Louie had only hesitated for a second before heading towards the two destroyers.

That minuscule delay was because he was unsure if their sonar systems would detect him when he swam over.

While tough, his body still couldn’t withstand the bombardment of missiles. And he was not fast enough to evade supersonic artillery either. Given that, he decided to act cautiously. He dove a few hundred meters deeper into the ocean. Given the pressure and his ease at maneuvering underwater, he felt a renewed burst of confidence at being able to escape if need be.

Fortunately, the two destroyers did not notice Louie’s approach at all. Instead, their attention was focused on the distant blurred space.

Louie relaxed and activated the Aura of Fear spell and took out two more magic scrolls.

“I only have a few magic scrolls left,” he sighed, “I can only use some low-ranked spells now. These things are really painful to use... It’s better if I learn magic myself later.”

Louie felt a bit of regret at using his own magic scrolls, but it couldn’t be helped after all.

Although he could incapacitate one of the destroyers with his dragon railgun, the other could respond quickly and bombard him in return. That would put him in danger and associate him with the octopus monster he had summoned.

“Hmmm hmmmm hmmmm, be influenced by the twisted will!”

While humming, Louie began to activate the spirit-type spells to influence the officers on the destroyer.

Modern destroyers were different from war-era destroyers. To be more accurate, they were classified as missile destroyers, and they sported tremendous combat power.

At the captain’s command, the destroyer’s hatch opened, and a missile inside was revealed.

Although modern destroyers had strong combat power, modern warfare was practically a war of money. If one simply thought about it, a single Tomahawk missile would cost up to a million dollars.

“Zoom in on the image,” the captain ordered.

On a huge screen inside the ship, an image of the blurred space was magnified several times. The spectators could make out the distorted figure of the octopoid entity within the chaos.

Despite being heavily blurred and pixelated, the ships’ crews nonetheless felt a powerful terror arise within their hearts. It was as though the mere sight of the monster could chill their bones.

“Ca-cap… I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Same.”

The captain swallowed his saliva. Despite his successful career and steadfast training, he found himself failing to keep up a stoic visage in front of his men.

The captain and his men were completely unaware that they were being affected by the Aura of Fear. They just dismissed it as unease stemming from the sheer eeriness of the monster.

“Humans are truly fragile…”

The captain sighed, “Investigate the area ahead!”

It was obvious that the space before them was abnormal. As long as the captain was still sane, he wouldn’t just let the destroyer enter it directly. Drones were the best weapon for this job.

A hatch opened at the side of the ship. A military drone was ejected in the air and hummed as its blades lighted it aloft. A drone pilot steered the device into the distorted space, and the people in the command room were staring at the screen with tense faces.

“Tshhhhhhhh.”

When the drone came into contact with the distorted space, the video feed frizzled and turned black. The drone pilot turned to the captain, “We’ve lost contact with the drone, sir.”

“Yeah, I can see that.”

The captain had his hands behind his back, not letting others see his quivering hands. He looked at the sea behind the glass in front of him and muttered, “It seems that the distorted space causes machines to lose signal. This must be why we lost the other ship’s location. It is likely in it. Moreover, that monster keeps entering my mind,” he paused for a moment, “You know what I’m thinking of? The Bermuda Triangle!”

At these words the command room was quiet.

These people all know that the Bermuda Triangle was a hoax. Nothing particularly mysterious actually occurred there, but the scene in front of them reminded them of the many stories of that place.

“When word gets out about this place, this ocean might just be named the Pacific Mystery Ocean.”

The captain laughed to himself.

At that moment, a panicked voice could be heard outside the command room, “Reporting!”

“Hmm? Come in. What’s the matter!?”

The captain frowned and shouted as he felt that something was wrong.

The door to the command room opened. Two naval soldiers carried an unconscious man in. Both of them were sweating with vague fear on their faces.

“What’s going on? Why did he pass out?”

“R-reporting! This person was standing at the deck and looking at the monster, then he suddenly shouted ‘Hail Cthulhu!’ He also has a keen interest in Lovecraftian mythology. He was so creepy we had to knock him out.”

The soldier said, nervous.

The captain did not blame them for knocking out their comrades, but his expression changed as he roared, “Ridiculous. What Cthulhu?! Are you telling me fictional monsters can come to life now?!”

Although the captain roared, the name, Cthulhu, did bring unpleasant thoughts to his mind.

“Has anyone contacted the Pentagon?”

“We have sir, but they told us to wait. This incident is too big and requires consultation with the President and Secretary of Defense.”

The correspondent shouted in an almost weeping voice.

“Mommy! I don’t want to see any Cthulhu or hear any Nyarlathotep!!”