Repeat Vice - The Villainous Noble Doesn't Want to Die, So He Swore to Not Die As One of The Four Heavenly Kings - Chapter 8 - Devil’s Sea

Chapter 8: Devil’s Sea

We departed from Rougvelt and sailed northward for about half a day.

The attacks of sea monsters have become more intense, and the private soldiers from Clinton’s ship following behind seem quite exhausted.

In contrast, the sailors led by Log, whom we brought from Rougvelt, seem unfazed.

They handle the monsters efficiently and calmly.

The sailors deliberately do not divide their forces and remain on the main ship I’m on.

I don’t think they can cooperate with Clinton’s private soldiers, and besides, it would be troublesome if they were to clash with Clinton himself, even though he’s just hiding in his cabin.

Clinton himself sends complaints via telepathy.

“Lord Rofus… the monsters, the monsters are so aggressive… let’s retreat, right now!”

“What’s the point of saying that now…”

It seems he didn’t actually expect the monsters to become so aggressive, and now he’s panicking as the frequency of attacks increases.

But it’s his private soldiers who are fighting.

For now, if he wants to run away, that’s fine, but I threatened him that if he does, I’ll sink his ship with magic.

I told him that the only options left for him are to become a hero or to die, and he seemed to gain motivation while crying.

I’ll leave the management of these useless private soldiers to someone else.

I also made sure to stock up on potions, so there shouldn’t be a total annihilation before reaching the sea monster Straf.

“Hey, why don’t you lend a hand too?”

While casually slicing through swordfish swordfish with his favorite cutlass, Fol says something like that.

I had a sofa brought onto the shaded deck from inside the ship, and I relax there while watching the sailors fight.

Carlos is standing right next to me.

With the remarkable performance of the sailors, Carlos has some free time.

He only has to cut down any monsters that occasionally slip through.

“It looks like we have enough hands, though?”

“I’m working my ass off here, why are you just lazing around?”

“Hah, that’s the difference between nobles and commoners. You’ve learned something new, haven’t you, peasant?”

“What did you say, you bastard!”

Fol occasionally comes at me like this.

It’s really annoying, but Fol is the one who’s killed the most monsters.

With his outstanding physical abilities, he cuts through monsters in no time.

It seems the “exceptional” Log mentioned by Greg was indeed true.

But this voyage is almost over.

In the story, the sea monster Straf was located half a day’s sail north from Rougvelt.

It’s about time we encountered it… but it’s nowhere to be seen.

And here, Log’s expression changes, and he starts giving instructions to the helmsman.

“Wait, stop, we can’t go any further. Turn back.”

Huh? What’s this guy doing?

I stopped the ship as it began to change course.

“Hey, why are you changing course on your own? Return to the original route.”

“No, we can’t. This area ahead is the Devil’s Sea. Once we enter the Devil’s Sea, we’ll never come back.”

“The Devil’s Sea?”

I see the sailors are gazing at the horizon to the north with fearful expressions.

“It’s a legend passed down among sailors. The sea ahead is inhabited by demons that devour ships. Once a ship enters the Devil’s Sea, it never returns.”

Log looks solemnly at the sea to the north.

“Perhaps it’s just a fairy tale. Or have you sailors actually seen those ship-devouring demons?”

“No, we haven’t… in the first place, we sailors don’t get close to the Devil’s Sea.”

Log replied evasively, avoiding eye contact.

The other sailors also avoid meeting my gaze.

“Young master. Regardless of whether the legend is true or not, it’s a fact that this area is considered dangerous. That’s why we can’t trade with the Steria region, which is not far from here.”

Carlos whispered to me.

The Steria region to the north, huh?

It’s the territory of the Margrave of Steria, bordered by the northern frontier, surrounded by the sea and snow-capped mountains.

I remember that it’s the homeland of Valm, one of the Four Generals.

It’s not far from the Lightless territory, and it’s a close enough distance for trade, but the trade route hasn’t been secured due to this Devil’s Sea, it seems.

The ship-devouring demons of the Devil’s Sea, huh?

Could it be that the sea monster Straf, a colossal ship-eating kraken, is the real demon they’re talking about?

Its appearance would be fitting for the Devil’s Sea, wouldn’t it?

“Maintain the current course. It seems the activation of the monsters is caused by that demon.”

“…Is that true?”

Log looks bewildered, and the faces of the sailors don’t look good either.

Are they really that afraid of the Devil’s Sea?

“It’s true. We’ve prepared this much force to exterminate it.”

“W-Wait… when we heard about monster extermination… we didn’t expect to fight a demon in the Devil’s Sea…”

Log’s face turns pale, and he starts to panic.

To be so afraid of something they’ve never seen before.

He’s a big guy, but he’s got a small heart.

“Hey, listen. If we kill that ship-eating demon, will we be able to catch fish like before?”

Fol, carrying his cutlass over his shoulder, asks me that.

“I’ve been saying that from the beginning.”

I reply, and Fol responds with a grin.

“I see. Then there’s no choice but to do it — demon slaying.”

“Well, hold on, are you stupid, Fol!? That thing has been lurking in the Devil’s Sea for 300 years! We can’t win, you know!?”

Log tries to stop him, but Fol shows no sign of fear.

“Huh? Both you and your brother are too scared of legends. Is that huge body of yours just for show?”

“Fol!”

It seems like another quarrel between the mountain monkeys, as I watch their exchange.

The ship — no, the sea — suddenly shakes violently.

Large waves rise, and several massive pillars emerge, lining up around our ship.

There are six of these pillars.

It doesn’t take long to recognize them as tentacles, covered with countless huge suckers.

Soon, the gigantic tentacles start closing in on our ship, enveloping it.

“—Carlos!”

“I understand!”

Carlos, who immediately responds to my call, rushes up to the mast and swings his rapier towards the approaching tentacles.

His sword, infused with magic, cuts through the air, turning into flying slashes.

Carlos releases countless flying slashes, severing one of the tentacles.

“—Dark Scythe!”

I conjure a dark scythe in my hand and swing it towards the tentacles.

The immense black slash engulfs the tentacles, cutting two of them in half at once.

Three tentacles remain.

Despite losing three tentacles, the remaining three gigantic tentacles swing down regardless.

“—Dark Cliff!”

I then create a huge dark wall that covers the entire ship.

Empowered by vast amounts of magical energy, the dark wall easily repels the three tentacles.

Defeated, the repelled tentacles retreat into the sea.

“Aaaaah!”

The belated screams of the sailors resound.

The sailors are in chaos and fear.

In this situation, no matter how many instructions I give, they won’t reach them.

Even though I’m a noble, to them, I’m an outsider.

I grab Log, who is sitting in the corner of the ship, with magically enhanced strength and slap his face.

Log looks at me in surprise.

For a moment, his fear diminishes.

Indeed, inflicting pain is the best way to make them forget their fear.

“Hey, you’re the deputy, right? If you don’t want to die, gather everyone. If this chaos continues, everyone, including you, will die.”

“—U-understood.”

Regaining his composure, Log rushes to gather the men.

Next, I kick Fol, who is cowering and crouching.

“What the hell are you doing, you piece of trash…!?”

“Where’s the demon slayer spirit, peasant? Instead of being scared, you should be wielding your sword. The next one will come soon.”

“I-I’m not scared, I’m not scared at all! I was just a little surprised!”

At that moment, a Swordfish leaps out of the sea and charges towards me, but Fol swipes it away with his cutlass.

“Hmph, even the monsters are avoiding me.”

“…Surprising. You’re protecting me.”

“Yeah, you owe me your life. Be grateful for the rest of your days.”

As more monsters emerge from the sea and attack, I use Dark Ball to eliminate them.

“It’s troublesome, now I’ve become a lifesaver. Was it ‘be grateful for the rest of your days’? Well, you’re quite annoying!”

Despite his complaints, Fol continues to cut down the monsters that come aboard one after another.

Even though some of the sailors are still trembling in fear, under Log’s command, they start to fight back against the monsters little by little.

There are still some who haven’t recovered from their fear, so I occasionally provide support with magic.

Useless peasants, really.

Should I just abandon them like this?

I continue to cut down the massive tentacles emerging from the sea with my magic and Carlos’s swordsmanship.

How many of these gigantic tentacles are there?

Even though we’ve already cut down seven or eight, more keep coming from the sea.

Wasn’t it octopuses with eight tentacles and squids with ten?

At that moment, a telepathic message arrives from Clinton.

“Rofus-sama! What is going on!?”

“Nothing special. It’s a monster attack. Deal with it using magic.”

“W-We can’t! We didn’t expect such a monster to exist!”

“Don’t make a fuss. If you want to run away in this situation, should I personally sink your ship?”

“…Do you have the luxury to do that? Shouldn’t you be more concerned about your own safety first? After all, you need your own life. Goodbye for now.”

With that, Clinton cuts off the telepathic communication unilaterally.

Looking at the following ships, I see that they have already retreated quite a distance, leaving only our ship behind.

“Tch.”

I click my tongue in frustration.

Did Clinton decide to contact me only after reaching a safe zone?

Or did they not realize our ship was being attacked because they were distracted by the gigantic tentacles?

What are those familiars of his doing?

They’re all useless, damn it.

“…We did it.”

Carlos says as he continues to defeat the monsters.

“We’ll deal with that trash later. Now, let’s take care of this soft-bodied creature.”

“So, this is the ship-eating demon… it’s actually a kraken?”

“…Who knows.”

“Young master?”

“No, we’ll find out once we kill it.”

At the moment when the tentacles stop their pursuit, I create a huge dark spear above the ship.

Dark Lance is a mid-level magic, but when infused with my vast magical power, it produces extraordinary power beyond its standard level.

Its power surpasses even poorly executed high-level magic.

I can feel a considerable amount of magical power below the ship.

That must be the main body of the tentacle creature.

I shout to the men fighting the creatures on the deck.

“Everyone! I’m going to cast magic now. Be prepared for the impact if you don’t want to die!”

I only say that much and release the spear towards the main body lurking under the ship.

As the spear hits the main body, I feel the impact of the magic explosion, turning into a huge wave that rocks the ship violently.

A roar, presumably from the creature, echoes from the depths of the sea.

And then, a shock strong enough to make the ship capsize approaches.

“You idiot, did you overdo it!? Young master! Isn’t this too much!?”

Fol and Carlos criticize me, and I respond angrily.

“We can’t see its full extent! We need to make sure we finish it off! And I did hold back!”

Didn’t hold back?

How disrespectful, if I hadn’t held back, this ship would have been completely obliterated.

With it being this close, I had no choice but to limit the power to this extent, but if I reduced the power any further, it wouldn’t have caused significant damage either.

The sea monster Straff boasts incredible durability, enough to survive hundreds or thousands of cannon shots.

Hitting it with weak magic would be like a mosquito bite to it.

The ship rocks violently, and the sailors who had climbed onto the deck are thrown into the sea one after another.

And some of the sailors are thrown out as well.

…I told them to be prepared for the impact, didn’t I?

I extend several dark hands from my shadow and grab the sailors thrown into the sea.

Dark Hand.

It’s a low-level magic used for minor tasks like opening doors or carrying small objects, but with my level of skill, I can lift multiple people at once.

If I wanted to, I could even crush their heads with it, but I won’t go that far.

“Th-thank you…”

“I thought I was going to die…”

I throw the sailors who were hanging upside down from my dark hands back onto the deck.

“You all! Don’t let your guard down. There’s no way that thing is dead from this!”

As the ship stops rocking and the sailors start to relax their vigilance, I scold them sternly.

“Unbelievable, it’s still alive…”

“Did it take that absurdly powerful magic…?”

A tremor runs through the sailors, and Log, Fol, and Carlos tighten their faces.

“It’s coming.”

The ship rocks again.

Tension spreads among the crew.

Gradually, something huge rises from the sea floor, causing the sea surface to bulge.

Finally, the main body appears.

It emerges from the sea with a terrifyingly huge body, about two sizes larger than our ship, with a crimson hue.

It’s unmistakably the head of a giant octopus, with a body much larger than our ship, but…

“…No, it’s dead, right?”

Fol mutters.

In the center of the giant octopus’s head, there is a large hole.

From the remnants of magic, it is undoubtedly pierced by the Dark Lance I released earlier.

There is no vitality in the dull eyes of the giant octopus, and it does not move at all.

Ah, it’s completely lifeless.

“Indeed, it’s dead.”

It’s dead, but…

“…This isn’t Straff after all.”

This is not the sea demon Straff.

Certainly, it’s huge.

Compared to confirmed krakens in the past, even the largest individual’s body and tentacles were only about 30 meters in size combined.

In contrast, this one, estimated to be at least over 50 meters, is exceptionally large.

Perhaps, this is indeed the true identity of the ship-eating demon that has been lurking in the Devil’s Sea for 300 years.

However, it’s not one of the Four Demonic Beasts, it’s not the sea demon Straff.

The size of Straff is like a small island.

It’s not about the size of the emerged head.

Both the tentacles and the body are too huge, with the head sticking out of the sea surface from the sea floor.

Its appearance is indeed like a small island.

Well, it’s exposing its weak point, the head, on the sea surface, so killing it would just require continuous bombardment there.

That’s why it’s not that strong despite having the largest body among the Four Demonic Beasts.

However, the crimson stripes on the body surface of this extra-large kraken’s head are reminiscent of a tiger.

It perfectly matches the characteristics of the sea demon Straff.

…Or perhaps, this creature was the base for the sea demon Straff.

The appearance of the Four Demonic Beasts was three years later, after the story began.

During that time, could it have grown due to some factor and become the sea demon Straf?

For example, the intervention of the Demon Lord, the final boss of the first chapter, might have been involved.

Originally, the Four Demonic Beasts were considered subordinates of the Demon Lord, so it’s natural to assume that the Demon Lord had some involvement in their birth.

“Magic is amazing. Taking down a ship-eating demon with one shot…”

“Hey Fol! Watch out, you’re gonna fall, come back!”

“It’s okay! This is amazing, brother, come here too!”

Fol is happily riding on the corpse of the extra-large kraken, and Log is scolding him.

“We did it, we finally did it!”

“The noble boy defeated the demon!”

“As expected of a noble! No, a noble sir!”

The sailors are filled with relief and joy.

Honestly, they’re a bunch of cash-driven people.

“Well done. Thank you, young master Rofus.”

Carlos also sheathes his rapier and offers words of appreciation.

I want to tell them not to let their guard down, but strangely, there’s no sign of monsters since we defeated the extra-large kraken.

It seems like it’s over.

Is it really over…?

…

The sea demon Straff was not there.

If my hypothesis is correct, it didn’t even exist yet.

Then, what was the cause of the initial incident that led us here—the increased aggression and mass appearance of monsters?

The number of monsters increased as we approached the Devil’s Sea.

It’s likely that the Devil’s Sea is the cause.

Could the ship-eating demon—the extra-large kraken that has been lurking there for 300 years—be the cause?

But even though it has been there for 300 years, could it suddenly become the cause of increased aggression and mass appearance of monsters?

This feeling, like the pieces of the puzzle not fitting together…

Could there be a major oversight…?

“Huh? What’s this…?”

Fol raises an eyebrow as he looks at the corpse of the extra-large kraken.

“What’s this, did something eat it…?”

Eaten…?

I channel magic into my legs and jump onto the extra-large kraken in one breath.

“Where is it?”

“Whoa!? That startled me!”

He’s such a noisy guy.

Standing next to Fol, I take a closer look at the entire body of the extra-large kraken.

Upon closer inspection, the round head has a large chunk missing from it.

Indeed, just like Fol said, it looks like something ate it.

There is only one hole pierced by the Dark Lance, and it’s not something I did.

Moreover, the wounds have partially healed, and they don’t seem like they were inflicted recently.

“Most likely, these are wounds inflicted by an external enemy before it grew this large. It’s unlikely that there is a predator that could eat this kraken.”

Carlos, who arrived later, gives his opinion.

Hmm, well, that’s true.

That’s the most logical explanation.

But…

“!? What’s this…?”

Something is entering my range of magic detection, tearing through it like a net.

It’s a terrifyingly high-density, massive magic reaction.

And it’s approaching us at a rapid pace.

“Hey, you guys! Something—”

Before I could finish my sentence, the magic reaction passes right beneath us.

“Huh…?”

It just passed through…?

I look in the direction it passed.

Shortly after, a telepathic message arrives from Clinton, who should have retreated.

“Rofus-sama! What in the world is this!? Help—”

He only manages to say that much before the communication cuts off.

At the same time, a distress signal from the familiar Clinton had sent disappears completely right after a brief moment of detection.

“…”

What… what happened?

A cold sweat runs down my back.

“You suddenly look pale… What’s wrong?”

“Your complexion doesn’t look good. What happened?”

Fol peeks at my face, and Carlos asks with concern.

“You guys, get your weapons ready immediately. It’s not over yet!”

A formidable neigh, reminiscent of a battleship’s whistle, echoes from beyond the horizon.

Immediately after, a high-density magic wave, enough to make even me grimace, approaches.

Half of the sailors hit by the magic lose consciousness and collapse, while the other half vomit or crouch on the spot.

Log manages to stay conscious, but he looks pretty rough.

Although Fol and Carlos look pale, they still have the composure to wield their weapons.

“What’s wrong, what is…?”

“Rofus-sama, what is this…?”

Fol looks at me with a puzzled expression as he observes the corpse of the extra-large kraken.

“What is this, did something…?”

I don’t know. Even I don’t understand what’s happening.

All I can say is that something dangerous has appeared.

For now, I force Log to stand up and pour a potion into his mouth to wake him up.

“Guboo!?”

Log’s eyes widen, and he chokes.

It’s a luxurious item not to be wasted on commoners, but its effect is top-notch.

I give Log instructions.

“Take the men inside the cabin. And prepare for the ship to be heavily damaged.”

“What!? No way, something like that…”

“Do it.”

“U-Ugh…”

It was a short exchange, but Log starts to hurriedly carry the sailors into the cabin.

And then, I turn to Fol and Carlos.

“Are you guys prepared to die?”

To my question, Fol laughs eagerly, and Carlos sharpens his gaze.

“We’re not going to die. We’ll live and return together, following young master Rofus’s orders.”

“If it’s your command, young master Rofus, we will not hesitate to sacrifice our lives.”

To each of their responses, I chuckle and reply.

“Hmph, don’t slow me down.”

At that moment, once again, a formidable neigh, reminiscent of a battleship’s whistle, echoes.

Though the high-density magic wave like earlier doesn’t come, something appears on the sea.

It appears on the sea surface as if leaping out of the water.

The huge creature, which remains suspended in the air without falling, spreads its gigantic fins like wings and gracefully dances through the sky as if swimming in the sea.

Despite the considerable distance, its huge size is easily discernible.

Its emerald-green eyes glare at us menacingly.

Its appearance is like an unbelievably huge whale.

“…What is that? I’ve never seen anything like that in the story!”