Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. - Chapter 143

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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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Episode 143: C-Rank Dungeon – Southern Continental Expedition (4)
Crew quarters of the ‘Solmiran’s Hammer.’
Quarters for the expedition members.
– Expedition members, assemble on deck—!!
Suddenly, the expedition leader Brinya’s commanding voice rang out through the ship.
The expedition members, sprawled across hammocks and the floor, jolted awake and scrambled to their feet.
“…What’s going on?”
“Did a monster appear?”
The expedition members hesitated briefly before hurrying to prepare to head topside.
“They’ve arrived.”
Pendrick, who had risen immediately, glanced back at his companions.
They were all already fully prepared.
Beldora, the next candidate for guild leader of the Eyebeam Bear Love Guild, spoke with a grave expression.
“According to the Golden Raven’s plan, when the expedition leader summons everyone, that’s the turning point for moving to the next stage of the strategy.”
“That’s right.”
Bartimir, having unwrapped the bandages on both hands, brought his two fists together with a dull thud—they moved of their own accord due to the Evil Eye curse.
“And we’re supposed to knock out all the crew members.”
The second stage of the Southern Continental Expedition strategy that Kar had demanded from the group.
Strike down everything in sight.
“Simple and clean.”
A mischievous smile played at the corners of Tilda’s mouth as she gripped the Secret Sword in both hands.
Bartimir followed his friend’s lead, his lips curling upward.
“Everyone, please calm yourselves!”
A crew member appeared just then and stopped the expedition members heading for the deck.
“Since the expedition leader witnessed sea monsters, he has been showing signs of confusion! The monsters have already been subjugated, so please rest assured and remain below deck!”
The pronunciation and voice were unusually composed.
The well-dressed crew member’s fluent speech caused the expedition members to murmur amongst themselves.
“The leader’s gone mad?”
“Dwarves have such iron wills—it’s rare for them to lose their minds like that…”
“But would the crew member really have any reason to lie to us like this…?”
Being capable fighters, they didn’t immediately accept the crew member’s hastily improvised excuse.
Yet, having no knowledge of the situation outside, they stood frozen in place, uncertain.
Crash—!
A thick, emerald-colored surge of energy suddenly shot forward, striking the crew member’s face squarely.
“Ugh…”
His neat face crumpled grotesquely as he toppled backward.
“Stop running your mouth. Pathetic wretch.”
Bartimir, who had cast his white sailor’s cap to the floor, charged forward.
“What is this…”
A vicious kick landed square on the face of the crew member who had tried to protest the demon-type being’s surprise attack.
“I’m going too!”
“Don’t be reckless about it.”
Tilda’s Secret Sword pierced another crew member’s forehead, and Rael, a ranger from the Eyebeam Bear Love Guild, loosed arrows that skewered the enemies.
Combat erupted without warning.
Pendrick turned to the expedition members who were still hesitating.
“Everyone. The captain is a nauseating deep-sea socialite seeking to offer us to a dying divine beast. The crew members work in his service. And our expedition leader was simply unaware of the world’s ways and fell for the captain’s deception.”
“……”
It was a truth that might have seemed rather sudden.
Yet the expedition members quickly grew indignant and began to clamor.
“I knew something was off!”
“I told you so!”
“If Pendrick says it, it must be true!”
Pendrick, possessed of a sociability that let him befriend anyone within five minutes of meeting, had already grown close to every expedition member.
In less than a day of sailing, he had not only grown friendly with them all but had become so intimate that they trusted his every word without reservation.
“Let us join together and help our expedition leader!”
As Pendrick raised his hand gripping Astrímia high into the air, the expedition members responded with fervent approval.
“Let’s go!”
“We can’t fall into the sea before even reaching the Southern Continent!”
“We believe in you, Pendrick!”
As the expedition members showed their hostility, the crew members finally revealed their true colors and began to attack.
“For the deep one!”
“Just kill them all!”
Followers of the evil god who served Nadeu’Sapre.
Expedition members who had passed rigorous interviews and practical tests.
In the collision between the two sides, it was naturally the latter who held the advantage.
Crunch!
A beastman knight’s spear pierced through a muscular sailor’s chest.
Splash!
An elf shaman’s spirit severed the head of a sailor whose back sprouted insectile wings.
“Want to bet who brings down more?”
“Obviously I’m going to win?”
Bartimir and Tilda competed fiercely, battering their enemies into submission in rapid succession.
“Everyone of the expedition!”
Beldora, perched on the shoulders of a hulking demon-type warrior explorer from the Eyebeam Bear Love Guild, swept both arms through the air.
“Let’s drive back the sailors like this and climb to the deck to aid the expedition leader!”
“Who do you think you are, giving orders?”
“A runt like you.”
……
Beldora looked down at Pendrick.
“I happened to be thinking the same thing.”
“Yeah?”
“Then let’s be careful and proceed without letting our guard down!”
……
Beldora, who had grown briefly dejected, quickly regained her composure like the seasoned explorer she was and spoke again.
“A considerable number of the enemy are Bloodfighters. If we’re not careful, we might take heavy losses.”
Bloodfighter.
A class that seeps into the souls of those who have grown up in close contact with blood and slaughter.
They commonly possessed Secret Arts that strengthened the body by absorbing blood, and had the trait of growing stronger each time an ally fell, making them quite troublesome opponents.
“So let’s strengthen ourselves beforehand and face them in that state.”
Lucius, receiving Beldora’s gaze, cast blessings upon the expedition members.
Three types of Secret Arts that elevated physical abilities.
Two types of Secret Arts that sharpened perception.
Though it seemed trivial, it was a carefully selected combination of Secret Arts that could prove fatal in combat between the strong.
“Now let’s go! Tilda, Bartimir—break through leading the way!”
“Got it!”
“Good!”
Demon-type being and human charged forward together, kicking up a commotion.
The other expedition members followed in their wake.
Merlin, who had felled five enemies in this battle, stepped carefully at the rear while concentrating on his hearing.
……
Every voice heard from inside the ship and on the deck flowed in through Sky Ears.
Concentrating according to the technique Seraphina had taught him, he was able to pick out Kar’s familiar voice from the chaotic swirl of sound.
“Merlin, can you hear the captain?”
“…Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“Ahahaha! Ten more minutes! Ahaha, hahahaha! …that’s what he said.”
……
Pendrick awkwardly laughed while absently stroking the blade of Astrímia.
“Seems like he’s fighting hard.”
***
The cephalopods are the most noble creatures of the sea.
Smooth skin and sinuous bodies.
Countless legs that writhed cutely like tentacles.
In the paradise where the gods of the great ocean and purification dwelled, cephalopod angels must surely be swimming about all soft and gelatinous.
Crack-crunch!
Slimy legs reeking of filth coiled around my limbs and squeezed with brutal force.
My neck twisted sideways, my back bent backward, my legs folded forward.
“Ahahaha!”
Blood gushed from my mouth in a torrent.
Blood sprayed freely from skin torn and split wide.
Bone after bone had fractured beyond repair.
The accumulated damage had grown too severe for even the Wound Deferring Barrier and Ghoul Mobility to handle.
《Your remaining Stamina: 15/100》
《Stop playing around now and engage in true combat!》
Playing around.
What a ridiculous mischaracterization that was.
I was simply offering positive emotion to the Demon King.
A trial that ground the entire body to dust.
Exquisite pain that made the outcome of dungeon conquest all the more glorious.
“Heh, aha-haha!”
Through Soul Bond, a portion of the Demon King’s will flowed into me.
– What supreme delicacy! Was exploration truly this enjoyable? I must sample it myself.
He seemed greatly satisfied.
Surely fulfilling my duty as an agent to this degree was sufficient.
Crack-crack!
As I pictured how pleased the Demon King must be, my spine twisted at an impossible angle once more.
《Please, just stop! >:(》
“All right, all right.”
To have to hurt something so utterly precious as this Kraken.
My heart ached, but love between adversaries was always destined for tragic ends.
“Kraken, my sincerest apologies.”
I extended my trembling hands past the slimy legs of the writhing creature.
Then I employed the Secret Art that Ridni had granted me during the ritual offering conducted in the Tower of Trials Underground Waterway.
Clank!
A shabby pair of manacles materialized from empty air, binding both wrists.
The Demon Suppressor.
A premium-grade tool that absorbed a fixed amount of Mana each time it accumulated within the body.
Using the effect of the fourth-rank Twisted Truth Secret Art known as Space-Crossing Valuable Goods, I bypassed the intermediate steps and equipped an item from my own collection.
“Lulia, I shall now prove with my very body just how great a divine being you are.”
Following that, I activated Life Reversal Action.
A Secret Art wherein undead Mana that would accumulate if layered ten times was instead converted to amplifying the Stamina statistic.
Crack-crack-crack!
The twisted bones snapped back into their proper alignment.
Torn skin and muscle healed in an instant.
Miraculous regeneration.
– Screeeee!
Perhaps it sensed something ominous.
The cute Kraken’s grip tightened all the more.
I refused to yield, repeatedly activating Life Reversal Action to restore my body.
《Life Reversal Action has become Rank 2!》
《Wait — Life Reversal Action has jumped all the way to Rank 3!》
《Absolutely no congratulations — Life Reversal Action has soared to Rank 4!》
The rank-up condition for Life Reversal Action was recovery from Stamina that had dropped to the brink of the limit.
With the help of my beloved cephalopod Kraken, the Secret Art of the taciturn one was flourishing rapidly.
Writhe!
Lulia too was pleased.
The terminal serpent tattoo on my head swayed while observing the Mana accumulating at terrifying speed near the manacled wrist.
《Now!》
At Jinsil’s signal, I deployed my trump card Secret Art.
Whiiiiing—!
A frigid wind whirled around me as the center.
The Evil Freezing Wind, which transformed Mana into a gust of icy cold.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
The legs that had wrapped around me froze solid in an instant.
It was a display of power unbelievable for wind cast by a Socialite.
《:O》
– Screeeeak!
“From this moment on, I must cause you suffering.”
In the game, once afflicted with the ‘Charmed’ status, one could neither attack the object of affection nor create distance from them.
I hadn’t understood it then, and I didn’t understand it now.
Crack-crack-crack!
I shattered the frozen limb with black lightning, and Kraken shrieked, wrapping me frantically with another tentacle.
“Do not resist. I wish to cause you as little pain as possible.”
Through the combination of Life Reversal Action and Evil Freezing Wind, I froze and shattered every tentacle coiling around me, advancing gradually toward his head.
“Kraken. My Kraken.”
Whoooosh—!!
“I love you with all my heart.”
Crack-crack-crack!
“Therefore, I wish to possess everything about you.”
《Your remaining health: 200/200》
“I wish to claim your very soul.”
I landed atop Kraken’s beautiful head.
Unable to restrain myself, I pressed flat against him, feeling the smooth skin across my entire body.
– Shrieeeek!
“But since you will hardly obey my words and remain docile, I’m afraid I have no choice in the matter.”
Love is the heart that cherishes and adores another dearly.
But what if the other’s heart will not connect to mine?
Then there is no method save to bind them by force and make them mine.
Crack-crack-crack!
Converting only my right arm to lightning, I thrust it into a point just below the center of that beautiful head.
And with the Hand Grasping the World—telekinesis—I pulled at Kraken’s vital core.
– Shrieeeeek!!
Kraken thrashed his body wildly, howling in agony.
My heart ached.
Still, I forced myself to ignore it, pouring all my concentration into the telekinesis and exerting my strength.
Crack-crack!
At last, piercing through Kraken’s skull, a mass emerged—deep blue as the abyssal depths.
A Soul Stone.
The jewel that dwells within the body of all Divine Beasts, holding the power of divinity and the soul itself.
“At last, it rests in my hands.”
Cradling the Soul Stone, I stood over Kraken’s body, which had begun to go slack.
“Now you can never leave me.”
Kraken and I will remain together from now on.
Forever.

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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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