The anglerfish began to walk slowly toward Navia, waiting for a single opening that would let it kill her with a single attack. As Navia lifted her foot, it was the moment when the monster dashed toward her, its scream echoed through the cavern as the harpoon flew toward Navia.
Instead of facing the monster, Navia ran away from it, toward the next group of barnacles. Using a single sword, she danced among them, slashing their heads and limbs. The anglerfish reached her and swung the harpoon violently, only focusing on Navia. Barnacles were cut in half from right to left as the harpoon didn’t care what it would slash as long as it would reach Navia.
Finding herself in a tight spot, surrounded by Barnacles, in such a tight spot that she couldn’t properly swing her sword. Navia instantly kneeled down, and the blood splattered all around her as Anglerfish attempted to decapitate her.
After the dozens of Barnacles were cleaned, Navia moved toward the next path. She saw a hole in the ship and jumped into it. The monster followed her, cut the wood and metal alike just to reach her. Once Navia jumped out of the ship, she looked back to see splinters left by Anglerfish’s rampage.
As she ran toward the next group of monsters, Navia shouted, “Take the injured and run! The path is clear!”
People were too scared to move, even though the path ahead was without any monsters; they feared the Anglerfish would catch up to them. “Haven’t you heard her! GET MOVING!” Diana took Isabell’s arm over her shoulder and dragged her toward the clear path. Next to follow was Benedict, who threw his knife away so he could lift up unconscious August. Seeing the two of them move, the rest suddenly felt the urge to run.
The Barnacles on the opposite side didn’t move toward the escaping group; instead, at the command of the Anglerfish, they began to walk toward Navia, trying to slow her down so that it could finally kill her.
“If only the voice, I mean Sie… Could help me like last time. Knowing where that monster is would help me.” As bodies and limbs flew left and right, Navia couldn’t quiet well pin point the location of the Anglerfish, only its harpoon when it was getting near her. “Now that I think about it… This monster is doing something similar. Its focus is solely on me… Just like me when I hear Sie’s command…”
One of the Barnacles didn’t try to attack Navia; it grabbed her arm and pulled, holding her in place. It didn’t have enough strength to do anything, but it surprised Navia, lowering her guard. Instead of a harpoon, a bony fist moved toward her. Jerking her arm, she threw the barnacle into the fist, its body instantly smashed and its guts flying all over the place.
Navia’s thoughts were stuck on getting into the flow that would help her in this fight, but whenever she tried to remember this feeling, it was overwhelmed by Anglerfish’s presence. She had it within arm’s reach, yet looking back at the monster made it impossible to grab it.
The monster lost her for a moment as Navia hid behind the falling flesh of a Barnacle. “Now that I think about it… I faced an opponent who is equally strong, if not stronger than this.” As the monster turned around, it saw Navia with a sword almost as long as her, using all the blood she could control to create this weapon. It didn’t look as rough as her previous creations. Its surface was clean, and the blade was sharp. It was a blade she could remember very well, the single weapon that she couldn’t overcome.
Both of them swung their weapons, and as they coldied they stopped. Navia’s arm trembled but she didn’t lose the match of strength. Instead of taking the sword back and attempting another swing, she slid her sword along the harpoon; sparks flew from the friction of the metal. Once she reached the monster’s hand, she pulled her sword down and, with all her strength, pushed it back up. The harpoon dropped to the floor with a single metal bar remaining in the monster’s hand.
“If I can’t cut its bones, then I'll cut its only muscle!” Navia turned the longsword into a dagger for a swifter and more precise attack as her targets were thin fibers of muscle attached to the bones. She imagined how easy it would be to cut a single viber, yet reality crashed everything. While she could leave a scratch on the bones, there was no sign of damage on the muscles.
That was the moment of realization, “It’s not strong because of some kind of spell? A few threads are concentrated and strong enough to give it that strength. On top of that its more durable than a FUCKING BONE!” Navia didn’t even scream in time as the single metal bar went through her shoulder, before her brain could even receive the information about the pain, she already hit a ship wreck.
Right arm, broken. Left shoulder, heavily injured with a metal bar stuck inside. Her back was covered in bruises. Navia looked as if she was going to lose, to die in this battle. No one expected her to win.
The Anglerfish picked up the remains of its weapon, a bit shorter, but that was all Navia did to it. It saw Navia, barely standing, blood flowing from all over her body, splinters sticking out of her skin on her shoulders. It was only a matter of time for her to die.
There was no rush in the monster steps; it felt like it already won. There was one last thing to do, and it was the easiest part of the whole battle. The monster couldn’t physically smile, but looking at it, Navia could see a wicked smile.
“I hope… They ran far away from here…” Navia smiled lightly and faced the monster right in front of her.
As the blade grew tall above her, she closed her eyes, waiting for the last thing she would ever feel, accepting her fate. “This world never wanted me to live…”
There was a splash as something fell into the greenish water. “NAVIA!” Opening her eyes to a familiar voice, Navia saw the Anglerfish with a hand pressed to its head; the lightbulb from its forehead was missing.
Kneeling a dozen feet away from her was August, his eyes a blur as he barely seemed conscious, yet somehow he was the one who damaged the monster. “Navia! Take up your sword and fight!” Hearing a splatter below her, she looked down to see the sword she had given to August.
“How did he… He unlocked a gate?” Navia was astonished by the man’s feat. It didn’t seem like he unlocked a gate by instinct, on the brink of death. He did it naturally, all by himself.
“I won’t let you down!” Navia picked up the sword and stood back up, extending arm with a wounded shoulder toward the monster and placing the sword along its side with the other arm. The thrust to its head was like poking someone with a stick, but she knew that this wouldn’t do much damage alone. She had to attack relentlessly.
As the Anglerfish turned its attention back to her, she was already missing, standing right behind it. She took out the metal bar from her shoulder and sealed the wound. Instead of throwing away the metal handle, she used it and created a blade from her blood. With that, she was able to hold a much longer weapon, equaling the range of attacks between them.
The monster was turning its upper body unnaturally, like earlier, to reach Navia quicker, but she saw an opportunity in that. Instead of focusing on the parts she already damaged, she swung her new sword at its spine. She left no mark, but that wasn’t her goal. Melting part of her sword, she left the blood on its spine and let it slowly harden. When she moved to the other side, the creature couldn’t turn around and do anything about her next attack.
The blade turned into a short but heavy hammer. Just like a blacksmith, she swung it with all her might; instead of sparks, bits of bone flew into the air as cracks spread on its leg. The Anglerfish screamed and jerked violently as it tried to move its spine.
Lifting up the hammer, Navia heard the hardened blood shattering into bits as the Anglerfish, in the blink of an eye, turned itself toward her with the harpoon ready to impale her from the head. Instead of dodging, she risked it and brought her hammer down. August and now standing beside him, Benedict, who supported him on his single leg, watched in terror as the harpoon moved inches away from Navia’s head.
Navia was able to land the strike first, the bone cracked further and fell apart, and the creature lost its balance and fell forward. The harpoon moved slightly to the side, missing Navia’s head, but tore her unprotected back.
The pain was unbearable; her whole body was twisting on itself as this feeling surged all over. It didn’t break any of her bones, but she could feel much of her flesh sticking out, torn off her back.
“Focus… FOCUS. You still have a fight to continue…” Barely conscious, she turned around, barely holding her weapon straight. The monster seemed to be in a lot of pain, like her. It rolled on the ground, screaming, jerking, and twisting its bones, but as it tried to stand back up, the creature fell back to the ground each time.
Navia lowered her weapon and slowly moved toward August and Benedict. “Let’s get away… It might not be able to follow us, but it's still a dangerous monster…”
They silently agreed with her and went toward the group of survivors who hid in a shipwreck a mile away from them. All fifteen remaining people sat together, cramped in a tight space between the rubble of a destroyed ship. Two men with kitchen knives stood near the entrance, prepared to slice up the first monster that dared to go in.
Before coming in, Benedict lightly shouted, “It’s us! We’re coming in!” So the guards would know not to attack the next person coming in. First entered Benedict with August leaning over his shoulder, and a moment after Navia.
Everyone turned their eyes toward her with hope; she was the only one who could guarantee their safety. Even though her right arm was a mess, bruised with broken bones underneath. Her left shoulder had a hole through it, which was sealed with her blood. Only a few people noticed that her pinky finger on her left hand was missing. Most of her clothes were torn, and splinters came out of them.
Instead of asking if she is fine, if she needs help, everyone waited for the answer to the question written on their faces. “Did you kill the monster?”
“The monster is not dead yet…” Navia answered everyone let out a fearful gasp. Knowing that the monster is still out there didn’t comfort them, especially after taking another look at Navia’s injuries. “But I was able to destroy its leg. It won’t be able to follow us.” It wasn’t the answer they wanted to hear, but it did loosen up some weight off them.
“Benedict… Take Navia and me to Diana… I need to lie down, and she needs some help with those splinters…” Huffed out August, looking as if he was going to pass out again at any moment.
The only room left intact was a small storage which shelves were now used like beds for the injured. The only people inside were Diana and Isabell sitting on a low shelf, breathing heavily. She had a hard time breathing after surviving a heart attack, as if her body had completely changed and had begun to work differently.
Diana was quick to look at the newcomers, scanning their wounds. Benedict placed August on the shelf on the opposite side from Isabell; he already passed out.
“Sit down, I’ll get those splinters out in a moment.” Diana reached into her small bag and gave a flask of water to Isabell, “Drink it slowly.”
Navia sat down on the far end of the shelf with her back turned to Diana. Now she had a better look at the warrior’s injuries. Especially a particularly long wound stretching across her entire back. “I’m sorry, but I’ll only be able to take out the splinters… I can’t do much about the rest…”
“Nothing to worry about. Those wounds will regenerate eventually…” She knew the wounds would heal quickly, but how long would it take when she accumulated such heavy damage to her body? “Will it slow down the progress? Or heal one wound at a time, which might also take some time…”
As Diana took out the splinters, she noticed another wound of hers. “What about your finger? Will it also grow back?”
“Well… That I am not sure of.” Navia began to worry; she did survive the fight, and most of those damages would heal over time, but a whole finger? That never happened, and she didn’t want to find out.
Diana gently took out each splinter, and Navia barely noticed that half of them were already picked out. “Once I am done, you should get some rest. Even an hour of sleep will be better than nothing. It’s not like we can move without you.” Calmly explained Diana.
“Even if I wanted to sleep, I can’t…” Answered Navia, her gaze fixated on one person.
“Why? Can’t let your guard down in a place like this?” Asked Diana, unsure of what Navia meant, as she was hard to read.
“If I fall asleep, I will lose control over my gate. August’s life depends on it. He will bleed out if I don’t continue to seal his wounds with my power.”