The stormy night wrapped the bloody ocean in a shroud of darkness, and Rey Reed Smith stood resolute on the deck of the ship after sending everyone to do their various work, his eyes fixed on the approaching terror. He needed to buy time for them to gather every piece of ammunition they could find and use against the beast.
Under normal circumstances, Rey would have fled and done research about such a beast and then come for a direct encounter; that's what he always does. But with Cythrax the leviathan, just like one of the sailors had called it, Rey doubted he had much time.
Thankfully, the blood lord had taught him so much in the underworld. To Rey, the underworld is the place of eternal torment for condemned souls. It's a place of misery, lessons, anguish, and a replica of hell.
The underworld was created by Lord Zeus after he and Poseidon tricked Hades. It's a place where every soul was sent after death, while the deepest and darkest part of the underworld contains the labyrinth of Tartarus. A place that makes the underworld more dreadful because it's where Zeus and the rest of the Olympus gods locked all the Titans, including the master of all terror, Cronus.
After the demise of the gods, the six Pillars took charge of the underworld, and they followed in the footsteps of their master, Hades. Since Hades failed to conquer the gods despite all his mischief, the six pillars of the underworld picked up where their master stopped.
They picked a fighter named Ezra Miller, trained him, and sent him to the Middle Land, so he could prepare the kingdom for their coming. It seems Ezra Miller couldn't achieve the task alone because he didn't have magic; that's why Rey Reed Smith was chosen.
When Rey Reed was killed during the war against Dylan Knoll and Sebastian, the six Pillars welcomed him and gave him water from the underworld fountain, which took away his Alpha and Hellhound powers. After that, the six pillars of the underworld merged and formed a single man, the blood lord.
The blood lord drilled most of his skills into Rey, turning him into a weapon of vengeance. He teaches Rey Reed how to be fearless and how to control people's minds. He taught him how to pick up and create illusions in different entities' minds and how to calm the mind of a beast. It's the same thing Rey wants to try with Cythrax the leviathan, and that's why he's standing fearlessly as the beast approaches their ship with great speed and fury.
The empire ship tossed on the tumultuous waves as Cythrax surged through the blood ocean with unnatural speed, its colossal form breaking through the roiling waves like a living nightmare, and Rey felt the pulse of dark energy emanating from the creature's mind getting more intense. The air crackled with malevolence as the leviathan, driven by its insatiable hunger, bore down upon the ship.
Rey Reed Smith, drawing upon his ability as a mind reader, delved into the chaotic thoughts of Cythrax. The monstrous entity's mind, however, proved to be a tempest of dark and incomprehensible thoughts, a maelstrom of ancient malice that threatened to overwhelm Rey's consciousness.
Summoning the harsh training instilled in him by the blood Lord in the underworld, Rey focused his mind with unwavering determination. He called upon the mental fortitude forged in the crucible of relentless drills, seeking to assert dominance over the leviathan's formidable intellect. The ship rocked violently as if nature itself resisted the impending clash between the two forces, and thunder clapped in the sky.
But Cythrax, a creature of immense power and ancient malevolence, resisted Rey's attempts with unfathomable strength. Its mind, a labyrinth of darkness and primordial instincts, retaliated against Rey's intrusion with a surge of psychic force that threatened to shatter Rey's resolve.
The wind howled, and the rain lashed against Rey's determined face as he grappled with the overwhelming darkness within Cythrax's thoughts.
In a desperate bid to tame the beast's mind, Rey pushes his mental boundaries to their limits. He reached into the depths of his psyche, calling upon every ounce of strength and discipline he possessed. The ship groaned beneath the combined assault of the storm and the leviathan's intent.
However, Cythrax, fueled by ancient malevolence and dark thoughts beyond Rey's comprehension, proves to be an indomitable force. The leviathan's mind, a relentless torrent of primal fury, overwhelmed Rey's attempts to assert control.
As Cythrax closed in with terrifying speed, its colossal form casting a shadow over the beleaguered ship, Rey Reed Smith stood at the forefront of a mental battleground, grappling with a force far darker and more formidable than he had ever imagined.
The fate of the ship and Rey's companion hung in the balance, teetering on the precipice of the abyss as the leviathan's insatiable hunger threatened to consume them all. Nevertheless, Rey forced his body to hold still.
Suddenly, a thought crept into his mind. Since Cythrax the leviathan came from the depths of the ocean, maybe it will be scared of daylight, just like the bone creatures of the Cador Ocean.
Rey quickly gathered the image of the sun shining brightly in the sky and projected it into the beast's mind as it leapt up in an attempt to crush the ship.
Surprisingly, it worked!
The Leviathan screeched in pain as Rey's image burned its heart, and it collided with the water. It roared in fury and wheeled around, sending three tentacles out.
"Bend down!" Lucienne warned Rey, and she sprinted forward with two blades in her hand. She leapt as the first tentacle aimed for her leg, spun her body midair, and hacked down the tentacle.
She threw one of the blades at Rey, and the latter snatched it midair, using it to chop down a tentacle as it came to him. He slid on the deck of the ship, hacking down the last tentacle as he glided toward Lucienne Vldisalav.
"Where are the rest?" Rey asked, giving Lucienne a grateful look.
Lucienne drew another blade before replying to Rey, "Titus is busy trying to keep the ship in the bay while Felix is arming and greasing the mechanical Harpoon because they haven't used it for some months. We just need to buy him some time."
"Whatever they want to do, I hope they do it on time," Rey said, twirling his blade as six tentacles started growing from the beast's body.
Lucienne said, "It seems more tentacles emerged with each one we hacked."
"Yes!" Rey acknowledged. "We cut one, and two appear."
The ship pitched and rolled on the tumultuous waves as Cythrax the leviathan, a monstrous amalgamation of nightmare and fury, surged forward to destroy the ship and everyone inside.
Its colossal form dominated the blood ocean and from its writhing, slimy mass, a volley of tentacles shot forth like harpoons, seeking to ensnare and dismantle the vessel.
Rey Reed Smith and Lucienne Vladislav stood firm on the deck and clutched their weapons tightly. At once, they moved in harmony as the tentacles lashed towards them.
Rey's blade glinted with fierce determination in the night, and Lucienne's movements were a dance of deadly precision. As the first tentacle struck towards Rey, he lunged forward, executing a swift sidestep, and with a single fluid motion, his blade cleaved through the appendage with expert precision.
Meanwhile, Lucienne twirled her dual blades in an intricate pattern, parrying and slashing through the oncoming tentacles with a grace that defied the chaos surrounding them. Together, Rey and Lucienne form an unyielding frontline against the leviathan's onslaught.
Yet, with each tentacle severed, the leviathan responded with a sinister resilience. For every limb that fell, three more emerged, a grotesque manifestation of the creature's indomitable will. The deck became a battlefield, littered with the twitching remnants of tentacles, but Cythrax remained undeterred, its hunger unquenched.
As the duo pressed forward, their choreography evolving into a deadly dance of survival, the leviathan revealed another facet of its malevolence. Its tail, a sinuous mass of muscle, wriggled with deadly intent. With a thunderous sweep, the tail crashed towards the ship, threatening to crush the vessel and send it plummeting into the abyss below.
Rey and Lucienne, quick to anticipate the Leviathan's tactics, leapt and rolled with acrobatic finesse. Rey somersaulted over the tail, narrowly avoiding its deadly sweep, while Lucienne executed a series of nimble flips, evading the crushing force with hairbreadth precision. The ship creaked and groaned under the strain, but Rey and Lucienne held their ground.
The Leviathan, frustrated by their resilience, unleashes a flurry of slashing attacks. Its tentacles whipped through the air with blinding speed, leaving trails of dark energy in their wake. Rey and Lucienne, however, responded with a dance of blades, parrying and counter-attacking with a seamless synchronicity that defied the chaotic nature of the battle.
Wounds and gashes adorned their bodies, a testament to the leviathan's relentless assault, but Rey and Lucienne stood undeterred. With each slash and cut, their resolve deepened, fueled by a determination to thwart the monstrous entity that sought to devour them.
The beast roared to show its frustration, its green blood filling the ocean; and it disappeared back into the depths of the ocean as fast as it appeared.
Instantly, everything became calm. The night returned to normal, and the moon came out again. The rain stopped, and the heavy wind decreased.
"I think we did it," Lucienne said, breathing heavily. "I think it's gone."
Rey wanted to believe this, but his mind told him that something wasn't right. It's now that the Blood Lord's warning replayed in his mind:
"Beware, apprentice, you've summoned something great from the depths of the ocean with the blood of those that you killed." He remembered the blood Lord's warning.
"No," Rey said, shaking his head. "I don't think it fled; I think it is going to recharge."
Immediately after Rey completed his speech, the water beneath their ship erupted like a volcano. Dozens of tentacles wrapped around their ship lifted it and hurled it away as if it weighed nothing.
Rey Reed and Lucienne Vladislav clenched tightly to a pole, hanging for their dear lives as their ship went flying in the air like a baby toy.
The ship collided with the ocean, and the force threw the two beings on the deck in different directions. Some of the wood that was used to build the ship cracked, giving way to water.
Cythrax, the leviathan, emerged from the depths of the ocean again at its full height and charged forward with determination.
"Stay behind me!" Rey yelled at Lucienne, guiding her backwards and stepping forward. He closed his eyes and conjured images of the sun in his mind in an attempt to fling it at the beast, just like he did earlier.
As Rey did this, he was met with something else. Something unexpected.
To be continued.