By the end of the first day at sea, I began to feel a strange sense of foreboding, and it only grew as night fell and the moonlight began to envelop the glistening waters. The closer we grew to the center of the bay, the more my body began to ache until my dragon form was practically ripped out of me so thoroughly that my eyes started bleed,
"SIYA!" Rafi shouted inside my head as I lay motionless in my bunk. "There's something you need to know about this fish you're hunting!"
"Fish is fishing, hunting is for animals…" My head rang so much I almost couldn't even answer, my voice coming out like I was drunk and annoyed. "Did you force me to revert…" I groaned
"Not important. You'll want to be little Siya for this one anyway."
"Great… So what you're saying is…"
"It's a demon…"
I lifted an arm over my eyes to block the light as I started feeling motion sick from the waves. "It's out in the ocean though… What would it be feeding on?"
Chills covered my body as if I was feeling them through my connection with her. "After they get strong enough, they don't need food, or they can even feed on the same emotions long after they have passed…"
"So it's a really big demon…" I sighed. "Are you going to be helping out then? With Lu I mean."
"No…"
I sat up in my bunk and rubbed my eyes, figuring it would be better to go above deck in case I vomited. 'No? Is she telling me to just run away?' I groaned, shaking out my now oversized sleeves. 'Good thing I brought my armor just in case…' "So… What then?"
"I'm coming in person…"
'She's…' "What…"
"I can't wait to see you in the physical world. Do you think a hug will feel any different there? Warmer… If I remember right…"
Her voice was a rollercoaster of ecstatic joy and sad melancholy that was impossible to read. "I thought you didn't have a physical body, though…"
"Siya…" I felt another chill as her voice dropped, making me hesitant to answer. "This is personal…"
I paused, wondering if I should just leave it alone. "That… Really doesn't answer the question…"
"Ah, come on, just because my body is in hell doesn't mean I don't have one… Just… Promise me something…"
I slowly stood up, steadying myself on the rocking boat. "Sure, if it's not something weird."
"Promise… You'll give me a hug… No matter how scary I look…"
'Why does she sound like she's crying…' I scratched my head, slowly changing as I got used to my smaller form again. 'Is her body really that terrifying?' "Sure I can do that… Just… Make sure you don't drag me with you when you go back… I kind of need to stay up here."
She chuckled softly as her voice started to deepen, taking on a more mature tone. "I'll see you soon…"
I sighed again, grabbing my greatsword and clasping it to my back. 'Really though… If she's coming in person, then aren't the rest of us just going to be useless? At the very least, we are in a whole lot more danger than I thought… How do I even prepare for this? What can we do?'
I rested my head against the wall, calming myself down for a moment with a deep breath. 'No… We are going to have to pull out everything… Right now… I'm basically the acting king for better or worse… So if I say magic is allowed because of desperation… Then it will be… I'll just have to deal with the consequences later… And it's not like they don't already know what I did…'
I tied my hair up so as not to trip over it and quickly went out and gathered everyone together for a war meeting. In attendance was, of course, me, Airsidh, the admirals and generals, Hara, Rune, and Vive… Everyone sat quietly, all eyes on me as I struggled to find the right words to say what I had to. 'Well… I have their attention…' "Hara… Are you going to help us fight this monster?"
She nervously straightened her posture. "Uh… S-sure, I'll do whatever you want."
'No wonder she got walked all over in the empire…' "Alright," I tossed her the key to the collar around her neck. "Start gathering your mana, as much as you can. We are going to need it… Furthermore, I want you to stay with Rune… Ironically, you two are perfect for each other since you can syphon mana without negative effects…
One of the commanders stood up, slamming his fist into the table, but as I locked eyes with him, he froze stiff. There was more to it than just intimidation… There was some sort of power running through me, like I had paralyzed him with magic. "I don't remember saying you could stand…"
He nervously sat back down and scooted in his chair.
'Something feels wrong… Like, I'm still half dragon… Like my eyes are pulsing…' "As I have dragon blood, I will also utilize magic if I deem it to be necessary. Furthermore, Vive, while using a fundamentally different type of magic, is also a weapon that we will most certainly make use of in this fight…"
I stared at them all, still trying to figure out how best to explain it. 'It's not really that complicated, is it? Am I just being too dramatic?'
I sighed. "Alright, here are the details. First of all, this monster we are hunting is a demon, not a monster. Furthermore, it is a beast that is so old and terrifying that it can sustain itself without feasting on living humans. 'How do I explain how I know this… Uh…' My sister Lu here is a vessel for the lady saint of the abyss, so she can sense these things. Due to the nature of this demon, I have a friend that will arrive to help us fight it. She will most likely take on a hideous or terrifying form because… She… I… want to frighten the demon…" I sighed, lowering a hand to my face and flipping over a board to reveal a large diagram I had drawn. 'Let's just hope they don't think about it too much… Most people in this country don't have many thoughts anyway…'
"There are traditionally only two ways to kill a demon. Destroy both of its hearts at once or remove its brain. However… From personal experience, I can say that you have to do both to be sure… Because of the way demonic anatomy works, its first heart will be in the same place as a normal Kraken's, whereas the second will be where the Kraken's stomach normally is. Its brain will most likely be in the same place as normal. This is only for ordinary demons, though. This one… Apparently… Is anything but… In order to kill it, we will also need to fracture its mana gem, preferably first, to limit the amount of magic it can use. NO other methods of attack will inflict any meaningful damage or be useful in any way. Not unless it is working towards one of these four goals. In order of priority. The mana stone, then the primary heart, then the brain, and lastly the secondary heart. It's important that these parts are destroyed as well, not simply separated via dismemberment. Any questions?"
Airsidh was the only one brave enough to raise his hand. "Relevant questions…" I grumbled, and he lowered it again.
'I'm glad… But honestly, I'm just more nervous if they don't have any… "Ok, pass this information on to everyone else. We need to be prepared for anything."