Chapter 130
At my shout, the Octopus Leg laughed out loud.
Every time he laughed, space trembled, and every being in Sector X was crushed by his majesty.
Painful groans echoed from here and there.
Everyone was utterly frail. I alone remained unscathed, gazing up at the Octopus Leg.
[Square Window]
I had desperately hoped to meet him in person, but I couldn’t believe my dream had actually come true.
The fact that he had descended into the body of a subordinate just to see me was overwhelming.
My face flushed in this miraculous moment.
[Square Window]
[Square Window|Square Window][Square Window][Square Window]
Strange things kept popping up before my eyes, but I ignored them.
I didn’t have enough time to care about such things when I could be taking in the sight of the Octopus Leg.
I tried to approach him, but something held me firmly.
Checking what it was, I saw a hand gripping my shoulder.
The hand, with tendons and bones protruding sharply, was trembling to a pitiful degree.
I slowly shifted my gaze upward to check the person’s face.
’Ah, it’s Captain Kwak.’
In my joy at meeting the Octopus Leg, I had momentarily forgotten him.
I looked at Kwak Han-mook with questioning eyes.
Kwak Han-mook’s face was pale, and sweat was dripping from him.
I found it strange that he couldn’t suppress his instinctive fear and repulsion.
What could possibly make him this afraid?
What a magnificent god the Octopus Leg is.
Moreover, to see him manifest in person was an honor one couldn’t achieve even by dedicating an entire lifetime.
I couldn’t understand why he was shaking like this.
"Fuck..."
Kwak Han-mook managed to spit out a curse.
Clink... His prayer beads slowly unfurled.
The stumbling beads reached out and wrapped around my wrist.
"Gah!"
Red blood surged out.
Kwak Han-mook collapsed forward, spitting blood again.
A pool of blood quickly formed on the floor.
At the fishy smell of blood, I let my eyes droop in pity.
If I had modified his body sooner, this wouldn’t have happened.
It was all my fault.
With the prayer beads wrapped around one wrist, I approached the Octopus Leg.
As I drew closer, the neon green eyes shone with an eerie brilliance.
When I finally stood before him, the Octopus Leg wore a faint smile and asked me.
"■■■■■■■■■"
It sounded like a funeral dirge called from the depths of the ocean.
The muffled sound hammered against my brain, but I couldn’t understand a single word.
As I looked up with a confused expression, his smile deepened.
"Lit... tle."
I could hear him this time, but I didn’t understand the meaning. It didn’t seem like he was trying to say "little lamb."
Does he mean I’m young?
After thinking for a moment, I remembered Dominic.
Dominic also always spoke to me as if I were young.
’Come to think of it, if it’s the Octopus Leg, he should be able to see Dominic!’
Even Infernus, who isn’t a god, saw Dominic.
The Octopus Leg should certainly be aware of Dominic.
Since they are both gods, they should at least exchange greetings, but for some reason, it was quiet.
I glanced sideways at the Pudding Slime.
Following my gaze, the Octopus Leg shifted his eyes, but showed no particular reaction.
It was as if he didn’t perceive Dominic at all.
Could Dominic have hidden himself?
I couldn’t understand why he would disappear specifically to avoid the Octopus Leg’s sight.
While I was pondering, the Octopus Leg called me again.
"Little... lamb."
The shadow cast at my feet writhed, despite there being no wind.
The shadow, which had been human-shaped, gradually split into multiple strands of tentacles.
Then, it broke free from the shadow and took on a three-dimensional form.
The fishy scent of the sea pierced my nostrils.
Tentacles dripping with sticky mucus writhed and coiled around me.
I smiled pleasantly at the sensation of them climbing up from my feet.
It felt as if I were gradually getting closer to the deep sea.
Ah... I wanted to cut off my useless limbs and attach the Octopus Leg’s instead...
It was then, while I was immersed in a hazy mood.
Zap.
I felt a stinging sensation.
Small blue sparks were flying from the wooden bracelet wrapped around my wrist.
Since the string of the bracelet extended far back, I turned my head.
By now, the surroundings were covered in tentacles.
Waves of tentacles surged like a crashing sea.
Between the tentacles, I spotted a head of red hair.
A man, who was being slowly crushed to death, called out to someone.
"Go... Han Go-yo..."
Blood was streaming from both his eyes.
Like someone who had seen something they weren’t supposed to, he spoke while shedding tears of blood.
"That thing is a god... Fuck... Wake up..."
Zap, zap.
Sparks flew repeatedly from the wooden bracelet, and the red-haired man spat out a mouthful of blood.
For some reason, I couldn’t take my eyes off him.
It was while I was staring intently at the man.
"■■■■■■..."
A hint of displeasure mixed into the Octopus Leg’s voice.
It seemed to be because I was looking at someone else too much. Even though a god was right before me.
A sticky tentacle touched my cheek.
The Octopus Leg forced me to look at him and smiled softly.
However.
I looked at the Octopus Leg for a moment and then turned my head back to the man.
He was dying, crushed by the god’s power.
Just as the man tried to move his lips toward me.
"...!"
He let out a groan of pain.
The Octopus Legs tentacles tightened as if to crush him, and the man vanished instantly into the wave of tentacles.
Like being swept away by the deep sea.
Now, all that entered my sight were the endlessly undulating tentacles.
The wooden bracelet wrapped around my wrist lost its strength and slid off.
Soon, the wooden bracelet too was buried in the wave of tentacles.
I... felt bad.
The tentacle touching my cheek froze.
Along with that, I felt a cool breeze.
I looked up.
White and black lights seemed to flash for a moment, and then the ceiling flew away.
Not even falling debris was created. As if it had been literally deleted, the ceiling was punched through, revealing the night sky.
In the dry sky, which was only blurry with sea fog.
Flash!
A fractal pattern was drawn in a brilliant blue light.
Following that, a thunderclap that tore through eardrums shook everything.
The moment I heard the roar, the sensation that had been so ecstatic until a moment ago vanished completely.
I felt a burning sensation in my heart.
Thump, thump.
Along with a gradually accelerating pulse, heat gathered in my eyes.
Amidst the rapidly rising heat, I became angry.
Looking into the neon green eyes, I commanded.
"Clear it."
The surging wave of tentacles came to a dead halt.
The neon green light vanished from the security chief’s eyes. In the place where the light disappeared, only empty holes remained.
His body tilted and he collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.
The tentacles that had filled the area vanished cleanly, like shadows under sunlight.
"Captain Kwak..!"
I hurriedly ran toward Kwak Han-mook.
Collapsed on the floor, he was covered in blood.
My vision narrowed and my breathing became labored. With trembling hands, I first checked his pulse.
Fortunately, he had only lost consciousness; his pulse was beating.
He is alive.
I let out the breath I had been holding.
The part of the prayer beads that had been limp until then returned to its owner.
Watching the beads slowly wrap around Kwak Han-mooks wrist, I grit my teeth.
The sight of him was such a mess...
He is my subordinate.
I should have protected him.
Mixed with anger, all sorts of emotions surged, making my head feel like it would explode. I clenched my fists so hard that my nails dug into my palms.
I wanted to burn everything without leaving a trace.
I wanted to split the deep sea, drag it out, and make it pay the price for touching my subordinate.
Just as the shimmering heat was about to envelop me.
A loud shouting voice rang out.
"Han Goyo!!"
From the wide-open ceiling, Je Hyeon-oh and CEO Cha jumped down and landed beside me.
CEO Cha, who was about to shout something at me again, froze in shock.
"You... your eyes..."
Before he could finish his sentence.
KABOOOOM!
With a sound like a bomb exploding, seawater soared into the sky.
A giant tentacle that broke through the sea surface blocked the sky.
It wasn’t just one. Hundreds of thick strands surged up from all sides of the island.
Thousands of suckers protruding from the surface of the tentacles sucked in air, making an eerie friction sound.
The tentacles all pointed downward simultaneously and crashed heavily onto the prison building.
Thick reinforced concrete crumbled like bruised fruit.
Then, the tentacles coiled tightly around the prison.
Crunch, crack!
Steel and concrete crumpled frantically, and the massive prison building was crushed in an instant.
Everything happened in just a few dozen seconds.
Je Hyeon-oh was barely able to block the falling debris by spreading his metallic wings.
But it wasn’t over yet.
A bizarre voice echoed from the deep sea.
A sound like something scratching the brain rang out, and the tentacles struck the island again.
The ground collapsed, and everything began to fall.
Je Hyeon-oh quickly put on his crow gloves and grabbed me and Kwak Han-mook.
Below the prison, there is an underground maze.
But looking down, I saw something entirely different.
A sea of neon green stretched out below.
The liquid, with a color so vivid it hurt the eyes, greedily swallowed everything falling from above.
Je Hyeon-oh tried to resist the fall and move upward, but it was impossible to protect both the unconscious Kwak Han-mook and me while flying to avoid falling debris.
He gave up on flying and wrapped me and Kwak Han-mook with his metallic wings.
A massive piece of the broken building struck Je Hyeon-oh precisely. with a powerful impact, the fall accelerated.
Splash!
We fell into the neon green sea.
Though immersed in the viscous liquid, I couldn’t be relieved. Debris continued to fall into the sea.
Every time heavy debris struck the metallic wings, we sank deeper and deeper.
Je Hyeon-oh checked on me.
I nodded to let him know I was okay.
Neo is not water.
There is no such thing as suffocating to death inside Neo. The more you drink, the more you simply change in a bad way.
As the falling debris gradually stopped, Je Hyeon-oh folded his wings as close to his body as possible, creating a streamlined shape.
And using that, he moved toward the surface.
"Phew!"
The neon green sea unfolding before my eyes was a mess. I looked around for any floating debris I could lean on.
I saw a human prisoner standing on a wide plank.
"Lt. Col. Je! Over there..!"
Je Hyeon-oh immediately understood what I wanted. He fired a single metallic feather.
The human prisoner was pierced through the neck and died instantly.
I quickly swam over and pulled out the corpse, and Je Hyeon-oh placed Kwak Han-mook on the plank.
Only then could I finally catch my breath. I looked back at Je Hyeon-oh.
"Lt. Col. Je, are you alright?"
He displayed an emoticon on his goggles.
X X
He seemed to be fine. Although he was soaked in neon green, he certainly didn’t look injured anywhere.
’Are the other creatures okay? What about Lt. Won?’
CEO Cha would obviously be safe.
I was most anxious about the creatures who had been locked in the cells and Won Tae-bum.
Especially Won Tae-bum, who must have fallen into the neon green sea like a bolt from the blue; he might have been injured by the falling debris.
’What should I do?’
Just as I was struggling to find a way to resolve this insane situation.
Ding.
A broken system window appeared before my eyes.
[Event Quest: Subdue ■■■]
[The Little Roasted Chestnut has fallen into the neon green sea along with their subordinates.]
[Subordinates who have come into contact with Neo may turn into dregs within the next 30 minutes.]
[The way to prevent this is to subdue ■■■.]
[The Little Roasted Chestnut must join forces with their subordinates to defeat ■■■.]
[He shall look after the young god!]
Reward: Children’s Nutritional Supplement