.
And there was one single being they followed blindly.
That being was not their clan leader, Luke.
It was Yuma.
They knelt before Yuma, who saved their tribe from their plight.
“Sorry for being late, our benefactor.”
Yuma’s blue eyes slowly scanned the White Night tribe.
“No, you arrived at just the right time.”
Yuma continued.
“We’ll soon be back in battle. Stay limber.”
“Understood.”
Durek, one of the Sword Masters who came to support, answered on behalf of the tribe.
Once the greeting to Yuma from the White Night tribe was done,
Bell ran towards the tribe’s young men.
“Raul!”
Bell dashed towards a man with red hair.
“Bell!”
Raul, one of her close peers from the tribe, was quite a welcome sight for her.
“It was tough getting here, wasn’t it?”
Raul shook his head in response to Bell’s comment.
“Tough? Nah, I got to see the sea, so it was great.”
Raul had been stuck on the land of the White Night and was evidently impressed by the sea he saw for the first time.
“What about Brother Haven?”
Raul chuckled at Bell, who was looking out for her sibling.
“Haven went sightseeing for a bit, then went back to the land of the White Night to learn sword techniques from the head. He’s still growing. You can look forward to meeting him later.”
Bell’s eyes widened at Raul’s words about her brother’s friend.
“Glad to hear that.”
“Yeah, it’s great.”
Raul cautiously glanced at Yuma’s back as he spoke.
“How is Yuma?”
“Well, he’s as steady as ever.”
“Sure, sure. I heard he just wiped out the sea dragons again.”
For the White Night tribe, having witnessed Yuma take down the King of the Giant Tribe, Ades, in one hit, there was no room for concern about Yuma.
*
Yuma had come to confirm something from the sea.
It was one of the items left in the divine bag by the god, Incrinew, upon his death.
Even after finishing a fierce battle, Tisha was practicing magic, her light blue eyes, alongside Cloney’s golden ones, staring intensely at Yuma.
Tisha slowly opened her mouth.
“…Is that one of Yuma’s powers? A divine authority?”
Yuma shook his head.
“No, it’s just that the item is good.”
“This is just a good item.”
Items.
Duke Yuma checked that the item was working properly and put it back into the pouch.
*
Two days later.
The warriors of the Mullen Tribe began to move again.
News had come over the sea that black mist and haze were starting to stir once more.
“Let’s go.”
Duke Yuma and his party were ready to ride the silver giant seahorse, Silvivia, just like two days before. The difference this time was the number of people in Yuma’s group.
With the inclusion of the White Night Clan and Tisha, there were now 35 members advancing behind the hundreds of Mullen Tribe warriors in the distance.
Whooshhh──
The densely packed warriors of the Mullen Tribe began to halt simultaneously.
Once again, Yuma stood next to the Mullen Tribe King, Yeerkur.
This time, even more Sea Serpents were pouring out from the start.
Ruuuumble!
With a burst of intense flames, the three sword masters from the White Night Clan, including Bell, drew their swords.
Whooshhh!!
The long blade of the sword sliced through the sea, and the sword flashes began to hunt the Sea Serpents in one fell swoop.
The density of the blade.
The gap between Expert and Master was clear.
Duke Yuma pondered as he faced a Sea Serpent baring its teeth in front of him.
‘It seems it’s definitely not an intelligent being.’
Considering that his comrades had been mercilessly slaughtered just yesterday, seeing it stick its snout out again was baffling.
Kaaaaarng!
A golden circular wave erupted, signaling a successful parry.
<Absolute Counter>
Scream!!
The Sea Serpent that had lunged forward was instantly killed.
This time, he could see nearly fifty crimson eyes emerging from the mist.
However, it seemed like the creature, too, had a different mindset compared to two days ago.
Grrrrrrrrr…
It cried out.
Then, over thirty Sea Serpents that had ventured outside the fog started to regroup.
Grrr…
And the creature approached.
Its subordinates fell back while it advanced forward.
The massive body faintly visible beyond the mist was easily comparable in size to the Black Dragons, Elcam and Acreon, encountered in Count Rubelt’s territory.
Just seeing it get closer caused the ocean to churn.
‘That creature.’
Did it withdraw the Sea Serpents because it was aware of [Absolute Counter—Bonsai]?
Did it consider it might die from that unknown power?
If it retreated its subordinates based on what it witnessed two days ago beyond the mist, then this Leviathan was far more intelligent than expected.
Swooshhh!
The mist scattered.
And it fully revealed itself.
Seemingly larger than the Black Dragon, which was nearly 100 meters, due to gliding over the sea.
[Lv.426] Leviathan
Species: Sea Dragon
Alignment: Evil
Level: Demigod
Characteristics: A being controlled by an unknown god. It has self-awareness, but its intelligence is only slightly above that of a whale.
It’s high level.
The problem is that whales boast the highest intelligence among fish species.
The demi-god level strength, combined with the intelligence of a whale, shouldn’t be underestimated.
Rather, it was enough to secure the top of the food chain.
The Leviathan slammed the ocean with its massive tentacles.
It wasn’t even a particularly strong hit.
Swooooosh—!!!
But the great whale showed unmistakable signs of something unusual.
Duke Yuma’s eyes snapped wide open.
Cracklecracklecrackle!!!!
The sea began to thrum.
As if it were alive.
The furious currents of the great whale bared its teeth at Duke Yuma.
A wave, worthy of being called a water column, surged upward.
‘Not me.’
He quickly realized he wasn’t the target.
Kreeeek!
It was the fierce wave aimed at the Silviria he was riding.
Swoooosh────!!
Duke Yuma’s body soared above the ocean along with Silviria, driving far away to the back.
It looked like a significant distance from that gigantic Leviathan.
‘Oh no.’
—Damn it.
Duke Yuma felt like he was literally floating.
Balmung, in the form of a protective magic, enveloped Duke Yuma’s entire being.
Just before his airborne body slammed into the great whale.
-I will deploy the defensive magic for landing, Master.
Balmung spread a protective barrier over the horizon.
Landing like he, along with Silviria, had just touched down on a mat.
Duke Yuma could see the countless tentacles plunging down from the Leviathan.
He began to understand why the Leviathan catapulted him so far away.
It seemed intent on first sending him out of the way while it killed the rest of the Mullen Tribe and the White Night Clan.
Kreeeek—
“Let’s go.”
Duke Yuma urged Silviria to move forward once again.
Swoooosh
‘Hold on.’
Duke Yuma faced the Leviathan, the monstrous beast with a dragon’s head.
Countless spear-like tentacles lunged at him in attack.
‘If I just stick to what I practiced, I should be able to hold on.’
Demigod.
Demi-god.
Not even able to deliver effective hits, an opponent that’s hard to kill.
Even the sword master’s blade would struggle to slice through that blueish skin.
But he thought blocking the attacks would at least be possible.
At least until he reached the very frontline again.
Duke Yuma trusted the 30 elite knights from the White Night Clan that he had summoned.
The power of the defensive tactics forged over generations by the king of the giant tribe, Ades.
And he believed in the strength of the nearly thousand Mullen Tribe members he could see.
The Mullen Tribe he had observed for over two weeks wasn’t made up of people who passed the time carelessly.
*
The Mullen Tribe, primarily characterized by sky-blue skin, whether warriors or mages, all plunged their right hands below the surface.
Sssss…
A golden current spread out beneath the waves.
That current awakened the spirit of one of the marine creatures lurking in the depths.
My intention has been awakened.
A marine creature in the form of a turtle.
Over 500 [Archelon] with bodies approaching 10 meters gazed up at the surface.
“We must protect the sea together.”
This was the common thought shared by the Mullen Tribe as they pleaded with the Archelon.
The giant sea turtle, Archelon, resonated with the earnest wish of the Mullen Tribe.
On the surface, the Archelon formed a wall by gathering vertically.
Thud thud thud thud!!
The dense, massive carapace of the Archelon completely blocked all of the gigantic tentacles extending below the surface.
Above the water, countless massive tentacles with blade-like claws, more than 50 in total, struck down, but none could surpass the intangible barrier.
Boom! Boom!!
Literally, it was perfectly blocked.
On top of the seahorses, the swords of the warriors from the White Night Tribe blazed fiercely.
Sword barrier.
A curtain made of swords overlapped with the [Water Barrier] deployed by the mages, completely preventing the tentacles from getting close.
“Maintain the frontline!”
The voice of the king of Mullen continued.
“Switch!”
The mages who had exhausted their mana swapped places with the resting mages.
“Deploy a shield barrier on the ground so we can leap up!”
“Understood!”
Believing they had pushed Duke Yuma far away, the Leviathan with the dragon’s head sent its subordinates, the [Sea Serpents], beyond the mist once more.
Swish swish swish!
The three sword masters from the White Night Tribe, including Bel, were surrounded by protective energy.
Crash!
The three sword masters leaped off the defensive barrier the Mullen mages had deployed on the surface.
Swipe!
And then, they slashed through the heads of the [Sea Serpents].
“Graaaah!”
Two members of the White Night Tribe and three Mullen warriors were seriously injured, but there were no other visible damages.
Above the raging sea, the sword lights of the White Night blazed endlessly.
In contrast, under Leviathan’s orders, all fifty of the [Sea Serpents] that emerged from the fog were exterminated.
The fierce battle of three master-level warriors of the Mullen Tribe, including their king, and three sword masters of the White Night Tribe.
And it was the outcome of the fierce strikes from the remaining warriors.
The sea turned red.
“Well held.”
A voice came from behind.
There stood Duke Yuma.
Splash…
Duke Yuma was walking with both feet.
Creating clear, small ripples.
Splash─
He was literally walking on the sea.
Gracefully, without any help from barriers.
Hestia stood there, mouth agape in shock.
“W-what, the God of War is walking on the sea─!!”
Duke Yuma, somehow ignoring Hestia’s sounds that sounded perilous, continued his divine strides.
Splash─
The ripples were widening.
