The stench of smoke and damp still choked the cabin, the air thick with a deadly silence.
Droplets of water dripped slowly from the ceiling, striking the blood- and ash-stained floor.
Barwen sat beside Nareman, still unconscious, pressing a cloth against his wounded shoulder. His face was pale with pain and exhaustion.
Adam stood nearby, barely keeping his balance against a cracked bulkhead, his eyes fixed on the charred remains of the girl—holding onto Nora as though his mind refused to believe what had happened.
No one spoke.
Everything was still... until the silence shattered beneath the echo of rapid footsteps pounding toward the door, growing louder with each step—an omen of an approaching storm.
Adam slowly raised his head, his body stiffening as the young man in the black hoodie burst violently into the cabin, eyes blazing with fury, his voice erupting like thunder:
"HOW DARE YOU! You murdered her! I swear you will pay—you will all pay for this dearly!"
Sweat poured down Adam's face, his heart hammering wildly. His mind screamed within him: This is the last thing we need... we're in no shape to face another fight!
Panic gripped him, but he forced himself to stay alert, watching every move the stranger made.
Across the room, Barwen crawled slowly toward his broken sword, his weary eyes still burning with resolve. Each movement was agony under the crushing weight of the moment, but he knew that even a heartbeat of hesitation could cost them their lives.
The hooded man lifted his hand and muttered strange incantations, his low voice trembling through the air as invisible ripples of energy seemed to vibrate with every word.
Suddenly, the ship lurched violently to one side. The entire cabin shook, nearly capsizing.
...From the upper deck came the desperate scream of Nilofer, clinging to the wall like a drowning woman, crushing her three children to her chest—a fragile mass of life defying the madness of the storm.
Adam and Barwen slid helplessly across the floor as the ship tilted harder. Adam clutched Nora tightly, trying to keep her from being thrown.
Barwen slammed against the metal column, pain slicing through him, as tools, seats, and shards of glass careened wildly in every direction, crashing into the walls with a deafening clamor.
Screams filled the ship. Chaos reigned. Everyone clung to each other, fighting against the sudden onslaught of destruction.
Barwen shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Nareman!!"
Adam spun around, panic seizing his voice:
"Where is she?! She was with you!"
Barwen's eyes darted through the darkness until he saw her—still lying unconscious on the floor.
He stumbled toward her, reaching out to lift her, but before his hands could touch her, a second shockwave hit—far stronger than the first.
The ship capsized completely. The cabin filled with water, surging through every crack, devouring everything in its path.
Barwen was caught in the current, thrashing against the torrent, struggling to reach Nareman as the water pounded his body from every side. The pressure crushed his chest; each breath grew harder as chaos closed in without mercy.
Nareman's eyes began to flutter open, not fully aware. Everything was dark—cold—alien. Her breath failed, water pressed in from all directions.
Where am I? Why is it so dark? Why is my body so cold?
She tried to move, but couldn't. Air wouldn't come. Her chest filled with water. She flailed helplessly, drowning in the void.
No… I don't want to die… help me… someone… please…
And then, through the roaring in her mind, she heard her father's voice—deep, commanding, the one she had never forgotten:
"Never use your power!"
Her eyes tightened in the dark, tears blending with the water.
Father… you always said my power was dangerous... but if the world must break because of it—or I must die here instead...
She stopped trembling. Then, with the last ember of will, she opened her eyes wide, fury blazing from within.
To hell with the world… I won't die for anyone!
At that instant, the sea convulsed with a monstrous tremor, as if something deep beneath had awakened.
The ocean split apart around the ship.
The vessel—and everyone within it—rose, floating amid utter shock, as the waves retreated to both sides, bowing to a power beyond comprehension.
Air burst into Adam's lungs; he gasped violently, coughing, eyes stark with disbelief.
Was he alive? Or trapped in a nightmare where all laws had broken?
Above him, the ship defied gravity. Suspended midair, wrapped within a colossal vortex of water—towering like a mountain of liquid glass, still and silent.
Around it drifted wreckage, debris, and corpses—frozen in an unnatural calm, as if time itself had halted in mid-scream.
Adam raised a trembling hand to feel the emptiness around him… and froze when his eyes found Nareman.
Her eyes were wide open.
Her hair—white as frost—floated around her face like a pale halo of light, rippling gently through the stillness.
Awe erased all fear from Adam's face; only silent wonder remained. He could do nothing but stare, breathless before the impossible.
A few meters away, atop a massive aquatic beast, stood the hooded man. The creature's slick gray skin shimmered with seawater and salt.
He stared at the hovering ship, voice breaking in disbelief:
"Impossible… this can't be…"
Then he looked up, his words rasping with horror:
"None among the Four Levels could wield such power—impossible!"
He stumbled back, sweat beading on his brow. Then his eyes widened suddenly, stricken with realization.
"A… Special-Rank User?!"
His jaw clenched, fists trembling with a mix of fury and dread.
"This is madness! They never told us… They knew! They sent us here on purpose!"
But before he could speak another word, a sharp whine cut through the still air.
He turned sharply—just in time to see a flash of silver slicing through the mist like a falling star.
Barwen, his strength nearly gone, had launched himself with everything he had left—gripping his broken blade—leaping straight from the ship toward the sea beast.
The cry of pain in his chest turned into raw power in that final moment.
The shattered sword plunged deep into the monster's flesh.
The creature writhed in agony, its scream tearing through the suspended vortex.
Its body split and dissolved, melting into fragments as the weapon tore through it. The air itself echoed with pure terror.
Barwen turned to the hooded man, his eyes cold and lethal, driven only by the will to end this.
The man froze—statue-still in fear—as Barwen lunged, closing the distance between them.
The beast collapsed beneath them, disintegrating entirely, and they plunged together into the sea that had come alive once more—its fury surging back as the ocean reclaimed its chaos.
To be continued…