Chapter 44

And so began the fierce underwater battle between the swift-swimming fish-men and the equally nimble Inari.

Well—“fierce battle” might be putting it generously. It was a one-sided fight where Inari dodged all their attacks and took them down with a casual “sei!” Eventually, the fish-men stopped appearing altogether.

If that meant the dungeon was cleared, fine. But if not, it posed a problem.

Drifting in the water, Inari gazed down toward the sea floor, troubled.

“Hmm… this is quite the bother. None of those fish-men were the boss, and no new enemies are coming. Which means I’ve got to search for it, I suppose.”

But there were no clues whatsoever. Should she dive to the sea floor? Or surface and look for something up top? Inari couldn’t tell which of the two was the right call.

Still, a dungeon that required venturing deep into some endless sea floor didn’t seem remotely feasible for ordinary humans to clear.

She vaguely remembered TV shows saying you needed proper equipment to go deep underwater, and becoming an Awakener surely didn’t mean you could survive in the deep sea unaided.

So the hint must be above. With that in mind, Inari swam smoothly to the surface and poked her face out with a “puhah.”

“Well now. There’s absolutely nothing up here, is there?”

Bright sunlight. Clear skies. Endless sea. Not even a single island in sight.

Then… perhaps it was the seafloor after all?

Just as Inari pondered that, she noticed a fog creeping in. It was dense and laced with an eerie energy—a type of manifestation Inari knew well.

“Ahh… I see now. A ghost ship, is it?”

Indeed. What emerged was a massive sailing vessel, eerily tattered and radiating ominous energy. Clearly something was going on. Inari figured this must be the next step—boarding the ship after fending off those fish-men.

And sure enough, a rope ladder descended as she approached.

It was obviously a trap, but nothing she couldn’t handle. Inari climbed up the ladder with ease, landing on the deck and snapping her fingers to dry her shrine maiden outfit in an instant.

“Mm. That’s better.”

Looking around, the ship appeared to be just what it looked like—a rundown vessel. She’d expected an abundance of undead, but surprisingly, there were none in sight.

“Plenty of ominous energy, yet not a single spirit… Hmm. Don’t tell me they’re all crammed inside the hull or something…?”

That would be unpleasant. With that thought, Inari began to walk across the deck.

If there was nothing on the surface, she’d just have to search.

She headed toward what looked like the captain’s quarters at the back, but the moment she passed the thick mainmast—something oozed out of it and lunged toward her.

Inari immediately leapt back, and the thing splatted harmlessly onto the deck.

It twitched and tried to move—only to be incinerated by Inari’s foxfire.

“Well now…? So that’s the kind of creature we’re dealing with, eh? In that case, even that rope ladder just now…”

Inari caught movement in the corner of her vision—the rope ladder she had just used came writhing at her like a centipede. She called out.

“Come forth, Kogetsu.”

“SHUUUUUUUUU!”

“What fine camouflage. ‘Twas effective—against anyone but me, that is.”

Something formless peeled away from the slashed ladder and tried to pounce—but Inari’s barrage of foxfire reduced it to ash with a shriek.

And as if that was a signal, formless creatures began to rise—no, everywhere—all across the ship.

“Oho!? Now this is something…”

They even surged from beneath her feet. A colossal swarm of formless beings engulfed the deck, surrounding Inari.

Ameiva Lord. That was the name of this monster—a massive, water-dwelling slime-like creature that took control of other beings by parasitizing them.

This one had apparently taken over the entire ship. Normally, it would have slowly absorbed victims over time.

But because Inari was sharp and strong, it had no choice but to act sooner than planned. Still, now that it had engulfed her, victory was assured—That is, if Inari were an ordinary Awakener.

“Secret Sword: Murasame.”

“SHHUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAA!?”

The Ameiva Lord let out a horrific shriek and immediately vomited Inari back onto the deck. It was obvious what had happened—the blade in her hand, Kogetsu, was now exuding a cold, frost-like aura.

“For a body like sticky syrup, cold that freezes the flesh ought to work quite nicely, no?”

“SHUUUUUUUAAAAAA!”

“Oh? Chilly, is it? Then I must warm thee up, must I not?”

As the Ameiva Lord surged at her like a tidal wave, Inari blasted it with massive foxfire attacks, again and again, blasting it back.

Flames. Explosions. When the chaos finally cleared—not even a scrap of the monster remained.

Just then, something like a transparent orb fell from the air, and Inari caught it with perfect timing.

A message appeared.

It was now abundantly clear that this was a temporary dungeon.