Chapter 16: The Shadow of the King
The smell of the Sea King was a physical blow—a stench of ancient brine, rotting kelp, and blood. Its mouth was a cavern, lined with teeth the size of tombstones, descending toward me with the inevitability of a falling mountain.
I couldn't move. My Agility: 22 legs felt like lead. My Will was crushed under the sheer, primal pressure of the beast.
This was the terror of the food chain. I wasn't a god anymore. I was a snack.
CLANG!
A spark of orange fire erupted in the darkness.
Just as the jaws were about to snap shut around me and the quarterdeck, a black blur slammed into the side of the monster's snout.
"Don't you ignore me, you oversized sashimis!"
Shimotsuki Riyon was there. He hadn't tried to block the bite—that would have been suicide against a creature weighing thousands of tons.
Instead, he had jumped, driven his Armament Haki-coated boots into the ship's railing, and launched himself like a missile at the side of the beast's head.
Shimotsuki Style: Falling Avalanche!
His scabbard—not even the blade, just the heavy, black-lacquered sheath—slammed into the creature's sensitive nostril with the force of a cannonball.
GROOOOAAAR!
The Sea King roared in pain, its head jerking to the side inches before impact. Its teeth scraped the mast, sending a shower of splinters raining down on me.
The sheer displacement of air threw me backward, tumbling across the deck.
"Captain! Get up!" Riyon landed on the deck with a heavy thud, sliding between me and the beast.
He drew Nagasone Okisato, the blade shimmering with a deadly purple aura in the moonlight.
"If you die here, I'll kill you myself!"
"I... I..." I stammered, pushing myself up. My hands were shaking.
"Eyes up, Luthor!" Vasco's voice rang out from the rigging.
The chef had scrambled up the ratlines like a monkey. "It's turning! It's coming back for a second course!"
The massive serpent coiled in the water, its glowing yellow eyes fixed hatefully on the ship. It raised its tail, a massive fluked appendage that blotted out the stars.
It was going to crush the Purgatory in one blow.
"Elara! The eyes!" Riyon barked.
"I see it! Windage is zero... distance 200 meters..."
Elara was prone on the cabin roof, my Seastone rifle braced against her shoulder. She took a breath.
CRACK.
The rifle shot echoed in the silent Calm Belt.
The bullet, tipped with Seastone, struck the Sea King just above its right eye.
It didn't kill it—the beast's scales were thick as armor plating—but it dug in, biting deep.
The monster shrieked, thrashing. The tail faltered, missing the ship by ten feet but sending a tidal wave washing over the deck.
I was soaked, freezing, and terrified. But as the cold water hit my face, something clicked. My Observation Haki. It was screaming at me. Not just fear... but information.
I saw a flash. The tail wasn't the attack. The beast was diving. It was going to come up from underneath.
"BELOW!" I screamed, my voice cracking but loud. "IT'S GOING UNDER! HARD TO STARBOARD!"
Riyon didn't hesitate. He didn't question the shivering teenager. He grabbed the helm and spun it with all his Commodore-level strength.
"Vasco! Brace!"
The Purgatory lurched violently to the right.
A second later, the ocean erupted exactly where we had been. The Sea King shot out of the water like a breaching whale, its jaws snapping on empty air. If we hadn't moved, it would have bitten the keel in half.
"Nice call, Captain!" Vasco yelled, leaping from the rigging onto the beast's back as it crested the water.
"Vasco! No!" Elara screamed.
"Cooking is about finding the tender spots!" the chef cackled. He ran along the monster's slippery scales, dodging the thrashing spines. He reached the base of the creature's dorsal fin—a spot where the scales were thinner.
"Appetizer Style: Fillet Mignon!"
He drove both daggers, 'Parsley' and 'Sage', deep into the soft flesh, twisting them with surgical precision.
The Sea King convulsed, thrashing so hard it threw Vasco off. He flew through the air, laughing, and splashed into the dangerous water.
"Idiot!" Riyon roared. He sheathed his sword and grabbed a rope. "Elara, cover fire! Captain, take the helm! Keep us moving!"
Take the helm.
I scrambled to the wheel. It was heavy, fighting the turbulent water created by the monster. My arms shook. My muscles burned. I didn't have the strength of the sun. I only had the strength of a boy who refused to die.
I gripped the wood until my knuckles bled. I pulled.
"I am... the Captain..." I gritted out.
I steered the ship, dodging the thrashing tail, keeping us close enough for Riyon to throw the rope to Vasco.
"Gotcha, you suicidal cook!" Riyon yelled, hauling the soaking wet chef back onto the deck.
"Did you see that?" Vasco sputtered, coughing up seawater. "I hit the nerve cluster! It's paralyzed on the left side!"
He was right. The beast was listing, swimming in circles, unable to coordinate its attack.
"Finish it," I whispered.
"Elara!" I yelled, my voice finding a shred of command. "Shoot the wound Vasco made! Riyon! Cut the fin!"
"Aye, Captain!"
CRACK.
Elara's second shot was perfect. It hit the open wound, the Seastone bullet burrowing deep into the nerve cluster.
"Shimotsuki Style..." Riyon leaped from the rail, soaring through the air toward the listing beast. He drew his blade mid-air. "...Crescent Moon Decapitation!"
A wave of flying Haki, sharp and terrible, sliced through the night. It struck the damaged neck of the beast.
Blood, dark and thick, sprayed like a geyser.
The Sea King let out one final, gurgling moan and collapsed into the water, dead.
The silence of the Calm Belt returned, heavier than before.
I let go of the helm, my legs giving out. I slid to the deck, gasping for air.
We were alive.
But I... I had done nothing but steer. I had been protected. I had been weak.
I heard footsteps.
Riyon stood over me, sheathing his blade. He was wet, bruised, and exhausted.
He looked down at me, the 15-year-old boy shivering in the dark.
I waited for the insult. I waited for him to quit.
Instead, he reached down and offered me a hand.
"Good eyes, Captain," he said, his voice gruff but respectful. "We would have been sunk without that warning."
I looked at his hand.
Then I looked at Vasco, who was shaking water out of his apron, and Elara, who was reloading her rifle with shaking hands.
They weren't looking at me with pity. They were looking at me with trust.
I took Riyon's hand. He pulled me up.
"We survived," I whispered.
"We did," Vasco grinned, though he looked pale.
"Now... who wants Sea King steaks for breakfast?"
(To be Continued)