Is It Bad That the Main Character’s a Roleplayer?

Chapter 69: From the Very Beginning (4)

“Is he really mortal?”

The pirates who’d boarded the ship, all the while knowing they might die, suddenly said these kinds of things. They hadn’t any choice but to do so.

“Can we actually survive this?”

The person from the Temple also formed a shield that was so massive it covered the entire bay. That man flew through the sky despite having no wings and slaughtered all the Demons who did and even the other enemies.

He didn’t look like a regular mortal man.

That was why they wanted to believe in him.

“Damn, that woman from the Temple…”

“Hah, I would have cursed her out any other day, but now...”

They looked at the woman tightly clutching a mace and praying.

The pillars of light and the flowing, golden shine seemed terribly noble and sacred. If not for the bad blood with religious organizations, they might have prayed with her, their hands folded together.

Slash!

“Ah, the ship!”

“A ship is sinking…”

Then, a miracle happened elsewhere.

That person crossing the sky by trampling on flying Demons had sunk a ship. The dance he was performing for them could never be replicated by others, no matter what they might do.

“Who the hell is that guy?”

“Where is he from?”

At first, when they saw black energy reminiscent of Demonic Energy emanating from that man’s sword, he seemed particularly ominous.

However, when that ominous energy overpowered the Demons and split an incoming ship in half, they accepted him.

No one could have a poor impression of someone who saved them from a deadly threat and even eliminated all their enemies.

“This is unexpected. Surprising, even.”

“C-Captain.”

The Outlaw Chima standing close by opened her mouth. She slightly moved her eyes, framed by a face said to be the most beautiful among all the pirates.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No.”

How could anyone get hurt here? The golden barrier created by the priest’s prayer allowed nothing to enter nor exit, let alone an attack by a Demon.

It was structured in such a way that not a single injury could appear on their bodies.

“Well, only idiots would manage to get hurt in here!”

Outlaw, who noticed that, laughed heartily. This act made her seem quite exuberant, unfitting for someone with a pretty face. However, her beauty exceeded such standards and made her actions still seem beautiful.

Other factions’ pirates who hadn’t boarded Outlaw’s ship began to blush.

Bang!

Meanwhile, another ship sank.

The sails, masts, and even the hull were split diagonally, visible even at a distance. Water flowed through the cut sections.

“Wahaha. I never thought the people Brother Suriya brought along would be any good, but I guess I’ll have to take that back.”

“Did Windhand bring that person?”

“Perhaps.”

“Then, that priest as well…?”

“Seems like it, right?”

“But why…?”

“I don’t know. She’s helping us. Isn’t that enough for now?”

Bam!

Another ship sank. Many monsters were still flying in the sky, but compared to the beginning, it seemed around half had disappeared.

“Anywho, what doesn’t one do for survival? Grudges and the like are useless if it means that we’d die right here.”

She wasn’t entirely wrong.

The other person agreed with the captain. His parents, neighbors, and village elders all described the Temple as a crazy cult, something one shouldn’t ever associate with… However, he didn’t want to listen to these words with his life at stake.

Right now, his life, friends, colleagues, and loved ones were far more important to him than the resentment of grandparents he hadn’t ever met.

“Also, I really like that priest—”

Ruuuumble!

The world seemed to shake for a moment.

They then saw the sea split a distance away.

* * *

I spat out some blood as I opened my eyes wide. A black shadow emerged from beneath the sea, hence why the sea ultimately split.

Rumble!

As that something surged upward, water was pushed out in all directions, forming seafoam as it did. What rose from it were some legs.

“An octopus?”

As though in response to my words, what should have been an Information Window popped up.

「???│???」

It was something completely unexpected.

Stomp.

Kyaaargh!

I observed the situation while jumping on the back of a passing Harpy. It screamed loudly and rapidly flapped its wings, seemingly panicking upon weight being added to its body.

However, I didn’t especially care whether the Harpy would fall.

Soaring further into the air, I looked straight down at the four, no, five tentacles that rose from the water one after another. Although there was quite some distance between us, I could tell the tentacles were quite thick.

That only proved my opponent’s size was quite significant, as well. While not as massive as the Sea Dragon, it seemed big enough to sink a few ships easily.

“A Kraken really is too much.”

First the Sea Dragon, now a Kraken? Of course, the Quest seemed already halfway done, so it shouldn’t be surprising for a Boss of such strength to appear around this time.

“Cthulhu is seriously too much…!”

I’d rather face that Sea Dragon again than this. All I would’ve had to do was avoid its head and tail, but a Kraken had eight or even more arms that needed to be dodged!

Furthermore, the Sea Dragon’s body was quite rough due to its scales. Just by looking at that thing before me, I could tell it was completely smooth. Running or even standing on that body would require some hard work.

“That huge fucking octopus has no sense for timing or tact!”

Taking advantage of no one being able to hear me right now, I jumped off the Harpy’s body, expressing my true feelings as much as I wanted.

Slash!

I somersaulted, cutting off the head of a Gargoyle aiming for me as I did so, and descended.

Kuraaaargh!

Stab!

Then, avoiding the sharp teeth of a Wyvern trying to bite off my leg, I grabbed onto its body and climbed on top of it. My blade was stuck in its nape.

Riiiip!

I quickly ran across the Wyvern’s body and stepped on the tip of its tail. The blade cut through its skin like butter, only stopping upon reaching the end of its tail.

My body soared into the air again.

Bang!

“U-Uwargh! I-In the sky!”

“Get your swords!”

How many meters did I fall? My legs, which landed on the mast of the leading ship, felt quite an impact alongside some loud noises.

Fortunately, I felt no soreness, nor did I suffer from an injury penalty. That was good enough.

“Kill him!”

While I was lost in thoughts, the pirates in the crow’s nest looked around confused with their weapons raised. My hand quickly swung the sword covered in copious amounts of Wyvern body fluids.

A silver slash appeared soon after, and when my other hand moved, it broke it apart.

Blood rained down in all directions.

“Wh-What the hell? Red rain?”

“L-Look up, you idiot!”

“There’s an enemy aboard the ship!”

“That monster!”

* * *

* * *

Splash!

At that moment, the Kraken’s arms, which seemed quite far away, submerged again and approached the ship, cutting through the water in a fashion unique to octopi.

The seawater pushed away by the Kraken’s body became waves that rippled across the water’s surface, quickly approaching the ship I was on.

Slam!

The ship rocked and tilted, struck by those strong waves.

This wasn’t good. The mast I was standing on was situated almost horizontally in the air. If I hadn’t stabbed my sword into it, I probably would have slipped off.

“Wh-What is that?! Why is it coming this way?!”

Those trying to climb the rigging to reach me shouted out with urgency.

Although it was a creature summoned by their allies, it was still a monster. They felt a type of deeply ingrained fear as it approached. Quite frankly, just looking at its actions made it seem like it was attempting to attack this ship.

Splash!

Bang!

…No, was it actually trying to attack?

What the hell? Weren’t they on the same side? I thought they called it to get me!

Crash!

It seemed suddenly crashing into the ship wasn’t enough for the Kraken.

Several of its arms rose to the surface and began wrapping around the boat. The railings and gunwale began to crumble.

“Fuck, why are you attacking us, you stupid octopus?!”

“You damn Demon worshiping bastards, you said we would be fine!”

“Sailors! Get in position! Prepare for battle!”

“What’s all this fuss about?!”

I started hearing various snippets of conversations from the deck below. It seemed they hadn’t expected this to happen either.

“I should’ve boarded a ship with a Demon Worshiper!”

They even said things like that.

While I wasn’t so sure about the ships I’d cut down earlier, I could at least be sure there weren’t any Demon worshipers on this one. That wasn’t so bad.

Crack, Craaack!

And the Kraken attacking this ship was also good news for me. I now had a tank to act as bait while I dealt damage.

I pulled out the sword I was using to support myself. Crack! Pieces of wood scattered about as I extracted it before my body started to slip.

Flutter, bang!

My falling body naturally spun as I willed before taking the correct posture. I fell onto the center of the deck, sheathed the scimitar, and slowly placed my hand behind my back.

“…!”

“Th-That bastard…!”

Scrrrrit. A faint metallic sound of friction rang in my ears as I pulled out the True Zweihänder of Destruction.

“Victory to my sword, glory to the heavens…”

Jet-black Arcane Power sizzled over the blade.

“Destruction to the Demons.”

Jumping forward, I cut off one of the Kraken’s arms. Its flesh was so much smoother and softer than the Sea Dragon’s that it actually felt like I was cutting through jelly. It heavily tapped my wrist.

Thud!

The huge octopus tentacle, still writhing even after being severed, rolled around the ship.

“He cut it!”

“He did it!”

At that moment, these people, who were, in fact, my enemies, were as happy as though we were on the same side. I never thought I would experience enemies becoming temporary allies when faced with a common enemy here.

Uwoooooorgh—!!

Immediately after, a horrible howling sound shook the whole sea. The Kraken’s arms released the ship suddenly and swung around.

While the ship’s deck was a bit narrow for something like this, it otherwise felt like a typical Boss Battle or Raid.

Bang!

Right, even in this setup where all tentacles would crash down simultaneously, there was still room left to avoid them in the middle!

“Uwargh!”

Of course, as in the Sea Dragon raid, the mast and outer panels broke. As a bonus, all the pirates got crushed to death.

Since I’d planned to bury these guys beneath the sea anyway, it didn’t matter what happened to them, right?

I quickly swung my sword before removing its tentacles again. I managed to slice three tentacles in quick succession, leaving some marks on the deck.

The cut on the last one was a bit shallow, so it was still dangling on it. However, that was good enough for now. It wouldn’t try attacking me with it, at least. And even if it did, it wouldn’t work.

Uwooooorgh!

However, I was completely off the mark there.

“Th-That monster's arms!”

“Regeneration…?”

Right. Octopi were creatures capable of regenerating even cut-off body parts…

I was speechless as I saw bubbles rising from where I’d severed its tentacles before completely regenerating.

A new one was even growing below the tentacle that hadn’t been completely removed, colliding with the remainder before integrating it. So now it had a Y-shaped arm.

How could this game be so insane?!!

If that was how it was going to be, they should at least let me see the enemy’s health bar!!

Bang!

The Kraken’s arms began pounding down on the ship, targeting me persistently.

Not too long ago, all it did was strike the deck, but its attack pattern was now more varied: it included tearing apart the ship, penetrating it, and slamming down on it with objects it could grab.

“Tsk.”

What should I do now? It wasn’t difficult to avoid its attacks for the time being, but things would look completely different after this ship sank. The moment I fell into the water, I was 98% sure it would be game over.

Or should I rely on my skills and instinct again and fight it by stepping onto its body? My heart was pounding hard.

I avoided the mast falling toward me and stepped on one of the Kraken’s tentacles. I could feel it even through my military boots: it was incredibly smooth as if coated in slimy mucous. I was about to slip off.

Stab!

I quickly plunged my sword into its flesh. Slip. I slid off, hurting the Kraken in the process.

Tak.

Still, I managed to buy some time before the mast completely hit the ship. I quickly jumped toward it.

No matter how I thought about it, fighting on top of the Kraken’s body was impossible unless I had crampons under my boots.

So, what now? Was there really no way to do this?

Kyaaargh!

As I was closing my eyes in the face of this sinking ship, a glimmer of hope flew toward me.

Kyargh!

It was a Gargoyle.

“…!”

…I choose you, Gargoyle!

I activated [Survival Instinct], checked for the most ideal path, and fiercely leaped up, shattering the mast in the process. Tentacles came flying at me from all directions, but it was alright.

I turned my body halfway through the jump as if doing a high jump, exposing my back. I didn’t particularly mean to do it, but as such thoughts entered my mind, I felt a cold, slippery sensation pass over my back.

What followed was warmth. The fire the Gargoyle emitted spread heat in all directions. It was that hot air which warmed my back.

Well, as long as I was successful, I didn’t particularly mind the heat.

I turned my body once more. I first rotated by twisting my waist slightly, this time trying to swap the position of my head and my legs.

Tak!

I landed on the Gargoyle’s head before moving to its neck and, finally, its spine. Just as I was about to lose my balance or meet its tail, I pierced my sword into its back.

Kyaaaaargh!

The Gargoyle screamed as it twisted in pain. As expected, the direction it was flying in changed, now fluttering upward.

My additional weight made it difficult to maintain altitude, but it was still enough to prevent the Kraken’s tentacles from catching me.

The Gargoyle flew higher. I could see many Harpies and Wyverns flying about there.

“Am I supposed to use these guys as my scaffolds?”

I twisted my sword until the Gargoyle’s internal organs were all messed up, as thanks for giving me a lift.

Crack!

Blood and flesh scattered, with me in the midst of it.

Kyargh?!

I, who finally settled on the back of a Wyvern, started another aerial battle.

My goal was to go around all the ships. If the Kraken’s aggro really was focused on me, I planned on using it to sink the four remaining ships and kill it on the last one.

Let’s call this operation: Fight the enemy, Using the enemy.