Aria pressed her boots hard on the deck, accelerating her speed against the Cecaelia. When she swung her sword, however, the creature caught it with ease. Aria stared in disbelief; she couldn't pull the blade back as the creature tried to consume the Ender from her sword. With no choice, she cancelled her Vergus spell, morphed the blade back into her wand, and immediately backed away in panic.

  Without hesitation, the Cecaelia cast Aria's own spell back at her. Thankfully, Revir cast his stone terrain spell in front of her just in time to deflect the projectile. However, it wasn't enough. The creature, alongside its partners, released a volley of water blades to cut down the stone terrain.

  The terrain was completely destroyed, but Aria was nowhere to be seen. In a surprise maneuver, she was already above them, morphing her wand back into a sword. She then channeling it with flame, and slashing one of the Cecaelia apart as she landed. Her impact caused the ship to shake slightly.

  The remaining creatures took this as their opportunity. A few of them rushed toward her, their arms twisting into sharp blades. Saria, now positioned at the top of the ship, shot two arrows from her glowing bow in response. Although one creature managed to capture the arrow, trying to absorb the magic, its body couldn't handle the pressure and it exploded.

  Rein leaped behind another exposed Cecaelia, thrusting his lance and creating an ice flower across its body. The flower's vines then instantly froze several nearby partners to death. Noire, the dedicated defender, protected both Hana, whose magic was ineffective against the Cecaelia, and Carol, who was still battling severe seasickness. Carol could only watch, frustrated that her body's fragility against the sea prevented her from helping.

  With only a few left to neutralize, the Cecaelias, consumed by fear, decided to retreat back to the sea, knowing they didn't stand a chance.

  The group sighed in relief, some sinking down in disbelief at what they had just faced. Hindrey, Erick, and Dulcinia watched them from behind, their gazes full of malice directed at the travelers. Although Revir noticed them, especially the meaning behind their stares, he decided to let it be. He knew he shouldn't betray his old friends, even now.

  After a few hours of sailing, the weather suddenly changed. The surroundings turned into a maelstrom of wild rain and huge thunder striking across the sea. The wind became twice as strong, signaling imminent danger, and the waves responded with violent crashes against the ship.

  "Seems like your feeling was wrong, Captain Hindrey!" Hana shouted, her clothes already wet as she tried to cover herself with her arms.

  "Don't worry! We're almost there to pass through the Hazard Zone!" Hindrey said, trying to reassure her.

  Suddenly, another violent shake hit the ship. This time, it was more powerful than before, forcing some of them to the ground.

  "W-what the hell was that?" Carol said, rubbing her back. Despite her seasickness returning, she desperately held back her nausea.

  A huge shadow covered half the ship. Curious, Carol raised her head to look at the creature, and instantly regretted doing so. She only widened her eyes in horror. The creature in front of her was enormous, equal to the size of their ship, if not larger. It let out huge, poisonous saliva that instantly evaporated a section of the deck. Its one large eye focused intently on Carol, and a few monstrous tentacles grabbed the ship, giving them no chance to pass or run.

  Seeing the creature, Hindrey could only smile nervously, clenching his hands in fear. "Heh, I really can't believe it chose us. What a time to be alive." He lit a cigarette, hoping to relieve his stress.

  "Capt, is that what I thought it is...?" Erick asked, overwhelmed by shock.

  "Yeah, you're right about that, Erick."

  The group, sensing the immense danger, pulled out their wands and cast their Vergus Spells.

  "A literal Tyrant and ruler of the sea. Some, even call it the mother of all sea creatures, thanks to its Metamorphic abilities," Hindrey explained. He tossed his cigarette away and stomped it out. "Get ready to use your Sealer ability, Erick, Dulcinia! This is going to be one hell of a fight!"

  The Tyrant let out a loud war cry, echoing across the sea as groups of Cecaelia quickly swam toward the ship.

  In desperation, Aria and Rein leaped toward the Tyrant, casting a precise volley of blades at its massive eye. It was useless. There were no wounds whatsoever. The Tyrant responded instantly, unleashing a destructive beam toward them. Thanks to their immediate action, they managed to retreat back to the deck, though they looked back in shock. The beam immediately tore a huge hole in the ordinary sky beyond the storm, a stark warning of what they had narrowly escaped.

  As for Saria, she channeled her Ender into an arrow, shooting it out in a flicker of blur, creating a massive torrent of arrows. The Tyrant countered by using its remaining free tentacles to block the attack. After successfully defending, it cast several magic circles, shooting back a conjure of high-speed water in return. Saria, as always, couldn't dodge the attack, but her expression remained unwavering. She closed her eyes, creating a few bright white circles in front of her. Then, she opened her eyes, drew another arrow, and shot it. As the arrow passed the circles, it became a huge volley of light, like a beautiful and bright meteor, and accelerated at high speed. Both attacks hit against each other, cancelling each other out in a powerful splash of light and water.

  The powerful attack left her exhausted, causing her to sway and almost collapse. Hana immediately caught her in her arms, concern sharp in her tone.

  "I already told you, didn't I? Don't push yourself beyond your limit," Hana said.

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  "I... I'm sorry, Miss Hana," Saria responded, struggling to hold back her exhaustion.

  Just as the group felt devastated, the Cecaelias landed yet again on the deck, surrounding them in the worst possible way. Carol, feeling annoyed and powerless, slowly stood up despite holding back the nausea. She gripped her wand, the Dark Ender slowly surging from it as she morphed it to her sword.

  Just as the Cecaelia surrounded them, Revir called out to the Tyrant in his usual mocking tone.

  "Hey! What an unfair way for you to fight like that!" Revir shouted, casually walking out from the group. Noire, noticing what he was attempting, gave him a frustrated gaze while holding his ground against the wild shaking of the ship. Revir only gave Noire a smile, a literal sign that this was according to his plan.

  Thanks to his voice and action, the Tyrant fixed its attention deeply on Revir.

  "Why don't you come here and fight me like the true tyrant you are!" he roared, throwing down the challenge.

  Its massive eye lingered with interest before it changed, shrinking to human size. Its form a literal wet, slimy octopus flesh, but its malevolent characteristics remained. It then gave a command to the Cecaelias to leave them, giving itself an opportunity to fight Revir after landing on the deck.

  The Cecaelias retreated as commanded, making the situation even more tense as the Tyrant created a literal energy barrier, separating Revir from his group.

  "Heh, that's more like it," Revir said, gripping his axes hard. He immediately shifted into his battle stance.

  The Tyrant matched his stance, signaling Revir to move. In annoyed frustration, Revir charged immediately, putting his full strength into a swing aimed at the Tyrant's neck.

  However, the Tyrant vanished instantly, shocking Revir. In that moment of vulnerability, the Tyrant reappeared, punching him from behind.

  Revir coughed up blood, crimson dripping from his mouth. The pain was immense, but still manageable. He became wary, aggressively watching his surroundings. Though the Tyrant kept appearing in unexpected ways, he managed to back away just in time when it appeared below him. But it wasn't enough. The Tyrant caught him by the hand, using the tentacles from its head to swing him around and threw him into the barrier wall. The impact was powerful enough to crack the barrier.

  Without stopping, the Tyrant created a powerful shockwave from its feet directed at Revir. He slowly stood back, stomping his axe blade into the ground to create a rock terrain as a brief defense. This allowed him to retreat safely. The Tyrant noticed his presence from behind and rushed toward him, morphing its hands into sharp blades. Revir responded by created a massive shield solely from his own spell as a countermeasure.

  The Tyrant’s sharp attacks met Revir’s shield, piercing it over and over. The speed of the Tyrant's assault accelerated, creating a literal shockwave that hit the barrier. Each blow instantly destroyed a piece of the shield, pushing Revir toward his demise. When the shield finally shattered, along with the barrier surrounding them, Revir only gave the Tyrant a small smile.

  "If only you weren't blind by your own pride, you might have wiped us out."

  A sudden chain erupted from the ground, instantly binding the Tyrant’s movement.

  Dulcinia and Erick, panting, gave a nod to Revir, which he returned. Then, both of them closed their eyes, casting their Sealer spell at the same time.

  "Castiah Ariah Alimpia..."

  The Tyrant screamed loudly in pain, struggling against the chains before they could finish their casting. But it was useless. The chains bound it further, and the wind around it grew stronger than ever.

  "Corutia Oriria Aronuia..."

  The group and Hana stared in shock as the process continued, while Carol watched in utter astonishment.

  "Careah iornia..." Just as they neared the end of the chant, a few Cecaelia jumped toward them. Noticing this, Noire immediately cast his spell, creating a barrier of thorny tree branches behind Dulcinia and Erick to pierce the creatures apart. Because of his defense, the Sealers finished the chant, opening their eyes. "... Moriah Argatia!"

  The Tyrant screamed louder than before, its voice echoing through the vast sea until it disappeared alongside the chain.

  After the destruction and chaos subsided, the weather suddenly changed back to normal. The light of the sun and the chirping of crows across the sea became their sign of successful survival.

  Hindrey wiped the sweat of nervousness from his head and walked toward the group. "Nice work guys for holding it back."

  "Captain Hindrey, do you know that creature?" Hana asked, still supporting the exhausted Saria.

  "A little. Not that I know the creature personally," he said, taking a drag from his cigarette and letting out a puff of smoke. "In our terms, we call it the Tyrant of the Sea. In yours, it's called the Calamity."

  The group fell into a silence, a mixture of concern and frustration in their hearts.

  "That chanting your crew just made... Was that a Sealer spell?" Carol asked, demanding an answer.

  "You're right, kiddo. Though the Sealer spell they have is only a temporary one."

  "Temporary? You mean the seal on that Calamity will wear off soon?"

  "Something like that. They're still young and didn't have any experience for now. After all, sealing that thing permanently is a tremendous hassle. You need an exceptional Sealer if you want to seal it forever," Hindrey replied, looking up at the sky. "But we still have time. As long as we manage to go to the library, find that book, and get back to the port before midnight, we might be able to avoid unnecessary problems."

  The group, especially Hana, didn't respond any further, accepting it as the difficult truth.

  Revir, slowly sinking to the ground, sighed in exhaustion after everything that had happened. Dulcinia and Erick walked toward him, smiling proudly at his actions.

  "I knew you still had that charm of yours, Revir!" Erick said, a delighted tone in his voice.

  "Yeah," Dulcinia giggled. "I'm glad I could finally see the good ol' Revir, the uncanny planner, in action."

  "Is that the title some folks gave me back in the days?" Revir asked, his tone annoyed as he didn't want to bring up the past.

  "Of course it was, dummy! People always called you that because you're the reason why Irlia managed to escalate to her throne," Dulcinia explained.

  Revir laughed a little. "I-is that so?" he managed, but his hands clenched in a sudden, silent burst of anger.