171: The ocean's full of spikes, they say.

"Phoenix Claw Rending Break!"

Soral unleashes the technique with a crack of sheer will.

The arrow, fired from the orichalcum bow, trails a storm-like gale, slices through waves, lifts the sea, and rips a massive hole through the kraken’s body—splitting it clean in two.

The power doesn’t stop there. The storm arrow keeps flying, straight toward the horizon.

Whoa.

That’s more than enough to shatter my whole image of archers like Rangers.

The idea that bows are just support weapons? That’s flying off into the distance like that arrow.

Raidock’s already used to it—just whistles softly. But everyone else in the party? Stunned. Speechless. Utterly floored.

Still, we’re doing fine. We knew Solal had the sigil of the Archery Goddess—Artemis—and we knew her strength before that.

But Nobuna and Kanetsugu’s reactions? Beyond ordinary.

“W-what the hell was that!? This is way beyond normal!”

“Not a mage… that was just an arrow attack…”

“I know that! But come on, this is ridiculous!?”

“Even with my own eyes… I can’t believe it.”

It’s no surprise Nobuna and the others froze mid-attack, staring at the last remaining kraken. Even we, who know Raidock’s brand of madness, had our thoughts stop dead.

“You’re one to talk, you know.”

Somehow Eva shot that back at me.

I don’t think I’m as bad as they are, though.

That’s when we noticed a new group of bird cavalry approaching.

About fifty strong, all dressed like armored warriors.

They caught up to Nobuna’s group, and the lead man leapt lightly from his two-legged bird… and face-planted.

But he got up, brushed himself off like nothing happened.

“Hahaha. Nobuna! When Kagetaka arrives, you can rest easy! And remember this majestic sight well!”

The young warrior flicked his bangs back sharply.

He looked older than Nobuna—probably around my age.

“Huh… what’s so heroic about that? You’re from the Three Great Houses, yet you’re late. Your manor’s closer to the port than ours.”

“U-uh… it’s because I heard about the kraken, so I made sure to bring enough force to crush it…”

“Shame on you… a samurai’s honor is weeping.”

“Nug….”

I don’t catch the finer details, but the two seem to know each other.

And even at first glance, Kagetaka’s clearly aware of Nobuna, while Nobuna’s clearly annoyed by Kagetaka.

No chance in hell.

“M-maybe! But leave this to me! Let’s go! Keep going!”

Kagetaka charges forward, dragging a samurai-like subordinate, straight at a nearby tentacle.

The last few legs of the kraken notice them and attack. The warriors dodge in sync, countering, but it’s shaky. Looks like they’re gonna get crushed any second.

“Cyclone! Slash!”

Kagetaka unleashes a move with a flashy name, but doesn’t seem to be doing much damage. If anything, the subordinate’s version of the same technique looks slightly stronger.

I figured I couldn’t just leave it be, so I powered up the communication golem and linked to Raidock.

“Hey, Raidock. You gonna leave it alone?”

‘Honestly, poking your nose into a foreign army’s battle isn’t exactly ideal…’

“Yeah, I get that.”

Earlier, it was obvious Nobuna’s forces were short-staffed, so I just dealt with the one left behind. But now, interrupting an actual fight? Might be a bad move.

‘Besides, looks like you don’t need to worry, huh?’

“Huh?”

Raidock pointed ahead. There was Nobuna.

She let out a long, exasperated sigh, then pulled a talisman from her pocket.

“I call upon thee. Come forth from the underworld! Sea-Headed Child!”

What the—?

I thought Nobuna was a samurai… or at least a swordsman or warrior-type. Turns out she can summon weird monsters with magic too?

The talisman detached from Nobuna’s hand fluttered down and landed in the sea. Then—*plink*—a thin old man rose up from the water’s surface.

Small-statured, with a lute slung across his back and a slender cane in hand.

And he stood there on the water, as if it were normal.

Old in appearance, but clearly a monster of some kind.

Still, compared to the monster Kanetsugu had summoned earlier, this one looked pathetically weak.

I’ve had that thought myself, once.

The old man gave his cane a small flick. The waters around the kraken began to churn.

Then, slowly, massively, a spiral formed on the sea’s surface. In the blink of an eye, it became a colossal vortex—swallowing the kraken’s massive body whole.

Wait, wouldn’t that attack be useless against an enemy underwater?

I’ve had that thought myself—again.

The massive, powerful vortex wouldn’t let the kraken escape. Crushing water pressure sealed the giant squid inside a cage of seawater, twisting its enormous body bit by bit.

Like wringing out a mop, it just kept twisting the kraken’s body until it snapped.

...Sorry. Thought you looked weak or something.

Even so, it was a big move. Nobuna was drenched in sweat from the forehead, one knee planted on the ground.

At the same time, the tentacles—those massive limbs—collapsed, lifeless.

The main body was finished, so the limbs couldn’t move. Still, Kagetaka stood over a still tentacle, one foot planted on it, sword raised.

No way!

You didn’t beat it!

Kagetaka, who’d been struggling with the tentacles, suddenly puffed out his chest, stood beside Nobuna, and offered a hand.

“Fufufu. You could’ve just stayed quiet and watched.”

Uo-oi! Seriously, this guy’s got no clue what’s going on!?

Nobuna shot a freezing glare at Kagetaka, who just stood there as if nothing had happened.

Ignoring the hand in front of him, Nobuna pushed herself up.

Skirting past Kagetaka, she took a few steps toward Raidock, who’d been watching from a little distance.

“Huh? Nobuna?”

Completely ignoring Kagetaka’s voice, Nobuna spoke to Raidock.

“Saved me. Gotta say thanks. Thanks to you all, I was able to pull off that big move—used up both stamina and magic.”

Raidock gave a light shrug.

“Good. We weren’t even needed. You looked like you had it handled.”

“True. We could’ve handled it alone. But it would’ve taken longer. And someone probably would’ve gotten hurt. So, really, thanks.”

“Glad we could help.”

"Adventurers from the Empire do that kind of thing, huh."

Another empire, huh.

"I'm not from the Empire. I'm an adventurer from the southern kingdom of Maugaria."

"South!? It's been pretty dangerous there lately! Monsters are multiplying like crazy! You're lucky you made it out alive."

"Hey, I've got a bit of confidence in my skills."

Raidock tapped the hilt of his sword. Nobuna nodded, satisfied.

"True. If you're capable of pulling that off, it's probably easy. I'd love to hear about the south, but I'm swamped with cleanup right now..."

"We're staying at the inn on the main road. No plans set yet, but we're sticking around for a while. If you need anything, come find us."

"Got it. I'll be by soon."

"Understood."

Raidock gave a quick wave and turned back toward us.

"Like I said."

I’ve been listening to every word of that conversation through the magical communication device.

Honestly, it’s damn convenient.

The only downside is how much magic power it burns.

“That female warrior’s quite the capable one.”

“Yeah. Her strength’s about the same as when I was a knight with my family’s crest. Even counting that weird summoning magic.”

So that Nobuna chick is basically a B-rank adventurer-level warrior.

“Whether it’s food, monsters, or fighters, this country never gets old.”

“Couldn’t agree more.”

We both shrugged at each other, Raidock and me, when Maina suddenly stuck her finger in her mouth.

“Grilled squid…”

Seriously, she’s turning into a total foodie all of a sudden!?

And so, we finished our sea viewing.

...This doesn’t look good.

Kagetaka’s favorite \^(^o^)/