Total darkness prevailed as the dismal clouds overcast the caliginous sky and the wind arose, causing waves to tower over their helpless ship. The sea leviathan sped towards them. Even though the monster was still quite a distance away, the violent aura it emitted sent shivers down the sailor’s spine. The sailors rushed to their duty. The veteran sailors struggled to get the sails down, and to tie them off. They slipped on the rain soaked deck.

The wind slammed the rain into their faces like tiny stones and pushed their hoods back. The ship pressed, first up waves crashed down onto the ship, rocking it and jarring everyone’s bones. They held tightly onto the mast, onto ropes, onto anything. Although it was a bit difficult to hang on, everyone tried their best. It was a life or death situation.

Everyone prayed for the winds to push them away from the monster. However, all it did was dragged them inwards towards the center like a whirlpool. The furious waves rocked the ship, causing everyone to fall. Nora was no exception.

The ship jolted to the side then crashed down, jolting their bones, Nora grabbed on to a part of the boat just as she was about to be tossed over.

As she was hanging on, Evelyn flew to her side. Evelyn was the only one unaffected by the waves. Since she was a ghost, she was not affected by gravity. She was able to freely float and fly around wherever she wanted. Staying by Nora’s side, Evelyn helped to make sure Nora was not thrown off the waves.

Fear weaved through everyone’s stomach as they realised that it was just the beginning. They heard legends about sea leviathans before and knew that the weather would only get worst. Wherever a sea leviathan go, a storm will follow. Not only would the storm continue to get stronger, it would also drag ships towards the center.

Seeing how the storm was getting stronger, everyone knew that the sea leviathan was getting closer. Like a torpedo, the sea leviathan tore through the waves towards them. Above it was something only Nora could see, Level 149.

Like true sea veterans, the sailors kept working under the harsh conditions. The captain rushed down towards the engine room. He knew what he had to do. Along the way, he opened a chained chest with a warning on top. Using a key, he opened it to retrieve its contents. Inside the chest was a sack containing 5 black stones. Carrying a small sack, he waddled towards the engine room. The rocking of the ship made it hard for him to walk normally.

Curious at what he was doing, Nora and Evelyn followed him in ‘stealth’.

Seeing her confusion, Evelyn took the initiative to explain. “Master, those black stones are mined from dungeons. They are called dark powder. When lit by a spark, they will explode.”

Soon the trio arrived at the engine room. The captain tied himself to the metal poles by the side. He began to pour the black powder into the furnace, causing it to glow in power.

Using mana to enhance his voice, the captain yelled “the engine is about to blow, everyone hold on!”

“Aye!”

Hearing the order, Nora immediately tied herself to a pole using a rope of mana and hanged on for dear life. Evelyn stood behind her and hugged Nora down for extra measures.

The energy in the furnace increased radically as the intensity of the red glow rose. It was so bright that Nora had to close her eyes. Nora could feel the raging power inside the furnace continue to increase. Sweat poured out from the captain's forehead as he nervously waited. Unlike before, the whole ship was now silent. Everyone was waiting for the furnace to blow and power the engine. They had to escape from the sea leviathan as fast as possible. It was almost impossible to defeat it. Thus, everyone waited, until...

“Boom!”

An explosion of energy occurred inside the engine, sending a blast of explosive energy everywhere. However, instead of exploding everywhere, the energy was funneled towards the back of the ship, causing the ship to be sent rocketing away. With tremendous speed, the ship carried everyone away from the stormy sea and into the calm blue sea.

(Think sunny 1000 from one piece)

Nora could feel the ripples of energy cascading across the ship. However, due to the fact that the energy was funneled towards the back of the ship, it only blew the ship forward and not everywhere. Only a small amount of energy managed to escape from the funnel and reach the ship. The small amount of energy, shook the ship lightly, causing it to vibrate. Escaping the sea leviathan, the sailors cheered and celebrated.

Hearing the cheer, Nora and Evelyn returned to the main deck to survey the situation. Looking up at the sky, they saw that the sky was blue and without a hint of dark clouds.

Nora felt relief. The sea leviathan was not something she could handle right now. Moreover, she didn’t know much about it. She didn’t know what kind of magic it had or how it fought. This was her first time seeing a sea leviathan.

“Well that was close, technology has really advanced.”

“Master, they used the explosive energy from the black powder to fire a cannon backwards. Using the reaction force of the cannon, they used it to propel the ship with frightening speed.”

“Phew, it’s a good thing the captain…” Nora tried to reply before she was interrupted by a scream.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Ahhhh!”

“Nooo! It can’t be!”

“How!”

“Why is it still chasing us!”

Turning around, Nora realised that the horror had not ended yet. Far in the distance, she could see that the dark storm clouds were spreading towards them, indicating that the sea leviathan was still heading their way.

“Why is the sea leviathan still chasing us? How did we provoke it?” Nora asked in confusion.

Suddenly realising the truth, Evelyn ghost figure went even paler. “Master, have you heard about the legends of the sea leviathans?”

“Huh, what do you mean?”

“There is a legend that is commonly spoken among the sailors. It states that the sea leviathans worked for the boatman of the sea. Sea leviathans helped the boatman to guide lost souls to the afterlife. Master, since we smell of death, i think the sea leviathan is after us. Our aura is drawing it towards us.”

“Dammit, i remember it now! There used to be an old saying commonly told by necromancers, ‘Never travel by sea.” So this must be the reason why that saying exists then. There’s no way it’s following us all the way here from the Yertha Dead Sea without reason.”

“Master, what do we do then? The ship isn’t fast enough to run away from the sea leviathan and we used all the black powder.”

“How far are we from the nearest landmass?”

“We are about 40 to 60 miles south from the main continent, master.”

“Follow me, i’ve an idea.”

Nora ran back to her room. After closing the door, she pulled out the body of the sir and poured a few souls inside it.

“This should serve as bait. Eve, you think you can carry me all the way to the main continent?”

“Master, i’m not that strong right now. It would take me a few hours to reach land, we won't be fast enough. The sea leviathan will catch up to us in no time.”

“Don’t worry, i have a plan. Come let’s go.” Nora replied as she swung open the window and left through it. Evelyn held Nora through the armpits from behind and flew into the air.

Leaving the ship and the corpse with the souls, Nora and Evelyn left the ship and flew towards the main continent. However, due to the fact that Evelyn had to carry Nora, they were just slightly faster than the ship.

“Master, the sea leviathan is gaining on us.”

“Eve, turn around and fly backward north. Face the opposite direction of the main continent.”

“Okay?”

Obeying her master’s unusual order, Evelyn turned around and faced the ship. Nora aimed her hands began to channel mana for a spell she used before.

Pouring mana into her palms, 2 red magic circles with 5 circles inside it formed in front of her palms.

When it was fully channeled, a blast of fire erupted from the 2 magic circles, blasting them backwards and towards the main continent.

A loud explosion occurred and a blast of fire shot out from the skies towards the ship, missing it just slightly. The sailors felt confused, seeing the random blast of fire in the air. Another unexpected event had just occurred in front of them. They could make heads or tails of it. First a sea leviathan chased them and now a random blast of fire was just shot at them. They couldn’t understand what they did to deserve such bad luck.

While the rest of the sailors were busying trying to figure out what was going on, the captain ran towards the Sirs room to ask for help. He wanted to ask the Sir if he had any black power or if knew any way to escape. The captain knocked on the door and shouted for the Sir’s help. However, no reply came.

After a few minutes of waiting, he became anxious. What is happening? Why isn’t the Sir responding? Did something happen?

Unable to take it anymore, the captain mustered his courage and opened the door.

“Ahhhh! What’s going on today!” He screamed at the sight of the Sir’s dead body. The feeling of fear and terror rose as he tried to comprehend what was going on. One after another, mind boggling events kept happening. He couldn’t help think that maybe they were cursed.

Searching the Sir’s body for the space ring, he found that the Sir had nothing on him. Finding that the Sir’s body had been robbed, he reached a conclusion. Did an intruder board the ship and kill the sir? Was that blast of fire caused by the intruder?

Running back out towards the main deck, he screamed “Men! There’s an intruder on the ship and he killed the sir. Find the intruder and take back the space ring. We don’t know if the Sir had black powder but this is the only way we have a chance to live! Find the intruder and hope that the Sir had enough for another jump. If not, we’re screwed!”

“Aye Aye captain!” The crew shouted as they left their duty to find the intruder. However, their last hope of escape was already long gone.

A few miles north from the ship, Nora and Evelyn were flying towards the main continent. Repeatedly using “Blast Burner” to propel themselves at high speed, they flew towards land at break neck speed. They looked just like a rocket.

From where they were, they could see that the ship was already caught in the edge of the storm. The sea leviathan was catching up. The fear of getting caught, prompted Nora to endure the pain. Nora’s hands were full of blisters and burns from the repeated use of “blast burner” and her stock of souls was already down by a third.

Evelyn heart ached in agony as she saw her master’s injuries. She wanted to ask her master to stop using “blast burner”. However, she knew that they would both be caught by the sea leviathan if her master stop doing so. Despite the torment her heart was suffering through, she had no choice but to keep quiet. It was extremely hard for her as she didn’t want to see her master in pain. If she could, Evelyn wouldn’t mind sacrificing herself to save her master.

After a while, Evelyn estimated that they were about 10-20 miles away from the main continent. The dark clouds in the sky was getting closer to them. The roaring waves had already swallowed the ship.

Nora continued to use “blast burner” and endured the pain. Her hands were burnt and bleeding profusely. She clenched her jaws to stop herself from screaming in pain and worrying Evelyn. Despite how much she wanted to stop and use a healing spell, she knew that they had no time. A healing spell would usually take a few minutes to cast and a few minutes was enough for them to get caught. Thus she continued to suppress the pain and carried on with “blast burner”.

After a while, Nora and Evelyn saw the edge of the main continent. However, they were right at the edge of the dark clouds. Drizzle of pain pelted Nora, soothing the burning sensation of her hands while they continued their flight.

Soon, the rain covered them. Nora became wet and she felt she was freezing. The only relief Nora had was her hands. They could hear the roar of the sea leviathan in the distance as the crackling of thunder and lightning boomed in the sky. The sea leviathan was getting closer and closer.

Nora’s heart pounded like a drum as she saw that the land in the distance was getting closer. They were so close yet so far. The sea leviathan was so close to them. Gauging the situation, Nora realised that they wouldn’t make it in time.

Seeing that there was no other way out, Nora used all the remaining souls she had to cast the a 7 circle spell, “Hydro pump”. It was either now or never.

A big blue magic circle with seven circles formed in front of her and water from the surrounding corrugated in front of it. The vast amount of water from the rain aided her in the spell. Normally, it was impossible for Nora to cast a 7 circle spell, even with all the souls she had. However, due to the fact that there was water all around her, it lightened the load of the spell, allowing Nora to cast it.

“Eve! Hold onto me tight, this is going to be a bit rocky.”

Just as she said that, a roaring jet of water blasted forth from the circle, pushing them towards the main continent. The torrent of water sprayed like a water pump. And with the near infinite amount of water that was around them, the jet of water continued without stop.

As the jet of water push them backward, Nora felt the injuries on her hand burn from the friction, causing her to scream in pain. Tears fell as Evelyn heard her master’s scream. Evelyn held onto her with all her strength, not allowing her to fall into the ocean.

As the torrent push them backwards, Nora felt herself becoming exhausted. She was out of mana and strength. Sleepiness tried to take over her as she tried her best to stay awake. However, she was too weak. She was out of energy. It wasn’t long before exhaustion won. Out of energy, Nora lost consciousness.

The last thing she felt was feeling of lying on glorious land. Her gamble paid off. They escaped the sea leviathan.