“H-Hieeeek-!”

Even from a distance, I could hear Krun’s horrified voice as he floated there as a sacrifice.

At least during this moment, I had no thoughts of shitting on him for being a coward.

After all, even Talion and Riru had their mouths wide open and didn’t seem to intend to close them anytime soon after seeing the existence right before their eyes.

“...Is that a dragon? From the Myths of Creation?”

“It’s called a Sea Serpent, but strictly speaking, it’s not that kind of dragon.”

In the world of Sera, dragons were not such… ‘Insignificant’ creatures.

They played a role in maintaining the entire world, so even in the game, they wouldn’t reveal themselves unless it was truly a special case.

Of course…

That did not mean that the Sea Serpent was an easy opponent.

At the very least, in terms of specs related to ‘combat power’, although they were inferior compared to the real deal, they were still at a level where they could proudly call themselves as part of the dragon race.

Just looking at what followed proved that.

System Message

[ A moment of danger has been detected.]

[ A powerful adversary that can potentially become hostile is observing you. ]

[ Skill: Desperation raised to A-Grade. ]

---!!!!

As soon as the Sea Serpent, which had revealed its gigantic figure, opened its mouth and let out a roar, an ear-shattering shockwave spread through the surroundings, as if tearing the air itself apart.

The roar contained a ‘wave’ terrifying enough that Talion and Riru covered their ears in horror and collapsed beside me.

“Fuck— This— Just from this roar alone—!”

Such words trickled through Riru’s clenched teeth.

Beyond a certain grade, a Demonic Creature’s roar would possess a special effect; Before entering combat, it would cut down the opponent’s stats.

Considering that this roar was something that came from an existence that was a part of the dragon race…

System Message

[ Physical Defense decreased! ]

[ Magic Resistance decreased! ]

[ You instinctively feel fear due to the difference in status. Physical movement becomes sluggish! ]

I guess it was safe to say that it was more a curse skill than just a roar.

Your average mages would need to spend several tens of minutes to barely cast a debuff at this level, but this fucker just needed to scream to do it.

‘...Wait, isn’t it actually a curse?’

In the game, a dragon’s roar was classified as a curse.

Fortunately….

Since they classified it as such, I had a skill that could reasonably counter it..

[ Skill Info ]

Skill: Conquest of the Devil 降魔

Grade: Unique

Description: Those who have faced curses for a long time naturally become familiar with ways to resist them.

[ ◆ Opens the VS. Curse Related Stat, ‘Devil Conquest’. ]

This was what I was talking about. The thing I ripped off Yuria.

System Message

[ Rolling ‘Devil Conquest’ Stat… ]

[ Resistance successful. You will not be affected by any negative effects! ]

There you go. Jackpot!

While Riru and Talion were still lying on the ground, gasping for breath, I was able to move without trouble. So, I activated the emergency safety device of the boat.

A blue force field was generated near the boat. The roar that had been echoing in our ears was blocked, allowing those two to stand up, barely.

“...How can you move so freely after facing that kind of existence—?!”

“Because I’ve been training hard lately.”

“...”

What I got from her as a reply was a gaze that said, ‘That isn’t something that someone who became half-dead just from a little bit of running should say!’

I was telling the truth, though. This was the result of my advance planning.

If I didn’t rip off the ‘Devil Conquest’ stat in advance, I would’ve been paralyzed like those two.

“...That aside, what are we going to do about that guy?”

Talion said as he pointed toward the limp Krun, who was a distance away from our boat.

It seemed like the roar made him faint since he hadn’t been moving for a while now.

“Mm.”

I nodded my head before yanking back the fishing rod connected to him.

As Desperation A-Grade was applied to my stat, it was not difficult at all to fling the pig into the air if I used all my strength.

After drawing a large arc, he flew way past the back of the boat before falling into the sea with a splash.

Alright, with that, the dude would have a lesser chance to be killed by the Sea Serpent.

“...Is that enough?”

“People won’t die just from hearing someone’s yell.”

“...”

“He might be traumatized, though.”

I mean, he just needed to float around the water to survive from now on.

Since he was a successor of a War Chief, he should have at least one item that could prevent him from drowning, right?

Whatever state he was in, as long as he didn’t die, we were all good.

“As expected of Senior Brother. You’re merciless for someone who has the same gender as you.”

“...Are you trying to say that I’d treat a woman differently?”

“Am I wrong?”

“...”

Shush.

“If you guys have time for small talk, think about how to immediately get out of here instead!”

Seeing us bicker, Riru whispered quietly.

She seemed to have no intention of needlessly provoking the existence in front of us.

“It doesn’t seem to have any intention to attack us yet.”

Indeed.

The Sea Serpent, whose sacrifice had disappeared right before its eyes, was alternately looking at where the sacrifice had been and at us while blinking its large eyes.

All that had happened was that something right in front of him had disappeared. It was unable to understand where it went or why it happened.

“...Isn’t it dumber than it looks?”

Talion said these words in an incredulous voice.

“Yes. It’s unimaginably strong, but it’s dumber than an ordinary Demonic Creature.”

This was the biggest difference between dragons and the Sea Serpent.

Through their Super Intelligence, Dragons were even well-versed in all knowledge regarding Pandemonium and Heaven. As such, in terms of intelligence, the levels between them were a difference of heaven and earth.

It wasn’t for no reason that I belittled it as an indigenous being instead of a Demonic Creature.

Fun fact, the reason why it popped out after seeing the sacrifice was because it saw something edible floating on the water the moment it woke up from its sleep.

That was why it didn’t seem to have any hostile intent towards us.

“Then, we should quickly get out of here while it’s still trying to figure out what just happened—!”

“...I agree.”

With cold sweat dripping, Riru’s words trickled out in a whisper and Talion, who heard this, voiced his agreement in a hushed voice as well.

Both of them shared the same opinion; Under no circumstances should they provoke the existence in front of them.

And their decision was undoubtedly correct.

Considering the difference in stats between that thing and us, it didn’t make any sense for Desperation to only be stuck at the A-Grade. It was safe to say that this happened because it didn’t have any interest in us at the moment.

“No, there’s a better option for us to do.”

With a blasé attitude, I scratched my cheek.

While the Sea Serpent remained still and silent, I kicked the lever and released the force field near the boat.

“Talion. Did you bring the spear? Not the one used by your household. The disposable javelin used for throwing.”

“I did bring it, but why…?”

“Good. Give it to me.”

After receiving the spear under his suspicious gaze…

“Heup.”

I immediately threw it with all my might towards the Sea Serpent.

The spear hit the dorsum of its nose with a thud, before bouncing off without leaving a single mark.

Talion and Riru turned towards me with dazed expressions.

“...”

Mm.

Surprisingly, I didn’t do any damage whatsoever.

Since my Tristan-Style Swordsmanship guaranteed a certain amount of damage regardless of the weapon used, I thought at least the tip would pierce it a bit.

However….

At least I managed to succeed in drawing its ‘attention’.

After all, the blinking eyes that had been searching for its sacrifice just a moment ago, now fixated on us.

“...I thought you said that that thing’s strength is equal to a dragon's?”

“I did.”

“You knew this and you still provoked it?”

“I did.”

“...Why?”

In response to Riru’s despondent voice, I gave her a weird look.

“Didn’t you say you want a high score? And you have to get it no matter what?”

“...”

“A dragon will give you a high enough score, won't it?”

“...”

Riru quietly closed her eyes.

She wore an expression as if she had given up on everything.

“...I’ll be going first, Granny.”

“...”

While she was mumbling something similar to a will…

System Message

[ A moment of danger has been detected.]

[ Determined the situation as life-threatening. ]

[ Skill: Desperation raised to EX-Grade. ]

The Sea Serpent’s fierce roar cascaded down on us.

A tsunami was approaching.

Until a moment ago, a storm had been raging, but now, it had turned into an incomparably enormous tsunami; Its height was several tens of times bigger than the boat we were currently steering.

One of the Sea Serpent’s most useful abilities was its ability to manipulate the current. For it, this was as easy as breathing.

“Wait, this will immediately capsize the—!”

What I was trying to say was, we shouldn’t be panicking just from this much,

I grabbed the screaming Talion by his shoulders and immediately pushed him inside the cockpit.

“Grab the helm.”

“...What?”

“Ever since we departed, I’ve taught you everything about steering the boat. So, you steer it.”

I grinned at Talion, who was looking at me with a blank expression.

“Get a hold of yourself. I believe in you.”

At the very least, among those who I could bring to such a situation without feeling burdened, Talion was the only one who could do this kind of work.

His extemporaneous abilities were good, his focus was good, his dexterity was good, his memory was good, and most importantly, I didn’t have to worry about any ‘backlash’ from him.

“...If you believe in me, can you please discuss with me first before you do such insane things, Senior Brother?!”

Despite his screaming, he still took over the wheel and faithfully followed my commands. Not only that, he also dutifully performed evasive maneuvers to avoid the incoming tsunami.

While the boat slid through the middle of the wave as if it was surfing, Riru and I were tossed around on the shaking boat.

“Do you really intend to fight that thing?!”

“If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have provoked it!”

Riru bit her lip and stared at me.

“...Did you entrust the future of your Style because he’s someone like this, Granny?”

“What did you say?!”

Why was she muttering in this kind of situation?

Seriously, I couldn’t hear her! If she wanted to say something, she should SPEAK LOUDLY!

“It’s nothing. How are we going to win, then?!”

“Win?”

“You had some kind of plan, right?! You didn’t risk your life for nothing, right?!”

I felt a bit sorry for Riru, who made such an assumption, but…

“We can’t win!”

“...”

I continued to speak to the dazed Riru.

“In the first place, how could we win against something like that? It’s a dragon! We can’t win even in a million years!”

“...Then why did you pick a fight with it in the first place, you crazy motherfucker—!”

“Because it’s necessary!”

No matter what the situation was, I loved to plan things up from the very start in a step-to-step manner.

Bringing Talion along to the Tribal Alliance was to use him for this very moment and extracting the Devil Conquest stat from Yuria was also to make good use of it now and for later.

And, as for what I was trying to do to the Sea Serpent…

I wasn’t trying to fight it, but… How should I put this…

I was going to leave an ‘Imprint’ on it.

So that it would make a ‘specific reaction’ whenever it saw me.

And…

Such groundwork would undoubtedly be of crucial help later on. Specifically, at the end of this chapter.

“That’s great and all, but if we continue like this, we’ll be wiped out! We at least need a way to fight back—!”

“Of course there’s a way!”

Saying that, I pounded on the cockpit door.

“Talion! Slow down!”

“What?! If we slow down now, the boat will immediately cap—!”

“It’s fine, just hurry up!”

“...Seriously, I don’t care anymore!”

After that scream, he made the boat slow down. Almost immediately, it became exposed to the enormous tsunami and swayed violently.

However, that gave Riru and me a very brief chance to move.

“Heup!”

When that moment came…

I grabbed Riru and jumped to the top of the boat.

Since the boat had a mast, when I came up all the way here with a single bound, the altitude itself felt different.

It was to the point that I could feel the anger filled within the Sea Serpent’s pupils.

Seeing us, the Sea Serpent lifted its foreleg. It seemed to be intending to strike us down on the spot.

If that strike actually connected, forget about us, the entire boat would be smashed to pieces.

That was why, at this moment, I should…

“Riru.”

“What?! If we don’t move quickly, we’ll get screwed by that—-”

“Stay still.”

…Adjust Riru’s position.

I gently put her down behind me and finely adjusted her position.

So that…

It appeared as if I was covering this person with my body to ‘protect her’.

And then, I embraced her deeply.

In order to make us look like lovers.

“...”

“...”

Riru spoke with a voice that sounded like she was holding back, even as she reached her limits.

“...What are you doing?”

“I’m devising a way to fight the Sea Serpent.”

“...This?”

“Yes.”

I confidently replied to Riru’s soulless voice.

“...”

Obviously, my words sounded like absolute nonsense on the surface…

But this was the only way to get out of my current ‘situation’.

While the Sea Serpent was important…

‘Something’ that would come after was also as important.

I sneakily opened the system window.

And I read through the ‘logs’ written there.

System Log

[ An emergency event may occur soon! ]

‘...If someone is subjected to something multiple times, they’d gain the ability to learn from it.’

What I had realized over the past few days was that the obsession of the Devils was much greater than I thought.

Even Eleanor, who was generally mild and gentle when it came to matters regarding myself, went berserk after a few situations were blown out of proportion, causing it to go awry.

In other words….

By now, even without anyone teaching me, I had learned through my experiences that ‘something’ that was more sensitive about my ‘relationships’ than Eleanor would arrive about now.

With that thought in mind, I naturally took out one of my countermeasures.

Seeing this, Riru forgot about the situation for a brief moment and blinked her eyes in a daze.

“...What’s with the mask all of a sudden?”

“If I don’t wear it, I’ll die.”

“...”

“Seriously. Without it, I’m fucked.”

Because a certain someone was coming.

Even when compared to the Sea Serpent, it was someone that could cause phenomena close to natural disasters….

That someone was dozens, no, hundreds of times more terrifying.

And as I had such thoughts…

--!!!!!!!!

Someone, filled with rage from head to toe, swung a ‘white sword strike’...

And it split the Sea Serpent’s forelegs, which were about to descend upon us, in two with just one blow.