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The battle with the rampaging Kraken at the port was reaching its climax.

“I’m going, Saraswati!”

[…!]

The sensual spirit of the sacred being appeared from behind Esiocles, embracing his neck before transforming into a radiant aura and merging with his body. In that moment, Esiocles, a half-naked muscular man, felt both his physical and ethereal muscles bulk up simultaneously. With an aura that distorted the atmosphere in an instant, Esiocles grabbed the Kraken’s leg and tore it off.

{―――――!!!}

The Kraken, now missing a leg, let out a silent scream. The scream manifested as a monotonous yet sharp psychic wave, a writhing that disturbed the waters, and a toxic ink that stained the sea.

Meanwhile, others were also preparing their final moves against the Kraken.

{Remember. Giant monsters are creatures that cannot sustain their bodies without the workings of mystery. Even sea monsters, with fewer restrictions, are no exception. So, if you want to harm it, mere physical attacks won’t be enough.}

{You remember what I taught you before, right? The knack for harmonizing the mystery of spells and the vigor of spear techniques.}

Guided by the advice and support of Spirit Esras-Hermes and Spirit Rugus-Artaeus, the spear of Hero God Ogmios in Conra’s hands traced a dazzling yet fluid trajectory.

The spear and sword techniques passed down from Sophia erupted at this very moment. The spear techniques of the long spear formation, the short spear techniques for close combat, the polearms, various halberds, and the intricacies of the double-ended spear and six-harmony spear all swirled and unleashed in an instant. Ogma’s Spear seemed to rejoice in Conra’s spear techniques, continuously emitting a mysterious light.

And at one moment, the boy’s five senses expanded and contracted repeatedly, and the muscles in his calves and thighs swelled, regardless of whether they were ethereal or physical.

The heightened Qi Sense and spiritual senses clearly perceived the flow of mystery within the Kraken’s body at this very moment.

Conra’s form, with its center of gravity lowered as if preparing for a sprinter’s start, left an afterimage and disappeared in the next moment. He reappeared in the air, high enough to look down on the Kraken’s leg.

‘God of War Bolg, spear of Hero God Ogmios! Witness my valor now!’

In mid-air, Conra twisted his upper body to the fullest. It was to unleash the power surging from his waist. The ethereal muscles around Conra’s waist, trained to an unprecedented degree under Sophia’s guidance, swelled as his shoulder and arm muscles bulged. Finally, Conra hurled the spear with all his might.

Kwaoooooo――!

Like a comet leaving a trail of light through the solar wind, Ogmios’ Spear became a destructive flame tearing through the sky, descending towards the Kraken.

Of course, the Kraken couldn’t ignore such a threatening attack. It desperately moved one leg to block the incoming spear.

{―――――!?}

But the result was devastating. The Kraken’s leg, which had intercepted the spear, was torn to shreds along the spear’s trajectory. The force and rotational energy imbued in the spear were too much for the Kraken’s flesh to withstand.

Fortunately, the Kraken’s sacrifice of a leg wasn’t in vain, as the spear’s trajectory, originally aimed at the Kraken’s main body, was deflected and missed its mark.

But Conra wasn’t disappointed. Descending with the divine technique of the Heavenly Emperor, the boy pulled his right hand, which had formed a sword seal, back as if reeling in a fishing line.

Soon, Ogmios’ Spear returned to Conra’s gesture. Though not as powerful as when it was thrown, the spear still carried a formidable force, writhing through the air as if alive, and was drawn back into the boy’s grasp. And in the process, another half of the Kraken’s leg was torn apart.

Hildegard was also dealing with the Kraken in her own way.

“Ariel!”

Responding to Hildegard’s call, the elegant spirit appeared behind her. Like Saraswati with Esiocles, she embraced her contractor before transforming into a radiant aura and merging with Hildegard’s body.

With Ariel’s support, Hildegard once again called upon the names of the gods.

“Surraz of Power! Perun of the Sky!”

She invoked the blessing of power from the War God Surraz and the judgmental thunder from the Sky God Perun.

Soon, the halberd, enlarged to an unimaginable size by Perun’s blessing, crackled with sparks, and a visibly dangerous lightning imbued it. Around the halberd’s axe blade, the air ionized and burned, creating plasma and ion particles.

And Hildegard didn’t leave the enlarged, lightning-imbued halberd idle.

“Tryaaat!”

With Hildegard’s fervent shout, the halberd’s axe blade swung without hesitation. Soon, one of the Kraken’s legs was effortlessly severed by the fiery strike. The Kraken’s suffering didn’t end there. The lightning, seeping into the severed area, threatened the sea monster with every passing moment.

Despite the Kraken writhing in pain and spewing ink, the group remained vigilant. When dealing with such giant monsters, one must never be too confident of the outcome. They had to remain cautious until the very end, thoroughly defeating it.

It was around that time that something happened.

“――――!!!!”

Right after Esiocles, Conra, and Hildegard’s attacks inflicted significant damage on the Kraken, a deafening noise struck the entire city.

If described with onomatopoeia, it was a ‘Kwaoheoheo―heng――!’ explosion of sound, reminiscent of a large feline predator’s roar, pressing down on people’s spirits and forcibly shattering the dark, twisted parts, a fearsome and mighty roar.

‘It’s Sophia.’

‘Master.’

‘Sophia.’

The three immediately recognized that the roar was Sophia’s doing. As far as they knew, no one else in the world could do such a thing.

Just as their attention was momentarily drawn to the lion’s roar that shook the city, something else happened.

“Eh, wait a minute, Priest! Sir Wolfstein! The Kraken is escaping!”

“What?”

“Hmm, so it has come to this.”

Taking advantage of the momentary distraction, the Kraken suddenly began to flee. Was it because of Sophia’s lion’s roar imbued with the power of exorcism? The once-rampaging Kraken seemed to regain its senses, leaving behind three severed legs as it hastily moved away from the port.

Watching the Kraken retreat into the deeper waters, Hildegard clicked her tongue in disappointment, while Esiocles nodded as if he had expected this.

“I thought it was strange that such a massive sea monster would suddenly attack the port. It seems it was being controlled by someone.”

“Ah, indeed. But it’s a bit of a shame. It was a great opportunity to stock up on drinking supplies.”

“Uh, excuse me. Sir Wolfstein, aren’t the legs left behind more than enough for drinking supplies?”

“Huh? Ah, that’s not enough! We’re not going to eat all that, and there’s still the problem of rebuilding the damaged ships and port facilities.”

In response to Conra’s question, Hildegard replied as if it were obvious. Even though Hildegard was a nun knight with a penchant for drinking, she still had the heart to provide at least some aid to those who had lost their property and lives in the unexpected disaster.

If she hadn’t had that kind of mindset, she wouldn’t have been able to enter the clergy in the first place.

“By the way, that giant octopus has turned the entire sea into a mess of ink. I heard Kraken ink is toxic and harmful to sea creatures.”

Hildegard frowned as she looked at the blackened coastal facilities and seawater.

“Ah, I think I can handle purifying the seawater.”

“Oh? Really? Wow, you’re really capable.”

“Haha, it’s nothing.”

Conra scratched the back of his head, embarrassed by Hildegard’s praise. Esiocles, listening nearby, also nodded repeatedly, impressed by Conra’s boundless competence.

Meanwhile, as the three discussed the aftermath of the disaster at the port, the presumed culprit of the lion’s roar, Sophia, appeared at the docks. In one hand, she dragged the limp body of a hooded man, his hood now removed, revealing a face that was a bizarre mix of human and Sphiyagon. Blood and brain fluid dripped from his ears, nose, and eyes, likely due to Sophia’s lion’s roar.

“Sophia! Is that the culprit?”

“Ah, I’m not sure if there are others behind him, but it seems this guy was the leader of those who caused this incident.”

Sophia nodded in response to Hildegard’s question, shaking the hooded man by the collar.

“Let’s all take a look at what kind of guy he is.”

With that, Sophia used her free hand to remove the hood, revealing the strange, hybrid face of the man. His ears, nose, and eyes were bleeding, likely from Sophia’s lion’s roar.

 

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