Chapter 139: Where’s the Boss?
She had no idea why, but one thing was certain. The Kraken’s absence meant the marine monsters would weaken.
In other words, this was their chance to counterattack.
"The Kraken went into the gate!"
"Now’s our chance! Hit them with everything!"
The hunters, who until now had been scrambling just to hold back the monsters’ advance, unleashed their attack skills all at once.
The defensive line that had been slowly giving ground quickly held firm, and before long they were pushing the front line forward instead.
For the hunters, it was welcome news, no question. But Aria felt a nagging doubt.
’What? Why would it suddenly...?’
If it had just pushed a little harder, victory would have been within its grasp. So why on earth did it flee into the gate out of nowhere?
Aria tilted her head, puzzled.
And in that instant.
Shiver!
From head to toe, goosebumps erupted across her entire body.
Drawn by an overwhelming presence at her back, she was about to turn around without thinking when...
"Stay still."
A low, firm voice reached her.
A-rank hunter, Gordon.
The administrator of Coral Cave Shelter and the mentor who had raised Aria into a hunter. Gripping her shoulder tight, he whispered.
"It’s the Leviathan."
"...!"
Her breath caught in her throat.
The Leviathan. The being that roamed the oceans of the entire world, presumed to be the boss of the Antarctica gate.
In Key West, everyone in the know already knew of it. After all, it had shown itself once or twice before.
Aria herself had witnessed it in the past.
’And I blacked out on the spot.’
Consumed by a terror so intense she could barely breathe. If Gordon hadn’t been at her side back then, she might well have frozen to death right there.
Gordon whispered again.
"The monsters have all locked up too, so don’t worry about the fighting. For now, just focus everything you have on staying conscious."
"...Yes, sir."
Aria did as she was told.
Mouth shut, eyes closed, she breathed in and out, fighting with all her might to stay conscious.
How long did it last?
The pressure crushing down on her whole body lifted.
"It’s over. You can turn around now."
At the sound of Gordon’s voice, Aria carefully turned around.
The monsters that had frozen stiff as statues were beginning to move again, one by one.
At that moment.
Vwoom!
The red vortex warped and rippled.
The Kraken that had fled into the gate came bursting back out. Only then did Aria understand why it had run.
’It was hiding from the Leviathan!’
The pieces finally clicked into place.
But there was no time to calmly take stock of the situation. With the Kraken’s return, the monsters whose momentum had broken turned powerful once more.
The line they had fought so hard to push forward was shoved back in an instant, and soon, screams burst out from hunters at their limits all across the battlefield.
"Chief! We’re at our limit!"
"We can’t, we can’t hold any longer!"
"We’re going to be surrounded at this rate!"
The hunters’ fears became reality.
Part of the defensive line collapsed, and the monsters began closing in around them. Their escape route vanished in the blink of an eye, and the situation spiraled toward the worst.
Just then.
"Aria."
Gordon suddenly spoke to her.
Exhaustion was written all over his face.
"I’ll open a path. Slip out through the gap."
"...What?"
"Go to South Key West, tell Hunter Elma what’s happening here, and request reinforcements. Tell her I sent you and she’ll come to help. I’m sure of it."
"...!?"
Aria’s eyes went wide.
She understood exactly what he was saying.
"B-but! Then what about you, sir...!"
"Don’t worry. I have no intention of dying in a place like this. I’ll hold them off for a while, then fall back to the shelter and set up a final defensive line."
Gordon flashed a grin.
It was his gruff way of easing his anxious student’s worries.
"As far as I know, you’re the fastest one here. So I’m counting on you."
"..."
Aria bit down hard on her lip.
Anyone could see it in Gordon’s eyes. The look of a man resolved to fight to the death.
But if she dug in her heels and refused his order, annihilation was all that awaited them. In the end, with her heart breaking, Aria turned around.
"...You have to hold on until I get back."
"Right. I’m counting on you."
Gordon gave a faint smile.
Then he pointed to a corner of the encirclement.
"Go on my signal. Three."
Crackle!
With those words, Gordon began charging his lightning-attribute wide-area annihilation skill, [Call Lightning]. Aria activated her movement speed skill, [Wind Walker].
"Two."
Wind gathered beneath her feet.
And then.
"One."
With that calm murmur, a blue flash engulfed the battlefield.
Rumble! Kaboom!
[Call Lightning] fell from the sky and slammed into the corner of the encirclement. The monsters there were charred to cinders in seconds, and a narrow path opened.
"Now!"
At Gordon’s signal, Aria kicked off the ground.
But then.
"...?"
Something suddenly caught her eye.
A man was sprinting toward them from across the frozen sea, moving far faster Aria with [Wind Walker] active.
She blinked once, and the man vanished.
’Wh-what? Where did he...?’
While Aria stood there flustered, the man reappeared just as quickly.
Sixty-five feet up in the air.
And then.
Whoosh!
The man hurled something.
Tearing through the air with a piercing shriek flew an ice spear more than ten feet long. The moment it came down like a thunderbolt into the very center of the battlefield...
Boooom! Kaboooom!
With an eardrum-splitting roar, a violent shockwave swept out in every direction.
The solidly frozen sea split apart with a sharp crack, and countless shards of ice scattered everywhere like a raging blizzard.
"Ngh! Wh-what the?"
"What’s with the shaking all of a sudden..."
The hunters reeled at the sudden turn of events.
And so did Aria.
Moments later, when the ice dust swirling through the air had settled, an unbelievable sight came into view.
"...!?"
It was as if a meteor had struck.
A crater more than a hundred feet across had been gouged into the middle of the battlefield. The monsters that had stood there were gone, without even corpses left behind.
At that overwhelming sight...
Gordon.
Aria, who had been about to slip out of the battle line.
The hunters locked in fierce combat.
All of them froze in place and stared.
Just then.
Thump!
With heavy footsteps, a man walked toward them. A man in his mid-thirties with a shaggy head of hair. The moment he saw Aria, he tossed out a question.
"Where’s the boss?"
"...What?"
"The gate boss. I’m asking where it is."
An abrupt question, thrown out with no lead-in whatsoever.
Aria faltered for a moment, then turned her head toward the Kraken. The man’s gaze followed hers to the Kraken.
"Ah, that thing?"
With that one short remark, the man turned away.
In that instant.
"...Huh?"
Aria doubted her own eyes.
She couldn’t help it.
The man who had been standing right in front of her a moment ago was now, somehow, right in front of the Kraken.
And then.
CRUNCH!
With a violent crack of impact, the Kraken’s head shattered.