Chapter 56
A leg wrapped around the ship’s hull, crushing it—next to it, another leg emerged from the water. Then another. And another. By the time the fifth leg burst out, it latched onto the side of the imperial sailboat.
Before the frozen nobles could even let out their first scream, Lillietta threw away all her composure as a noble lady adapted to a peaceful world.
Rita Pascal didn’t rely on prejudice or common sense—she judged only what was right in front of her.
That wasn’t some kind of monster.
The common knowledge that there were no magical beasts in this world was wrong.
That was a magical beast.
And not just any one—she recognized it.
It was one of her nightmares. The monster that made her hate boats, the one she encountered in the worst battle she’d ever fought. The magical beast that had reduced a squad of over fifty Beacon members to just six.
Kraken.
Her blood ran cold. Her mind snapped into sharp clarity.
How and why it appeared here was something to worry about later. Right now, she had to find a way to defeat the Kraken while minimizing casualties.
The state of the battlefield and the condition of the allies were…
“Aaaaahhh!”
As someone let out a deep, guttural scream, shrieks burst out from all directions.
“A m-monster!”
“Eeeek!”
“Guards! Knights!”
“Run!”
Nobles dropped to the ground, screaming and fleeing back to their boats. Amidst the chaos on deck, Rita quickly grabbed Leonhardt’s arm.
“Brother.”
“Ah…”
“Leon!”
“What is that… What the hell…”
Magical beasts weren’t normal creatures—they triggered a primal terror in those who saw them.
And for someone’s first encounter with a magical beast to be one of the most infamous—the Kraken—no wonder he was in shock. But there was no time for that.
“Leonhardt del Nysa Laskail!”
She grabbed him by the collar and yanked him toward her. His eyes finally focused on her. With wide, intense eyes, she spoke firmly:
“Don’t use your aura.”
“What?”
“Absolutely do not use your aura. Gather the people and get back to our boat. Drive it to the riverbank as fast as possible and flee as far as you can. Got it?”
“Rita, wait—what do you mean, don’t use aura—”
While not as skilled as Richard, Leonhardt was trained in swordsmanship. As the heir of Laskail, the northern duchy with the largest territory, he had grown up as a knight.
Though not at the level where aura was visible like with high-ranking knights, he could coat his blade with a faint aura—he was a mid-level knight.
But when facing a magical beast, which was a mutated lifeform born from mana contamination, those who used anything other than pure Ode were not only unhelpful—they were a danger.
That included things like aura.
That was why, in the Ashen World, anyone using magic needed measures against mana contamination, and why those who fought magical beasts were mostly Ode-using Vowers.
There was no time to explain it all. Looking directly into his eyes, Rita said quickly:
“That’s not just a monster—it’s a magical beast. And if a regular mage or knight fights it without using Ode, they’ll become contaminated and turn into a magical beast too.”
“Turn into a magical beast? A person?”
“Yes! So don’t use aura and run!”
She practically barked at him, shoving him backward. Pale-faced, Leonhardt stumbled and shouted:
“If you’re running, then you come too, Rita—!”
“I have to kill that thing! The best way you can help me is to leave, so shut up and go!”
There was no time for the ladylike manners she’d recently been forced to adopt. The only courtesy she had left was not yelling “shut the hell up.”
Leonhardt looked past her head at the towering, massive figure. The creature’s tentacle—taller than a bell tower—was curling around the ship’s mast.
Let his half-pint sister fight that and just run?
His instincts screamed no. But he wasn’t an idiot. He wasn’t driven by emotion alone.
‘I’ve never even heard of a monster like that.’
But Rita had instantly recognized it as a magical beast.
She had told him about her time in the Ashen World—how she’d survived by fighting magical beasts, how she made a Vow to destroy every one she saw, how breaking that Vow brought painful punishment, and how repeated violations could kill her.
So if that was a magical beast, then Rita was both an expert and someone bound by duty to fight it. If she said she couldn’t use help, he had to believe her.
Besides, this was the first time since her return that Rita, usually calm and composed, had shown such urgency.
With great effort, he held back his legs that didn’t want to move and restrained the hands that wanted to grab her.
“…Rita, be careful.”
With a pale face, he whispered the words, turned, and ran toward the Laskail yacht.
The Kraken’s giant tentacles, bursting from the river, had wrapped around the ship’s prow and mast, causing it to tilt heavily. The deck grew steeper by the second. Fleeing people slipped, fell, and crashed into each other, some tumbling into the river.
As Leonhardt sprinted through the chaos and stepped onto the swaying gangway, a thin scream pierced the noise.
“H-Help me…”
Instinctively, he turned toward the sound. A woman with messy light brown hair clung desperately to the railing of the tilting ship. Her pale face was streaked with tears, and her arms were trembling as if they’d give out at any second.
Anne!
Even if it hadn’t been her, Leonhardt couldn’t ignore a cry for help. But because it was her, he didn’t hesitate for even a moment.
He leapt from the gangway and sprinted toward the stern, where Anne-Marie was dangling.
* * *
Having finally sent Leonhardt off, Lillietta lifted her dress and pulled her Silver Grace pistol from the thigh holster. She thought quickly:
‘It’s a river, not the sea—that’s lucky. But there are too many people, and they’re all civilians—that’s the worst part. The palace guards and court mages can’t use Ode, so they’re not just useless—they might get contaminated and turn into beasts themselves. So the number of people who can fight the Kraken here is…’
Just me.
‘I can’t kill it alone. I’ll draw its attention long enough for civilians to escape, then retreat. Once the capital’s army arrives, I’ll teach them how to kill it before Ode punishes me.’
Ideally, she’d stay and command, but that would mean enduring the punishment of retreating from a beast she vowed to kill. She had done it before, but it wasn’t good for her health. For now, she’d focus on giving them the right strategy.
At the very least, she needed to tell them to ditch magic and aura and use physical weapons like cannons. If they charged in blindly and the beast reproduced, Lamcard would fall that day—and the apocalypse of this world would begin.
‘First, I need to draw it off the ship.’
She lifted her head, mind racing with cold calculations—only to freeze at an unexpected sight.
A translucent barrier, shimmering softly, had spread over the imperial sailboat, forming a dome.
The Kraken’s legs, which had already dragged two other boats underwater, now only clung to the barrier—unable to crush the ship.
Though the weight of the tentacles was tipping the ship rapidly, it wasn’t being crushed. The barrier resisted, pushing against the curling limbs.
No mage in this world could do that. Magical beasts corrupted mana on contact. A normal barrier spell would’ve dissolved the moment it touched the Kraken’s limb—and the caster would’ve become a beast.
That’s a contamination-proof spell.
Rita turned her head, entranced, searching for the caster. It didn’t take long.
Standing calmly among the panicked crowd, looking skyward with olive-colored eyes, was a young woman. At her feet, a glowing green magic circle spun.
Olive Pascal.
The Marchioness of Bllen.
And then, past her, a large man walked toward the prow of the ship.
The Crown Prince—Gideon El Redert Kairam.
He drew his sword. A dark flame-like aura flared along the blade.
No—it wasn’t this world’s aura. Rita, who had seen it countless times, recognized it instantly.
Though it looked like ordinary aura, it was Ode. A strengthened Vower using Ode to replicate the effects of aura—a Vower’s sword energy.
And it was familiar.
Holding her breath, she stared at his back.
