I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 616

The overwhelming pressure felt as though a mountain itself were floating in midair. That was what I felt staring at the white entity before my eyes.

When a human faces a being far larger than themselves, they instinctively freeze up.

That was exactly how I felt right now. Just like when I faced Vanir, or the master of the Inverted Waterfall.

Facing those entities gave me a goosebump-inducing sensation all over my body, making it difficult to even twitch a finger.

But if there was one difference compared to back then, it was hostility. The beings I used as examples had displayed clear hostility when I first encountered them.

And understandably so—Vanir was worried about her child’s safety, and the master of the waterfall had its territory invaded.

"M-Master. What do we do?"

"Stay calm for now. It’s just looking at us, and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to attack."

Fortunately, the white mountain before our eyes showed no signs of hostility toward us.

In fact, the look of exhaustion in its eyes was so prominent that it almost gave the illusion that it had been waiting for us to arrive.

Seeing its eyelids half-closed, anyone could tell it was utterly weighed down by fatigue.

[From what I can tell, it looks like a Sky Whale...]

"I think so too."

First of all, I was able to quickly realize that the massive being before us was a Sky Whale.

Although it was large enough to completely fill my field of vision, turning my head to the side allowed me to grasp its overall structure.

Massive shackles bound to its tail, body, and fins were connected to thick iron chains.

It was definitely the Sky Whale that deliciously devoured insect swarms every summer when they broke out.

"It seems to be a different one from the guy we used to see."

"Why is it tied up here? Capturing a creature this large would be extremely difficult."

"Well, because this place is Skyrium."

An aquarium is a water park facility—an entertainment site housing and maintaining numerous marine creatures.

There was a high probability that Skyrium also managed various rare flying creatures, including Sky Whales.

However, as a long time passed, most of the specimens must have either escaped or ended up trapped and suffering like this Sky Whale.

↳ Allfather) There were many stories that the gods were quite fond of Sky Whales.

↳ Starlight Lady) Similar creatures to the Sky Whale included sky rays, sky turtles, sky jellyfish, and the like... It seems they’ve all disappeared.

↳ Don’t Abandon the Hero) How pitiful...!

I already knew about the existence of Sky Whales, but this was the first time I had seen one held captive like this.

I didn’t know how long it had been abandoned, but its skin condition alone revealed the severity of its plight.

What should have been smooth skin was cracked open everywhere, as if struck by a severe drought.

Had it received consistent care, it might be a different story, but being left abandoned must have subjected it to all kinds of damage.

"It must have been hundreds of years since the gods disappeared from the Forest of the Four Seasons."

[Indeed.]

"And this Sky Whale must have been abandoned throughout those hundreds of years."

[To call it a tenacious life force would be an understatement.]

"Rather than suffering like this, dying might have been better for it."

[...]

Cain did not answer my words. He must have caught on to what I was trying to say.

Rather than being abandoned like this, if it had simply died, it wouldn’t have suffered for so long.

Of course, to defend the gods, even they probably had no idea things would end up like this.

Even if a brief conflict brewed, they likely assumed it would ultimately lead to a happy ending.

However, the gods eventually crossed the line, and Aris began executing them herself.

↳ Heavenly Demon) As you say, dying might indeed be better. Yet it feels a pity to kill it like this.

↳ Sword Matstar) Is it possible to give it freedom instead?

↳ Princess Chaenggu) Can you really cut chains that big?

↳ Sword Matstar) Finding things that man can’t do would probably be faster.

↳ Passing Dwarf) That guy does have something he can’t do, yeah.

↳ Sword Matstar) What is it?

↳ Passing Dwarf) Going outside and getting a girlfriend lol

↳ Smart Demon) Didn’t he have good chemistry with the Hero when he went outside before?

↳ Don’t Abandon the Hero) You saw it accurately! As long as he goes outside, he can definitely form a wonderful match!

↳ Heavenly Demon) What amusing nonsense. When the Hero herself doesn’t even know my savior’s ideal type.

↳ Sword Matstar) Then do you know, Heavenly Demon-nim?

↳ Heavenly Demon) Of course I do.

↳ Sword Matstar) Could you teach me a little? I’ll reward you.

↳ Princess Chaenggu) Me too. I’m curious!

↳ Starlight Lady) M-Might I be able to know as well?

↳ Don’t Abandon the Hero) EVERYONE FOCUS ON THE SKY WHALE PLEASE!!!

Thanks to the Dwarf who instigated a major derailment, the chat window briefly turned messy.

Anyway, I decided to lean toward setting the Sky Whale free. The problem was how to actually do it.

Its body was as massive as a mountain, and it was hard to tell just how sturdy those shackles were.

Since they were crafted to restrain a whale of this scale, there was a high possibility they were no less durable than Adamantium.

’Still, I should at least give it a try.’

I checked where the nearest chain was connected to. This didn’t take long at all.

The destination of the massive iron chain was a floating island—a location far away from where we were standing.

Perhaps that floating island housed a mechanism controlling the chains.

"Lackey. Can you Teleport over there?"

"Uh... Master. I just realized, magic doesn’t work."

"What?"

"Magic won’t activate. It feels just like when we went to that city."

Lackey’s reply came back stating that magic activation was impossible.

It worked perfectly fine in the Theme Park, so why not in Skyrium?

It seemed magic had been restricted here to prevent hazards.

’Is there a jamming-like device on one of those floating islands roaming around?’

I wasn’t entirely sure, but in the end, the only option was to go directly to that floating island.

Thinking I could just step along the iron chain to move across step by step, the moment I took a step forward—

Hwi-i-i-ing!

"Ack!"

An enormous gust of wind suddenly blew in, forcing me to retreat.

It wasn’t a natural wind, but an artificial squall that seemed to say, ’Go no further.’

Apparently, such safety mechanisms had been installed, but thanks to that, things became even more awkward.

"Huuu... This is quite troublesome. Do I have no choice but to climb onto the Sky Whale’s back?"

"Must we really do that?"

"Or do you have another way? We need to inspect those shackles first."

[There is also the option of leaving without setting it free.]

Cain offered a rather cold proposal.This story is hosted at novelping(.)com.

Coming from him of all people, I was slightly surprised, but I didn’t dwell on it too much.

"You’re just saying that for the sake of it, right? I know."

[Could you please direct even half of that kindness toward us?]

"Hear, hear! I believe we should be given candied sweet potatoes at least once a day."

"I strongly agree."

"Everyone, quiet."

In any case, since the decision was made, all that was left was the climb (?). However, a problem arose here as well.

The Sky Whale was simply far too big. The only option was to leap up on my own two feet.

Yet fixing ropes to secure myself risked injuring the Sky Whale, so I couldn’t readily bring myself to do it.

"Hey buddy. Could you lower yourself a bit? I want to set you free."

So I looked straight into the Sky Whale’s eyes and asked gently. Gently stroking its skin to calm it down was a bonus.

I didn’t know if the thoroughly exhausted creature would listen to my words, but I had to at least ask.

Furthermore, whales are fundamentally highly intelligent animals. They are famous for their intelligence even in ordinary oceans, so how much more so for a Sky Whale?

[Bu-o-o-o...]

Accepting my intent, the Sky Whale also quietly drifted downward.

Next, the whale’s back—virtually comparable to a small mountain—came into our view.

The problem was...

"Kkigik?"

"Kkiririk?"

"What are those?"

...that we ran straight into monsters ’inhabiting’ the Sky Whale’s back.

And they weren’t ordinary monsters, but fish possessing ferocious teeth.

"E-Everyone, prepare for battle!"

Flustered for only a brief moment, we eliminated the remora-like monsters one by one.

The only issue was their absurd numbers; the remoras themselves were not particularly strong.

That made sense, given that they were creatures feeding off the bound Sky Whale for sustenance.

However, there was a parasite infesting it that was several times more severe than those remoras.

"Master. These seem to be moving as well."

"Are these barnacles?"

They were indeed barnacles. I had no idea why a flying creature had barnacles on it, but it didn’t matter.

What mattered was the barnacles’ method of survival. Usually, barnacles are similar to other crustaceans, but these were different.

Glowing with a faint blue light, they seemed to be parasitizing the Sky Whale and draining its energy.

↳ Allfather) Barnacles parasitizing a Sky Whale... If it is not rude, could you spare some for research purposes?

↳ Starlight Lady) I am curious as well.

"Will do."

Kwaang! Kwang!

I went around destroying the barnacles using Mistilteinn instead of the Sword of the Heavenly Demon.

Lackey and Dolsoe handled the barnacles one by one with their unique, powerful martial arts, while Cain used his coffin.

Perhaps because they were parasitic, their durability was not particularly high.

Soon after checking the insides, unfortunately, there were no Inner Cores. Then again, these were barnacles, not clams.

Disappointing as it was, it wasn’t bad since it sped up our working pace.

Finally, I roughly tossed the shattered barnacle remnants down to the ground.

"Sniff, sniff. Sniff. Ugh!"

"Wonmo. That’s not for eating."

"Dad. This smells terrible. I can’t eat it."

There was no mishap of the kids eating the barnacles.

Whether the fishy stench was too severe, even Wonmo gagged and said he couldn’t eat it.

This was a bear cub that devoured even rotten corpses greedily, yet he gave up on this.

’The stench really is horrible.’

It was practically accurate to say the entire back of the whale was covered in barnacles.

If it was like this on its back alone, how many were on its belly? Regrettably, there was nothing we could do about its abdomen.

"Wow... There are this many even around the blowhole?"

[What a powerful life force.]

Even around the blowhole, various parasitic creatures, including barnacles, were clustered together.

Clearing these out took a considerable amount of time—almost equivalent to cleaning the entire back.

Thankfully, the Sky Whale was taller vertically; if its surface area were wider, it would have been even harder.

’This is tough enough, though.’

Pusheeee!

As soon as we cleared the blowhole, a spout of water burst forth refreshing.

A water spout even though it could barely drink water? Just as I questioned whether that was possible—

"Huh? Is that mana by any chance?"

[So it seems. Water made of pure mana.]

What emerged from the Sky Whale’s blowhole was mana—water composed of pure mana.

But it wasn’t completely pure. Black and yellow hues were visible, likely because a significant amount of waste products were mixed in.

Apparently, it was expelling all the murky energy accumulated inside it over the years.

[Bu-o-o-o-o.]

The Sky Whale let out a resonant foghorn-like cry as if feeling immensely refreshed.

While it was satisfying, this wasn’t the end. The shackles and chains binding it still remained.

’One on each fin, one on the tail...’

A total of three shackles held the Sky Whale firmly bound.

As I said earlier, since these shackles completely suppressed such a gigantic creature, their durability would be on a different level.

Still, I couldn’t just not try. I first headed toward the right fin, where the line of sight was clear.

The opposite side was close to the island where we first landed, so I planned to resolve it second.

"Lackey. You can’t let go of this, okay?"

"Uh... Master. Master seems like he would survive even if he fell from here."

"Even I’m not that immortal."

Just in case, I had also set up a safety measure: tying my body with a rope and asking my companions to hold on tightly.

The Sky Whale barely moved its fins, making it easy to maintain balance.

U-u-u-ung—

"Sssss... Looking at it, it seems pretty tough to cut or break."

↳ Heavenly Demon) Even the sound it emanates is extraordinary.

↳ Sword Matstar) It looks like enchanted metal?

↳ Allfather) Since it is magic personally designated by the gods, I do not recommend recklessly messing with it.

Just as Allfather said, there was no telling what might happen if I tampered with it needlessly.

Kkang!

But that didn’t mean I could just stand around twiddling my thumbs.

Using the Sword of the Heavenly Demon and Mistilteinn, I slashed and struck at it.Get faster updates on novelping dot com.

I tried my absolute best to free it, but the returning result was disastrous.

Seu-u-uk—

"No way. What is this, shape-memory alloy? How does it make sense that it regenerates?!"

↳ Don’t Abandon the Hero) Because it’s a metal directly created by the gods!

What a grateful answer. I couldn’t help but feel helpless at Asella’s response.

The metal itself was ordinary. It was sliced by the Sword of the Heavenly Demon and shattered by Mistilteinn.

The problem was its regenerative ability. No matter how much I cut or slammed it, it cleanly restored itself back to normal.

It seemed to be a structure drawing energy from the island connected to these shackles.

In other words, unless I went to the floating island connected by the chain, there was no way to solve it.

’Traversing the chain while braving those squalls would be hard enough.’

Even with safety measures, falling off would mean instant disaster.

Furthermore, it was a situation that would place no small burden on my companions.

Crucially, it would take far too long. The length of the chain alone was dizzying.

"Guess I have no choice."

I placed my hands on the chain connected to the shackle. Fortunately, there was no reaction.

Next, after sizing up the thickness of the chain, I began my warm-up exercises.

Destroying the remoras and barnacles earlier didn’t even count as a warm-up.

Since I was about to break a serious sweat, I needed to loosen up my muscles.

↳ Sword Matstar) Don’t tell me he’s thinking of doing what I think he’s doing?

↳ Princess Chaenggu) Pretty sure he is!

↳ Suspiciously... ) If that is truly possible, it proves he isn’t human.

↳ Passing Dwarf) Shouldn’t that guy be classified outside the category of humanity entirely?

Lightly ignoring the Dwarf’s nonsense—

I took a slow deep breath to draw up the mana inside my body.

Next, I recalled the verses of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art for the first time in a while. There was nothing better than the Heavenly Demon Divine Art for accelerating mana.

’Come to think of it, hasn’t Heavenly Demon compiled a new verse yet?’

I heard she was compiling verses, but it seemed she wasn’t done yet. I could wait patiently.

Meanwhile, the mana within my body began to accelerate rapidly, and I felt my body heating up.

Now the warm-up was over. I wrapped both arms around the thick chain, not just my hands.

A master of tug-of-war once said: when playing tug-of-war, raw strength matters, but the hips and legs are key.

Among those, the most crucial part was breath control. Tightening your breath with every pull was the way to maximize muscle power.

"Seu-u-u-u..."

I took a deep breath in—

"Hup!"

Both arms, hips, legs, down to the tips of my toes.

Putting power into every single part, I yanked the chain wrapped in my arms.

Chul-geureong!

The chain that had been limply sagging in a curve snapped taut—

Kki-i-i-ik—

Very slowly, incrementally, the floating island connected to the chain began to be pulled closer.

At the same time. The companions watching Grylls’s sheer madness—or rather, miracle—from a distance with their own eyes.

"Waaah! Look at that! Dad is pulling a mountain!"

"Ppi-ik!"

Ppae-aek!

Staring at Grylls literally dragging the floating island toward himself, each of them showed different reactions.

The kids bounced up and down in joy watching his action itself, but the other companions were different.

"Brother."

"Speak."

"Master does not seem to be an animal."

"I agree. Then how should we define that?"

"With my lacking knowledge, there is no proper way to express it."

The Sun Wukong brothers treated Grylls as something beyond a mere beast.

[...At that point, it would be stranger if he wasn’t a god.]

Cain had no choice but to begrudgingly perceive Grylls as a godlike entity in his mind.

However, there was a being whose mind was even more complex than Cain’s: Heukgu.

Heukgu, who had slipped out of Grylls’s shadow because it felt dangerous.

Seeing Grylls’s muscle strength—which could hardly be deemed human—he muttered softly.

"Is it really that person...?"

[Are you referring to the Chief God?]

Cain asked casually, having overheard Heukgu’s muttering.

At that question, Heukgu glanced at Cain and then nodded very slowly, so subtly it was hard to notice.

"The one who doted on me was also powerful like that. He far transcended the boundaries of humans."

[What about Aris-nim or Aragon-nim?]

"Those two were also amazing, but not compared to my master. The very reason they honed their skills was to create techniques just to reach even a fraction of his strength."

[To make up for lacking strength through technique, then.]

"Precisely."

Gi-i-i-ing— Clack!

While they conversed, the floating island Grylls was pulling had reached close by.

He then leaped onto the floating island and vanished inside to inspect the mechanism.

They didn’t know what dangers lurked over there, but none of them thought he would end up in danger.

"Just what is that person’s true identity? Is he really that person?"

[Could you tell me who ’that person’ you’re referring to is?]

"I can’t be certain, but..."

Heukgu hesitated for a moment before carefully opening his mouth.

"The being you guys revere as the Chief God displayed immense strength like that too."

[The Chief God...]

Cain neither affirmed nor denied Heukgu’s words. He merely stared blankly at where Grylls had disappeared.

The detail about suddenly waking up in the Forest of the Four Seasons, as well as other aspects...

[It isn’t confirmed yet, but I think it would be wise to verify further.]

"What if he really is the Chief God? Will you serve him as a deity?"

At that question—

[I have a feeling Grylls would cringe and tell us to stop.]

"Right?"

He had brought up a truly high-probability outcome.