”Goddamn beast!” Captain Jorvik roared as he pushed his power to the limit, protecting and controlling the ship as it fell.

He had no time to focus on the shadows approaching, ones much more dangerous than what they just faced.

The first wave of sea beasts soon shot out of the water, completely shadowing the boat. All the sailors looked up as the sun was blotted out, only to pale in fear. They grabbed their weapons, ready to strike, despite knowing their efforts were useless. Even if they could take down a few, none of them were strong enough to eliminate them all.

They could only put their hope into the other three passengers…

Celaine closed her eyes, holding her saber at her side, ready to draw. She sensed all the lifeforms around her, finding their weak points. Then, in an instant, her eyes shot open.

A divine light arched from her saber. Blood splattered, and heads fell, all without making a sound. She re-sheathed her saber and prepared for the next onslaught, using her Wind Qi to stabilize herself on the ship.

The bodies threatened to return to the ocean, but Maria hopped up, quickly collecting all of them. “I got the next ones!” She yelled. Celaine merely nodded, waiting for her turn.

As soon as her words fell, a massive shark-like beast burst out of the water with its gaping maw open, attempting to swallow the boat whole.

Maria chuckled and shot a shadowy golden beam out of her finger into the depths of its mouth. The beast paused, confused. Until it felt pain all over its body. It roared and thrashed about, trying to find the cause. Bubbles formed all over its skin, popping, exploding chunks of skin with it.

A second later, the shark ballooned up and burst into a rain of blood and guts, coloring the ocean red.

Celaine and everyone on board shivered at the potency of that technique. They’d seen it a few times before, but to think it’d work on such a giant monster…

“What…What technique is that again?” Celaine asked hesitantly, reminding herself that maybe she shouldn’t provoke Maria in the future.

“Hm?” Maria looked over and smiled. “Oh, that? I like to call it Demonic Restoration~! I use something called Corrupted Light Qi to infest their body, corrode their lifeforce, and use that to turn them inside out~! Then, POP!”

“…So, the opposite of your Transcendent Restoration Technique, huh?” ʀᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛʀs ᴀᴛ Nov(l)ꜰre .t

“Yup~!”

“How… fitting,” Celaine murmured, a little frightened. Who knew healers could be so terrifying? How was anyone supposed to fight against something like that?

But, that arose another question.

‘Since when did Maria have that ability?’ Celaine didn’t remember her being able to produce anything like “Corrupted Light Qi” before. Shaking her head, she closed her eyes, focusing on the incoming forces. ‘It’s probably because she died, right? Or maybe, like Mira, she evolved into something not human as well?’

Sensing a stronger force incoming, she put those thoughts aside for now.

Drawing her saber, she sent out dozens of attacks at once, chopping the next wave of beasts up. Maria swooped in and took care of the tougher beasts that showed up, but the fighting never seemed to stop.

As the battle raged on, with sea beast after sea beast launching themselves at the ship, Captain Jorvik and his crew were pushed to their limits. Despite their initial fear, the sailors rallied under Jorvik’s fierce leadership and the awe-inspiring might of Maria and Celaine.

“We’re almost at the bottom! Brace for impact!” Captain Jorvik shouted, seeing land get closer and closer to them.

That is, until the world suddenly went dark, everything around them disappearing. It was the Rank 9 whale, the same leviathan that had nudged them off the water wall. Before any of them could react, it had already swallowed them whole.

The sailors screamed, figuring this was the end, but Maria and Celaine stood ready, their expressions finally serious.

As the whale caught the boat in its mouth and dragged them into the sea, water had now encapsulated them. They found themselves in the belly of the beast, surrounded by hundreds of other sea creatures that had been consumed by the whale.

Maria and Celaine didn’t hesitate. They leaped into action. Water or not, it made no difference. Celaine unleashed the full might of her Saber Ruler, turning all the weaker beasts into meat paste. Meanwhile, Maria ensured the safety of the crew and Captain Jorvik.

Just when the situation seemed to be getting out of hand, with more and more beasts closing in and the pressure around them getting worse, a flash of red caught everyone’s eye. A small red fox with fur as bright as flames appeared as if out of nowhere. With a yip that echoed strangely in the whale’s stomach, it opened its mouth and released a torrent of fire.

The intense heat instantly evaporated all the water around them, creating a bubble of steam. The fire continued and pierced through the whale’s interior, burning a hole through its flesh and allowing a ray of sunlight to filter in. Yet, surprisingly, everyone on the boat was fine.

“Nova!” Maria shouted happily. This little fox of hers almost never went out, enjoying its time in solitude. Although it could appear bigger, it remained in its small fox form so it could sleep in Maria’s pockets and not be used as a mount whenever they traveled.

Now that there was no more water bothering it, Nova found a nice place to curl up on the deck and yawned. It then lay down and went to sleep.

“…”

Maria’s lips twitched. “…Forget him. Let’s get out of here.” She said to Celaine, who couldn’t agree more.

Celaine and Maria seized the opportunity, slaughtering everything in sight. Now, without any water, the aquatic beasts were nothing more than target dummies.

With Captin Jorvik at the helm, controlling the boat along with them, they hacked their way through the whale’s intestines. With each step, they carved a path toward freedom out of the depths of a monster’s belly.

Finally, with one last concerted effort, they broke through the whale’s side, emerging back into the ocean. Feeling itself submerged underwater again, Nova snorted and raised his head. Red hot flames burst from its tiny form, rising and rising until a bubble of steam had wrapped around them instead.

“Thanks, Nova!” Maria pounced on her little fox, rubbing its head. Nova closed its eyes in satisfaction, rubbing up against Maria.

Meanwhile, Celaine jumped off the boat and floated above the whale that swallowed them. Raising her saber, she muttered, “Ruler’s Tempestuous Finale.”

All the air inside the bubble, water, and beyond swarmed around her saber, infusing with it. Then, with her authority as a Saber Ruler, she brought down her blade like a god unleashing divine judgment.

A massive green beam descended onto the whale, piercing its skin like butter, going all the way through and beyond. Hundreds, if not thousands, of weaker beasts were shredded in the process, transforming the ocean into a sea of red.

Quickly diving into the water, she stored the whale’s corpse and appeared back on the boat, where Captain Jorvik commanded his crew to bring them out of this hell!

They didn’t need to be told twice!

Within minutes, the tip of the ship pierced the water wall and splashed onto the water below, creating mini waves that soaked everyone standing around the harbor.

Under the shocked eyes of the Northern Continent citizens, Captain Jorvik successfully docked the ship before throwing everyone off and storing it in his Spatial Ring. On the outside, he looked like a wet, weathered old man who had been through hell and back, all while maintaining an indifferent expression. But, on the inside, he was crying.

‘My… My poor baby. I’m so sorry… I’ll never travel these accursed waters again!’ Just thinking about the repair costs made him want to drop to his knees, but he tried to push that to the side and turned to his crew.

“Go get some rest. We’re going to be here for a while.”

The crew just grunted and walked along the harbor toward the closest inn. The starved business owners took advantage of this and dragged them to their inns.

“Woah~! So, this is the Northern Continent, huh?” Maria exclaimed as she shivered slightly, feeling the cold pierce her skin. “A lot fewer people than back home.”

“No **. Look at what these people have to look at every day?” Celaine rolled her eyes and pointed to the massive water wall behind them. “I bet most of the people left as soon as that appeared.”

“…Good point.”Maria nodded slowly, holding Nova in her arms. “Well, enough of that! Let’s go find Mira!”

“Pay the poor Captain first!” Celaine shouted, snapping her friend back to reality. However, she understood Maria must be feeling quite complicated.

“Ah. Y-Yeah. My bad.” Maria stuttered, shaking her head. “Captain!” She waved, flagging down Jorvic, who just groaned and glared at her.

“Here’s your payment! Thanks for taking us here! I really appreciate it!”

“…Just, don’t contact me again,” Jorvic caught the spatial ring and muttered, exhausted. He really wanted nothing more to do with Mira’s gang anymore. They brought him nothing but trouble! “Go to the Crystal Spire. They should have information about Mira.” He said, giving them one last piece of advice before he floated up in the air and disappeared.

“Thanks! See you later!”

Captain Jorvic nearly stumbled and crashed hearing those words, and he sped up, wanting to get as far away from here as possible.