"Guruuuu!"
Seto’s high-pitched, cheerful cry rang out across the sky.
As though the previous day’s torrential rain had been nothing but a lie, spring sunlight bathed the world below as Rei and Seto soared toward their destination: the Port City Emocion.
Stretching before the eyes of the one man and one beast was a vast horizon that seemed to extend into infinity.
Off the coast of Emocion, several ships were visible; some were in motion, while others sat moored at the docks. The vessels were diverse, ranging from massive ocean-going galleons to merchant ships that plied the routes between the Kingdom of Mireana and the rest of the continent, down to small, humble fishing boats.
Rei gazed down at the scenery, just as captivated by the sight as Seto was.
But then, something shifted. In the distance, from one of the ships crossing the water, a desperate barrage began. Arrows, magic, barrels, swords, and spears were suddenly being hurled into the waves.
"...What’s going on?"
For a second, Rei wondered if pirates were boarding the vessel, but he quickly dismissed the thought—pirates wouldn't be so bold in plain sight of the port. Then, the realization struck him. He remembered why he had come to the City of Emocion in the first place.
"I see. So those are the monsters everyone’s talking about."
From his vantage point, he saw Lightning Arrows, Fire Balls, and Water Spears being unleashed in quick succession. However, the seawater acted as a shield for the creatures beneath the surface, absorbing the brunt of the magic’s impact. No real damage was getting through. Despite their futile efforts, the crew continued their frantic assault, but the monsters refused to show themselves above the waves. Finally, the ship began to list and slowly submerge, its hull likely punctured from below.
Rescue was already underway. Whether they were motivated by a sense of duty or the desire to claim the bounty on the monsters, several ships were already racing out from the port.
"Guruuu?"
Seto tilted its head, its eyes asking What should we do? Rei hesitated.
From a rescue standpoint, Seto could only carry Rei, plus perhaps a child or a woman at most. If they were wearing heavy armor, even that would be a struggle. Seto could theoretically grab someone with its foreclaws, but even if they didn't drown, the sharp talons would likely cause serious injury or death.
"Still... yeah. This is a perfect chance to make a name for ourselves. If we leave a good impression now, there’ll be fewer idiots looking to pick a fight later."
His decision was born more from cold calculation than altruism. Rei turned his focus toward the sinking vessel. The hull was clearly a lost cause; the ship was going down fast.
"Seto! First step to building our reputation: we’re going in for a rescue. Avoid the city walls on the way!"
"Guruuu!"
Seto gave a sharp cry and flapped its wings, diving toward the sea.
Rei made sure to give the instruction about the walls, remembering how the City of Gilm had defenses against flying monsters. He didn't know for certain if Emocion had the same setup, but he wasn't about to take chances. It would be a pathetic end to his legend if he crashed and died to a city’s defense system while trying to be a hero.
As Seto banked around the City of Emocion to reach the open water, the majority of the rescue ships were still nowhere near the site.
Most were rowboats or sailing vessels that simply lacked the necessary speed. However, a few Magic Item ships had managed to reach the area. They were currently patrolling the waters, hauling survivors out of the waves while keeping a sharp eye on the depths.
The monster that had sunk the ship wasn't the only threat. The sea was teeming with other predators, all of them closing in on the defenseless passengers cast into the water.
"Damn it! Intensify the attack magic! We don't have to kill them—just use low-level spells and fire in volume to buy time! Reinforcements are coming from the port! We’ll finish the monsters once they get here!"
One of the few Magic Item ships on the scene was a small craft, only about three meters long. It was far too small to take on any survivors. Consequently, the Adventurer Leader on board had given up on rescue, focusing his party’s entire effort on deterring the monsters beneath the surface.
"Please, just get here already..."
He prayed as he watched the ships approaching from the harbor. He threw a harpoon at a monster with a crab’s upper body and a jellyfish’s lower body that was lunging for a passenger near the boat. The strike did no damage, deflected by the seawater and the creature’s hard shell, but it served as a deterrent. The monster hissed and retreated into the dark depths.
"Leader! We have to pull the people near the boat on board!" one of his companions shouted. "At this rate, we can't keep up with all of them!"
The leader shook his head, his face contorted in a grimace. "We can't. If we crowd the deck now, we won't be able to fight. We’ll just end up with more dead!"
"But... ugh! Get lost!"
Luyde, the party’s archer, screamed as she loosed an arrow. The shaft struck the head of a massive, two-meter-long fish monster just as it opened its mouth to swallow a drowning man. The beast died instantly and began to sink, but it was immediately swarmed by smaller predators that tore at its flesh.
"Wait, wait, wait! Look! A group of Sea Serpents is coming!"
The leader spun around at the warning. Indeed, a cluster of Sea Serpent-type monsters was visible, carving through the waves from the open ocean.
"Guh, that many? Suore, hit them with a wide-area spell! You’ve got a lightning-system one, right?"
"No, no, no! No way!" Suore panicked. "This is the sea! If I use that, everyone in the water will be fried!"
Lightning-system magic was a natural weakness for sea creatures, but the leader had momentarily forgotten that the conductivity of the water would turn it into a death trap for the survivors. His hesitation cost him precious seconds.
"Agyaaaaaaah!"
"What now?!"
A scream cut through the air. The leader looked toward the sound and saw a middle-aged man—a sailor—being dragged under. Because the water was so clear, the leader saw exactly what had happened.
"Damn it, they used a decoy!"
The Sea Serpents approaching from the surface were a distraction. The real threat had been a separate predator swimming deeper, reaching them first. The monster, a Sea Serpent over four meters long, coiled its body around the sailor and dragged him into the abyss. It opened its maw, revealing rows of needle-like fangs, and a massive cloud of blood turned the water crimson.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it! Where is that reinforcements?!"
He looked back toward the harbor, but the rescue fleet didn't seem to have gained much ground. At this rate, by the time help arrived, they wouldn't just be out of survivors to save—they’d be dead themselves. The adventurers on the other Magic Item ships shared his growing sense of despair.
For a heartbeat, the thought of fleeing crossed his mind. But then he saw the pleading eyes of the people treading water around him, and he couldn't move.
"Leader! A big one’s right on you!"
He spun around at Luyde’s shout. The first thing he saw was a mouth large enough to swallow him whole, packed with rows of razor-sharp teeth.
Ah, this is it, he thought.
The monster was too close to evade, and he was too slow to strike back. Was his life—barely twenty years long—going to end in a place like this? Just as despair began to take hold—
"Flying Slash!"
The shout coincided with a visible ripple in the air. The massive maw about to devour the leader was forcibly knocked aside. The beast—a shark-type monster nearly five meters long—flew over the Magic Item ship without catching its prey and crashed back into the waves.
"...What happened?"
He should have been dead. Why was he still breathing? Whose voice was that? He stammered the questions, but his companions didn't answer. They weren't even fighting off the rabble of smaller monsters anymore. They were simply staring up at the sky, their mouths agape.
The leader wasn't the only one. Every adventurer on the Magic Item ships and every survivor in the water was staring upward in stunned silence.
He reflexively followed their gaze.
"Tch. That was tough. I can't believe a Flying Slash only left a graze."
A voice drifted down, accompanied by the heavy thrum of wings.
"Guruuu."
"Yeah, you're right. Well, I’ve confirmed that even sea monsters can be dealt with if they’re stupid enough to lunge at us. Now it’s just a matter of timing... Hey, you all right?"
The leader snapped back to his senses at the sound of the young man’s voice. For a moment, he wondered if he was dreaming—perhaps he was still in bed at an inn in Emocion.
High above was a creature with the upper body of an eagle and the lower body of a lion—an A-Rank Monster, a Gryphon. And on its back sat an adventurer, wielding a massive scythe longer than his own height, looking down at him.
Even to a veteran adventurer—or perhaps because he was an adventurer—the sight was beyond belief. As he stood there, speechless, he locked eyes with the youth, Rei.
"I’m here to help with the rescue, but I’m going to need you to assist me."
Those words finally brought the leader back to reality. He realized what they were there for. In the distance, the first of the larger ships from the port were finally closing in.
"I... we’re in your debt! Talk later—please, get the people in the water to the large ships!"
"I can do that, but... tch, persistent bastard!"
Rei noticed the giant shark-type monster surfacing for another pass. Keeping the Death Scythe in his left hand, he reached into his Misty Ring with his right and pulled out a spear.
"If you're a fish, act like one... and get skewered!"
He hurled the weapon. The spear whistled through the air, piercing the surface of the water and driving straight into the open maw of the shark-type monster as it prepared to breach. The spear tore through its throat and into its vitals.
Just as Rei had promised, the shark-type monster was skewered through and began to sink.
It’s sinking? Rei thought with a frown. Normally things float when they die, especially in salt water. This is going to be a hassle. Getting Magic Stones from these things is going to be a nightmare if they just drop to the bottom.
In the clear water, he could see the carcass descending. However, the surrounding monsters didn't care about the spear; they saw fresh meat. The shark-type monster was instantly swarmed by the rabble of smaller predators. In seconds, its mass began to vanish. It wouldn't even be bones by the time a few minutes passed.
"Hey! Over here!" the leader shouted. The shark’s death had drawn away enough monsters to give them a brief opening. "Please, the rescue! Use that Gryphon to fly the survivors to the incoming ships!"
Rei looked down at the people in the water. There were roughly a hundred left. The ship had carried many more, but most had gone down with the wreck, died in the initial chaos, or been eaten.
"My Gryphon can only carry women and children for now, purely for weight reasons," Rei called down. "Is that all right?"
"Ye-yeah! Just save them!"
Rei could have pushed Seto to carry grown men as well, but he didn't want to exhaust the Gryphon’s stamina so early in an operation that had no clear end. But then—
"Guruuu!"
Seto cried out and nudged the necklace around its neck.
The Dropstone of Benevolence. It was a Magic Item that provided a Constant Recovery Effect. While its healing wasn't immense, Seto was insisting that the boost was enough to let it carry adults to the nearby ships without collapsing.
Rei reached down to pat Seto’s neck, though he remained firm. They would start with the women and children first—those who had no way to defend themselves against the terrors lurking below.