"Damnation"
Aquarius stared at the silhouette looming over the ship—a colossal figure hidden within the dense fog. His breath came in ragged gasps, his lungs burning as if struggling against an unseen force. A sharp, searing pain snapped him back to his senses. He looked down, his vision swimming, and saw droplets of blood splattering the deck.
Instinctively, he touched his face. A shriek tore from his throat. His nostrils were bleeding. So were his eyes. His stomach twisted violently, his skull felt like it was on the verge of exploding. A wave of nausea overtook him as blood surged from his mouth. He staggered, attempting to stand straight, but the weight of a thousand invisible hands crushed him to the ground.
His left eye was sealed shut, burned by an unbearable sensation. Blood seeped from the corner, warm and unrelenting. He could barely keep himself conscious. Pain and blood loss dragged him toward oblivion, and for a moment, he considered surrendering. " Why am I even fighting? ", He muttered, ' What was the point of resisting an inhuman force? '
His mind drifted to the countless stories he had read—novels, webtoons, heroic tales where the protagonist faced impossible odds and somehow surpassed their limits. But those stories never captured the horror of real, absolute power. No amount of trickery or perseverance could overcome something like this.
Through blurred vision, Aquarius saw the bodies. Corpses of those who had succumbed to this monstrous presence lay strewn across the deck, their lifeless forms twisted in agony. The thing in the fog was still meters away—too far for him to see its true shape. And yet, he knew its size, as if its very existence was pressing into his mind.
Then, a new sensation crept over him. A heat—not from pain, not from his own suffering—but something else. He felt a little surge of energy growing within him. He shifted slightly, struggling to lift his head. Though his vision was limited, lying face-down on the deck, he saw shimmers of color emanating from different parts of the ship.
The realization struck him like a hammer. ' Only a handful of people can probably survive this, if those light represents this feeling in my body '. Less than a dozen at most.
But then, his gaze locked onto three figures standing at the ship's prow.
They stood tall despite the suffocating pressure, backs straight. Their bodies were tense, brimming with a mix of confidence and fear. But what truly unsettled Aquarius wasn't their presence—it was the fact that they were still standing.
' How? 'His thoughts spiraled. 'How the hell are they able to move when the rest of us can barely breathe? '
A terrible thought gripped his mind. 'If I were a monstrous entity—an ancient being displaying my dominance over fragile mortals—how would I react if some of them refused to kneel? '
His blood ran cold.
"Damn it, you fools… Get down before that thing notices you're still—"
Before he could finish his thoughts a blinding spark ignited near one of the three figures.
A woman with long black hair tied in a ponytail stood in the center. She wore a black oversized sweater tucked into dark jeans, her athletic form reminiscent of a commercial fitness model. Sparks coalesced in her hands, forging a black tachi blade that pulsed with an eerie purple glow.
Before Aquarius could process what was happening, she moved.
She lunged into the air at terrifying speed, her sword carving through space itself. A slash formed midair, as if reality itself had been torn apart. The force of her attack unleashed a shockwave that rattled the ship.
Aquarius had no doubt—if that slash had landed on the deck, it would have destroyed the entire vessel.
The other two men remained still.
One wore a tailored black suit, a pocket watch dangling from his hand. His dark hair and composed demeanor gave him an air of nobility. The second man stood beside him, dressed in a vintage robe with a wizard-like hat, looking half-awake as if he had been forced from slumber. In his hands, sparks of light weaved into a long, slightly worn wooden staff.
The moment the woman landed, the monstrous presence in the fog let out a blood-curdling wail.
The sound shattered the air.
Aquarius screamed as his eardrums ruptured, his already unbearable pain surging to new heights. His body convulsed, barely able to withstand the sheer force of the creature's cry.
The man in the robe stepped forward, his red hair whipping wildly in the wind. Sparks of flame gathered at the tip of his staff, and in an instant, three massive fireballs, each as radiant as the sun, formed above the ship.
Even from a distance, their heat was unbearable.
The ship's metal apex melted.
Then, with a flick of his staff, the fireballs launched toward the fog-shrouded monstrosity.
For a moment, it seemed to recoil.
Then it surged forward.
And for the first time, Aquarius saw it clearly.
His mind broke.
A monstrous entity—towering at 110 meters—stood before them.
Six grotesque arms, each resembling gnarled testicles, twitched as it moved. Hollow black eyes—six in total—stared soullessly ahead. Six curved horns jutted from its head, and its body was covered in jagged, rough spikes. A sickly, abyssal blackness coated its form, an aura of pure death radiating from it.
And despite the earlier attacks—despite the raw destructive force unleashed—there wasn't a single wound on its body.
'Not a scratch. '
Aquarius felt his stomach drop.
"Shit… None of that worked."
The creature turned its hollow gaze toward the three figures, something akin to mockery gleaming in its empty eyes.
The suited man sighed, clicking his pocket watch shut. Then, with a dark grin, he spoke.
"How did a big guy like you get here? No Chronicles have broken on Earth in the past few years… unless you slipped through when a new one opened?"
The woman with the tachi frowned. "Arden, I think this thing is—"
Arden cut her off. His voice was grim.
"Yeah. I know. It's an Ancient Fiend."
The robed man—Luma—visibly paled. "Arden, Morgan… This is out of our league. Even if we use your Order, Arden, maybe we can escape, but we aren't even Masters yet. You're only a Third Sequence Expert, and Morgan is Fifth Sequence. Do you really think we can fight an Ancient Fiend with such pitiful strength?"
Morgan sighed, turning to Arden. "For once, I agree with Luma. This is suicide."
Arden remained silent, lost in thought.
Then, after a long pause, he spoke.
"We can't outrun it now."
Another pause. Then his voice steadied.
"But if we can injure it—just enough—we might buy ourselves enough time to escape."
Morgan and Luma exchanged wary glances before nodding.
In a flash, colors of deep red and dark purple erupted across the sky. Arden stood alone on the deck, his pocket watch glinting in the dim light. He glanced up, calculating something in his mind. Then, with a calm but firm voice, he spoke.
"Now."
Two figures landed beside him.
As the Morgan, said in a loud but gentle tune.
"If you're still alive, raise your hand!"
The command cut through the chaos.
Aquarius struggled. 'Raise… damn it… raise… '
His body refused to move.
The woman with the tachi glanced at him, then approached. His heart pounded at the sight of her—the dangerous entity, capable of killing him in an instant.
She knelt beside him, examining his face.
"Huh. Kid, I can't believe you're still conscious."
Aquarius's mind raced. 'Wait… she sounds shocked that I am conscious. But didn't she ask if we were still alive earlier? '
A dark realization crept into his thoughts.
'Did they actually intend to leave us behind? '
As if reading his mind, the woman smirked.
"And no, we weren't going to abandon you. Now, go to sleep, you have done well staying awake so far. We'll handle the rest."
Aquarius wanted to protest. He didn't trust them. He didn't trust anyone. But his body was in an even worse condition.
Before he knew it his body gave in.
The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was the suited man's pocket watch, glowing faintly—black and white energy warping the air around it.
Then, there was nothing.