Chapter 119

[Contaminated Kelduan casts [Straight Current].]

SKREEEEE!!!

The enormous turtle opened its mouth, sending a straight, spiraling torrent hurtling toward Woojin.

CRAAASH...!!

The rock behind him shattered into pieces.

“This is insane...”

Without Setsuna, he couldn't use [Focused Eyes], but judging by the power of its skill, the creature had to be at least level 90.

[Kelduan's contamination intensifies.]

[Contaminated power increases Kelduan's ferocity.]

▶ Attack increases.

And now these notifications sounded like warnings.

[Contaminated Kelduan's hostility reaches its peak.]

[Contaminated Kelduan goes berserk.]

That monster had just grown even stronger.

“Damn it!!!”

Its whole body now pitch-black, it raised its head like a dragon and roared.

THUD! THUD!! THOOOM!!

It accelerated toward Woojin, then tucked its limbs into its shell. Its body began spinning like a top, and the currents swirling around it began sucking him in.

THUNK!!

Woojin drove his sword into the bottom to keep himself from being dragged away. Ordinary ground would have been another matter, but the buoyancy lifted both his legs, making it difficult to keep his balance.

GRRRK...! GRRRRKK...!!

The embedded sword began sliding backward, little by little. He flailed, desperately trying to move even a little farther forward, but—

“A-aaargh!!”

THWUMP!!

The sword came free, and he was sucked into Kelduan's mouth in an instant.

SKREEEEE!!!

At that moment, the enormous turtle's head burst out of the lake.

“Eek!!!”

“Wh-what is that?!”

Ruen and Setsuna stared in horror at the monster that had appeared from beneath the lake.

SPLAAASH!!!!

Kelduan glanced at the two of them, tucked its head into its shell, and sank back into the lake.

“Wh-wh... what was that just now?”

“What about Master? What happened to him?”

Her face pale, Ruen shouted down into the lake.

“Master!!!!!”

But the churning lake gave no answer.

Without hesitation, she pulled the cord tight around her quiver's opening to keep her arrows from spilling out.

“What are you going to do?!”

“What else? Go after him.”

She strode toward the lake.

“I have the same title as Master. Breathing won't be a problem.”

“That's not the problem!! You said there were monsters all over the bottom of the lake!!”

“The little one's right. Entering the lake without a seahorse stone is far too dangerous!”

The boatman tried to stop her as well.

HUMMMM...!!

Just then, Ruen extended an open palm over the lake's surface.

SPLASHHH...!!

Light spilled out, and lesser water spirits appeared above the surface.

“Find me a way.”

As though they understood her words, the water spirits nodded and scattered beneath the lake.

“You can command spirits?”

“... Only lesser spirits.”

“I'm sorry, but lesser spirits won't help. To the monsters in Lake Kriemhild, they're nothing more than a tasty meal.”

The boatman shook his head as he spoke.

“I have no other choice. This is the best I can do, and Master is in danger right now. I'll get down there, whatever it takes.”

Her voice trembled.

“Even if it kills you?”

“Yes. He's precious to me.”

With that final answer, her trembling stopped, as though she had steeled her resolve.

“How curious. An elf so devoted to a human. I thought humans were nothing but filth eating away at nature.”

“... What?”

Something was wrong. Ruen backed away from him, her expression growing tense.

“That's why I had no intention of going out of my way to stop him from entering the lake.”

“Don't tell me... you sent Master down there knowing there was a Primordial Sacred Spirit below?!”

CREEEAK...!!

She drew her bow in an instant.

HUM... HUMMM...

At the same time, pure-white projectiles rose around Setsuna.

“Tell me. Who... are you?!”

Despite their wariness, the boatman remained perfectly calm.

[“I have seen many humans here. Those who enter the lake for no reason and hunt the monsters living within.”]

Suddenly, the boatman's voice changed.

[“Those who think nothing of pouring wastewater mixed with blood and filth into the lake.”]

At the same time, the old man's face began to melt away.

[“Humans are nothing but evil.”]

Before they knew it, a beautiful woman stood where the elderly boatman had been.

[“How is that man any different?”]

Her skin was transparent as water, her hair blue. Deep eyes that seemed to see through everything gazed at Ruen.

“He isn't.”

The woman looked puzzled by her answer.

“... My Master, too, sometimes kills people and destroys things.”

[“Why try to save a human like that?”]

Ruen looked at her and replied.

“Because I trust him.”

Strength entered her voice.

“He saved me when I'd fallen to rock bottom. The man who reached out his hand to me... I don't believe he's evil.”

[“Are you saying he's special?”]

“Yes.”

Ruen spoke without flinching.

“At least to me, he is.”

[“An elf trusting a human... I truly cannot understand it. Neither the gnome who fled a hunter, nor the fish-person who was sold from one circus to another, nor the unicorn whose horn was cut off... Not one of the other races has ever defended humans.”]

She looked at Ruen.

[“And yet, not just any elf, but a child of Uldin says she trusts a human, when humans brought the elves to ruin...”]

Ruen flinched. The woman apparently knew she was of royal blood.

[“Is that man worthy of salvation?”]

SHHHHH...

As she took a step, droplets hanging from the hem of her dress wet the ground.

[“Child. Will you truly enter the lake to save him? If he disappears, you will be free.”]

“I will.”

[“Even at the risk of your life?”]

“Yes.”

A curious smile crossed the woman's face at her answer.

[“With a heart like yours... perhaps you might be chosen by them.”]

“... What do you mean?”

It happened then.

DING!!

[You have discovered a quest.]

“...?!!”

[Quest Name: Trial of the Lake Queen]

▶ Grade: B

▶ The Lake Queen's trial has begun.

▶ Passing the trial will allow you to form a contract with a new spirit.

“Wh-what is this...?”

Ruen stared at the quest window before her in bewilderment.

[“I am Naiad, a great spirit.”]

The woman touched a finger to Ruen's forehead.

[“I shall see your resolve for myself.”]

SPLAAASH!!

At that moment, an enormous sphere of water engulfed Ruen.

“!^($$%!&$&!%%”

Her vision clouded, and Setsuna's cries began to sound far away.

[The trial has begun.]

The notification she heard as her vision blurred was also something she had never experienced before.

* * *

“... Cough! Cough!!”

Woojin vomited up the foul-tasting water rising in his throat and opened his eyes, breathing hard.

“... Where am I?”

SPLASH.

Water rippled like waves beneath his feet. The walls surrounding him writhed and moved.

'Inside Kelduan's stomach?'

THUMP. THUMP.

He put a hand against the wall and felt it pulse at regular intervals.

Swallowed by a Primordial Sacred Spirit...

He couldn't hide his disbelief at this utterly unexpected turn of events.

“How am I supposed to get out of here...?”

[You have discovered a hidden location.]

[Congratulations.]

[You can register your discovery with a guild to add it to the continental map.]

[You have gained discovery experience.]

Notifications suddenly chimed as he surveyed his surroundings.

“... Just how big is this thing for even its stomach to count as a location?”

Woojin gave a hollow laugh.

“What happens if I just cut my way out? If it dies, no one can get in anymore, so it wouldn't really count as a location...”

There had to be a reason.

'They wouldn't designate it a Hidden Spot just because it's big. Otherwise, a dragon's stomach would be a Hidden Spot too.'

THRUST. TWANG!!!

Woojin stabbed Kelduan's stomach wall with all his strength. It dented deeply, but then sprang back like rubber, pushing his sword away.

“Not even a scratch...”

Dragon Heaven, Second Gate — Strike

Bracing himself, he swung his sword again.

CRAAACK!!!

The sword wind flew from his blade and struck the stomach wall.

“Whoa?!”

Amazingly, it rebounded straight back at him, its power undiminished.

'Is it set up so I can't damage it?'

If so, it made sense that Kelduan's stomach counted as a [location].

'Maybe this monster can't be killed in the first place.'

If it couldn't be killed, that likely meant it existed for some specific purpose.

“Meaning there's something in this stomach...”

SPLAAASH!!

It happened then. Kelduan must have opened its mouth, for water poured down its gullet like a waterfall.

SKWAAAK!!!

Strange, scream-like sounds came from the cascading water.

“... Hm?”

Among the flopping fish, things slowly began to rise.

PRRR... PRRRRR...

Shaking their heads after the impact of their fall, the creatures staggered to their feet. They were grotesque things: enormous fish heads with arms and legs attached.

CHWEE! CHIRRR! CHWIK-CHWIK!!

Apparently unable to speak any human language, they shouted strange cries and raised their spears at Woojin.

[Mermen have appeared.]

[The Monster Wave begins.]

“... Huh?”

[Defeat all summoned monsters.]

▶ Time Limit: 5 minutes

▶ Monster Waves Remaining: 10/10

“A Monster Wave...? Why now?”

The lake's field dungeon was supposed to activate when he reached the surface.

'Did it just stick its head out of the water?'

It sounded absurd, but it wasn't impossible.

“... So there was a reason its stomach counted as a location.”

GRRK... GRRRRK...

Woojin muttered as he watched the mermen begin to surround him.

“So...”

SKREEEEE!!!

Perhaps because of the water covering the floor, the bizarre creatures rushed him at incredible speed.

“This is a living dungeon?”

CLANG!!

CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!!!

Dodging spears that came at him from every direction, Woojin gave up counting them.

He grabbed the foremost merman by the head and yanked it toward him.

SHUNK!!!

His sword plunged into its enormous eye.

“I'll just kill everything I see.”

SLASH...!!!

He turned, slashing diagonally, and sliced the enormous fish head in two.

GRRK... GRRRK...

Had that single blow frightened them? The mermen faltered, no longer daring to attack.

This was only phase one. There was still a long way to go.

Since they stood frozen, he darted into motion instead.