Chapter 175

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The Diver VII

RUUUMMMBLLLLLE!

With a twitch of my fingers, the ark fleet cut through the currents and surged forward and a tingling sensation buzzed in my skull, making me feel like both a pianist and a conductor. The aura I had spent thousands of years cultivating was now powering these arks.

‘Even Old Man Scho’s ridicule about my martial arts being third-rate and aura being first-rate is something I can laugh off now.’

Despite Scho’s mastery of swordsmanship, all he could do was wield a sword and grab objects from the air. In contrast, I was maneuvering twelve ships. With one more, I could debut as the Joseon Navy’s Admiral of the Three Provinces.[1]

Yu Ji-won approached stealthily, sensing my good mood. “Your piloting skills are remarkable, sir.”

I snapped back to reality at her presence, which brought with it the faint scent of strawberries, the same perfume I once complimented her on. Her meticulous flattery towards authority chilled my guts. Truly, she was the greatest psychopath of the Three Han.

“...Thank you, Ji-won. But please, keep your distance. I won’t hold a grudge for cutting off my fingers, so there’s no need to flatter me so desperately.”

“Flattery? Absolutely not. I always present my true self to you, Your Excellency, even if it means exposing my very heart.”

“If you keep spouting nonsense, I’ll break your fingers. Now, let’s focus on the mini-map.”

“Yes, sir.”

With a balance of omnipotence and reality, the navigation proceeded smoothly. Of course, finding the ‘core’ of the super monsoon was easier said than done. At an altitude of about 10,000 meters, the storm was no joke. Any submarine crew would know that 99% of underwater chases are battles with oneself—boredom was the enemy of patience, after all. Yet despite scanning every corner of the typhoon with Mini-Map, the enemy remained elusive.

-Kieeeek!

-Kyaaaaah...

Three hours into the search, the ancient marine creatures like Megalodon faced extinction for the second time. The web of twelve arks sliced through sharks and whales, turning them into cubed steak.

“Quite the romantic aquarium date, huh...” Noah grimaced, watching shark meat float by the window.

The rough currents prevented the crew from unbuckling their belts, and sitting for hours on end had naturally made them restless.

“Does the typhoon’s core even exist?” she wondered. “If it were a tangible entity like the Ten Legs, it would make sense. But isn’t the super monsoon more like a weather phenomenon?”

“It exists.”

It wasn’t me who answered.

Thump, thump.

The ark shook as if hit by turbulence. All eyes turned towards Go Yuri, who smiled serenely.

“And it’s getting closer.”

The control room fell silent, the only sound being the waves crashing against the bulkheads. No one here was familiar with Go Yuri, but they all remembered my warnings about her. Avoid her at all costs. If you must encounter her, never engage in conversation. Treat her as if she doesn’t exist. This was my protocol for dealing with Go Yuri. The command center staff’s collective silence was a testament to their adherence to this rule.

Go Yuri smiled awkwardly at the blatant ostracism. “Haha... You all are so interesting.”

Ignoring Go Yuri’s reaction, I spoke. “Anyone needing the restroom, please go now.” With Noah in the command center, I used polite language as we usually did. “We’ve scanned the upper and middle sections of the typhoon. The core seems to be located in the lower section, at about 2,000 meters above sea level. We should find it soon.”

“Alright then, hyung. I’ll be right b— Whooooa?”

Seo Gyu had just unbuckled his belt when the ark abruptly veered—something massive had tangled in the web of puppet strings stretched outside. As the only one to have stood, he was flung around like a ping pong ball. He careened past me, Yu Ji-won, Lee Ha-yul, Noah, Dang Seo-rin, Sim Ah-ryeon, and Go Yuri, before crashing into the bulkhead.

Ignoring him, we focused on the mission.

“Found it! Ha-yul, send the Morse code!”

“Roger.”

“It’s gigantic! Seo-rin, reinforce the puppet strings with magic!”

“Got it.”

“Everyone, brace yourselves for impact! It’s moving!”

RUUUMMMBLLLLLE!

The massive entity tangled in the puppet strings thrashed. I could feel its immense power through my fingers, like a fisherman reeling in a giant catch. The ark shuddered, and the crew gasped in shock.

-Aaaargh!

-What’s happening?

-It’s coming! It’s starting!

Beep-beep-beep-beep.

Ha-yul’s emergency sirens blared throughout the ark. People screamed, hands flying to their belts to check them.

“Begin charging!”

A rainbow of color danced along the puppet strings, powered by the aura of the Awakeners onboard. Not just on Ark No. 1, but across all twelve arks, thousands of awakened ones poured their aura into the strings, illuminating the web like a galaxy.

RUUUMMMBLLLLLE!

The entity’s movements slowed. Despite its struggles, the strings, fortified with Dang Seo-rin’s magic and thousands of auras, held firm. The more it fought, the more the strings tightened around it.

ROARRRRRRRR!

From a distance, we heard the monster’s thunderous cry. The puppet strings dug into its flesh, signaling its immense size.

‘This thing is unbelievably huge!’

The ark lurched closer to the entity, pulled by its thrashing. The overwhelming acceleration pressed us into our seats.

I instinctively looked out the reinforced window and locked eyes with the entity.

It was an eye. An eye so large it was hard to believe it belonged to a living creature. Even the ark was a mere speck compared to its iris. The super monsoon, this void and anomaly, had an ‘eye’ that stared directly at us—at me.

RUUUMMMBLLLLLE!

Though brief, the eye contact was intense. The entity thrashed again, its massive body moving with surprising speed. Outside the window, its body replaced the eye. This colossal entity was more ecosystem than creature, more landscape than being.

Someone muttered, “A dragon...”

It was an apt description, and so everyone began to view the entity as a dragon. Its gigantic eye, its enormous body, and its tail that stretched beyond our sight. Even I, a regressor, had never seen the true form of the super monsoon. Now, witnessing it for the first time, I realized it embodied the most mythical creature of the East.

“Leviathan!”

It was the name of a sea dragon mentioned in the documents of truth, Sifrei Emet, a monster only the omnipotent God could defeat. In other words, an entity that mere mortals couldn’t hope to kill.[2]

“The super monsoon isn’t just a weather phenomenon!” I shouted to be heard over the shaking ark. “The massive typhoon we saw was actually the body of Leviathan!”

“......!”

“The typhoon itself is Leviathan. The water droplets that looked like bugs are parasites living inside Leviathan! That’s why people infected with these parasites melted away. Naturally, any foreign substance inside its body would be digested!”

Thinking back, the clues were there. When the super monsoon approached Busan from the North Pacific, the Saintess had described it in vivid detail.

[The typhoon has made landfall in Busan. Now, oh, the storm waters are rapidly converging on the population center.]

[No way, the typhoon… It’s transforming from a giant spiral into a long, thin tube like a straw, oh. The water■, a tsunami on the horizon, it’s all all converging on ■. Everyone, evac■―]

The typhoon, once a giant spiral, had transformed into a long straw that targeted Busan. That shape was the very form of a dragon.

In the East, water was often symbolized as a dragon. Controlling a fierce dragon was considered an imperial achievement. And in Norse mythology, the mere presence of Jörmungandr poisoned the world’s atmosphere and waters, leading to floods. Thus, this entity was both Leviathan and a dragon, embodying the boundless terror of the sea and water.

ROAAARRRRR!

Unable to shake off the puppet strings, Leviathan changed its strategy. The storm engulfing Busan began to contract rapidly.

[Mr. ■taker, Mr. Undertaker!]

Simultaneously, our communication with the Saintess resumed as Telepathy, previously refracted by the void’s thick veil, was restored.

[Are you alright, ■dertaker?]

“Yes. Still holding on!”

[The super monso■n is changing shape! A giant drag■ is wrapping around the arks, ■ into the sky!]

The glass that had been submerged for nearly ten days suddenly cleared of water. We were no longer underwater.

We were in the sky.

Leviathan, with the arks in tow, soared to an altitude of 5,000 meters.

Footnotes:

[1] The Korean naval admiral Yu Sun-sin once famously led a single fleet of 13 ships to victory against 333 Japanese ships.

[2] A Creator deity fighting a dragon of the sea, a manifestation of primordial chaos, is a myth meant to represent the battle said God must overcome to create and control the universe.

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