Forbidden Constellation's Blade-Chapter 174: Battle For Khaz Vordun (6)

Orion’s arrow flew through the sky and lodged itself straight into Leviathan’s scales. Ryn’s eyes widened as he never expected the piercing power to be enough.

Seems like I’ll have to save my MP for an emergency. Orion works.

Leviathan recoil, its colossal head quickly snapped toward their ship. The sea erupted violently around its limbs as a roar tore from its chest.

It definitely saw them...and it was giving chase.

"Full throttle!" Ryn barked.

The airship lurched forward, engines running at max capacity as manalite drained from the supplies below. Wind tore across the deck as they cut toward open water, away from Khaz Vordun’s shatttered docks and into the endless black sea beyond.

Behind them, Leviathan seemed to drag the whole ocean with it as it followed right behind their tail.

"Distance?" Jay shouted over the wind.

"Closing," Ryn replied grimly.

From behind them, Braum’s ship finally burst into the open sea, cannons loaded and waiting for the signal. They followed just out of reach, in case the beast changed its mind and turned around. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Ryn nodded to Amelia as she returned one to him, the plan was ready. Fire condensed into her fingertips as she launched a spell into the air. It traveled for a few seconds before exploding into a burst of sparks and flame.

That was the signal they needed.

"Fire!"

Ballistae bolts the size of tree trunks slammed into Leviathan’s flanks, embedding themselves between its gaps before detonating in flames, taking a chunk of the beast with it.

A heartbeat later, cannons roared as heavy rounds slammed into its lower body with a loud thud.

Leviathan roared again, twisting violently as the combined assault forced it to split its focus. The damage was enough to make it mad sure, to hurt it?

It wasn’t even close. The creature was a Demi-God Class Beast after all. Ryn nocked another arrow without hesitation, Orion’s light flaring brighter along the bow.

He needed to keep Leviathan’s attention at all costs.

The second volley managed to hit the beast as well. Cannon fire, ballistas, arrows, they were literally throwing all Khaz Vordun had into this beast.

For a moment, it seemed the plan was working. But that was until the beast turned its massive head.

Ryn felt it before he saw it. The creature’s attention pivoted, slow and deliberate, toward the source of the heavier artillery. Toward Braum’s ship.

"Disengage, NOW!" Ryn shouted instinctively, though the warning wasn’t for his own crew.

But it was too late.

The sea beneath it rose violently as its colossal body launched upward with terrifying speed. Its jaws opened wide, reveal rows of jagged teeth large enough to swallow entire ships in one gulp.

Braum’s ship tried to veer. But with the heavy artillery cannons as well as reinforced iron plates...it was too heavy to turn fast enough.

The armored vessel groaned as it attempted to bank, engines straining against its own weight. Cannons fired one last desperate volley as the distance vanished in seconds.

Before...Leviathan made it there.

Its jaws clamped down across the port side of the ship in a collision that sounded like thunder. Wood splintered instantly, reinforced plating crumpled liked paper under the massive crushing force.

The bite managed to take half of the ship with it. Flames burst from the exposed engine core as the Dwarven Hero shouted.

"Abandon!" Braum’s voice roared across the sea.

Some dove into the churning water below, others launched themselves onto emergency gliders that snapped open midair. The remaining artillery crew scattered as the crippled vessel dove straight into the black ocean.

For a second, nothing happened until...

BOOOM!

The ship’s engine, exposed to the seawater, had blown everything up as the only thing they could see now were the rest of the wooden planks floated on the water’s surface.

Everyone watched with their jaws wide on Ryn’s ship, devastated by what just happened.

Fuck...how can it just?!

Nevermind, focus Ryn. As long as they’re alive, and we manage to by time... it’s okay.

Ryn snapped his head toward the beacon before realizing what’s happening.

The beam itself started to compress and expand itself, almost like it was trying to fit through something too small, like something was messing with it.

"The beam," he muttered. "It’s flickering..."

"Fritz made it..."

The compression intensified for a brief moment, the beam distorting visibly as if reality itself were being twisted around it.

Ryn sobered up instantly as hope washed over him like a storm. His grip tightened around the railing before he screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Everyone!" he shouted, voice cutting cleanly through the wind and chaos. "The beam is destabilizing!"

"The Hero is alive," Ryn continued. "And he’s fighting for Khaz Vordun!"

"You too can protect it!"

Desperation in the dwarves’ eyes was slowly replaced by something else—a burning fire to keep their hometown safe, and a hope that they could actually get out of this mess.

Amelia moved to his side, wind whipping her hair violently across her face.

"Ryn!" she shouted. "We need to help him somehow! Can’t we redirect the artillery at the machine?"

He shook his head immediately.

"No. The moment we target it directly, Leviathan will shield it."

Her expression faltered slightly.

"It’ll throw its entire body in front of the machine," he continued. "It’ll cause the ocean to be unpredictable and making it harder for Fritz."

"So what do we do?" she demanded.

Ryn stared back out at the beam before turning his head toward where the serpent had disappeared beneath the water once more.

"We just have to trust him."

Trusting didn’t mean standing still though. It meant buying as much time as he could for Fritz to finish whatever struggle was happening at the machine’s core.

Ryn pulled up his status immediately, checking the amount of MP he had left.

[MP: 145/190]

The last arrow he used had been 45 MP, and it had done good damage. With this amount of MP left, he could manage another three shots before he ran out.

Ryn adjusted his grip on the bow. He couldn’t afford to miss even a single shot—

And that’s when the plan formed in his head.

"Bring us lower," he ordered calmly, eyes tracking the subtle ripples across the water’s surface.

Jay glanced toward him, confusion flashing briefly. "Are you insane? You’re practically begging for it to eat us!"

"Just trust me, Jay!"

The alchemist still looked uneasy but descended the ship regardless. The hull was now just several meters above the surface, easily in range of Leviathan without it even trying.

They were playing dangerously close now.

Ryn narrowed his eyes.

"We ride the edge," he said, voice steady despite the roar of wind. "Let it think it can catch us."

Amelia stepped closer, embers flickering faintly around her shoulders once more. "And when it emerges?"

"I’ll stop it."

Leviathan’s silhouette began to form beneath the surface again, darker than the surrounding sea, accelerating in a speed that no creature of that size should be able to. The water behind them started to rise, a wave forming as it prepared to strike.

Ryn planted his feet, drawing the bowstring slowly as Orion’s light began to gather along the arrow’s shaft. He drew a deep breath, eyes fully concentrated at the dark shape.

Make this shot count, Ryn.

That was when the sea erupted—

Leviathan surged from below, jaws opening wide enough to swallow the airship whole.

Ryn released immediately. The arrow of light streaked forward in a straight line and struck Leviathan squarely along the ridge of its skull. The impact burst outward in a shockwave of light that cut through the water.

The creature’ momentum was completely halted as it was sent flying backwards into the water, creating a massive wave that pushed everything out of its way.

His airship skimmed just beyond the reach of its jaws before Ryn sighed softly.

"It worked..."

[MP: 100/190]

Ryn didn’t lower the bow, already knowing what he needed to do.

"Two shots left," he muttered calmly before focusing his eyes once more.

His gaze sharpened immediately.

"Amelia," he said without looking away from the water. "Give it a reason to commit."

She stepped beside him, embers rekindling along her shoulders despite her earlier exhaustion. "You’re sure?"

"Positive."

Flame roared to life as a pillar of blazing fire erupted outward from the flagship’s deck. Her flames tore across the sea, steam erupting violently as fire carved through dark water. The flagship burned like a signal flare, impossible to ignore.

Leviathan answered immediately, letting out a guttural roar as it recovered. The surface fractured beneath it as the guardian launched itself directly toward the flagship once more, jaws already parting in anticipation.

His bowstring drew back in one smooth motion as Orion flared to life again, brighter than before. Ryn took a deep breath before—

Release.

The arrow tore forward in a streak of white-gold light, splitting wind and spray as it flew toward the creature.

But this time...it had missed its mark entirely.

Leviathan twisted its body as the arrow just barely managed to graze its hide, exploding harmlessly into the sea just behind its head.

Ryn’s eyes widened.

"ASCEND, QUICK!"

But it was too late.

The entire ship was swallowed Leviathan’s shadows, as its gigantic maw eclipsed all.