Date: March 20, 2021 - 5:17 pm

Location: Atlantic Ocean

Merrick possesses the largest navy in the entire world, with a fleet of nearly 300 ships, which includes 70 destroyers, 22 cruisers, and 50 attack submarines. They also have sophisticated detection and communication systems that would allow them to organize a fleet of at least 10 ships ready to defend at any point within 20 km of their coastline in less than two hours. Normally. However, the surveillance network was unable to detect a yellow portal that appeared just 100 km away from their eastern coastline and 100 metres below the ocean’s surface. While the strongest Dungeoneers are busy dealing with the sudden manifestation of B-rank Dungeons that started eight days ago, this one Dungeon that remained under the radar had passed its Outbreak time.

The first sign of trouble was detected by the crew of the Merrick destroyer Vernon. A large number of quickly moving objects were suddenly detected, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. The crew investigated and soon found themselves under attack. Vernon was a relatively advanced destroyer and was well-equipped to deal with a traditional naval battle. However, what it had to fight against were hundreds of monsters that resembled giant, red-eyed piranhas, at least nine feet long from head to tail. They were much too fast to hit with the ship’s cannon’s and the machine guns on the ship were too weak to kill any of them. The piranha-like monsters easily reached the ship and started chomping away at its reinforced hull. Fortunately, despite the hundreds of attackers, the hull was holding up fine.

Vernon’s crew had already communicated the situation and one destroyer and a cruiser were set to arrive within the hour. More destroyers and cruisers would arrive within two hours. For now, Vernon’s task was to buy time. However, soon after the piranhas, more monsters appeared. The crew communicated the update on the new incoming targets. Giant squid now appeared. Their sizes were in line with real life giant squid, but they had a couple distinguishing features. First, they had glowing red eyes, and second, their head and tentacles were covered in yellow scales.

The giant squid were slower than the piranhas, and a few cannon shots did manage to land, which successfully killed them. However, that was but a drop in the bucket compared to the hundreds that remained. Also, unlike the piranhas, the giant squid could board the ship. Just like with the piranhas, the machine guns prove to be ineffective, leaving the crew helpless to try and fight off these monsters. They quickly swarmed the deck and tore through the hatches, but due to their large size, were unable to enter the inside of the ship. Vernon’s crew was able to send in the final update about giant squid monsters before their communications went down due to monsters wrecking havoc up top. The crew then could only wait for help to arrive, however, Vernon finally sank with its entire crew on board less than ten minutes later.

By the time the other destroyer and cruiser arrived to provide aid, there was no trace of Vernon or the monsters in sight. They communicated the situation. About half an hour later, a different destroyer, only 30 km off the coast of Merrick sent out a distress call. The contents of the message caused an emergency broadcast to be sent to evacuate several of Merrick’s eastern ports. It would likely be too late to stop the monsters from reaching the coast now, and it seemed there was nothing else left to do than to hope not too much damage occurs before the air force or the military can arrive.

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Emergency evacuation orders were sent to all coastal towns and cities within 150 km of the monsters’ last location. Every television channel was also replaced with an emergency broadcast that ran continuously as the military assembled a sizable force. Emergency defense requests were also sent to all of Merrick’s C-rank Dungeoneers as well directly to the Earth Alliance. Perhaps not wanting to overly rely on patriotism, a very large sum of money was offered to all C-rank Dungeoneers that came to defend against the Outbreak. However, of the few C-rank Dungeoneers that remained who had not already entered the B-rank Dungeons with the B-rank Dungeoneers, only one of them was close enough and willing to answer the call. It was a man named Virgil Quinn.

The monsters reached one of Merrick’s major ports less than an hour later and immediately caused tremendous damage, destroying cranes, cargo, and any remaining ships that could not be evacuated. Then, the giant squid monsters went onto land and started making their way closer to the city centre. Thanks to their slow land speed, the air force arrived before the giant squids covered much ground. A dozen fighter jets bombed the giant squids, decimating over sixty of them, but hundreds more remained. Nothing short of more explosives would prove to be effective so these jets had no more of a role to play. Soon after, the navy arrived with a dozen destroyers and several cruisers. They surrounded the port and bombarded the giant piranhas. With the massive increase in cannons firing, it was much more difficult for the piranhas to dodge, and it was almost like shooting fish in a barrel. For a couple minutes that is.

Then, the true causes of the sunken ships revealed themselves. One of the destroyers suddenly violently rocked as a giant shark suddenly broke through the water’s surface and chomped onto the side of the ship. It was reminiscent in appearance to the prehistoric megalodon, but even greater in size. A second one appeared soon after, going after a cruiser. The navy was confused. There was no report about these monsters from the previous ships and their radars didn’t detect such massive creatures earlier.

During the confusion, the remaining piranhas had also crossed the distance to the ships and it was now too difficult to continue firing their cannons at them without risking friendly fire. The giant shark monsters bit through the ships’ hulls and they soon started taking on water. The sinking destroyer’s captain sent word to the remaining ships to open fire against the shark without regard for the ship. The cruiser’s captain soon said the same. After a moment of hesitation, they followed the captains’ resolution and fired their cannons at the megalodons.

The shots pierced their skins and caused them to bleed. Then, the megalodons let go and went back underwater. The crews of the two ships were safe for now, having evaded taking collateral damage. But the destroyer, at least, was still destined to sink, albeit much more slowly. And another would soon join it as one of the megalodons quickly resurfaced and attacked another ship, its wounds apparently only being superficial. The other ships quickly reoriented themselves to take clean shots at this megalodon, ignoring the piranhas for the moment. As the first of the ships were getting ready to shoot, the second megalodon reappeared and also attacked another ship, biting into its top deck and hull.

Back on land, the only defending C-rank Dungeoneer finally arrived. He met with the police who set up a perimeter about 15 km away from the port. They appraised him of the current situation and that he could wait until the military arrives or until any monsters are about to breach the perimeter. Virgil saw no need to unduly put himself in harm’s way but as he was about to decide to stay, he got the sensation that he had to go. Reluctantly, he got back in his car and drove to the port.

He arrived at the port ten minutes later, and by this time, it looked as if every giant squid had gotten out of the water and the entire area was laid to waste. In the distance, he could see a couple ships sinking in the distance while another pair of ships were being attacked by cannonfire. He wanted to just ignore whatever was going on in the sea, but his sensation kicked in again. He sighed and took his C-rank Bow out of his Inventory. He took up a position as if he were knocking an invisible arrow. Then, using his mana, he materialized an arrow using his Archery Arts Skill. Then, using another aspect of his Archery Arts Skill, he applied Armour Pierce to the arrow. The nearest giant squid slowly made its way over to him, dragging itself along the ground with its hooked tentacles. Virgil took aim at one of the megalodons in the distance. He held his breath, making sure his aim would be as steady as possible. When he was finally ready to fire, the giant squid lunged at him.

Virgil’s enchanted arrow pierced through the giant squid’s head and continued flying 3 km towards one of the megalodons. The arrow hit the giant shark and plunged itself deep into the monster’s body, causing it to let go of the ship. The shark received a few more cannon shots before going back underwater.

“Tch!” Virgil was aiming for the shark’s heart, but his aim and power were both off. More of the giant squids took notice of him and started crawling over. Virgil was ready to turn tail and run, but his sensation kicked in again. He let out an angry sigh and knocked another arrow, which he created using mana again. Again, he applied Armour Pierce on the arrow and then he shot at the other megalodon, this time much faster than the first time. This time as well, the arrow pierced deep into the giant shark’s body, causing it to let go of the ship and go back underwater. Virgil was just about fed up by now. He turned to go back into his car and leave when more fighter jets suddenly appeared, these ones coming in from a different Merrick air base. They bombarded the giant squids, and for a moment, most of them were distracted.

The nearby monsters still attacked Virgil. However, he was able to easily dodge their tentacles, and using his bow, was surprisingly able to slice through them. There were a lot of them, though, and some even attacked his car instead, removing his main escape method. Virgil groaned as he was forced to engage in melee combat with the monsters. He defeated them with an overwhelming difference in power, but he could not shake off the feeling that something bad was going to happen.

B-rank Dungeon Mid-boss defeated.

Strength increased by 20 (Bonus Stats gained due to Strength Growth Specialization)

Defense increased by 20 (Bonus Stats gained due to Rank difference)

Dexterity increased by 20 (Bonus Stats gained due to Rank difference)

Virgil received the sudden update as he continued to fight the giant squid monsters alone. Out of his sight, several attack submarines finally arrived on the scene and took down one of the megalodons using torpedoes. Shortly afterwards, more ships arrived as reinforcements. Virgil continued to defend himself, but his sense of foreboding didn’t go away.

Several more minutes went by as the navy continued the sea battle and Virgil continued his land battle. The final megalodon sank two more ships before finally being brought down. This time, Virgil also received a rank up in one of his Skills, his Archery Arts A ranking up to Archery Mastery D. The navy reported the sinking of the second megalodon as Virgil just kept thinking that he wished he wasn’t there anymore.

The B-rank Dungeons that appeared on the first day of manifestations had already been cleared. All the B-rank Dungeoneers however had little time to rest as they had to move on to the next wave of B-rank Dungeons that appeared three days later. And then more appeared again three days after that. Resources and manpower were stretched to the limits dealing with these incredibly dangerous portals, and there was no choice but to prepare military forces for impending Outbreaks. From the Dungeons cleared so far, a lot of information was gathered. The most basic fundamentals of these B-rank Dungeons was that, so far, there has been no two identical Dungeons. Second, it seems that B-rank Dungeons had two Mid-Bosses instead of one. Third, there were also two Empowering Stones. Fourth, the safe zone around the entrance was gone.

Virgil knew all this about, and it was also the reason why he purposefully chose not to participate in any B-rank Dungeon raids. He only came here because of the huge amount of money offered and the fact that he thought he could just let Merrick’s military do all the heavy lifting for him. If it wasn’t for his Skill warning him that things could end up getting much worse if he stayed on the sidelines, he wouldn’t even be at the port right now.

Suddenly, the giant squids stopped advancing towards Virgil. They started making a hasty retreat back into the water and although he couldn’t see it, the giant piranhas also stopped biting at the ships. For a moment there was a calm. During this calm, a few people had a good guess about what was going to happen.

Earlier, when the first two ships went to Vernon’s last known location, the two ships separated in order to look for survivors from the crew. The seas suddenly became incredibly violent. Then, without the other ship even seeing what happened, one ship suddenly disappeared. By the time the other ship’s crew noticed and was about to report the disappearance, that ship too was dragged down beneath the waves.

The calm coastal waters started to churn as the seas turned violent. Then, a fog rolled in. The ships sent word back to base about these updates, but their communications were never received. Virgil looked towards the frothing and misty waters. The fog was not particularly high or thick, but he could detect it was made using mana. Then, all of a sudden, his Skill that was forcing him to stay was suddenly screaming at him to get far away. A pair of massive tentacles broke through the water's surface and slammed down across the top of a destroyer. The top deck was instantly smashed apart and the ship was quickly dragged down to the depths below. Soon afterwards, the same thing happened to another ship, and the process repeated. Virgil was already running away from the port as fast he could before the first ship was dragged down.

Fifteen minutes later, Virgil got back to the perimeter. When he did, the military had finally arrived, or at least the advance forces. Upon seeing the Dungeoneer sprinting out of the direction of port, an EA official who was also present hailed him over.

“Virgil Quinn?” the official asked.

“Yes, that’s me.”

“Did you have a good look at the situation by the port?” he asked. “As you know, satellite imaging doesn’t work on monsters so we have to rely on visuals from people on the scene.” As the EA official spoke, a military officer also came over.

“Just what on earth is going on over there?” the officer asked. “HQ says there haven’t been any communications sent by any of our ships for the last fifteen minutes!” Virgil looked at the EA official.

“Please answer the Colonel’s question.”

“...it is very bad.”

“How bad?” the EA official asked.

“Really, really bad.”

“Out with it, man! Give us the details!” Virgil really didn’t want to get into it. Not because he thought it was too bothersome to be talking to this officer, but because he was getting the sinking suspicion of what he would have to do after telling him. “You are here to support us in any way you can. Hurry up and tell us what was on the scene or I will be sure to file a report against you!”

“The Boss showed up. It had giant tentacles, probably hundreds of feet long. I saw it drag down a ship.”

“Just one ship?” the EA official asked quickly, wanting to cut off the Colonel.

“Well…it probably sank the other ships as well.”

“Probably?”

“I was already running away so I didn’t see. There was also fog over the water.”

“You ran away right when the monster showed up?! What kind of-”

“Mr. Quinn!” the EA official exclaimed, interrupting the colonel, “we thank you for coming here to support the Outbreak defense however you can. Your statements are incredibly valuable to us in this regard. Could you please go on describing the situation of when you arrived at the port and up until you retreated?” Virgil looked at the Colonel, but he remained silent for now. Virgil did as he was asked and recounted everything in detail, with the exception of his thoughts during the events. When he finished, the Colonel spoke up before the EA official.

“So, you’re saying this monster can cause the seas to rage, and produce a fog that can disrupt communications?”

“Probably. I know that there is mana in the fog, but I cannot say for sure if that is the cause of the communications disruption. It might be caused by some other magic that the Boss has.” At that moment the Colonel was called over by another soldier and he left.

“That was quite amazing, Mr. Quinn. We certainly do not expect a C-rank Dungeoneer to take on a B-rank Boss by themselves and keeping the other monsters at bay while also supporting the navy against the Mid-Bosses is an exceptional contribution. This is especially so considering you are the only Dungeoneer here.”

“Right…so, does that mean I can go now? I don’t think I can do anything against that Boss after all.”

“Of course, you can leave. Under no circumstances could a civilian be forced to remain on a battlefield, even if they are a Dungeoneer.”

“And I’ll still get paid? Fully?”

“Ah,” the EA official suddenly let out, “well…the Earth Alliance does have funds set up to pay Dungeoneers who participate in defending against Dungeon Outbreaks…but I am assuming you are referring to the amount that Merrick’s government offered.”

“Yes. So, it’s fine now, right? The military is here now, anyways.” Virgil held on to a tiny hope of hearing what he wanted to hear despite the EA official’s uncomfortable expression.

“The Earth Alliance is not responsible for those additional funds.” Virgil’s disappointment was obvious on his face. “But, rest assured, I will put in a word on your behalf attesting to your contributions!” Virgil wasn’t reassured at all. At that moment, a soldier came over to them.

“Mr. Cadbury, the Colonel is requesting that you come meet him now.”

“What about me?” Virgil asked.

“The Colonel is only requesting Mr. Cadbury to come.”

“So, do I have to stay here, then?” The soldier hesitated in responding.

“If the Colonel is calling me over to go over the Outbreak Defense, I think it would be wise for Mr. Quinn to join us,” Mr. Cadbury suggested. The soldier thought about the matter silently. “You can tell him that I insisted on it.”

The soldier finally nodded and guided the two of them to the military’s temporary strategy room. The soldier announced the arrival of the EA official and the Dungeoneer and the Colonel said to let them in. When Virgil came inside, the Colonel shot him a curious look, but did not say anything to him directly.

“Thank you for coming,” the colonel began. “We have just received an update on the port from the helicopters that we sent over for reconnaissance. In addition, HQ also recently received word from a submarine that retreated from the battle. Currently, the situation looks like this. With the exception of that one submarine, the entire naval force that was present has sunk. It is unknown if any of their crews survived. At least three hundred giant piranha-like monsters remained, as well as at least two hundred giant squid-like monsters. There is also a giant monster that lurks in the waters. Radar was entirely ineffective in locating it and visuals of the monster can only suggest that it is a gigantic monster that is likely at least several hundred feet in length. Its overall body can only be described as dark or shadowy.” The colonel briefly looked directly at Virgil. “The waters appear to be rough and fog covers an area of more than two square miles, its size fluctuating slightly. There is no visual confirmation of any monster above the water’s surface and no confirmation of any distinctive features of the giant monster such as having tentacles.”

“Well, I saw what I saw,” Virgil commented.

“For now, we will continue to monitor the situation,” the Colonel said, ignoring Virgil. “In the mean time, five bomber jets are en route to provide support if the monsters resurface.”

“I understand. That sounds good so far. Unfortunately, the Earth Alliance is not able to offer much support at this time since all the members of our Emergency Dungeon Task Force are otherwise preoccupied at the moment. For now, we can only hope the situation does not worsen.”

Suddenly, images flashed through Virgil’s head. He saw a giant octopus-like monster with five of its tentacles brought together. Above them was some kind of glowing symbol. Then, he saw giant waves of water making their way to the port. Then, he suddenly saw the city’s streets completely flooded. A second later, he then saw powerful winds blowing through the city, blasting cars through the flooded streets and into buildings. The sudden revelation made his knees give out and he collapsed onto the table.

“Mr. Quinn, what’s wrong? Are you alright?” Mr. Cadbury asked.

“...the evacuation of the city. How is that going so far?” Virgil asked as he picked himself back up.

“An evacuation order has been sent out and the Earth Alliance, the police, and the military are doing their best to ensure an orderly evacuation for most of the city.”

“Only most of the city?”

“The projected scale of the monsters’ reach is limited, especially since they are sea monsters.”

“How many people are still in the city?”

“The initial evacuation was quite slow, but the pace is improving steadily at the moment.”

“How many people are still in the city?” Virgil repeated.

“I would estimate…maybe between three to four million people,” Mr. Cadbury answered with concern. “Why are you asking about that?”

“You know something,” the Colonel stated. “Out with it.”

“A giant storm is going to flood the city. Maybe.”

“Maybe?” Mr. Cadbury asked.

“I don’t know, maybe it won’t happen,” Virgil responded as he prepared to leave the room.

“Stop right there!” the Colonel ordered. “Explain what you mean!” Virgil described the images that he saw, and then prepared to leave again.

“Wait, Mr. Quinn. Based on what you saw, does this mean that the Boss monster is going to use magic to summon a giant storm, like a hurricane, in order to destroy the city?”

“Maybe,” he answered briefly before leaving. Mr. Cadbury and the Colonel quickly ran after him.

“Mr. Quinn! If your Skill was able to see this, then perhaps there is also some way to prevent it.”

“We’re going to have to kill that sucker before it uses its magic,” the Colonel suggested.

“Yeah, that’ll probably work,” Virgil said, still walking away. “Hey, do you have a car I can borrow. I mean, I’ll rent it if you need me to.”

“Are you just planning to run away?” the Colonel asked angrily.

“I’m not one of your soldiers. If I want to run away, I will run away.” Virgil looked to Mr. Cadbury again. “So, can I borrow a car or not?” The Colonel grabbed Virgil by the shoulder, but didn’t have anywhere near the strength to actually keep him in place. “No car? Fine, I’ll run.”

“Mr. Quinn! Is there really nothing you can think of to help?” Virgil stopped.

“What do you want from me? I already told you that the Boss monster is going to flood the city. I don’t know when but if you want to stop that from happening, go kill it. If not, then get as many people out of here as you can.” Virgil then stared at the Colonel. “What are you waiting for? Make the call.”

“...the five bomber jets will arrive in about half an hour. They are each carrying twelve of Merrick’s most powerful cruise missiles. They are both powerful and incredibly accurate. Each missile is capable of incapacitating warships or dealing critical damage to enemy fortifications.”

“Sounds like you’re good to go, then.”

“But, they are not intended to be used against underwater targets. According to you, even when this monster attacked the ships, it only used its tentacles, never revealing any part of its main body.”

“What’s your point?”

“Unless we can lure its main body out of the water, it won’t be possible to kill it. If it just stays underwater while using its magic, we can’t kill it. Not with what we have on hand.”

“...That’s unfortunate, but what are you expecting from me?”

“Do you have any Skills that have any chance of making that monster want to come onto land? Or, at the very least, to come above the water’s surface?”

“You think I have some kind of luring or provoking Skill? No, I don’t have anything like that.”

“...Is that so?” the Colonel asked, his expression very serious.

“Yes.” Right as he said that, his body shuddered. Something terrible was happening right now. However, as he got ready to sprint away, his legs froze up, rooting him in place. His base survival instincts told them the only surefire way to survive was to run away right now, but another force was holding him down. Was it his greed for more money? Was it a sudden desire to be a hero? Was it the feeling of wanting to avoid the guilt from abandoning millions of innocent lives? Maybe, it was the desire to avoid the feeling of shame when his sickly mother finds out about this. No, it was none of these things. All of these things definitely weighed on Virgil’s mind but even together, his own life still meant more to him. At least, he truly believed that was the case as he cursed his Skill for making him act against his own will.

“Mr. Quinn?” Mr. Cadbury asked while Virgil’s body was still frozen in the middle of running away. Virgil finally freed himself and stumbled backwards.

“Thirty minutes until the bombers get here?” Virgil asked the Colonel.

“Uh…yes.”

“Let me borrow one of your vehicles.” The Colonel quickly went from confusion back to anger. “I don't want to go back to the port on foot.” Back to confusion again.

“Does this mean you figured out a way to draw out the Boss?” Mr. Cadbury asked expectantly.

“...yes,” Virgil lied. He had no idea what specifically he needed to do, but he had no choice but go back there since he couldn’t run away.

“Colonel, please cooperate with Mr. Quinn.” The Colonel finally snapped out of it and did as the EA official asked. “And is there anything else you need for your plan?”

“...No.” They gave him a vehicle and Virgil got in alone, refusing a driver. At first, he tried to turn the wheel to get out of the city, but his body would not allow him to go through with it. He clicked his tongue and muttered something under his breath as he drove back to the port.

On the way to the port, he received an update in the car from the military. They informed him that helicopters noticed that the waters seemed to be even rougher now, although it was still difficult to see through the layer of fog on top. In addition, some of the giant squid-like monsters started to leave the water and go onto land again. The giant piranhas were nowhere in sight.

When Virgil arrived at the port, it was as it was described. There were a few dozen giant squids on the port, but they were not rampaging around like they were earlier. By the waterside, giant squids were slowly coming onto land, a couple at a time. However, it looked like it was a struggle to do so. They didn’t look injured, but their movements looked severely hampered, and he saw one of them suddenly fall back into the wall. Virgil drove close to the port and could feel the intense concentration of mana started to gather beneath the waves.

He got out of the vehicle and started walking towards the water’s edge. Even as he approached, the giant squids seemed to ignore them as they got further away from the water, as if they were slowly fleeing. One of the giant squids even went right past him, and when it did, Virgil could sense a different sort of mana attached to the monster. Virgil kept walking closer to the source of danger as another pair of giant squids slowly made their way past them, oblivious to his presence. Then, when he was less than 100 feet away from the water, he sensed the mana attached to one of the giant squids flare up.

He looked back as the giant squid suddenly fell over. Its tentacles feebly writhed about as its body seemed to start shrinking. Then, when the creature was down to almost half its size, its entire body turned blue. There was then a flash of light and Virgil saw clumps of blue light appear and get sucked away into the ocean. There was no black mist. After all of the blue light disappeared into the ocean, Virgil felt the huge source of mana underwater grow just a little bit stronger.

Another giant squid fell over, and it too started writhe about as its body started to shrink. This time, Virgil, with his C-rank Bow out, knocked a magical arrow and shot it through its head. The monster died and sparks of blue light flew out just before it turned into the usual black mist. The blue sparks flew into the ocean, and then Virgil could feel an ominous presence envelop the entire port. The waters began to churn as the great beast below inched its way back to water’s surface.

“Ah…goddamnit,” Virgil let out, fully recognizing he had just angered the Boss.