EP.21 The Protagonist Hides the Artifact (2)

 

Thanks to what Xiao had told her, Parang knew what kind of entity occupied this space.

 

A starfish. One of the most famous non-fish marine creatures.

 

Its soft, star-shaped form was now an indispensable element in illustrations of shallow seas.

 

At first glance, it appeared cute, and many people kept them as pets.

 

But what appeared before Parang was the most horrifying form a starfish could take.

 

ㅡㅡㅡ…!!!………!!!ㅡㅡㅡ……

 

An irregular, chaotic noise. Its volume, pitch, tone, and even sound quality seemed to change constantly as it moved.

 

Parang’s ears were not deceiving her. With countless heads making sounds one after another, it was no wonder it sounded like that.

 

The three-thousand-legged monster, Gorgon.

 

Oceanos had traveled the world’s seas, encountering and hunting all sorts of monsters.

 

As such, the topic of “What is the strongest monster?” often came up in conversation.

 

Excluding the Kraken, this debate was so fierce it never ended.

 

However, when it came to “What is the most grotesque monster?” everyone agreed.

 

It was the Gorgon before Parang.

 

The original three-thousand-legged creature had five legs, with countless tentacles branching from them, hence the name.

 

But the Gorgon had replaced its tentacles with ‘heads.’

 

The heads of the creatures it had devoured.

 

ㅡㅡ…!!……ㅡ!!ㅡㅡ!!!

 

Five massive legs. From these, countless tentacles branched out like tree branches, writhing chaotically.

 

At the ends of these tentacles were the heads of Bellua, Galecus, Makula, and thousands of other monsters, each moving erratically.

 

It looked like a tree with heads instead of leaves.

 

From above, it resembled a massive tumor growing from the ground.

 

The largest leg, extending from its body, was 150 meters long.

 

Like the Tubuka, starfish-type monsters were measured by the length of their largest leg, not their body length.

 

Considering the original species was about 8 cm, its gigantism was grotesque.

 

Given its size, the heads sprouting from its legs were also proportionally large.

 

Parang hid herself for the moment. Xiao had asked her to confirm something.

 

‘I couldn’t see it in detail because the connection with the skeleton was cut off as soon as I approached.’

 

This information couldn’t be ignored.

 

‘There was something resembling a human face on one of its legs.’

 

If she summoned the Kraken, it would immediately start to flee. There would be no time to capture and observe it leisurely.

 

Parang hid behind a nearby rocky pillar and began to inspect each of the outstretched legs one by one.

 

Some were familiar, others were not.

 

However, what Parang was specifically looking for had not appeared yet.

 

The Gorgon was already the apex predator in the monster ecosystem. In this closed environment, it had no natural enemies and lived as a tyrant, so it had no reason to be cautious. It stretched its body leisurely outside.

 

Thanks to this, Parang could observe each leg meticulously.

 

While she was doing this, a monstrous anglerfish drifted through the red water and approached.

 

It opened its massive jaws, displaying the menacing teeth on its lower jaw.

 

Each of those teeth was about 10 meters long.

 

As it neared the Gorgon,

 

– Wham!! –

 

One of the Gorgon’s massive legs shot out like a bullet and ensnared the anglerfish.

 

ㅡㅡㅡㅡ!!!!

 

The anglerfish realized too late that it had encountered the Gorgon and struggled to escape, but it was already too late.

 

The writhing heads on the Gorgon’s legs simultaneously turned to stare at the anglerfish.

 

The anglerfish’s struggles ceased as if it had been paused.

 

Petrification. An excessive power for a living creature.

 

The heads attached to the leg holding the prey each sank their mouths into the anglerfish’s body, sucking its blood.

 

They needed to get their share before delivering the prey to the main body.

 

After a while, the anglerfish, now riddled with various holes, was released from the heads.

 

It looked like a sponge.

 

Then, the Gorgon’s massive leg slowly began to coil back towards the center.

 

Unlike typical starfish, the Gorgon lived with its mouth facing upwards.

 

A circular hole, resembling a squid’s mouth, opened wide.

 

As the coiled leg brought the anglerfish to the opening,

 

– Crunch!! Crunch!! –

 

It began to chew the anglerfish. Flesh, fins, teeth, bones—all were crushed and chewed.

 

The anglerfish was sucked inside and ground up like in a blender, soon disappearing from sight.

 

Then, from the leg that had just captured the anglerfish,

 

– Crunch!! Crack!! –

 

The sound was like a bug being crushed underfoot.

 

ㅡㅡㅡ!!………

 

The head of the anglerfish that had just been devoured burst through the shell and grew out.

 

It looked like a plant stem breaking through the soil.

 

Now part of the Gorgon, it swayed along with the other heads.

 

At that moment, Parang concluded her observation.

 

She had found what she was looking for.

 

………!!

 

A human face, contorted in pain, was clearly growing from one of the Gorgon’s legs.

 

The once-beautiful platinum hair was now sparse and patchy, having been dragged across the ground by the Gorgon’s movements. The face, which must have been that of a slender beauty, was now grotesquely crushed.

 

Judging by its condition, it had been at least three weeks since this person had been devoured by the Gorgon.

 

If the head had been intact, Parang might have attempted to identify it, but in this state, there was no choice.

 

Fortunately, it seemed not to be completely mangled.

 

If she could just cut off the head and bring it to Xiao, they could identify it and even access the person’s memories.

 

Although, for humanitarian reasons, they usually avoided such extreme measures.

 

Having made her decision, Parang moved swiftly.

 

……ㅡㅡ!!!

 

Parang first gauged the Gorgon’s awareness. If it weren’t for that head, she could summon the Kraken and absorb it immediately.

 

The Gorgon was fast. When it needed to catch prey or flee, it moved violently, not caring if the heads on its legs were crushed or mangled.

 

If she provoked it and the head was crushed, it would be a disaster.

 

Parang took a moment to consider.

 

Hmm, perhaps a surprise attack was the only option.

 

She distanced herself from the Gorgon and circled around the cave to the leg where the head was located.

 

She hid behind a rocky pillar in front of that leg.

 

Peeking out cautiously, she saw the target head not too far away.

 

Taking a deep breath, Parang prepared herself.

 

Bubbles rose with a soft gurgling sound as Parang shot forward like a bullet.

 

– Swish-!! –

 

Immediately, all of the Gorgon’s heads turned towards Parang.

 

This was expected. If turning their heads delayed their reaction time, it was an advantage for Parang.

 

Petrification?

 

[Skill, ‘Unsinkable Ship’ is activated.]

 

Such a trivial debuff had no effect on Parang.

 

In reality, it was far from trivial. Among the Oceanos, only Parang and Diego were completely immune to petrification.

 

Others might not be fully immobilized but would still experience significant slowing.

 

Why did Diego give up? He simply didn’t want to deal with the Gorgon. Even if he picked up an artifact, Diego couldn’t use it properly since artifacts couldn’t be enlarged.

 

That’s why, upon hearing about the Gorgon, the entire Oceanos team, except Parang, had withdrawn.

 

– Swish- Slash-!! –

 

Parang’s spear swiftly severed the targeted head.

 

The flesh, already rotting from the inside, fell away, leaving only the bones.

 

Swimming at a tremendous speed and being underwater likely contributed to this.

 

Unable to bite through the monster’s shell with human teeth, the nutrient supply had naturally been cut off. The more she thought about it, the more tragic the end seemed.

 

This made Parang furious.

 

That wretched fish dared to do this to a human. If it wanted to cause such havoc, it should have done so among other monsters.

 

Of course, the question of how a human ended up here should have come first, but Parang was still human.

 

Seeing a person in such a pitiful state right before her eyes instinctively made her feel terrible and angry.

 

And she could always find out how they got here later.

 

For now, her focus was on that damned starfish.

 

“…Kraken.”

 

Holding the now skull-only head, Parang summoned the Kraken.

 

Her fierce expression, combined with the vertical pupils that appeared when she transformed, made her entire face radiate pure rage.

 

ㅡㅡㅡ!!!……!!!ㅡㅡ!!……!!!

 

And then the battle ended. As the Kraken appeared, the Gorgon, which had been about to flee while screaming, was caught by the tentacles and torn into five pieces.

 

Inside, blood, flesh, bones, and partially digested pieces of meat fluttered about chaotically. Soon, the Gorgon was transformed into the Kraken and disappeared into some unknown abyss, leaving only Parang and the skull behind.

 

All the teeth were shattered; there was not a single intact part left. Parang managed to suppress the emotions welling up inside her once more.

 

Fortunately, apart from that, the preservation state of the rest was relatively good. Parang offered a silent prayer for the departed soul and then began to carefully search the cave to recover the artifact.

 

—

 

Author’s Note

 

Today’s monster, the Gorgon, is based on a real-life creature called Gorgonocephalus eucnemis, a type of basket star. It’s quite famous, and you can easily find videos of it on YouTube or information on Namuwiki.

 

Personally, I recommend videos by BackgroundTV. They offer beautifully shot videos in high definition from various angles.

 

Also, I’ve corrected a line from episode 11 that said ‘Parang visits the orphanage every day.’ There was no mention of ‘every day’ in the original text file, and I’m not sure how that got in there.

 

It might have been a word that inadvertently slipped in while rewriting the sentence during editing.

 

Thank you for reading today.

 

Author.