CHAPTER 507: AQUARIUM (7)

0% 1.

The cathedral had rooms for priests and bishops to stay in.

The beds might have been crude, as it was just a wooden frame with a thin cloth draped over it, but compared to the rest of the city, it was a luxury.

Siwoo had searched for a place to rest, but the best he found elsewhere was a rough pile of straw, which was no better than what he’d used back when he lived in the livestock barn.

If they searched every nook and cranny, they might find a better resting place. But now wasn’t the time to be picky about beds.

“Shall we go over what we’ve learned so far?”

“Sounds good.”

Siwoo and Deneb took turns sharing the information they had gathered from the previous night’s battle, or rather, their game of tag, jotting it down on paper.

“First of all, there is only one monster in this aquarium. It matches the records we found.”

“It seems to stay in the sea during the day and only comes out at night—along with those flying fish.”

“Right. If a monster that size rampaged around this confined space all day, the whole place would be in ruins. Next, about the time, I’m not sure how long the day lasts, but the night seems to be around four hours.”

“Only four hours? It felt more like eight....”

“I started counting midway, so it’s fairly accurate.”

Deneb pressed her fingers to her forehead, closing her eyes for a moment, ooked exhausted.

And no wonder. After casting such a large-scale spell, she had also sung Siwoo a vitality-boosting chant and even jumped into the fight herself.

Even Siwoo, with his physically trained body, felt the crushing weight of fatigue creeping in once his adrenaline faded, and for someone as refined as the Countess, it had to be worse.

Yet, despite all that, she’d kept track of time.

She really was a Gemini through and through.

“Like I said earlier, maintaining a dimensional pocket this big comes with limitations.

In this world, those limitations seem to be a restricted space, a fixed division between day and night, and a forced time loop where the same day keeps repeating.

There’s also got to be a pillar holding this space together. My guess....that octopus itself is the anchor.”

“A pillar?”

“In Gehenna, it’s like the ‘gate’ in Border Town. It controls access and serves as a crucial support structure.”

“So... you’re saying we have to take down that octopus to get out of here?”

When Siwoo tilted his head, Deneb added an explanation.

“I’m certain. Throughout our escape, I observed the water veins and earth veins. Because, as you know, where these intersect appropriately, the answer tends to reveal itself.”

“I was too busy fighting to even notice. That’s impressive.”

“It’s nothing special. I was just dead weight halfway through anyway.”

Deneb’s voice had a bitter edge.

Was it because she seemed strangely lacking in energy?

Considering how she had just clung to Siwoo and ran away from the middle on, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Countess’s pride had taken a hit.

“This place has neither earth veins nor water veins. Unlike Gehenna, which was woven to harmonize with nature in its raw state, this is an unstable space that’s been cleanly cut out. Furthermore, even with everything so utterly destroyed, the pillars haven’t collapsed... There’s only one answer.”

“That makes sense.”

By the time the octopus had returned to the sea, there wasn’t a single intact place left in the city..

Even the buildings and the terrain itself had shifted.

“Could the pillar be somewhere in the sea?”

“Even if it is, I don’t want to fight that monster in the water. If it moves anything like a normal octopus, that would be a nightmare.”

“I agree.”

The only reason they’d managed to escape so far was because, unlike the flying fish, the Kraken couldn’t swim through the air.

If that massive thing could move freely in the sea, there was no telling how much more dangerous it would be.

So, to summarize what they knew:

- Daytime was for resting, while nighttime was for hunting. Each lasted around four hours.

Since the world reset daily, there were no environmental changes or external variables.

To escape, they had to destroy the ‘pillar’ which, in this case, meant taking down the Kraken

They also compiled a list of the Kraken’s traits:

- An absurdly massive body with overwhelming strength and durability.

Natural resistance to magic and rapid regeneration.

Luckily, it didn’t use any strange magic or artifacts.

It was relatively slow, but each attack was devastating.

That was the situation they faced.

Siwoo hadn’t spent the whole night just running.

Wrapped in his armor and enchanted ribbons, he pushed his amplification magic more than ten times, trying every trick in the book to fight back.

But despite all his efforts, the result was obvious.

“I’m the worst possible match-up against this thing... and of all times, I don’t even have Redbranch with me...”

Siwoo had always relied on quick thinking, strategic maneuvers, and unpredictable attacks in battle.

His way of fighting was about finding openings and using them to make up for his lack of raw strength.

In that sense, the Kraken was a formidable enemy.

Even when he poured energy into shadow spears and swords, its massive body and insane regeneration shrugged off the attacks.

He had tried to restrain its legs with his ribbons, but the sheer power behind it nearly sent him flying like a rock flung from a slingshot.

Even when he tried firing mana beams, just like Deneb did, the scales surrounding the skin deflected the impact.

If only he had the Red Branch, he might’ve had a sliver of hope in distorting the field...

A brute force opponent where no tricks or clever tactics worked.

For someone like Siwoo, who specialized in fighting people and witches, this was the worst possible match-up.

To make things worse, his prosthetic arm still wasn’t fully adjusted, and after burning through so much mana, his left hand had been trembling non-stop since the fight ended.

Deneb said with a sigh.

“I’ve tried various things myself, but there’s no clear solution. I even tried to turn it into mush from the inside using its natural frequency, but the volume is too large...”

“That’s a problem.”

“If only big sis were here...”

The “Dirge” spell Deneb had used yesterday wasn’t meant to be a one-time spell.

Originally, it should have echoed repeatedly, amplified by Albireo’s Echo Barrier, turning into a relentless barrage.

But Albireo wasn’t here, and the chances of her showing up were practically zero.

In short, they just didn’t have enough firepower.

After talking it over, Deneb suggested they take a break.

“Think we have time for that?”

“Yeah, day’s as long as night, so we’ve got plenty of time.”

Unlike Siwoo, Deneb had a wealth of experience and knowledge.

A great artist can take one glance at something and grasp its entire composition.

If she said they had time, she had good reason to believe it.

2.

They spent some time looking around the cathedral.

Unlike Gehenna’s grand and opulent buildings, this place had a quiet beauty, probably because it valued humility over extravagance.

Deneb found a bottle of wine in the underground storage and took it.

Looked like it was meant for communion or something, still unopened.

When Siwoo joked, ‘Didn’t you warn me about Persephone?’ Deneb just shrugged and said, ‘Well, we’ve confirmed this isn’t the underworld, haven’t we?’

She even found some glasses in a nearby cupboard and set everything up.

The wine had been aging for a long time—so long that it had plenty of sediment, tasted thin, and had a sharp sourness that made it hard to call a good drink.

But just like how even bland food tastes amazing when you’re starving, the wine was strangely comforting after everything they’d been through.

After a toast, they continued their unfinished drinking session.

“You sure have a lot of energy, Mr. Siwoo. Even after all that running around.”

“Well, I’m used to pushing my body like this.”

“Is that so?”

In truth, Deneb was inwardly surprised by his performance.

She’d heard plenty about how he survived fighting the Witch of Desire.

And she knew that meant he had serious strength and magical skill.

But hearing about it and witnessing it firsthand were two completely different things.

Watching him take on that massive Kraken last night had been incredible.

He was moving faster than sound, spinning like a windmill as he sliced through the Kraken’s limbs.

And the way he controlled dozens of ribbons so effortlessly...

Her son-in-law, whom she had considered a fool, was sharply honed and seemed even more experienced in combat than Deneb.

Even though he hadn’t landed any significant blows, something about the way he fought reminded her of the prowess she once saw from Duchess Tiphereth.

She also realized that the only reason she had managed to subdue Siwoo before was simply because he hadn’t fought back.

If he had resisted, even slightly, Deneb couldn’t have been so sure of victory.

Yet, despite his ability to retaliate, he hadn’t lifted a finger against her.

And he never even complained about it afterward.

To think she had beaten such a son-in-law so thoroughly...

She couldn’t help but feel conflicted.

“I’m going to try a different approach today. Countess, how much mana do you have left?”

“...About thirty percent. I may have been a little reckless with my usage.”

She had burned through half her mana trying to end things in one decisive strike, but since she failed to land the final blow, that strategy had backfired.

A witch’s mana wasn’t something she could just replenish whenever she wanted.

Even if refined mana water used, one must go through the leisurely process of ‘self-essence mana conversion’.

If she focused only on recovery, it would still take three to four days.

“In that case, we should avoid direct combat for now and focus on gathering mana while preparing a sure-kill attack.”

“.......”

Siwoo laid out his plan like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Deneb pressed her lips together.

Indeed.

She already knew the fastest way out of this mess.

Back when she interrogated him in the underground dungeon, she had learned not only about his connection to the twins but also about his ability to replenish mana.

By ejaculating inside a witch’s vagina, he could supply pure mana without the need for self-essence conversion.

“I’ll draw their attention for now. Please focus only on dodging, Ms. Deneb.”

And that was what made her uneasy.

If her horny son-in-law had taken this opportunity to smirk and say, ‘Hehe, Ms. Deneb, it can’t be helped since things have turned out this way, hehe,’ it wouldn’t be surprising.

If he had, she might have been seriously disappointed in him.

But to her surprise, he hadn’t even hinted at the ‘shortcut’.

Even though the roundabout method he chose would require him to risk his life over and over as bait, he accepted it without a word of complaint.

This was a side of him Deneb hadn’t seen before.

“...Alright. Let’s go with that plan, then.”

“Understood. Will you start focusing on mana recovery right away?”

Deneb, who felt her evaluation of her son-in-law, which had crumbled, being somewhat restored.

She let out a soft sigh.

“Haa....”

It was because she saw Siwoo’s left hand, which clearly revealed his attempts to hide the fear and trembling in his eyes.