Chapter 165
For a moment, he thought he had misheard.
But then, the God of the Enraged Sea spoke again in a similar tone.
– Hahaha! You insignificant beings! None of you will leave this place alive today!
Hearing this, he felt an odd sense of cheerfulness, almost humor.
What was this?
Was that creature always like this? Ahn Suho looked up to see above its head.
However, the creature was so tall that its nameplate was not visible.
Yet, there was no doubt that it was a boss monster.
At that moment, Suho realized.
Why he could hear such sounds coming from a boss monster.
[ Animal Communicate is currently activated. ]
It was due to the Animal Communicate trait he had copied from Kim Noah.
Realizing the truth, Suho chuckled.
‘So, this guy is an animal after all.’
Whether it was the God of the Enraged Sea or a boss monster, its true identity as a giant octopus remained.
Just then.
“Everyone, set up the barrier!!”
“Yes!!”
A shout came from an unknown man.
He was a wizard.
A wizard the captain had already placed on board for situations like this.
The wizard giving the command was the lead wizard, and following his orders, his subordinate wizards spread out and began chanting incantations.
Before long, runes and formulas emerged around the ship, and a massive barrier enveloped it.
[ A barrier to protect the ship has been created. ]
[ The barrier is not invincible; if the boss monster is not defeated in time, the ship will sink. ]
At the same time, a system notification appeared before Suho’s eyes.
The notification was a warning.
A directive to defeat the boss monster before the barrier broke.
However, the notification did not end there.
[ Bonus points will be awarded based on the durability of the barrier remaining when the boss monster is defeated. ]
[ Bonus points will be awarded based on the number of wizards remaining when the boss monster is defeated. ]
[ Bonus points will be awarded based on the number of crew members remaining when the boss monster is defeated. ]
Additional notifications appeared.
It was a type of quest.
A quest that would reward bonus points.
Suho’s eyes sparkled as he read this.
‘Rewards like this are usually converted into reward items or experience points!’
So he absolutely couldn’t let this slip away.
At that moment, a colossal leg of the boss monster slammed onto the barrier.
Bang!!
A massive roar, as if a firewall was being pounded.
Some of the wizards groaned and staggered from the single impact.
They were forming a magic circle that connected their spirits to utilize the colossal barrier, so the impact on the barrier was evenly distributed among all of them.
Seeing them groan, Suho frowned.
‘My bonus points!’
Every single move felt precious in this situation.
He had to quickly come up with a plan.
If this kind of attack continued a few more times, there would be no bonus points left for Suho.
‘I absolutely refuse to let that happen!’
So, he had to take down that creature quickly.
A glint of resolve shone in Suho’s eyes.
Soon, Suho took a deep breath and began running toward the ship’s bow.
The boss monster’s leg was stretched toward the bow.
Bang!!
The boss monster’s leg struck the barrier above the bow.
And just as its leg remained attached to the barrier, Suho leapt up.
Then, as he reached the highest point of his jump, he used the double jump option to soar even higher.
The distance was tight.
No matter how high he jumped, he couldn’t reach the creature’s leg.
But at that moment, Suho extended his Blood Weapon like a staff.
Thwack!!
The Blood Weapon pierced precisely into the creature’s leg.
Its size was barely comparable to a toothpick embedded in a log, but it was enough to anchor him briefly.
And at that moment, the boss monster began retracting its leg, having failed to break the barrier.
This was exactly what Suho aimed for.
By getting close to the creature in this way, the boss monster’s aggression would be directed at him, ensuring the barrier, wizards, and crew members remained safe.
Pulled toward the boss monster’s torso along with its leg, Suho released the Blood Weapon the moment he got close to its body.
Then, he summoned a new Blood Weapon, transforming it into sharp spikes covering his shoes like crampons, and landed atop the creature.
At that moment, the boss monster noticed Suho belatedly and laughed boisterously.
– What?! Who are you!!
Two of its legs shot out toward Suho’s direction.
Suho ran.
The creature’s legs moved fast.
The speed of its legs was surprisingly swift, given its massive body, but Suho’s speed was even faster.
As a result.
Its legs ended up piercing its own body.
– Argh! What are you!!
The creature roared in anger.
From the boss monster’s perspective, Suho was like a cockroach.
Even for an elephant, catching a cockroach clinging to its massive body would be a struggle, no matter how dexterous its trunk.
Knowing this, Suho stuck close to its body.
‘This is the weakness of gigantic monsters. Without defense mechanisms on their own body, they’re forced to attack themselves.’
Suho held his Blood Weapon once more.
This time, it took the form of a Blood Sword.
The crampons remained in place.
Normally, only one Blood Weapon could be created at a time, but the Blood Weapon had been enhanced by True Blood, allowing for multiple summons.
‘As long as there’s enough blood stored in the Blood Orb, I can keep summoning Blood Weapons!’
With the Blood Sword in hand, Suho immediately cast a buff on himself.
[ Holy Enchant has been activated. ]
[ Blessing has been activated. ]
Two skills activated, imbuing Suho with a pair of white lights.
With his buffs complete, Suho continued running while keeping an eye on the legs rushing toward him.
Then, as the creature’s leg was about to strike him, Suho swung his sword with both hands, channeling magic and blood into the Blood Sword, extending the blade to a length several times longer than usual.
[ Cloud Slash has been activated. ]
Slash!
The timing was flawless.
Just as a frog snatches a fly, the blade cut through, strengthened by the force of the swing and the Holy Enchant, slicing off a leg that was dozens of times thicker than the blade itself.
– You impudent wretch! How dare you?!
Realizing its leg was severed, the boss monster erupted in rage.
But it wasn’t because of the pain.
Like an elephant enraged by a mere cockroach cutting off its sacred leg, the boss monster was infuriated that such a small, insignificant creature dared to defile it.
And so, a smile spread across Suho’s face.
The sheer absurdity of this massive octopus considering itself sacred amused him, and he was greatly satisfied that he had managed to provoke it.
– I won’t let you go!!
The enraged boss monster extended its remaining legs toward Suho.
Three legs rushed toward him.
With eight legs in total, and one already severed, it had seven left.
This time as well, Suho dashed across its slippery body, skillfully evading the three pursuing legs.
Then, he quickly turned and drew out the Blood Sword, extending it like a frog’s tongue once again.
[ Cloud Slash has been activated. ]
Slash!!
– Aaaah!!
Despite turning his whole body and sweeping in a wide arc, he could only cut through two legs.
But considering the size of the boss monster’s body, this was an enormous accomplishment.
With only five legs remaining, the boss monster finally let out a howl of rage, having lost nearly half of its strength in an instant.
[ The God of the Enraged Sea lets out a howl of fury. ]
[ Boss monster-class fear has been activated. ]
So, that’s it.
Its name was the God of the Enraged Sea.
Ridiculous.
Since when did such a god exist in this world?
Of course, naturally.
[ Dragon Blood has been activated. ]
[ Due to the Dragon Blood’s Draconic Spirit effect, the fear does not apply. ]
Suho was immune to the god’s fear.
He no longer evaded.
Instead of dodging, he charged straight toward its forehead.
The boss monster, exuding fierce hostility, finally took out something it had kept hidden, determined not to use it.
[ The God of the Enraged Sea uses Black Aqua Mist. ]
Black Aqua Mist.
It spewed from its mouth.
At the same time, its entire body was shrouded in a thick, black fog; it was none other than ink.
Then the boss monster raised its legs like swords.
It thought that by darkening the entire field of vision, Suho would be rendered helpless.
So, it struck at Suho with four of its remaining legs.
However, this was a grave miscalculation.
Slash!!
An intense pain.
A clear slicing sound.
The creature’s eyes widened like never before.
And in the darkness, a voice that sounded almost demonic resounded.
“You fool.”
The octopus heard it clearly.
A chilling voice mocking it, slicing through its flesh in the darkness.
It was Suho’s voice.
In the darkness, Suho sliced through the octopus’s legs without hesitation.
It couldn’t be helped.
The creature assumed that blinding its prey’s sight with ink would suffice, but, unfortunately, it had no effect on Suho.
[ The Original Vampire effect nullifies darkness limitations. ]
Darkness isn’t exclusive to the night.
Even if the source of darkness is ink, as long as its nature is darkness, Suho remained unaffected by it.
Having severed the octopus’s legs, Suho fearlessly dashed toward its head once more.
The timing was perfect.
The ink it had emitted cast a dark shadow that shared the same properties as the darkness of shadows.
Suho drew out an ominously dark Ghost Shadow Spear from the octopus’s body.
Then, like a bullfighter, he hurled the spear at its forehead.
“Now, octopus! Take your shime!”
– Shime?!
Suho shouted “Take your shime!” as he threw the spear, and the octopus, not understanding, had it lodged into its forehead.
In seafood processing, “shime” refers to a technique to sever the nerves of cephalopods, like squid, to preserve freshness.
When used alone, it’s called shime.
When combined, it’s called ikejime.
Thus, the purpose of shime is to maintain freshness.
It isn’t used on creatures like live octopuses or squids that are boiled or served live.
Yet, there was no reason it couldn’t be done.
So, Suho hurled the Ghost Shadow Spear toward its forehead, where its nerves were likely located.
Since they were cloaked in darkness, Shadow Penetration would activate, severing its nerves for sure.
[ Shadow Penetration has been activated. ]
Thwack!
As expected, his plan worked.
The creature’s body slowly turned pale.
[ You have defeated the God of the Enraged Sea. ]
Suho had triumphed over a god.