Chapter 183: Chapter 182: Severed Connection
After hearing Dempsey’s words, the students were stunned, and so was Quinton, “What?”
“Staying inside the cabin is safe for now, but once the giant ship is breached and takes in water, those hiding in the cabin won’t be able to escape at all. Those on deck may still have a chance to survive,” Dempsey stated.
“This…” Quinton hesitated, honestly not having considered this possibility.
“Everyone stay on deck,” Dempsey commanded again. “Be vigilant in dodging attacks, and don’t be like those two fools earlier who didn’t see it coming. If necessary, jump into the sea.”
With that, Dempsey no longer paid attention to the panicking crowd and, along with the three other wizards, furiously moved to intercept the giant squid’s attacking tentacles.
And as he intercepted, Dempsey’s eyebrows were tightly furrowed.
Although using the giant’s water arm could indeed block the squid’s tentacle attacks, because the water arm was not solid, it could only be used as a disposable means of defense and couldn’t completely restrain the giant squid. Throughout the defense, he and Siv were at a disadvantage; if the giant squid kept attacking, the four wizards could very well be exhausted to death.
Dempsey thought to himself, then said to Siv and the others, “I must find a way to teach this squid a lesson, to let it know we’re not easy to deal with and to make it give up on attacking the giant ship. Otherwise, we won’t be able to hold on.”
“How do we teach it a lesson?” asked Wizard Siv.
Dempsey took a deep breath and spoke out, “You all cooperate with me, help me bind the squid’s tentacles for more than a second, and I’ll make it bleed.”
“Alright,” Wizard Siv and the other two exchanged a glance, nodded in agreement, and didn’t question whether Dempsey could do it or not—there was simply no room for doubt at this point.
“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”
Three tentacles attacked again, with two being deflected by Quinton and Louis, while the remaining one kept getting closer to the deck.
The students on deck began to cry out in alarm, already preparing to dodge, when Siv raised his hand, and two water pillars rose from the sea, transforming into two thick, over one meter in diameter and over ten meters long, giant arms that firmly grasped the ends of the squid’s tentacles.
The squid’s tentacles struggled, and the water-formed arms were on the verge of disintegrating, as Siv loudly recited the spell. The next moment, the two water-formed arms rapidly froze into crystal giant arms, tightly locking the squid’s tentacles.
Despite the tentacles’ struggles causing the icy giant arms to crack, they were not quickly destroyed.
This spell evidently cost Siv a lot of his energy; after casting it, he turned pale but said nothing, merely nodding to Dempsey.
Dempsey nodded back and then made his move.
Flipping his arm, a black short wand flew out of his sleeve, and he caught it with a “snap.”
Holding the black short wand, Dempsey aimed at the tentacle held by the two icy giant arms and recited a lengthy spell.
The squid sensed the danger, struggling mightily with its trapped tentacle; cracks multiplied on the icy giant arms. The rest of the squid’s tentacles flew over, attempting a rescue but were desperately blocked by Quinton, Louis, and Siv.
Dempsey held his short wand, as if oblivious to everything else, continuing his incantations.
As the spell rose, turbulent mana fluctuations began across the ship; ordinary students felt nothing, but the Wizard Apprentices widened their eyes looking towards Dempsey, realizing the power of the spell.
Richard raised his eyebrows, glanced at Dempsey, then pursed his lips.
The squid grew more violent, its tentacles thrashing wildly. The two icy giant arms were on the brink of collapse. All of the tentacles attacked in a frenzy, with the three wizards Siv and the others struggling immensely.
Just then, Dempsey finished his spell, shouting, “Go!”
He swung his short wand, and a golden light flew out.
The squid struggled with all its might, and with a “splash,” the tentacle finally broke free but couldn’t retract in time as the golden light caught up to it and hit the end of the tentacle.
“Crack,” it sounded as if boiling water were poured onto snow, akin to a sharp blade slicing through paper. The tip of the tentacle, struck by the golden light, fell straight from the sky without struggle and thudded onto the deck near the edge.
At the point of severance, the golden light, like a bone-eating maggot, coiled up, moving toward the squid’s body.
The squid emitted sounds of incomparable shrillness, a noise born of either rage or howl, as its remaining tentacles lashed out toward the giant ship like a fierce storm, only to be blocked one after another by Dempsey and the other wizards.
the giant squid ceased its assault, retracting all its tentacles, digesting the damage the golden light cast by Dempsey had inflicted upon its body. It clearly recognized the strength of the wizards aboard the giant vessel.
Yet, it did not leave but rather maintained a distance of about one hundred meters from the ship, following continuously, intermittently emitting “hiss, hiss” sounds.
“What’s it trying to do? Threaten us? But why doesn’t it attack after such a long threat? Or is it a truce? Then why not leave?” Wizard Siv furrowed his brow and pondered analytically.
“Perhaps…” Dempsey spoke, his gaze falling upon the severed tentacle of the giant squid on the deck, “Perhaps it wants to reclaim the part of its body that belongs to it.”
“Let’s return it,” Dempsey said, “If it’s sensible, it will take the tentacle and leave immediately. If it doesn’t leave and still harbors any intentions toward the giant ship, then I’ll have no choice but to employ some harsher measures I’d rather not use, and truly teach it a lesson.”
“Alright then.” The other three wizards nodded, glancing at the distant giant squid as a sign of agreement to this course of action.
Wizard Siv turned to the side, noticing a student closest to the tentacle, and pointed, saying, “You, push the tentacle into the sea.”
The student, startled by these words, received either pitiful or maliciously amused looks from those around him. To the others, the giant squid was dangerous, and so the severed tentacle could also carry some risk. It might suddenly split open and swallow someone whole. But since it wasn’t them being named by the wizard for this task, they weren’t worried, merely spectators eager to see how the appointed student would fare.
The singled-out student stood frozen, unmoving.
Wizard Siv frowned, “What’s the matter, aren’t you willing?”
Uh, no, Master Wizard, I’m on it,” Richard spoke up, stepping quickly toward the squid’s tentacle, his mind racing as he heard Gro and Nancy whispering “Be careful” behind him.
The momentary pause had been because he was entirely unprepared to be named for this task.
Actually, before being named, he had been contemplating how he could come into contact with this tentacle.
This tentacle was no ordinary one; it belonged to a giant squid with tentacles spanning a hundred meters. Hidden within its flesh, within its cells, must lie some secret of the giant squid. While he might lack the capability to study it now, collecting some of the tissue structure and freezing it could prove worthwhile someday in the future, where it might play a significant role.
And just as he was considering how he might approach the tentacle, he was directly assigned to the task by the wizard, simply because, during its fall, he had anticipated the landing point and had not dodged as far away as the others had.
Luck? Was it fortune? Or was it, perhaps, a destiny already written by the cosmos?
Richard mused, walking towards the squid’s tentacle, and then an intriguing thought struck him.
Logically, creatures like squids and octopuses have strong regenerative abilities. Similar to geckos, a severed tentacle can fully regrow, let alone just an end piece of a tentacle.
Had it not been for the spell cast by Wizard Dempsey, adding additional damage to the squid, it might not have cared about that section of the severed tentacle at all. Apart from the pain, it might have just considered it an involuntary “fingernail trimming” by Wizard Dempsey.
So the question arises, why was the squid so insistent on reclaiming the severed “fingernail”? Unless… something important was hidden within that “nail.”