Caldoon quickly retreated away from the grabby tentacles. When he did, he noticed another creature popping through the wood on a nearby ship, then another, and another. Pretty soon, the entire fleet was infested with these creatures as they shot through the wood, only to rain down and cause havoc. It was only moments later that he began to hear the screams all around him as the barbarians tried and failed to fend them off.

  The emperor had a sneaking suspicion as to what these were, and a quick [insight] confirmed his suspicions.

  [Auger Squid Lv. 95]

  While he was using [Insight], Caldoon received a [Whisper] from Triton.

  “Good news! These devils were devouring a carcass not too far down below the fleet. I managed to steal their meal and bring it here, which lured the entire pack.”

  ‘Auger Squids,’ or ‘sea wolves,’ as they’re colloquially known, are some of the worst fish you could ever encounter in the Abyssal Ocean, despite first appearances. They don’t live in the abyss, opting instead to live halfway between the bottom of the ocean and the surface and traveling between both for food. They were also small, the one at Caldoon’s feet only being around his forearm in length.

  All these benign details, however, betrayed their deadly nature as some of the best hunters in the ocean. Looking down, Caldoon could see the dark tentacles lined with serrated teeth as the creature dragged its shell across the wood. Two eyes peeked out from either side below a black, conical forehead.

  Auger Squids weren’t deadly on their own, not by an ocean’s breadth. However, they were known to travel in packs of up to a few thousand. Each one had the ability to harden the muscles in their foreheads and launch themselves through the water at ludicrous speeds. One squid was bad, but not enough to hunt down a leviathan. A thousand of them launching themselves at prey and drilling themselves into the flesh, however, was enough to kill almost anything.

  The squid trying to eat Caldoon’s foot was currently blinking red, an attack signal. Apparently, Triton stealing their lunch was enough to rile them up into attacking a fleet of ships. At the very least, the squids would tear through the remaining ships and eat any survivors. Caldoon’s job was done, and it was time to make his retreat.

  “You’ve done well, Triton. Grab the cargo ships on the right side of the flagship, and I’ll grab them on the left. Let’s make our escape.”

  “What about the flagship? Are we not going to take it?”

  “For now, let’s focus on securing these cargo ships; I don’t want them to get caught up in the crossfire. Later, if the flagship manages to survive the auger’s assault, we’ll kill everyone aboard and secure it.”

  Both men got to work as Caldoon dove back into the ocean.

  The moment Caldoon hit the ocean’s surface, however, he was greeted by a carpet of purple arrows bobbing up and down below him. All around, purple streaks were darting up from the blanket below and launching themselves toward the hulls of the fleet. Thousands of Auger Squid had gathered to chase down Triton, and now they were all focused on ‘devouring’ the ships.

  From where Caldoon was swimming, the ships looked like a pod of whales with their bellies submerged, which was fine dining for a hungry and irate pack of squid. He looked to his right and noticed a monster of a fish floating lifelessly in the water, presumably what Triton stole from them.

  The emperor quickly grasped his thoughts again when a squid streaked right by his cheek. He then remembered that this was supposed to be a dangerous situation and charged up [Drill jet], using it to propel himself through the onslaught.

  At the speed Caldoon was moving, it only took a few moments for him to reach the three cargo vessels that were on his side of the flagship. Now that he was in position, he began to grasp the ether around him as he prepared to use another of his arts.

  Debris that landed in the water was pulled to Caldoon’s front as he concentrated on the art. Axes and tools that were strewn about gravitated towards one of nine vortexes and were then twisted into the shape of nine barbed spears. Once the spears were formed, the emperor launched them all towards the vessels, sending them into the hulls of the ships and piercing their undersides. Once the spears were in place, a line made up of the surrounding water connected them to Caldoon.

  This was [Dredge], another modified art that was extremely useful. Unlike the emperor’s other arts, this was intended for pulling up large bodies from the ocean floor so they could be taken apart. Incidentally, it was also good for hauling ships back to the island, where they could be sold, repaired, or taken apart.

  Caldoon pushed [Drill Jet] as fast as it could go and began swimming towards the barricade he created earlier. Not too long after he began moving, the aquatic ropes of his art were taut, and the three ships he secured began moving along with him.

  It was slow, but Caldoon managed to propel himself at a steady pace as he began to approach the edge of the fleet. The route he took was one he previously cleared when going on a rampage using [Drill Jet]. The only obstacle in his path was the squids that constantly wanted to assault him, but his strength and vitality allowed him to ignore them as they clung to his body.

  To his right, Caldoon could see Triton hauling his own set of ships. His method involved his own version of [Dredge], which used only water to make the spears, and [Water Formation: Ryugu] to haul the ships behind him.

  Once Caldoon and Triton were some ways away from the fleet, he stopped to take a quick breath of air. He was delighted that everything had gone according to plan, minus some unforeseen circumstances, but he was still worried that the fleet might attempt to get their ships back. Curious, he stopped hauling the ships for a moment and went up to the surface of the water to get a good look at the remainder of the fleet.

  It was a complete tragedy.

  Every ship in the fleet had holes in it from squids that launched themselves through their holes. All of them were taking on water, and some had already completely sunk. If Caldoon focused his eyes, he could see the barbarians trying to tear away the squids that had latched themselves onto their bodies.

  The only ship that was relatively unscathed was the flagship. The man-o’-war was truly remarkable; its hull stopped any augers from piercing through the vessel entirely. It seemed that the flagship really would last until Caldoon picked it up later. Caldoon was filled with hope for getting a shiny new vessel to parade around the island, but a familiar sight took him away from those thoughts.

  On the bow of the flagship, standing at the very front and looking down at Caldoon, was the third guild leader. He didn’t know his name, but he did know that the man was much stronger than his, admittedly, disappointing companions. For a second, Caldoon wondered if the guild leader was going to take out his axe and try to strike him down again. That didn’t happen; instead, he turned around and walked back onto the center of the ship and out of sight.

  Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

  Strange… Maybe he doesn’t want to destroy his own cargo?

  Caldoon didn’t know the reason, but he didn’t want to stay out here. Several augers were still sinking their teeth into his body, and he wanted to get back to shore as fast as possible. With nothing left for him here, he dove back under the water and continued back home.

  …

  “Guild Leader Dravus, are you sure we should let them take the slaves?”

  “What else would you suggest we do? Our fleet is destroyed, one of our guild leaders is dead, and the other is somewhere drowning. I hate to say it, but we’ve lost.”

  “So, what now? Do we gather our forces and retaliate?”

  Dravus gave a strange look to the short Zaurian barbarian beside him, then he barked out a laugh.

  “Retaliate? Ha, I wish! No, gather up anyone still alive onto the flagship. After that, we sail for home.”

  “What? No! We should bring back an army and kill them all! They disrespected the dominion! They disrespected the emperor! We can’t let them get away with that!”

  Dravus only side-eyed the young man next to him. The kid was fresh, only recently becoming a stage two sovereign. He recalled when he was still newly inducted into the guild, back when he had these high-minded ideas about righteousness and virtue. Dravus could only envy the young man as he recalled the days he spent getting acquainted with his class.

  “Son, do you know how our guild got its name?”

  The younger barbarian stopped and looked up at Dravus, then a look of confusion crossed his face.

  “Because we are superior to the weaker classes? Because we embrace raw might to conquer anyone and anything?”

  Dravus shook his head, “Not even close.”

  Then he continued.

  “Because in this world, it is kill or be killed. Slaughter or be slaughtered. CONQUER OR BE CONQUERED!”

  Dravus felt his body transform as he grew several feet in size, making him look even more bestial than he already did. His voice began to change as well, adding a low rumble to his tone and occasionally giving out a feral snarl.

  “What we do, we do out of survival. We lost enough people today, and I doubt waiting here will make much difference. Honor and bravery mean nothing if you’re dead.”

  Dravus let his words sink in through the young man’s terror, then gradually shrank back to his usual size. After shrinking down, he continued.

  “We have been given an opportunity to escape, so we will take it and live to fight another day. As for the slaves, the guild will have to cancel the yearly auction. The foreign buyers won’t like it, but then again dealing with them isn’t my job. If the guild questions what happened, let me handle it, got it?”

  The younger man gave a confirming nod, still staring at Dravus.

  “Well, if you understand, THEN QUIT STARING AND START HAULING THE MEN OUT OF THE WATER!”

  Dravus grabbed the young barbarian by his neck and tossed him toward one of the ropes that was being extended into the ocean. The rest of the crew were already hard at work at throwing lifelines in the water and pulling people up. A group of men looked up briefly to see the young man hit the ground, only to return to the rescue operation a moment later.

  Dravus finally had a moment to think as he looked out at the barricade walls. They were lowered a short while ago to let the stolen ships in, and now the barrier was closed again, making sure entry to the island was impossible.

  ‘Leviathan’s Rest,’ huh? So, this is why every raid on the island was unsuccessful. The guild will be interested to hear about what happened.

  Dravus was so focused on what had happened, however, that he didn’t notice the long shadow approaching their wrecked fleet from beneath the ocean waves.

  …

  Caldoon and Triton climbed out of the water and onto the docks of Tranquil Waters. Behind them were six ships that were floating some distance away. The cargo ships still had combatants on them, so they still needed to be dealt with before the vessels could be brought to shore.

  Once they were on dry land, both of the fishermen began pulling off the numerous squids that had latched themselves to their flesh. Bitemarks, scratches, and torn clothes were revealed with each one their pried off. At this point, they were both tired and seriously contemplated eating the squid raw to satiate their hunger.

  “Alright, I’ll stay here and watch the ships,” Caldoon said. “You head to the labyrinth and see what happened to Lukey. Take Leah with you; I’m sure she’s worried sick.”

  Triton gave a confirming nod, then ran off in the direction of Claw Cove.

  Caldoon waited a few minutes to catch his breath. After doing so, he bent down to jump back into the sea, but before he could do so, someone approached him from behind.

  “It would seem we are a tad late to the scuffle. You’ve already managed to destroy the fleet, and we’ve barely gotten our team together.”

  Caldoon turned around to see six men and women walking down the docks. All of them were decorated with varying suits of armor, some dressed in leather and others in steel. Standing at their front was a tall man with a magnificent silver stache, the sun beaming off his bare head. He wore a beautiful set of heavy silver armor and wielded a massive spear with a curved edge. [Insight] confirmed what Caldoon already knew.

  [Garrett Lanzwacht (Tyrant Annihilator) Lv. 548]

  This was a group stationed on the island to seek out and destroy any tyrants that prowled around Leviathan’s Rest, employed by Dragon’s Lance.

  “Garrett? It’s a pleasure to see you, but as you can see, the situation has been mostly resolved. Your team’s talents aren’t required at this moment. Besides, don’t you typically stay out of struggles between nations?”

  Caldoon was not in the mood to deal with these people. Of course, they were a big help in keeping the island safe, and they were very respectful of the rules he and his father set forth when they set up a base here. What Caldoon couldn’t stand, however, was the pompous bravado they always wore.

  Dragon’s Lance was an order of freelance knights sworn to hunt and destroy tyrants. Being trained as knights and squires, they held the exact attitude one would expect of people trained to protect and serve. An aura of nobility married to discipline.

  Garret responded in his signature puffed-up tone. His voice was a melodic valley, especially when he heavily announced every word like he was speaking to an invisible audience.

  “Only tyrants? Well, I’m almost offended! Technically speaking, since our base is located on the island, any attack on the island is an attack on us. Besides, I would hardly call an attack by barbarians a ‘struggle between nations’.”

  “Ha! So be it,” Caldoon chuckled. “I’ve managed to secure these cargo ships, but there are still a few stragglers aboard. If you wish to assist, may I suggest helping me clear them out?”

  “Consider it done,” Garrett gleefully assured. “Squad! With me!”

  The next moment all six of the warriors crouched down and rocketed themselves into the air. Caldoon’s eyes followed their flight path as they landed in a group and began fighting off barbarians from one of the vessels. The harried warriors didn’t stand a chance against the tight formation of Garrett’s squad as they tore through their ranks.

  Well, my job just got a little easier. I wonder how Triton’s doing.

  …

  Triton ran down to the labyrinth with Leah in tow. It was only a short detour to pick her up, since the guild building was located on the way out of the town.

  “How much further?” Leah asked.

  “Not long. In fact, the path down to the beach is just up ahead.”

  They both took a sharp turn as they left the main trail and scurried downhill. A few seconds later they found themselves on the beach where crabs gathered in droves. They looked around and spotted the entrance to the labyrinth to their right, but something was off. Water was pouring out of the entrance to the labyrinth, making the beach look more like a shallow tide pool.

  “Is that the labyrinth? Why is there water coming out of it?” Leah asked.

  “That’s strange. This only happens when the unseen force in the labyrinth is so strong it… oh coconuts.”

  A low rumble bellowed out of the labyrinth’s entrance, which prompted Triton to grab Leah and run back to the trail down the hillside. The rumble rose in volume until the entrance and the entire wall that housed it exploded outwards in a tidal wave of water. Triton and Leah were forced to watch in silence as large crab carcasses were thrown out of the labyrinth.

  Then they saw something that shocked them even further. Out of the newly made entrance, giant limbs were being forced out of the labyrinth. After several large onyx legs poured out, the main body of an enormous beast followed, with Lukey passed out on its shell.

  After regurgitating everything it could, the labyrinth began sealing itself up. Mud rose up and fell as the destroyed opening began sealing itself shut. Soon, the mud reached the top of the entrance, and the layers smoothed themselves out, creating a wall that disguised the fact a labyrinth was ever there.

  Triton pulled himself from his shock and quickly used [Insight] to make sure Lukey was okay.

  [Lukey (Aquaclaw Subduer) Lv. 32]