Ubermensch – Chapter 108

“Not my taste.”

Thump!

Mason, leaping from the ground, activated the force field of Lion’s Great Hammer.

“Woooah!”

Whoosh!

However, the soft and tough body of the Tiger Octopus absorbed the impact completely. Mason’s hammer, which would normally crush an enemy’s skull, merely bounced off the octopus.

“Boss. Don’t hit it. There’s no impact, and it’ll only hinder the others’ attacks.”

“Alright.”

In a situation where he couldn’t smash the enemy, it was Andrei’s turn, who was closer to a traditional tanker than Mason.

Andrei focused on tanking, firmly holding the enemy in place while allowing others to unleash their ranged attacks and magic.

Each of Mason’s blows was so heavy and powerful that he often sent enemies flying with every hit. Such stable tanking was a skill Mason could hardly imitate.

‘It’s the complete opposite of usual…’

Usually, Mason would fight on the front lines while Andrei waited in reserve, but now it was the other way around.

“…?”

Something caught Mason’s eye as he was passing the time. Something dark was crawling up from the seawater.

“Everyone! Check the seawater!”

Masika was the first to respond.

Mason wasn’t mistaken. A massive horde of small and medium-sized monsters was rising from the water.

“Add! Add!”

It was a blind spot.

They had cleared the monsters on land but not in the water.

Mason charged forward with his two-handed hammer.

At the same time, the three Vilmos sisters shouted over the comms.

The comms were chaotic. Masika, her concentration broken, snapped angrily.

Regardless, the Vilmos sisters erected a wall of fire near the sea level. A wall that would instantly incinerate small monsters but could be ignored and breached by anything medium-sized or larger.

“Oh…”

Mason was inwardly impressed.

The problem wasn’t the quality of the enemy but the quantity. The Vilmos sisters had cleverly deployed a wide but weak magic, creating a net. A net that massacred only the weak monsters.

And at the same time, they pulled out the combat rifles they had been carrying on their backs.

“…?!”

They were ordinary rifles, not core rifles.

Ignoring the bewildered others, they gleefully fired their guns.

“Heeeyah!”

“Hi-ho! Silver!”

“Geronimo!”

Trigger happy, they called it? The moment they held their guns, they shouted excitedly and unleashed a barrage of fire.

“A true mage must be skilled in magic, guns, and swords!”

Masika snapped.

“Responsibility? I’ll just take it with my life!”

“Any creature that dares approach me will have a conversation of iron with my bloodthirsty Kukri.”

“Well, they’ll have to get through my landmines and grenades first!”

It was like playing with fire in front of a powder keg. Either they had guts, or they were crazy.

Masika felt a headache coming on.

‘Sigh… I miss you… Deroa-nim…’

It was a moment when she missed Deroa more than ever. Though she had a sharp tongue, she was more cooperative than anyone else on the battlefield…

In any case, the Vilmos sisters were doing their part.

As was Mason.

“Wooooah!”

Crack! Crunch!

The monsters that had managed to cross the wall of fire were crushed by Mason’s hammer. Mason, who had been itching for action, was rampaging through the battlefield.

And so, the Tiger Octopus slowly crumbled.

Unable to even find a chance to use its strength properly, all its available means were being neutralized.

It was a typical successful raid.

“I’m making Takoyaki, anyone want some?”

“Or how about some boiled octopus!”

Except for Masika, who was clutching her chest in frustration.

“Someone shut those grandmas up…”

๑ஓ๑๑ஓ๑๑ஓ๑๑ஓ๑๑ஓ๑๑ஓ๑

The next target, the Giant Crab, was relatively easy to raid. It was a large crab with a hard shell that could withstand most attacks, but Mason’s blows were far from ordinary.

It would have been one thing if it was soft and elastic like the Tiger Octopus, but a shell that shattered upon impact was nothing more than a good punching bag for Mason.

“Wooooah!”

Mason crushed the claws first, then the legs one by one, and finally finished the raid by smashing the thrashing Giant Crab’s head.

The Giant Crab’s underwater minions, summoned from the sea, were also easily subdued by Andrei and the Vilmos sisters, who were waiting in advance.

With Mason on their side, the Revengers were strong enough to defeat two raid bosses simultaneously. There was no reason why taking them down one by one would be a problem.

“The problem is the Bloody Shark…”

Mason could see the Bloody Shark swimming in the distance. It was close enough that others could see it with telescopes.

“Is there any way to lure it in?”

“We brought the Monster Luring Soundwave Generator, but…”

“…It’s too far?”

“It’s too far.”

“Hmm…”

Crabs and octopuses were creatures that lived both on land and in water. So they could be lured ashore to fight. But there was no way to drag a purely aquatic creature onto land.

No matter what you did to a fish, it wouldn’t crawl out of the water where it couldn’t breathe, would it?

“Should we fight a naval battle on a boat?”

“Are you trying to drown everyone?”

Mason made a disappointed face.

“So we have to go into the water?”

“Go into the water?”

Masika, after a moment of thought, looked at Mason.

“Mason. Didn’t you say you have an adaptation ability?”

“Huh? Well, yeah.”

“Then if you stay in the water long enough… wouldn’t you develop the ability to breathe underwater?”

“What?”

Mason looked bewildered for a moment, but then he nodded.

“Theoretically, it’s possible, but the adaptation ability doesn’t always activate. It tends to choose to simply endure environments it can withstand. For the adaptation ability to activate underwater… I’d probably have to be on the verge of drowning.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah.”

“I see…”

“…Are you telling me to try it?”

“Did I say it out loud?”

Mason sighed.

Splash!

Mason jumped into the water.

Three hours later.

Mason, now with gills and webbed feet, poked his head above the surface.

“…Done?”

“…Done?”

Mason was amazed.

“As expected of my uncle.”

“Can you catch the Bloody Shark now?”

“I don’t think it’ll be that easy.”

Mason’s primary fighting style was close combat, utilizing his monstrous strength. However, engaging in close combat underwater was not a simple task. Aside from the water pressure halving his striking power, he needed to be able to keep up with the swimming speed of his target to even attempt anything.

That was why the primary weapon of fish like sharks was their teeth. Because once they bit down, the hunt was over.

“To fight it, we need to drag it out of the water somehow. I’ll try, so bring me a harpoon gun.”

“Yes.”

Among the equipment they had brought in advance was a large ship-mounted harpoon gun. Mason equipped the harpoon gun and dived back into the water.

As everyone waited anxiously…

Whoosh!

A giant harpoon shot out of the water.

“Did it miss?”

“No. There’s flesh on the end!”

Monsters have barriers. This applied to the Bloody Shark, an underwater monster, as well.

However, a barrier only protects the exterior of the body.

It had little effect on things exiting from the inside.

Mason had been swallowed by the Bloody Shark and fired the harpoon from inside its body.

“…He’s insane. Really.”

Masika shook her head.

Mason was a superhuman. Common sense was meaningless when it came to him. Even considering that, he often did crazy things.

With the harpoon embedded, Mason swam back to the surface, dragging the chain behind him.

As he emerged from the water and his body dried, the gills and webbed feet disappeared.

“Alright, shall we pull?”

“Yes!”

At that moment, Mason roared and put all his strength into his arms.

Crack! Crack!

The concrete floor cracked as his feet dug in, and every muscle in Mason’s body bulged.

“Gaaaaaaah!”

The weight of a killer whale, which was smaller than the Bloody Shark, was several tons. The Bloody Shark would weigh close to ten tons.

Furthermore, the weight of a desperately struggling fish felt several times heavier than its actual weight.

However, the superhuman’s strength surpassed even the desperate struggle for survival.

“Heave!”

As Mason pulled on the chain, the Bloody Shark’s massive body was yanked out of the water like a fish caught on a hook.

“Hmph!”

Mason swung the chain, hurling the Bloody Shark onto land.

Thud…

The Bloody Shark thrashed violently, struggling desperately.

The players, who were preparing for battle, looked at Mason after witnessing the spectacle.

“…Wouldn’t it suffocate to death without us even hitting it?”

“Maybe?”

“Let’s find out.”

Mason signaled a cease-fire.

Everyone stared blankly at the Bloody Shark.

Two hours later.

“…It’s dead?”

Mason made a puzzled face.

It wasn’t that underwater monsters had never been raided before. However, most cases involved joint operations with naval warships. It was a feat that could only be achieved after bombarding the creature with torpedoes, cannons, and gunfire.

This was the first time a raid team had successfully completed a raid on their own without specialized equipment.

‘Well, I guess I’m the specialized equipment.’

Victory was victory, no matter how it was achieved.

And so, Mason savored the taste of victory.

“Mason. We received an inquiry from the UN.”

A few days later, until the UN, after receiving the Bloody Shark raid report, sent an inquiry.

“What do they want?”

“They’re asking if you can get swallowed by the Bubble with a nuclear bomb.”

“…?!”