All-Master Player Of The Academy [EN]: Chapter 179

◈ Chapter 179

90. Pearl of the Sea – 1

“W, what was that just now…?”

“Just dealt with a nuisance who was interrupting our conversation. Let’s continue where we left off. Ah, are those guys bothering you too, perhaps?”

Even the sea monsters were shocked by the Sea Serpent’s death.

They turned away, unable to approach Ian, wary of him.

Ian reached out towards those trying to escape.

Bubbles began to rise from the sea.

These simple-looking bubbles instantly accelerated to a terrifying speed.

-Thwack!! Thwack thwack!! Thwack!!

And they pierced through the bodies of the sea monsters trying to escape.

Monsters, pierced by thousands, tens of thousands of bubbles, floated to the surface as corpses.

“Uh… uh uh…”

Saishin looked at Ian with a pale face.

Then, hesitating, she swallowed hard.

“Ho, ho ho, perhaps… are you the legendary hero of the sea…?”

There was a legend passed down among the mermaids.

A long time ago.

When the mermaid kingdom was established in this sea, the first queen had a companion.

A great hero with incredible strength joined forces with the queen to seal the tyrant of the sea.

And the hero left the sea, saying that he would return someday when this sea was in danger.

Could what they thought was just a legend be real?

As Saishin asked with anticipation, Ian smirked.

“Nope.”

“…Ah, um, were you perhaps born by the sea?”

No.

“Then, did your parents possess the Sea’s Spear?”

That’s also not it.

“Then, um…”

Do you have webbed feet between your toes?

Or were you blessed by the sea at birth?

Or do you have scales on your side?

Saishin asked about the hero’s characteristics one by one, but Ian shook his head to all of them.

“I see… Ah, you said to continue our story. Yes. Poladiac and Clad are after the Pearl of the Sea.”

The Pearl of the Sea was obtained after capturing the mermaids’ ancient enemy, the tyrant.

And according to legend, if a special ritual is performed with that pearl, the sealed tyrant can be awakened.

“A special ritual?”

“Yes. I don’t know the exact method, but it is said that many lives must be sacrificed.”

If the tyrant is resurrected like that, it’s game over.

“The legends about the tyrant have been passed down to us as well. He treated us mermaids like slaves.”

They had to become warriors to maintain the tyrant’s dignity.

They had to sacrifice their lives for the tyrant.

They were also his food, and they were often torn apart like toys.

“Among the hero’s companions who fought the tyrant was the great mermaid, Tailunger.”

Tailunger couldn’t stand seeing her fellow mermaids being harmed by the tyrant.

That’s why she fought alongside the hero to defeat the tyrant.

“We are those who follow Tailunger’s will. We have no intention of letting the tyrant be resurrected.”

Everyone showed a firm will.

Ian, looking around at them, nodded.

“That’s not important up to that point. Anyway, the devils want that pearl…”

Ian grinned.

The devils were desperately avoiding him right now.

It was hard to catch them as a result, but he had to catch two archdevils this time.

“That pearl. I’ll handle it.”

“Um… but you can’t enter the kingdom right now.”

The queen used her life to create a barrier.

There’s no way to enter until that barrier disappears.

“That’s why we’re coming out to fight the enemies.”

As Saishin said awkwardly, Ian raised his sword.

Once again, he slashed greatly towards the seabed, opening a path to the kingdom.

As Ian jumped down towards that place, the mermaids, including Saishin, hurriedly followed him.

They went deep into the trench and arrived at a flat floor.

A small castle blocked by a blue spherical barrier could be seen a little further away.

At the top of the castle, the spire part that touched the blue sphere wall had a beautiful mermaid with blue hair.

A dagger was stuck in the center of her chest, and she was barely clinging to life, panting.

“Ah… Q, Queen…”

Saishin teared up at her miserable appearance.

It was to protect the pearl, but her heart felt like it was being torn apart as the queen she had served since she was young was in such a state.

While Saishin was tearing up, Ian approached the barrier.

“…It is a barrier that the Queen made while sacrificing her life. It will never be broken.”

After hearing her words filled with conviction, he brought his hand to the wall of the barrier.

At that moment, a strong force blocked his approach.

It looks like a thin wall on the outside, but the resistance is stronger than I thought.

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t break through it.

Once again, Ian brought his hand to the wall and closed his eyes.

At that moment, a deep blue light poured out from his hand.

-Crackle… Crackle… Clang!!

And in an instant, cracks began to form in the barrier.

“Wh, what on earth…?”

“Done.”

Ian, who smashed the completely cracked barrier, jumped in confidently.

Stepping onto the castle made of coral and rock, he jumped up and went straight to the top of the spire, examining the queen who was looking at him with a pale face.

Kirke, who checked the pearl in her hand, quickly analyzed it.

‘Why would something like this exist? It’s meaningless to use it as a simple artifact. This is just a large-capacity auxiliary battery.’

‘Then I’ll have to take it for now.’

“Who… who are… you…?”

“It doesn’t matter, just give me the pearl.”

She tried to prevent the pearl from being taken from her hand.

But Ian took the pearl without paying attention and pulled out the dagger stuck in her chest.

“Cough!!”

The bleeding intensified as the dagger stuck in her heart was pulled out.

The queen, who vomited blood, was about to say something when Ian reached out to her.

As the healing technique unfolded, the wound on the queen’s chest began to heal.

He admired the life force that far surpassed that of an ordinary human, recovering even though her heart was pierced.

Ian, who heard Kirke’s simple explanation, looked at the healed queen.

He said firmly to her, who was looking up at him with bewildered eyes.

“This pearl was taken by Ian Brandon. If the devils come, tell them…”

Was it because the barrier was broken and the bleeding stopped?

The color of the sea was gradually turning blue.

And in line with that, malice began to be felt.

“One of them came.”

“Ah…”

The queen was embarrassed.

She was prepared to die and decided to put up a barrier and endure.

But suddenly, a human breaks through the barrier, steals the pearl, and even calls the devils.

Confused, she bit her lip tightly.

“Who the hell are you!!”

“I told you earlier. It’s Ian.”

Ian, who spoke lightly, called Saishin, who was embarrassed behind him.

The queen, seeing her swimming over hesitantly, asked urgently.

“Priestess Saishin! What is going on?!”

But what would she know?

A human who suddenly appeared cut down the Sea Serpent with one sword.

And he swept away the monsters that had gathered with a technique she didn’t even know.

Not only that?

He easily broke the barrier and even saved the queen who stabbed herself in the heart.

Even Saishin, a priestess who knew a lot, had nothing to say, just like the other mermaids.

In the meantime, the mermaids guarding her shouted urgently.

“Your Majesty!! Priestess!! It’s a disaster!!”

Something was moving in the sea.

The queen bit her lip tightly as she saw it.

She was feeling it too.

That immense malice was being felt from that ship.

“The Blood Mary… [Typo in original text preserved]”

It was a pirate ship that used to roam this sea.

Led by the cruel magician Keinits, they attacked countless mermaids and merchant ships.

Afterwards, they received the curse of the sea and were doomed to wander this sea forever.

“Why are they?! Could it be that they made a contract with the devil and can move like that?!”

When Saishin shouted.

A black aura flickered from the Bloody Mary.

“Kraken!!”

The Bloody Mary and a giant squid [Kraken] were approaching together.

It seems they are trying to attack this place by driving in the Kraken, a monster comparable to the Sea Serpent.

“Everyone!! Run away!! I will somehow stop this place!! Saishin!! Run away!!”

The queen shouted desperately and then raised her hand.

When the water currents began to move around her, there were those who jumped off the Bloody Mary.

They were skeleton sailors.

“Kyahahaha!!”

“Plunder everything!! Everything!!”

“This place is ours! The Great One will be with us!!”

The pirates of the Bloody Mary are determined to attack the mermaid’s castle.

And.

A black shadow was moving behind them.

“Ah… ah ah…”

The queen burst into a sigh.

She knows what that black shadow is.

Poladiac.

A powerful archdevil aiming for the tyrant’s power.

“The great Poladiac commands. My vassals. Plunder. Take lives, take treasures, take everything.”

The black shadow grows stronger.

The black shadow that completely dominates this area is gathered together.

A mermaid resembling a giant shark was coming down from the sea.

‘Can a mermaid make a contract with the devil?’

As Ian stared indifferently, the shark mermaid said calmly.

“And thus, take everything. Mermaids, treasures. And the tyrant’s power… too…?”

He stopped, looking down with arrogant eyes.

His gaze was fixed on a boy holding a pearl and looking at himself with indifferent eyes.

It was Ian.

He rubbed his eyes in disbelief and hesitated.

“…Retreat.”

“Yes?”

The lich next to him said.

The owner of the Bloody Mary, and the lich who became a vassal by swearing allegiance to Poladiac and receiving power.

Keinits was puzzled and said.

“It’s a chance! Now is the chance…”

It was then.

Ian quickly swung his sword.

Ian’s empty sword shattered the Life Vessel [A phylactery, a container for a lich’s soul] stored in Keinits’ chest in an instant.

As Keinits was annihilated by that alone, the shark mermaid was even more embarrassed.

“Wh, why…? You…?”

“Did I come to a place I shouldn’t have?”

“…Damn it!! Attack!! Attack!!”

Too late.

Realizing that he was already within Ian’s range, he shouted for an attack instead of trying to negotiate.

He turned around to escape while his subordinates were dealing with him, but it was already too late.

-Slash!!

Because Ian’s sword had already been swung.

As the contractor’s body met its death, Poladiac screamed.

“I, I don’t want to!!”

Annihilation in the manifested state literally means annihilation.

That’s why Poladiac had no choice but to be afraid.

How many devils has Ian caught so far?

And each one of them was a big shot.

That’s why he lowered his head as if he had given up even after manifesting.

“…Kuh. Kill me.”

Ian stared at him blankly and then swung his sword.

“Did you think I wouldn’t kill you if you said that?”