Thornback Ironwhale
“Could this be... the Thornback Ironwhale?!”
Traces of fear could be felt in Geiger’s spiritual force, “How’s that possible? How can there be deep sea predators here when we’re so close to the coastline?”
The Thornback Ironwhale was a large being unique to the deep sea. Every single one of them had immense strength upon maturing, but their most terrifying characteristics were their temperaments. Once one set its sights on a target, it wouldn’t lose track of it until it managed to seize it.
The Thornback Ironwhale’s terrifying aura overwhelmed even the Godric’s, and it was the reason for Geiger’s fearful expression.
“Watch out!” Just as Leylin gave the warning, the Thornback Ironwhale charged forth, its large metal thorns piercing deeply into the Godric’s body.
*Moooo!* The Godric cried out in pain. As the two gigantic beasts collided, huge tremors travelled throughout the ship.
“Ah...” Under such tremendous force, Geiger collapsed to the deck, unable to hold his weight. His numerous tendrils wrapped around the mast like vines.
Geiger was still in quite good shape. In the moment of the collision, there were a few merpeople sailors at the sides of the deck that had been sent flying off by the huge crash, letting out piercing screams as they fell into the waters. Along with their kinsmen in the sea, they were drawn into the battle between the two gigantic creatures. In the end, they were turned into mincemeat. All that was left of them were traces of red on the waves.
Usually, the chains fastened around the Godric were immensely helpful for sailing. Now, however, they were no more than a huge burden. Noticing this, Geiger immediately commanded, “Break the chains!”
A few sturdier mermen soldiers pounced on the control valve with furious eyes, using a thick hammer to split it open.
*Crash!* The Godric’s gigantic chains then broke away, and the tremor on the ships lessened greatly.
“Turn the ship at full force! Leave this sea region!” At some point, Geiger Dole’s voice could be heard at the bow of the ship, body floating in the air. Great spiritual force undulations swept the area and even forcefully took control over the merpeople sailors, causing them to begin to work with reddened eyes.
*Creak! Creak!* The large ship suddenly turned around and left the two large beasts behind.
Water kept splashing into the air, and terrifying sounds could occasionally be heard from under the sea. Even though they were under the effect of magic, a lot of sailors trembled in fear.
“Prepare the cannons at the bow of the ship! We need to eliminate that Thornback Ironwhale, or it won’t let us off until it sinks us to the bottom of the sea!” Geiger Dole exclaimed as he flew towards the scene of the battle. Geiger had evidently regained his composure and scared the sailors witless, making them work even more intensely.
“Hurry! Prepare it!” Geiger’s large vertical pupil was filled with blood vessels, and its tendrils seemed to turn into powerful whips that kept hitting the merfolk, hurrying them to carry a large and heavy harpoon that was around 5 meters long above the cannon.
“The Thornback Ironwhale has the metallic skin ability, with an effect similar to physical damage reduction. We need to use this!” Geiger produced a few black and white spotted stones and began to rub them together as if he was starting a fire. A layer of black and white light suddenly enveloped the steel fish.
‘Oh? It’s using temporary enchanting techniques? What is the medium? Is that a sacrifice or a scroll?’ Leylin’s eyes gleamed as he watched from the sidelines.
The enormous monsters kept roaring at the other end of the battlefield, causing huge waves that resulted in the ship swaying violently.
The Godric of the fleet was no match for the Thornback Ironwhale. Although it had the potential to reach the Morning Star realm, the sad truth was that after being treated as a slave for many years and being specially sealed, it could no longer completely develop its bloodline power.
The same didn’t apply for the Thornback Ironwhale. For all of its life, it had grown up in the treacherous deep sea and was extremely experienced in fighting.
Hence, at the very start of the fight, the Godric had a huge chunk of its flesh bitten off by the Thornback Ironwhale. That was not all, the whale’s sharp iron thorns also left many wounds on the Godric’s body.
An enormous amount of blood flowed out from the Godric without stopping. The blood shed by the merfolk from before was nothing compared to this, as the entire region was dyed red with the Godric’s blood.
*MOOoo...* The Godric’s thunderous voice gradually became weaker, and there was even a pleading note in its voice.
“Damn it!” At this moment, Geiger Dole had rushed to the site to support the Godric in battle. After witnessing the scene unfolding in front of him, his large pupil immediately went completely red with rage.
The Godric was still the valuable property of the Eden trading company. If anything happened to it, or worse, if it died, then the amount that needed to be paid in reparations would be astronomical, enough for the company to go bankrupt. Geiger and his crew could be sent to some barren or dark region to be forced labour. On fleets like this, there was a shipment of very valuable goods which absolutely could not be lost.
Geiger Dole immediately acted in violent rage. A great deal of formless spiritual force turned into whips as it was pulled from the void. The seawater in the surrounding area converged to form a large wall of water.
“Mm?” At this moment, Leylin froze on the deck, as if he had discovered something.
“Is there any problem, Lord Ley? What do you think of this situation?” Geiger transmitted to Leylin after noticing his actions. Although he was extremely busy, he’d kept his eye on the area.
“Oh! There’s a stalemate right now, and with your father and the Godric working together you have an advantage.” At first, Leylin consoled him. However, he then spoke in a solemn voice, “Nevertheless, the Thornback Ironwhale has a high resistance against spiritual attacks. You need to be careful!”
According to most theories, the larger a monster that relied on its physical strength, the more it would be lacking in terms of the spirit and soul. This Thornback Ironwhale was obviously an exception to that rule. Not only did it have a high resistance against Geiger Dole’s spiritual force attacks, it could also reflect them back at him.
“The Thornback Iron Whale already has the steel willpower trait. If it goes crazy again...” Geiger was filled with unease, “Mister Ley...” He looked at Leylin expectantly.
“Mm, don’t worry. Since you went out of your way to help me, it’s only natural for me to return your kindness!” Leylin nodded, and hearing this made Geiger relax considerably. He then began to operate the cannons himself, and aimed at the giant Thornback Ironwhale that was fighting both the Godric and Geiger Dole.
With a loud bang, the giant cannon roared. The force of the recoil sent the ship backwards by a large distance, and even caused the stern to sink slightly below the water.
A thunderous explosion, like the roar of a monster, rang out. A black ray that was tens of meters long shot out, striking the triangular fin on the Thornback Ironwhale’s back.
*Roar...* Large amounts of blood spurted out, and the whale let out enraged howls.
*Pak!* At this moment, a chain filled with runes was pulled until it was stretched out.
“Now’s the time, pull!” At the other side of the chain was the ship from before, Geiger’s spiritual force undulations intensified to the limit as he howled in anger.
The ship was pulled with such force that the hull started to shake abruptly. A game of tug of war was now happening between the Thornback Ironwhale and the ship, hindering its movement. As this opportunity revealed itself, Geiger Dole launched his final attack from the air.
“The King of Evil’s True Eye, Death Ray!”
Tremendous amounts of dark red rays appeared from Geiger Dole’s large vertical pupil, piercing into the eyes of the Thornback Ironwhale. It suddenly closed its eyes and its body started to convulse and thrash wildly, as if it was having a fit.
*MOOOO!* The Godric immediately roared, and charged towards the Thornback Ironwhale.
After shooting that ray, Geiger Dole seemed to have spent all his energy. He slowly fell to the deck, even the tendrils on his body no longer able to help in maintaining a standing position.
“Father!” Geiger immediately came over, using his many tendrils to help his father stand up.
*Roar!* Following its berserk howls, the Thornback Ironwhale’s eyes flew open once more. However, there was now a significant amount of blood pouring out from both eyes.
“The Thornback’s Bloodthirsty Berserker transformation! I never thought it would awaken its bloodline!” Geiger Dole stared at the outburst of strength from the Thornback Ironwhale as it sent the heavily injured Godric flying; his complicated feelings couldn’t be masked by his spiritual force.
Geiger Dole saw the crazed Thornback Ironwhale charging towards the ship and immediately came before Leylin, pleading with him, “Mister Ley, please help us!”
“Don’t worry!” Leylin revealed a good-natured smile from behind the Mask of the Dreamless, and arrived before the giant cannon.
Due to the iron chains and the harpoon anchoring it, the whole fleet’s movement was restricted. It was as if there was a deep sea demon that was tugging on the chains, trying to pull the entire fleet into the sea.
‘This World’s paths of power seem to be reliant on awakening one’s bloodline innate abilities as well as on sacrifices... I can’t use anything too outstanding, otherwise it’ll raise suspicion...’ Having decided what action to take, Leylin came beside the chain and placed his palm on its surface.
The ice cold metal was shaking slightly, and only now was Leylin able to deeply understand the immense strength of the Thornback Ironwhale while in its enraged state.
The best spell model for the situation was transferred to him by the A.I. Chip, and immediately after a dim layer of light covered his hands. “Metal Animation!”
The whole length of the iron chain seemed to transform, and it began to ripple like a wave down from the top of the chain until it reached the other end.