89 – The Moving Island of Celestial Sea Turtle
It just happened.
He pulled out the Lightvein.
It started to evolve on its own.
He wielded the sword as a test.
Result: The Great Worm was halved.
‘Why?’
Ascal looked down at the Lightvein quietly.
Now it looked not so much a sword, but more like a shimmering mass of light.
Ascal felt a cold sweat.
It was like having the switch to a nuclear bomb in his hand.
“Mazar! What on earth are you!”
“Praise our light, our guide, our god, from now on we and Mazar are one!”
“Sword… my knight.”
The warriors of the Lion tribe, deprived of their chance to advance, blew their trumpets with all their remaining strength.
Pwoo—–
Pwoo———–
Everyone was in a festive mood.
But Ascal’s attention was captivated by the Lightvein.
‘How do I turn this off.’
Lightvein was still emitting a cluster of light.
With it like this, it couldn’t be sheathed.
It even seemed the glory of defeating the Great Worm was amplifying the brightness.
It occurred to him what must be done.
Ascal decided to drive the Lightvein into the ground.
Like cutting through tofu, the Lightvein went softly into the earth.
Since it was so long, it took a while to embed.
‘Am I about to stab a giant turtle?’ As he contemplated,
The bone necklace vibrated.
“Ah… cool… it’s relieving… an itch… too refreshing… more… more… a bit to the… right…”
The voice of the Celestial Turtle reached Ascal.
Ascal pulled out the Lightvein.
Following the instructions of the Celestial Turtle, he carefully inserted Lightvein a bit towards the right.
“Good… just a… bit more… Ah…”
The Celestial Turtle expressed satisfaction.
Ascal recalled the massage he got from the miaomiaos.
He then moved the hilt of the Lightvein this way and that.
To provide a little more stimulation.
The reaction was clear.
“Uhuk…Uhuk…yes…there…paradise…it’s paradise…glad you’re…still alive…”
Ascal felt satisfied.
“If the customer is satisfied, I feel good too.”
Ascal continued to maneuver Lightvein.
Swoosh – Swoosh –
“Ah…Ah…”
Would Laika have felt like this while he was massaging her?
‘Maybe focusing on massage after retirement would not be that bad.’
Kuwang –
Then, the island shook.
The gigantic turtle, so satisfied from having its itch scratched, began to express its joy.
The Tusks embraced each other, trembling. Their folded ears rustled.
The lion tribesmen held stiff postures.
“Another earthquake! Everyone, hang on!”
But this time was a little different.
Shoosh – Shoosh –
“A stream of water?”
The earthquake stopped.
Then a grand stream of water erupted from the center of the island.
As if a whale was spouting it out.
“Oh, that’s Celestial Water. Only released when the Heavenly Sea Turtle is very satisfied.”
“Captain. Was it alive?”
“Fortunately, it escaped before being digested. Thought it was going to die.”
The Tusk chief crawled out of the split Great Worm.
He barely scraped through the attack. Lucky indeed.
The chief of the tribe, who had cleaned up his muddied face with dry water, bounced up upon seeing Askal.
“You’re appreciated. Not for merely saving me. We’re free without the worm. You’re the benefactor of our tribe.”
“You get endless provision of lotus herb just because you’re you.”
“Some day show your smoke challenge again. It was awesome.”
The tribe who used to bounce began to circle around Askal as if they were dancing, the maximum expression of gratitude that they could offer.
“Indeed.”
Reacting reflexively, Askal felt strange.
The tribe’s words were automatically translated as if they had become native speakers, even without Lightvein’s translation.
Askal momentarily let go of the hilt.
“Tubad naan gka.”
Indeed.
Apparently, the evolved Lightvein worked with automatic translation by mere holding.
‘Isn’t this cheating?’
The Lightvein had no flaws, being wholly perfect without even its loud voice. Only if a way could be found to turn off the light.
‘I could capture the dragon.’
For the first time, Askal felt confident about the dragon raid.
Ultimately, the issue was not whether or not to capture the dragon. It was about how much sacrifice was needed.
Even if the dragon was caught with much difficulty, if he, or rather Lia died, it wouldn’t mean anything.
But if they have the Lightvein.
They might capture the dragon without suffering any damage.
With newfound hope, Askal pulled out the Lightvein with full force.
Ba-dump-
“Calculating user achievements. Your current achievement ranking stands at second place among humanoid lifeforms on the continent. The difference with the first place is extremely minuscule. Moreover, your ranking for the Greatest Of All Time is 13th.”
The voice of Lightvein rang in the ears of Askal.
From Noble mtl dot com
It was not the usual neutral tone he was familiar with, but a steadfast and almost divine voice, similar to a woman meteorologist forecasting the weather.
Had his ego truly changed?
“However, your physical body is excessively weak compared to your achievements. Your innate abilities are sufficient, but the quality of your physical body is lacking. This resulted in your physical body ranking being— out of the ranking. I advise you to strengthen your basic stamina.”
There was even an in-body function in the transcendent Lightvein.
“As operating any further may strain the user’s body, I will forcibly halt operations. I will disable the pain relief function. Please prepare for the shock.”
The light of Lightvein was turned off.
It had returned to its ordinarily splendid sword form.
And that wasn’t the only thing that had returned.
“Have you missed me, Master!”
“You again… huh?”
Askal, who was sighing, suddenly felt a tremendous fatigue. He felt as if he had been working late for a week after sleeping only three hours a day.
Askal’s sight became blurry.
With what he saw.
The fiercely running Aileen appearing worried, the Lion Tribe warriors, and the earth tribe people who lay down in the place he collapsed to provide a cushion.
Askal somehow had this thought. That he was still loved.
“Sword, sword!”
“Mazar-! Drink my blood!”
Askal’s last reply was,
“What’s your blood type…”
Swoosh—
The sound of cool waves was heard.
While it was a refreshing scene that eased the viewer’s heart, Aser Devler’s heart was only burning.
There are unofficial organizations in the empire – in other words, they deal with unknowable events from foreign countries.
And the most famous amongst them is the Imperial Special Task Force, also known as the Emperor’s hounds.
There was a time when they were notorious.
They were known for kidnapping or torturing officials or nobles who disapproved of the empire, and even spreading that rumor intentionally to consolidate the emperor’s power.
But that’s all in the past now.
The current Special Task Force is no longer referred to as the Emperor’s hunting dogs, but as the Crown Prince’s Hide-and-seek Squad.
The reason was simple.
They were actually playing hide-and-seek.
Principally with Ascal and Bunshtein.
Then.
“Hmm. We’re screwed.”
The current Special Task Force captain, Arthur Debrue, muttered his present state of mind.
Because for the first time they seemed to fail a mission.
In other words, that meant their salary would be trimmed.
Looking at the sea, he naturally reflected on the past.
Back to the time after he won at the Horse Racing Competition.
Arthur was offered the position of Special Task Force captain.
Initially, he intended to decline.
-“Isn’t that the place that apprehends and tortures people? I’m not really up for it.”
The Crown Prince chuckled at his words.
-“Why would there be a need to catch a live person when everyone loves the empire? Ah, of course, there are separate people who will be brought in instead of live ones. Exactly….“
“Where on earth did he disappear to, my son…. I miss you.”
The difficulty level these days has significantly escalated.
If the previous level was easy, the current one appears to be pretty challenging.
Bunshtein started to hide more sneakily by creating a new invention device, and Ascal vanished to absolutely unrelated places.
Creeeak-
“Captain. The direction is definitely this way.”
Ascal’s specialty tracker―containing an improved type of magic stone―pointed towards the sea.
“Did he possibly go to the Dragon Palace?”
“If it’s Ascal, there’s a possibility. Should we try finding him using underwater-breathing magic?”
At Arthur’s joke, Yulia responded with seriousness.
“……I wish for you to abstain. Your Highness, the princess.”
However, he understood.
It was less so Arthur, but rather Yulia who was so serious to the point of even taking jokes surely, feeling her insides searing hot.
Why?
“The statement you’ve made about dating our son, is it true?”
Arthur murmured quietly, just loud enough for only Yulia to hear.
Upon seeing Yulia initially join the force, Arthur had objected. Pursuit was a tiresome task. Harsh paths needed to be treaded and often, camping was mandatory. It was not what a princess should be doing.
Nevertheless, Yulia persuaded Arthur with a simple sentence.
“That man, he’s my boyfriend. It’s still a secret.”
Ever since she started dating Ascal, Yulia had held back her desire to show off her romantic relationship here and there. At least it would have been more appropriate after catching the dragon.
But wouldn’t it be okay to tell the boyfriend’s father?
“Yes……”
Yulia’s ears turned a shade pink.
“But is it true that he left his girlfriend behind and disappeared with another woman?”
He also told the whole development of the situation.
A person to consult was needed. Arthur was just the right person for that.
“Yes…… Aileen, was the principal of Haven Academy, but it seems she is now referred to as a saint. You must have heard of her.”
“Hmm. Seems like I saw her from a long distance before.”
Arthur recalled the image of Aileen. Back then, Aileen had been frequently on business trips as the principal.
“Do not worry too much. Aren’t you far more beautiful than this woman named Aileen?”
“Is, is that so?”
If someone else had said it, it would have been an unexciting remark.
But when it comes from her boyfriend’s father?
The meaning becomes much more significant.
Julia’s mood slightly lifted. Her goodwill towards her father-in-law increased proportionally.
‘At least Ascal isn’t the squishy sort…’
Of course, Arthur had seen not Saint Ireen, but Director Ireen.
“Let him go.”
“….Is that alright?”
“He will come back anyhow. He detests responsibility, but he’s not the sort to shirk off his duties completely. He needs to catch that, what was it, a giant lizard, no?”
“Yes. He agreed to cooperate.”
The tale Julia had consulted him about also involved a dragon.
Arthur Dever is the closest thing to a Sword Master. Not quite a Sword Master, but perhaps a Sword Master in some respects.
Therefore, they needed his help.
“This is exciting.”
Arthur, in the end, was a warrior to the bone.
Even these days, he often found himself thinking about his battle with the Northern General before going to sleep.
And then,
‘At that time, I should have moved to the right, taken a breath, and targeted the lower part.’
He still woke up abruptly in his bed, filled with regret.
“But brother, you never faced a dragon, did you?”
Arthur chuckled lightly.
This is why one needs to explore the vast sea.
Look at this. He had been stuck up in the North, missing out on the massive event called Dinosaur Raid.
“I need to return and continue my training. The swordsmanship needs to be stronger. Huh, wonder what’s strong against fire?”
With that, Arthur was about to leave the beach.
“Captain! A turtle as large as an island is approaching!”
“Is that like the story of the frog packaging gems?”
Arthur turned at his subordinate’s words.
And then, he,
“Well, there are Jewel Frogs, so could be frogs can bag some gems.”
It was just gigantic.
A turtle larger than the Ice Giants he had seen in the North, swimming towards them with an island on its back.
This was a scene beyond common sense, something you would see only in myths.
Zeezeezeezee-
“The response from the tracker is getting stronger!”
“Should we retreat? We can’t identify the entity! It could be hostile!”
“But there’s a response from Count Erendale. He seems to be nearby! Captain! Your orders!”
His subordinates started to panic.
Initially seeing something that surpasses your imagination does lead to going crazy.
But Arthur had already gotten used to it. Ascalon hasn’t faced such threats just once or twice.
“Everyone, welcome it.”
Arthur laid his hand on the sword hilt, smiling.
“Count Erendale is coming here.”