Ruler of the Abyss

The storm stilled for a heartbeat.

Every eye stared upward at the figure blazing with light. Kazuki floated above the mast. Golden crown, with eyes glowing white. Radiance streamed from him, cutting through the storm like a second sun.

Gorran's jaw dropped. "By the Stones…" he muttered, eyes wide.

Alvis stood stillest of all, rain sliding down his face. His lips parted, voice hushed, disbelieving. "Is that… it can't be."

"What—?!" Serika's voice cracked into a scream. "Impossible! How are you alive?" Serika said in disbelief.

At the helm, Blacktide's grip tightened on the wheel, his face lit by the golden rays. Awe breaking through his iron tone. "He looks like—like a god."

One of Scylla's heads reared back, jaws yawning wide around Verena. Her screams split the air as the monster prepared to swallow her whole.

Kazuki's gaze locked on her. His hand clenched around the bloodied harpoon still in his grip. Light surged along its shaft, searing brighter until it hummed with divine power.

With a single motion, he drew back—and hurled.

The harpoon screamed through the storm, a streak of light tearing the darkness apart. It struck Scylla's head clean between the eyes.

Then the head convulsed, its scales cracking like glass. Light poured from within, and with a sound like shattering stone, the entire head disintegrated into a cloud of glowing ash. It scattered on the wind, burned away to nothing.

Verena's body fell from Scylla's slack jaws.

In an instant, Kazuki was there. His arms wrapped around her before the waves could claim her.

He landed lightly upon the deck.

Kazuki straightened, handing Verena gently into Maeryn's arms. 

Scylla's roars shook the sea; five heads moved in rage where the sixth had been burned to ash. But Kazuki was already gone from the deck.

He appeared before Serika.

Her coils bound Ardent tight, his sword shattered, his breath strained. One of her hands clutched a jagged harpoon, the other hovered near his throat, fangs poised to sink deep.

"Let him go," Kazuki said, his voice steady, his hand raised.

Serika's eyes narrowed, her smile cruel. "Take another step closer and I'll—"

But before her threat could finish, her dark mana bled against his raised palm as he stepped forward. In a blink of an eye, he was right Infront of her.

His hands clamped around her wrists, light searing where he touched. Smoke rose from her skin as she screamed, thrashing against his grip.

"How," she spat, venom dripping from her fangs, "How are you wielding light and dark together? Those affinities oppose each other! No soul can—"

Kazuki's gaze was unyielding. He wrenched the harpoon from her grip, spun it in his hand, and with a single thrust drove it into her side.

Serika's scream split through storm and sea alike, her form writhing as the harpoon imbued with light.

Kazuki wrenched the serpent's grip away, light scorching her flesh until she screamed and let go.

Ardent staggered free as Serika's coils loosened, clutching his chest. He met Kazuki's eyes, breath ragged. "…Thank you," he said, before turning and sprinting toward the ship.

Serika hissed, her body writhing. "You think this changes anything?"

His hand closed tighter on the harpoon as he drove it deeper into her body.

"You rule over the sea ends here, snake."

Serika's shriek twisted into a guttural laugh. Her face contorted with pain, but her voice slithered through the storm.

"Mother knows you're coming. Even now she is preparing our lord… the strongest dark affinity user in history. You and your little friends are walking to your own deaths. Your victory means nothing. Humanity's doom is already being forged."

Her smile cracked wide, defiant even as her form burned under his grasp.

Kazuki's eyes hardened. With one motion, he threw her across the waves. Her body arced through the storm and slammed into Scylla's open wound, the very spot Gorran's cannon had ripped apart.

The harpoon pierced through flesh and scale, pinning her to the beast.

Light erupted.

Both serpent and monster screamed in unison, their bodies writhing, their voices a chorus of pain that echoed across sea and sky. Light engulfed them, their forms twisting as they sank into the raging waters—dragged down by the very sea they had ruled.

As the storm howled and their screams faded, the ocean swallowed them whole. The last thing seen was the glow of the harpoon burning in the deep, until it too was gone.

As Kazuki turned back toward the ship, the storm hushed. But above a shadow stirred—a raven wheeled overhead, its feathers slick with rain. It dove past, talons flashing, before landing on the mast with a guttural croak.

His gaze sharpened. He reached out, snaring the bird in his hand mid-flight. Its feathers writhed, left eye glowing red. He stared into that red eye for only a breath—then light surged from his palm.

The raven disintegrated into shimmering ash, scattering into the storm.

Kazuki landed upon the deck at last. Zephyr rushed to him, tears streaming.

"Kazuki!" Her arms wrapped around him, pulling him close. He exhaled, his radiant form fading, the golden glow dimming into flesh once more.

"I… I don't have any mana left," he breathed, leaning into her, exhaustion heavy in every word. "I'm too tired."

But the sight of him alive was enough. The crew erupted in cheers, voices breaking with relief. Their shouts carried by the sea winds. They had survived. The beast that haunted their waters for generations was gone.

Hope surged through them.

Yet the celebration was cut short.

Far below, as Serika's burning form sank into the abyss, her hand clawed against the current. Her ruined body convulsed, but her smile remained sharp. With a hiss of breath, she reached inside her chest and tore free a small blackened box.

"Mother's gift…" her voice echoed through the storm, cruel and mocking. "If you think you can escape so easily, you know nothing of Serika Rauthaer, ruler of the Abyss."

The box cracked open.

At once, the sea convulsed. The waves recoiled, then twisted inward. A whirlpool began to churn, slow at first—then faster, faster, until the entire horizon spun. Its pull tore the sea wide open, a dark maw that devoured everything.

The ship groaned, dragged sideways, the deck tilting as sailors screamed. "Whirlpool! Gods help us—it's pulling us in!"

"Hold fast!" Blacktide shouted, his voice booming over the chaos. "Tie yourselves to the rail if you must, but don't—let—GO!"

The whirlpool grew, water roaring, its eye-opening wide enough to swallow the ship whole.

Gorran sprinted to Maeryn, who was bracing the twins against the iron-grated deck, holding them steady as they stirred back to consciousness. Her arms were locked tight around them, anchoring them to the ship's bottom rails as water sprayed across their faces.

Alvis and Ardent lunged for the railing, each wrapping their fists around heavy ropes, knuckles white as the whirlpool's pull tore at them.

Zephyr clung to Kazuki; their arms bound together by a hastily knotted rope tied to the mast. Their heads pressed close, their grip unshakable even as the ship tilted violently.

Round and round the vortex dragged them, the world spinning into a blur. Then Blacktide roared above the storm:

"Hold your breath!"

The sea swallowed them whole.

For a heartbeat, there was nothing but silence. The ship hung suspended in the crushing dark, everyone staring wide-eyed at one another through the swirl of bubbles.

Then—light.

The vessel glowed and jolted, shooting upward like an arrow released from a bow.

They burst through the surface in an explosion of spray. Coughing, gasping, the crew sprawled across the deck, alive.

At the helm, Blacktide threw back his head and laughed, booming and wild.

"That's my girl!" he bellowed. "Anahita, goddess of the sea herself! Did I not tell you?" His grin flashed, water streaming down his beard. "This vessel is unsinkable!"

Gorran spat seawater and slumped onto the deck with a groan. "To hell with the sea—I hate the sea. Once we make land, I'm kissing the ground and never letting go."

He leaned down to pantomime it… only for a crab, washed aboard, to snap onto his nose with its claw.

"AAARGH! GET IT OFF ME!" Gorran yelled, staggering upright, arms flailing.

The deck erupted in laughter.

For the first time since the harpoon struck, joy returned to the ship. The storm still howled around them, and the night pressed close—but for now, they laughed.

And they needed that laugh.

Because whatever waited for them next… would offer none.