The swarm of Sea-Locusts hit the Azure Ghost's shields like a hailstorm of bone. Outside the canopy, millions of tiny, white shapes chewed at the magical barrier, their mandibles making a horrific scratching sound that set Kaito's teeth on edge.
"They're draining the core!" Kaito gritted his teeth, watching the power bar drop from 80% to 65% in seconds. "I have to get that capsule and get out of here!"
He didn't wait. Using the ship's mechanical arm, he grabbed the rusted metallic cylinder from the escape pod. But the moment the arm touched the cylinder, a holographic projection flickered to life inside the cockpit.
It was a man—older, with a scar running across his left eye, but the resemblance was unmistakable. It was his father, Commander Ren.
"If you are seeing this," the holographic Ren began, his voice distorted by years of interference, "then the Forbidden Sea has already begun to reclaim what was stolen. Kaito... if it's you... you must not come any further. The Abyssal Gate isn't a portal. It's a seal. And the seal is cracking."
Before Ren could finish, a massive tremor shook the seabed. The white valley of locusts suddenly parted as a giant shadow emerged from beneath the sand. It was a Colossal Sand-Lurk, a creature that hadn't been seen in the Dead Zone for a thousand years. Its mouth was a gaping maw of spinning teeth, large enough to swallow the Azure Ghost whole.
"Father!" Kaito shouted at the flickering hologram, but the projection vanished as the ship took a heavy hit.
The Sand-Lurk roared, creating a vacuum that pulled everything toward its throat. Kaito slammed the thrusters to maximum, the "Ghost-Steel" plating screaming under the strain. He had the capsule, he had the message, but now he had to survive a monster that could eat a ship for breakfast.
"You want my magic?" Kaito's eyes turned a deep, swirling blue. "Then have it all!"
He didn't run. Instead, he reversed the engines and headed straight for the monster's open mouth, charging his father's old dagger with every ounce of Tide-Walker energy he had left.