Chapter 147
“I just detected a reaction that’s similar to Eros’ mana . It looks like he’s below here . ”
They had been flying through the sky on the Argo for some time, but Libra’s words caused the ship to stop .
Hearing this, Ruphas leaned out of the ship, but the vast sea extended as far as her eyes could see . She narrowed her eyes and concentrated to see if he was somewhere on the sparsely scattered islands, but she couldn’t find anyone anywhere . Under normal conditions, Ruphas had a visual acuity of 12 . 0, allowing her to distinguish the silhouette of an insect less than one centimeter at a distance of twenty meters .
If she were to use arcane power to create a lens of light in front of her eyes, she could see even further . Two lenses would be created . Mana would be used to create an object lens and an ocular lens . The perimeter would then be surrounded by mana to prevent light from escaping . By creating an improvised refracting telescope, it would be possible to see distant scenery . This was called Light Scope, a support-type arcane magic .
The in-game effect was just a simple zoom-in . If this was done too close to a character, the player would see through the polygons and see behind the character . The administrators should fix this .
However, there was no human to be seen even after it was used .
“Is he under the sea?”
“Yes, most likely . ”
That wasn’t surprising .
As the name Pisces of the Fish implied, he was unlike the other Twelve Stars whose activities were mostly on land . He was the type who could show his true worth only in the sea . His combat power was at its greatest in underwater combat .
Therefore, it was only natural to expect him to be under the sea, but this was also why it was really troublesome . After all, the sea was much wider and deeper than land . In other words, the place that they needed to search was much larger than if it was on land .
Furthermore, none of Ruphas’ companions were particularly adept in moving around underwater . Naturally, this was also the case for Libra, Sagittarius, and Aigokeros, who were in charge of searching for Pisces this time . In other words, they needed to make some preparations before diving into the sea .
“How long can each of you hold your breath?”
“I don’t need to breathe, so I can do so for any amount of time . ”
“I haven’t tried, but it should be possible for a few hours . ”
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“My best record is forty-five minutes . ”
The three of them answered Ruphas’ question and the difference between biological creatures and non-living creatures became apparent .
As a non-living creature, Libra had no time limit . However, despite her appearance, she weighed three hundred kilograms, so she would definitely sink if she was thrown into the sea .
Ruphas wasn’t sure what exactly Aigokeros was, but he could probably be considered as a half-mana lifeform . He was halfway between a biological creature and a demon, but it didn’t seem like he had completely lost the functions of a biological creature .
Since Sagittarius was a centaur, a completely biological creature, his limit was less than an hour . Even though it was only forty-five minutes, it was already an amazing feat after taking his race into consideration . This was like a human who could hold his breath underwater for more than ten minutes .
“We need some countermeasures . Sagittarius, can you do it?”
“Leave it to me . Oxygen Suction!”
The effect of Sagittarius’ divine magic, Oxygen Suction, was simply the collection of oxygen . This increased the oxygen absorption capabilities of living creatures, allowing them to take in oxygen that was dissolved in water as if they were on land . In short, it could simply be thought of as a skill that allowed one to breathe underwater .
By the way, there was a penalty in the game if one were to enter underwater fields without using similar skills . HP would automatically decrease . However, Ruphas would simply charge without hesitation and force her way through, depending on her HP regeneration instead .
One wouldn’t need oxygen if it had overwhelming vitality . As such, Ruphas had probably surpassed the realm of biological creatures . However, there was no reason to do the same thing in this world .
“Next, Libra . If I make some optional parts for underwater movement, it should be manageable . ”
Ruphas said and then entered the cabin to work on it . Then, after a while, there was the sound of iron striking iron, the sound of something breaking, and the sound of explosions . It didn’t really sound like the process of manufacturing something, but nobody present particularly cared about that . If the youth Sei was here, he would have made a straight-man retort, but unfortunately there was no one who would play that role here .
Then, after waiting for a few minutes, Ruphas returned with something with several blue wings . It looked somewhat similar to Libra’s support golem, Astraea . A closer look revealed four pairs of wings . In addition, two cannons extended from the waist when it was attached . However, it was missing the shoulder cannons of Astraea .
“It’s done . This is a golem for underwater movement . Its name is…Astraea Type M . There’s a small screw at the end of each wing, which can be moved to change direction . The waist cannons can fire harpoons, which would pierce an opponent and deliver vibration and ultrasonic attack to destroy the body from within . If you equip this, you would be able to move freely in the water without sinking . ”
Ruphas docked Astraea M onto Libra as she explained its functions . Libra tested it out immediately, firing an harpoon from the waist cannon . The fired harpoon was attached to a long wire, which extended to a far distance . Eventually, the harpoon fell into the sea and stabbed a shark-like magical beast which just happened to be there .
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This was a dangerous magical beast known as a deep blue, which liked to consume human flesh . When ultrasonic waves were emitted in the monster’s body, the deep blue bled from its eyes and mouth before it stopped moving . With the harpoon piercing the corpse, the wire was wound back into the cannon and the shark corpse was hauled onto the Argo .
“This is a great piece of equipment . With this, I can definitely slaughter Eros . ”
“No, please bring him back normally instead of slaughtering him . ”
While speaking, Libra’s equipment was changed to prepare for underwater combat . Her favorite machine gun was mostly useless underwater, so it was left on the Argo . Instead, it was replaced by an underwater assault rifle made by Ruphas . Thus, she was now prepared for anything .
“And this is for Aigokeros . ”
After equipping Libra, Ruphas retrieved a weapon through a rift in space created by X-Gate . However, it was the wrong size .
It was a huge death scythe that seemed to be emerging from the deck of the ship . It was obviously intended to be used while enlarged since it wasn’t a size that people could normally use . The length of the handle already reached one hundred meters long . The blade glowed ominously as if a single slash could reap an entire city .
“As you can see, it’s intended to be used when you assume giant form . You can store the weapon away in your shadow when you’re not using it . ”
Aigokeros could merge with the shadows . Not just for himself, he could also do the same for clothes and other items . This was something that Aries and the others couldn’t do . Even if they were given weapons to be used when they were in their giant forms, they didn’t have a place to store the weapons .
But Aigokeros alone could do this . That was why only he could use this weapon which required one to be in giant form . The huge size itself was its destructive power . In addition to STR +2,000 attack adjustment, it also had an instant death effect . Of course, most boss-class monsters were immune to instant death attacks, but weaker opponents would most definitely die .
“Thank you very much . With this, I can definitely slaughter Eros . ”
“Like I said, don’t slaughter him . Just bring him back . ”
Ruphas handed the weapon to Aigokeros, who stored it in his shadow . The sight of handing over a hundred-meter-long weapon with one hand was rather unrealistic, but there was still nobody around to make a straight-man retort . After all, this was actually quite normal for them .
Then, Sagittarius looked at Ruphas expectantly, but she didn’t give him anything .
“You already have a weapon, right? I have nothing for you . ”
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“……”
Indeed, Sagittarius already had a weapon made by Ruphas . Therefore, he was the only one who didn’t get anything . Sagittarius drooped his shoulders and sat on the floor, hugging his knees . But this gloomy man, whose lower body was naked, ended up being kicked off the ship by Benetnash . When he debuted, he was so serious . This was just terrible .
“Then, we’re going . ”
“Please wait for our good news . ”
Libra and Aigokeros jumped off the ship one after another, diving into the sea with large splashes of water . It looked as easy as if they were diving into a pool, but the Argo was currently at an altitude of ten thousand meters, so their falling speed would have reached two hundred kilometers per hour .
Jumping into the sea at this speed was equivalent to smashing directly into concrete, but Libra and the others did not take any damage . If they took damage from this, they couldn’t be called the strongest golem or devil king in Midgard, where power balance was crazy .
“I can’t find Sagittarius . ”
Even though she was underwater, Libra spoke normally . Humans couldn’t speak underwater, but she was a golem . She could speak underwater by emitting only sound without releasing air . In terms of the things known to Ruphas and Sei, it was like playing music from underwater speakers .
“He probably has already started searching for Eros . ”
Aigokeros also spoke as if he wasn’t underwater . It seemed his voice was passing through the water via telepathy .
They weren’t particularly concerned about Sagittarius as he excelled in stealth . To begin with, he was someone who rarely showed himself even before his own allies . Although this had not been the case since the return of Ruphas, what he was doing now could be said to be his original style . Since it was him, he would have started taking actions as a merfolk, just like how he had turned into a beastkin in Draupnir .
“Anyway, do you know where Eros is?”
“I felt a reaction from there earlier . Let’s go . ”
Libra indicated the destination and flew through the water using the wings on her back . Likewise, Aigokeros followed as if he was flying . After swimming for a while, a strange group emerged to block their way . They were humanoid creatures whose heads had mutated into those of fishes .
Were they…mermen?
This appearance was really weird . They were probably mermen, but this group was really eerie . Their arms were drooping and swaying left and right . They were dragging their tails on the seabed and they moved by jumping like frogs . Their faces were very distinctive and their appearances were very disturbing . It was as if they were deep-sea mermen .
“Are those merfolk?”
“I don’t know . Whatever it is, since they’re in the way, all we need to do is to eliminate them . ”
Aigokeros moved his right arm and a giant demonic arm instantly materialized, holding a huge scythe .
—Flash .
The demonic arm moved as Aigokeros moved his own arm and the scythe killed the mermen instantly . The two of them passed over the mutilated corpses without changing their expressions or looking back .
“It’s a species that we didn’t see before two hundred years ago . Was it a mutation?”
“Maybe . In the deep sea, mana tends to concentrate densely like it does in my homeland, Helheim . It won’t be strange if they have similar mutations as ours as a result . ”
Mana had the property of flowing from high to low . The reason for this had been studied for many years, but it hadn’t been fully understood . The only thing that was certain was that mana tended to accumulate easily underground and in the deep sea .
In fact, a high concentration of mana had accumulated in Helheim, the underground world . As a result, the creatures there had demonic mutations . The humanoids were no exception . The humanoids in Helheim mutated to become as similar to devils as possible, becoming the ancestors of vampires .
Therefore, it was no wonder if the same thing was happening in the deep sea . Presumably, the merfolk had completely become magical beasts under the influence of mana . This was probably a new generation of monsters that were as yet unnoticed by the Goddess .
“Eros and these unknown magical beasts…This is becoming a little annoying . ”
“This doesn’t change what we have to do . We just have to fulfill our master’s order . ”
“That goes without saying . ”
It didn’t matter whether the enemy was known or strong . Unshaken, Libra and Aigokeros continued to swim towards their destination . Eventually, they arrived at the glorious capital of the sea .