-Vol 5: A New Life-

-A desperate struggle in the swirling waters(1)-

Slithering in silence, the massive dragon slowly entered into waters, hiding its body completely from everyone's view. After that the whole sea became still and silent, its as if there was no sea dragon just a few seconds ago wreaking havoc on everyone. Everyone waited with bated breath for something to happen, but even after ten minutes, nothing out of the ordinary occurred.

“Looks like it ran away!” the hunter holding the medallion sighed while wiping sweat from his forehead. This monster scared the shit out of him, especially the lightning attack. Thankfully his barrier sustained till the end or else he would have suffered the same fate as Joy. Speaking of Joy, he stealthily looked at Kenshin who was standing with a serious face and looking at the sea floor while thinking about something.

Hunters possessing [Health Potions] was nothing strange. Most of the senior level hunters always had a bottle or two with them in case of emergencies. But, never had he seen any hunter sharing it with anyone, that too to a person whom they had just seen. Each potion bottle would cost no less than 1000 to 2000 G. For an average hunter, it's only after suffering for a few days that they could get that much money. How could they share it with others, especially people with no relation to them?

‘Is he too rich? Nah! I don’t think so, maybe he is just too kind. Hah! What a naïve person.’ Getting to this conclusion, the man snorted and no longer paid him any attention. Though he had put this attitude of Kenshin in the back of his mind. In case of emergencies, he could play the role of a desperate man to get some benefit out of this person.

It's not only him, other hunters who were gathered here also had their thought along the same line. They all thought that Kenshin was just plain idiot and a needlessly kind hearted man whom they could easily use in case of emergencies. Even Sakurai felt like this.

But to Joy, none of this matters. He didn’t care if this Kenshin was a kind man or a reincarnation of the devil, to him he was his lifesaver. No matter what happens, he would always support him and believe in him.

Unaware of these thoughts, Kenshin continued observing the snake with his map. By now, it had gone into the deepest part of the ocean, exactly below where their yacht was floating. Narrowing his eyes, he continued to observe the map, carefully making a note of the snake’s tracks. Facing Joy, he asked, “How many people are there inside the yacht who were heavily injured?”

“Three, including the Yacht driver, a total of four people.” Joy replied immediately. Listening to him, Kenshin began to ponder. By now, he had already sure that this snake would definitely try something dangerous.

‘These hunters are just too lax, having no awareness of dangers ahead of them. DCB should have sent someone who has experience with sea monsters in this case. These people are neither taking this seriously nor ready to listen to me. It will be a miracle if they all finish this mission unscathed.’ Kenshin thought while shaking his head. Turning to Joy, he whispered into his ear, “Get inside the yacht and tell everyone to brace themselves. Those who can’t move help them. Things would become nasty in a few minutes. Quick!!!”

“That monster, it’s still there?” Joy asked with widened eyes as his body shook once like he had been electrocuted. The sequela of that attack seems to act with just a mere mention of the monster.

“Yeah! It's preparing to attack us again. The last attack I made has injured it a little too much. It might go berserk now. Be prepared.” Kenshin nodded and expressed his thoughts without hesitation.

“Okay! Take care Kenshin.” Saying so, Joy hurried into the yacht’s inner chambers under the suspicious glance of everyone. Even Sakurai looked at him and then Kenshin in thought, wondering what they just talked about. He also didn’t miss the frown on Kenshin’s face and the flurried look of Joy. All this made him worried, making him think of Kenshin’s warning a few minutes ago.

‘Is what he said, really?’ Sakurai wondered. Previously nobody listened to him, a few even questioned his intelligence. He was also among them. For him to ask about this matter again, Sakurai felt his pride won’t allow him. Even though he wanted to know, he just kept quiet, waiting for Kenshin to speak of his own accord.

“Sigh! That thing’s finally gone! I was so scared back then!” a hunter muttered, attracting everyone else. It’s Ozuru. He sat down where he stood, keeping his slingshot beside him as he patted his chest as if to relieve the fear he just felt.

“That’s one scary one, alright. I wonder what its level was? It must be beyond 200!” the one with medallion muttered as he also sat down, feeling mentally tired all of a sudden.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Do you think we all have survived if that’s really a level 200 monster? I reckon it’s a level 150 monster…or probably a monster variant. That why it's this strong.” Nobu said calmly, but unlike others he didn’t sit down, feeling its beyond his status. Not only he was a magic skill user, but he was also an honorary member of the Xenia Party. A government-approved party founded by one of the level 200 powerhouse of Japan. He saw this mission pasted into the walls of the mission hall of his guild, and since the pay was excellent, he decided to join. This was true for a few others too, like the man holding a medallion.

He was a member of Thunder Iron guild, founded by another level 200 powerhouse. Nobu recognized him, the first time he saw his face. Even Sakurai was a member of a guild called Light of God, a cult-like a guild. Of course, all of them were government approved.

If a guild were founded without the consent of the government, they would be declared as illegal. In the first place, the current power struggle between the government and strong guilds happened due to this exact reason.

“What’s the time?” Sakurai asked someone.

“3 AM,” someone answered.

“Only four hours to go, I see,” Sakurai muttered as he threw a glance at the moon hung on the sky. This moon, it didn’t use to be this big before the catastrophe. During the apocalypse, somehow, it came closer to earth, and now it looks this big. As he was enjoying the moon, his hairs russeled in the air. At first, it was just a simple breeze, as the evening of autumn. But soon the wind caught speed, as it blew even faster. Then the wind was fast enough to cause sound.

“Huh!” Sakura muttered as he looked around. Everyone else also stood up, looking as puzzled as him. The air flow increased again, this time, even the yacht started to rock slightly.

“What the? Storm? is this storm’s prelude?”

“look, the sky is filled with the cloud again. Do you think it’s the work of that dragon?”

“Fuck! Didn’t it ran away just now?” all the hunters started to behave like headless chickens, drawing many conclusions. But ultimately they zoomed into one, that is, the monster was going to attack again. Before it struck with its lightning attacks, the sky was also covered in the cloud like this.

The wind picked up again, taking the form of a weak tornado. This time, the yacht rocked even more than before.

“Look! The water! The water!” at the shout of Nobu, everyone looked down at sea and felt their scalps going numb.

In front of them, the initial calm water started to whirl slowly. Then as the wind picked up, the whirl turned larger and larger until it covered 200 meters of water. The swirl which was rotating lazily also picked up speed.

“Its! I-tt-s! It’s a whirlpool!!! Moreover, a bigger one!! What the hell?” at the shout of Ozuru, all hell broke loose. The gathered hunters just looked like their souls had fled from their body. Before they could do anything, they were already caught by the edges of dangerously swirling water.

Boom! Crack!!

With a loud boom, a pillar of lightning, as thick as an adult’s thighs fell into the center of the whirlpool that appeared out of nowhere.