GDAAR! A brutal impact. The ship lurches and reels as the Leviathan's tail slams into it.
GMRRRMMRRRR—its roar echoes from beneath the sea, vibrating through the water and the ship's planks.
Rose, the captain, the crew, the passengers—everyone slips and falls under the force of the blow.
GMRRRMMRRR—another roar, just before it surges upward again from the depths.
SKRAAATH—lightning splits the sky again and again.
The Leviathan leaps into the air once more. This is my chance. I draw my sword and try to land on its body.
"AAAAARG!" I wrench the blade free, swing it, run along its back—"NO!" The Leviathan dives, and I am left hanging in midair.
I fall, the sword already swung, trying to drive it into the back beneath me.
"AAAAARGHT!" Its body—its body—
But suddenly its head is right in front of me. I catch a glimpse of it as my vision snaps upward. Its mouth gapes open, about to roar again.
WRAAAAATHH—the roar explodes, its breath and shockwave blasting straight toward me.
SWISHHH—the sound of an arrow striking rings out near its head. It pierces its gills—at last.
AAAAAAORM—its cry twists into pain. Its head jerks away from me and toward the ship—toward Rose.
"DAMN IT!" Its body is no longer beneath me. Below me now is only the sea.
BLAAM—I crash into the water.
The Leviathan now fixes its gaze on the ship—more precisely, on Rose, who has just wounded it—and snaps its head forward in an instant, jaws wide, aimed at the vessel, at the main mast.
"THE MAST!" the captain shouts, frozen and tense, unable to move.
The Leviathan clamps its jaws around the ship, the main mast caught between its teeth.
"No, no, NO!" The captain collapses, unable to stand, watching the mast bend and crack under the Leviathan's bite. Then—BLAAAM—the mast snaps completely and sinks with the Leviathan, which has already begun to rise again.
"THE ANCHOR—the anchor, the boy!" The captain crawls, struggling to rise. "EVERYONE, PULL THE ANCHOR!" he shouts, breaking the stunned silence.
"THE BOY—COME ON! COME ON! COME ON!" The crew rushes to the winch, pushing together to haul the chain.
"FASTER! PUSH WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH!" the captain shouts amid the roar of the storm.
On the slanted deck, dozens of crew members and passengers surge forward together, gripping the capstan bars with trembling hands.
CLICK—CLICK—CLICK—the locking metal clashes with the sound of the waves as they run in a circle, hauling on the taut anchor line.
My breath is running out. The storm makes it nearly impossible for me to surface, and the Leviathan churns the sea into chaos. The anchor chain is now my only hold.
I cling to the chain and move.
The captain joins them, pushing alongside them. "ONE! TWO! THREE!" On the third count, everyone at the winch heaves. "ONE! TWO! THREE!" They push again.
The chain shifts farther, but will it break free? I can see the Leviathan preparing to rise once more.
GMRRRMMRRRR—its roar rolls up from the depths, vibrating through the water and into my bones.
The roar before it rises. The Leviathan surges upward again.
WRAAAAATHH—its cry should explode above the surface, but down here I hear it only as muffled thunder.
The chain drops again; their effort falters. Everyone freezes, tense at the sound of its roar.
But the captain, resolute, forces himself upright and begins to count once more. "COME ON—ONE! TWO! THREE!" The winch is pushed again.
I draw closer. "ONE!" I am almost there. "TWO!" Closer still. "THREE!"
At last—the Leviathan begins to descend again. It will rise once more, and its body is directly beneath me.
I leap at the exact moment. "AAAARGH!" I shout underwater, driving the sword between its scales as I am dragged upward.
"HIROOO!" Rose's cry reaches me. "THE BOY!" another voice shouts, growing faint. "THAT BOY!" someone else yells, fading into the storm.
I am lifted now, but the sword is only lodged between its scales. The moment it stills, I will be flung away.
It stills. It stills. This is it. I am thrown.
Its body—its body—its body—"ITS BODY!" I shout, refusing to miss again. "THIS IS IT!" I swing the sword.
Its body is beneath me. "HAAASHH!" I drive it in.
WRAAAAATHH—its roar explodes again, thick with pain. There it is.
SKRAAATH—lightning tears across the sky.
Oliver's sword. Oliver's technique.
SKLASH—I release the blade, take my stance, and surge forward. With a sweeping cut toward the creature's tail, I drive ahead.
SLASH—SLASH—SLASH—I cleave through half of its tail, carving and hacking with Oliver's technique, my movements guided by sight alone.
WRAAAAATHH—a thunderous, echoing roar of pain. That is what I need. My assault is not finished.
"WOOO—!" "What is that?!" "How is that possible?!" Cheers erupt across the deck, witnessing an act they cannot believe from Hiro.
SKRAAATH—lightning tears across the sky again.
The light fades. I press on, charging forward once more.
SLASH—SLASH—SLASH—SLASH.
WRAAAAATHH—another thunderous, echoing roar of pain.
At last, I sever and carve through the tail completely—only the body and the head remain. This is it. I shift into my stance again, preparing to charge.
But—
"Huh?" the captain murmurs.
"Kid!" someone shouts.
"No—" The crew freezes.
The Leviathan hurls me into the air—
WRAAAAATHH—its roar explodes, deafening, its jaws gaping wide before me.
SKRAAATH—lightning splits the sky.
HAAASHT—the Leviathan snaps its jaws shut. I am inside its mouth.
"HIROOO!" Rose screams.
"THAT BOY!" a man shouts.
"THAT BOY!" the captain cries.
WRAAAAATHH—a thunderous roar, echoing, sounding like a victory declared too soon.
I am now inside its entrails, sliding uncontrollably, dragged toward its stomach—the worst fate imaginable.
But then, fortune favors me.
CLATCH—I drive the blade into its flesh, gaining a hold with the sword I have just embedded.
I once believe the blade would never pierce if I charged from the outside, yet fate eases my path from within.
"I will end this. Farewell!"
SLASH—SLASH—SLASH—SLASH—SLASH—I hack and cleave without pause. Light pours in. I hang inverted, feet above, head below, arms fully extended.