Morgols were in a desperate situation tens of thousands of beasts were jumping from every side.
Even though these creatures looked menacing the moment Morgols engaged them in combat, they were quickly cut down. Surprisingly their defense was subpar. Even the weakest combatant could kill one with a precise slush or heavy stub, but the thing was, every single morgol could take 6-7 trained marines and pirates with distinctive fighting styles and come out on top nine times out of ten.
Morgols were best of the best when it came to battles, they felt no fear, and if they felt something like that, they would adjust and overcome it far faster than any other person would.
Every Morgol was a family, the moment you were accepted into the clan, no matter the belief, gender, sex, orientation, so on and so forth, you would be taken care of, protected, taught, and cared.
The leaders couldn't use anyone as bait or space goat. There was always a choice and path to chose.
Vato and Dorian developed a unique, cohesive training method that was pure, straightforward, and just. Combat, physical training, mental training, education, all was provided. If you wanted to be a morgol being lazy and not wanting to do this, and that was unacceptable.
Morgols were the true legends in the world. Their names shook every corner of every continent. Countless people wanted to join, but numbers always were below 2500.
For pirates, this was a staggering number, but for Morgols being a pirate was a side fun job. They fought and robbed other pirates and marines alike. For the experience.
Up this point, they were schemed, plotted against by countless groups, countries, but they never lost even once. Maybe today was the day Morgols would fail, well that was what every Morgol though.
None of the Morgols had any hope of surviving. The matter was, how would they die.
It seemed killing these 3 meter long creatures was easy, and that was the truth. They had no defense at all. When you decapitated one, it was not tiring, and even though these beasts were in bloody patterns, no blood spilled out from their wounds.
In return for their pathetic weak defense, every single attack was terrifyingly powerful. The second you got clawed, body parts would be slashed like tofu, bites were fast and hard, enough to gnaw every part off in a second, in just 10 minutes, Morgols were down to five hundred men and distance towards the island shortened only by a kilometer.
"Maybe we should stop brothers and not give this unknown being satisfaction of hunting us and feeding his beasts in a bloody way." Screamed 3rd in command Saitou, who had his hand wholly beaten off.
Saia deflected the incoming claw and made a slash of her own, which swiftly decapitated one of the beasts giving her time to say," no, I saw a pattern. These creatures are weak in defense but strong in attack, but they swarm us 1-2 at a time….. aiaghhhhh," before she could finish, one of the beasts jumped down from the stream above and squashed her into meat paste.
"Shit! Saia!!"
"Regroup now. We need to stay together."
Morgols that were slowly being driven apart and divided saw the plan of these creatures and wanted to unite, but it was in this moment Dorian, shouted "listen up! I understand what Saia wanted to say before she got killed," he kicked one of the beasts in the underbelly and decapitated him in one motion before continuing, "aghh, these beasts don't want to kill us. They want to dwindle our numbers to a certain point so that only the best reach the island."
Vato swiftly dispatched two beasts that were prying on him by deflecting and decapitating both in one motion and roared," how do you know that Dorian? One mistake, and we will be killed like losers. I prefer dying by killing thousands together than being alone seeing bloody creatures in my path slashing and eating me alive all alone!"
"No! his right," Alister crept over by drawing one of the beasts toward Vato.
"You little bastard, you want to kill me for chasing that sluty woman away unfilial son.. tfui son wanting to send father ahead." Vato roared in resentment, but he was smiling.
"What, woman?"Alister's eyes twitched, but then he remembered," you, you old foggy, you used this moment to tell me you chased Sandra away. I don't have anything to say to you, tfui."
"hahahahahahahahah… let daddy protect you, my good son," Vato caught one of the beast claws and diverted it toward another approaching bigger one, while simultaneously plunging his saber into the former, killing two in one motion.
"Ugh whatever," Alister said, " as I was saying, we need to divide and start moving separately, as long as we are not together, some creatures attacking us are always in a pair of two, and if we support each other, from six to eight and the closer we are even more."
"So you're saying we need to divide and fight individually until we reach the island," one of the Morgols said.
"But that way, those who are injured have no hope, and many who are weaker won't be able to reach the island."
"Heh, weaker? No, reaching the island even for Kristofer will be hard, but if we stay closer, we will have to deal with more, which is impossible, the less, the better chances of surviving." Alister said.
"You're right." Kristofer whispered, it was heard by everyone anyway. " man, listen!! We are down to less than 500. I watched, and many died just because they were protecting their comrades, that pitiful Saia was trying to help Saitou. That's why she got jumped by more than two, that's what she didn't anticipate, assisting others too if you have no strength is foolish but hear, helping each other is even more laughable."
"Look around the road ahead is clean, every time we near the water on both sides, it retreats and becomes wider, all of us need to stand on a distance of 20-25 meters that way, the goal of this being will be realized, and only the strongest and luckiest will reach the island."
"Your right, husband, don't try to help me, I will reach the island myself killing two is not a problem at all," Maria said while firmly looking into Kristopher's eyes, " believe me, I can do it on my own."
"Man, did you hear this? My pregnant wife can do it alone, so why can't you people, divide now I believe most of us will withstand these beasts, good luck to all!!"Kristofer laughed and parted from his wife's area.
Seeing this, Morgols started to divide and keep the distance. Surprisingly beast that was engaging here and there allowed them to disengage, which farther reaffirmed their conjecture that there was a chance of reaching the island.
What would wait for them there ultimate despair or path to survival only those who survived until that point would know!
Surprisingly Saitou's hand began to heal, and his blood loss was restored. It was as if this being was saying, don't complain that you died because you were injured.
The moment they became separated, all those who were injured were healed exceptionally quickly. To there surprise path towards the island became more transparent, and the water that seemed bloody more translucent.
"Fair chance to us all, maybe?" someone said.
But unfortunately for him, the distance between him and others became further and further apart so no one could hear him.
The water, instead of being in two parts from left and right, began to divide and separate every Morgol into lone sections because the water became more transparent, others could see each other, but they could not hear anything.
The instant every man took the distance required by some unknown rule beasts that were gracefully swimming in and out of torrents, began to jump down and swarm the brave.
Four hundred ninety-six men and women began to fight for the chance of survival. As predicted, every time only two beasts would engage at a time but killing them was easier said than done. Of course, it was better to fight two than hundreds, but one mistake and these colossal beasts would rip you apart.
Each one of them was at least 3m long, and the biggest was 5m. Just two such beasts took most of the person's eyesight, and you needed to kill them, move, kill them, move, repeat.
The silver lining was that by killing two, you were given a minute to rest and move on towards the island, but the island was 18.5km away. How much distance could you cover in a minute, how much could you recover.
Quite fast, Morgols realized the terror of there decision more than 18km of constant battles. Even if you killed the beasts quickly, it would not give you extra time, so how could you proceed? Kill and slowly move? Kill and run every 30sec rest and somehow recover in another 30 sec.
This test was far crueler than it would seem at first glance. Maybe by fighting together, you would die faster and without a chance, but at least it would happen with you're clan members, the ones who cared about you, but now you were alone, you could see certain people on your back, left, right but the vision was twisted, the island was magically visible even though it was so far.
While near you, you could at most see three of your clan members.
Was it done to give hope, or was there another cruel meaning? Why was there only three, and why couldn't they see the rest, countless thoughts appeared in all their minds, but those thoughts were quickly dispersed by a roaring beast attacking without holding back this time.
Kristofer was one of those people who was extremely good at evading and counter-attacking.
In this situation, one mistake could kill, but every correct choice gave an easy kill in return, made the mind more concentrated, soon he completely forgot about his wife, his clan. He believed in every single one of them, and thinking how they were doing would bring his death even faster.
"I need to memorize their attacking patterns and counter-attack, for some reason, my saber doesn't get dulled by killing them, cutting through this beasts is easier than imagined, but dodging is hard, which in return give fewer options for attacking."
"Maybe the moment one appears, I need to kill it instantly and then injure the other one and sprint towards the island," Kristofer thought.
He sure did as he thought the moment the beast jumped down, it was decapitated, and by slashing his saber in reverse griped motion, one of the other beasts legs got severed. This gave him time to run and creep closer towards the island.
The decision seemed reasonable, kill one, injure the other and run with all you're might, but if it were that easy, this mysterious being would appear to light-handed, which it didn't seem.
While running, Kristofer saw eight more beasts jumping on him from various angles and attacking him with better precision and higher ferocity. Seeing this, Kristofer trembled, every muscle in his body tensed up, which allowed him to move faster and engage more ferociously with the beasts.
By risking his life and pitting all he had in action, he managed to dispatch this beast in 5 minutes, but by this point, those who had the same idea as him out of 120 only 45 survived, while the rest only had a minute to recover, soon they would be met with more beasts again two at a time.
Kristofer breathed deeply and roared," please here me, do not try anything. Just fight those two near you. Any other action will be met with fierce retaliation. My chances of surviving became a lot lower, do not overstep boundaries, and try being smart."
Fortunately, his voice was still heard by everyone, so those who had some tricky ideas curbed them in the bud. They all could distinguish the worry in his voice, so they became more cautious with their decisions.
It was a pity with Kristofer trying, others tried things too, and that led to unnecessary deaths, as for those who survived, their chances were even lower to live than Kristofer's.
Maria continued to pave her way towards the island. For her, who trained her entire life in preserving strength and using counterforce in every strike, killing these beasts that required precision and lack of fear on the person's part was easy.
Even though these monsters looked menacing, there attacks deadly. The terror was not in them but in people's will and minds. Maybe in the entire world, today's morgols had the highest chance of reaching the island out of all living people.
Maria, even though that even if entire humanity came here, they would be divided and left to there individual battles, in this life, team play, unity, and so on was essential. Still, personal strength matters the most in the end.
"I must preserve as long as imaginable. If my spirit remains firm, maybe there will be a chance to survive. We morgols are not easy to break, fighting until the end is the best one can hope for.
By the 6th hour, most of the Morgols remained firm. None of them died, which was unimaginable. Up until this point, every single person that was dragged here on previous occasions would be dead. Even the best among them couldn't keep up.
In these 6 hours, some killed more than a hundred some more than two hundred. Especially glaring were the seven leaders. They each took down more than 350.
There was no time limit set in this cruel test. One could theoretically fight until they dropped dead or reached the island, but those who could kill faster could move farther, and reaching the island was paramount to survival. Every two kills meant 1 min of respite. Maybe other than catching breath, it was the only viable option to reach the island.
Some, while fighting beasts, chose to move or run towards the island only using that one min to rest but crossing 18km was no comfortable fit.
Soon more and more Morgols began to fall, no matter how well they read these beasts, even though the creatures didn't even change their attacking styles or become smarter, they still got dead tired. Fatigue caught up to most of them. All the determination, resolve to move forward didn't vain, but some couldn't even lift their weapons. They died fighting, but death still was death.
Soon those that were bitterly struggling saw the three around them become two than one and finally none.
By this point, blood has seeped in their eyes, feeling so many brothers and sisters falling despair couldn't help but surface in their very souls. Maybe this path was the ultimate way to break someone.
Some Morgols even felt shamed by such thoughts, and they fought even more ferociously, giving them the boost needed.
"We Morgols fear no death. We ride the seas towards dark paths unknown!"
"We fear no death, we loot, gamble, and take all we can!"
"We are never abandoned, never forgotten, we love sights of the beautiful, cruel world,"
"We never give and fall in despair, and all mental hurdles are crossed with family,"
"We the Morgols are the best that was ever known, we do not fear the world unknown!"
"I Kristofer, have reached the limit of the path set to us, I am the first; what are you all waiting for!"
"If I could do it, so can you!! Brothers and sisters rile up. It is possible!!"
"We Morgols will not break today, once this day will be remembered as a memento of our glorious adventure!"
"I am here, and I am waiting for all of you!"
Suddenly when there seemed to be all hope was lost, Kristofer's passionate singing boomed in their minds.
"If I could do it, so could you," hearing his voice, every Morgol that still had fighting ability marched with all there might.
"Oh brother in law is first, I must keep up; I believe father and sister will get there too. I can't die knowing they could reach it." Mirian roared and slashed with his dual weapons, instantly slaying two beasts in his path, and charged forward without resting.
"Huh, if he reached the end, why can't I? Haha," chuckled Kaspian, to tell the truth out of everyone. He had the least pressure, and he looked quite at ease even though they were thirteen hours in, but he constantly kept his eye on a particular person that was visible from the torrent of streams it was Maria's father, Dorian.
Kaspian was always controlling his rhythm so that he could stay in the vicinity of Dorian crossing 50 meters was not a problem, and Kaspian believed that if he took the risk, this water blockade would let him through, but the cost would probably be facing 50 or more beasts at least trying wouldn't hurt.
For Kaspian saving Dorian if needed was more important than his life," ones a debt of gratitude should be repaid in full by the act kindness hundredfold." That's what Kaspian was thinking.
Knowing this one-armed, Dorian tried his best to preserve because his fall would mean Kaspian's death.
No matter how he gestured, Kaspian would always remain in his vicinity. " sigh this boy never learns! If I die, why should he die with me Jesus, all three brothers are equally crazy, hehe... I can't die here; it seems.. fuck off you puny beast!" Dorian continued in his path with difficulty but at a steady pace.
Every Morgol tried there best, but how many could reach the end only depended on them.
Their motivation, will to live, would determine their lives even though reaching the island could mean even worse than dying to these beasts.