"That’s a fucking Kraken!" Roxanna screamed.

A giant octopus rose from the depths of the sea. Its gray skin glistened under the fading sunlight, and its huge eyes glowed with a bright yellow light, like two floating lanterns in the darkness.

Since the sun had almost set, the light in its eyes was clearly visible to the naked eye, and it made Roxanna feel incredibly nervous—wait, no, she was no longer nervous. She was outright convinced that she would end up in a coffin, or probably in the Kraken’s stomach.

"What the hell?!" Calen shouted. "This is the first time I’ve ever seen something like this!"

Even without looking at him, Roxanna could tell from his voice that he was both terrified and excited at the same time. "Calen! This isn’t something you can just fight!" she yelled.

She clung tightly to the edge of the pool while wrapping both arms around Azura to keep the little girl from being thrown across the ship.

"You’re not a sea creature!"

No matter how strong Calen was on land, fighting a monster in the middle of the ocean was completely different.

What if the Kraken dragged him underwater?

What if it held him there until he couldn’t breathe anymore?

But Calen had never been the type to back down from a fight. He had already transformed into his Fenrir form right after Roxanna warned him.

His massive body made the ship rock violently and even damaged parts of the railing, only then did Calen realize he had made a mistake.

He immediately wanted to step back and return to his human form. But unfortunately, it was already too late because one of the Kraken’s enormous tentacles shot toward the ship.

Without thinking, Calen lunged forward and sank his razor-sharp teeth into it.

Dark blood spilled from the demon beast’s wound, but instead of hurting the monster enough to scare it away, the attack only made it angrier.

"Calen!" Roxanna shouted when she saw the Kraken lift its tentacle, carrying the Fenrir high into the air before slamming him into the ship. The impact shattered part of the deck and destroyed nearly half of the vessel.

Roxanna and Azura kept crashing against the edge of the pool, but at least it had not broken apart yet.

"Damn it! Roxanna, stay there!" Azul shouted. He rushed toward them as fast as he could.

A second later, he pulled both Roxanna and Azura into his arms. Before Roxanna could even react, Azul suddenly kissed her deeply. For a moment, her brain completely froze, but then she realized that he wasn’t doing this because he was craving a kiss.

A cool sensation flowed through her body, and she immediately understood what he was doing. It seemed like, he was giving her the ability to breathe underwater for fifteen minutes.

"You’ll be fine," Azul whispered. "You will be fine. You will be fine," Azul said, as if reciting a spell.

He held both her and Azura tightly against his chest as if he never wanted to let go. "If this ship sinks," he murmured, "I promise you won’t drown in this cold ocean."

Roxanna said nothing because her mind was completely chaotic right now. She had to split her attention between Azul beside her, Zeir desperately trying to stabilize the ship, and Calen, who kept lunging at the Kraken only to be thrown back onto the ship again and again.

"Calen, you need to stop!" Roxanna shouted at him. "If you keep fighting it like that, this entire ship is going to sink any minute now!"

Calen turned back and let out a low growl, either because he was enduring the pain or because he was frustrated that he could not protect the people he wanted to protect.

But in the end, he still listened to her. With a flash of light, the giant Fenrir disappeared, and he returned to his human form. The moment his feet landed on the deck, he reached for the axe that Zeir had set aside earlier.

His clothes were torn, and several fresh bruises covered his body.

Calen lowered his gaze for a moment. He looked like he wanted to apologize for the damage he had caused. After all, nearly half of the ship had been wrecked during the fight.

But before he could say a single word, Zeir spoke first. "It’s fine."

Zeir tightened his grip on the rope and kept his eyes on the raging sea ahead. "Even if you hadn’t transformed into the Fenrir," he said calmly, "the Kraken would still have tried to destroy our ship."

The words were simple, but they instantly eased some of the guilt weighing on Calen’s shoulders.

After all, the monster hadn’t attacked because of him. It had attacked because it wanted them dead.

The reason why this monster wanted them dead? Who knew.

"Hey, Azul! Zeir said that you’re able to make Roxanna breathe underwater for fifteen minutes!" Calen shouted from afar.

Even in the middle of a life-or-death situation, he somehow still sounded curious.

"If I want that ability too, do you have to kiss me as well?!" he asked.

The moment he said that, Azul felt like throwing Calen straight into the Kraken’s mouth.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Azul shouted. "Just hold on to the floating pieces of wood later! You’ll be fi—"

CRASH!

Before Azul could finish his sentence, the Kraken slammed its tentacles into the remaining parts of the ship and destroyed them.

Roxanna didn’t even have a chance to scream before her body sank into the water.

’It’s alright. You can breathe underwater for fifteen minutes.’ Azul said through their mind link.

The reminder instantly stopped her panic from getting worse. At least for now, she wasn’t going to drown.

Roxanna forced herself to calm down. The moment she stopped fighting against the water, her breathing became steadier. But the second she opened her eyes, fear came rushing back.

[Azul! Azul! Azul! Arrghhh, it’s so scary!]

[It’s really dark!] she said panic-stricken in her mind.