The fog grew thicker.
What had first been nothing more than a thin curtain now turned into a grayish-white wall that swallowed sight. The small boat slowed down on its own, as if the water around it refused to let them pass any farther.
Then — a small dock appeared from behind the fog.
Ancient wood darkened by age and sea salt, wedged between the rocks.
Ingrid stopped the boat.
She jumped down lightly, then tied the rope to a wooden pole that looked on the verge of rotting. After that, she turned toward the two men who were still sitting with confused expressions.
"Get down," she said briefly. "Follow me."
Jun and Ragnar exchanged a glance for a moment, then obeyed. The instant their feet touched the dock, a strange sensation wrapped around their bodies — a faint pressure in their chests, like standing before something far older than any civilization.
They followed the Valkyrie up a narrow stone path cutting through the fog. The wind blew softly, carrying the sound of distant waves — deep, heavy, and rhythmic, like the breathing of a colossal creature.
A few moments later, the fog began to thin.
And they arrived.
A high cliff stretched before them, facing the open sea. From there, something impossible could be seen clearly.
A massive island.
But its shape… was unnatural.
Its surface curved, scaled, layered — forming a pattern far too orderly to be mere land. Its far end extended toward the sea, slowly coiling — like the body of a giant serpent at rest.
Ingrid stopped.
"Look," she said softly, almost a whisper. "That is… Jörmungandr."
"Ooooh!" Ragnar couldn't hide his excitement. His eyes widened, full of awe. "So the legend really—"
But Jun said nothing.
He stared sharply at the land-sized being.
The World Serpent was… asleep.
This was strange.
If Jörmungandr was truly in this state, why did the Tower give a quest to stop the Deep Ones from destroying its seal?
'Something doesn't add up,' Jun thought. 'Or… this isn't the seal they're after.'
Ingrid folded her arms, her expression clearly showing how much she disliked being there. The faint wings of light on her back trembled unsteadily, as if her divine instincts themselves rejected standing so close to that being.
"Done looking?" she said quickly, without facing them. "Then let's go back."
She glanced sharply toward the fog-covered path. "I don't want to stay near Jörmungandr any longer than necessary."
Ragnar was still frozen in place, his face filled with almost childlike wonder. A creature the size of an island was too real, too majestic to be called just a legend.
Meanwhile, Jun remained silent.
His eyes narrowed — his gaze not entirely fixed on Jörmungandr, but on the surroundings.
The sea was too calm. The air too stable. This seal… was too perfect.
And that was exactly what bothered him.
Then—
A TREMOR.
The ground beneath their feet shook violently.
"Hah!?" Jun instinctively lowered his center of gravity, planting his stance firmly.
Ragnar nearly lost his balance. "Lady Ingrid! This is safe, right!?"
Ingrid froze.
She turned sharply toward Jörmungandr.
The World Serpent… was still asleep.
Yet the tremor… was not coming from it.
Ingrid turned the other way.
And her face immediately stiffened.
The distant sea split apart.
Not by waves — but by something rising from beneath.
A colossal tentacle surged into the air, its surface covered in strange patterns and dark slime that glimmered faintly. Then another. And another.
Not one.
Not two.
Many.
Dozens of enormous tentacles emerged across multiple points, smashing into the sea's surface and the rocks around the island, sending towering saltwater plumes into the air.
"This is impossible…" Ingrid whispered, her voice stripped of composure.
And as if that weren't enough—
Something darted quickly across the water's surface.
Dark shapes moved in unison, like a living tide without end. Within seconds, thousands of figures emerged from the sea.
Deep Ones.
Their numbers defied reason.
They climbed the rocks, leapt from the water, chanting in rhythmic murmurs that made the air vibrate. The once-calm sea was now filled with cold eyes and glimmering tridents.
Jun drew a slow breath.
His eyes turned cold.
"…Damn," he muttered quietly. "We're trapped here."
Ragnar gripped his sword, his expression shifting from awe to ferocity. "So this was their goal from the beginning…"
Ingrid clenched her fists. Her wings of light now shone brighter — yet the faint tremor within them betrayed a dread she could no longer hide.
"This…" she murmured softly, echoing Ragnar's earlier words. "So they really have been targeting Jörmungandr from the start?"
"Lady Ingrid! Get a hold of yourself!" Ragnar shouted, his voice cutting through the roar of the sea and the cries of the Deep Ones.
Ingrid flinched, then shook her head slightly, forcing her mind to refocus.
"Ah… yes," she said, her breathing unsteady.
Jun stepped half a pace forward, his eyes sweeping across the endless swarm before them.
"The three of us alone could never stop all of that," he said — calm, yet firm.
Ragnar growled. "Then what do we do? Let these monsters free Jörmungandr?"
Ingrid answered at once, her tone steadier.
"Jörmungandr should not be able to awaken so easily. Lord Odin and the other gods have placed Primordial Runes to bind it in deep slumber."
She turned toward the serpent-shaped island.
"Even external attacks are useless. Jörmungandr's own defenses can withstand Lord Thor's Mjölnir."
Ragnar fell silent for a moment, then looked sharply toward the increasingly crowded waters. "Then… what are they really after here!?"
A brief silence surrounded them.
Then Ingrid realized something.
She followed Jun's line of sight.
Jun was not looking at Jörmungandr… but toward a small island opposite them.
There, atop rocks nearly swallowed by the waves, stood an ancient stone monument.
Cracked. Old. And radiating the same aura Ragnar had once described.
Jun narrowed his eyes.
"Well then, Ragnar…" he said quietly. "What is it that these Deep Ones are truly worshipping?"
At that same moment—
The world seemed to stop.
Before Jun, an invisible window appeared — its letters glowing coldly.
[Tower revises Quest]
Stop the actions of the Deep Ones in releasing Jörmungandr
[Tower issues New Quest]
Prevent Cthulhu from manifesting in Midgard
The air around them instantly grew heavier.
Ingrid's eyes widened. "Cthulhu…?"
That name was more than a title.
It was primordial fear — something even the gods spoke of cautiously. A cosmic entity not fully bound to any world. Its mere existence was enough to erode sanity, twist natural law, and blur the line between dream and reality.
But while they were still speaking—
The Deep Ones were already moving.
Thousands of them crawled up onto the island's landmass, their wet bodies thudding against stone, ritual murmurs growing louder and more synchronized. The colossal tentacles churned the sea, stirring it like a giant cauldron preparing something to be born.
Jun didn't have time.
He stepped forward.
"Hey."
His voice wasn't loud — but it was enough to cut through the hesitation inside himself.
"Jun, wait—!" Ragnar shouted.
"Ingrid, he—!" The Valkyrie reflexively raised her spear.
But Jun did not stop.
He ran.
Not on the ground — but in the air. Every step landed on emptiness, Demonic Qi bursting briefly beneath his feet, propelling his body higher and farther forward.
The wind roared.
The sea beneath him looked like a living darkness in motion.
Jun raised his right hand.
Demonic Qi surged violently, thick and ferocious, wrapping his arm like pulsing black-red flames. At the same time, the ring on his finger glowed — and from it, Ifrit's Flame erupted outward, its heat so extreme that the air around him distorted.
Crimson-gold fire and dense black energy.
Two forces that should have rejected one another —
were being forced to merge.
Jun let out a low growl, veins bulging along his arm as he compressed both energies into a single point. The space around him cracked, like glass breaking under a pressure that should not exist.
The Deep Ones looked up.
Some stopped moving.
Their primal instincts screamed.
"Go to hell," Jun muttered coldly.
He hurled the fused energy downward.
For a moment—
The world froze.
White light swallowed everything.
Then—
BOOOOOOOM——!!!
A devastating explosion shook both sea and land. The shockwave swept across the island, obliterating rows of Deep Ones into dust, flesh, and seawater that evaporated on impact. The ocean split apart, forming a massive crater before collapsing back with a thunderous roar.
The giant tentacles were severed, flung into the air before crashing back into the sea with heavy impact.
The sky trembled.
Ragnar staggered, stabbing his sword into the ground to avoid being thrown back. "By the gods…"
Ingrid stared ahead with wide eyes, her wings of light spreading reflexively. "That… is not a human attack."
The light slowly faded.
Thick smoke rose from the now-boiling sea, fragments of Deep Ones falling like black rain. In the middle of the devastation, one figure still stood suspended in the air — Jun's coat fluttering, Demonic Qi still swirling wildly around him.
But Jun did not look satisfied.
That explosion… still wasn't enough.
From the churning sea, those massive tentacles moved again. Their flesh writhed, black-green fibers knitting back together, regenerating at an unnatural speed. Wounds that should have been fatal closed as if they had never existed.
And the Deep Ones—
They did not retreat.
The creatures kept swimming, their bodies cutting through the water with fanatic madness, a single purpose burning in their hollow eyes: the island where the stone monument stood.
Ragnar grit his teeth. "Lady Ingrid! We have to do something!"
Ingrid turned sharply, tension tightening her expression. The Valkyrie drew a deep breath, then nodded with heavy resolve.
"Yes. Ragnar, help that man however you can. Hold them back."
She looked toward the sea, then at the monument. "I will report to the gods. Right now."
Without waiting for a reply, Ingrid closed her eyes. Her wings of light spread fully, their glow turning purer and sharper. The wind around her stopped, as if the world itself gave way. She lifted her face to the sky, lips moving in a language not born of mankind — a prayer, a report, and a warning to the gods watching over Midgard.
Meanwhile—
Jun was already moving again.
Maw, the small blue slime, leapt from his shoulder and shifted form in midair. Liquid — then solid — forming into a perfect sword in Jun's grasp. Its blade shimmered faintly, flooded with Demonic Qi flowing like a dark river.
Jun shot forward.
His body turned into a black-red blur tearing through the air, cutting past rows of Deep Ones rising from the sea. In a single breath, he slashed.
A straight line was drawn.
Dozens of Deep Ones split cleanly — their bodies falling apart before they could scream, sinking into the sea below. The surrounding water turned red… then black.
Jun did not stop.
He leapt higher, spinning through the air, then swung his sword downward. A massive tentacle was cleaved in half, its severed end flung away before crashing into the sea like a collapsing pillar.
Another tentacle lunged from the side.
Jun twisted his wrist, Demonic Qi detonating along the blade. A second strike followed — deeper, crueler — cutting the tentacle before it could reach the shore.
In the distance, Ragnar finally charged forward.
He roared, the rune tattoos along his body glowing brightly, his form blazing with dim light and fire trailing his sword.
But even as they fought with everything they had—
The tide of Deep Ones did not stop.
Jun hovered in the air for a moment, his gaze fixed on the stone monument — now glowing brighter. Fine cracks spread across its surface, as if something behind it was beginning to awaken.
Jun tightened his grip on his sword.
"So that really is your target…" he muttered coldly.
In the sky, Ingrid's prayer continued.
On land, Ragnar and the Vikings fought desperately.
//---//
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