Chwa-rururururuk! Tentacles densely filled the air, descending. Simon flapped his cloak, gripping the greatsword with his right hand and swinging it. Chwaaaaaaaak! The sky seemed to split as dozens of tentacles were severed whole, tumbling onto the deck. "......?!" Pinch's expression hardened drastically as he watched the tentacles fall with thuds. Suddenly, the level of power had changed. Just moments ago, he was overwhelmingly pushing his opponent, but now, the atmosphere around them had shifted as if it were a different person. The moment Pinch unconsciously stepped back, Simon's figure reached his back like lightning. '......What the!' Sreung! Simon raising his greatsword upwards was faster than Pinch pulling his body back. Pinch's right arm flew into the sky, spraying blood. "G-Guaaaaaaah!" Pinch writhed in agony. "My arm! My arm!" Even as Pinch thrashed in extreme pain, he felt a question arise. Just like with the tentacles earlier, why wasn't it regenerating? His gaze fell to his severed arm. It was as if the part cut by the sword had necrotized, transforming as if it were no longer a part of his body. "Give up." Simon, wearing a skeleton helmet, effortlessly held the greatsword upright with just his right hand and spoke. His shadowless, blue-green cloak fluttered in the wind. "Next, I'll take your head." "......!" Overwhelmed. Pinch felt a deep dread and fear towards this junior, who was much younger than him. Over twenty tentacles, and one arm, were rendered irrecoverable in a single strike. Pier's Greatsword was the perfect counter to Pinch's uninjurable body. He bit his lip tightly, then let out a resigned smile, tilting his head back. "......Haaah, alright. I admit it." "?" "Indeed, even at seventeen, I was called a genius, but I wasn't as strong as you. If Special Admission Student No. 1 is at this level, then I can understand why I couldn't enter Kizen." Simon frowned deeply. "Even in this situation, is your academic background such a complex? What you should be thinking about right now isn't Kizen, but the innocent people who lost their lives because of you." "Well." Pinch, who had been staring blankly with his head tilted, rolled his eyes to look at Simon. "To a Necromancer, death is as close as deep sleep. After my sister's death, the deaths of others cause no emotional fluctuation in me." "......." "More importantly, the undead you command seem quite extraordinary." Pinch tore his tattered shirt. A jet-black magic circle drawn across his entire chest became visible. It was a formula too complex for Simon, a first-year Kizen student, to understand, but he could recognize the formulas drawn on all four sides. 'Permanent Rune!' Once embedded in a living creature, it was a formula that parasitized the creature's Jet Black directly and remained effective until the creature reached death. Pinch's body transforming into liquid and back was likely due to the effect of the magic circle containing this formula. "Aren't you curious which will be stronger? Your undead, or the monster I control?" Pinch placed his palm on the rune in the center of his chest, twisting it with a click like turning a button. Jet Black began to rampage within his body. "......What are you doing now!" The moment Simon grabbed his greatsword and was about to leap in, Pier stopped him. [Step back, boy!] "Huh?" Pinch's entire body turned liquid and swelled like a balloon, then burst with a 'pop!' sound. Simon's eyes wavered in disbelief. Pieces of his flesh and organs splattered onto the deck. "Ugh......!" At the gruesome sight, Simon involuntarily gagged. Then, panting, he looked at the 'things that used to be Pinch' scattered around. The organs and flesh that had been pulsating as if alive soon slumped and stopped moving. 'He killed himself.' "Commander......! No, Master!" Erzebet transformed into her female form and came up onto the deck. Shun was in her arms, but she covered his eyes so he wouldn't see Pinch's remains. "Is it all over?" "Looks like it." Simon quickly scanned his surroundings. "......Something's not right." Wheeeeeeeeeeeeng! Wind and rain blew violently. Unidentified sea fog blocked the sunlight in the sky, spreading even thicker. Swaaaaaaaah! The ocean currents rapidly intensified, beginning to swirl. The three large pirate ships entangled here also shook violently. "Commander! Behind you!" At Erzebet's shout, Simon quickly turned around. Horrifically massive tentacles of a mollusk were rising from the seawater. [What is that now?!] Swaaah! Swaaah! More tentacles rose from the sea. There was nowhere to escape. The tentacles surrounded the entire ship, wrapping around anchor poles or climbing onto the deck. "Ugh, it's disgusting!" "No!" Erzebet and Shun shrieked in disgust and retreated. This time, at a distance from the pirate ships, the surface of the seawater began to rise high as if fluctuating. 'That's......!' Simon's eyes widened. Moments later, what emerged from the seawater was the massive body of a monster octopus. -Even this size isn't an adult yet. No one has ever captured an adult Kraken. He recalled the first day he arrived in Blue Harbor, when Pinch explained the Overlord at the exhibition. That was an adult Kraken. "Master! Why is that monster attacking us?" "I don't know!" Boom!! The Kraken's body clung to the ship's hull. The mouth in the middle of its body gaped open, and the Kraken's tentacles wrapped around Pinch's corpse, which had fallen on the deck, and shoved it into its mouth. It then ravenously crunched and devoured Pinch. 'What the hell is going on!' After swallowing Pinch, the Kraken's body detached from the ship again. Its mouth submerged in the sea, only its head part exposed above the water. Then, the skin at the top of its body bulged and rose. Udug! Udu-du-dug! Lumps appeared on the Kraken's skin. The lumps twisted and coiled. Arms popped out, a face formed, and holes appeared in various places. These holes formed eyes, nostrils, ears, and a mouth. It was bizarre to call it human features, and the distance between its eyes was wide, and its mouth was crooked, but it had become something that could be called a 'person'. Because. [Did you see, Simon!!!] It could call his name. [I have now surpassed you! And surpassed 'them'! Fused with the Kraken, I am the strongest in the sea!] Kugugugugugugugu! Over twenty tentacles rose from the sea. [With this body! With this power! I will drown every single one of you and the humans of Blue Harbor! And I will go to Locke Island! Neptis will pay the price for her wrong choice! I! Pinch, who was not chosen by that witch!] His mouth, vertically positioned in the center of his face, opened, splitting his eyes, nose, and head in half. [Am the strongest!!] Chwa-rurururururuk! The twenty tentacles exploded forward. Simon quickly used Pier's power to leap. Chwaaaak! Chwa-ruruk! Tentacles with suckers grazed various parts of Simon's body. Intense sparks flew from Pier's armor, and Simon felt as much pain as Pier did. This was a dimensionally different level of power, speed, and flexibility compared to the tentacles Pinch used when he was in human form and liquefied his body. There was no comparison. "Erze! Take Shun and go inside the ship!" "Yes!" The shadowless cloak spread wide. Simon's speed increased even more, now shooting out like a flash of light. Dozens of straight and curved lines chased a single dot running on the ship's railing. "Kueeuh!" Simon looked back and swung his greatsword. Massive tentacles were severed and fell, but this time, instead of regenerating from the cut surface, new tentacles burst out from above it. [Hahaha! I won't fall for the same trick twice!] Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang! Kukung! Everywhere he looked, he saw the Kraken's sucker-covered tentacles. And most importantly, the hull wouldn't be able to withstand this and would sink. He couldn't drag this out for too long. [Boy! Behind you!] "!" Simon quickly raised his greatsword above his head. A Kraken's tentacle, plunging down like a spear, pushed Simon's back onto the deck. "Kuh!" With a strong force, the floor broke through, and Simon's body fell to the lower deck. He avoided being pierced by the greatsword, but two more tentacles broke through the ceiling, and then three tentacles pushed Simon's body down. Kwaang! Kwoong! Jjeok! Simon's body fell from the 3rd floor to the 2nd, and from the 2nd to the 1st. And then. Eujeojeojeok! Five tentacles pushed Simon's body, finally piercing a hole in the ship's bottom and shoving Simon into the sea. Due to the impact, Simon lost his grip on Pier's sword. "Keuhp!" Simon held his breath. As he entered the seawater, which was vulnerable to undead, he felt Pier, who was wearing him, lose strength. [Boy!] Chwa-rurururururu! He couldn't do anything against the strong force pushing him down. Pinch, who had brought the Kraken's body into the water, extended an arm. One tentacle wrapped around Simon's waist and began dragging him deeper into the sea. [It's all over now!! Kizen's pawn!] Pinch's mad laughter echoed. He was losing strength in his body. His breathing became ragged. [Boy!] Even Pier's voice in his head sounded faint. Simon felt his mind go blank. The seawater felt peaceful and warm, to the point where frantically running on land, dodging monster tentacles in the rain, seemed ridiculous. [Snap out of it! Boy!] Amidst his wavering sanity, he barely maintained consciousness with Pier's voice. 'Yes, I'm listening, Pier.' [What are you doing! Are you going to give up like this?!] 'I won't give up.' Simon stretched out his right arm towards the bottom of the ship, which was getting further away. 'Too much is at stake.' Shun's life, his client. Erzebet's life, who came with him. The residents and tourists of Blue Harbor. And the safety of his friends who might be performing missions or studying somewhere on Locke Island. 'Come.' Simon's right arm, covered in Pier's bones, was dyed in Jet Black. Bubbles rose from the bottom of the ship, which was moving further and further away. 'Come!' Chwaaaaaaaah! Simon's Absolute Command activated. Pier's Greatsword descended at an incredible speed, like a fish swimming through the water. Pinch, seeing this, shrieked and sent tentacles, but they were merely torn and split by the blade imbued with the power of destruction. Chaak! And. In an instant, the sword entered Simon's hand. Simon gripped the hilt tightly and swung his arm down. Jjeok! The tentacle wrapped around his waist fell off, showing a clean cut. As the pressure on his waist released, Simon took a stance, holding the sword forward. [I will explain the principle of the slash only once, so listen carefully!] Simon tilted the sword sideways, and following Pier's explanation, began to pour all his Jet Black into the sword. The sword shimmered, vibrating with tremendous momentum. Bubbles rose in the surrounding seawater, and a dazzling light radiated from beneath the dark sea. Chwa-ruruk! Chwa-rururururuk! Pinch immediately sent twenty tentacles. Simon maintained his firm stance even as the enemy's offensive, filling his vision, approached. [A slash is not about cutting the target in front of you.] Pier's voice flowed in clearer than ever. [You must swing the greatsword to cut an opponent far, far away. But the moment you perceive the 'distance' to the opponent in your mind, it will become a futile strike that only cuts through empty space. Therefore, eliminate the distance and maximize only the image of cutting the opponent along with the space itself!] Kugugugugugugugugu! A tremendous amount of Jet Black surged in Pier's Greatsword. The surroundings churned like waves. With twenty tentacles filling his vision, Simon gritted his teeth. 'Along with the space!' His waist rotated, and his right arm moved. Pier's bones attached to his body reproduced thousands upon thousands of times of experience and karma directly onto Simon's body. 'Cut it!!' The moment the condensed Jet Black burst from Pier's Greatsword, a white sword strike cleaved through the sea, extending in a straight line. Chwaaaaaaaaaaaak! The high sea splits. The slash cut through the sea, reaching the sky above the surface in an instant. The Kraken's tentacles and body that entered the gap in the split sea were all cleaved in half. Pinch's eyes wavered in dismay. 'How......' The Kraken's body split from the waist, disintegrating. '......How can such power exist?' Kuru-rururuk! Then, Simon approached Pinch's nose, cutting through the water. He had used the remaining Jet Black in his greatsword like a jet propulsion. Simon silently swung his sword. Jjeok! And finally. Pinch's body was split.
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