"It’s half the fucking size of our ship!"

Roseus couldn’t deny that those words struck fear into his heart. To face a creature half the size of their ship meant that it had to be multiple times larger than a human.

Such a foe would be far more dangerous than any Sucker or Sea Zombie could ever be.

He rushed towards the edge of the deck, looking out towards the sea where Adriana’s bullets were firing.

He couldn’t yet see its figure. Only the waves its massive body created as it moved beneath the sea.

It wasn’t fast, luckily. If it had both the size and speed advantage, Roseus and the crew knew that there would be no chance of winning this battle.

Yet even then, the risks were still high.

"Adriana, hold your fire! You’re stopping the monster from showing itself!"

The woman looked down at him with a perturbed expression. All she wanted to do was continue pelting the beast with bullets so that it couldn’t surface.

What she didn’t know was that her shots were having less effect than she thought.

She obeyed her captain’s orders and waited.

The creature continued circling their ship, as though searching for an opportunity to attack.

Everyone stayed ready. Those with guns aimed their weapons at the waves, whilst those with swords waited to see if any opportunity would arise to use them.

...

Finally, the creature leapt from the sea! Its form travelled in an arched trajectory and would land right beside their ship by the time it crashed back into the water.

Roseus felt as though time slowed down as he watched it soar through the air.

The creature was what was known as a Blood Shark. Its body was the colour of fresh blood, and its fins were longer and sharper than usual, almost resembling wings.

Adriana was right. The Blood Shark was huge. It had to be at least six meters long, with teeth sharp enough to easily tear through human flesh.

The moment it leapt out of the water, the Blood Shark’s body was riddled with bullets.

Roseus, Kruger, and Adriana fired shot after shot at the creature before it could land back in the water.

As it crashed down, a trail of blood followed where it began travelling beneath the sea. Inhuman wails could be heard coming from the wounded creature.

Despite being a large monster, its skin was still weak, especially against Kruger’s piercing shots.

"If it flees, follow its trail!" Roseus called out to Silius as he loaded new rounds into his revolver. "It’s weakened. We need to finish it off!"

Silius nodded as Kruger shouted directions at him while staring out into the water. The shark wasn’t fleeing, but it no longer seemed interested in attacking.

Instead, it circled the boat as it drifted along the sea, like a hunter waiting for the perfect time to strike.

"It’s scared of us!" Adriana shouted. "The fucker is afraid of us!"

But Petyr seemed to think otherwise. The man looked over the deck railing with a concentrated expression on his face.

"No..." the fencer said. "It’s not running. It’s healing itself. Look!"

Roseus focused carefully on the creature and noticed what was happening.

The Blood Shark seemed to be following its own trail of blood, devouring it in order to heal its wounds.

Only then did they realise one of the magical properties of this strange creature. It was capable of healing itself by consuming its own blood.

"Fuck!" Kruger spat. "If we want to kill it, we’ll have to do it fast, and in one go. It can’t be given time to heal."

Petyr placed his left hand on the railing, keeping his fencing sword in his right.

"That’s right," the man said with a smile on his face.

Then, he leapt over the railing and landed in the water with a splash.

Roseus felt his heart sink into the pit of his stomach. Did that really just happen?

Had this man really just thrown his life away so foolishly?

He wanted to curse at the sea, but there was no point. Part of him understood the reasoning behind Petyr’s decision.

With his skill, Numbing Strike, if he landed a decent melee attack on the shark, its body could become numb, preventing it from swimming. Afterwards, it would float to the surface and become easy to kill.

The problem with this was that you never fought a sea creature in its own domain, even if it was weakened.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Roseus cursed, and a few of the other crew members joined him.

Kruger palmed his face.

"He’s gone and killed himself. He has no hope. I’ve seen these creatures before. Out of water, they don’t have much hope when it comes to attacking ships. But for pirates that fall into the sea... It’s a different story."

Silius continued steering the ship in the direction of the blood trail, but at this point, it was difficult to see what was happening beneath the water.

By the time thirty seconds had passed and Petyr still hadn’t resurfaced, Roseus began removing his coat and placing it down on the deck.

Dawn looked over at him wide-eyed as he stripped down, becoming shirtless.

"You can’t be..."

"I have to, as captain," he said before she could even finish. "If I keep my father’s cutlass in my hand, I’ll be aided by the boost in agility and speed, even while swimming. I can save him."

"And what if you fail?" she retorted emotionally. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

At this point, Roseus was already standing on the railing, looking down into the waters as he tried to follow the trail of blood. Meanwhile, he tied a rope to himself to make sure that he didn’t lose the ship.

He took in a deep breath and let it out.

"I won’t fail, not if Petyr’s with me. That’s two against one."

He had to put faith in himself. He couldn’t allow himself to die.

Even if he found himself failing, Kruger and Adriana could still support him with their guns, whilst Silius and Jackson could circle the ship around their position, so that they could easily find it again when it was time to escape to the surface.

Without saying another word, or waiting for anyone to stop him, Roseus dived into the cold waters of the First Ocean.

It was time to hunt...