The darkness did not affect Raiden Ei's vision. The sea beast was incredibly fast, moving through the water like a black shadow, and would soon reach the bottom of the pirate ship.
Seeing that the sea beast was charging directly here and didn't seem to be just passing by, Raiden Ei really didn't want to skip sleep to fight in the middle of the night if she could help it. However, there was no choice now; the sea beast had clearly targeted this place, and she couldn't abandon the ship.
Raiden Ei stood at the bow, the sea breeze blowing her clothes and hair, her long braid fluttering behind her. Her expression remained as calm as ever as her eyes observed the sea beast.
A burst of Conqueror's Haki shot straight toward the sea beast, making the surrounding air seem to freeze for an instant. Struck by the Conqueror's Haki, the sea beast swimming in the ocean breached the surface, thrusting its upper body out of the water and hissing at the bow as if provoked.
Raiden Ei had released her Conqueror's Haki just to see if she could scare the sea beast away. Unfortunately, it failed, but it finally allowed her to see the creature's appearance clearly.
It was a sea snake. Just the upper body protruding from the sea was over 30 meters long. When it opened its mouth to hiss, its maw gaped nearly ten meters wide, filled with dense, sharp teeth. Dark green scales were neatly arranged across its massive body.
Seeing that there was no room for negotiation, Raiden Ei took the Kusanagi no Inabikari out of her system backpack. She wrapped the blade in Armament Haki, not underestimating the giant snake in the slightest.
It was several times larger than the two sea beasts she had killed a few days ago. Moreover, they were on the open sea, which was the home turf of these marine creatures; she currently had no environmental advantage at all.
Raiden Ei did not wait for the enemy to move first as she usually did. This time, she initiated the attack. Gripping the blade with both hands, she swung forward rapidly. A massive slash flew from the front of the blade, striking directly toward the sea snake.
The sea snake stopped its hissing and rolled, using a tail whip to shatter the slash. The ocean was like its stage; with just a slight twist of its body, the seawater became even more turbulent and surging. The snake's head breached the surface again and swam rapidly toward the ship.
Seeing that her strike hadn't worked, Raiden Ei knew this sea snake wouldn't be easily defeated. She also couldn't lead it to the side of the ship, or the entire vessel would be sunk by it.
Raiden Ei didn't wait for the sea snake to reach the ship; she jumped into the sea. Although she wasn't as fast as the sea snake on the water's surface, her constitution ensured she wasn't slow either.
Raiden Ei moved quickly across the sea surface toward the massive figure. Holding her blade, she swam against the current pressing toward her until she reached the sea snake's side and slashed rapidly at its body.
The blade, imbued with Armament Haki, easily broke through the sea snake's scales. Raiden Ei slashed down, creating a wound over half a meter deep. The sea snake twisted its body violently, forcing her to move away from it.
Swinging the kusanagi, several more slashes flew toward the sea snake, but they were useless. She hadn't yet learned how to attach Haki to flying slashes, so she couldn't break through the defense of such a massive sea beast from a distance.
After moving further away, Raiden Ei took the raft out of her system backpack and stood on it. Looking at the sea snake that was constantly twisting its body, she realized the half-meter-deep wound was just a minor scratch to its massive frame.
The sea snake stopped twisting and turned to bite at Raiden Ei. With its massive mouth and a maw full of sharp teeth, it intended to swallow her and the raft in one gulp.
Standing on the raft tossed about by the seawater, Raiden Ei naturally wouldn't let the sea snake have its way. She pushed off the raft with her legs and jumped; the snake's mouth swallowed the raft whole.
Above the snake's head, Raiden Ei descended and used the momentum to plunge her blade downward with force. By the time she stood on the snake's head, more than half the blade was submerged. In pain, the sea snake rolled, dragging her into the sea with it.
Geer woke up with a start while sleeping in the cabin. Hearing an inexplicable hissing, she became fully alert and hurried to shake the other three awake.
Geer: "Wake up, everyone! I think something's happened."
Sang woke up dazed.
"Did something happen?"
Geer continued to shake the others awake while answering.
"I just heard a roar. Something must have happened. Get up!"
Nicola got up reluctantly.
"You probably misheard!"
Just as Geer was about to speak, a series of massive hisses came one after another, scaring all four of them back onto their beds. Their bodies began to tremble as if they were facing a natural predator.
Tears flowed uncontrollably from Nicola's eyes, and her voice trembled. "Is... is this... a monster?"
The other three weren't much better; it was the first time they had faced a creature that made them feel so utterly helpless. It was Sang who spoke up to comfort the group.
"It's okay. Raiden Ei is here. She's so strong, she can definitely kill it. Let's go out and see."
Nicola: "No, I'll be eaten! I don't want to go out!"
Mina's body was shaking the most.
"I don't want to go out either. Miss Sang, please be careful if you go."
Sang leaned against the swaying wooden wall, her body still trembling slightly. She turned to Geer, who hadn't spoken yet.
"Geer... what about you? You won't be this cowardly too, will you?"
Geer also didn't really want to go. Her instincts told her that the creature outside was terrifying, not something a weakling like her could face. But she still wanted to see—to see a creature in this world that she had never seen before.
Geer looked at Sang and said somewhat hesitantly, "Okay... I'll go too."
Geer slowly propped up her still-shaking body and walked out the door with Sang.
They bumped into Haisier and the others who had just come out. Together, they walked onto the deck. By now, the ship had been pushed far away by the waves, but it was still rocking on the sea, forcing Haisier and the others to hold onto the walls to walk.
When they reached the deck, they saw the great battle between Raiden Ei and the sea snake. The massive sea snake gave them quite a shock.
Sang: "What... kind of monster is that?"
Gatt: "That's a sea beast. They're fairly common creatures on the ocean, though it's rare to see one this big."
Gatt was also quite shocked. While studying navigation, he had heard his teacher say there were many dangers at sea, with sea beasts being the most common, but he hadn't known they could grow this large.
Just then, they saw the sea beast roll, taking Raiden Ei into the ocean with it. They couldn't help but be terrified. The group went to the railing and watched the churning sea, witnessing the terror of the ocean for the first time.
Geer: "Miss Raiden Ei... is she okay?!"
Haisier: "She's the strongest one here. If even she can't handle this sea beast, we might as well just wait to die on this ship."
Cyrus: "Is there anything we can do?"
Maiga: "Exactly, exactly!"
Gatt: "No. Like Haisier said, we don't have the power to do anything."
When Raiden Ei was dragged into the sea by the sea snake, she quickly pulled out her blade and moved away from it to avoid being dragged into the deep ocean. Her speed in the water was far inferior to the sea snake's.
Every time she slashed it, it would struggle desperately, giving her no chance to land a finishing blow.
Raiden Ei was a bit annoyed: 'No... the snake is too big. Should I just use Elemental Power to cut it in one go? No... my Elemental Power hasn't recovered at all yet; I need to save it.'
'Maybe destroy it from the inside? Should I let it eat me? That's what protagonists do... forget it, I'll just keep slashing away!'
Before Raiden Ei could swim to the surface, her Observation Haki sensed the sea snake charging at her with its mouth wide open. She had no choice but to turn and face it. Since she couldn't outrun it in the water, she would meet it with full force.
Raiden Ei raised her blade above her head, waiting for the sea snake to approach, intending to split its head in half with one strike. Currently, she could break the sea snake's defense but couldn't cut it in two with one blow. Lacking a foothold in the water to follow up quickly, she was always dragged back into the sea by the rolling snake after landing a single hit.
The sea snake's maw approached rapidly. Raiden Ei floated in the seawater as if she had no anchor, pushed by the currents, though she tried her best to maintain balance and not be swept away.
As soon as the sea snake's mouth was within range, Raiden Ei's long blade slashed down, carving a long wound inside its mouth and even cutting off its tongue. In agony, it immediately spat her out.
Raiden Ei was like a porcupine right now; she couldn't kill such a massive sea snake in one hit, but if the snake dared to get close, she could easily open a massive wound on it.
After being thrown off, Raiden Ei swam toward the surface again. Only on the surface would she have a chance to kill this sea beast. If the sea snake gave up on eating her, that would be great, but unfortunately, there were no 'ifs'.
The sea snake had now gone berserk. Just as Raiden Ei reached the surface, she was shrouded by a dark shadow from below. Barring any surprises, she was about to be sent flying by the sea snake charging up from the depths.
Sensing this through Observation Haki, Raiden Ei remained calm. She covered her entire body in Armament Haki, wondering to herself why this sea snake was so stubborn!
The sea snake burst from the sea, launching Raiden Ei into the sky. More than half of the snake's body leapt out of the water, soaring into the air while hissing loudly. Now, it was in the same position Raiden Ei had been in the sea earlier.
Haisier and the others watching from afar were dumbstruck, but what happened next would leave them even more stunned.
Taking advantage of the opening the sea snake had created for her, Raiden Ei used her Haki-covered hand to grab the scales on the sea snake's head as she was being knocked back, ensuring inertia wouldn't carry them further apart.
Once most of the sea snake's body was airborne, Raiden Ei pulled herself onto its massive head and slashed rapidly at its neck. Time was short, so she only managed three slashes before being dragged back into the sea by the falling snake.
Back in the ocean, the sea snake went even more insane. Its hissing was terrifying, and it thrashed in the water, its blood dyeing the sea red.
Raiden Ei was once again pulled into the sea. Even with nearly a third of its neck severed, the snake still swam toward her as if it were obsessed with her.
Returning to the depths once more, Raiden Ei was used to it. Watching the sea snake attack despite the massive wound on its neck, she could only repeat her previous actions. 'You keep fighting even when you can't win; I've never seen such a stupid snake.'
Two hours later.
After storing the sea snake's corpse in her system backpack—which converted into over 100 energy—Raiden Ei resurfaced. She took the raft out of her backpack and looked at the blood-stained sea. This sea snake's vitality was truly impressive; it must have bled out completely.
Raiden Ei looked around. It wasn't dawn yet. She spotted the pirate ship in one direction; it was already very far away, appearing as just a small dot.
She just wanted to get back and take a bath; she felt filthy. So, she put away the raft and moved rapidly across the sea toward the ship. In less than ten minutes, she reached the side of the pirate ship, climbed the ladder that had been lowered, and got on board.
As Raiden Ei climbed up from the sea, she found everyone on the ship staring at her, especially the men. Looking down at her soaking wet clothes, she couldn't hold back and unleashed her Conqueror's Haki to clear the deck.
Several people rolled their eyes and collapsed. Only Geer remained conscious, though her face was pale. Geer panicked and quickly apologized, realizing that staring at Raiden Ei had surely angered her.
Geer: "I'm sorry, Miss Raiden Ei!"
Raiden Ei didn't mind Geer's words and asked her, "Um... you don't need to call me 'Miss'. Is there a bathroom on this ship?"
Geer froze for a moment. "No, but there's plenty of fresh water. I'll take you there."
"Alright, lead the way then."
Geer and Raiden Ei walked toward the cabin together, leaving a deck full of unconscious men and women.
As they walked, Raiden Ei asked, "Geer... do you know what makes you different from them now?"
Geer's heart skipped a beat. "Is it because I didn't faint?"
Raiden Ei saw that she truly didn't understand. "What I just released was Conqueror's Haki, which can knock out opponents much weaker than oneself. You possess innate Observation Haki, don't you?"
Geer was curious: "What is Haki?"
"I'll tell you when there's time!" Seeing they had arrived and being soaking wet, Raiden Ei didn't want to say more. She walked into the washroom, and seeing Geer still standing at the door, she made a casual joke.
"Geer... aren't you leaving? Do you want to wash with me?"
Geer snapped out of it, blushed, and ran away.
Raiden Ei looked at the room filled with wooden barrels and found no proper bathing tools. So, she closed the door and made do with the barrels to take a bath.
By the time Raiden Ei reappeared on the deck, the sun had just come out. The people knocked out by the Conqueror's Haki were still lying on the deck, while the three who hadn't fainted were preparing breakfast.
Raiden Ei found a spot on the railing facing the sun and sat down, quietly reflecting on the battle from earlier. She realized she still had many shortcomings.
Now she felt that just practicing Raiden Ei's martial arts and swordsmanship wasn't enough.
She wanted to learn the physical techniques of this world as well, including the Six Powers. But first, she had to get through the rest of this journey.
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