The Guides

More than a dozen giant octopuses surfaced at once. It was a truly startling sight. Towering waves rose, and countless tentacles loomed like a sinister forest, as though even the sky had darkened. If the Church fleet had not been protected by Holy Light Barriers, they would likely have all been overturned in that very instant.

Yet even though they had not been crushed at the first blow, their situation was hardly any better.

The formation of the dozen or so ships was thrown into disarray in an instant. Other than the priests who had taken flight, everyone aboard lost their balance. They clung for dear life to anything they could grab, barely keeping themselves from being hurled against the barriers hard enough to smash their guts out.

But the Holy Light Barriers, their only armor, trembled under the battering of waves and tentacles, flickering bright and dim. From afar, the whole fleet looked like a string of loose-contact lightbulbs floating on the sea, liable to go dark at any moment.

"This... this is impossible!"

The bishop in command wore a face of utter disbelief. He turned, glaring angrily at the experienced sailors and crewmen. Yet he discovered that the nautical "experts" the Church had paid handsomely to hire were even more terrified than the priests.

He immediately flew into the cabin, yanked up the captain, who was clutching the doorframe for dear life, and asked anxiously, "Why is this happening? Didn't you say that no large Magic Beasts could possibly appear in groups in these waters?"

"I... I don't know."

At once, the bishop became so furious that all his clerical training flew out of his mind, and a savage expression appeared on his face. "You don't know?"

The captain was shocked and terrified, his flushed face scrunched into