Charry wasn't an idiot.

He knew perfectly well that if what David had seen was true—and part of him still held some doubt, as he had seen Expert illusion mages capable of concealing entire armies—the only chance the Wavebreaker had to survive was thanks to outside intervention.

He didn’t give in to despair even when the previously tranquil seas began churning and frothing out of nowhere. Tall waves crashed against the ship's bow, harmlessly dispersed by the numerous enchantments that ran its length. But when the stars started vanishing from the southwest, the exact direction the kid had told him the danger would come from, even Charry started to feel some trepidation.

A grim atmosphere settled over the ship. The crew continued their duties, patrolling the dark waters and ensuring they were ready to engage in high-speed maneuvers, too professional to give up, but it was obvious to all that this wouldn’t be a simple fight.

"Against any other ship, hells, against an entire fleet, I would give us decent odds of coming out of it alive," Charry murmured, earning twin snorts from his friends.

"Our luck was bound to run out sooner or later. You can't take a dwarf so far from the shore." Anton commented, sounding much lighter than what could be expected of the usually surly gunman.

Charry, who had come to know him very well, took it as the admission of worry that it was. Anton was just as aware as he was that their survival was out of their hands.

"I wouldn't count us out yet. The Wavebreaker has managed to avoid pursuit by an entire school of sea serpents before. What could a horror from the deep do to us they can't?" Rupert was always optimistic, but he didn't sound like he believed what he was saying.

"Oh, holy Light, protect us from the terrors of the unknown. Bless us with your radiance and drive away all that would harm your children-" Portia, their resident water mage, didn't seem like she'd be of any use. The woman was one of the few remnants of the old navy that had defected once Treon fell to the Revolution, and she had earned a reputation for being surprisingly competent, if a bit too superstitious for his liking. Seeing her reduced to desperately praying didn't help Charry's assessment of their chances.

Still, he didn't let that show on his face. It wouldn't do for the captain to fall apart when the night was still oh so long. He stood at the helm, gripping the ship's railing as he watched the night sky grow impossibly dark. It wasn’t just absence of light but something deeper, more insidious, as if the stars themselves were being smothered by the presence that loomed closer with each passing minute. The horizon had vanished, swallowed by something that pressed down on them, making the air feel thick, almost suffocating.

I wonder if fighting the greater creatures of the Void was like this. I heard people say they were unnerving because of their lack of presence until they were close enough to steal your senses, but I have a hard time picturing that.

The Wavebreaker's magical lights were the only illumination now. It was close.

Charry activated protections, and faint, glowing runes along the sides of the hull flared up, casting a pale bronze hue across the deck. The wards hummed with energy, pushing back the cloying, oppressive aura that had descended upon them like a heavy fog. Charry had never felt any malice so pronounced as that. Having been a ship captain for only a month, he wasn't the most experienced, but he had been through enough storms to say that this was not natural.

"We can't outrun it, can we?" Anton's voice was low, barely audible over the sea’s frothing and the ship's creaking.

Charry didn't answer. His eyes were locked on the horizon, or rather, where the impenetrable black where it should have been, growing larger and more ominous in the distance. He could sense the crew's growing fear, feel it in the way their movements had become more erratic and desperate. The bravado and experience that had once kept them steady were slipping away, drowned by the sheer scale of the terror approaching.

The protective runes flared again, brighter this time, struggling to hold back the tide of malevolence. For a moment, it felt like they might hold. But then, with a final pulse, the lights flickered…and died.

The ship was plunged into near-total darkness. A ripple of panic spread across the deck as sailors cursed and stumbled, their voices rising with fear. Charry's heart sank. He hadn't exactly expected the wards to keep working for the whole assault, but he had hoped they'd last longer—at least until the thing started attacking directly. Without them, they were exposed, vulnerable to the monstrous presence lurking just beyond the edge of their vision.

And then, they saw it.

A vast and grotesque silhouette slowly took shape against the black sky. Even from miles away, its enormity was undeniable. The creature stood taller than the tallest mountain, its form indistinct but massive, looming like a nightmare come to life. Waves emerged from its unseen body, but its approach swallowed any sound. It was as though the sea itself had become mute in its presence.

It was coming.

Several sailors fell to their knees, hands trembling as they clutched the railing, staring in abject terror. Charry felt a chill run down his spine. This was some ancient horror from the depths that should have never been awakened in this era. His mind blamed the kid for a moment, but he shook that off. Sooner or later, another diviner would have run into it. Such a threat would have never remained hidden for much longer.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

It was coming for them.

Charry swallowed, his throat dry as he watched the thing advance, growing ever larger. It was still miles away, but close enough that the sheer scale of it was enough to make men despair.

It was coming for him.

All of a sudden, something materialized beside him without making a sound. Charry jerked in surprise, his hand instinctively reaching for his sword, but the moment his eyes fell on the figure, he froze.

It wasn't the Grand Marshal, as he had hoped. But the reinforcements had finally arrived.

"Lady Amelia," he breathed, feeling his knees almost give out in relief. He only kept it together out of sheer stubbornness.

They called her the most beautiful woman in the world—and rightly so. Her presence was ethereal, her features so perfect they seemed unreal, her dark hair cascading down her shoulders like liquid shadows, and her luminous purple eyes seemed to absorb what little light remained.

Despite being still stunned by her beauty, even in such a terrifying situation, it wasn't that that made Charry exhale in relief. It was the fact that the moment she appeared, the suffocating aura surrounding the ship vanished entirely. The pressure bearing down on them for what felt like an eternity was gone as if it had never existed.

Around them, sailors who had been on the verge of panic now stood in stunned silence. Some even cheered once they noticed her arrival, breaking the tense quiet.

"Thank the Light," Charry muttered. "You came to save us."

Amelia's lips curled into a soft and enigmatic smile. "Save you?" she echoed, her voice like the soft rustle of leaves in a calm breeze. "No, Captain. I didn't come to save you."

Charry blinked, his relief faltering. "What do you mean?"

Amelia's eyes twinkled with amusement as she gazed out at the horizon, where the creature's silhouette was moving closer. "I came to witness the spectacle," she said lightly, as if discussing the weather.

Charry's confusion deepened. "What spectacle?"

Before Amelia could answer, the sea began to shake violently beneath them. The ship rocked as waves surged higher, crashing against the hull with increasing force. The water swirled, forming massive whirlpools that twisted and coiled. And then, in the distance, something else began to take shape.

A colossal serpent slowly rose from the depths. Its body was made of water, translucent yet glowing with blue light. It towered over the ship's mast, its body stretching impossibly high in the sky. The sailors, already pushed to the brink by the sight of the monster chasing them, could only stare in stunned disbelief.

"The Deep One," Amelia said softly, "has made the mistake of coming too close to the Slitherer's delta."

Charry's heart pounded in his chest as the water serpent reared its massive head, its eyes glowing with terrible power. The Deep One continued its slow march, seemingly unworried that a new foe had appeared, and yet the entire atmosphere had changed entirely with the Elemental King's arrival.

Before anyone could ask for further explanations, the serpent let out a deafening roar that shook the world.

It reverberated through the Wavebreaker, obliterating its remaining wards. Charry winced at its sheer force, gripping the railing harder to steady himself, but sighed in relief as a bubble of transparent shadows coalesced around them. Below, the sailors clutched their weapons and each other, wide-eyed and awestruck but no longer paralyzed by fear. Lady Amelia's arrival and the elemental's appearance seemed to have buoyed their spirits.

The Slitherer's massive body coiled and undulated, with currents rushing through it wide enough for the Wavebreaker to navigate. It was a spectacle unlike anything he had ever imagined.

In contrast, the Deep One—a shifting, grotesque mass of tentacles, eyes, and gaping maws—seemed to defy the very laws of nature. Its form never remained the same for long, constantly writhing, merging, and splitting, as if reality could barely contain its monstrous presence.

The two beings collided with a force that sent shockwaves through the sea. The Slitherer struck first, its massive head crashing into the swirling mass of tentacles. Water surged in great torrents, flinging up towering walls that shimmered with an eerie glow. The impact was so powerful that even the Wavebreaker, miles away, shuddered beneath the waves. Charry felt his stomach lurch as the ship tilted, but the bubble of shadows surrounding them held firm.

"Isn't it magnificent?" Amelia's voice cut through the chaos, soft yet clear, as though the roar of battle couldn't touch her.

Charry shot her a sideways glance, still gripping the railing. "Magnificent?" He almost laughed, the tension of the moment fraying his nerves. "That thing could swallow us whole without even noticing."

Amelia smiled, her eyes gleaming with amusement. "Oh, don't worry. You're perfectly safe. Just enjoy the show."

Despite her reassurances, Charry couldn't shake the creeping dread at the sight of the Deep One. Now, with the Slitherer's light illuminating the sea, he could see it in full—an ever-shifting nightmare, a horror of countless eyes and gnashing maws. Tentacles stretched out in every direction, some lashing against the water serpent, while others seemed to reach for the very sky, as if trying to tear open the heavens themselves.

The Slitherer responded with raw fury. Its massive tail whipped through the ocean, creating tidal waves that crashed into the abomination with enough force to level a city. The sea was its weapon, bending and twisting at the Elemental King's command. The winds howled around Wavebreaker while the atmospheric pressure increased with every passing moment.

Despite the majestic show, Charry's instincts told him he wasn't seeing the full scope of the battle. What was happening before his eyes was only a fraction of the true fight, and he had no doubt it extended beyond what mortal senses could perceive.

His suspicions gnawed at him until he finally voiced them. "Lady Amelia," he said, glancing her way, "What we're seeing is only part of it, isn't it?"

Amelia's smile widened in approval. "You're perceptive, Captain. Yes, what you see is merely the physical manifestation. The real battle, the one that truly matters, is happening far beyond your understanding. What you witness is just the aftershock of their clash—an echo of the Concepts they wield."

"Concepts?" Charry frowned, trying to grasp the meaning.

"The Ascended don't fight like mortals do," she explained, her tone almost playful. "Their power isn't bound by flesh and blood. They embody forces—Ideas, if you will." She trailed off as if remembering she wasn't talking to a peer.

Charry felt a cold shiver run through him. Her words left him feeling small—insignificant, even. These were forces beyond anything he could comprehend, much less influence. And yet, there was a strange comfort in knowing they were protected by someone as powerful as Lady Amelia.

The battle raged on, the Slitherer's infinite reserves slowly but surely pushing the Deep One back. With each strike, the water serpent drove its foe further away from the ship—and its territory. The abomination didn't go quietly, extracting its pound of flesh more than once, but each blow was met with a surge of oceanic power, and the Slitherer was soon restored.

As if sensing its inevitable defeat, the Deep One let out a sound—a screech so shrill and terrible that it made the entire ship quake. The bubble of shadows surrounding them cracked under its force, thin lines of darkness splintering like fragile glass. Charry staggered, clutching his ears as the sound tore through him, the sheer intensity of it nearly unbearable.

For a moment, he thought the barrier might shatter entirely. But it held, just barely.

And then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the Deep One was gone. Its form dissolved into the darkness as though it had never existed. The sea went quiet, and the air was still.

Charry straightened, breathless, staring at the empty horizon. "It's dead?"

"For now." Lady Amelia replied enigmatically.

Stunned and disbelieving, the sailors began to cheer, their voices rising triumphantly. But Charry remained silent, his gaze still fixed on where the Great Slitherer roared in triumph, wondering what kind of world they truly lived in.