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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
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Chapter 78
Of course, the hunt had been successful because they had exploited the creature's weakness to the extreme.
But the fact that a single person—moreover, a teenage boy—had planned and executed it in one go was nothing short of astonishing.
"The beast is already exhausted. Would you like to finish it off?"
As Osberg Mielephon offered the final blow to Leon, he silently stepped forward toward the creature.
Without hesitation, he raised his sword and swiftly slashed down.
CRACK!!!
A sound of something shattering.
However, what Leon had cut was not the Kraken’s final weak point.
It was the device that had been generating the barrier surrounding them.
"Le… Leon?! What are you doing!"
At that moment, the Kraken shuddered violently.
Then, as if it had been waiting for this moment, it let out a massive roar, sending everyone in the area into a temporary stunned state.
It was a common phenomenon in Kraken hunts, but given the current situation, it was something that shouldn't have happened.
That said, the Kraken seemed to realize that it had no strength left for anything else.
Without hesitation, it feebly dragged its massive body and escaped into the sea.
The sudden and incomprehensible act by Leon left everyone staring at him in shock.
"Leon! You! What on earth have you done? You let the Kraken escape after we had it cornered!"
The hunting party erupted into chaos.
Even though the hunt had been relatively easy, it wasn’t without casualties.
A Sea King-class monster was still a Sea King-class monster, even in a weakened state.
Many knights had been injured, and some would require long-term recovery.
Of course, Luna had healed them quickly, but that didn’t change the fact that they had all suffered immensely to capture it—only for Leon to let it go.
Even Osberg, who usually defended Leon, was furious this time.
"Leon Cascadia!!!"
Among them, the hunt captain, Beren, strode forward and seized Leon’s shoulder with force.
"What the hell are you doing?! If we lose that thing, then my sister—!!"
"You mean Duke Catsey?"
"I simply cannot understand! Did you not also lose your family to the Kraken?! Why did you let it go?!"
Beren’s sister, Catsey Mielephon.
Leon smiled calmly.
There wasn’t the slightest hint of regret in his expression.
Instead, his smile carried a chilling edge.
"If we had attacked just now, half of the people here would have died."
"W-What?!"
The Kraken was incredibly intelligent and cunning.
"The Kraken has lived a long time, which means it has many tricks up its sleeve. Each one is different, but this one is no exception. That’s why I let it go."
Leon took out a pocket watch from his coat and closed his eyes.
"Explain yourself! In the end, we still lost it, didn’t we?!"
At Beren’s outburst, Leon quietly nodded.
"If we do nothing now, then yes, we’ve lost it."
About five minutes passed.
Leon activated an artifact, and the fourth device, infused with mana by the mages, began to function.
Then, roughly 30 seconds later—
A massive tremor rippled across the entire area.
"W-What?!"
"An earthquake?!"
As the hunting party momentarily faltered in shock, a terrible vibration surged from beneath the sea, spreading all the way to land.
It was a deafening roar, filled with hatred and fury.
"What is that sound…?"
"There were three conditions. First, the mana field around the spawning area needed to maintain a specific pattern."
That was something Leon had been working on for the past three days while harassing the Kraken.
"Second, a catalyst had to be present within that area to trigger a reaction."
During the battle with the Kraken, Leon had discreetly stabbed something into its wounds multiple times.
"The third and final condition—a trigger to force the two elements to react."
That was the purpose of the fourth device.
"When the Kraken reached the vicinity of its eggs, the explosion from its own body ensured those eggs were completely destroyed."
Kraken eggs were made of an exceptionally fragile material.
That was why the creature had fought so desperately to protect them.
But what if the eggs it had waited centuries for were all obliterated in an instant?
"That means… it will come back up, no matter what?"
"Exactly. And this time, it won’t stop until it dies."
Beren felt a shiver down his spine at Leon’s words.
"As I mentioned earlier, humans and their ships aren’t exactly attractive prey for a Kraken. In 98% of cases, a Kraken only attacks humans out of boredom or stress relief."
It had destroyed his family purely for entertainment.
So now, the Kraken would have to shed its own tears of blood.
"That thing annihilated my family. But I can’t just let it die so easily."
As Leon’s presence intensified, something began to surge from the ocean.
"It needs to suffer the same way we did."
Leon stepped forward toward the sea.
BOOOOOM!!!
A moment later, the enraged Sea King-class Kraken surfaced, fixated entirely on Leon, letting out a maddened roar.
As if to say: Even if I die, I will take you with me!
"Welcome back. Losing your family—how does it feel to experience it firsthand?"
Leon’s taunt was met with an immediate, furious attack from the Kraken.
Being an intelligent creature, it must have already figured out the cause of the explosion.
This wasn’t a case of a hidden enemy sneaking in and destroying its eggs.
No, the Kraken itself had brought the explosion upon its own young.
In other words, it had killed all its offspring with its own hands.
Given that Kraken mothers were known for their extreme maternal instincts, it was only natural that it had gone completely berserk.
"What a tragic fate."
Luna murmured bitterly.
But she understood—none of this would have happened if the Kraken hadn’t attacked the Count of Cascadia and his beloved youngest child.
Now, the half-mad Kraken charged toward Leon without hesitation.
A strange steam-like substance erupted from its entire body.
Blue spots began to emerge all over its massive form.
It resembled a blue-ringed octopus.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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That phenomenon was the Kraken’s last resort—burning through its entire life force to fuel its power.
At this stage, the Kraken was at its most dangerous, capable of dealing fatal damage even when on the brink of death.
Even though it was nearly slain, it still rose again as if it were immortal.
Leon gripped his sword tighter.
This was far from over.
It’s probably due to the increased regeneration ability.
Even so, there’s a limit to how much stronger one can become from an injury.
Regardless, it’s impossible to kill that thing instantly with ordinary attacks.
At that moment, Leon’s shout rang out, and Luna, without hesitation, activated the final mechanism and flipped the switch.
Then, from the artifact resembling a brooch that Leon held in his arms, light spread out, enveloping both Kraken and himself, isolating the entire area.
But it didn’t stop there.
Countless magic circles simultaneously appeared on the surface of the barrier.
Most of the subjugation force looked on in confusion at the phenomenon, but the mages managing the mechanism were utterly horrified.
“This is impossible.”
“My god… a six-circle casting?”
“How can a human brain even process that…?”
The older mages murmured with pale faces.
Meanwhile, the younger mages, unable to comprehend the situation, wore puzzled expressions.
“Senior, what do you mean by six-circle casting?”
“Are your eyes just decorative buttons? You’re looking at a six-circle casting with your own eyes, and you’re still asking that?”
“Isn’t double-casting already something that only highly skilled individuals can pull off?”
“That’s exactly why this is absurd… Historically, the highest level of multi-casting a human has ever achieved is triple-casting. Anything beyond that should be impossible for the human brain to execute…”
Using magic rapidly in succession is one thing, but casting multiple spells simultaneously follows an entirely different principle.
Yet, here was a mere human—no, a teenage boy—performing a six-circle casting.
The mages found it impossible to believe what they were witnessing.
“No way, this must be some kind of illusion. If he’s simply activating two spells at the same time—”
“Even if what you say is true, that level of talent guarantees he’ll be the next Tower Master.”
Just as everyone was struggling to grasp what was happening inside the isolated space, something strange started emerging from Kraken’s entire body—a blue, mist-like substance.
Even though the subjugation force was outside the barrier, a sharp, acrid sensation filled their noses, wrapping around them with an eerie presence.
“This is bad! Fall back immediately! That’s deadly poison!”
The first to notice the anomaly was Sword Saint Osberg.
Possessing an overwhelmingly high resistance to poison compared to others, he quickly retreated while pulling back the exposed knights around him.
The subjugation force gulped as they watched the thick poisonous fumes rapidly melt everything in their surroundings.
“Luna, you know what this is, don’t you?”
“It’s a simple deadly poison. However, the toxicity is so strong that even a Sword Master wouldn’t survive it.”
Luna glanced around at the gathered subjugation members and spoke calmly.
“Anyone experiencing poisoning symptoms, come forward. I will administer treatment.”
She clapped her hands lightly.
Snap!
A multicolored glow radiated from around her, and the faces of the subjugation members—who had unknowingly grown pale—visibly brightened.
“That poison is created by Kraken burning its own life force.”
“I never knew such a thing existed…”
“There’s no way to see something like this under normal circumstances. Young Krakens cannot create such a phenomenon.”
On the other hand, an adult Kraken could—but who in the world had ever successfully hunted one?
“The barrier only provides an initial layer of defense against the poison. With the materials we currently have, a complete block is impossible.”
At those words, the subjugation force flinched.
And for good reason—there was someone still trapped inside the barrier, fully exposed to the horrifying poison.
“Wait! Leon is in there all alone!”
“It’s fine. This is part of his strategy. Someone had to be inside to trap the Kraken.”
Luna stretched out her hand without concern.
Her healing power seeped through the barrier.
“Will this be enough?”
“It’s sufficient.”
Gradually, the toxic mist inside the barrier thinned, swirling like a mirage, and the interior was revealed.
Leon appeared, evading the massive octopus’s poisonous attacks with minimal movement.
His voice, though soft, reached everyone’s ears.
However, unlike before, Leon was now shrouded in a black mist that coiled around him like a massive serpent.
“What kind of magic is that?”
One of the mages, eyes wide with shock, muttered.
“What kind of magic is that, Senior?”
“I… don’t know. But it resembles the six-circle Soul Shackles used by necromancers. However, it seems a bit sturdier and more simplified.”
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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