Chapter 18: Mass Of Sea Terrors
At some point, the small village had been completely flooded with grotesque monsters.
They packed the roads so tightly that every path leading out was sealed off. Some had even crawled up onto the rooftops, their bodies writhing as they moved. The constant rustle, squirm, crawl of flesh against wood and stone echoed through the village, a chilling testament to their sheer numbers.
Steven didn't actually find these things unfamiliar.
Though their appearances differed somewhat from the monsters he'd seen before, there was one undeniable commonality that made him lump them all into the same category.
They were ugly. Painfully ugly.
The previous ones at least looked like some kind of fish–octopus hybrid. But these ones… what even were they? Mystery Eggs?
The only real issue was their numbers—way too many. So many that even the Minecrafter couldn't help but click his tongue.
Staring at the dark mass of monsters, like an ocean made of living abominations, Steven admitted that he'd only ever seen scenes like this back when he enabled both the Zombie Awareness mod and Mob Siege at the same time.
Well, excluding the final days of One Hundred Days Later. Compared to that, this was honestly kind of small-scale.
"How exactly are they managing to move on land with fins that are obviously meant for swimming?" Steven couldn't help but complain. "I get the logic, but watching ocean-dwelling monsters forcibly come ashore and hop around like this… it's really hard not to lose my composure."
Creatures with octopus-like tentacles slithering along the ground was one thing. But those whose lower bodies were straight-up fish, flopping around like lunatics…
Didn't that feel uncomfortable? At all?
"Do you really think now is the time to be worrying about that?" Irene shot back.
She stared grimly at the monsters that had completely sealed off every route of escape. Even as an inquisitor, this was the first time she had ever witnessed something so bizarre.
Normally, Sea Terrors concealed themselves carefully. For them to appear in such overwhelming numbers was deeply abnormal.
More importantly, judging by their movements, these Sea Terrors weren't just rampaging randomly.
They were clearly gathering because of them.
Otherwise, it wouldn't make sense for them to complete an encirclement almost immediately after her superior had warned her.
She had already thoroughly inspected the village earlier. While there were indeed signs of connections to the Church of the Deep, it shouldn't have been enough to provoke something on this scale.
If the Church of the Deep truly possessed this level of power, then Iberia would have long since been under their control, not the Inquisition's.
Following that line of reasoning, the true target of these purposefully assembled Sea Terrors became obvious.
Either the village chief at their feet—who had already lost all combat capability—or the boy beside her, who was still talking nonstop without the slightest hint of fear… along with the white-haired girl at his side.
As for herself and her superior, while their status wasn't low by any means, it certainly wasn't enough to warrant this kind of treatment.
"So what, then?" Steven shrugged. "Should I be going uwu uwu and hiding behind you, Officer, begging for protection?"
The sheer number of monsters was terrifying. At least without enabling extra mods, Steven had zero interest in taking them head-on.
Even a thousand pigs standing still and letting you chop at them would wear people out, let alone these ugly things.
The High Inquisitor raised the lantern in his hand. The light spilling from it caused the Sea Terrors at the very front to hesitate, their advance briefly stalled.
However, even as the vanguard slowed to a stop, the monsters behind them continued to press forward, shoving the ones in front along.
Breaking through the line was only a matter of time.
"We need to find a way to break out," Dario said, making the most rational judgment under the circumstances.
He turned to Irene and calmly laid out his plan.
"You take Mr. Steven and his companion and break through from the rear. I'll cover you."
Individually, these Sea Terrors weren't particularly strong. Their only real threat lay in their sheer numbers. For either him or Irene, completely wiping them out would be difficult, but forcing a breakthrough? That wasn't especially hard.
What Dario hadn't expected, however, was that the petite Liberi girl didn't immediately carry out his order as she usually would.
"Sir… what about the villagers?" Irene asked.
She looked at the horrifying sight of Sea Terrors cramming every street. For now, they didn't seem interested in attacking the villagers hiding behind tightly shut doors, but Irene couldn't guarantee that would remain the case.
Once these creatures lost their target, who could say they wouldn't turn on innocent civilians?
This village might be rife with people suspected of colluding with the Church of the Deep, but as long as even a single person here was still an Iberian citizen, Irene believed it was her duty as an inquisitor to protect them.
"You know full well that most of them are likely guilty," Dario said after a moment of thought, not insisting on his original decision but instead stating a cold fact.
"Until the Inquisition passes judgment, no one can say there are no innocents among them," Irene replied firmly. "An inquisitor's judgment should be accountable to everyone on Iberian soil. That's what you taught me, isn't it, sir?"
She raised the lantern at her waist as well. Her small, delicate face was set with unwavering resolve.
"..."
After a brief silence, a hint of relief flickered in the eyes hidden behind Dario's mask.
"Standing by your principles, very good," he said. "Which is exactly why you should take them and leave."
"Exactly," Steven chimed in at just the right moment, stroking his chin as he studied the structure of Dario's lantern. "Surely you've noticed by now that these monsters are clearly coming for me and my companion, right? Once we leave, the main force will be drawn away with us."
Steven was fairly certain the High Inquisitor had already realized this. What he'd said earlier was probably just a test for the girl.
In other words, educating the junior.
Judging by the result, the lesson had worked pretty well.
As for the targets of these so-called Sea Terrors, that was even more obvious. Other things could lie, but the naked desire burning in those ugly eyes whenever they looked at Gladiia?
That couldn't deceive anyone.
From the moment these monsters appeared, Steven had already guessed their true target—
The amnesiac white-haired girl beside him.
Honestly, she really was the genuine article when it came to being a hot commodity. Steven hadn't known her for long, yet they'd already run into three separate groups who had their eyes on her.
"Come on," he urged helplessly, prodding the stubborn little bird. "For the sake of every Iberian citizen you want to protect—and for the safety of this High Inquisitor here—wouldn't it be better to draw these things somewhere more open and less populated?"
He really wanted to see if they could lure out whatever elites—or even a boss—was hiding behind these monsters.
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Note: Character Illustration is in this Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iuyfwNVFHzIi9H4rWNT_lAm7jTSiah_M