Chapter 88: Eldritch Frenzy
Kevin stood on the back of the Dragon Form Mist Phantom, holding the Lance of Longinus and throwing it like a spear, over and over again.
Each time he threw it, he would summon a new Lance of Longinus and throw it again.
The Vulcan Cannons and rockets couldn’t kill the two Eldritch monsters quickly on their own.
But with Kevin throwing the Lance of Longinus again and again, the life force of both monsters grew weaker and weaker.
Watching this, the survivors hiding in the cave on the mountain couldn’t help but shiver.
"Is that guy even human? He killed three giant monsters all by himself."
"Come on, no human can throw a spear five hundred meters and hit a target. That guy is basically a superhero."
"Derek, Richard, are you sure you still want to rob that two-masted sloop? Just the drones we’ve seen so far could kill us ten thousand times over."
Derek and Richard listened to their friends blaming them. Their faces turned pale.
Richard took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "Now is not the time to point fingers. Think about it — we’re all deserters, technically. If he wants to punish us, none of us can get away."
Derek nodded and raised his voice. "That’s right. Instead of blaming each other, we should be figuring out how to sneak attack him after he’s done fighting. We need to take him down before he can fight back."
Derek paused, then pointed at the dead lamprey monster on the screen. "Don’t forget — that guy pulled something out of the monster’s body. He wasn’t this strong at first. I think he used some kind of treasure to get this power."
Richard’s eyes went wide as he nodded. "Yeah. His scariest power is throwing that spear from five hundred meters away, but also that ability to freeze the monsters in place. It’s like he can tear through their defenses and curses, and he doesn’t even get affected by their mental attacks."
Hearing Richard say this, the other captains all started to understand.
"Wait, you’re right. He never seemed to be affected by The Taint or the Whispering Curse."
"If any of us had been stared at by that many Eldritch eyes, our souls would be dead by now."
"Hah, not just dead. We’d probably turn into slaves of those monsters. Our bodies would grow lumps and fangs, and we’d become their puppets."
"Also, did you notice? The thing he’s riding looks like the dragon that the Mist Phantom King summoned."
"Hold on... now that you mention it, that guy looks kind of familiar."
At that hint, Richard and Derek looked at each other. They suddenly realized who Kevin was.
"It’s him. The guy who got taken away by a helicopter that night," Richard said in a low voice.
"Oh my god. It hasn’t been that long, and he’s gotten unbelievably strong," Derek said, staring at Kevin with greedy eyes.
He pulled Richard aside to a corner and whispered, "He must have some incredible treasure on him. If we can take it from him, the whole terrifying sea will bow down to us."
Richard licked his lips, a greedy look on his face, and smiled. "When we attack him, let’s act friendly first. We can’t let him suspect anything."
Derek nodded. "Don’t worry. We’ll wait until he’s used up all his ammo before we show ourselves. I don’t believe he can fight three giant monsters and still have any strength left."
Richard nodded. "Right. We’ll hit him when he’s at his weakest. Take his power, his stuff, and his women."
While Richard, Derek, and the others were plotting against Kevin, back on the two-masted sloop’s bridge, the girls were completely impressed by Kevin’s performance.
Celula leaned against the wall and let out a small sigh of relief. "That was so scary. That Thousand-Armed Octopus almost killed Kevin. Good thing he’s strong enough."
Monchhichi patted her chest gently, her eyes full of admiration for Kevin. "It looks like Captain Kevin isn’t a show-off. He knows how to keep his cards hidden. If those monsters hadn’t ambushed him, we might never have seen his full power."
Raphael held onto the windowsill, staring at Kevin in the sky. Her heart was still pounding. "Is that really all the power that man has?"
Toti stood nearby, rubbing his nose. "Sure, that guy’s a bit full of himself. But that should be his last card. If he’s still hiding something, that’s just unfair."
Nova, Luna, and Amelia stood together.
They heard Toti’s comment and smiled quietly, without saying much.
As Kevin’s covenant-bearers, they knew his power better than anyone.
Even though Kevin had already shown a lot, they were sure he still had some tricks up his sleeve.
Thinking for a moment, Amelia turned to Nova and asked, confused, "Hey, that power Kevin used to freeze the Thousand-Armed Octopus — did he get that from you?"
Nova’s face turned red, and she looked a little embarrassed. "Sort of. But no one would believe it if I told them. I’m supposed to purify and control Eldritch Entities by singing. But that guy? He does it by swearing. Where did he even learn all that trash talk?"
Stephanie had been leaning against the wall, not daring to join the conversation. But then she spoke up softly, cutting off Nova, Luna, and Amelia.
"NBA. Kevin used to love watching NBA games. Especially the trash talk those players throw around."
Hearing that, Luna rolled her eyes. "No wonder he can say hundreds of swear words without repeating himself."
She turned to Nova and teased her, "Maybe you should try swearing too, to control Eldritch Entities. It might work even better."
Nova rolled her eyes. "I feel like you’re messing with me, but I can’t prove it."
While the girls were chatting, Kevin threw his last two spears and finished off both the mantis shrimp and the Thousand-Armed Octopus.
Right then, waves of seawater crashed onto the shore. The Eldritch Entities that had been attracted by the lamprey monster’s blood were now less than two kilometers from the beach.
Seeing this, Kevin quickly ordered a few Normal Fish Fiends to gather the loot from the beach.
The two giant monsters dropped not only two Low-Quality Talent Sources, but also an Eldritch Artifact and a weapon.
[Thousand-Eyed Demon Pupil: A-Tier Eldritch Artifact. The user must sacrifice their own eyes and implant a thousand demon pupils into their body. This grants three abilities: "God’s Eye View," "See Through Lies," and "Thousand-Eye Curse." Cost of use: Stand naked in front of a mirror for ten minutes every day.]
[Mantis Fist: A-Tier weapon, a pair of hand gauntlets. Wearing them lowers your Spirit by 3, but raises your Agility by 6 and Strength by 6. Costs 15 Stamina to use "Charged Strike," dealing random damage between 200% and 400%.]
Kevin looked at the two items and felt pretty satisfied.
Both were great finds.
But the Thousand-Eyed Demon Pupil had a pretty harsh cost. He’d save it for a suitable teammate later.
As for the [Mantis Fist], Kevin put it on right away.
These gauntlets had a special feature — they could be used together with other weapons like long blades, swords, pistols, and spears.
Most importantly, the critical hit multiplier from [Charged Strike] could also stack with Kevin’s Lance of Longinus.
You see, Kevin’s Lance of Longinus deals true damage, so the damage number is directly tied to how much real killing power he has.
That means the Mantis Fist gear can directly boost the power of Kevin’s Lance of Longinus by 2 to 4 times.
That’s a huge upgrade!
Just then, Eliana used her telekinesis to lift the three giant monster corpses and floated over to Kevin. "Honey, these bodies can be used for Enchanting and brewing potions. Do you want them?"
Kevin looked at the three giant corpses, each as big as a small mountain, and sighed. "Just pile them up on the beach for now."
It wasn’t that Kevin didn’t want them.
He knew the value of those three corpses better than anyone.
But Eldritch Entity corpses couldn’t be put into the system backpack.
If he wanted to drag these three huge bodies out to sea, he’d need to get a bigger ship first.
So Kevin muttered to himself, "Once I’m done dealing with these small fries, it’s time to really upgrade the ship."
Kevin aimed all his cannons, RPG Launchers, and drones in a new direction.
With a loud roar of gunfire, a storm of bullets poured onto the shoreline.
The swarm of Eldritch Entities that came rushing in barely showed their heads before they were blown to pieces by bullets and artillery shells.
The reason Kevin waited until they landed to kill them was simple — he wanted to save resources.
These bullets and shells were all recyclable. After the fight, he could have his Fish Fiends collect the casings, bullet heads, and shrapnel. Then, by just adding new explosives, he could make a fresh batch of bullets with the same power.
But Kevin underestimated how much the lamprey monster’s corpse would attract the creatures.
Soon, his RPG Launcher ran out of ammo. The Vulcan Cannons stopped spinning. The main gun on the Military Armored Vehicle also cooled down. Yet the Eldritch Entities still kept pouring onto the shore like a flood.
By the time Kevin fired his last bullet, the dead bodies of Eldritch Entities on the shoreline had already piled up into small mountains.
But even so, thousands more Eldritch Entities still burst out of the waves and charged toward the giant monster corpses behind Kevin.
Kevin frowned when he saw this.
He was just about to summon fifteen Mist Phantoms and six Fish Fiends to charge at the Eldritch Entities in close combat.
But suddenly, a tornado appeared on the shore.
Huge amounts of sand and seawater were sucked up into the tornado. The sand and rocks kept smashing into the seawater, tearing through the surrounding Eldritch Entities and dealing massive damage.