My Disciples Became Scoundrels - Chapter 79

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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—Bang!
The deck shuddered beneath my feet. Something had rammed the hull from below. The vibration traveled up through my soles.
The ship didn’t capsize. The problem was that it kept happening. Jenia gripped the swaying rail, peering down at the water’s surface.
“There are lots of them below. Fifty? A hundred?”
I bolted downstairs immediately. Something felt wrong. The monster scholar had said an invisible creature attacked the deck, yet here we were. I heard Bella shouting.
“Raise the sails again! Get us out of here!”
Arkel came down on my heels, his footsteps urgent. The tremors were growing fiercer. He pressed his hand against the hull’s underbelly.
“They’re striking the same spot repeatedly. It seems deliberate—they’re trying to breach through.”
Were they trying to sink us? I looked at Arkel.
“There’s no way to freeze them, is there?”
“No. Seawater is too difficult to freeze, and even if we could, it wouldn’t do much good.”
The Sea doesn’t freeze easily. Besides, none of us were suited for underwater combat. If it were just one monster, I could manage something.
The pounding came from all sides now, more relentless than before. If the ship could move faster, they’d have trouble keeping up.
But we were moving slowly through the Reef Zone, and there was no wind. Then a cracking sound came from the left.
—Bang!
A hole appeared—small but unmistakable. Something writhed as water seeped in.
A Monster. Its snout was unusually hard and pointed. It thrashed as if trying to wriggle through the gap. Arkel grabbed a Harpoon in alarm.
—Ssshhhhh…!
He melted the metal to seal the hole. The Monster shrieked and vanished, but the pounding didn’t stop.
“Smart creatures. They’re targeting only the thinner sections.”
At this rate, we’d sink. Then the half-melted Harpoon caught my eye. The Ballista on deck flashed through my mind.
“I need you to hold things down below!”
I rushed back up to the deck. The crew and my disciples were adjusting the sails. Gai sat lazily, watching them work.
“Drop the anchor!”
“What? Master, you want us to moor here and die?”
Gai asked with a sneer. But my disciples were different. Cesare dashed toward the windlass immediately.
His hands moved roughly and fast as he fed out the anchor line. I sprinted toward the Harpoon launcher.
A thick iron wire was attached to the Harpoon. As I worked the mechanism, I heard a splash behind me.
“Master, the anchor’s down!”
I pulled the wire taut and lashed it to the anchor rope, then shouted to Bella.
“Bella, fire at the base of the reef!”
Bella didn’t hesitate either. She seized the mechanism’s handle at once, her hands swift and precise as she adjusted the angle and position.
I’d never seen a sharpshooter quite like her.
—Twang!
The Harpoon sank into a nearby reef, and the anchor rope grew taut and rigid. Jenia glanced at it in confusion.
“But what does that do?”
“The impact will stun the Monsters.”
It was a common fishing method from river valleys. When fish hid under rocks, you’d strike with another rock to stun them.
“That’s clever. So we’d need something big to strike it like a rock would?”
A massive hammer would have been ideal, but I didn’t see one. I was considering whether to use the sword when—
A scraping sound echoed. I turned to find Cesare dragging a spare anchor, its weight enormous.
The veins in his forearms bulged like they might burst. Cesare grinned at me, cradling an anchor nearly as large as himself.
“I just hit it with something heavy, right?”
It was smaller than the original, but that didn’t make the iron any lighter. As Cesare lifted that solid mass, his eyes gleamed with a bestial hunger.
“Brute strength—that’s my specialty.”
—Bang!
The moment he drove the anchor down against the windlass, the ship roared. But it wasn’t just the ship.
The vibration rippled through the connecting rope and the anchor itself. A powerful resonance spread across the vessel and through the Sea.
It was like a massive bell had been struck. And in that same instant, the pounding against the hull stopped. Jenia pointed at the water.
“Wow, Master. They’re all dead!”
Fish-like creatures bobbed to the surface—dozens of them, a spectacular sight.
Cesare dropped the spare anchor to the deck. A dull thud echoed across the boards.
He breathed heavily.
“We got them all, right? Heh, they were annoying bastards.”
Once I’d confirmed the Monsters’ bodies, the crew let out sighs of relief one by one. Arkel emerged from below, apparently having finished his own preparations.
The wind was still absent; the sails hung limp. No seabirds called. The Sea had gone silent as a lie.
Far too quiet.
—Crash!
Something plummeted onto the deck. A salty, fishy liquid sprayed across my face.
One Spiny Beetle lay burst open. What had torn it apart wasn’t visible, but it was unmistakable.
The sound of wings reached them.
—Crash!
The main mast’s sail was sheared clean away with the sound of wind tearing. White canvas plummeted lifelessly while the sailors screamed.
The disciples were different. No one cried out. No one panicked.
They were prepared.
“Jenia, cast the net now.”
“Yes, Master.”
A small shadow stretched between the pillars.
Dozens of tentacles shot out rapidly from that shadow. One sailor muttered in a daze.
“A net……?”
Tightly woven tentacles stretched taut between the masts like an enormous net.
That was when something crashed headlong into Jenia’s vast net.
—Thud!
Only then did they see the Monster’s form. It resembled a giant flying fish, but it bore several pairs of thin, membranous wings like a butterfly or dragonfly.
Immediately after, Arkel and Cesare rushed in. Spear and Ice Blade struck true.
—Screech!
A sharp cry rang out—the sound of scales deflecting the blows.
It was swift and tough besides. He’d heard it was immune to physical attacks, but not to this degree.
—Shrieeek!
The creature thrashed like a madman. The tentacles quivered under the strain.
“It’s too heavy, Master……!”
As Jenia was being dragged, the creature’s jaw opened wide. I threw my backup supplies straight down its throat.
One was a small vial of poison, the other was Cesare’s jewel.
—Boom!
At that instant, Jenia lost her grip and rolled across the deck. The moment the tentacles released, the Wing Fish vanished. Jenia gasped for breath.
“It’s getting away……. Eek!”
The creature began ramming the hull again, its movements far more vicious and savage than before.
Its shriek threatened to pierce the eardrums. I shouted to Gai, who had his ears covered.
“How long do you think before the poison spreads?”
“It’s a powerful toxin, but given that thing’s size, it’ll take a while. Shouldn’t we run?”
“It’s fine. Cesare is here.”
The creature’s speed was already waning as the poison began to work. As afterimages finally became visible, Cesare rose onto the deck with his spear in hand.
I saw his back. Cesare turned toward me and grinned.
“That’s right. I’m here.”
The moment those words left his mouth, Cesare vanished. Seconds later, he appeared in the blue sky.
Above the Wing Fish’s head. He drove his spear into the creature. Blue blood erupted as he thrust repeatedly.
—Shrieeek!
The creature sank beneath the waves while Cesare hung suspended in empty air, his eyes still locked on his prey.
—Splash!
With a spray of water, Cesare disappeared again. As the Sea grew calm, Gai spoke.
“What else did you make him ingest besides the poison?”
“A Spirit Crystal.”
Within the range where he could feel magical power, Cesare could go anywhere—sky or Sea, wherever he wished.
—Crash!
The Wing Fish surged from the surface. As spray erupted, Cesare appeared as well.
In the spray’s glow, wild eyes gleamed—the eyes of a hound. A hound that never released its prey and wouldn’t stop until it died itself.
Spray and blue blood scattered brilliantly under the sunlight from all directions. Yet Cesare was bleeding too.
Had the creature struck him? Then the Wing Fish sank beneath the surface once more. Cesare went with it.
The Sea fell quiet again. Five seconds, ten, twenty…….
Fluorescent blue blood crept slowly up through the water. A considerable amount. Still, Cesare did not return.
Silence persisted. Jenia tried to vault over the rail. Arkel was already shedding his coat. I stopped them both with a raised hand.
“I’ll go.”
My disciples were all exhausted. And I was their Master. I unwound my Cloak and hurled off my shoes.
A minute had passed.
—Splash!
The Sea swallowed me. The voices of my disciples from above, the sound of the waves—all faded as water covered my ears.
My vision clouded with an alien blue rising from below.
I followed the trail of blue blood. The sinking Wing Fish came into view.
Cesare hung from it, his spear still thrust through its body, clutching it even as he fell unconscious.
I rushed forward and grabbed Cesare by the arm. Just as I was trying to pry his fingers loose—
the current shifted.
I turned to see Monsters swarming toward us—not just a few, but a whole mass of them. Even beneath the surface, their eyes glowed with predatory clarity.
I could see their teeth. I had no sword, only constraints. Yet I had to protect my disciple. Teeth or claws, it didn’t matter. I stepped in front of Cesare, blood already streaming—
―Screech!
Several Monsters began attacking others of their kind. The attacked ones scattered in confusion.
I held Cesare firmly and surveyed the chaos. The Monsters’ movements were strange. Their eyes looked clouded, vacant.
At the same time, I felt our bodies beginning to rise slowly. Looking down, I saw smaller Monsters lifting us toward the surface.
We broke through the water. As I drew ragged breaths, a tentacle descended from above.
“Master, brother!”
Even now, Cesare wouldn’t release the spear. He was hauled onto the deck still clutching it, the Wing Fish thrashing beside him.
“Cesare! Snap out of it!”
I struck his cheek, but he didn’t respond. My disciples rushed over and crowded around him.
“Cesare, come on! He’s not waking up!”
“He needs emergency aid.”
“We need to do mouth-to-mouth, don’t we? Who’s going to?”
After we began treatment, he vomited up seawater violently. His eyes fluttered open, and he gasped for breath.
“Hack, gasp… Master?”
“Why wouldn’t you let go of the spear? You could’ve just dropped it!”
“I wouldn’t let go? I don’t know. I passed out in the middle of it.”
Only then did he release the spear. I had no choice but to embrace my disciple.
I sat the drenched Cesare down and turned to look behind us. Gai leaned against a post, wiggling his fingers.
“…Thank you for your help.”
Cesare looked at me in bewilderment.
“What? What did that thing help with?”
“He controlled the corpses of the Monsters and pulled us up.”
Gai chuckled and swept his fingers through the air. The Monsters circling the surface froze, then flipped over and floated still.
“Cesare. You said you’d never accept my help even unto death, but here you are. Does that mean you’re ready to die?”
Gai taunted, his voice dripping with mockery. Cesare’s expression turned somewhat flustered.
“If you’re going to die, could you do it nicely? In a way that doesn’t damage the corpse too much?”
Despite Gai’s jibing, Cesare didn’t answer. He staggered to his feet and approached him.
“…I hate you. You make me sick. But… yes. You are useful.”
“That’s unlike you, being so cooperative…”
Then Cesare seized Gai by the collar and dragged him close. No gratitude flowed from him—none at all. Cesare’s teeth ground together.
“That’s right. I won’t imprison you. But the moment we return, I’m driving a Spirit Crystal into your skull or your heart.”

“Wherever you go, I will follow. If you harm my family or betray them, I’ll kill you.”
The tendons stood out in the fist gripping his collar. There was no wind. The slack sails hung motionless. The Sea was silent.
Only Cesare’s low, slow voice reached my ears, each word ground out as if chewed from stone.
“Forever. Until the day you die, I will follow you. Remember that.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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