On the sea surface of Lotus Port, despair bred final madness.
The docks were crowded with people trying to board ships and flee for their lives. Nobles, wealthy merchants, and even soldiers who had discarded their armor scrambled for anything that could float. A few ships lucky enough to cast off their moorings, like frightened waterfowl, desperately sailed out of the harbor, leaving the burning city behind.
But they did not know that what they were fleeing towards was not salvation, but a deeper nightmare.
Beneath the sea surface, three massive shadows were executing their master's orders with absolute will.
The first to meet misfortune was a magnificently decorated Swan merchant ship. Just a hundred meters out of the port, the water on the starboard side suddenly surged upward. A jagged, knife-mountain-like dorsal fin broke the surface—it was King Balon's "Steel-Scaled Sawshark," Scale-Blade! It didn't even need to ram; it merely scraped its bone-spur-covered back fiercely against the ship's bottom, and the sturdy wooden hull was torn open like thin paper.
The merchant ship let out a tooth-aching sound of disintegration, snapped in two instantly, and was rapidly swallowed by turbid foam and desperate wails.
Another longship full of defenders tried to detour from the side. Before the sailors on board could rejoice, the sea surface ahead suddenly turned pitch black, as if a moving island were rising from underwater. Victarion's Sea Cow "Moo-Moo" poked its mountain-like massive head out of the water. It didn't even make an attack posture, just lazily opened its giant mouth that seemed capable of swallowing reefs. An irresistible suction force instantly seized the longship. The entire ship, along with the screaming people on it, was swallowed without suspense into that bottomless darkness, not even raising a splash.
Floyd's "Shadow Sailfish," Shadow, did not possess the massive volume of the first two companions, but it brought death with ghostly speed.
A swift multi-oared galley used its speed to shake off other ships. Just as a glimmer of hope appeared for those on board, they felt the hull shudder violently, as if hitting an invisible wall. In the next moment, a slender bone-blade snout like a siege ram, flickering with eerie cold light, appeared "intangibly" as if piercing through the water surface, accurately impaling the ship's belly, then flinging it violently! The galley was tossed into the air like a toy, disintegrating mid-air, scattering into countless fragments and falling figures.
Help? Screams?
Meaningless.
Any sound attempted, be it desperate crying or horns for help, was like a pebble thrown into still water—briefly attracting the attention of those underwater "patrollers," thereby bringing destruction faster. They became the most insignificant dessert in the waters ruled by these three sea king beasts.
No warning, no mercy, only thorough, silent extinction.
The three sea king beasts, like three insurmountable living barriers, carried out Euron Greyjoy's order in the cruelest way:
Let no non-Iron Islands ship pass through here.
The turmoil within the port gradually subsided, not because order was restored, but because all survivors desperately realized—the sea route was an absolute dead end.
The warrior queen of the Isle of Women, Alicia, stood at the edge of the cliff, the sea wind snapping her scarlet cloak.
Alicia's fingers subconsciously tightened around her inherited golden spear. She had heard too many legends about sea king beasts—rulers of the deep sea, moving natural disasters, possessing the power to overturn kingdoms and tear apart fleets.
Those stories were passed down for generations, branded into the marrow of everyone who made a living on the sea. But all along, they were just stories. No one had ever seen them, or those who had could no longer speak.
Until Euron appeared, the man called the Master of Sea Beasts, bringing the sea king beasts of legend before the world once again.
Alicia had heard of Euron's feats wielding sea king beasts in the Stepstones. She thought she was mentally prepared to face them. As a warrior queen known for her valor, she had even simulated confronting them in her mind countless times.
But when the legend truly materialized as this sky-blotting leviathan before her eyes, a shudder originating from life instinct uncontrollably surged from the bottom of her heart, instantly washing over her limbs and bones.
It wasn't just "big" that could describe it. It was a presence that transcended visual scale and directly crushed cognition. Just the vortex created by its surfacing made the distant, relatively calm sea surface boil thoroughly, white foam rolling like the wails of the dying. The low roar, like ancient thunder, didn't travel through the air but vibrated directly through the rocks underfoot, drilling savagely into one's bone marrow through the soles of boots.
Alicia felt her heart gripped by an invisible giant hand; every beat was exceptionally difficult. An imperceptible pallor quietly crept onto her healthy, wheat-colored face, favored year-round by sea wind and sun.
She took a deep breath of air tinged with salt and fear, forcing herself to straighten her spine. Her gaze locked dead onto the terrifying head breaking the waves. On that mountain-like head were embedded pupils larger than palace domes—cold, golden, with vertical slits seemingly connecting to bottomless abysses, indifferently reflecting her, ant-like on the island.
"So... this is a sea king beast..." She murmured almost soundlessly, her voice drowned in the waves and the breath from the primeval era.
Her lifelong understanding was completely overturned at this moment. Records in books, stories embellished by old sailors, all seemed so pale and powerless before the roar of this living entity emitting an aura of destruction.
She was not only a queen but a warrior protecting this land and her people. Even with fingertips ice-cold, her grip on the spear did not loosen a fraction.
Sea wind carrying a salty scent swept over the cliff, blowing the hair on Alicia's forehead into disarray.
A warm hand gently took her arm. Alicia turned her head to see Nymeria Sand smiling at her, those bright eyes holding kind teasing and understanding.
"Scared?" Nymeria's voice was soft, overpowering the echo of the waves. "It's okay, Alicia. The first time I saw these big guys rise from the seabed with my own eyes, I was so scared I almost sat on the ground."
Nymeria paused, her gaze also turning to the surging sea, as if recalling the shock of that time. "But rest assured, they possess wisdom no less than ours, perhaps even far surpassing us. They will absolutely not harm allies by mistake." Her tone shifted, carrying a hint of mysterious temptation: "And if permitted by their master, you can even ride on their backs, breaking wind and waves on scales broader than castles, galloping across the ocean. That feeling is as if you've become part of the ocean yourself."
Asha Greyjoy, arms crossed nearby, nodded heavily upon hearing this, her face wearing innate pride deeply rooted in her bloodline's glory. "Nymeria is right. But they don't like outsiders," her voice crisp and loud, like waves hitting the rocks of the Iron Islands. "My father solemnly warned us that without the covenant left by the ancient blood of the 'Grey King' on these creatures, their arrogant nature would never allow outsiders to touch them easily."
She took a step forward, sea wind blowing her short brown hair, her tone increasingly spirited. "They are House Greyjoy's guardian beasts! The mobile Great Wall of the Iron Islands! Only our Greyjoy bloodline can truly communicate with them, gaining their recognition and followership."
Alicia took a deep breath, suppressing the residual palpitations in her heart. Her sharp gaze turned to Asha, asking a direct question: "You are also a Greyjoy. Then, what is your sea king guardian beast?"
The overflowing pride on Asha's face froze, then turned into obvious embarrassment. She turned her face away somewhat unnaturally, her voice lowering a few notches. "I... I haven't formally come of age yet. According to family tradition, I must wait until after the coming-of-age ceremony. Uncle Euron will then assign us the right to drive giant beasts at the clan meeting based on our performance and potential." Her words carried a trace of imperceptible urgency and longing.
"I see." Alicia looked thoughtful, then asked, "But I heard Lord Euron's wife also possesses a sea king beast?"
"Yes, Lady Ashara," Asha answered immediately, seemingly happy to change the subject. "That is a very cute 'Sea Cat' named Marina. It was an engagement gift from Uncle Euron to her. It's very adorable, its cries as melodious as singing."
"Then, can Lady Ashara control her sea king beast like you Greyjoys?" Alicia pressed, very curious about the boundaries.
Asha thought carefully, organizing her words. "It can't be called 'control.' Lady Ashara cannot communicate deeply with Marina using bloodline and will to issue complex commands like we Greyjoys can. But Marina itself has an extremely gentle personality, understands human nature, and genuinely loves Lady Ashara. It is willing to accompany her every moment like the most loyal pet, guarding her safety."
The vastness and mystery of this world far exceeded her past imagination.
After listening, Alicia cast her gaze once again toward the deep ocean that had swallowed the leviathans. What churned in her heart was no longer just fear, but complex emotions.
Before the shock brought by the colossal beasts could subside, deeper, heavier memories swept toward Alicia like ghosts breaking their chains, whistling.
Before Alicia's eyes, the proud Greyjoy face blurred, replaced by darker images—cold heavy shackles, the foul stench of slave ships, the desperate eyes of clansmen being forcibly dragged away. Each image was like a poisoned dagger scraping repeatedly at her heart.
She remembered the tactile sensation of her spear piercing pirate chests time and again, warm and viscous. She remembered how the bravest warriors beside her roared and fell under enemy siege to protect their home, blood staining the golden sands of the Isle of Women red.
Those gone faces, once vivid, now could only live in the wind and her endless dreams.
If... if I also possessed such a sea king beast...
This thought was like lightning striking in the dark, instantly illuminating all the suffering and struggle in her mind.
Then, those damned slave ships would be torn to shreds, men and all, by the deep-sea beast before they even approached the waters of the Isle of Women. Her people would never have to experience such nightmares again. Then, any pirates daring to plunder these waters would flee at the sight, their fear replacing their greed. Then, her cherished warriors wouldn't have to use flesh and blood to oppose sharp blades; they could live to see the next sunrise.
Everything would be different.
Her home, her people, would gain unprecedented protection and dignity.
An unprecedented power, mixing ambition and resolve, grew wildly in her heart.
Alicia slowly raised her head. Her gaze became sharp as a hawk again, looking past Asha, as if penetrating time and space, landing on a certain figure.
I am not a Greyjoy; I cannot gain that recognition originating from blood.
But my daughter... can be!
This thought surfaced clearly and firmly in her mind, like a lighthouse finally found in a storm. A path to strength and peace opened wide before her eyes.
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