Side: Mako
Practicing the Dual Heart Fusion Technique with Yamato has become our daily routine, under the guidance of Asuka and Maoh.
Recently, we finally realized that Yamato was having trouble harmonizing with his Magical Tool, so we decided to work on that in parallel.
Since then, he’s been going out every day to the Mylight, Ideal Mountain Range, Golud Great Glacier, and Gagun Great Forest, hunting many monsters.
The Gagun Great Forest, in particular, is rumored to still have M-rank and A-rank monsters roaming due to the Labyrinth flood that occurred in the summer, so we’re also using these trips for reconnaissance.
Neige was overjoyed, but she also made sure to warn us not to overdo it.
Of course, we accompanied him. Asuka and Maoh were also very interested and tagged along, so we’ve been hunting so many monsters that we have a surplus, which is becoming a bit of a problem.
Oh, we’ve been to the Solpreza Mountain Range a few times too, but we haven’t bothered with Tescatlipoca.
Asuka and Maoh could probably defeat it easily, but we can’t always rely on them to fight Demise Species. Besides, Tescatlipoca has never descended to human settlements, so while it’s a threat, its urgency is low.
If we were to defeat it, I’m thinking we should do it after Yamato and I successfully mastered the Dual Heart Fusion Technique.
Or so I thought, but another sighting of a Demise Species has been reported, and Asuka and Maoh had to go out, which makes me feel incredibly sorry.
Edward is working hard on forging Yamato’s sword, but Hihishirokane cannot be handled by a regular Crafter due to its magical properties; even High Crafters have most of their magic drained.
It seems that even an Ancient Crafter had about half their magic depleted after forging just one sword.
Yamato and I tried it too, and it was about a third for an Element Crafter.
“Now it’s the Elect Sea… are they really appearing that often?”
“Truly.”
We are currently aboard Eos’s Tree-made Multi-functional Beast Carriage, flying over the sea near Torencia.
The latest sighting was in the great ocean called the Elect Sea, which stretches between Torencia and Solemne, and it was closer to Torencia.
The Phantom Capital Bestia of Torencia is located in Raso Bay, and since Raso Bay faces the Elect Sea, there’s a possibility that the newly sighted Demise Species might target it.
The urgency is therefore extremely high, which is why a request for extermination was issued to the Wing Crest. Not only is Yamato’s sword unavailable, but the location is in the sea, and the sighted creature is apparently a whale-type Demise Species called Cetus.
Like other whale-types, Cetus is incredibly massive, and it’s said to be as large as, or possibly even larger than, Nidh, whom Asuka defeated recently.
“How did you find such a huge monster?”
“From the sky. A Hunter, who was heading towards Bestia on his familiar Wyvern, happened to spot it.”
“Because it was so incredibly large, they quickly used Questing, but the result revealed that it was…”
“Cetus, a whale with wings?”
“Yes.”
As expected of a Demise Species, Cetus also possesses wings.
However, perhaps fortunately, the Hunter who spotted it was not attacked and managed to escape.
It’s possible that Cetus simply didn’t notice them, or perhaps it hasn’t evolved enough to think of flying since it just recently became a Demise Species, or maybe it wasn’t interested. There are several possible reasons, but the Hunter’s luck was undeniable.
“Ah, I see. It’s like monsters suddenly sprout wings, so they might not even notice it right after evolving.”
“Indeed, Orc Emperor and Orc Empress didn’t show any signs of flying.”
“Also, since it’s an aquatic species, it probably just feels more comfortable in the sea than flying in the sky.”
“Ah, that seems plausible.”
Whether monsters are aware of it or not, it’s entirely possible that they haven’t noticed, as Maoh suggested. It’s also possible that they haven’t found a reason to fly, as Lydia suggested.
After all, flying in the sky exposes their entire bodies, but in the water, they can attack almost unilaterally, and our attacks are also less effective.
“Oh, right. If it’s as big as Nidh, then even as a Demise Species, it would only be a target, so it’s safer in the water.”
“That’s right. Unless you’re an Undine, a Water Dragon Dragonewt, or a Dragonian, you can’t fight it properly. Plus, you can’t expect support, so it’s safer for aquatic species to stay in the water.”
Whether monsters are aware of it or not, the higher their rank, the safer the underwater environment becomes. I think this is proof that even W-rank monsters rarely fly.
“That aside, how do you plan to find Cetus in this vast ocean?”
“Indeed, even if Cetus is enormous, it would be difficult to search for it specifically.”
“We’re using Sonar Wave, but there’s no reaction that seems like it.”
“We’ll just have to search around the area where it was sighted.”
“Is that all we can do?”
No matter how enormous Cetus is, compared to the great ocean, it’s like a tiny speck.
Moreover, it might be submerged, so searching from the sky has its limits.
Still, searching underwater is impossible, and ships are highly likely to be sunk, so searching from the sky is the most efficient method.
“If we take too long, Torencia could be in danger. I want to defeat it quickly.”
“I understand how you feel, but there’s no point in rushing.”
“I know.”
I can understand Yamato’s urgency.
If Bestia were to be swallowed by Cetus, Torencia could suffer irreversible damage.
If that were to happen, the Federation Heavenly Empire would also incur tremendous losses.
In addition to human casualties, reconstruction support and relocation arrangements would be necessary, and in the worst-case scenario, a decision might be made to abandon Aura Island.
Well, it’s not like Yamato isn’t feeling the urgency for other reasons, but the biggest reason is that Lady Hilde would be sad.
“Asuka, how is it?”
“I can’t say for sure if it’s Cetus, but there’s a pretty strong reaction. It’s slightly to the north from here.”
Wait a minute. Did Asuka just find a monster that might be Cetus in this vast ocean?
“I can only say ‘maybe’.”
“No, but how did you do it!?”
I feel exactly the same way as Yamato.
Yamato and I are also using Sonar Wave, but we haven’t found any reaction that might be Cetus.
Yet Asuka found it so easily? How exactly did he do it?
“Besides Sonar Wave, I’m also using Breeze Whisper and Midnight Bat. Sound echoes underwater, so you can use that.”
“Ah, sonar, doesn’t that use sound as a radar?”
“That’s right.”
Ah, so that’s how it is. I never considered searching using sound, but of course, if it’s deep in the sea, you can’t see it with your eyes, and even visual search spells won’t find it.
So Asuka was increasing accuracy by layering Breeze Whisper and Midnight Bat, which utilize sound, with Sonar Wave. Furthermore, Midnight Bat is also a dark-element spell, making it compatible with the deep sea where light cannot reach.
“I don’t use Midnight Bat much, but… like this?”
“Excellent. The position is about two kilometers north from here.”
“That’s the limit. Uhm… this one!”
Sonar Wave is basically circular, centered on oneself, so its range is limited to about the same as wide-area spells. However, other search spells are directional, so by combining them, you can explore several kilometers away even with Sonar Wave.
I knew that, but I don’t even know Midnight Bat, so it was a usage I had never considered.
“Breeze Whisper alone probably won’t work underwater. I mainly use Midnight Bat, with Breeze Whisper as an auxiliary by layering it.”
Unlike Breeze Whisper, which carries information on the gentle breeze, Midnight Bat, as its name suggests, is a spell that uses echoes of sound waves, like a bat, to identify and monitor targets. Moreover, unlike Sonar Wave, it’s directional, so if limited to a specific direction, it can search up to ten times the distance of wide-area spells.
For Yamato, two kilometers seems to be the limit, but Asuka has an aptitude for search spells, so he can easily do it up to five kilometers.
“How is it?”
“I can’t say for sure, but it’s quite large. Still, it could be a Fortress Whale or a Catastrophe Species, so we can’t ignore it.”
Indeed. Abnormal Fortress Whales and Catastrophe Species are also enormous, exceeding 100 meters, so it’s impossible to ignore.
The whale-type Catastrophe Species is unnamed, but it’s likely larger than Fortress Whale, and since Cetus has appeared, we can’t definitively say it doesn’t exist, so let’s hunt that first.
“Eos, could you fly north, please? I apologize for the inconvenience.”
“Understood.”
It looks like we’ll be investigating the Elect Sea today.
However, just like Kobold Emperor, Cetus seems to have appeared suddenly. The giant monster that Yamato and Asuka detected is likely Cetus. Of course, as a sea monster, it might have evolved unseen, but given that there were no prior sightings or reports of damage, it’s unlikely to have existed for a long time.
“Stop. It should be around here…”
“You still sound unsure.”
“Well, it’s the first time I’ve tried using it this way. Oh, this is… about 50 meters deep?”
“Correct. That’s how you use it. As for accuracy and distance, it just takes practice.”
“I know.”
Yamato is using a layered search spell of Sonar Wave, Breeze Whisper, and Midnight Bat for the first time, so he sounds a bit unsure, but he seems happy to have received the approval of his father-in-law.
“Now, how do we defeat it? I can confront it using Ozone Ball, but Inko’s recovery is better than I expected, so Maoh, let’s do that.”
“Okay.”
If we provoke it a little, it should surface. However, at a depth of 50 meters, it won’t be easily reached by just any attack.
But if we can’t see it, we won’t know its weak points, so attacking would be pointless, and it might become unusable as a material. Calamity Hexagram and Meteorite Light Sphere are difficult to use.
In that case, Starlight Circle is the only option, but its power will be significantly reduced underwater, which is a vexing problem.
I was thinking about that, but then Asuka started saying something unsettling.
I can somewhat guess what he’s planning, but are you really going through with it? I can’t take responsibility if we can’t go back.
“Father, what are you planning to do?”
“Yamato, you haven’t been able to grasp its exact size yet, but the monster below is over 300 meters long, a giant even larger than Nidh. We won’t make progress fighting it conventionally.”
More than 1.5 times Nidh? Indeed, if it’s that large, it’s likely Cetus, and fighting it conventionally would be more than just difficult.
Given the location, even Asuka and Maoh would struggle. However, now that he’s mentioned Inko’s recovery, it’s easy to figure out what he’s planning.
“We’ll use a Mythical-tier ability and defeat it in one go.”
“Oh, my, Father. Mother, too…”
“Yes. I didn’t say anything because I wasn’t sure if I could show you, but we wanted to show you, Yamato, one last time.”
Indeed, the power of a Mythical-tier ability is comparable to, or even surpasses, nuclear weapons. Therefore, it cannot be used lightly, but they decided so easily.
Certainly, Yamato had never seen a Mythical-tier ability until recently, so it’s probably meant as a farewell gift. Still, it’s not something people usually decide.
But since it’s the last time for me too, I’d like to see it if I can.
Ah, but be extremely careful not to cause any tsunamis, okay?
