The Return of the Iron-blood Sword Hound
chapter-330

Chapter 330: The Shadowless King of the Black Sea (5)

The Trident of Baskerville.

The triplets, Highbro, Middlebro, and Lowbro, who had pledged allegiance to their half-brother Vikir, stood idly on the beach.

They held onto Baby Madam who whimpered as all of them searched for Vikir.

“Is lord really… at level 1?”

“Yeah. He’s weakened by a factor of 100.”

“But he still fights like that?”

Vikir’s movements, whether on the ship or atop the jellyfish, sometimes swiftly traversing the sea itself, were truly those of an expert veteran warrior.

It seemed as though he was born solely for combat.

The concentration of aura resembling at least a high-tier graduator was evident, but the level of Vikir’s swordsmanship, potent enough to baffle even his own clanmates, remained unclear.

Those who didn’t know Vikir would be puzzled.

Why didn’t he weaken but rather grew stronger than outside the tower?

But the Baskerville brothers knew.

Vikir had reached that level four years ago.

“I’ll buy some time, leave.”

A lone hunting dog left to confront the nightmare of the flood (Madam Eight legs).

How could one forget the aura akin to the rising sun from the hero’s sword that night?

That light changed everything. The triplets’ mindset, actions, and even their fate.

Since that night, the triplets had become Vikir’s trident. Moving only according to Vikir’s orders.

Highbro spoke with conviction.

“As expected. Our lord is a Swordmaster.”

“A Swordmaster.”

“A Swordmaster.”

What is a Sword Master? According to official records, they are the absolute elites, not even 10 people are in the master realm in the whole continent.

In the Baskerville Clan, it was speculated that Hugo le Baskerville, one of the long-lost Counts, Cane corso were swordmasters, and the Young patriarch Osiris would soon ascend to Master realm, but nothing was certain yet.

In such circumstances, the fact that Vikir had become a Swordmaster would astonish the entire empire.

Not to mention that he wasn’t even 20!

Eventually, the triplets’ gaze shifted sideways.

There, huddled together, were commoner students trembling with fear.

Their stats were quite meager as they had given all their candies to Dogma, and now they dared not meet the triplets’ eyes directly.

Highbro spoke up.

“…We’ll deal with you mfs later.”

“Eek!”

The commoner students began to quiver.

They had bullied the triplets like a dog and now they were scared.

For commoner students, for them, whether Vikir won or lost against that massive jellyfish, it was despair.

‘Even so, it would be better if Vikir wins…’

The commoner students recalled what Vikir had said when he first appeared.

“I am disabled.”

“…?”

“I have an elderly mother and father to support.”

“…?”

“I have a long-time lover or am soon to be married, or perhaps already married.”

“…?”

“If you think you’re one of them, step aside.”

Saying such words at least meant there was some kindness in him.

“Now that it’s come to this, we have no choice but to beg for our lives from Vikir.”

“Highbro, Middlebro, Lowbro won’t forgive us.”

“They’ll kill us. Even if we beg for mercy a thousand times, they’ll surely make us pay.”

“…Let’s go to Vikir and plead as much as we can.”

While the commoner students were having various thoughts,

…Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

A tremendous pillar of fire shot up from the sea surface.

It was a signal announcing the end of the battle and revealing the victor.

* * *

The Shadowless King of the Black Sea remained massive and powerful even as it emerged above the surface.

Splish-splash-

Tentacles thrashed around, churning the water.

It seemed eager to return to the deep underwater valleys.

Grrrr- Snap!

Since its birth in these dark waters, it had never experienced such an immense buoyancy before, making it impossible to retreat.

Shururururuk-

Despite attempting to cut off its tentacles and roots, the Roots of Bloodsoaked Jade flower didn’t fall off, befitting its S-rank danger.

Already deeply entrenched within the squishy body of the jellyfish, the roots couldn’t be extracted without tearing it’s apart flesh.

‘Though it’s a newly sprouted seed, its endurance is not to be underestimated.’

Vikir cut through a few lurching tentacles and stood atop the Shadowless King’s head.

It’s body was so soft that Vikir’s legs sank deeply upon stepping, yet Vikir managed to maintain his balance atop it.

Crack-

Vikir grabbed the tough roots of Bloodsoaked jade flower with his strong hands.

The air sacs sprouting all over the Shadowless King’s body were drawn towards Vikir as if tethered to balloons.

Squish-squish- Squish- Crack!

Vikir bound the sturdy roots of the Bloodsoaked Jade Flower together.

In an instant, a knot the size of a human head formed.

Utilizing knotting techniques he had employed in field operations, Vikir could swiftly bind even thick, sturdy roots like these.

Stepping on the knot he had made, Vikir jumped to the other side, using his weight to pull it and traversing the squishy floor.

Then, he gathered and tied together the thick roots on the other side.

Eventually, the tightly bound roots took on the appearance of reins, as if harnessing the Shadowless King of the Black Sea.

‘That should do it.’

Vikir dodged the flying tentacles zigzagging around him.

With numerous roots tangled up like beehives, the tentacles couldn’t approach if one slid out from underneath.

Thunk! Swish-

One flying tentacle got caught in the mesh of Bloodsoaked Jade Flower roots, now woven in a # pattern.

Being naturally squishy, the tentacle couldn’t free itself from the entanglement.

From then on, Vikir didn’t cut the flying tentacles.

Instead, he guided them to tangle even more within the net made of Bloodsoaked Jade Flower roots.

Eventually, Vikir leaped onto the surface, holding a small air sac in his hand.

Splash!

Simultaneously, Vikir kicked forcefully against the jellyfish’s fleshy wall.

Splish-splish- Splish-splish-

He had to get as far away as possible from the Shadowless King of the Black Sea.

“Pull! Heave-ho!”

“Heave-ho!”

“Heave-ho!”

Highbro, Middlebro, and Lowbro caught the thread extending from the Baby Madam’s bottom, perfectly timing Vikir’s signal.

It had been connected to Vikir’s waist from the start.

Swoosh-

Vikir pushed against the current, distancing himself from the Shadowless King of the Black Sea.

And soon after, he placed the spark at the very tip of the Shadowless King’s body where the last air sac was located.

Sizzle!

The flames clinging to the surface of the air sac gradually engulfed it entirely.

…Sizzle! …Sizzle! …Pop!

Gradually, the air sac, swallowed by the flames, shriveled up until it no longer showed any reaction.

Boom! Crash!

The air sac within the Bloodsoaked Jade Flower contained a highly toxic gas, a dangerous gas that explodes when ignited.

When the first air sac exploded, the aftermath swept all the other air sacs away in a gusty whirlwind. However, since the roots were already tightly knotted, the air sacs didn’t fly off elsewhere. The momentarily displaced air sacs were soon drawn back by the knotted roots, clinging tightly to the Shadowless King of the Black Sea. And once again, the gas spreading in the air ignited into a storm of flames.

…Boom! Crash! Sizzle! Crack! Whoosh!

The chain reaction of explosions and flames began to engulf the Shadowless King of the Black Sea in earnest, following the air sacs connected by knots.

A blazing inferno shimmered above the black sea surface.

The Shadowless King of the Black Sea wanted to descend into the depths, but it was impossible due to the air sacs that remained.

Ultimately, it was exposed, defenseless, to the toxic gas and flames floating on the surface, destined to slowly succumb.

And Vikir sat on a small air sac, watching the destruction.

‘This is on a different scale from the Bloodsoaked Jade Flower I encountered on the 4th floor.’

The Bloodsoaked Jade Flower encountered on the fourth underground floor was exhausted and unable to properly develop its air sac.

Because of this, the air sac didn’t inflate like a balloon but spread out like leaves, hiding the deadly toxic gas within.

However, naturally, Vikir was already well aware of this fact.

‘There was someone who organized these Bloodsoaked Jade Flowers like this, in my past life’

Vikir had once served as a special operative in the Demon Extermination Unit.

During one mission, a desperate unit had to secretly escape from demon forces, but the escape route was blocked by these Bloodsoaked Jade Flowers.

The one leading the unit at the time was Bianca Usher.

Utilizing her unique archery skills, she shot powerful flame arrows, detonating all these strange plants.

In doing so, she secured the escape route, saving the lives of many, including Vikir.

‘…I owe a debt to Bianca.’

Vikir nodded his head as he watched the raging inferno caused by the explosion.

And around that time…

-Ding!

A loud notification sound echoed in his ears.

[“Level 1 Warrior” Vikir has successfully killes the first ‘A+ Rank Majin’!]

[Rewards for the ‘Awesome’ achievement are being issued!]

[“Level 1 Warrior” Vikir has successfully killed the first ‘S Rank Monster, Shadowless King of the Black Sea’!]

[Rewards for the ‘Impossible’ achievement are being issued!]

“…It’s over.”

Vikir finally breathed a sigh of relief.

At the same time…

…Poof!

Before Vikir’s eyes, a decaying, foul-smelling lump of flesh appeared.

A fairy, whose peculiar trait is always breaking into a sinister smile.

…But for some reason, this time was different.

The creature looked almost on the verge of tears as it gazed at Vikir.

[“Who… are you? Why are you like this?”]