Chapter 52: Chapter 52: The Reinforcements Are Crushed
Kevin smiled and explained, "You think it doesn’t want to? That guy is terrified of dying. It can’t even swim. I bet if it falls in the water, it’s in real danger. That’s why it won’t take the risk."
Celula heard Kevin’s answer and looked completely confused.
Kevin grinned. "Don’t be fooled by its flight. That flying trick only works because it uses a Dragon Mist Phantom as a mount. The moment we destroy that dragon, the monster itself will fall straight into the sea. It has no flight power of its own."
Hearing this, Celula clapped her hands and said excitedly, "Does that mean we successfully scared it away?"
Kevin shook his head with a smile. "No way. Eldritch Entities are tricky and hold grudges. Once they lock onto a target, they never give up easily. If I’m right, it’s just off to the nearby waters to find a new ride."
"The second it finds a new boat, it’ll come back for us."
Right then, Stephanie finally snapped out of it. She looked at Kevin, her expression mixed, and said, "If that’s the case, let’s just run now. If we run fast enough, it might not catch us."
Hearing Stephanie’s suggestion, the three girls, including Nova, nodded. They looked at Kevin, full of hope.
Even though they hadn’t fought the monster up close, just from the attacks they saw, everyone there, Kevin included, knew no one could block its power.
Kevin looked at the hope in their eyes and silently shook his head. "No. If we keep running, it’ll hunt us forever. The moment we run into another Eldritch Entity, we’ll be attacked from both sides."
At that, Kevin’s eyes turned firm. His voice went cold. "So we have to kill it now."
After saying that, Kevin asked the girls about the rescue mission.
Everything went exactly as Kevin expected. There were still quite a few Survivor teams in the nearby waters.
When they heard a Commander-level Eldritch Entity was here and that killing it would bring a huge reward, the Survivors went crazy.
With the Eldritch arrival and the collapse of order, every Survivor had to rely on their strength to survive on this terrifying sea.
This huge change gave new hope to people who were tired of their old lives.
They desperately wanted to become the strongest here, to rule a piece of this broken sea. And there were plenty of ambitious Survivors like that.
Kevin just casually opened the regional chat and was flooded with messages.
"There’s actually a Commander-level Eldritch Entity? My blade has been itching for a fight. I’ll use this one to satisfy it."
"Keep dreaming, guy above me. The first kill on a Commander is mine. You’d better acknowledge me as the boss now."
"That’s nonsense. We declare ownership over that Commander. Only we have the right to hunt it."
Seeing so many Survivor teams ready to rush over, Kevin let out a loud laugh. He turned to Celula and asked for the coordinates of their fleets.
When he found out the nearest fleet was only eighty nautical miles away, Kevin nodded quietly. Then he said in a heavy tone, "Warn them. That monster will likely run into them first."
"If I’m right, it’ll hijack their boat, turn around, and keep hunting us."
Monchhichi frowned at that. "That monster is way too scary. Normal Survivor teams can’t stand a chance. They probably won’t listen to our warning anyway."
Kevin glanced out the window and gave a slow nod. "Drop the savior complex. Respect their fate. But for humanitarian reasons, I suggest you trade them a batch of grenades."
"Grenades?" Monchhichi stared at Kevin, confused. "Grenades won’t work on that thing, right? Mist Phantoms don’t even fear grenade blasts."
Kevin smirked. "We aren’t using grenades on the Mist Phantom. We’re using them for suicide runs. Think about it. When people hit rock bottom, do they just give up and let a monster kill them? Or do they burn their last bit of strength to take the monster down with them?"
Nova’s eyes went wide. She suddenly got it and gasped, "Kevin, you aren’t..."
Before she could finish, Kevin nodded. "You guessed right. These grenades are for blowing up the boat."
A few hours later, not far from Kevin’s location, a dark warship cut quickly through the water.
On the bridge, an old man in a military uniform had a cigar clenched in his teeth. He tightly gripped the grenades he’d just received from Monchhichi.
"Hmph, clueless kids. This is an active navy frigate. I don’t care what Commander-level Eldritch Entity it is. Under my main guns, even a blue whale would just be fish meat."
Then the old man glared at the helmsman next to him and cursed, "Why are we moving so slow? You sleepwalking? Pick it up! Full speed!"
At the order, the warship surged forward.
But just as everyone scrambled to steer the ship, a dark shadow quickly swallowed the bridge.
The old man felt the light fade and frowned sharply. "That’s weird. It’s still broad daylight."
As soon as he spoke, he instinctively looked up. Right into the pupil of the Mist Phantom King.
In a flash, a wave of pure chaos, fear, sadness, self-harm, confusion, helplessness, and panic flooded the old man’s mind.
[Sanity-15]
[Sanity-25]
The sudden drop in Sanity actually snapped the old man back to reality just in time. He roared "Contact!" and slammed his eyes shut, daring not to look at the Mist Phantom King again.
At that moment, his adjutant had already triggered the automatic defense system.
The frigate’s cannons, missiles, and laser weapons instantly locked onto the Mist Phantom King hovering in the air.
The Mist Phantom King felt the heavy energy surge from below and realized it was about to be targeted by every weapon on board.
It threw up a blood mist shield first, then summoned a ton of Hawk Mist Phantoms. They packed together like a wall of birds, blocking the entire frigate’s targeting systems.
The Survivors on the warship never saw that coming. They were completely stunned.
"Damn it, where the hell did it go?"
"Son of a bitch, the sky is packed with birds. I can’t lock on. Where am I supposed to fire?"
"Don’t care! Fire at everything! Clear the sky!"
No one knows which officer yelled it, but the Survivors on the bridge went crazy mashing their fire buttons.
In a second, the deck lit up with muzzle flashes, and thunderous booms echoed across the sea.
Fierce flames lit up the deck as the Survivors fired everything they had except the main gun.
Shells, rockets, and lasers hammered against the wall of Hawk Mist Phantoms, quickly tearing a hole right through it.
The Survivors looked through the gap but couldn’t see a single trace of the Mist Phantom King.
Then the old man in the uniform slowly opened his eyes. He grabbed his adjutant and roared, "Idiot! That thing isn’t in the sky!"
Hearing the warning, the Survivors all shuddered. If that terrifying monster wasn’t in the sky, didn’t that mean it was already on deck?
Confused, the adjutant immediately hit the alarm button. The whole warship switched to emergency mode, and countless radar systems powered up.
Soon, a scout spotted something wrong. His lips trembling, he looked down at his feet. "The monster... is right under me."
As soon as the words left his mouth, a giant hand tore through the floor and grabbed his leg. There was a loud crack, blood sprayed everywhere, and the scout was ripped to pieces by the Mist Phantom King.
Then came a creepy sound of metal tearing. The big hand ripped through the floor beneath them like it was cutting bread, easily revealing the monstrous face of the Mist Phantom King.
It let out a roar, and thick clumps of blood mist poured from the tentacles on its head.
Instead of forming a Mist Phantom, the mist shot straight into the mouth of the nearest officer.
Almost instantly, the officer’s body twisted just like Stephanie’s. His eyes turned red, dark fluid dripped from his lips, and he looked like a zombie. "You ants, become my food."
As soon as he finished speaking, the mist-possessed Survivor started convulsing violently.
The blood mist quickly left his body, taking his flesh and life energy with it.
By the time the red mist returned inside the Mist Phantom King, the Survivor it had possessed was already a dried-up corpse.
Seeing this, the Survivors went completely crazy.
Most of the Survivors on board were military. They knew the most advanced and efficient ways to kill a man.
They immediately pulled out their pistols and aimed at all the vital spots on the Mist Phantom King.
Gunfire rang out in waves, and the King’s eyes, throat, heart, and even its groin were hit over and over.
But when the bullets hit the King, they only left shallow dents. Not a single one broke its skin.
One Survivor even died on the spot because a fired casing bounced back and hit him.
The scene shook every Survivor to their core. The huge gap in power almost drove them into despair.
"Damn it, how can something so terrifying even exist? What is it?"
"Why did we even come here to fight it? Is this really something humans can beat?"
"I want to go home. I don’t want to be here anymore. Let me go. I’ll give you all my food, and I have tons of adult movies to share with you..."
Pleas for mercy and screams of terror echoed all over the bridge. But the Mist Phantom King didn’t pity them. Waves of blood mist poured from its body, greedily sucking away their life force.
