Seeker 279

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Chapter 279. After The Battle

The [Three Strikes] I unleashed pierced through the dying Kraken's body without hesitation. 

The calamitous magic beast vanished into a black mist, leaving behind a large magic stone.

"We... we won."

Although a notification sound for mission accomplishment echoed in my mind, I couldn't care less. 

I picked up the Kraken's magic stone and scanned the surroundings.

Around 10 Merfolk warriors lay motionless, and one more...

"Kazane!"

I quickly swam towards my partner who was lying nearby, unmoving and exhausted. 

Placing my hand on her chest, she seemed to be breathing.

"Senpai! Kazane-san, is she okay!?"

Yuzuki also hurriedly swam over, colliding with me in the process. 

I held her to prevent her from drifting away.

"Yeah, she's breathing. She's okay."

"Phew..."

Looking around, it seemed only Yuzuki, Griffin, and I could move. Checking our stats, my HP was 64, and Griffin's was 72. A chill ran down my spine.

I could survive, but if Griffin's HP reached zero, it would disappear. 

While the outcome was acceptable, I couldn't shake the feeling that one misstep could have disastrous consequences.

Regardless, I gathered all the unconscious individuals in one place and repeatedly cast [Area Earth Heal] until their wounds were fully healed. Confirming their full HP recovery, relief washed over me.

Now, all we had to do was wait for them to regain consciousness. 

I briefly considered towing the unconscious individuals to the underwater city, but the number was a bit too large. 

We decided to wait right there until they recovered.

During this time, I asked Yuzuki to appraise the divine spear in my possession using [Item Appraisal]. 

After finishing the appraisal, Yuzuki, with a half-smile, spoke.

"Wha... what's this? It's powerful. The performance is ridiculously good."

"Oh? Specifically?"

"The item is called 'Spear of Sea God Walnis,' with an attack power of +65. Special effects include +5 Strength, +5 Agility, +5 Magic Power, +15 Defense, +5 Magic Defense, and +10 Water Magic Power."

"Wow... It's indeed impressive."

By the way, the spear I originally equipped, Arshepiece, had an attack power of +28. 

Even so, it was the highest-tier item, worth 170 gold coins or 1.7 million yen when sold at the store.

Dangerous, I really want this Spear of Sea God Walnis. Can I somehow make it mine quietly? 

No, it's impossible. It's an item that the hero of the Merfolk once wielded and has been handed down through generations in the tribe.

Well, strategically, I could potentially defeat the Merfolk warriors and take it.

No, no, no. What am I thinking? Evil thoughts, evil thoughts. Retreat from my thoughts.

By the way, regarding the recent mission accomplishment notification, it was as follows:

───────────────────────

Completed Special Mission Subjugation of Kraken (Incomplete Form)!

Party gains 150,000 experience points each!

Completed Mission Subjugate one Kraken!

Party gains 200,000 experience points each!

New Mission Subjugate Yamata-no-Orochi (25,000 experience points) has appeared!

New Mission Subjugate Fenrir (30,000 experience points) has appeared!

New Mission Subjugate Behemoth (35,000 experience points) has appeared!

Musou Daichi reaches Level 49!

Kodachi Kazane reaches Level 48!

Yuzuki Hotaru reaches Level 48!

Current Experience Points:

Musou Daichi... 146,254/157,3489 (Next level: 107,235)

Kodachi Kazane... 133,4146/141,7965 (Next level: 83,819)

Yuzuki Hotaru... 141,0071/141,7965 (Next level: 7,894)

───────────────────────

Even though it wasn't a complete revival, it seemed to have triggered the regular Kraken subjugation judgment. 

With the 150,000 points from the special mission, everyone gained an inexplicable and enormous 350,000 experience points, resulting in everyone leveling up by 2 to 4 levels at once.

Delicious. 

Well, it felt like we faced a mountain that was equally or even more dangerous, so saying "delicious" might be a bit off. 

Also, my experience points somehow surpassed Yuzuki's without me noticing.

It might be the experience points for defeating the Kraken, but quite a lot came in.

Putting that aside, let's wait for a while longer.

The first to regain consciousness was Rebecca-san, who had been the cause of this incident—well, that might be an exaggeration. 

She was still as carefree as ever.

Maybe it would have been better not to come to her rescue.

Feeling somewhat irritated, I placed both fists on the sides of Rebecca-san's head and rubbed vigorously—a technique known as "umeboshi".

"Ouch ouch ouch ouch! Hey, kid, what are you doing? It hurts!"

"Well, I got a bit annoyed."

"It's okay, Senpai. Do it more. Rebecca-san needs to experience some pain."

"Ugh... I don't know why. But isn't my treatment a bit harsh? I went through quite a bit, you know? Got stabbed in the stomach with a spear, prodded around, almost had Sahagin eggs laid in me."

"We didn't see that, though."

"That's just cruel!"

Laughter erupted from everyone. In a different way from Yuzuki, Rebecca-san was a mood-maker.

After a while, the merfolk warriors began to regain consciousness one after another, including Kazane.

"Wha... where am I? Daichi-kun, why am I...?"

"Kazane!"

I hugged the awakened Kazane tightly and held her close.

Kazane, in turn, gently embraced me.

"Oh... right, I was taken down by the Kraken..."

"Thank goodness, Kazane! Sorry for always putting you in dangerous situations."

"What are you talking about? I said I'd go anywhere with you, right? It's okay; I'll love you forever, Daichi-kun."

Kazane stroked my head like comforting a child. This treatment, unique to Fuon, felt comforting.

Then, Yuzuki joined in, hugging both of us.

"Is it okay to end your lovey-dovey time now? I want to join in. It's so enviable."

"That's right. Hotaru, too."

"Oh, sure, let's include Yuzuki."

Kazane embraced Yuzuki, and I held both of them together.

The dumpling formation was complete.

"Kua, Kua!"

"Griff-chan says not to leave her out."

"Hahaha. Okay, Griff-chan, too."

As a result, we all hugged Griffin together.

What is this?

As usual, I decided not to care about what the Merfolk warriors might think.

Thus, after everyone regained consciousness, we returned to the underwater city.

This time, it was truly a triumphant return.