When I opened my eyes, I realized that Lezlie had come to me and was shaking me to wake me up. "Ryuu! Ryuu! Wake up! A monster is attacking the ship!" she exclaimed urgently.
My mind raced with fear and confusion. "Creature? Where are Hiroshi and Babu?" I asked, struggling to get my bearings.
"They're planning an attack against the creature, but we need your help," Lezlie replied urgently.
With a sense of dread and foreboding, Lezlie and I quickly ascended to the deck of the ship. Hiroshi and Babu soon appeared and ran towards us, their faces grim.
"The creature appeared under the ship and could attack at any moment," Hiroshi informed me gravely.
I felt a chill run down my spine. "Hiroshi, It's not the mythical creature the King told about, is it?" I asked hesitantly, remembering the stories we had heard.
"I don't think he looks anything like the creature described. This one has more than one arm," Hiroshi replied, his eyes scanning the waters below.
Suddenly, the captain's voice boomed across the deck. "It's The Kraken! Lower the sails and take battle positions, now!"
My heart hammered in my chest as we all rushed to the captain's side. Babu wasted no time in asking the question that was on all of our minds. "Captain, what is going on here? What is this creature?" he inquired anxiously.
"This monster's name is Kraken, maybe you've heard it a hundred times before," the captain replied, his voice tense. "The strangest thing is, what is such a mystical and extremely dangerous creature doing here?"
"If it is that strong, why did you take a war position?" I questioned, trying to make sense of the situation.
"If we try to avoid it, it will come directly after us and kill us. But if we counterattack and corner that monster, we have a chance to escape," the captain explained grimly.
Hiroshi interjected with a worried tone. "Do you have any idea how to fight that monster, Captain?"
"I don't know. I've never seen it before, but I know we can't escape without a fight," the captain replied, his voice tinged with desperation.
Without hesitation, I offered our assistance. "We'll help you defend the ship," I declared firmly.
Hiroshi's eyes darted towards the ship's cannons. "How many cannonballs do you have on board?" he asked the captain.
"Not enough for that creature. But there is still a little," the captain admitted with a hint of regret in his voice.
"Well, how far are we from the Kingdom?" Hiroshi asked, his mind racing with possible escape routes.
"Even with this ship, it's at least a week away," the captain replied, his voice heavy with defeat.
Desperate for a way out, Lezlie blurted out the question that we were all thinking. "Can we swim back?"
"Unfortunately, no. Half my crew doesn't know how to swim," the captain revealed, his eyes flickering with resignation.
"They work on the ship, but they can't swim?" I exclaimed, incredulous.
"Sad, but true," the captain confirmed, his voice heavy with regret.
Determined to fight back against the Kraken, Hiroshi asked the captain for guidance. "Is there a place I can aim?"
The captain pointed up towards the mast of the ship. "You can climb the mast of the ship," he suggested, his eyes filled with gratitude for our willingness to help.
Before Hiroshi climbed to the top of the mast, the captain warned us to stay away from the sides of the ship, because although he had heard of the creature's reputation, he, like the rest of us, had no idea what it was capable of.
As Hiroshi began his ascent, the ship trembled violently beneath our feet, threatening to capsize us all. The sailors scrambled to maintain their balance as the vessel rocked back and forth. The ominous shaking ceased briefly, only to be followed by a sudden emergence of eight colossal octopus arms that wrapped themselves around the ship from every direction.
The captain roared at his crew, demanding that they "Fire the cannons!" in a desperate attempt to fend off the impending danger. The crew sprang into action, manning the ship's cannons and directing their firepower towards the terrifying Kraken. A few of the cannonballs grazed the monster's limbs, only serving to enrage it further. The Kraken retaliated by slamming its massive arms into the ship's deck, causing chaos and destruction to erupt all around us.
As I frantically dodged the writhing tentacles, I noticed how incredibly adhesive they were. I attempted to strike one with my fist, but my blow merely adhered to the slimy appendage, and before I knew it, the Kraken had lifted me high into the air before flinging me far out to sea.
As I bobbed in the waves, I caught sight of the monster in all its enormity. The Kraken was a sight to behold, dwarfing the ship by threefold, and its mere presence filled me with terror. Fortunately, I managed to swim back to the ship, hauling myself onto the deck and panting for breath. Babu appeared beside me, concern etched on his face.
"Ryuu, are you okay?" he asked.
I nodded, gasping for air. "Yeah, I'm fine, just give me a moment to catch my breath."
But as I spoke, the Kraken's tentacle shot out and snatched Babu in its grasp. I let out a cry of alarm and instinctively grabbed the nearest weapon, a massive axe lying nearby. With all my strength, I swung the weapon at the Kraken's limb, causing it to release Babu from its grip. However, the wound I had inflicted was but a mere scratch, barely penetrating the creature's tough skin.
The Kraken then turned its attention to me, its other arm reaching out menacingly. I hurled myself to the ground, narrowly avoiding the attack, and left the axe embedded in the monster's limb. In a fit of rage, the Kraken smashed the ship's mast with its other arm, sending Hiroshi tumbling down. With quick thinking, he plunged his knife into the sail, using it to break his fall and land on our side of the ship.
Hiroshi looked at us, shaking his head. "None of my bullets work, not even the poisonous ones. The skin of this thing must be really thick."
I grimly nodded my agreement. "We can't fight it head-on, that's for sure."
In the face of the monstrous Kraken, Lezlie's words were both ominous and inspiring. "Maybe I can do something to prevent it," she said, "but his skin is thick and impenetrable even than we expected. I don't know if we can just smash its skin with just attacking like this."
But I was undeterred. "We'll try and see," I replied with a determined look.
Lezlie then revealed a powerful spell that could be the key to defeating the Kraken, but it required five minutes to cast. So we split up into two teams: Lezlie and I headed to the ship's cabin to begin the spell, while Panda and the others took on the Kraken's massive arms.
Once inside the cabin, Lezlie instructed me to place my hands together and reach out to her, then to wait. As she began to cast the spell, my hands began to glow, and I felt a strange sensation as if my hands were no longer my own. After a few minutes, Lezlie released my hands and announced that the spell had been successfully executed, cautioning me that it was highly flammable.
With our task complete, we rushed to join the others on deck, where the Kraken's arms loomed ominously. I charged towards them, delivering blows with all my might. To my relief, my hands didn't stick to the slimy flesh this time, but it seemed as if our efforts were in vain, for even after landing several powerful punches, the monster remained unfazed.
Suddenly, a brutal attack from the Kraken sent me flying towards the end of the ship, where a torch was hanging precariously. The flame ignited my hands, causing them to burn with a bright blue fire. The intense pain gave me an idea, and I unleashed my flaming fists upon the Kraken's arm, seeing its skin turn red under the assault.
I continued to pummel the beast's arm, causing it to lash out with its other limbs in retaliation. I deftly dodged one arm and landed a blow on another, using a broken mast like a club to deal further damage. But the Kraken's powerful grip proved too much for the mast, and it was soon thrown overboard.
Desperately needing a new target, Hiroshi shouted out to me, "I need a target to hit, kid!" Despite the chaos and danger all around, my determination remained unwavering as I sought out a new strategy to take down the monstrous Kraken.
As I looked down at my burned hands, I understood what Hiroshi meant when he asked for my help. I had no strength left in my arms to fight, but my legs were still strong. So I nodded, ready to do whatever it took to defeat the Kraken.
I survived the Kraken's last attack by performing a backward somersault, and as I spun through the air, I formed a tiny hole with my fingers. Hiroshi seized the opportunity and fired a shot through the hole, causing the bullet to ignite into a blazing ball of flame. The bullet hit both of the Kraken's arms, eliciting a furious roar as the monster recoiled and withdrew its limbs.
I quickly doused my burning hands in the water-filled barrel in front of me, but the damage was done. My hands shook from the pain, and I knew they wouldn't catch fire like that again. Everyone on the crew let out a cheer of relief, but Captain reminded them that the battle wasn't over.
"The Kraken will be back," he warned. "And when it does, it will come back stronger than ever."
Hiroshi was quick to point out that they were out of bullets and energy, and they couldn't fight the beast again. But I wasn't ready to give up just yet.
"Didn't you see how the flames hurt it?" I said.
Hiroshi shook his head. "Your hands are badly damaged, Ryuu. You can't use them anymore."
But I didn't need my hands. "I'll use my legs," I declared.
The crew was surprised, but Hiroshi had a plan. He ordered Lezlie and Babu to leave in the boats with the others while we stayed behind to take care of the Kraken.
Babu was angry, but Hiroshi reminded him that they had a job to do. "We said that when we went on this adventure, we were going to do what we had to do to achieve our goal," he said. "If we don't, we'll all be dead before we get to them."
Although it was hard for Babu to leave, he knew it was necessary. "But Hiroshi, it would be-"
"Go," Hiroshi interrupted. "It's all right. We'll catch up with you anyway."
Lezlie's eyes were filled with sadness and tears, and Babu appeared to be weighed down by regret as they climbed aboard the boat prepared by the captain and crew. With a heavy heart, Babu urged Lezlie to come along as they had no other choice. As the boat pulled away, Lezlie looked back at us, tears streaming down her face.
With the boat gone, Hiroshi and I were left alone on the ship, facing the enormous threat of the Kraken. I asked Hiroshi what our next move should be, and he told me that we needed to collect gunpowder and use it to blow up the creature's skin.
As we worked to gather the gunpowder, Hiroshi instructed me to tie the rope to my feet and lift the heavy load using my legs. I was worried about our plan and what would happen if we couldn't escape in time, but Hiroshi remained calm and focused.
As we waited for the Kraken to approach, Hiroshi told me to wait until the creature showed its entire body before dropping the gunpowder. When the Kraken finally appeared and roared, Hiroshi gave the signal and I dropped the gunpowder, swinging the rope with my foot. Hiroshi fired, and the ship exploded in a brilliant burst of light and sound.