Chapter 118:

Chapter 118:

After being hauled in by the Fisher King’s net, whaling equipment was deployed to hunt the Drowned King.

This was the irreverent yet crude strategy established by Hyanis.

The Drowned King thought the Fisher King’s net was plausible, but found it absurd that whaling equipment was all that was summoned for the hunt.

Could a few mere harpoons used for whaling capture an angel?

But this was a misconception of the Drowned King.

The whaling industry, also known as whaling, had developed beyond the Drowned King’s imagination over the past millennium.

“Fire!”

As soon as the ships adjusted their angles, the whaling harpoons hanging from the ballistae were simultaneously launched towards the Drowned King. Even without the Fisher King’s net, hitting such a massive target was more challenging.

Boom, boom-boom!

The Drowned King couldn’t help but be astonished by the giant harpoons that instantly pierced through his torso.

Harpoons nearly the size of anchors were embedded in his body.

In the past, whaling meant driving whales to the shore and throwing harpoons or causing them to beach. However, these harpoons were equipment designed to finish off the whales and drag them to the harbor.

The Drowned King felt a strange sensation upon seeing this.

He had spent a millennium buried in the deep sea, declining to the level of beasts without even speaking. But during that time, his followers had continuously advanced to survive in a world without the miracles that protected them.

“Jam them in with everything we’ve got!”

The sailors of the Salt Council closed their eyes tightly and fired the harpoons. The Drowned King did not attempt to dodge or block with his tentacles; he simply took the hits. Some sailors cried as they fired the harpoons at the Drowned King, who was bleeding miserably.

They all grew up hearing stories of the angel who remained in this world to protect the Salt Council after God had left. Of course, the Drowned King had spent most of that time asleep in the deep sea, but the mere fact of his existence allowed the followers of the Salt Council to feel a connection to God.

But now, they were severing that connection with their own hands.

“The first fleet’s work is done!”

“The second fleet is finished!”

As the notifications of the harpoon work’s completion followed one after another, Hyanis gave the next order.

“If the harpoons are set, the first fleet will immediately break formation!”

The ships promptly exited the formation and began to move. In traditional whaling, this would be the process of dragging the catch to the harbor, but there was no direction to this fleet’s departure.

Rather, they were scattering in all directions.

It was a process designed to tear the Drowned King to pieces.

The ropes attached to the harpoons made a fierce vibrating sound. The whaling ships used every sail and oar to pull the Drowned King in their direction with all their might.

Thud, thud-thud.

With gruesome sounds, the flesh of the Drowned King began to tear. Some pieces flew off with the harpoons, leaving behind massive wounds, while others were dragged out whole, tangled in the Fisher King’s net.

The Drowned King was being disassembled alive.

[So it is.]

The Drowned King muttered calmly as he watched his body being torn apart, in a tone that belied the brutal dismemberment he was undergoing.

[This is the decision of the Council.]

The Drowned King remembered the time before the Salt Council was formed when it was called the Salt Sect.

Those left behind, severed from God, feared making decisions on their own without God’s will. Instead, they created the Council so that everyone could share the responsibility.

If a decision was made by the will of all the followers, it might not be much different from God’s will.

Thus, the Drowned King had respected the decisions of the Salt Council.

And now, the Salt Council had decided and was executing his death sentence.

A fitting conclusion for a heretic.

[If that’s the case...]

***

Isaac squinted his eyes as he watched the Drowned King being torn apart.

Hyanis seemed to think the battle was already decided. But Isaac had a different view.

‘It would be nice if this was the end of the Drowned King, but...’

“No? Is this all you have against an angel?”

“Yes.”

There was a plan.

But the moment he saw this catastrophe, he realized that a second or third plan was useless. It would only increase the food for fish and the trash in the sea.

Everything he had prepared was useless against the overwhelming power of the angel.

Yenkos silently looked at Hyanis. There was no blame or resentment in her gaze. She turned her head calmly, her eyes empty.

“Then we have no choice but to pray.”

Hyanis followed Yenkos’ gaze with tears in his eyes. She was not looking at the sky.

Her gaze was on the sea, towards the only person who could save them in place of the silent God.

***

Isaac watched the tragic scene of the ships being shattered.

The scene seemed to symbolize the relationship between the Salt Council and the Drowned King.

The Drowned King had shown leniency and forgiveness to the Salt Council, even when they took a subtle stance and resisted passively. Even in that fierce situation, he tried to ensure that not a single sailor of the Salt Council died.

But he declared the end of the relationship in a gruesome and cruel way.

It meant that the Drowned King was no longer the angel of the Salt Council but had become a monster of the deep sea.

Of course, the god of the Salt Council could neither make him a fallen angel nor punish him.

The Fisher King’s net, even torn, squeezed out the last miracle to hold onto the Drowned King, but it didn’t last long. The Drowned King returned to the sea as if flowing down.

The sea was blackened with the blood of the Drowned King and the sailors.

His body was holed, torn, chopped, and mutilated. But as soon as the seawater seeped in, the wounds healed as if filling the gaps.

The Drowned King’s azure eyes flickered as they turned towards Isaac.

[It’s hard to deny that you also bear responsibility for this scene, Holy Grail Knight.]

“Talking big.”

Isaac felt not even a speck of guilt.

But he gestured towards Hyanis. The morale of the Salt Council must have been at rock bottom, and they had no means to attack anymore. It was better for them to be gone if even the Fisher King’s net, their only hope, was destroyed.

The ships of the Salt Council hesitated but eventually began to drift away slowly. The Drowned King did not pursue to destroy them as they retreated. Or perhaps he believed that even if they retreated, he could soon follow and sink them all.

[Why do you oppose me? Because you think I aspire to become an ancient god? No, even the term ‘ancient god’ is laughable. Until the rise of the Codex of Light, the ancient gods were simply the gods of this world!]

The Drowned King seethed with anger.

[They were the gods and the very order that ruled this land for tens of thousands of years! The era of light created by Luadin has lasted merely a thousand years! We’re merely returning to the starting point!]

“It took a thousand years to get this far.”

Isaac muttered as he drew out the key of Luadin.

“Having consumed a domain, I understand now. Even now, I think it’s barbaric. Every time I open my eyes, I grumble about how to make these ignorant and lacking zealots come to their senses.”

The Drowned King quietly listened to Isaac’s sudden soliloquy.

“At least these people don’t sacrifice humans, and in their own ways, they wish for as many people as possible to be happy, and they believe that living a good life by their moral standards will get them to heaven. I’m thankful for that.”

Isaac gripped the key of Luadin again and lifted it. The sword was slippery with blood and rain. It was hard to even keep his eyes open.

It’s all about living well and prospering, so why has it come to this?

But this was precisely what Isaac was doing to live comfortably and well.

It was also the reason he couldn’t actively accept it until he knew the inner workings of the nameless chaos.

“It’s not that we should return to the times when ancient gods ruled for tens of thousands of years... It’s that we’ve only just progressed to this level after adding a thousand years to those tens of thousands of years. You’re talking about returning to such a primitive era. I can’t stand to watch that happen.”

He desired light and order.

[The nameless chaos watches over you.]

The Luadin Key flared up with a red heat again.

–TL Notes–

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you want to read up to advance 20 chapters or support me, you can do it at /Akaza156