Somewhere in the Atlantic ocean
"Captain, the storm is getting stronger, I’m afraid if we don’t get out of here the ship might sink."
Angelica Belle, daughter of captain Tony Belle looked at the man shouting at her, this was her vice captain, Sbonga.
A powerful holder with a very strong defensive vessel. Then she turned her eyes to the dark clouds above.
Lightning flashed and lit up the world for a moment. The winds howled and the seas churned around them.
Giant waves crashed against each other and against their giant ship. She knew he was right, the storm was getting too strong.
But it was too late to get away now. She thought back on that day, the fear she felt when that monster descended upon them like a messenger of death.
They lost a lot of crew members that day, even her father lost his arm and his vessel almost shattered trying to defend against that calamity of fire and steel.
Fortunately it didn’t target them but went after the cago. That was the only reason they survived.
After that, her father retired, him and Luciana got together and got married 5 years ago. They left the business to her, raised her cultivation to the peak of rank 2.
At first it was hard without Luciana to guide them but she eventually figured out the safe routes and the business boomed again.
But the trauma of that day made her cautious. She didn’t want to experience it again and she did not dare eccept missions to transport cago that might draw beasts attention, so no herbs was her rule.
And for eleven years she hadn’t had a single accident but apparently her luck had ran out because she was certain something was lurking below them.
She was very sensitive to danger, always had been, that how she survived the first fall as just a 16 year old highschool girl, she watched her friends and classmates perish one by one but she lived.
She really trusted her instincts and right now, they were telling her something was lurking below them, something powerful.
" Ready the cannons." She commanded in a neutral tone but there was hint of urgency in her voice. Her right had man looked at her with confusion. " What?" He asked.
She turned to look at him, there was no smile or teasing on her face. ," Ready the cannons and tell every battle vessel holder to get ready, the rest should go below deck and warm up the hyper engine."
Sbonga stood there dumbfounded. " Now." She said, her voice laced with urgency. He stumbled and ran around issuing commands.
Vessel holders ran around the ship like ants. They stood vigilantly at the edges of the ship, ready for anything that came out.
But nothing could’ve prepared them for what came. Eight shadows rose from the sea and towered above them like giant pillars.
What followed was a suffocating aura that shook their knees. Some of the vessel holders couldn’t hold themselves.
A yellow liquid ran down their legs. Their eyes got clouded with tears. One of them panicked and he slashed his sword.
A blue crescent slash flew towards one of the pillars but shattered like a piece of glass against it.
The man shook even more but before he could react the pillar moved. Angelica tried to interfere, to save him but she was too slow.
The pillar which turned out to be an octopus’s tentacle grabbed the man and dragged him below the sea.
His screams lasted only a second before dying down. Angelica gritted her teeth and her own vessel appeared in her hand.
It was a giant two handed great sword. Flames ignited on the sword and brought light to the dark sea.
The others screamed and attacked. While their attacks were weak on their own, they slowly chipped on the the tentacles.
Angelica roared and swung her sword with all of her might. A giant 20 metres long red flaming crescent slash flew at one of the tentacles.
She expected it to shatter like the rest of their attacks, after all this was a rank 4 creature, it durability would certainly be much higher than any damage her attacks can deliver.
However when her slash reached the tentacles it cut two metres deep into it. The wound turned black and smoke rose from it.
She paused, surprised by what just happened. The others looked at her as well. The tentacle thrashed in the air causing the sea to churn.
She grew excited, " FOCUS YOUR ATTACKS ON THE WOUND." she shouted. Her crew didn’t question her, they had trust in their leader.
She had proven herself to be capable and she was also the strongest of all of them with an earth grade mental tempering technique and earth grade vessel.
Their attacks landed on the wound one after another, widening it little by little. She turned her attention towards the other tentacles.
Seven flaming slashes flew out one after another in less than two seconds, each hitting a tentacle.
Sbonga stood next to her in his giant full body armour. He looked like a noble knight and she smiled, trusting him to watch her back.
One of the tentacles descended upon her like a falling tower. Sbonga stood forward and met the tentacle with a fist, the ship creaked below him and shook.
He coughed a mouthful of blood but stood tall. His armour vessel not only gave him high defence but increased his physical strength as well.
It was one of the strongest vessels amongst the mortal grade vessels. However more and more attacks came at him.
He was finding it hard to hold on, if this continued he would be dead before she completed whatever she was doing. " How much longer?" He asked her with gritted teeth.
" Just hold on for a bit longer, I’m almost done." She was holding a crystal ball in her left hand, pouring her essence into it.
In her right hand was her sword. The flames around the sword grew stronger with each passing second.
One of the tentacles fell behind her, her crew mates had finally managed to cut one off but there were still seven more to go.
She opened her eyes and threw the crystal ball at Sbonga then held her sword with both hands.
The flames extended from her sword into a giant orange sword over 15 metres long. With a roar she spun around and slashed all of the tentacles. Thɪs chapter is updated by 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩⁂𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾⁂𝔫𝔢𝔱
They fell from the sky and crashed to sea causing giant waves to rise into the air. All that was left were smoking stumps.
Relief appeared in her eyes, accompanied by pride. Her crewmates shouted in excitement. This was a rank 4 beast and they managed to drive it back or so she thought.
Their excited voices suddenly died down. The stumps twitched and grew back and regenerated. The relief in her eyes disappeared, replaced by fear and despair.
The tentacles dropped from the sky all at once like collapsing towers. Her crew members despaired but before the tentacles could crush them, the crystal ball shattered and a barrier appeared around the ship.
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Dozens of kilometres away, a drake appeared hundreds of metres in the air and dropped to the sea below.
’ Ah, where the hell am I?’
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Somewhere in what was formally known as South Africa.
Naledi suddenly turned her head and looked west. ’ What is this weird feeling?’ Cathra touched her shoulder. " Are you alright sweetie?"
Naledi smiled. " Yeah,it nothing." Her smile turned into a frown when Cathra was nolonger looking at her. She felt as sense of longing and loss she couldn’t explain.