Omniscient First-Person’s Viewpoint chapter 464

464 – Stories from Afar. The view of the abandoned sea

It seemed as if the existence from the depths of the world was staring at Kavilla through the rift. Squirming chunks of flesh filled the room. The eerie eyeball moved strangely among the chunks of meat. Tentacles writhed through the gaps.

Fear comes from learning. Humans fear tigers because it is learned through history and experience. Therefore, those who saw that existence for the first time were perplexed, amazed, and disgusted, and they covered their faces.

The same applied to the other side. A moment of stillness. The eyeball that was exposed between the chunks of meat moved rapidly.

Kavilla muttered as she stared at the giant eye.

“Octopus. Kraken-class.”

When her hiding place, the ruined house, was destroyed, the angered octopus swung its leg. The finspined legs extended through windows, roof gaps, and cracks in the wall, aiming for Kavilla and lunged.

The heavy and strong legs were weapons in themselves. Even a slight touch caused the stone wall to crumble. Kavilla muttered as she threw bone needles.

“It’s a marine creature that lives in rock crevices. It’s so big that it rarely appears near the coast unless it’s on Whale Island. I don’t even remember the last time I saw one.”

The bone needles grew into skeletal soldiers to protect Kavilla. Bone swords and bone blades targeted the octopus’s legs. However, the tough and slimy legs did not listen well to the attacks. While the skeletal soldiers paused, the octopus wrapped its flappy legs around them and crushed them. As the octopus’s leg was joined by the bone swords, the leg was cut off and fell, leaving Kavilla vulnerable.

When Kavilla fell to the ground, she manipulated her blood. Although the severed leg tried to move and attach itself to her body, Kavilla’s blood seeped into the surface, interfering with its movements. When impurities invaded its body, the octopus’s leg convulsed and trembled. Then, at a certain moment, red blood seeped in, and the octopus’s leg became Kavilla’s loyal subordinate.

Valdemir, who had been quietly watching Kavilla fight, vomited.

“What’s the conclusion?”

The moment she settled on the ground, the fate of the octopus was already determined. While the skeletal soldiers and the lobster tried to dismantle the fleeing octopus, Kavilla looked at Valdemir with a bored expression and replied.

“…There was a collision between a sperm whale and a storm petrel. Otherwise, a tidal wave of this size wouldn’t have hit during the low tide.”

“I see.”

“That’s it? You’re not my sister! If I have to give my all, you should also produce results! You keep ordering me around as if it’s natural, but don’t forget that we are equals!”

Of course, even as Kavilla spoke, she knew it wasn’t true. Valdemir was stronger than her and a hero who even suppressed the rebellion against the lineage. Valdemir was undoubtedly a significant figure in the kingdom, if not the most important figure.

If Kavilla hadn’t been in a somewhat more unpleasant mood… No, if it hadn’t been for her knowledge of the human king, she might have ended up as a shadow’s meal. Realizing her situation, Kavilla asked in a lowered voice.

“So, are you going to confess now? How did you know the tidal wave was coming and evacuate the humans in advance?”

“There was information.”

“Information? About what’s happening in the distant sea? Who, how, and why?”

Vladimir paused for a moment to choose his words.

He knew who it was. But he didn’t know how or why.

No, he couldn’t even be certain of who it was.

He had encountered Claudia once before. But when ‘it’ came to find Vladimir, it was different. It was a type of human that was unlike any other figure he had known, much like the presence he had seen in the depths just moments ago.

While Vladimir was organizing his thoughts, Kabila spoke.

“No way. It can’t be a saint. A buoyant? An observer from the Magic Kingdom?”

It was a natural inference. Saints are the natural enemies of vampires. As much as vampires despise saints, saints also hold contempt for vampires. They won’t be providing any helpful prophecies from over there.

Well, if it results in a benefit for the saints, there is a possibility. But for the saints, benefiting means the extinction of vampires.

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know? If you didn’t know, you wouldn’t have trusted them and bitten someone, right?”

“It was difficult to pass without knowing. Besides, at that time, I was preoccupied with the affairs of the clan. And there’s no harm in granting a request from an unknown being for now.”

Kabila was puzzled.

Vladimir is rational and logical. If that unknown being wasn’t trustworthy, he would have captured and extracted information from them.

In other words, if he couldn’t use that ‘rational’ solution…

“The great hemophile couldn’t determine the outcome of the duel?”

Vladimir answered Kabila’s suspicion honestly.

“We didn’t fight.”

“Huh? Even after going around all the elders and living in their own self-righteousness, Vladimir the hemophile got scared? You’ve become quite cowardly. What does it matter if the saint is trying to put us in danger?”

When you think about it, the possibility of being a saint was the highest. Vladimir nodded his head in agreement.

“Yeah.”

“Yeah? Acting as if you can do anything with your words, but when it comes down to it, you’re irresponsible…”

As he listened to the resentful criticism mixed with envy, Vladimir moved his broadsword. The sea creature that had been washed ashore from the sea of calamity was powerful and dangerous, but not as much as Vladimir. While humans were leaving only the corpses to be cleared, Vladimir advanced along the coastline, organizing the area.

As he approached the original coast line, something unfamiliar caught his eye.

“What’s that?”

“Shall I be your explanation guide? I won’t tell you, so figure it out yourself… What is that?”

Even Kabila couldn’t close her mouth when she saw ‘it’. The dark wizard, who had been guarding the sea of calamity longer than anyone else, knew the sea better than anyone. Of course, considering that the world knows very little about the vast sea, one must also consider that Kabila’s knowledge was quite deep and diverse.

Even she had never seen the structure in front of her.

It was so large that the sense of reality disappeared. There were still several kilometers to the coastline, but ‘that’ with its blue-green spots looked as if someone had taken a thin piece of land and placed it there. It was too big to have been carried by a tsunami and washed ashore.

Blood?

If one hadn’t seen the dark-red blood flowing from the cross-section, they might have mistaken it for an island swept away by a tidal wave, whether it was Kabila or Valdamir. Kabila detected the alien vitality and spoke.

“Is that a creature? No, a piece of a creature? That means…”

“From a sea calamity. Perhaps the fin of a storm rider?”

Of a size enough to fill the coastline. Amidst it, the blood flowing from the cross-section affirmed that it was part of a creature. Unbelievably so, but there seemed no other possibility. The bluish-black patches and the cartilage extending vertically were proof that it belonged to a storm rider.

What could have happened to this colossal and majestic storm rider? Kabila murmured.

“Did it really engage in a battle with a leviathan? Even sea beasts can be foolish enough to call beasts. But the difference in size…”

“No. That cross-section is not a mark of a beast.”

Valdamir walked unhesitatingly towards the fin. Kabila hurriedly followed him.

Originally a tidal flat, after the deluge, the seawater had risen up to the thighs. The boundary between land and sea was daunting even for Elders, but Valdamir paid no heed, cutting through the currents. In an area where neither humans nor Ains could tread, only Kabila, who had hitched a ride on a seashell crab, followed him.

“Do you want to die? There’s seawater here! I understand your nose is now high, but threats lurking beneath the water are dangerous for you or even me!”

Kabila’s heartfelt warning fell on deaf ears as Valdamir arrived at the wreckage of the storm rider.

To humans, the remnants of the storm rider were a catastrophe, yet to someone, it was a festival. Thousands, even tens of thousands of fish were tearing into the remains of the storm rider, filling their bellies. Predators that had come to hunt them snatched prey from the outskirts. Hundreds of seagulls circled in the sky, and hundreds of remora sharks attached to fins savored the downpour.

With tens of thousands of beasts feasting ravenously, it was a situation where one couldn’t speak of a cross-section anymore. There were even fish burrowing into the flesh. It would be nearly impossible to find clues here.

However, amidst this immense spectacle, Inspector Valdamir sensed traces of a sword. Observing the section that extended in a straight line, Valdamir muttered.

“A single strike?”

“Valdamir! Be careful!”

Kabila’s sharp warning echoed.

Cutting through the currents, something approached. A sea creature, mistaking Valdamir for prey, flew towards him like a bullet. In the depths of the sea, it was impossible to discern through complexion, but Valdamir read the flow of the currents and swung his greatsword beneath the surface. Swish, the sea creature’s maw clashed against Valdamir’s sword underwater.

Incredibly, Valdamir was pushed back. Unable to properly unleash his strength underwater, he was pushed as though colliding in thin air. The predator, aiming for unfamiliar prey, relentlessly thrust its tail, pushing the sword even harder.

Clang, clang. The fierce fangs marked the sword. It was an immense force. Valdamir estimated the predator’s strength and swiftly spun his body. He firmly planted one leg on the ground, then twisted his shoulder and waist to gather strength. With a swift turn of his body, he swung the greatsword fiercely.

The blade cleaved the sea, leaving a gaping wound. The extended blade vanished, and one unfortunate sea creature, not having fully understood its opponent, was split in half. The fish that had aimed for a delicacy had become a delicacy themselves for other fish.

Despite the dramatic feat of cutting through a sea creature underwater… Valdamir’s expression remained dark. His strike, given his full strength, was like a speck of dust compared to severing the storm rider’s fin in a single blow.

Moreover, it was an enormous storm rider. Even a slightly larger fish than a human held tremendous power underwater, but the ancient storm rider would undoubtedly be incomparable. It had caused a deluge and yet managed to sever a fin in a single blow?

This was not a realm reachable by mere strength and skill. It was something that only a being of essence, a sovereign or even a demon, could discuss such a possibility.

But… were they really them? Valdamir couldn’t hastily conclude.

“Something is happening.”

The shadow of Tyrkanchaka. The king of humans. And now, the ‘something’ that attacked the storm rider. Amidst consecutive anomalies, Valdamir sensed a massive tide.

The world is changing. Even vampires dwelling within the world must change. No matter how much they wish to remain as they are, the merciless flow of the world will not release them. Valdamir reaffirmed that his decision was not wrong.