"SHOTGUN!" (Risa)

"FUCK!" (Me)

With the unbreakable rules of "shotgun" evoked, I now have a different goal in mind. The thought of just killing the whale disappears quickly and is replaced by a plan to get Risa on that thing. No matter what it takes, and no matter the cost, my new objective was to ride into the sunset with her.

"I see how you're figuring out how to get Risa on top of that, and I ask you nicely: Please don't." (Jess)

"My sweet summer child, Jess..." (Me)

Even though shit's going haywire, as the surrounding mana falls into chaos, I put my stump for a hand with freshly added baby fingers on Jess' shoulder. My expression can only be described as humbled and apologetic.

"She called shotgun... Regrettably, there is nothing I can do anymore. I SHALL BE SMITTEN BY THUNDER, IF I FAIL TO GET RISA ON TOP OF THAT GIANT SPACE WHALE!" (Me)

Staring at my sad excuse for a hand, she tries to decide how to play the adult here. The amount of precious memories we made together lets me know that in a heartbeat. To be honest, I'm surprised that she hasn't already long given up on that, but her tenacity is just one of her charms.

"You are not seriously thinking of riding that " (Jess)

Once again, she's trying to appeal to my common sense, but she just won't learn the lesson. But just as Jess's role is to at least restrain me a little, Risa is always there to back me up.

"Thou shalt be rewarded, if thou manage to fulfill my quest! Rest assured, the prize will be bountiful!" (Risa)

Determination spreads through my entire being. Risa's hair flutters in this wretched atmosphere that the Spaticecta created, as she tries to visibly repress the joy she feels in favor of her persona.

"See how happy she is, Jess? Who am I to take that away from-" (Me)

WARNING!

The Spaticecta is in the process of evolving! Caution is advised.

"...Huh." (Me)

Now that the message clearly told me what the whale was trying to do, I realize how much of a goldmine our enemy's corpse could become.

'What does it mean by "evolving"? Moby Dick isn't a pokemon as far as I know?'

'Well, let me tell ya something, dear voice in my head. This is something that I didn't think would happen at this point of the apocalypse, but monsters don't just stay as they come. They also become stronger! Fun.'

The mana of the biggest marine animal increases through leaps and bounds, as his skin turns into a deep shade of crimson. While I don't have the ability to emit any kind of mana, my sense for mana is still top-notch, if I may toot my own horn.

The merging of the worlds wasn't a long time ago, which makes the monsters it created relatively young as well. They didn't have enough time to integrate and process the new, ambient mana, which, in turn, would make them more attuned to one element, or several in some cases.

But the Spaticecta is different in that aspect. It came from another dimension, which isn't a real problem since it's weak in comparison to its natural habitat. It's just that this one has already integrated mana in its core, which is one of the conditions to become evolved. Basically, it's usually stuck at the threshold of becoming a full mana beast.

'And through the power of friendship and family, it's trying to get over that exact threshold, which miiiiiiight be a teeny, weeny tiny problem.'

'Nith is fucked~'

'Don't you mean, we are fucked?'

'Oh, you little romantic.~'

'You know I just can't hold back.~'

I look at the other two, who received the same message as I did, and Jess' head darts between me and her screen, evidently worried.

"Nith, why did we just get a message that the big guy is getting stronger?" (Jess)

"We don't make mistakes. We have happy accidents." (Me)

Even though these are the words, that mark peace between two sides, Jess doesn't really seem convinced. Which should be impossible.

"Bloody hell, this is not a happy accident and you know it!" (Jess)

"Trust me, I know what happy accidents are. " (Me)

*ROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRR*

Right in between our conversation, the whale rudely interrupts us, which shows its lack of manners once again. Hate is constantly being exuded from its eyes, as it powers up even more. The whale's mana core seems to have been transformed into a single vortex, sucking in all the ambient mana it can get. The resulting waves crash against the cliffs we're standing on, making the ground tremble.

"Shush you! Mommy and Daddy are talking!" (Me)

You successfully used the skill "Provocation"!

Our foe comes to an abrupt halt from constantly spinning around its own axis and increasing its mana level. It shoots a sharp glare at us, readying itself to charge.

"Right, don't mention family-related things in front of the monster that just lost its family. Point taken." (Me)

Jess punches my arm at my comment, which isn't intended to hurt, but rather to send a message. But I wouldn't really be myself, without the needed drama, would I?

"Jess, I only have 10% of my HP left. I appreciate the cute punch, but I'm literally on the verge of death." (Me)

As if she just remembered that I still have my spine sticking out of my back and several deep cut wounds all over my body, her face drops.

"Oh, damn. I mean... you're right, but... the monster... you..." (Jess)

She stutters, scanning my body from top to bottom. With each wound she notices, she gets an increasingly worried look on her face. But, at the same time, she worries because of the monster that just became dangerously stronger.

Switching between my fucked up figure and the source of the spatial distortion around us, she soon gives up on getting common sense out of me.

"Wait, did I just get out of trouble just for being mortally wounded? I'm not grounded, Mom?" (Me)

"...suck a fat one." (Jess)

She has decided that she wouldn't pursue this matter any further, in consideration of my wounds. Which isn't really necessary, but I won't snitch on myself. I don't want to be sent on a timeout.

'Awwwww, Jess pouting is always a sight to behold.'

*ROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRR*

At that point, the whale makes itself noticeable again, as if to make sure that we didn't forget about it. For other people, the scream would shatter their eardrums, but with my enhanced body and the girls' mana protecting them, it's nothing more than a little nuisance for us.

"I got it! Talk about clingy. Can't even get the single moms off my back." (Me)

'The whale is being incredibly polite right now.'

'But if you think that I'm just being stupid by letting it power up, then you're wrong, my dear body-roommate!'

'I didn't say anythi-'

The thing about monsters, who have fully absorbed and processed a certain element, is that their whole bodily structure changes. Without the mana in their whole being, they're basically just a slightly stronger animal with a few modifications.

But if they incorporated the mana in their entire anatomy, they can't be compared anymore. Their flesh gets stronger, the skin tougher. And, most of all, their mana capacity and usage of magic get on a whole different level.

Which makes a special aspect of them also way purer, more precious, and stronger. Their mana core.

'Which I will then use to make? POP QUIZ! TRICK!'

'WEAPONS!'

'WRONG!'

'FUCK!'

I activate "Regeneration" once again, which immediately gets to work and starts to close at least a few of the tinier wounds, although it takes away another good chunk of my mana. Even if the skill is incredibly useful in a battle, the mana cost is still a bitch. Nonetheless, since I don't have many other skills that take up that much mana, the trade-off is certainly worth it. Although I'm still fucking sad that I don't have anything cool to work with, other than punching.

"Alrighty, time to get to work!" (Me)

Flamboyantly, I point at Jess, who confusedly looks at my finger which just now got ever so close to her face and booped her on the nose.

"Boop! Jess, my dear, woman I couldn't imagine living without, I need you to get a bit creative and do a simple task for me." (Me)

She scratches her nose, which I might've booped a few times extra, just for the fun of it.

"I don't think I have any choice, do I?" (Jess)

"Of course you do! Well, the other choice is... you know... death. But it's a choice nonetheless!" (Me)

Since I just found an incredible joy in touching her nose, we have a little bout, which she tries to fight against with all her power.

"Just... stop touching my nose... and..." (Jess)

"HERE COMES THE AIRPLANE!" (Me)

"WHAT AIRPLANE?" (Jess)

We get into a heated match of slapping our hands away, while Risa watches excitedly. After another pulse of mana from the life-threatening whale, I decide that I won and brush off the blood-drenched shreds on my legs, which used to be beautiful white pants.

'The dry cleaning will cost a fortune...'

"Jess, you will have to do the easiest thing! Aren't you lucky? You juuuuuust have to make sure that the whale doesn't move at all and doesn't teleport until I manage to mount him." (Me)

"I beg your pardon?" (Jess)

"PRIVATE RISA!" (Me)

I turn to the black-haired girl with horns just as black, who seems just as excited as I am. She jumps and raises her arm.

"PRESENT!" (Risa)

"Your magic is probably running low, so just shoot a few of your flames at him from a safe distance, 'kay? (Me)

"SIR! YES, SIR!" (Risa)

At this point, talking with Risa makes me feel better than any regeneration could. So, without any further interruption-

"How am I even supposed to manage that? I mean, I can do spatial magic now, but..." (Jess)

"I said, without further interruptions!" (Me)

"What? You didn't!" (Jess)

"Yes, I did." (Me)

"Nu-uh, you did not." (Jess)

"Yeah-uh, I did." (Me)

"You're being stupid!" (Jess)

"Oh, you did not just say that, young woman! Play nice or you will get a timeout!" (Me)

"Fuck you!" (Jess)

With these final words, the last wave of mana is sent out by the whale. He's finally fully evolved. Took his sweet ass time too. And the cunt dared to mock me a few minutes back, even though I was nice enough to let him power up for a full minute.

I can feel how the mana inside him is unstable, but it nevertheless expanded by an unbelievable amount. It has not yet achieved the full strength of an evolved monster, since the body still needs to adjust, which makes this instance perfect to subjugate it. After all, its body didn't have time yet to adapt to the sudden increase in magic power.

In the biting winds of the Cliffs of Dover, I and the whale stare at each other. Both with our hands near our guns-

'Nope, no guns present.'

-ready to shoot at any given opportunity. If it weren't for us both being near death already, we would be charging at each other as soon as we made eye contact. That's the kind of intimate relation we built over the last rough hour.

"I CHOOSE YOU! JESS!" (Me)

"I am not a pokemon." (Jess)

But she goes to work regardless, probably because she was against the option with death in it. I feel how the whale tries to teleport immediately in response. But before it can gather enough mana to invoke the spell, Jess already sent the new rings of metal she recovered from the two corpses on the sidelines to the Spaticecta.

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With her new branch-ability discovered, she uses the spatial magic with relative ease. Her mana doesn't seem to run low yet, although she just had to fight an enemy way above her pay grade. It seems like her mana pool is one of her biggest strengths.

The whale can't move. Jess is successfully halting him in one place. While the Spaticecta is way more proficient in space magic, Jess's proficiency in space magic is seemingly dependent on her metal affinity. This fact alone gets her on nearly the same level as our opponent.

But I and Risa don't just stand around while Jess is giving it her best. Risa shoots several, difficult to extinguish black flames at the whale.

'She's giving it her best too.'

'Such a good noodle.'

Meanwhile, I put to use something that I noticed when I first arrived at these cliffs.

The merging of worlds didn't only have an effect on the people and monsters, but also on the geographic shape of this world. New countries have emerged from the sea, and some materials were replaced by others. Even new metals will be found soon enough. In this case, the chalk from the Cliffs of Dover has turned into something way more dangerous.

Tchorrus

How do I say this, easy for you to understand? Hot hot = Boom Boom

'That was easy to understand.'

Nailed it.

With a well-aimed punch, I make the now explosive stone under my feet crack and rip out a good portion of it. Tchorrus doesn't easily explode, since it needs a direct heat source, so there should be no danger to me just digging it out like that. The oversized rock I hold in one hand easily exceeds 200kg, as I sprint as fast as I can to the unmoving sperm whale.

'HA! Sperm...'

'Hehehehe. Sperm...'

Even though it has only been a few seconds since the fight officially began, I see Jess already struggling to sustain the prison she created out of the few metal rings. But due to my unnaturally high agility, it doesn't take long for me to reach the whale.

The 100 meters between us are covered in the blink of an eye. 200kg in my hand feels light in comparison to the ton of metal I stole from Pete back at the settlement, thus it's child's play for me to jump on the lowly levitating Spaticecta.

As soon as I set foot on it, I feel Jess's control vanish. The rings surrounding the whale fall to the ground, giving off an unimaginably loud sound. Without hesitation, I dig my fingers inside the now childless whale and he reacts. If I had been a fraction of a second slower, I would've immediately lost the very ground... skin(?) I'm standing on, as my new ride prepares to teleport several times.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the Captain, who is me, has turned on the fasten seat belt sign. We are now crossing a zone of turbulence. Please return to your seats and keep your seat belts fastened. Thank you.” (Me)

'I CAN'T FIND MY SON!'

'MA'AM, CALM DOWN!'

Without even giving Trick time to find her son, we get teleported around without interceptions in between. Each time it happens, I get engulfed in a spongy, cozy, and warm shell of mana, after which I'm thrown around like a wet towel.

If it wasn't for my stat boost in strength, I would've lost my grip in a matter of seconds. Even so, I regularly have to find a chance to get a new hold, since slowly, but surely, I rip out tiny chunks of flesh.

We cover a lot of ground, as the whale tries to shake me off. Instantly moving from the sky to the ground.

"Don't you dare go into the water. It's cold and I don't want to- GURGLE GURGLE GURGLE." (Me)

'Come again?'

Showing its craftiness, the whale does exactly what I don't want. The freezing cold envelopes me for longer than a minute. But after that time, the space whale notices that, ironically, it's shit at holding its breath, so it continues to change our position.

After a few times of teleporting, the whale slows down. It realizes that it does it more harm than good to fall into a rampage and waste its mana, so the barrage of magic attacks starts once again. Even with Risa taking some attention off of me, the magic attacks do threateningly more damage than just a few minutes ago.

The slices concentrate on my legs and I feel that even my defense buff can't hold out long against them. Before I could even do anything, one of my legs was cut off.

"Arrrr, I'll take a wooden leg any day, matey!" (Me)

As soon as I finished that sentence, my other leg was gone.

"Comedy has its price." (Me)

'You are Peggy the pirate!'

I seal the wounds shut with some of the little mana I have left. To prevent anything else important from being lost, I start my impeccable plan against my foe.

Just like any other whale, the Spaticecta has something that you'd under normal circumstances and with the right language call an "asshole". And exactly that is my destination.

'Swiggity swooty, coming for that booty.'

'Weird time to say that, buddy.'

'Suck a dick lmao.'

Thanks to the fact that the whale sees me as a bigger threat than Risa or Jess, it concentrates its attacks on me. This also means that my tiny sliver of health drops even further, which starts to become a problem.

WARNING! 5% HEALTH REMAINING

'Hey, is me. The voice in your head. Would really appreciate it if you didn't die.'

'It looks like you don't trust me at all...'

I claw myself along the whale's skin, constantly under a barrage of attacks. With the stakes already high, I hurry up as much as I can towards the far end of the Spaticecta's behind, dodging attacks left and right.

Adrenaline pumps through my body, screaming at me to get faster and faster. If it weren't for the "Pain Resistance" skill, my body would've long given up, but I persevere.

And finally, with 2% HP left, I arrive at the whale's ass with the chunk of dynamite in my hand.

"NOW! WHALE!" (Me)

The attacks stop for a split second, probably cause I am literally at its asshole and it doesn't want to give itself a clean shave down there.

"I need you to breathe, okay? You're gonna feel a little pressure." (Me)

The mana of the Spaticecta moves more erratically than before. There's only little time left before the whale finishes me off with its last attacks so I take a deep breath.

My hand catches fire after I activate "Ember". I smell the sizzling, explosive Tchorrus in my hand and get ready to do what my Uncle Eric has once done to me.

'At least he was creative.'

'A true artist.'

Nostalgia washes over me, as I cork the whale's ass like a good bottle of wine. Immediately after, its after explodes, which interrupts any casting of spells it had planned. My last few HP were spared, although I'm bathed in blood and splatter, just like every square meter in a 50-meter radius.

In pain, the whale crashes to the ground as it did before. If it weren't for me, pulling myself back up before it landed so graciously, I would've been squashed beneath it. But now I stand atop the whale, who's bleeding profusely from its anus.

"Man, you've been a real pain in the ass." (Me)

'I'm hilarious.'

I look at Jess and Risa, with high expectations for them to laugh, but I get little reaction out of them. Jess is lying on the ground, unable to move a muscle from mana exhaustion, only able to look at me with disgust. It's also possible that she's looking at the piece of ass that literally landed right in front of her after the explosion.

Meanwhile, Risa still tries to work out that I just made an asshole explode with way more enthusiasm than I should have. I guess busting ass doesn't get me a lot of points from my waifus.

But the voice in my head is at least having a blast.

"Alright, I have blasted your ass into smithereens now." (Me)

From the whale's forehead, I talk down to it. It breathes heavily, its tailfin barely hanging onto a thread. Even with its body in a similar condition as mine, it doesn't lose the fire in its eyes.

To be honest, I feel sorry for it. But this is a necessity.

"Now then, Spat... Can I call you Spat?" (Me)

It breathes heavily.

"I'll call you Spat. Listen, we're both in a shit condition, so I will make you an offer." (Me)

I can feel its heart beating erratically in response to the pain it feels.

"I have a particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very, and trust me on this one, very long career. Skills, that make me a nightmare for people like- wait, wrong negotiation speech." (Me)

It seems like Jess can move her head at least since she's banging her head repeatedly on the ground, which I enjoy very much. But even if she tries to hide it, I can see a wee little smile from her.

"But I really do have some skills which could come in handy here. I can extract your mana core without it killing you. While it may be difficult to stay alive because of predators, it's better than being dead immediately." (Me)

Now that the whale evolved, it should be able to understand what I'm saying. As soon as you become evolved, your understanding of language becomes obsolete. With mana integrated into your being, the meaning of words is what comes across anytime you hear someone speak. So the language barrier between human and whale shouldn't be a problem here.

However, the whale begins to breathe heavier and heavier. I can feel the circulation in mana inside it, which is a clear answer.

"Well, I gave you a chance. As long as you're alive, you could always have gotten revenge on me. But maybe ending it quickly really is the best for some." (Me)

I couldn't help but be remembered of my own goal and see myself in this whale. Which isn't something that I thought I would ever say. But the fact that I'm clearly standing on the bad side here is something that spreads a bitter taste in my mouth.

'HYPOCRITE! MURDERER! HOW DARE YOU TELL HIM-'

The memory of me being hunted across a town invades my mind. My breathing ragged, the burning town makes the oxygen in my lungs feel like razors. I panic. My death is imminent.

I hit my head a few times as if a bit of stubborn water got into my ear.

Mind corruption continues! 4% corrupted!

'Hey Nith, are you alright?'

'Oh, you know me. Happy thoughts.~'

'Hm...'

Trick's voice sounds unusually sullen. But there's no reason to let her know where the memory came from. It might sound cliché, but it's better for her and me.

The whale struggles to form a single decent spell. Even if it seems that it's not a threat any longer, I can't really attack it anymore as well. Jess is out already and Risa is close to mana exhaustion as well. This is probably the world's boring Mexican standoff.

"Spat, bro, you leave me no choice. I'm gonna become one of the worst kidney stones you can imagine." (Me)

Doing a headstand, showing off my incredible dexterity stat, I make my way toward the whale's blowhole. Even if it's a bit weird to go skinny diving inside the guts of a monster, it seems like this is starting to become a (slightly kinky) habit.

'What is kinky about it? WHAT IS KINKY ABOUT IT??? You, Sir, are disgusting.'

"Don't kink shame me! I know what you're looking at inside my head!" (Me)

'THE SITE CLEARLY STATES THAT THEY ARE OVER 18! Hence there's no problem. My hands are clean.'

With all the blood over me, it won't make a difference if I go for round 2 of gut swimming.

"I would do my stretches, but the upward facing dog pose is a bit difficult without legs." (Me)

I take a deep breath.

The gaping hole looks at me invitingly.

Just as I'm about to take a leap of faith, I notice a presence around me. I can't pinpoint it, which is a huge feat against me. Admittedly, I don't have any mana I can really use, but escaping me can only be done with a superior concealment skill.

When I was at the priest's stronghold, I felt someone prying their eyes into me. Killing intent was oozing out, unable to control it. While I was in a place, where I should not have been under any circumstances, this wouldn't be weird. But the whole place was controlled by Pete. There was no way he would let animosity leak out.

I feel exactly this same gaze on me for a split second, before it vanishes again.

"Ooooohhhh, spooky. Shiver me timbers!" (Me)

'Watch out, or it might scare ya. Ooooohhh!'

At my provocation, I can feel the person's killing intent again. The aggressor seems to be a bit on edge. After checking that Jess and Risa are still safe, I decide to have a little fun.

"Hey, do you know what's funny? Blasphemy." (Me)

'Huh, I've never heard of it... please tell me more!'

I look around the wide plane that I'm standing on, elevated thanks to the flying whale. There's not a single person in sight, other than Risa and Jess.

"Little fun fact about little J to the esus up there: he was called Jimmy until he came to Earth! And he pissed in the sheets until he was about 300 years old as well... You can take a quick guess who had to change the diapers of little Jimbo." (Me)

The killing intent gets more intense. The tension between me and the incognito person could be cut with a knife, albeit it is unknown whether it is sexual tension or just pure hostility.

'What a blast, Sir! What other fun stories do you have to share?'

"Fun fact numero dos! Did you know that most of the angels have eeny weeny, teeny weeny, shriveled little short penises? The greeks had them as their models! No wonder Mary felt like she was still a virgin, huh?" (Me)

'Weren't you an angel at one point too?'

'Alright, no more stories for you.'

'BUT IT'S NOT BEDTIME YET!'

Just as I noticed how the presence became more and more aggressive, I catch that the whale I'm still standing on (with my hands) had a change as well.

The whale's mana is resting. Not moving. Not dead, but no activity either. I put my hand on the whale's still body, trying to sense where the sudden change in attitude came from.

The disgusting picture of the wriggling worm Pete used on his subordinates flashes in my mind. The whale has suddenly been affected by it as well, albeit in a different form. Somehow, the Spaticecta that struggled so much just a few seconds back, lies still now with dead eyes.

Meanwhile, the presence that clearly just wanted to rip my heart out, disappeared just as quickly as it appeared.

"Hm... not really the end I wanted." (Me)

The fight ended anti-climactically, which makes me a bit pissed to be honest, considering the amount of work I put into it.

In any other case, the whale would've easily been able to resist a low-tier spell like this. Mind control is one of the easiest spells used by the big cunt's faction and it's also one of the first abilities they're "blessed" with.

But, being mortally wounded, it was impossible for the foe I just fought to shake such a spell off.

Now it won't move until explicitly ordered so by the person that weaved the charm that's controlling it.

'But I won't betray Risa's expectations!'

'I tip my hat to you, one simp to another.'

Once again, I tap into a foreign energy, which is different from the usual mana. My body screams in exhaustion, as I force something out of my body, that I should not be able to move. Although I'm very familiar with it, the channels inside my current vessel aren't. If it weren't for my expertise with it, the consequences could be a teeny bit dangerous.

But I wouldn't be me if danger didn't attract me. Wretched, black energy circulates inside me as I put my hand back on the whale's forehead. The black ooze condenses on my palm and seeps into the whale.

'Eeewww, what's that.'

'A solution of liquified STDs. Gotta always have some in your back pocket.'

The radiating gold worm squirms in pain, the black ooze clearly attacking it quickly and forcing it to take on a new form. I do this with a wretched feeling in my gut since I'm practically doing the exact same thing that the mysterious fella from before did.

With the dark liquid controlling the parasite, I managed to grab control of the mind control spell, which is kinda weird, since I'm mind-controlling a mind control spell.

'What's even weirder, is the fact that someone from a church helped you. Even after you talked shit about their deity.'

'Well, those guys aren't really known to be the embodiment of sanity. I don't wanna toot my own horn, but look at me.'

'Point taken.'

I notice how, now that I had to gather energy from hell, my body becomes gradually more sluggish. Even without this additional burden, I was already at my limits physically.

"Risa!" (Me)

Doing my best to crawl towards the edge of the immobile whale, I shout down to her.

Risa's crouching next to Jess, poking her repeatedly. With Jess unable to move, no one will stop her.

Well, until I shouted her name.

"YES, SIR!" (Risa)

"GET UP HERE! AND BRING JESS! WE RIDIN' HOME!" (Me)

The setting sun shines on Risa, as she raises her arms in excitement after realizing that she can finally ride the whale. I didn't plan for the fight to take so long, but it seems like night isn't very far away.

"Man, if Jess hadn't used up all her mana, I could've put some mad rims on this bad boy. Give it some hydraulics, make it jump." (Me)

Slowly, Risa struggles to lift Jess and fly in my direction. It takes her a few minutes to cover the few hundred meters between us until she finally lets Jess fall on the whale and lands herself.

"What a fun little trip this was, right girls? Did everyone get some souvenirs?" (Me)

Risa is too occupied touching the whale, while Jess still hasn't recovered.

"Not even a T-shirt?" (Me)

I notice how Jess moves with great effort. Her silver hair sticks to her forehead from all the sweat, while the bags under her eyes tell stories about how exhausted she is.

"And what happened with you?" (Jess)

Completely ignoring my question, she scans my body once more, just like she did when looking at my protruding spine. She seems too tired to make any kind of facial expression, as she barely manages to move her neck and look at me.

Finally, she stops at my legs.

"You are... kind of small?" (Jess)

'*GASP* HOW COULD SHE SAY THAT?!'

"THE WATER WAS COLD! I'M AVERAGE!" (Me)

Jess doesn't even have the energy to reply anymore, so she just lets her head fall again. Any kind of bleeding has long stopped, so my life isn't really in danger anymore. But with Jess's words, I died in a different way...

"Nith!" (Risa)

I have to force myself to stay awake, or else we would have no way of returning home for at least a few days. After your mana has been completely drained, it takes far longer than usual to regenerate, so Jess won't be able to move us safely. And Risa won't be able to carry even one of us back home.

But even with my flesh at its end, Risa gives me enough energy for a lifetime.

"T's time to wend home! Onward! Godspeed!" (Risa)

As the only one able to stand, for one reason or another, she takes on the role of captain. I give up my role willingly since I don't have any legs to stand imposingly on as she does.

"AYE AYE, CAPTAIN!" (Me)

And with these words, I manipulate the whale into lifting off. The foe I once fought is now loyally under my command, as its lifeless husk picks up the corpse of its children and starts flying towards the sunset.