A Monster Who Levels Up

Inside the gigantic dome of water created by the Leviathan, the flow of Mana to the outside was completely blocked off, rendering Vampires’ unique movement magic spells utterly useless.

On top of this, they couldn’t summon hundreds of dolls they used to fill up the Fissure, which only left a dozen Apostles behind...

[So, what should we do now?] [Try contacting Lady Bathory, for now.]

Bothering their future queen with this matter might result in their limbs being torn off, but well, judging from the murderous look the enraged eyes of the Leviathan were giving off, it seemed the Monster wanted to rip them apart and then blow them up into specks of tiny dust to boot. It was obviously more preferable to just lose an arm or a leg instead...

[Uhm, ah... Well, I tried that already, but... this barrier might be made out of water, but there aren’t any gaps there, you know?] [...] [Tehee. Looks like we’re pretty much screwed now, don’t you think?]

How can you laugh at a time like this?! The leader-type Vampire glared at the female Apostle and bit his lip.

Too bad, they weren’t even given enough time to pick faults with each other.

KHUGUGUGUNG

The surface of water they were standing on rumbled violently, before being overturned by a truly terrifying aura and tried to swallow them up.

Left with no choice, Apostles began reciting magic spells. Although they were like a bunch of fireflies burning away in front of the mighty sun, the pride of the Vampires under the Bathory banner didn’t allow them to give up without a good fight.

[Oh, well. We are prepared to die here, so you should escape alone, Elder. Your role of creating artificial dolls is crucial to our success. And more importantly, you already know this - that we can be reborn as your dolls anyways.]

The female Vampire never lost her leisurely smile. The leader looked around, and saw other Apostles looking back at him with determined expressions.

[...Very well.]

The leader murmured lowly. And all of a sudden, other Apostles began vomiting blood. This blood flowed over the water’s surface and rose up to become a barrier against the incoming violent waves.

[I shall see all of you again later.] [Of course. Please do hurry up, though.]

It was her job to open up the escape route. She vomited out blood one more time, this one aimed towards the wall of the water dome forcibly embracing them.

*SFX for things melting (?)*

The moment that corrosive blood came into contact, the wall of seawater melted and a hole so small that a single particle of dust might go through was created. And the leader-type Vampire immediately changed into fog and escaped through there. (TL: Hmm, water melting? That’s a first...)

So, one of them made it out of there but the female Vampire, who was stumbling around weakly now, no longer had sufficient Mana left even to let her continue float on the water. Her body began to sink to the bottom of the ocean.

[I really hate being in pain, though...]

She quietly muttered as she witnessed the sight of the Sea Monster in a dragon’s appearance angrily pouncing on her comrades.

*SFX for things shattering*

The blood barrier created by exhausting the life forces of the Vampire Apostles was shattered in an instant by the dragon’s jaws, and then...

Huge, destructive waves caused by the Leviathan violently crashed into them, swallowing them up in the blink of an eye.

***

After the battle had come to an end.

Kim Sae-Jin the Leviathan lowered his long neck until his sight was on the level with Hazeline’s yacht. Although now looking more masculine, the face of the creature still possessed some cute bits here and there.

>

"Hahah..."

She smiled weakly and raised her body up, before gently stroking the large creature’s wet and soft nose. The Leviathan closed its eyes and accepted her patting. It was to express his gratitude for her timely aid. But then, Hazeline stopped patting him and began to explode out in laughter.

"...It’s okay to change back to a human now, Mister Sae-Jin."

The Leviathan’s body trembled ever so slightly. But even with that small movement, the sea reacted rather violently.

"Right now, thanks to your actions, there is an emergency warning out for strong winds and heavy seas, so please, don’t shake around so much."

She spoke up to here and then, lied back down on the yacht’s floor.

She didn’t even have any energy left to talk anymore. She did spend considerable amount of Mana trying to locate the physical ’link’ that connected the Fissure to this realm of existence, as well as to destroy it, after all. Those damnable Vampire bastards had placed the linking talisman at such a ridiculous depth of the ocean, one might have needed a submersible to get there.

"Fuu-woo..."

As she let out a long sigh, a splash of water could be heard, followed by the Leviathan changing into Sae-Jin as he climbed aboard the yacht.

"...You’ve figured it out already?" (Sae-Jin)

"It wasn’t really difficult to connect the dots, you know... I mean, with the exception of Mister Sae-Jin, where in the world can you find Monsters willing to help people out? But still, it is really incredible - you can become a dragon? Just what is the limit of your Trait?" (Hazeline)

Hazeline stared at Sae-Jin as she muttered out. Feeling somewhat embarrassed, Sae-Jin scratched the back of his neck as he sat down on one of the seats available.

"But, how did you know where I was going to be?" (Sae-Jin)

"...Eh?"

At his wonderfully simple question, Hazeline found herself panicking somewhat.

The truth is, I sail on my yacht almost everyday, hoping to run into you. And just like always, I also came out today to drift around but then, I sensed a strange flow of Mana and decided to check it out...

Obviously, she couldn’t say this out aloud.

"N, nowadays, many sea Monsters have disappeared, right? So I... uh, this has become a bit of fashionable pastime for Wizards now. Thing is, the ocean is the origin of all nature, so the density of Mana here is so much higher. So, just by breathing in the air of the sea, Mana is replenished, the society is stabilised, the world becomes a brighter place..." (Hazeline)

"And so, you found me coincidentally?" (Sae-Jin)

"....Yes. And please, don’t talk to me anymore. Feels like I’m dying right now." (Hazeline)

She cut off the conversation there, and as if to show her refusal to answer any more questions, she lied down on her belly. So, Sae-Jin took a good look around the yacht, hoping to pilot it instead of her. The grey-coloured vessel was of a decent size, and its smart, clean interior seemed to match her personality to a T.

"So, how do I control this boat?" (Sae-Jin)

He asked as he played around the helm. Since he couldn’t see a normal ignition, he thought this boat could be a Mana-operated magic equipment.

"Hello?"

When he didn’t hear any reply, he tilted his head and turned to take a look.

Snore, snore...

Hazeline’s rhythmic and calm breathing could be heard. She had fallen asleep.

Sae-Jin stood there, studying her appearance for a while. Her thick robe was soaked throughout and was clinging to her body, proudly showing off her beautiful curves...

"Keheum."

It was truly a bewitching appearance. Spitting out a fake cough, Sae-Jin hurriedly pulled his attention away and focused on the displays surrounding the helm.

It seemed that the Goblins’ Craftsmanship was able to display its amazing usefulness here, as he could get the hang of how to operate this boat pretty quickly.

*SFX for motors coming to life*

When he sent in some of his Mana, the speedboat showed signs of movement. Thankfully, he had enough Mana to pilot this thing. Thanks to the Leviathan Form growing by extra 10%, his Mana reserve was overflowing right at this moment. (TL: the author has changed "yacht" into a speedboat for Hazeline’s vessel in the middle of the chapter. Either he forgot, or doesn’t know the difference between the two... I’ve TLed it as it appears on the raw. Please don’t blame me for being inconsistent.)

Kkhugugung-

Unfortunately, he couldn’t control that newly-acquired power properly, and ended up vigorously pouring more Mana in than necessary - and that caused the speedboat to soar up high into the sky like a cruise missile being launched.

"Wow."

Kim Sae-Jin exclaimed out in admiration and enjoyed this high speed cruise, but then, he heard a loud scream of a woman from his back. Stunned silly by this cry, he quickly brought the vessel to a stop and took a look backwards. Hazeline was whimpering pitifully while holding her head tightly.

"*Sob*... *Whimper*"

It seemed that, because of the sudden acceleration, her body was launched up into the air and then crashed down, thereby causing some damage. Sae-Jin felt responsible and slowly approached her.

"Are you alright?" (Sae-Jin)

"...G, go away. I’m fine. Fine, I said." (Hazeline)

Unfortunately, all she did was to cover her face with her hands and angrily pushed him away.

"Let me take a look." (Sae-Jin)

"No. Just go away." (Hazeline)

"Wait a min..."

"I said, just go away!!"

She shouted out and wildly shook her head, and at the same time, a thin stream of blood trailed her chin and fell down. Sae-Jin traced the blood all the way back to its origin, and confirmed that it was her nose...

"...Here."

He quickly handed over an emergency potion to her and returned to the helm.

This time, he poured in only the adequate amount of Mana, and did his best to maintain a steady pace as he piloted the vessel.

And so, about ten minutes passed by, and before long, Hazeline stealthily made her way next to him. The potion did its job and healed both her internal and external wounds, and she appeared to be perfectly healthy now.

*SFX for a soft humming of a song*

Sae-Jin glanced at Hazeline as she began humming out a song.

Her wind-swept hair; facial features that a divine potter must have poured all his considerable might to mold into perfection; and then, her remarkably flawless pale skin - calling this the most magnificent view in history seemed entirely appropriate at that very moment.

"Miss Hazeline?"

He cautiously called out her name, which made her turn her head and look at him. And when their eyes met, her body shook noticeably, but she didn’t avert her gaze.

"...Y, yes?" (Hazeline)

"I want to thank you for today. You really saved my bacon back there."

He smiled warmly as he spoke. In other words, that smile was directed to her...

She stared at him in a daze for a little while, before breaking out into a short chuckle and gently grasped his hand holding the helm.

"...If you want to thank me, treat me to a meal sometime later on. And you’re not supposed to hold the helm that way - not like how you hold the car’s steering wheel."

She began fixing his grip on the helm, one finger at the time - all the while, feeling her chest fill up with this sensation of satisfaction.

"Oh. So, I’m supposed to hold it like th... Huh?!" (Sae-Jin)

Too bad, this romantic scene came to an abrupt end real fast. In the distance, by the land where they were returning to, they could see vicious storm winds and tsunami waves powerfully assaulting the coastline.

"...Didn’t I tell you? That there is an emergency warning out for strong winds and heavy seas thanks to you, Mister Sae-Jin." (Hazeline)

Seeing the chaos over yonder, Hazeline let out a hollow chuckle.

"Damn it, it’s happening again. The Leviathan Form is just too powerful and it’s hard to control its strength properly." (Sae-Jin)

"Ah, well. It’s totally understandable for a Leviath... What did you just say?! A Leviathan?!?!"

Suddenly, she cried out in alarm. He could definitely see panic written large within her extra-large rounded eyes.

"Y, yes. But... what’s the matter? Did something happen?" (Sae-Jin)

"No, nothing at all... It’s just... I thought it was an Azure Dragon, but to think, it was actually a Leviathan..."

Hazeline playfully distanced herself from him. Sae-Jin simply chuckled and grasped her wrist, pulling in closer. Her face blushing slightly at this light skinship, she stood right next to him as if she had no choice in the matter.

****

After that incident had come and gone, this and that happened.

The unseasonal storm caused by the Leviathan, named ’Supreme’, brought about extreme weather conditions and heavy rainfall to the entirety of the Korean Peninsula; then, there was a huge explosion at the Gangwon Province’s most luxurious hotel ’Romance of Dawn’ which destroyed a portion of the top floors. And finally, less than a month after the Flesh Golem was defeated, another Boss-level Monster made its entrance.

"It’s also in the Gangwon Province this time as well. Are you planning to go?" Asked Kim Sun-Ho.

Kim Sae-Jin was looking at a piece of an official document in his hand and had been pondering for a while now.

It was the so-called ’request for cooperation’. The government sent it over to Sae-Jin and The Monster, after realising how grave the situation truly had become. And on this paper, there was a list of names requested to participate, and lo and behold, ’Kim Sae-Jin’ was among those.

"...They are even calling in High Tier Hunters as well?" (Sae-Jin)

"Mm? Ah, it seems so, yes. Well, the scene of you fighting had been recorded, after all." (Kim Sun-Ho)

"Well, that’s true, but..."

Actually, it didn’t really matter. A Boss-level Monster was a gold mine of experience points and nice, juicy bonuses. And if he participated in a Boss raid as a ’human’, no doubt he’d acquire new Skills as well.

"What do you think, Mister Sun-Ho?"

"In my opinion... I believe it’s correct to participate, boss. Of course, there is a chance that the government is actually trying to keep you in check with this, but if you, the Guild Master, participate in the raid, it’ll be the case of ’Noblesse Oblige’, a good chance to solidify our image in the public eye. With this chance, you’ll become a bona fide saviour."

"...Hmm."

"On top of that, I hear the Boss is a lot weaker than that Monster bird from before." (Kim Sun-Ho)

Kim Sae-Jin’s head tilted to the side in confusion.

"A lot weaker than the Monster bird? Then, why not go with a small elite force, just like back then?" (Sae-Jin)

"Oh, that. After the incident with the Flesh Golem, the government decided to take command from now on whenever a Boss Monster appears, so it’s no longer possible to do that, boss."

"...Ah. Aha."

*SFX for a mobile phone vibrating*

Almost at the same time, Sae-Jin’s phone went off. Kim Sun-Ho signaled with his eyes that it was fine, so Sae-Jin pulled it out from his pocket.

There was a single text message.

- I’m outside now. Where are you now, Mister Sae-Jin?

"Is it from Miss Yu Sae-Jung?"

<

Kim Sun-Ho asked with a content smile on his face.

However - Sae-Jin couldn’t make a proper reply. All he could do was to evade the subject altogether.

And that was because, the name shown on the phone’s screen wasn’t Yu Sae-Jung, but Hazeline.

< 32. King of the Infinite Ocean, Leviathan (6) > Fin.

(TL: $35 left out of $50 for this week’s first sponsored chapter.)