Setting Entry 4: Monster Commentary to Calm My Periodic Fits: King Orca Edition

Author's Preface

Don't tell anyone who's only reading the main story (early reveal).

The reason is written in the afterword, but it looks like this thing won't be appearing for a little while yet, so I lost to the devilish temptation whispering, 'Wouldn't it be fine to reveal it early?'

Atlanticus Repnorca

One of the strongest-class monsters among all the 'lifeforms' inhabiting the deep sea, and the apex of the ecological pyramid, preying even upon Arctus Regalecus.

It can only be described as an orca with the upper half of its body ablaze and wings made of crystal growing from it. Its true nature is something difficult to classify, a living creature that has drawn infinitely close to a 'Spirit.' To begin with, Spirits are mana lifeforms without material bodies, and more specifically, beings composed of mana of a particular attribute, but in Atlanticus Repnorca's case, while it remains a living creature, the upper half of its body could not withstand the immense quantity of mana and has transformed into a mass of mana.

This mana body is held in place by Atlanticus Repnorca's 'Core,' but just as the bodies of ordinary living creatures expel waste products, Atlanticus Repnorca discharges surplus mana into the seawater. The mana body appears to flicker like flame because it is constantly discharging that surplus mana into the surrounding seawater.

Because this discharged mana activates the plankton present in the seawater, plankton bloom in great abundance after Atlanticus Repnorca passes through. Countless fish gather in the plankton-rich waters left in its wake, then predators gather to prey upon those fish, and because the resulting sight can look like retainers following along the path Atlanticus Repnorca has taken, the Mermen regard Atlanticus Repnorca as a symbol of the 'King.'

The eyepatch-like section is a portion of its crystallized skull, and serves as a lens that makes the mana emitted by the 'Core,' located where the brain would be in an ordinary orca, reflect chaotically throughout its body before converging it upon a single point when projecting it outside the body. Although described as crystallized, under normal conditions it is made from a dark indigo, gemstone-like substance, and the multilayered eyepatch lens allows only light of extraordinarily high intensity to pass through.

The crystalline structures growing from its pectoral, dorsal, and caudal fins are not, strictly speaking, minerals, but skin, muscle, and bone that once functioned as 'tentacles,' compressed and purified to the point of transparency. It is presumed that, before Atlanticus Repnorca took its present form, it possessed wing-shaped fins with tentacles at their tips, and that, through some unknown factor, those tentacles evolved through compression and purification into a state resembling crystal.

These crystalline structures are formed from a different substance than the eyepatch-like crystal on its head, and during combat, it charges them with its own mana to discharge mana transmuted into lightning. Their hardness rivals even the ores used in weapons, and they deliver tremendous force even when used as simple weapons. Because the discharge possesses the same properties as lightning, were one to face Atlanticus Repnorca underwater, the 50-meter radius centered upon it would be the electrical discharge's 'lethal zone.'

Atlanticus Repnorca is a top-tier predator of the deep sea, feeding primarily upon the fish drawn by plankton activated through its mana, and the predators pursuing those fish. It can communicate with others of its species by vibrating and flashing its 'Core,' but because Atlanticus Repnorca as a species is an extraordinarily belligerent monster, its high intelligence is rarely used for anything beyond hunting or dueling. It is a king of the sea surpassing even dragon species, and the beings capable of defeating Atlanticus Repnorca one-on-one are so few that you could count them on one hand and still have fingers left over.

Since ancient times, the Mermen have used a crown made from Atlanticus Repnorca's fin crystals and a trident carved from the fangs of its physical lower jaw as symbols of royal authority, proof of one who rules the people, and the insignia of a Merman chieftain. During an ordinary 'hunt,' it prioritizes fish with high nutritional value, so surprisingly enough, it may be safe even if you approach close enough to touch it (provided that electrical discharge is not taken into consideration).

However, once designated as the target of a 'duel,' it literally will not stop until one side or the other has obtained complete victory, and battles between Atlanticus Repnorca scatter enough destruction to warp the topography of the seafloor and stir submarine volcanoes into activity. It virtually never rises to the surface, and if, by one chance in ten thousand... one in a hundred million, anyone wished to duel this monster, they would have to head not over the sea, but beneath it.

Incidentally, the Giga-Oarfish is several times longer than this thing, and even so, it is turned into dinner in roughly five minutes.

Author's Afterword

You know, even after describing its features in prose, there was this version of me inside my head losing it and going, "No! It's, like, the way it's being expressed is... wrong!"... then Gaia whispered to me, "Then why not output the image!"[*1], so for the first time in my life, I used the illustration function.

I also tried drawing the Crystal Scorpions and Golden Scorpion, but, well... my drawing ability, you know...?

Translator's Notes

• [1] Gaia whispered to me: This riffs on the viral MEN'S KNUCKLE street-fashion caption 'Gaia whispers to me to shine even brighter,' whose bombastic wording became a Japanese internet meme.