The Blood Maiden shook under the sea dragon's wail. The entire crew stood still as they faced the malevolent mountain of flesh. Using his Trait-enhanced vision, Yun saw the Dragon's muscles strain, indicating that it was about to move. It twisted its neck and fell headfirst with the force of an avalanche. Yun braced.
Just then, a female voice boomed from the bridge:
"Ignite!"
A yellow barrier immediately covered the ship, from port to starboard. The Dragon slammed into it, shattering it instantaneously. The impact released a shockwave that blew the Blood Maiden back, only stopping when it met the storm barrier. Yun's skin stung from the rope burn, which had begun constricting his breath. The deafening noise had damn near blown out his eardrums.
Out of the forty-two crew members that were on the deck, half had met their end. Some had been thrown overboard, while some died due to the impact. Yun couldn't help but laugh, just a dry chuckle; the damn rope saved him. He also mourned the loss of the band, which was unfortunately part of the casualties. He had enjoyed their tunes quite a bit.
Damn shame.
A cacophony of shouts and war cries shook the ship as the crew took defensive action. Cannons roared from the side of the ship, sending projectiles to the sea monster. The cannon fire did nothing but infuriate the mad dragon. It wailed once more, almost splitting the air, and dove.
"Ignite!" the same voice shouted.
The Blood Maiden shot forward, narrowly avoiding the Dragon's devastating strike. A mini-tsunami shot out from where the ship was a second ago, carrying it farther away from the Dragon.
Yun was stunned by the monster's pure size and strength. He wasn't supposed to defeat that, right?
At least the ship was still in one piece. More or less.
What was a Dragon even doing in his Vision? Even Divines like Dion would shrink at the sight of such a monster.
This can't be fair—
"Hey, hey! Now, what is this?"
Maliki stepped onto the deck, broadsword in hand. That heaviness Yun felt before returned, this time even stronger. The panic left his crew's faces, replaced by hope and jubilation. Miri emerged from the dark, trailing behind Maliki to make her way to the bridge.
The Dragon reared its head once more. Miri had taken control of the ship's circle and was now steering it away. A new barrier appeared on the ship, this one red. Yun searched his mind for what those colours might mean.
Maliki raised his broadsword, loudly declaring:
"A mere Dragon will not stand in the way of legend!"
A purple aura rose from around him. Yun guessed that it was the vital essence Miri mentioned gathering around him.
Turning his gaze away from the leviathan, Maliki addressed some invisible figure in the sky:
"Witness me."
"… Gate of Eternity… Gate of Mercy…"
The eccentric captain exploded from the Blood Maiden's deck, causing its wood to shatter and splinter. He and the colossal sea monster collided, the impact thundering louder than the storm. A shockwave rippled across the water, flattening the waves in a perfect circle. For a heartbeat, everything hung suspended.
Then, the Dragon screamed.
It wasn't the siren-wail from before. This was raw, primal rage.
Above the ship, the battle continued. Maliki and the Dragon were locked in aerial combat, purple aura clashing against volcanic hide. Each impact sent tremors through the air. The Dragon twisted, trying to use its massive bulk to crush the human, but Maliki moved with impossible speed, his broadsword carving chunks of stone-flesh with each pass.
Yun was absolutely enamored.
So awes—no! This is bad news; that's my captor. I should be rooting against him!
With a decisive swing, Maliki's blade connected with one of the Dragon's massive tusks.
The tusk severed cleanly, tumbling through the air before crashing onto the Blood Maiden's deck with devastating force. The impact shattered planks and sent crew members sprawling. Dagger-sized shrapnel flew in all directions, even catching Yun on the cheek and leaving a bloody gash. The tusk dagger then lodged itself in the pole next to Yun.
In Maliki's hands above, he still held a portion of the tusk; a trophy ripped from the beast's skull.
"HA! First blood!" Maliki's roar echoed even as he engaged the Dragon again, driving it back with furious strikes. The beast writhed and thrashed, its remaining tusk gouging the air where Maliki had been moments before.
But on the deck below, Yun watched the severed tusk with growing dread. Black ichor poured from the jagged stump, hissing and steaming where it touched wood. It began pooling, gathering itself into vague shapes.
That's not blood.
"The blood!" Miri's warning came from the bridge, but she was occupied steering the ship away from the Dragon's thrashing tail.
The black pools erupted. From each puddle of Dragon blood, something birthed itself into existence. They were roughly humanoid, if humans were made of knotted volcanic rock and rotting bone, with too many joints bending in unnatural directions. Miniature versions of the Dragon's nightmare physiology, standing perhaps waist-high but radiating the same ancient madness.
There were dozens of them now, scuttling across the deck on limbs that cracked and reformed with each movement. The crew's cheers at Maliki's success died in their throats. Above, thunder cracked as Maliki and the Dragon collided again, neither giving ground. But below, the crew faced their own nightmare.
They had organized into some kind of formation below the bridge.
"Defensive positions!" One of the crew shouted. "Don't let them reach the—"
The first wave of spawn crashed into the crew. Blades met stone-flesh, and the creatures dissolved back into ichor that immediately bubbled and spawned anew. Every kill created more enemies.
Yun watched the severed tusk continue to bleed, still hemorrhaging black fluid across the tilted deck. It was rolling. Rolling toward him. Toward the grating. Toward the prisoners below.
The tusk crashed against the mast Yun was tied to, and a wave of ichor splashed through the metal grating.
Yun heard the prisoners' confusion turn to panic, then panic turned to screaming.
Above, the Dragon's roar shook the ship. Maliki was driving it back, his purple aura blazing brighter, but the beast was far from defeated. It thrashed wildly, and its massive tail swept across the water, creating a wave that crashed over the Blood Maiden's port side.
The impact loosened everything. The rope binding Yun had already been weakened by the earlier shockwaves. Now, the wood of the mast was cracking and splintering from repeated impacts. Yun twisted against the bindings, ignoring the pain as the rope burned his wrists raw.
Seven meters away, a spawn launched into a crew member's groin, impaling him on its tusks. With a scream that stopped halfway out of his throat, he died, dropping his cutlass.
"Come on, come on," Yun pleaded. "Why isn't this stupid rope breaking?!"
The abomination shook the corpse off, directing its madness elsewhere. The Dragon spawn noticed Yun, its eyeless head swivelling in his direction with predatory focus.
The two locked eyes.