The sudden appearance of the purple vortex draws the kraken's attention. All of its eyes snap to Straf as he holds the unassuming iron sword in his hand. At least a dozen thin tentacles shoot towards him.

Swishswishswooshswishswishswish!

Straf continues standing still and glaring at the kraken's body. With the sound of something carving through the air, the tentacles reaching for Straf get dismembered.

Plapplapplapshlapplap!

They drop to the ground beside him and at his feet, as if he was surrounded by a rending bubble starting at an arm's length. Will adjusts his glasses, watching Straf closely from a distance with Greaves.

「…As much as I can't stand this guy, he's the one with the best chances to fix this mess.」

Will bitterly admits, and clenches his teeth.

「So I can't do anything again, huh…」

Greaves seethes through his teeth, watching Straf seemingly ignore another assault of tentacles as they drop severed at his feet.

「Greaves! If you can't do anything, then observe and wait until you can! Do you think I randomly cast spells in battle one after another!? I wait to see which one will have the most effect at the right time! Use your head and do the same for your muscle!」

Will lectures Greaves, tapping his own temple with his finger as he explains. Greaves clicks his tongue again and remains silent.

Meanwhile, Straf begins approaching the kraken's hulking body at a leisurely pace. The fact that he's still not restrained and in the air seems to anger the kraken. It lifts one of its massive main tentacles above him.

「Oh shit…」

Greaves utters out, taking a step back. Will adjusts his glasses, silently looking at Straf with huge eyes.

THUD!

The kraken slams its tentacle down. The ground rumbles. Straf stands right next to the tentacle, looking at the kraken with a slanted mouth and bored eyes.

「Wow. Even your attack patterns are fucking cliched. Whatever…」

Straf shakes his head and slowly raises his sword above it.

「…Did you see him move? At all?」

Greaves asks Will over his shoulder with a stunned expression on his face.

「No. He just appeared next to it. As if he teleported.」

Will replies, gently shaking his head as he adjusts his glasses while they nigh-continuously try to slip off his nose.

Meanwhile, Straf activates his [Contextual Time Perception]. He swings his sword arm down, and the tentacle's flesh deforms beneath the sword's blade, offering nearly no resistance. He looks at the kraken's body, and the flow of time returns to normal.

The tentacle recoils back, tearing the dirt path apart with its oversized suckers as it slides towards the beach.

「Look out!-」

Will shouts toward Straf. As he continues his approach, he feels an odd yet familiar sensation. His brows furrow, and he looks at the tentacle again.

It's coming straight at him, rapidly, not severed and gushing magical blood at all. Straf is forced to jog beneath it to narrowly avoid the vicious swipe.

THUDDD!

「Shit. Did it get him?…」

Greaves asks, glancing at Will with concerned eyes over his shoulder. Will only adjusts his glasses in silence, returning a nervous glance as well. Suddenly, the tentacle recoils from a powerful blow.

Then another. And another. And a whole flurry of them. Jiggling like jelly, it bends and twists from forceful impacts that push it away from the beach side.

「…Seems not.」

Will replies, sounding almost relieved as he adjusts his glasses again.

《What the fuck? Why isn't this raw octopus yet!? Stupid-!》

「…Fffuckin' tentacle!」

Straf delivers a powerful, two-handed overhead strike to the tentacle, carefully watching what the blade does to the kraken's flesh this time. The edge of the sword makes contact with its brown skin, and the tentacle deforms.

It deforms, rather than severs. Straf's brows furrow while he slides the blade downwards, and all it does is pull the slippery skin along with itself. The deformed flesh springs back into shape like jelly, as soon as it slips away from beneath the sword's edge.

Straf jumps back, staring in disbelief at the uninjured tentacle with his mouth ajar. He glances at the sword in his hand, then looks up at Athea while she's being groped by the thin tentacles.

「Nononono not there!」

She twists and turns, wrestling against her tentacle restraints as another small one approaches the gap between her spread legs. She looks at it with massive blue eyes, and a tight-lipped nervous grimace.

Plap.

「Guuuhh! Disgusting! Disgusting!」

Athea whimpers with her face twisting in revulsion, as the tentacle asserts itself with a noisy wet slap and attaches its suckers to her bikini bottom, causing her decency to hang on by a thin thread.

「Athea! Your sword sucks! It fucking sucks! I feel scammed! How the fuck am I suppose to kill this thing if it doesn't even put a tiniest cut on it!? Am I perhaps underleveled!?」

With his mouth greatly aslant, Straf shouts at her, presenting his underwhelming legendary sword with his free hand to her.

「Straaaaafff! Help! Please!」

She snivelingly begs, clenching her teeth with utter disgust on her face.

「Care to give me a hint how!? This sword is a piece of shit! What the fuck would that legendary hero prick do if he ran into this!? Spam escape!?」

「Pleaaase just do someethiiing!」

Athea begs harder while another tentacle slides onto her lips. She turns her head away with a heavy grimace, forcing her full lips tightly together.

「You being worthless is not a cliche, it's a ripoff and I don't do ripoffs! Good fucking grief… Tsk.」

Straf shakes his head in exasperation and clicks his tongue while he strategizes his next move.

「Straf! Allow me to help you!」

Lily calls out with a tentacle attached to her face.

「Yeah? And how are you going to do that?-」

Straf asks, and before he can even fully finish his sentence, the tentacle holding Lily lowers her to the ground. Interested, he watches with his fist on his hip, and his brows furrowed.

「I can make myself heavier, and act like an anchor! I'll tie it up while you deliver the killing blow, Straf!」

Lily shouts from behind the tentacle obscuring her from Straf.

「Nice thinking, Lily! I can't believe how reliable you-! Ah.」

Straf cuts his praise short. The kraken lifts Lily back up to everyone else, albeit visibly struggling to hold her uncanny weight in its tentacles.

「Well, it was worth a try-」

Straf shrugs, spreading his hands.

「I'm not done yet!」

Lily shouts, and shoots into the air far above the kraken's body with its tentacles. Angered, it pulls her down with ease, and slams her down onto the ground.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

「Gahhrkh!-」

As if slamming a fist on a desk in rage, the kraken whips the ground with Lily. A breathless gasp escapes her pale lips, along with a spurt of blood.

「Lily! That's enough!」

Straf shouts, but she grins back with a bloodied chin and teeth.

「This is nothing!… It can't kill me like this!」

Lily gasps out, wincing and clenching her teeth between her sentences.

「Even if, what if it does that to Lia and the rest!? Leave it be! I'll think of something!」

Straf throws his hand aside as he commands Lily. A look of terror appears on Alicia's and Cycelia's faces when they realize just how precarious their situation is, looking at Lily's state. Having been mostly still in kraken's grasp, they remain relatively unmolested by the tentacles.

「Khhk… Very well…」

Lily coughs out blood, and reluctantly obeys Straf's command. She returns to everyone else in the air, wincing as the tentacles squeeze her tighter for a better grasp.

「Lily, are you oka-?」

Cycelia calls out with worried emerald eyes and furrowed brows. Lily's head snaps towards her, and her crimson eyes glare back.

「Silence, Redwing girl! Don't dare to take pity on me!… I said it's nothing!」

Lily growls back, baring her bloodied teeth at Cycelia. While she does so, a trail of blood streaks from the corner of her mouth down to her chin.

Meanwhile, down at the ground, Straf is lightly tapping the sword's edge on his shoulder.

「I'll think of something… But what? Hostage rescue isn't exactly my strong point. I could throw this thing back into the ocean, but… Hmmm…」

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

He ponders, rubbing his chin heavily. He brings his sword into view, and focuses his eyes on it.

『Hoperender』

[Blessed] [Durable] [Blessing: Self-repair] [Blessing: Extended durability] [Blessing: Undeadbane] [Blessing: Demonbane] [Blessing: Homing strike] [Blessing: Mana strike] [Blessing: Return] [Blessing: Soulburn] [Blessing: Virtuous restraint]

An iron sword. The weapon has been blessed by Mercia and bestowed with boons.

Self-repair enables 『Hoperender』 to repair damage by consuming user's mana. The process accelerates when more severely damaged.

Extended durability boosts natural durability of the weapon.

Undeadbane causes aggravated damage to 『Undead』 type creatures, such as 『Vampire』 or 『Ghoul』 sub-type.

Demonbane causes aggravated damage to 『Demon』 type creatures, such as 『Fiend』 or 『Succubus』 sub-type.

Homing strike guides the sword towards vital points. The wielder must be fully focused on harming the opponent.

Mana strike allows the wielder to charge 『Hoperender』 with mana to be unleashed as a devastating strike. Current charge: 193630 mana points.

Return causes 『Hoperender』 to attempt to return to wielder's grip if thrown or lost, whenever physically possible.

Soulburn allows the wielder to use all current and future life's potential to deal a devastating blow. The result is dependent on wielder's age and general health.

Virtuous restraint causes 『Hoperender』 to slip out of wielder's grasp if attempting to strike down naturally peaceful beings, or the innocent.

Durability

12000000000000000/12000000000000000

[||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||]

「Soulburn, huh…」

Straf mumbles to himself, reading through the plain iron sword's blessings. He looks up at the kraken, then at Athea. Another horde of small tentacles comes for him. He cleaves through them all with ease, and continues reading.

「Ah. Mana strike… Wait, isn't this number kind of big?」

He rubs his chin, furrowing his brows at the sword's status screen. He shrugs, and jumps onto the tentacle beside him, enraging the kraken.

「Hey, Carrothead! Twerp! I've got an idea, but you might have to help me out a little!」

He shouts at Greaves and Will, as the kraken retracts its huge tentacle with Straf still on it.

「What!? Do I need my sword!?」

Greaves asks, shouting with his fists clenched and raring to go.

「No, idiot. What the fuck are you going to do with a sword like that?」

Straf asks, spreading his arms as the tentacle rises. He kicks himself off of it, landing right in front of the kraken with his back turned towards it.

「Tsk… Then what do we do!?」

Greaves clicks his tongue in frustration, but gets past his anger and shouts another question.

「Basically, I'm going to see if this shitty sword's magic attack is worth anything-!」

He shouts back, holding his generic iron sword up for Greaves to see. The kraken stretches out its thin tentacles at Straf again, only for them to drop severed behind him at his feet once more.

「Tsk. Anyway, I'm going to see if it's worth anything-」

「Straf, wait! What are you planning, exactly!?」

Athea shouts, looking down at Straf with huge, concerned blue eyes.

「Can I finish!?」

Straf asks with a slanted mouth, spreading his arms in frustration.

「I'm going to use mana strike with this piece of shit!」

He adds, brandishing the sword to Athea.

「…Mana strike?」

Will mumbles under his breath, furrowing his brows as he adjusts his glasses.

She sigh in relief, but continues looking at him with a nervous, tight-lipped expression.

「Go for it!」

Athea shouts, encouraging his idea.

「…Right! And your job is…」

Straf points his finger with his free hand at Greaves and Will, then moves it to the kraken's captives above.

「…To catch them!」

He shouts, grinning at them.

「Huh!? And how are we supposed to do that!? They're in the air!-」

Greaves spreads his arms in frustration, and points his finger up at them as well, shouting the obvious.

「Not for long, they're not! It's simple!… I'm just going to kill the kraken, and then you catch the girls before they can go splat! I'll take Lia and the bimbo, I guess! Lily will be fine on her own! Right, Lily!?」

Straf asks, looking up at Lily while she hangs there.

「Pay me no mind, Straf! Do as you will! Don't allow me to hold you back!」

Lily insistently shouts back.

「Okay.」

Straf shrugs his shoulders and leisurely turns around, stepping on the sparse grass growing through the sandy dirt with his bare feet.

「…Can this guy really kill it?」

Greaves asks, looking at Straf's back while he paces around in just his underwear in front of a gigantic beast glaring down at him.

「I guess we'll see. In any case, this is what you've been waiting for, Greaves. Now is the time to act, be ready.」

Will cautions, adjusting his glasses as he steps beside Greaves.

「I'll take Lian… You've got Alicia, right?」

「Obviously.」

The two look at each other with serious expressions, and turn their eyes back to the kraken.

「Wait, for starters, can you even catch her? Aren't you a bit too weak?-」

Greaves asks, incredulously narrowing his eyes.

「Shut up. I'll sooner die than let something happen to her.」

Will declares, glaring at the kraken. His eyes glance at Lian every few short moments.

「Well, how about you don't die, dumbass?」

Greaves asks, raising his brow.

「You're the dumbass! Look who's talking! Focus! Tsk.」

Will points his finger at the kraken in frustration, and clicks his tongue. He adjusts his glasses, shaking his head. Meanwhile, Straf takes his sword's hilt into both of his hands, and pulls it back at waist-level.

「Ookaay… Is this how it's supposed to work?」

He asks, focusing on his sword while looking at the center of the kraken's enormous body. Straf feels a pleasant warmth in his hands, as if holding a warm cup of tea on a cold winter night.

He looks down at the sword, and its blade is glowing blue. It gives away so much light, that it's almost blinding. The individual raindrops become visible in its glow as they fall from the black sky. The blue glow shifts into bluish white along the blade's center.

「Okay, now how does it work? Deathlaser?」

Straf asks with a raised brow. The kraken lifts three of its main tentacles into the air above him, preparing to crush him without leaving any way out available. Straf thrusts the sword at the thin air, pointing the tip towards the kraken's body…

…

In the Eastern Kingdoms, in a palace high above, on one of its balconies facing west…

Raindrops splatter against the clay tiles of the roof, causing a consistent, loud, and yet soothing pitter-patter. A gentle wind blows, flinging the steam from Willow's tall tea mug aside. Seated on a bench against a wall, he watches the clouds with a serene expression.

He brings the gripless mug up to his lips with both of his hands, and gently blows onto the surface of the tea. With a quiet slurp, he takes a sip, and lowers the mug down to his lap with a contented sigh.

In the distance, far, far away, a beam of blue light projects from the ground into the sky at an angle, and quickly fades. Willow furrows his brows, tilting his head gently.

「A shooting star?… No…」

He says quietly to himself, thinking. He brings the mug up to his lips again, and takes another small sip with a slurp.

「…It went up, not down. It was something else. Hmmm…」

Willow grimaces heavily as he ponders the distant light. He takes another sip, sighs, and stands up.

「Well… Whatever it was, I better report this to the Divine Embodiment…」

With tiny steps in his slippers, he shuffles to the balcony door and slides it open.

「Good grief… I'll die before I can have tea in peace, at this rate…」

Shaking his head gently, he sighs, sliding the door shut behind himself…