Reincarnated as the Descendant of a Fallen Noble

Chapter 62: Subjugation of Kreveion. (5)

On the boat, packed full with members of Daphne.

“One! Two! One! Two! Faster, as fast as you can!”

“Uaaaaaah! Damn it!”

“Row faster!”

Under Manton’s command, everyone rowed—not with oars, but with their halberds, to the point of dislocating their shoulders.

 Splashhh!

The Sahagin also flailed desperately in the water, trying to keep up.

Everyone’s arms throbbed, and their bodies were soaked in sweat and seawater, but they couldn’t stop.

Their target was the whirlpool strait ahead.

Manton's eyes sharpened with determination.

‘If we just make it there, the monsters won’t follow us any further.’

They needed to lure the monsters and shake them off, making it into the whirlpool strait.

Once inside, the strong current would prevent the monsters from keeping up.

 Use the bait and make it to the whirlpool, no matter what.

That was the first phase of the subjugation mission, as Hardin had explained.

The minor issue, however, was that Hardin himself had taken on the role of the bait.

“Instructor!”

“Speak!”

At that moment, a knight rowing beside Manton glanced nervously behind them and asked,

“I can’t see the Young Master anymore!”

Manton slightly turned his head and looked out over the sea.

Hardin, who had been unleashing fierce roars and mowing down monsters, had vanished beneath the waves at some point.

‘Did he fall?’

There were no more splashes, no sign of Hardin at all.

Logically speaking, it was already unbelievable that he’d lasted this long beneath the monster-infested waters.

‘Why would he go this far…’

Manton's brow furrowed.

From the very beginning—volunteering to take down Kreveion, then leaping into the sea to be the bait—none of it made any sense.

Mudside.

A fishing village so hopeless even Manton, who was from there, had given up on it.

It was a land with no hope, nothing left to save.

Was it right for the Young Master of a noble house to throw his life away just to try and save such a place?

As a knight, as one of Daphne’s own, he just couldn’t understand it.

Bitterness rose in his throat.

‘Damn it…’

The boat had already made it far into the sea.

It was too late to turn back now.

Grit!

‘Too late to go back.’

Manton clenched his lips tightly and shouted,

“Don’t worry about it! The Young Master’s orders were to reach that island! For now, we push forward!”

“……”

If the Young Master was truly gone, and turning back wasn’t an option—

Then at the very least, they had to try and accomplish something.

Manton summoned his courage and rallied the others, but bitter expressions mixed with fear were already etched deep on everyone’s faces.

‘Is this really the right thing to do?’

‘Can we even… survive this?’

Hardin had disappeared.

That Hardin, the one they had all believed to be so strong.

With their leader gone, it was only natural for their morale to plummet.

In the meantime—

Swaaaahhhhh!

The sound of rushing water grew louder and louder.

The whirlpool strait was now less than 30 meters away.

Even when glancing back from time to time, there no longer seemed to be any monsters pursuing them.

‘We’re almost there.’

A grim determination spread across Manton’s face.

His hand, gripping the halberd, trembled slightly.

His body already knew the truth.

Once they entered that strait, it would be the same as putting a final period on Hardin’s death.

Manton tightly shut his eyes and then opened them as he shouted,

“Entering the whirlpool!”

Just as the boat was about to plunge into the whirlpool—

“You bastards! Wait for me!”

A familiar voice rang out from behind them.

“Huh?”

“What’s that?”

At once, everyone turned their heads.

“Uaaaah!”

A giant turtle-like monster, with a face like a rhinoceros and a shell the size of a house.

Kodomo Turtle.

The creature was rushing toward them with a pained expression, and a man was strangling its neck.

His hair hung like seaweed, and his battle uniform was in tatters—he looked like a beggar.

It was the Young Master, Hardin Daphne.

“Young Master?”

“H-he’s alive?”

How had he survived this whole time?

Could it be that he had taken down all those monsters?

Could that even be possible?

Rather than joy, everyone first felt a sense of disbelief.

Splash splash splash!

As he rapidly approached through the currents, Hardin shouted,

“Row!”

“Huh?”

“Don’t stop, keep rowing! Can’t you hear me?”

Crack! Crack!

 Screeee!

“Damn it! Move, you turtle bastard!”

Hardin twisted the Kodomo Turtle’s neck even harder as he shouted.

“Yes!”

Manton nodded and urgently shouted as he paddled with his halberd.

“Everyone, row! We’re entering the whirlpool like this!”

“But the Young Master is still—”

“He told us to go!”

At Manton’s firm rebuke, everyone finally accepted it and gripped their halberds tightly.

“One, two! One, two!”

“Uaaaaaah!”

As they started rowing again, the boat, which had hesitated momentarily, surged forward once more.

Swaaaahhhh!

The edge of the whirlpool strait was now just ahead.

Tap!

At that moment, Hardin released his grip on the Kodomo Turtle’s neck, judged the distance, and rolled back onto its shell.

 Gwooooh!

As the monster let out a screech-like roar and thrashed about, Hardin took a couple of deep breaths, lowered his stance, and blue light flashed from his eyes.

“Here I go!”

Taah!

With a running start, he stomped on the Kodomo Turtle’s head and launched himself forward.

Shooooom!

“Haaah!”

Hardin’s body soared high into the sky.

“……”

Everyone rowing looked up simultaneously.

‘H-he’s flying!’

Hardin's body looked as small as a dot.

A gust of sea wind blew, scattering everyone's hair, and midday sunlight streamed down from above.

In that moment, time seemed to freeze, and everyone’s perception slowed.

Then, from up in the air, Hardin’s voice echoed down.

“Dodge!”

“Huh? What did he just say?”

“I think… he said to dodge?”

Beryl and Mikkelsen looked at each other with puzzled expressions.

Hardin’s body began to descend slowly, directly toward the boat.

As the distant dot grew larger, gaining speed as it approached, everyone’s faces turned pale.

“H-he’s coming!”

“Uaaaaaaaah!”

Everyone reflexively scrambled to the sides.

Kwahhh-boom!

Hardin crashed right into the middle of the deck and rolled across it.

Just as he was about to roll off the boat—

Thump!

“Got you!”

Manton instinctively reached out, and Hardin grabbed his arm, barely hanging on.

“Young Master! Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Can’t you see for yourself? Haaah… haaah… haaah…”

Seriously, that was damn exhausting. You bastards.

Hardin let out a deep sigh, his body ragged and in tatters.

‘Why the hell was that so hard?’

Back in the day, he could’ve done this without a boat, just with his body. Now he was suffering even with one?

Hardin shook himself off and stood up.

“Forget it. Just hold onto the boat tight. Unless you want to become a water ghost.”

“Water ghost?”

What did that mean?

Everyone gave Hardin a confused look.

Swaaaaaaaah!

The roar of the whirlpool grew louder and louder.

“Whoooa!”

With a sudden jolt, they all were flung to the deck.

As they barely came to their senses and looked around—

“It’s— it’s fast!”

“Uwaaah!”

The boat was already spinning rapidly atop the whirlpool.

Waves crashed from every direction, and water splashed onto the deck.

“Water’s coming in!”

“Then bail it out.”

Hardin grabbed a bucket rolling around the deck and quickly tossed it over.

Soon, everyone picked up whatever tools they could find and began bailing out the water.

The one problem was—

“Damn it, this is making me dizzy!”

“Someone do something!”

“Urgh! Bleeergh!”

The whirlpool’s speed was just too fast.

Water continued to flood the deck, and everyone struggled to keep their balance, now even retching from seasickness.

 Splash! Splash!

Of course, the Sahagin still clinging on were also spinning along with them as a bonus.

With all this combined, the worst-case scenario had unfolded—they couldn’t move forward even an inch.

Manton asked urgently,

“Young Master! What do we do now? Should we row diagonally as you said?”

“……”

Hardin raised his head and looked ahead.

What met his gaze were dozens more whirlpools up ahead.

Originally, the plan had been to, along with the Sahagin, row diagonally and tackle the whirlpools one by one.

That method of creating a directional shift against the whirlpool’s current was the most commonly used escape technique.

Hardin had made sure they trained in that method beforehand.

But—

‘It’s going to be a bit tight.’

The resistance from the monsters on the way here had been intense, and everyone, clearly not used to being on a boat, was already in terrible condition.

Attempting to break through each whirlpool one by one in this state?

‘We’ll sink before we make it.’

Even if they somehow got through, they wouldn’t have any strength left to fight Kreveion.

In the end, there was only one option left.

‘…It’s me again, isn’t it?’

Damn fate. What crimes did I commit in my past life to deserve this…

Hardin took a deep breath and calmly said,

“Manton, we’re changing the plan.”

“Changing it? H-how exactly?”

“Everyone grab your halberds and row along the whirlpool’s direction, with the current.”

“Sorry?”

Manton's eyes went wide.

“With the current? That’s not what you said yesterday.”

 When escaping a whirlpool, row against the current, slowly. That’s the most stable method.

That was the method Hardin had taught them before beginning the mission.

Now he was telling them to do the exact opposite.

Hardin let out a deep sigh.

“That was right back then. But this is what’s right now.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Just do it. I’m busy too.”

“Ah, understood.”

Hardin furrowed his brow sharply, as if breathing fire from his mouth.

At that, Manton’s face hardened, and as if making up his mind, he nodded and shouted,

“Everyone, grab your halberds! Row with the whirlpool’s direction and pick up speed! As fast as you can!”

“Huh? Faster?”

“Now!”

“Uuuugh…”

Are we really supposed to do this?

Still filled with suspicion, everyone picked up their halberds and started rowing under Manton’s urging.

“One! Two! One! Two! Faster, even faster!”

“Uwaaaaaaah!”

“F-fast!”

Whenever Manton glanced at him, Hardin waved his hand, signaling to keep going.

The boat picked up more and more speed, and their bodies tilted backward.

Waves crashing onto the deck grew even fiercer.

It even felt as if something was yanking their bodies inward.

Everyone kept themselves low and strained their muscles to keep from being thrown off.

“Are you sure this is okay?!”

“Don’t slow down! Even faster!”

Everyone's faces twisted in agony. Hardin grabbed his halberd and crouched low, taking a deep breath.

‘Time to go.’

Woooooong!

He closed his eyes for a moment and drew mana from his core.

Thanks to having consumed the Heart of the Sea, a much stronger energy than before surged and boiled throughout Hardin’s entire body.

He gathered all that energy into one point and directed it toward the tip of his halberd.

Crackle! Crackle!

The end of the halberd glowed blue, and mana began to ripple along its edge.

He used Gyre to etch the form of a wave onto the halberd’s blade.

Even that alone could unleash terrifying power.

But...

‘It won’t be enough.’

To escape this place in one go—to skip every phase—they needed more.

Grit.

Hardin bit down on his lip, drawing out even more mana.

His body trembled, his eyes glowed a brilliant blue, and the wave carved onto the halberd surged more violently.

‘W-what is that?’

‘Huh?’

The eyes of those rowing widened in shock.

They couldn’t even begin to imagine what was happening.

The boat was already shaking violently, matching the whirlpool’s maddening speed.

And their hearts pounded even faster than that.

At that moment, Manton shouted again,

“Don’t stop rowing!”

“Uuugh, I—I’m getting dizzy!”

As the boat’s spinning reached its limit—

Flash!

Hardin’s eyes shone with piercing light.

‘Now!’

He raised the halberd at an angle and slammed it down hard toward the rear of the boat.

Kwahhhhh-booooom!

Then, a massive pillar of water shot up from beneath the whirlpool and struck the underside of the boat.

“This is insane!”

The boat—flew into the sky.

To be precise, it soared across the sea filled with whirlpools.

“Aaaaaaaaah!”

“We’re going to die!”

 Swaaashhh!

Fierce winds hit them head-on, causing their lips to tremble and their hair to whip backwards.

The Maw mercenaries, the knights of Daphne, even the guiding Sahagin—

All turned pale as sheets, clinging tightly to the railings or to each other, doing whatever they could to keep from being thrown off.

Their limbs trembled, and their knees buckled.

‘Is this how I die?’

‘This is why he told us to pick up speed?!’

In this moment, the only one aboard the boat who remained fully composed was one person—Hardin Daphne.

‘This should… be enough, right?’

With his head poked outside, Hardin checked the boat’s flight angle and time in the air.

Soon, the boat reached its peak and began to descend again.

With a sudden drop in sensation, the boat picked up speed once more.

“We’re falling!”

“Hiiiiiiiek!”

The boat soared over all the whirlpools and plummeted straight toward the destination—Rocky Isle.

‘We’re gonna die!’

‘Uoooooooh!’

Dozens, no—hundreds of sharp, jagged reefs rushed toward them from the distance.

They looked like a demon’s gaping maw.

The speed was so terrifying, it was nearly impossible to keep their eyes open.

If they crashed like this, it would be far worse than just the boat shattering.

Everyone’s faces turned ghostly pale, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.

At that moment, Manton barely managed to open his mouth to ask,

“Young Master, what do we do now?!”

“What?”

“I mean—is there a plan for this situation?!”

Hardin looked down briefly and muttered,

“…A plan, huh.”

As if. Who would ever plan for something like this?

“Grit your teeth and hold on.”

“Excuse me?”

“Just hold on.”

“……”

Manton felt the blood in his veins run cold.

Just then—

Thunk!

Hardin gripped his halberd tightly once more.

As his eyes glowed blue again, a fierce energy gathered at the tip of the halberd.

Then—

Fwaaaarrrgh!

He hurled the halberd down toward the reef field below.

“W-what?!”

Even against the roaring wind, Manton’s eyes flew open wide, tearing from the force.

Kwahhhhh-booooom!

The halberd smashed into the reefs, unleashing a deafening explosion.

“Get your heads down, you bastards!”

At Hardin’s shout, everyone ducked low.

Then—

Rumble! Rumble-rumble-rumble!

Hundreds, thousands of shattered rock fragments shot into the air and clattered violently against the boat’s underbelly.

A shaking so intense, it felt like an earthquake.

But because of that, the boat’s speed slowed—if only slightly.

“Uaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Everyone’s screams echoed skyward as if reaching heaven itself.

Kwahhhh-booooom!

The boat slammed into the reef below and shattered completely.

“Aaaargh!”

Amid the flying wooden debris, everyone was thrown in all directions.