ALL NOVEL Chapter 267
Chapter 267. Island of Death (5)
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The giant octopus was causing a ruckus, ready to smash the ship at any moment.
On board, everyone was engrossed in hunting the beast.
Standing side by side were Yoo Ji-han and Lee Mi-a, facing Chilla, who held up a shield.
“Chirp! Captain! Meal companion! Are you ready?”
“What’s a meal companion?”
“It’s the companion you have at mealtimes!”
“Whatever it is, let’s start!”
The two jumped toward Chilla almost simultaneously.
“Chirp!!”
[Shield Bash]
Zhiing!
The shield glowed blue as Chilla infused it with magic.
As the soles of their feet touched the surface of the shield when they jumped from the ground—
Boom——!
Using the skill created a recoil that sent Yoo Ji-han and Lee Mi-a flying in a diagonal arc.
Naturally, the octopus blocking their path couldn’t just let them go.
Swish!
One of its eight legs hidden underwater reached out toward them.
‘Just as I expected.’
The legs attempted to grab both of them at once.
As the already anticipated attack came flying toward them, the Sylph attached to Yoo Ji-han used magic.
[Air Suit]
A unique magic created by Kim Si-hu, combining existing spells.
It greatly increased airborne duration while allowing for more freedom of movement.
Yoo Ji-han felt the rate of his fall slow dramatically.
He dodged the swinging octopus leg by throwing himself out of the way.
Whoosh—!
The threatening octopus leg passed above Yoo Ji-han’s head as he hovered in the air.
Lee Mi-a also moved in a similar manner to evade the leg.
The octopus, having lost its target, drifted away, leaving only the sound of wind behind.
‘Those suckers are terrifying.’
The moment he faced the octopus’s sucker up close, it was huge like a refrigerator door.
The instant he got caught by that sucker, it wouldn’t simply stick, but he would be sucked in entirely due to its immense size.
‘Let’s go!’
As they dodged the leg, Yoo Ji-han exchanged a brief glance with Lee Mi-a and leaned forward toward the octopus.
Applying the effect of [Air Suit], their bodies slowly descended toward the octopus’s location.
Bubbling!
Around the octopus, unable to grab them with its legs, bubbles began to rise.
At the same time, Yoo Ji-han felt a surge of magic from beneath the sea.
Fwoosh!
The octopus, catching them off guard, shot water upwards from its mouth between its legs.
A plain stream of water containing nothing but seawater.
However, the tremendous pressure with which it was expelled surpassed that of bullets fired with gunpowder.
—Yap!
Waiting for that moment, the Sylph stirred the air around Yoo Ji-han and Lee Mi-a.
It served to protect the ship they were all on while controlling the movements of the two airborne figures.
Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh!
The shuddering bodies of the two dodged the water jets that the octopus spewed in succession.
Lee Mi-a had a tense expression, as if she found it strange to entrust her body to a spirit rather than herself.
The stream of water powerful enough to break through clouds above would mean that if the Sylph made even one mistake, they could get hit and faint.
—Oh ho ho ho! Didn’t hit a thing!
But with an exceptional magical processing ability, the spirit made no mistakes.
Ultimately, the one to give up first was the octopus continuing to blast water from its mouth.
Fwoosh——!
The octopus, turning a deeper shade of red, lifted several legs.
It was recalling even the legs that had attacked the ship to target Yoo Ji-han and Lee Mi-a.
“Lee Mi-a!”
“Let’s go!”
Receiving Yoo Ji-han’s signal, Lee Mi-a took off, propelled forward by the wind from the Sylph.
Naturally, the octopus’s legs focused on her as she approached.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoooooosh—!
Eight legs swung threateningly through the air.
The suckers clinging to every leg seemed ready to latch onto them at any second.
“Huah!”
Lee Mi-a twisted her body to avoid the incoming legs as much as possible.
However, her options in midair were limited.
Like performing yoga, she twisted her waist and curled her body in the air to minimize contact with her surroundings.
Thump!
Suddenly, one of the octopus’s highly adhesive suckers touched her back.
Caught faster than expected, Lee Mi-a clenched her teeth.
Sqqqqkr!
With an eerie sound of metal twisting, her armor began to warp slightly!
It was sucking her in with immense strength, as powerful as the suction itself.
“Ugh!”
Lee Mi-a stiffened her body against the sucker trying to engulf her along with her armor.
Despite her armor contracting more and more, she maintained her unyielding posture.
Among their party, it was possible for her, who had unmatched strength and endurance, to hold her ground.
Splash!
Even after being pulled underwater by the swinging leg, she held her breath and endured.
Crack!
In the end, it was her armor that broke apart before her body was sucked into the sucker.
As the sucker devoured the shattered armor and torn clothes, Lee Mi-a swam beneath the octopus while holding her breath.
The octopus was unprotected as it searched for Yoo Ji-han with its eyes.
——After falling into the sea, she was lying in wait for her chance to attack the octopus from below.
Being caught by the sucker and dragged into the water was all part of Yoo Ji-han’s plan.
‘To think you’d predict a situation like this…’
It might be seen as overly audacious.
But there was no doubt that a chance to strike the octopus directly had arisen.
At the same time, the Sylph spoke to Yoo Ji-han, who was still floating in the air.
—I could let you breathe underwater!
“Just keep my presence concealed as much as possible.”
As a creature of the sea, it would be more sensitive to magic usage underwater.
The octopus mustn’t be allowed to alter its belief that it had already dispatched Lee Mi-a.
‘It’s gotten distracted by me.’
Swish! Swish!
The octopus waved its legs around, targeting Yoo Ji-han.
As he was receiving concentrated fire from the creature, it was becoming more difficult for him to hold on.
He drew out Qudie from his waist.
‘Just one shot is all I need!’
Swish—!
Surrounded by a green aura and with the Sylph, the wind spirit, dwelling within Qudie.
A terrible energy radiated from the blade that seemed to twist like a whirlwind.
Boom!
Feigning collision with an incoming octopus leg, Yoo Ji-han plunged the tip of his sword deep inside.
“Gah!”
As he flew along with the leg, Yoo Ji-han didn’t let go of the sword.
Merely slicing along the surface wouldn’t suffice.
He had to pierce deeply enough to see the octopus’s blood.
Splosh!
Eventually, Qudie fully penetrated the octopus’s leg and succeeded in absorbing its blue blood.
Yoo Ji-han, who had somehow fallen into the water without touching the suckers, spotted Lee Mi-a waiting for him.
Gathering strength and magic as much as he could, he shouted until blue veins appeared along his neck.
“Second and third legs, and the gap in the middle of its mouth!”
Those were the weaknesses of the giant octopus relayed by Qudie.
The number of legs was determined based on the octopus’s front, following a clockwise direction.
‘That’s it!’
Having received the desired information, Lee Mi-a didn’t hesitate and rushed towards the octopus.
Arriving directly at the identified weak point.
[Heavy Strike]
Holding the hyper dragon’s bone given by Min Yu-ri tightly between her fingers.
She swung her fist into that spot with all her might.
Boom——!!
A massive wave spread out from the impact point, taking on a donut shape!
That wave traveled through the seawater, reaching Yoo Ji-han’s body.
‘If I get hit, I’ll be finished.’
Even submerged in water, it felt as if cold sweat was dripping down his back from the sheer force of the attack.
Tremble, tremble, tremble!
The giant octopus thrashed in agony.
The shaking grew more intense over time, and the seawater encircling it surged dramatically.
“Attack!”
The heroes aboard the ship launched various follow-up attacks.
Thanks to the dragon bone lodged in its weakness, the octopus showed no sign of regenerating its injury anymore.
And then.
Boom!
The body of the dead octopus floated to the surface, completely turned upside down.
*
Kim Si-hu and Min Yu-ri reached out to Yoo Ji-han and Lee Mi-a as they climbed back onto the ship.
Soaked to the skin, the two took their hands and stepped onto the deck.
“Are you okay?”
“Is that thing dead?”
“It’s dead. For sure.”
“Then it’s all good.”
Yoo Ji-han shook out his wet hair, looking at the slain octopus.
Just moments ago, the creature had met its death and lay completely still.
‘It was the most terrifying of the ones we faced in Kallem.’
Had it approached the shore instead of remaining at sea?
The fundamental reason for calamity to arise in this world could have changed.
Bang! Bang!
Soon, Watanabe, who had drawn closer, slapped Yoo Ji-han on the back.
“Wahaha…! You’re definitely not normal, are you?!”
“Is that a compliment?”
“Of course it is!”
Watanabe had planned to jump into the sea himself if Yoo Ji-han failed.
But with the success of the attack, he grinned more joyfully than anyone else.
‘Another giant has emerged from Korea that can threaten me!’
Reflecting on the events of Kallem, Watanabe’s conviction was solidifying even further in this moment.
Park Jae-kyung, watching them, said to Yoon Do-ha beside her.
“Ji-han is too reckless.”
Yoo Ji-han’s attempts, which could lead to a big incident at the slightest mistake.
Park Jae-kyung, who had accompanied him from Yeosu to retrieve Yoon Do-ha, expressed both concern and caution regarding Yoo Ji-han’s reckless decisions.
However.
“But it brings good results.”
“That’s true, but…”
“I’ve told you how I was saved by Desa, right?”
“…….”
“He has the skill and confidence to back it up.”
Petty worries only applied to ordinary people, mere mortals.
Yoon Do-ha had already recognized him as an equal.
It was too difficult for him to regard Yoo Ji-han through the same lens as Park Jae-kyung after all the feats he had displayed up to that point.
“Mumu. Is the ship repair done?”
“Mmhm! Fixed the broken parts.”
“Then we can set sail soon.”
“Before that, let’s take some of that octopus’s body.”
Before they set out once more for the Island of Death, Yoo Ji-han cut off some of the giant octopus’s leg meat, suckers, and teeth to bring along.
It was a gift for the blacksmith Nam Ho-yeol, who was waiting in Korea.
Of course, he didn’t forget to recover the used hyper dragon’s bone.
The other heroes watching all this remarked:
“Can we take some too?”
“Help yourself. It’s too big for anyone to carry it all anyway.”
“I’ll pay however much!”
“Eh? I didn’t catch this one by myself…”
Those asking to pay money from Earth in exchange for portions of the giant octopus’s body!
Desa swallowed hard, seeing people grab loot from the monstrous octopus fearlessly.
‘Looks like I poked the wrong person.’
The ship laden with cut-up octopus parts headed toward the direction of the Island of Death.
And after some time had passed…
“There it is.”
“Oh….”
An island appeared that resembled the shape of the Island of Death drawn on paper by the sailors at the tavern.
As Yoo Ji-han compared the drawing with the real island, the ship drew near.
Just as everyone was about to disembark from the ship.
“Everyone, hold on for a moment.”
Desa, who had a deeply furrowed brow, halted them.