My Instant Death Ability is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! - Volume 10 - Chapter 10

Chapter 10 — Interlude: I Thought They’d Flap or Something

Degul learned of the King of Manii’s death after returning to her base following her failed attack on the cruise ship.

She had heard of the capital’s destruction while working as a bouncer at the casino on board the ship. Whether the situation was that complex or it had been intentionally suppressed, knowledge of the king’s death hadn’t been public at the time. But plausible rumors of the king’s death eventually began to float in from all around.

Degul could hardly believe it. It was shocking that the cunning, cowardly, and greedy king of Manii would die that easily. Even if the capital was destroyed, he would use every last citizen as a shield to preserve his own life. That’s the kind of man he was.

Following the trail left by those rumors, Degul confirmed the king was actually dead. She felt at a loss. She had vowed to take revenge on the man for killing her mother and trying to kill Degul herself. She had vowed to strangle him to death with her own hands. In order to accomplish that, she had begun work as a pirate to gather the necessary strength, but it had all been for nothing.

From the stories she heard, the only survivor of the royal line was the third prince, Richard. He hadn’t been blessed with the power of their bloodline and for some reason had been granted the title of Swordmaster, so taking over the kingdom from him would have been easy.

Degul possessed that rare power to diminish other people’s skills. She could prove her lineage just by demonstrating her ability, and with no one else in the royal family bearing that power, she would likely be welcomed.

But she couldn’t have cared less. While the king was alive, there was meaning to taking over Manii. Stealing his country and making him a slave so that she could torment him to death would have been worth her time. But with the king dead, she had lost sight of her objective. She didn’t care about the kingdom itself. If the king had valued his throne and peace for his citizens, she would have trampled over them like garbage, destroyed them before his eyes. That had been her only goal. At this point, taking over the country would be a needless burden. She had little interest in the people or territory of Manii.

If she really wanted to be a ruler, it would be faster to continue the path she was already walking. Degul and her subordinates had control over numerous cities and ancient ruins, and a large span of ocean. If she wanted to, she could turn that into a country of her own.

“But a title like ‘queen’ doesn’t suit me much, does it?”

The pirates under her recognized her as their leader, and that was enough for her. There was no need to set themselves up as a country.

“Yo, boss, what’s wrong? You just been spacin’ out there so long. What if I was an assassin or somethin’?”

“Huh?”

Degul turned her eyes from where she lay on a sofa to the door of her private room. At some point, one of her subordinates had entered. Failing to notice someone approaching was unbelievable for her under normal circumstances. The king knew that Degul was still alive. He had sent countless assassins after her, so she had to be on guard every hour of the day.

“Sometimes I just want to space out. What is it?”

“The work on the Squid is done.”

The Squid was a vehicle Degul and her pirates used in their attacks. The ancient relic was shaped like its namesake and could transport them underwater, making it a priceless tool for them.

“Got it.” Degul stood up and left the room.

They were in some ruins at the bottom of the sea. They had discovered the Squid here in a facility that contained plenty of equipment needed to maintain it, so they were using it as it was.

She made her way through the corridors to the dock. A large number of people were working there. Though the ancient relics they had found were far beyond their understanding, they had managed to find detailed instruction manuals. Because of that, the smarter individuals among them could make use of the devices.

At the center of the dock was an enormous pool, which contained the Squid.

“I see it has feathers now.”

“Yessir. That’s what you ordered,” one of her subordinates said, stepping up to her side.

The feathers were like a thin, translucent membrane wrapped around the body of the Squid. They, too, were ancient relics, designed as auxiliary parts for the Squid. They had been discovered in another set of ancient ruins, so she had ordered that they be brought there and equipped. But her recent obsession with finding out what had happened in Manii meant she was barely keeping track of progress on the Squid.

“What are we supposed to do with this?”

“You’re the one who told us to do it, boss.”

Their plan had originally been to use the Squid in an aerial attack on the capital of Manii. However, now that the capital had been destroyed, there wasn’t much point to that.

“Well, either way, being able to fly will come in handy.”

“The problem is, if we go too high or spend too long in the air, somethin’ might attack us.”

“I guess that’s true.” There weren’t many people who could fly, so it wasn’t that widely known, but that was one of the laws of this world. “Can it fly already?”

“D’you eat somethin’ weird? Normally, you’d already be inside.”

The idea of having the head of their organization board an ancient relic they didn’t really understand to conduct a test flight would normally be out of the question. But Degul regularly led recklessly from the front, so it was expected at this point that she would jump on board the moment they started it up.

“I haven’t slept much, that’s all.” She chastised herself as she gave the off-handed excuse. She had devoted her life to getting revenge, which would now forever be out of her reach, but that didn’t mean her life was over. She couldn’t wallow in depression like this forever. “All right, then. I’m sure it’ll be a spectacle either way. It’s ready to go, yeah?”

“Yessir! We figured you’d say that, so we’ve already been gettin’ ready!”

As she approached the Squid, a huge tentacle emerged from the water. One of the suction cups on it split, extending a metal staircase. That was the only way in and out of the Squid.

Climbing the stairs, she made her way inside the vehicle. Unlike the exterior, the interior was surprisingly robotic. It was hard to tell whether it was a living thing or a machine.

Walking through the narrow corridors, she headed to the cockpit. Noticing her arrival, the man in the control seat stopped his inspection to relinquish his place to her. He must have figured she would want to do it herself.

“How do you make it fly?”

“The same as everythin’ else. Just keep floatin’ up past the surface, and you’ll go right up into the air.”

Taking a seat, Degul set the vehicle in motion. They couldn’t just fly straight up from where they were. She led the Squid into the water and then out into the open ocean where they could ascend.

Controlling the thing wasn’t especially difficult. The circular helm in front of her allowed her to pick a direction, and the pedals at her feet controlled whether they moved forward or backward. She had a lever to adjust vertical movement. Pushing it forward would cause them to sink, and pulling it back would cause them to rise.

After reaching the surface of the water, she continued to hold the lever back. The enormous Squid broke through, and its translucent wings extended. The whole craft then began to spin vigorously, providing the necessary lift to pull itself out of the water.

“It’s a bit different than I expected. I thought they’d flap or something.”

“Well, it’s pretty stable in here.”

As her subordinate said, though they were spinning in the air, the centrifugal force that it generated didn’t affect them in the cockpit.

The Squid continued to soar upward. The melancholy spirit that had overtaken Degul vanished. She had never experienced something so exhilarating.

“Ha ha ha! This is amazing!”

“Boss! You’re going too high! Those things will attack us!”

“Perfect. I’ll take them out!”

As they continued up, something appeared from the clouds. It was an army of winged soldiers bearing weapons. They were machines likened after angels.

Riding her emotional high, Degul unleashed her lineal power. The angels immediately stalled in the air and fell. They operated through the world’s System, and she had the ability to halt their Gift’s functions. On top of that, the Squid was unaffected by her power. Whatever moved the ancient relic was unrelated to how powers in this world worked.

The Squid batted the falling angels away with its tentacles as it continued upward, punching through the clouds and into the open sky. Her eyes opened wide at the sight before her. Countless islands of varying size floated in the air.

“So, this is what those things are protecting.”

They could see the floating islands occasionally from the surface, but she never thought there were so many of them or that they were so large. The islands were populated by rich, varied scenery. There were mountains, rivers, roads, cities, and castles. A whole different world than the one on the surface lay before her.

“Interesting. I’ve made up my mind. All right, punks! We’ve found our new prey!”

Degul’s eyes glittered as she beheld a brand-new destination.