Chapter 12: Another bossmonster ?

The conductor of the chains stood resolutely and the sea serpents withered as the chains tightened in on them.

More and more chains spawned and crawled over their bodies like poisonous snakes wrapping around a prey.

Kai's allies didn't hesitate to take this opportunity to attack more fiercely and mightily. 

When one sea serpent went down, another one appeared and took its place without delay. Just because he tied them up didn't mean, they would win.

So, even one helping hand would be appreciated, much less a swordmaster.

Kai didn't stay back in the ship and reached the wooden railing of the ship.

He raised his leg and stepped out into the ocean as a pillar of water rose to meet him. The water started to freeze the moment the tip of his boot touched the water.

When he gained a firm foothold, he leaped from one ice pillar to another. In the midst of it, he waved his arms and bound the monsters.

Kai looked like a talented dancer with his graceful movements and agile arcs of his body. His flickering fingers manipulated the chains so beautifully, it looked like a stage rather than a battlefield.

Under his ministrations, the white icy chains looked alive rather than inanimate.

Cheeereeahh...

A cry echoed among the horde of monsters.

Then as if they were under a trance, all the sea serpents turned towards Kai. Their eyes turned dazed and they looked like the victims under the spell of a devil.

Kai subconsciously frowned in confusion. He knew he couldn't solely rely on it.

All the information and the details regarding the monsters and their abilities were extracted from the text of the novel. There was never any mention of the sea imugi being able to ensnare the minds of its nestmates.

But for it to have such disparity between the plot and the reality of this world, something strange seems to be happening behind the scenes.

He jumped off the pillar he stood on and sailed through the air when a sea serpent snapped at him from his peripheral.

His white duffle coat fluttered and his hair swayed gently in the breeze. He flipped in mid air and landed on the icy pillar at the center of the monster horde in a crouch.

He surveyed the monsters as he stood up with graceful movements. When he made the icy pillar at the center, he made sure it was large enough for at least ten adult males to easily maneuver around.

So he didn't have to restrict his movements when fighting anymore. But even so he made sure to conceal that he's a swordmaster.

As he had observed no normal attack could penetrate the thick wall of flesh, only the highly condensed mana attacks bore fruition.

A cloud of darkness appeared in the bottom of his eyes as he ran calculations through his mind.

Enzo Hale, one of the male leads of the novel was a very proficient sorcerer, who mastered the art of magic from a tender age.

If even someone like that couldn't pierce the flesh of monsters, him doing so would make him a target for scrutiny and attention.

At this moment, it was the last thing he wanted.

'But hadn't he already anticipated such a situation could occur ?'

Kai hid his sly smile as he reached into the folds of the duffle coat he wore.

He retrieved a folded black fan from the inner pocket of the coat. Before he journeyed towards the isles of Blanche, he ventured out to explore the village he woke up in.

During that period of time, he had met a blacksmith and had commissioned him to create some weapons according to his tastes.

This fan was one of them. He unfolded it as he reminisced the past.

The black surface shone along with the silver engraving on it. It was a rosebud surrounded a circle of leaves woven together like a tiara.

He covered the lower half of his face and stared unwavering at the surge of monsters that are trampling on themselves to reach him.

Anyone else standing in his place would have long lost their resolve and succumbed to the pressure and terror.

In the face of such a situation, only Kai would stare death in the eye.

That's the thought Ruwel had as he hurried to reach the youth that walked to his death. For some unknown reason, his heart was clenching at the thought of losing that child.

No matter how fast he tried to reach him, with his injured state and the interfering monsters, he was too late to reach him.

As he extended his hand towards Kai subconsciously, he froze in shock at the astonishing sight.

Kai clenched the fingers of the right hand and waved it diagonally from the bottom left to the top most right. A gust of wind blew towards the monsters from the fan.

That gust was equalant to a gentle breeze capable of extinguishing dozens of candles. It was not the violent gail of a raging storm. 

But under the astonished gazes of the knights and mages, that gust of wind cut down the monsters bodied in half, mercilessly killing them.

From the left hand, he raised several pillars of ice to intercept the monsters. As many of them collided with those walls, the monsters sustained wounds.

After being injured, unlike the sea imugi who could shake it off, the movements of the sea serpents slowed. So, they were unable to avoid the attacks of the fan.

In less than few minutes, Kai cut down dozens of monsters clearing the way for others to catch a breath as he attracted most of the attention from the monsters.

Only a faint trace of mana was left behind on the path of the fan.

Kai's lips curved wryly as followed the path of the fan, amidst the shocked exclamations of the knights and the mages.

Every person mastering magical arts or swordsmanship, or awakened with special abilities had a attribute that was unchangeable.

But original Kai, who was favored by the god was a different existence all together. His attribute was blank.

As in his inner power could be shaped into anything and nothing at the same time. What kind of a path he would follow was entirely depended on him.

He gazed thoughtfully at the fan held in his right hand while he froze a sea serpent that drew too close for comfort.

He sunk deeper into his thoughts as he watched the fan emitting invisible energy shatter the frozen monster.

Nothingness.

Intangible and invisible energy. Energy and mana born out of nothingness was tangled in the fan he was using. 

Arrrrghhh...

As the number of monsters slain by him increased, they went into a frenzy. The sea serpents struggled to reach him and devour his flesh.

Now they didn't seem to care that they were trampling on their own nestmates. As their indiscriminate attacks increased, Kai increased his speed in slaying them.

His movements grew faster and agile, muscles drawn taught with tension, he persisted. Right, left, behind, forward.

He decimated the monsters ruthlessly. While he let out a deep exhale, Ruwel arrived on the icy pillar at the center followed by Michael.

With Kai at the center, Michael on his right and Ruwel on his left, they provided a strong visual.

The piled-up corpses of the monsters grew while a rusty and iron smell of blood permeated throughout the ocean and invaded their noses.

They started to mercilessly slaughter the monster. At the beginning there was perfect harmony between them and the fight itself looked like a well-rehearsed play.

Keaauughh... Cheereeaahh...

The issue was that the sea imugi kept calling for an army of sea serpents and ensnared them every time they surfaced.

"We can't go on like this. We have to deal with that monster."

Michael seemed to have realized the same thing and voiced it.

"Someone has to make an opening and distract the attention of these monsters while another gets rid of that monster."

Ruwel replied as he went through ways to deal with the sea imugi.

"Please let me deal with that monster while your highness and Keith, distract them enough to buy me time."

Ruwel added after a second.

There was only one method came to his mind. Since they would only gain one chance, the person who would attack the monster had only one chance.

"And how are you going to do that ?"

The deep voice of the first prince interrupted him. 

The battle fell into a stalemate because Kai blew several monsters off with a blizzard and created an ice dome to protect them.

Jack's ship had long arrived on the rock bedding and wasn't damaged much by the blizzard.

"Are you planning on sacrificing yourself, grand duke ?"

Michael refuted the method even before it left the duke's lips.

The only way he was left with was to gather all the mana he had collected over the years into his heart and self-destruct himself together with the monster.

It was the only way he could think of to deal with a monster of that caliber. Ruwel pursed his lips in displeasure.

"Your highness, when you grow older, you'll come to understand that some sacrifices of the minority is necessary for the wellbeing of the majority."

The duke mentioned in a matter-of-fact voice as if it was a universal truth.

Michael clenched his jaw and was about to argue when another voice interceded them.

"What's the use of needless sacrifice ? How can the death of someone be justified ? Do you think you can say a person's death was justified to the face of a loved one ?"

The harsh voice greatly contrasted with the melodic and youthful voice.

"Then how do you suggest we deal with that monster ?"

Ruwel asked knowing there was no other suggestion. But to his surprise, Kai merely laughed.

"Aren't you guys forgetting something ?"

The smile that coiled on his face was sly and cunning.

"Do you think the balance of the world won't interfere in this ?"

Kai pointed his finger in a certain direction as he answered calmly.

When Michael and Ruwel followed that line of sight, they were stunned.

A black monster the same size, if not a little bit bigger than the sea imugi was raising from the water. It clashed headfirst with the sea imugi and bit down on the neck of the sea imugi.