Oops, seems like yesterday it made an error and didn't post; well, whatever, here you go.
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The enemies’ expression turned grim, they had already made up their mind when they had left the port. The creation of colonies in new continents was a too coveted objective, and even though the empires, kingdoms and queendoms all believed in the same religion, greed won over unity. This was just one of many suicide missions that would be happening or have happened already. Still, the scale of this attack shocked the allied NPCs and players silly. The enemy had used potent monster baits all around, making it impossible for anyone to escape, themselves included. There was a possibility the allied forces would steal one of the galleons and ran away, after all.
The people that survived the shark’s attack and even the fall in the sea were dragged down by various monsters whose shapes couldn’t be made out in the frenzy of the moment and because of their speed. Then, one after another gargantuan monsters emerged from the deep sea waters. Other sharks, like the one who first launched the attack, also appeared. Their skin was jet-black and their round eyes were the colour of emeralds, they were at around level 180~210 and their name was displayed as “Samebito
Dark gray clouds began forming and in a heartbeat a heavy downpour started, all following the wishes of the commanding roar of a level 400 “Zennyo Ryūō,” a beautiful blue serpentine dragon which emitted a soft, azure aura around itself as it coiled and hovered in the air after it emerged from underwater. It was similar to the typical chinese dragons but it didn’t have any beard and had only two feelers that would sway backwards, positioned on its forehead. Its seemingly divine majesty and beauty gave off the feeling of a powerful goddess looking down from the heavens.
The hearts of everyone trembled at that display of power and momentarily stopped fighting until the time when it was clear that the Zennyo Ryūō, the dragon, would only watch over them. Around the time everyone was experiencing boundless fear for their lives, Aisha looked over the enemy galleons, which previously encircled the first ship, being attacked by a multitude of sea-serpents several kilometers long called “Ikuchi.” Their scales were green but a yellow liquid which seeped from them made their scales seem dirtied by sand. This yellow liquid descended in great quantities on the various galleons as the Ikuchi lept over them in a continuous rhythm, and as more and more of the liquid fell on the ships, they began to sink deeper and deeper.
Wind blew near the third ship and the galleons encircling it. At least fifty huge, barbed tail fins appeared and began hitting each ships, trying to capsize them. The tails belonged to level 150~180 “Isonade,” which body and head could not be seen. Their skin was covered by pinky-white scales that glimmered gorgeously when illuminated by the players and the NPCs’ attacks, which had not stopped again after the brief pause caused by the Zennyo Ryūō. The enemy continued to attack the members of the expedition, not caring for their lives nor for the marine monsters’ attacks. Many lives were being lost as the roiling sea waters beneath the ships were tinged red by the blood of the corpses floating in them.
Their own situation wasn’t any better, “Funayūrei” were climbing their vessel and also the enemy’s. They were level 140~150 humanoid creatures, resembling human corpses which had been in the sea for a long time; they all had a loose fitting white kimono, pretty much similar to the one the dead are depicted to be wearing in japanese folklore, with a black belt that hardly kept it closed. They also used their non-dominant hand to drag a ladle from which water continuously flowed out. Also, the Funayūrei kept mumbling between themselves while showing an angry face, sometimes even growling. They, like the Ikuchi, didn’t attack them directly and instead focused on sinking the ships, not even retaliating when an NPC or a player started killing them, unless the attack was aimed at their ladle. In the end, their strength was not a problem, their numbers were. Hundreds of Funayūrei kept climbing Aisha’s ship and there was no sign of them stopping.
Lastly, two types of monsters attacked the fourth ship and its encircling enemy galleons, but as they were too distant Aisha obviously couldn’t identify them, she decided to fully concentrate on the monsters in front of her. The monsters which attacked the last group of ships were one above level 200 and about an hundred of mobs around level 90~100; the lower leveled monsters were different humanoid figures from the Funayūrei, they were visible only from the stomach and up, the rest remained under the sea. They were like three dimensional bald shadows with two columns of three white dots on their forehead, no mouth or nose was possible to be identified, but faint white lines outlined their eyes. This creatures, later known as “Umibōzu,” were dozens of meters tall and numbered in the hundreds; despite having low health and being extremely slow, their combined efforts to capsize ships weren’t futile.
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But what was scary was the 200+ monster that simply floated in the air a dozen or so above the roiling sea. The monster ten times bigger than the Umibōzu, which had identified itself as “Mizuchi” and “one of the guardians of this sea,” was a serpentine dragon completely made out of crystal-clear water that incessantly flowed from his head to his tail and then from his tail to his head. Mizuchi simply observed them, like the Zennyo Ryūō, and didn’t bother to attack nor to retaliate. Not even the strongest attacks from the various players and NPCs of the fourth seemed to bring out a response from him, who continued to glare at them with incredibly cold eyes. Some couldn’t stand the pressure he emitted anymore and directly lept into the sea, only to be dragged to its deepest waters.
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‘Mana.. none. Health.. 10%. Stamina.. 25%. Mmh, the enemy was really determined to destroy us, I wonder if Abigail will want to participate in the next expedition too.’
Aisha steadily looked at the enemy knight standing in front of her. Behind her, over the three Funayūrei, was the railing of the vessel and barely one meter below was the sea. The ladle-carrying mobs had completely infested the deck and the lower floors of the ship, already almost sinked. There were not many enemies left, but the same could be said about them. Of Aisha’s group, Atlas, Esraen and Rie were killed. Aisha, Matagi, Gaea, Conqueror, Electra and Ka’henya were hustled “together” near the metal railing of the starboard, all with low health and no more strength to fight, the knight Aisha was facing was the last enemy in sight. Then, Aisha was flung in the air, over the railing.
It wasn’t that she had been careless, no, she was just tired after fighting non-stop at full strength for an hour and so, she wasn’t able to dodge or block the last, desperate skill used by the enemy. Seeing this, Matagi jumped off the ship without an ounce of hesitation, crashing into the water near Aisha and almost at the same time. Though Matagi tried to grasp Aisha’s hand, multiple humanoid creatures popped up and began dragging them down. Observing from the sides, Electra clicked her tongue and dove right in; Gaea sighed, shook her head for a bit and did the same. Ka’henya looked at Conqueror, waiting for his orders. Conqueror’s face showed a mix of anger and resignation.
“Whether we wait or jump out, nothing is going to change. Damn my luck.”
Sighing, Conqueror jumped over the railing and into the sea, soon followed by Ka’henya, and then both were dragged down into the deep, dark waters at the bottom of the sea.
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After losing consciousness, Abigail logged out of Hyria and took off her helmet. Sitting up on her bed, she stretched her back a little and then took a sip of water from the pet bottle on her bedside table before standing up, going to her desk and starting up her computer. Abigail connected to her helmet and started browsing the video history of her gameplay. She then selected to transfer the recording of the battle with the galleons and the marine monsters starting from the time they had first seen the enemy ships up until the point where she lost consciousness underwater.
‘Lia should know those mobs’ levels and names so even if this won’t be the only video showcasing them, or even if mom doesn’t use it, it should give her channel’s ratings a boost~, after all, this is pretty hard to come by information~’
Abigail got up and exited the room as the helmet and computer continued the transfer.