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Staring at the scene unfolding far away at Bordeaux Port, Esiocles muttered in admiration.

“Huh, looks like they’re smashing things pretty cleanly. Seems like someone with some strength.”

The seawater pouring down refreshingly, and the giant octopus legs squirming powerfully, sweeping everything around.

The thickness of each leg was close to the width of a small ship, and the rampage of the octopus legs was truly a disaster-like spectacle.

To the sailors, it was clear that carelessly entering Bordeaux Port in this state was extremely dangerous.

“Looks like docking at the port normally is impossible, huh?”

When the captain asked the first mate, the mate looked at the captain with a face that said, “Isn’t that obvious?” The captain, feeling disrespected by the mate’s insolent gaze, inwardly vowed to cut his pay later and crossed his arms, muttering to himself.

“Getting to the next port will take more than a day or two. The port we need to resupply at is blocked. What do we do…?”

The captain clicked his tongue, realizing they were in a tight spot. Life was like that sometimes. Occasionally, you’d find yourself in a dirty, unavoidable situation where you couldn’t do anything, and it wasn’t as rare as you’d think.

At least in the lower ranks, where choices and responsibilities weren’t required, you only had to take care of yourself. But as a captain with subordinates to manage and the responsibility of making decisions for them, nothing was more disheartening.

As the captain was lost in thought, he suddenly noticed a commotion on the bow deck and called over the duty steward.

“Something’s noisy again. What’s going on this time? Go check it out and come back.”

After hearing the steward’s report, the captain wondered if the steward had eaten something wrong or if he was daring to play a prank on him, the captain.

“What? People running on water?”

His suspicion that his ears were broken was only dispelled when he finally saw the scene for himself.

Seeing the four figures running on the water like a mix of water striders and grasshoppers, the captain stopped doubting the steward and his ears and started worrying about his own eyesight.

+++++

Bordeaux Port, Kingdom of Franquia. Located in the Gironde region of the Duchy of Aquitaine in the southwestern part of the Kingdom of Franquia, this city was proudly counted among the specially treated cities within Franquia and Aquitaine.

On land, the Garonne and Dordogne rivers merged to form the massive Gironde estuary, while to the west, warm ocean currents from the southern sea flowed by.

This combination of a large river estuary and the sea made Bordeaux a region where both agriculture and fishing thrived, and it was also famous as the birthplace of the renowned Bordeaux wine.

The wealth accumulated from this prosperity made Bordeaux flourish, and it formed a high level of historical and cultural soil. The pride of the Bordelais was no less than that of other regions in Franquia.

However, even such a bustling city couldn’t boast of its prosperity in the face of an unexpected disaster.

“Ahhh, everyone run!”

“Its legs are smashing the ships and warehouses!”

“Dammit, isn’t there a master of the Reverse Muscle Technique!?”

To face giant monsters head-on, at least a 2nd or preferably 3rd-level Ethereal Muscles master of the Reverse Muscle Technique was needed. But in reality, even those who had achieved 1st-level were often called masters and strutted around.

At this moment, there were no such masters of the Reverse Muscle Technique in Bordeaux Port, which was Bordeaux’s tragedy.

Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the port manager of Bordeaux Port, was running for his life from the Kraken’s rampage, feeling the urge to pull out his already thinning hair.

“Why! Why on earth is the Kraken suddenly coming up here and causing havoc!?”

Facing the reality of the damn giant octopus threatening his roots without any camaraderie, Baron de Coubertin felt a surge of nausea.

As he ran, he kept muttering words of despair, ruin, and his life being ruined. In his frantic escape, he tripped over a rock and fell, trying to get up quickly but ended up rolling on the ground due to the pain in his ankle.

“Ugh, ugh, ugh, damn it, damn it!”

Looking back, he realized he was still within the reach of the Kraken’s legs. His heavy body made his movements sluggish.

He firmly resolved in his heart that if he survived, he would start dieting and training in the Reverse Muscle Technique. But the heavens were indifferent, and as he looked up, he saw the Kraken’s leg high in the sky, about to crash down and destroy the streets.

Thinking he was surely doomed, Baron de Coubertin was about to accept his death when a miracle happened.

“Is it you who’s the enemy of my Bordeaux wine!?”

With a crash, a nun knight in a blue and white nun outfit and armor appeared, wielding a halberd. Hildegard glanced at Baron de Coubertin, who was rolling on the ground with a sprained ankle, sighed, and raised her halberd.

“Surraz! Enuwalios!”

With a short cry, divine power and blessings descended upon her, granting the strength of Surraz and the tyranny of Enuwalios.

In the past, she would have needed to chant a long prayer or hymn to invoke such divine blessings, but now, simply calling the names of the gods was enough.

She had grown stronger and more skilled.

The blessings of Surraz’s strength and Enuwalios’s tyranny on a 3rd-level Reverse Muscle Technique master. Prepared, Hildegard didn’t dodge the Kraken’s massive leg but instead struck it head-on.

*Crash!*

The sound of the iron halberd striking the marine creature’s flesh was unbelievably loud. Baron de Coubertin, his face pale from the deafening noise, stared in awe as the nun knight sent the massive leg flying.

Meanwhile, Hildegard wasn’t the only one who had arrived.

“I’ve never tried Kraken meat before! I wonder how much it’ll help with muscle growth!”

A half-naked, muscular monk appeared, striking a strange pose as he grabbed one of the Kraken’s legs and pulled it out of the water.

“Somrakaih an-fasra a-fasan i-kliaban na-masa-mara…! (O brethren of the plants growing in the embrace of the mother sea!) Feyol arna eidris ag karai-geacha geara knapacha…! (Flesh disguised as sharp and rugged rocks!)”

“Pas suas (Grow)! Por (Prosper)! Geb mo naimd (Bind my enemy)!”

Conra, wielding Ogma’s Spear, used alchemy and druid spells to make seaweed and barnacles grow on the Kraken’s body.

Meanwhile, Sophia, who had arrived at the scene early using the Mind-In-Action technique, stood in mid-air, naturally observing the situation and trying to figure out why this had happened.

‘This is strange. Normally, Krakens rarely approach human ports.’

Just as human races were wary of monsters, monsters were also wary of human races.

Especially large monsters, having lived long lives, had the wisdom to avoid unnecessary conflicts with humans. After all, those who boldly challenged humans had all died out, and only those who avoided direct clashes survived. It was only natural.

‘Where is it? Where is it?’

Sophia was sure that some sorcerer was behind this. And as she expanded her senses, both physical and Qi Sense, to search for the mastermind, she finally caught the presence of something.

“Oh ho.”

In the next moment, her figure appeared in front of a deep warehouse in Bordeaux Port.

“Really, the minions of demons are everywhere. How long has it been since I left Franquia, and already such creatures are running rampant?”

“Tch, we’ve been spotted.”

In front of the warehouse stood a suspicious figure in a hooded robe. Of course, it wasn’t alone.

The dense, fishy stench of old seafood permeated the air.

“Judging by this foul smell, you must be connected to those fish-headed creatures. What’s your relationship with the Sphiyagons?”

The hooded figure didn’t answer. Instead, he rolled his eyes cunningly, looked around, and then suddenly shouted.

“Hmph, what are you doing? The enemy is alone! Attack!”

At the hooded figure’s command, the creatures hiding near the warehouse rushed out. They were none other than the Sphiyagons, a malicious race resembling a mix of fish and lizards, crudely shaped like humans.

Following the hooded figure’s command, the Sphiyagons immediately charged at Sophia, the threatening obstacle before them, with killing intent.

 

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