"Tell me every damn thing you know about this creature!" Valor's voice thundered as storms slammed into the ship, pitching it violently in the swelling waves.
The prisoner, Dread, looked up and laughed, a wild, broken sound. "WE'RE ALL DEAD!" he howled before erupting into manic laughter, coughing up blood as Valor drove a knife through his hand once more.
"TELL ME!" Valor bellowed over the storm, his voice almost swallowed by the howling wind.
"I told you already. We're all fucked, you jackass! You were the one who thought this was a good idea!" Dread snarled, his tone full of venom.
Valor's eyes twitched. A cold blue aura flared around his body.
He raised a hand and hurled it forward, gripping Dread by the throat and lifting him effortlessly into the air. The chains binding him snapped like twine. With a brutal motion, Valor slammed Dread into the floorboards, splintering the wood beneath them with a deafening crack. Lifting him again, Valor's nails began to pierce into his skin, drawing more blood.
He strode toward the nearest wall and slammed Dread straight through it, leaving him dangling by his throat as shattered timber clattered to the ground. "TELL ME, DAMN IT!" Valor roared as lightning split the sky, illuminating the chaos outside. Seawater surged in through the broken wall, drenching Dread's legs.
Sea spirits rose with it, translucent, wraithlike forms that resembled hands and limbs. They coiled around Dread's legs and began to pull him downward with unnatural force, whispering in a language only the dead could understand.
Dread hacked violently, blood pouring from his mouth, smearing Valor's hand. "Sea…" he choked, his voice barely audible.
"Serpent," he wheezed out before coughing again, his eyes rolling back. "Jazz…"
Valor released him.
Dread's body was swallowed by the sea spirits before it even hit the water below.
The cabin doors burst open. "Valor! What the hell happened? Where's Dread?" a crewman shouted.
Valor turned to Joel, his first mate, blood still dripping from his hand. "The chains didn't work. We were scammed. He could still use his Echoes. I had no choice but to beat him a bit but he snapped, ran through the wood and jumped. Sea spirits took him the moment he touched the water."
Joel cursed. "Damn it! He was worth fifteen hundred gold… We should've known those pirate bastards sold us faulty gear."
"There's no fixing it now. Get the crew ready. We're facing a Sea Serpent."
Joel's expression turned pale. He ran out, screaming orders to the others.
As the crew scrambled into position, the sea ahead split open.
A colossal serpent rose from the depths, towering three hundred feet ahead of the ship. Its crimson eyes glowed with a malicious hunger as it released a screech that warped the storm itself. Wind patterns shifted. Lightning slammed into the ship's flag, setting it ablaze.
The serpent dipped beneath the waves.
"Shit! The flag's hit! Hold it together!" Valor shouted, charging onto the deck and grabbing the spear strapped to his back.
The sea erupted beneath them.
The serpent launched itself from the water, crashing into the hull from below and catapulting the entire ship upward. Then it released a torrent of water so pressurized it struck like a divine weapon, ripping through sails, snapping the mainmast.
Dozens of sea spirits burst forth in its wake, swarming across the wreck in childlike shapes, their laughter like echoes from drowned tombs.
The Sea Serpent's water breath was stronger than a dragon's flame. It forced the ship downward, crushing its structure and sending the crew into the deep. Screams filled the air, cut short as a tsunami formed behind the beast and swept through them, drowning five instantly.
Seven survived the first onslaught, their Sequence 6 granting enough endurance to fight the water. But it wasn't enough. Four were ensnared by sea spirits, their bodies twisted as the creatures dragged them into the abyss, silencing their cries forever.
Only three emerged atop drifting planks, soaked, shivering, eyes locked on the monster that hovered above them. Lightning flashed, illuminating the Sea Serpent's full form. Its scales shimmered like blades of wet obsidian. Its gills pulsed as it manipulated the weather, maintaining its aerial presence like a god presiding over judgment.
"It's a damn Sequence Eight beast," Valor muttered, coughing seawater. He wiped his mouth and laughed, unhinged. "There's not a damn chance we can kill it. Even if we could reach it."
The serpent didn't approach any of them, It knew better. It circled high, watching them, calculating, waiting for another opening. Then it screamed again, a sound that warped the very air, and summoned a bolt of lightning that struck one of the surviving men. The flash lit his body for a heartbeat before his skull exploded from the inside out.
He fell silently, already dead before he even dropped into the sea.
The serpent stared down at the remaining three, then dropped back into the void of the sea.
Valor let out a loud laugh before glancing at the other two. "Roland! Earl! I'm going to stall it for as long as I can. Use whatever aura you have left and get out of here! Remember, I love you both. Thank you for the memories!" he shouted. He raised his left hand, the one not holding his spear, and activated [Tide's Push], forcing their planks together with a surge of water. He activated it again, hurling them as far as he could, then gripped his spear tightly.
He looked at Roland and Earl, inhaled deeply, and exhaled a long breath before diving into the ocean, sacrificing his life so his crewmates could get farther away.
Roland and Earl looked back and shouted in unison, "CAPTAIN!" Their voices cracked as the waves swallowed Valor. They turned to each other, guilt washing over their faces. Roland clenched his fists until his knuckles whitened, then turned away, tears slipping down his cheeks and dripping onto the wooden planks beneath him.
Earl, on the other hand, felt a deeper respect for his captain than ever before. Despite everything they had endured, Earl had always believed that Valor was too hard on him. But in that moment, he understood. The captain hadn't been harsh without reason, he had been preparing them. Teaching them that in the real world, death could come at any time.
Earl looked around, noticing his weapon sinking into the depths. He activated [Eyes of God], and the water became clear to him. Through the deep blue, he saw Valor swimming toward the serpent. The creature was toying with him, drifting farther away, letting him exhaust himself.
"I can't allow this!" Earl shouted across the waves. The skies responded, clouds forming overhead. Golden light radiated from his body as his aura flared and took the shape of a gleaming blade. His left hand trembled with fear, every nerve screaming at him to retreat, but he ignored it.
He dove into the sea, his golden aura burning away every Sea Spirit that approached. They learned quickly to keep their distance.
He swam as fast as his body would allow, pushing through the cold and current, determined to reach Valor, refusing to let his captain die alone.
'I pray to the God of Judgment… I am sorry to have disappointed you. I made the wrong choice. I have made the wrong call in judgement to live… I am a sinner according to the contract. But please, please, grant me strength. Strength beyond what I am allowed. Take my soul if you must. I WANT TO SAVE MY CAPTAIN!'
Then, the world around him fell into silence, not of emptiness, but reverence—like a cathedral holding its breath.
And then it came: A voice, older than stars and soaked in iron calm, thundered across the abyss of his soul.
"No, my child. Judgment is not so small a thing as a life or death decision. It is not simply the decree to spare or to condemn. You speak as if judgment is a sword held by gods. But judgment… judgment is the mirror you hold to yourself."
"To one, judgment is the weight of guilt for a choice already made. To another, it is the act of choosing, when neither path is righteous. To the desperate, judgment is the belief that pain is deserved. To the proud, it is believing they stand above consequence. To the just... it is to carry the burden of knowing right, and still feeling the cost."
A pulse of warmth surged through his chest.
"And now… for the first time since our covenant was formed, your prayer was not born of ritual or demand. It was not uttered to bargain. This prayer… was truth. Grief. Regret. Love. All bared without disguise."
The silence afterward felt like a hand resting over his heart—firm, but not unkind.
"You think you made the wrong judgment by choosing this path? No. The wrong judgment is thinking that only death gives your life meaning. That only sacrifice makes you worthy. You are already worthy, because you would offer all you are, for someone you love."
A faint radiance stirred in the depths of his soul, as if the divine were leaning closer.
"So rise, Earl Goldenhand. I will not take your soul. But I will grant you what lies just beyond the edge of your strength. Not because you are without sin. But because, today… your judgment was pure and filled with resolve."
As the voice faded, the sound of bells echoed across the sea. Their chimes were distant at first, then grew louder, resonating through the waves like a divine toll. Earl's body radiated with brilliant golden light as his blade shimmered and took form—not as metal, but as a divine instrument, forged from the will of the gods themselves.
Valor heard the bells and immediately knew what they meant. Someone had made a second contract.
He turned toward the sound, and the golden light confirmed it—it was Earl. The younger man was forcing every fiber of his body to keep moving, to reach him.
'Stupid fool,' Valor thought, eyes narrowing.
But the serpent had heard the bells too. It turned its massive head, ancient eyes locking onto the light. It looked directly at the source.
Earl Goldenhand.
The serpent screeched, a bone-rattling sound that sent tremors through the ocean. In an instant, it released a wave of Sea Spirits toward Earl, but they disintegrated the moment they drew close, burned to ash by the divine aura radiating from him.
A radiant bubble of gold formed around Earl and Valor, shielding them in a sphere of divine presence. Earl's voice rang out into the deep, clear and defiant.
"I am the Contractor of the God of Divine Judgment, Vertict!"
His voice vibrated through the water, through their bones. His eyes locked with the serpent's, neither blinking, neither yielding. Valor remained silent, but something in his gaze shifted.