The Tales of an Infinite Regressor

[Translator - Jjescus]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 175

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Diver VII

11

Rumble—.

As I flicked my fingers, the entire fleet of arks simultaneously pierced through the currents and launched forward.

A light tingling sensation buzzed through my skull, as if I were both the pianist and the conductor. The immense aura I had accumulated over thousands of years was now powering the arks.

"The fool old Scho, who used to mock me saying my martial arts were third-rate while my aura was first-rate, wouldn't even dare to laugh now."

No matter how much of a sword master Scho was, even if he had maxed out his swordsmanship, at best, he'd be tinkering with swordplay and the art of manipulating objects from afar.

Meanwhile, here I was, controlling twelve ships at once. Just one more and I'd be ready to debut as the Supreme Commander of the Three Provinces Naval Forces of Joseon.

"Your piloting skills are quite exceptional, sir."

Yoo Jiwon sidled up to me, sensing my good mood like a ghost.

Her approach snapped me back to reality.

Why? Because Yoo Jiwon had the faintest scent of strawberries, a fragrance I once complimented her on, saying, ‘You have a good eye for picking out perfumes.’

The meticulousness with which she flattered those in power sent a chill down my spine. Truly, she was the foremost psychopath in the Three Han States.

"…Thank you, Jiwon. But could you step back a little? I won't seek revenge later for cutting off my fingers, so you don't need to suck up so desperately."

"Flattery? Not at all. I simply wish to always show you my sincere self, even if it means laying bare my heart."

"If you keep spouting nonsense, I'll break your fingers, so let's just focus on the minimap."

"Yes, sir."

With omnipotence and reality perfectly balanced, the navigation proceeded smoothly.

Of course, that didn’t mean the 'core' of the great typhoon anomaly was immediately discovered. The scale of the typhoon, reaching an altitude of around 10,000 meters, was no joke.

Anyone who’s served aboard a submarine would know that 99% of underwater chases are battles with oneself. Boredom and patience are the main enemies.

Despite us scanning every corner of the typhoon with the [minimap], the enemy's presence was not easily detected.

Screech—!

Skreee—.

Three hours into the search.

Ancient marine creatures like Megalodon, who got caught in the crossfire, met their second extinction.

The twelve arks spread a web that shredded sharks and whales into pieces, turning them into cube steaks.

"What a damn romantic aquarium date this is…."

Noah, the head of the National Road Management Corps, grimaced at the sight of shark meat floating outside the window.

The crew aboard the ark couldn’t even unbuckle their belts carelessly due to the rough currents. After sitting with their butts glued to their seats for hours, they were bound to get restless.

“Does the core of the great typhoon even exist? If it were a tangible entity like the Ten Clans, then maybe, but isn’t the great typhoon more of a natural phenomenon…?”

"It exists."

The person who answered wasn't me.

The ark rattled as if it hit turbulence in midair.

Everyone’s eyes turned to one side, where Koyori was calmly smiling with her pink hair.

"And it’s getting closer and closer."

"……."

The operations control room fell silent, with only the sound of waves crashing against the bulkheads reverberating.

None of them had any personal connection with Koyori.

However, I had always emphasized that they should be wary of her.

Avoiding her was the best option. If an encounter was unavoidable, they were to avoid any conversation. Better to treat her as if she didn’t exist.

That was the Koyori protocol I had handed down. The reason why the command staff collectively zipped their lips just now.

Koyori smiled slightly awkwardly, seemingly uncomfortable with the clear ostracism and avoidance.

“Aha… You all are really interesting.”

“Anyone who needs to go to the bathroom, now’s your chance.”

Ignoring Koyori’s reaction completely, I spoke up.

I used formal speech since Noah was present in the operations control room. We generally addressed each other with mutual respect.

“We’ve scanned the upper and middle sections of the typhoon. It seems the core is likely located in the lower section. We’re currently at an altitude of 2,000 meters. We’ll be spotting it soon.”

“Oh, well then, brother. I’ll be quick—”

Just as Seo Gyu unbuckled and rose from his seat.

Rumble!

The ark suddenly jerked into a sharp drift. Something massive had snagged on the vast web of puppet threads spread outside the ship.

“Wha—?”

Standing alone, Seo Gyu experienced Newton’s laws firsthand.

His body swung wildly, hurtling past me, Yoo Jiwon, Lee Hayul, Noah, Tang Seorin, Sim Aryeon, and Koyori, one by one.

Crash!

Seo Gyu bounced off the ship’s floor like a ping-pong ball. Displaying Olympic-level drive, he finally crashed into the bulkhead, bending his waist like a bow.

And we all turned our heads away and ignored it.

“Found it! Hayul, Morse code!”

“Roger that.”

“It’s an unbelievably gigantic thing! Seorin, channel reinforcement magic into the puppet threads!”

“Okay, got it.”

“Everyone, brace for impact! It’s moving!”

Rumble—.

Something caught in the puppet threads began to thrash. It was massive. Overwhelmingly powerful.

With my nervous system connected directly to the puppet threads, I could feel its every move as if I were a fisherman reeling in a massive catch. The creature's presence was palpable, even if others couldn’t feel it as vividly as I could. The ark shook violently as astonished exclamations erupted from the awakened individuals on board.

Aaaah!

“What the hell! What’s happening?”

[Translator - Jjescus]

[Proofreader - Gun]

“It’s coming! It’s starting!”

Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep.

The alarm blared throughout the ark, a warning urgently broadcast by Lee Hayul.

Those who, like Seo Gyu, were unlucky enough to be standing up screamed, while the others double-checked that their belts were tightly secured.

Lee Hayul shouted.

“Charging, start!”

From that moment, the puppet threads in the ark were illuminated in various colors.

It was the aura of the awakened individuals on board. Each contributed their aura to the puppet threads as much as their strength allowed, assisting me.

It wasn’t just the first ark.

Though there was a slight delay, the second, third, fourth, and finally the twelfth ark all received aura from the thousands of awakened individuals one by one.

This was the operation taking advantage of Lee Hayul’s puppet threads, which functioned like superconductors of the aura world.

The puppet threads, spread like a spider web in the deep, deep waters, glowed with the colors of the Milky Way.

Rumble—.

The creature’s movements slowed.

The colossal monstrosity thrashed violently, as if trying to shake off the threads of the marionette and swim away. The 12 arks were swept up like twigs in its struggle, but the marionette threads, reinforced with Tang Seorin's magic and thousands of auras, didn't break easily. Instead, the more the creature resisted, the more the threads clung to its entire body.

Rumble...!

A roar from the distant monstrosity echoed through the air. The sensation of the marionette threads, deadly weapons in their own right, digging into its flesh was palpable.

'What an unbelievably enormous monster!'

The creature thrashed about, surging in every direction. Although the threads did not snap, the arks, especially the first ark, were rapidly being drawn closer to the creature's core.

An immense acceleration swept through the ship. Everyone shut their eyes tightly and groaned.

Instinctively, I looked out through the reinforced glass of the operations control room.

"...!"

My eyes locked with the creature's.

Yes, it was an "eye."

An eye so massive that it couldn't possibly belong to a living creature was glaring from the depths of the ocean. Compared to it, the ark was nothing more than a tiny speck in the iris.

The creature, a void and an abomination known as the Great Typhoon had its "eye of the typhoon" fixed directly on us—on me.

Rumble...!

The creature and I were still locked in a struggle. Our eyes met for only a fleeting moment.

The monstrosity thrashed again, moving with a speed that belied its enormous bulk. Now, only the body was visible outside the window instead of the eye. The vast form was less like a creature and more like an entire ecosystem—a landscape, a force of nature that could never be contained within the rectangular frame of the window.

Someone murmured, "A dragon..."

It was such an apt description that everyone began to perceive the creature as a dragon from that moment on.

The enormous eye. The vast body. The tail that was too swift to follow with mere sight.

Even I, a regressor, was seeing the true form of the Great Typhoon for the first time, and it manifested as the most mystical creature from Eastern mythology.

At the same time, I realized the creature's other name.

And I also understood why it was bound by the "Ark," a spell from the Book of Genesis.

"Leviathan!"

It was the name of the sea dragon mentioned in the Old Testament.

A monster so fearsome that it could only be defeated by the omnipotent Yahweh. In other words, a source of terror that no one but a god could hope to vanquish.

"This isn't just a weather phenomenon! The Great Typhoon is Leviathan!"

I shouted, needing to raise my voice as the ship shook violently.

"What we thought was a massive typhoon was actually the body of Leviathan!"

"...!"

"The typhoon itself is Leviathan! The worm-like droplets were all parasites living inside Leviathan's body! That's why the infected kept melting away—because it's natural for foreign objects inside a body to be digested in the stomach!"

In hindsight, the clues were there all along.

When the Great Typhoon surged up the North Pacific and made landfall in Busan, the Saintess had described it like this:

'It's landed in Busan. Now, ah... The waters of the typhoon are rapidly converging on Busan.'

'Impossible... The typhoon... It's changing from a massive spiral into something like a long straw, and ah... the water, the tsunami on the horizon... It's all converging on Geumjeongsan. Everyone, be careful—.'

The typhoon, which had been swirling like a giant vortex, suddenly stretched into a long shape, focusing on Busan.

That very shape was the dragon itself.

In Eastern tradition, water has always been likened to a dragon.

Taming a ferocious dragon—controlling water—was considered an achievement only an emperor could accomplish.

In Norse mythology, Jörmungandr, by its mere presence, poisoned the air and water of the world and swept the land with floods.

Thus, the creature was Leviathan, a dragon, and Jörmungandr.

A monstrous embodiment of the infinite terror of the sea and water was roaring.

Rumble...!

Perhaps realizing it couldn't shake off the marionette threads, Leviathan's movements changed. In other words, the typhoon that was inundating the arks also shifted.

The typhoon began to "contract."

The massive typhoon, which had been large enough to cover all of Busan, was rapidly compressing.

[Mr. Jang, Ms. Jang!]

At that moment, the communication with the Saintess was restored. The telepathic signal, distorted by the thick veil of the Great Void, had cleared.

[Are you alright, Mr. Jang?]

"Yes! I'm still holding on!"

[The Great Typhoon has changed its form! A giant—an enormous dragon is now wrapping itself around you and the arks, ascending into the sky!]

Suddenly, the water clinging to the ark's windows, which had been submerged for nearly ten days, was wiped away.

We were no longer underwater.

We were in the sky.

Leviathan had lifted the arks, soaring up to an altitude of 5,000 meters.

[Translator - Jjescus]

[Proofreader - Gun]