A cacophony of distorted, beastly cries tore through the storm.
Cisco keeled over, clutching his head as a flood of sensations crashed into him. It felt as if his brain had been juggled and then thrown into a blender.
"Selene," he called weakly.
The pink-haired girl frowned, forcing herself upright against the crushing mana.
"I know," she said begrudgingly. "I'll get rid of the mana pressure—but after that, you're on your own."
Cisco gave a faint nod.
Selene raised a hand and gently rubbed her closed eyes, exhaling slowly. Then, for a split second, she opened them.
The space around them warped and then just as quickly, it snapped back into place as if nothing had happened.
A chorus of gasps spread across the deck as air rushed violently back into their lungs.
Hugo dragged in a breath, glaring. "You couldn't have done that earlier?"
"Not now," Laurencia cut in sharply. "We don't even know what we're dealing with."
All eyes turned to Cisco.
He stood pale, forcing his breathing steady, dragging his mind back into focus. When he noticed their stares, he looked at them through half-lidded eyes—exhausted, but thinking.
"What did you do with it?" he asked. "It's not as bad as before, but it's still lingering in the air."
Selene tilted her head back slightly, understanding immediately. A thin trail of blood ran from beneath her closed eyes, evidence of the strain she'd just endured. She lifted a hand and pointed off into the distance.
Another clash of thunder and inhuman roars tore through the air, making her flinch.
"There was too much. I couldn't outright erase the mana," she said. "So I scattered it... Most of it is out that way. But, the source should actually be..."
She stopped.
Her expression blanked.
'Too much mana...'
She remembered what the voice had said.
"It seemed you were associated with the boy..."
The ship tossed violently.
Selene lost her footing, stumbling as the deck tilted beneath her—but her mind didn't follow. Even as she hit the floor, her thoughts remained elsewhere, caught on that single line.
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"...boy?" she murmured under her breath.
"What?" Hugo snapped, grabbing onto the railing as another wave slammed into the hull.
Selene didn't respond.
Instead, her mind reached further back, dredging up fragments of a conversation she had only half-paid attention to at the time.
"The trick we used to get away last night was basically me asking an earlier beast for a favour."
"Then why not ask this one to let us through?"
"It won't work," Reoloy replied. "Only a few are willing to listen."
She pushed herself up slowly, her movements more deliberate now. The earlier strain was still there—the faint trail of blood beneath her eyes, the slight instability in her stance—but something else had settled over her.
Clarity.
And with it came fear.
"The voice," she said at last, her voice shaking. "It's a sea beast."
The multitude of monstrous cries went silent, leaving only one distorted roar that tore through the storm.
Close enough that the air itself seemed to tremble.
"I'm sure that was obvious," Graham said flatly.
Selene ignored him.
"It said it wanted to spare us because of an associate," she continued. "So think."
Her head fell slightly.
"Who do we know that's spoken to sea beasts before?"
The answer hit them all at once.
Their eyes widened, some expressions tightening.
Cisco quietly disassociated once more, the guilt rushing back at him like a stampede while Hugo's grip on the railing stiffened.
"You're saying that bastard's alive?" he asked. "That's impossible even for him!"
Another massive wave surged beneath the ship.
The ocean ahead began to rise—not in a crest, but in a slow, unnatural swell.
Laurencia's blood ran cold as she caught a glimpse of it—a vast, shifting mass just beneath the surface before it slipped back into the dark.
"Guys, there's something he—"
The warning never finished as wood exploded upward in a violent spray of splinters and shattered planks. The right side of the deck split apart with a deafening crack as a colossal shape burst through, carrying with it a column of seawater that cascaded in all directions.
The vessel lurched, structure screaming under the sudden force.
The force of the collision sent everyone off their feet.
Cisco slammed against the railing, barely managing to keep himself from being thrown overboard. Hugo skidded across the deck, boots scraping uselessly against the soaked wood before he caught himself on a jagged splinter of the broken hull.
Selene was thrown back, rolling across the floorboards before stopping short of the cabin wall. More blood streaked further down her face as she forced herself upright again, a sign of another instance of her ability's activation.
Laurencia lost her grip on the wheel entirely. She screamed, desperately grasping for a point of leverage as the ship tilted dangerously to one side.
Water was now flooding into the lower deck, and the boat was rapidly sinking.
Unable to save herself, the merchant fell helplessly off the side, splashing hard into the water.
Selene looked on grimly. She didn't get any time to process it, however, as the ocean moved again.
Out came the thing that had torn through the ship, its massive body dragging itself upward through the wreckage. Its surface was slick and uneven, layered with silver, hardened plates that glimmered with each flash of lightning in the sky.
A worm-like living armour was the best way to describe it.
It had no head. No eyes. No mouth. And yet, the abnormal roar seemed to emanate from its entire being, rattling the survivors to their cores.
The empty space pulsed, and the storm itself seemed to carry its voice.
Hugo launched forward.
His fist slammed into the creature's side with a heavy thud—but instead of giving way, the surface absorbed the impact, rippling slightly before snapping back into place.
Hugo's expression twisted.
"What the—"
The creature reacted instantly. Its body coiled, then lashed out, smacking Hugo squarely on his whole body and sending him hurtling backwards. He limply flew, crashing into the cabin wall with a brutal impact, and tearing through to the other side before landing in the sea.
"Idiot," Graham muttered, dragging himself up onto a section of floating wood.
White mana flared to life along his arm as a blade of light extended outward, humming sharply against the storm. He mustered all the power he could into one attack, causing the sword to roar with a violent burning effect.
Despite the lack of proper footing, he straightened his back, angling his weapon into the proper form and with a single motion, he slashed downward.
A crescent of light tore through the air and struck the creature cleanly across its body. It fought, grinding into the armoured body, sawing away at it little by little. But just as it appeared to crack through, it fizzled and dispersed.
The only thing the attack served to achieve was leaving minimal traces of a crack in the shell.
Graham stared in disbelief.
"…That's all it managed?"
The beast froze up, turning as if it were listening for something and then began writhing in pain. Cisco, Selene and Graham watched in confusion. It rocked itself dramatically before suddenly falling back into the sea.
"What was that?" Cisco asked cautiously. "Did you actually manage to hurt it?"
Graham shook his head, jumping onto the much larger chunk of ship that Cisco and Selene were on.
"No," he said, somewhat disappointed. "It was completely fine. I saw the point of impact myself."
"Whatever it was," Selene started, hobbling over. "We have an opening now."
A vividly pink hue hummed around her.
"An opening to do what exactly?" Graham scoffed, watching the gathering up of her mana with curiosity.
"What else?" she answered, too exhausted to be snarky. "We're getting out of here."
The two boys shared a look and then immediately huddled up around the girl.
"How long will it take?" Cisco asked.
"With the mana I have now, I don't know."
The green-haired boy clicked his tongue, refocusing on the impossible task at hand. Taking stock of the situation, Graham couldn't fight anymore, and he, himself, wasn't a combatant to begin with. Cisco closed his eyes, expanding his sensory range.
"Graham," he called. "Hugo is a couple of metres that way, but he's fallen in deep. If we resuscitate him, his mana art will do the rest."
The other teen nodded, inhaling deeply and diving after the brunette brute.
Cisco turned back towards Selene. His face showing no confidence whatsoever. He had no idea if what the girl was doing would work. He didn't doubt that she had the ability to overturn the situation. Her powers were alarmingly versatile, after all. It was the stacked-up drawbacks she had already been hit with that he was worried about.
All six of them had powers that possessed flaws. That was why they were still considered "incomplete" by Cube's standards.
Of them all, Selene and Reoloy had it the worst.
The blood currently spewing from Selene's eyes, ears, and nose evidenced that clearly.
Cisco sighed, rolling his shoulders while keeping his attention down below. He straightened when he felt Graham and Hugo's position shift by a vast distance.
"No..." he said, grabbing hold of the prone, hyper-focused Selene. "No, no, no!"
The monster erupted from below, dragging them along with it toward the sky.
A surge of water followed the creature's action, spiralling upward before crashing down onto the remnants of the boat like a collapsing wall. Any potential footholds were now gone.
Above, electric currents were gathering around the beast's vicinity, flowing through the clouds elegantly. It was as if they were lighting a path for the creature to follow.
Selene coughed up a glob of blood, unaware of what was going on around her. Cisco held onto her tightly, watching as they broke through the dark clouds and came face to face with a being that screamed majesty.
He froze in awe, almost forgetting his fear.
"What a waste..."
Electricity coursed through the worm-like monster like a lightning rod, hitting Cisco and Selene point-blank and sending them into painful spasms. Falling unconscious and losing his ability to hold on, Cisco fell off the beast and out of the sky. Selene fell right after him, the glow around her body still not dissipating.
Nameless dismissed the worm-beast with a glare, causing it to scurry away into the ocean in fear. He then stared at the scene of destruction with mild frustration.
"Before you go," Reoloy started. "...What do you intend to do with the ship and its passengers?"
Nameless laughed heartily.
"The same thing I've always done..."
"Crush them perfectly."
Reoloy stared blankly into space.
"I figured," he said with a sigh. "I'm quite conflicted."
"About what?" Nameless asked.
Reoloy didn't answer the question, instead redirecting the conversation entirely.
"Don't go just yet," he said. "There's something I need to tell you."
Nameless turned away, lightning gathering at its hooves as it began to stride at breakneck speeds through the clouds.
"They weren't worth the effort he put into convincing me."
Just then, he felt a spike of mana.
He came to a halt already a great distance away from the site. Before he could head back, it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, taking along with it multiple other traces.
He stared incredulously, wondering if the boy he'd met was some kind of chosen figure.
"So, how about it?" Reoloy started with a smug smile. "Let's have ourselves a wager?"
Nameless scoffed, trying to play off the smile that tried to form on his face.
"He might actually do it..."