As the first light of dawn kissed the last waves of the night, a shrill horn shattered the peace. From the southwest, a warship bearing the silver lion emblem of Solmere approached at alarming speed. On deck, archers and mages had already taken position.
"That's... Solmere's navy?" Molvar squinted. "Doesn't look like they're inviting us for tea."
A flaming arrow hissed through the air, slamming into their ship's side and bursting into flames.
Karl rose, his eyes flashing with a cold silver glint. "They think we're enemies."
"Oh, splendid," Molvar drew his sword, smirking. "You gonna talk it out, or should I dance a little first?"
Karl didn't respond. A light aura flared gently around him — a warning.
The sea wind howled. A second arrow whistled through the air — but it never made it. A small vortex of gravity appeared before Karl, swallowing the projectile as if it had never existed.
Molvar laughed, his sword flashing with a brilliant light. "Then let us greet them our way!"
The Solmere warship closed in. From above, fireballs and icy spells rained down like a storm. Karl raised his hand — the gravity around their vessel distorted, forcing most attacks off course or shattering them mid-air.
Molvar leapt onto the mast, slashing down two archers in a blink. "We're civilians!" he shouted mid-swing. "Civilians with style, alright?!"
It wasn't until Karl responded with a light gravity blast that bent part of the enemy deck that the Solmere commander finally shouted:
"Hold your fire! They're... not enemies!"
A horn echoed. The attack ceased.
The sea grew still. The wind blew, but instead of a roar, a strange silence fell over the waters. The commander of the Solmere fleet — a middle-aged man with sharp eyes — stepped toward Karl's ship. A long sword hung at his side, and his cloak bore the silver gulls of the Eastern Fleet.
"I am Captain Elric of Solmere's Eastern Armada," he announced. "We received an anomalous signal and suspected your ship was hostile. It seems... we were mistaken."
Molvar leaned on his sword, arms crossed. "Yeah, quite the mistake, I'd say."
Karl nodded, about to respond—
BOOM.
The sea trembled.
A deep rumble rippled through the waters, as if something massive had stepped onto the ocean floor. The waves began to swirl violently.
Elric drew his sword at once, expression hardening. "All hands, battle positions!"
A lookout shouted from the mast: "Something's... rising from the deep!"
Karl stepped back, his eyes narrowing at the churning waves. The pressure in the air grew heavier. He muttered, "It's him. The Sea King."
The sea suddenly swirled under the bright daylight. Sunlight pierced the turquoise water, but it couldn't reach the dark whirlpool now spreading across the waves. Then something began to rise.
First came jagged spines, sharp as spears, coated with moss and barnacles. Slowly they breached the surface, followed by scales shimmering a deep oceanic blue like polished steel.
An eye.
Gleaming in the morning sun, as large as a small boat, staring deep into the soul of every man aboard.
Commander Elric drew his sword and shouted, "Hold your ground! That's... impossible!"
Molvar gulped, muttering, "Sun's up and we still get this? Guess it doesn't need darkness."
Karl stood unmoving. Just a fragment of the creature — and yet the sea around them quivered. Water surged around the ship, displaced by something immense below.
"We stay in formation! No one breaks rank!" Karl commanded, eyes fixed on the beast.
A low rumble echoed from the ocean's depths.
No storm, no thunder — just a deep resonance that made even the wind fall silent.
The roar came again. This time longer, deeper — as if the entire ocean were growling from its most ancient depths.
The sea in front of the ship boiled. Waves clashed against the wind. Then it rose.
First, the forehead — a living cliff, coated with coral and seaweed, breaking the surface. Then the eyes — twin orbs of glowing aquamarine, blazing through the salty haze.
A colossal head emerged, shaped like the king of all sea creatures — part whale, part ancient god, with a spiraled horn curling upward from its brow. Each movement sent waves crashing in every direction.
Then came the body — long, armored in jagged scales, its skin forged from stone and steel.
An arm — yes, an arm — extended from the waves, as large as a ship's mast, ending in webbed claws that gripped a coastal rock and cracked it with a deafening crunch.
Molvar fell back onto the deck.
"What the hell…" he stammered.
Elric said nothing. He drew his sword, laid it across his chest, and knelt. "The Sea King. A living myth…"
Karl narrowed his eyes, hair whipping in the wind. "It didn't come by accident," he murmured.
The creature roared. Not with rage — but with dominion. The roar of a sovereign awakened, searching for those bold enough to trespass.
The sea fell into an unnatural stillness. Not a wave, not a breeze. Every sailor stood frozen, their breath caught in awe or terror.
Then, the voice came. Not through ears — but straight into the mind, like thunder slamming through the skull:
"Humans of Solmere… you have forgotten your pact with the deep."
Elric gripped his sword tightly, straining to remain upright against the unseen pressure.
"You are…" he gasped. "The Sea King. Guardian of the Southern Abyss…"
"Not guardian," the voice hissed. "I am the abyss. The blood-soaked dream of the ocean. The hunger no tide can ever sate."
Molvar whispered: "Some 'guardian' that is…"
The Sea King turned its colossal head toward Elric. From its jagged mouth, black water dripped like sludge.
"Your king owes me. With every blood moon, a soul — young, fair, and afraid — must be offered upon the sacred reef. But two moons have passed. I smell no sacrifice."
Karl stepped forward, eyes hard. "And if there won't be any?"
The Sea King's laughter cracked the sky — echoing off the cliffs and making the ship's timbers creak and groan.
"Then all of Solmere shall bleed in their stead. I will drown your port, crush your walls, and reclaim what is mine."
Elric lowered his gaze, voice heavy. "King Edwin believed that pact was myth…"
"Then I shall carve that myth into your corpses."
The air hung heavy after the Sea King's final threat. All was still. The creature's deep-set eyes glowed with a haunting blue — the hue of the abyss, of drowned souls.
Karl stepped forward. Each stride echoed across the deck, solid, unflinching. He stared into the eyes of the ancient being without a trace of fear.
"You think you're ancient…" Karl's voice was low, steady, laced with lethal calm. "…but I've lived long enough to know the cruelty of your kind."
He raised his left hand. From his palm, a blinding light surged — gravitational force twisted downward, warping the ocean's surface into a spiraling depression. Waves shook. The sky dimmed. Seabirds plummeted like stones.
"What…?" The Sea King shifted, his massive form recoiling slightly, causing a tsunami-like swell.
"I didn't come here to kneel," Karl growled. "And Solmere kneels to no one."
He hurled his arm forward. A concentrated pillar of compressed water, sharpened by crushing gravity, blasted straight toward the Sea King's chest like a spear of the sea.
The ocean erupted. The ship rocked violently.
Molvar shouted from behind: "ARE YOU TWO TRYING TO RIP THE OCEAN IN HALF?!"
The Sea King roared — a thunderous bellow that shook the ocean. But before he could strike back, Karl raised his hand.
He twisted his wrist, and space itself distorted around the creature's body — as if the weight of the world itself had gripped him.
"Rise."
A single word.
And the colossal beast began to lift — not by magic, not by will, but by inverted gravity commanded by Karl.
The soldiers of Solmere froze in awe. Even Molvar stood wide-eyed, stunned.
Water streamed off the leviathan's scaled body as it hovered mid-air, utterly helpless — a god of the sea, made weightless.
Karl's voice, cold and commanding, cut through the silence:
"Take this gift… and send my regards to the other Sea Kings."
He clenched his fist.
WHAM!
The Sea King shot through the sky like a massive arrow, disappearing into the horizon with a titanic splash that shook the clouds.
A heavy stillness followed — broken only by the soft, rhythmic waves.
Molvar exhaled and muttered behind Karl:
"So… that's your version of a 'greeting card', huh?"
The silence shattered as Commander Elric stepped forward.
He removed his steel helm, revealing a weathered face and sharp grey eyes. There was no longer suspicion in his gaze—only respect.
"My name is Commander Elric Valdren, Head of Solmere's Coastal Guard," he said with calm authority."And you, sir... who are you?"
Karl didn't answer immediately. He looked to the ocean where the sea king had vanished, then turned back, voice even:
"Karl. Just a traveler… passing through."
Elric raised an eyebrow, then chuckled—just enough to crack his stoic demeanor.
"Travelers don't do that.Still… Solmere welcomes protectors more than it fears power."
He turned to his soldiers and barked:
"Stand down! This man is no enemy!"
The clash of weapons being sheathed echoed like the lifting of a storm cloud.
Molvar sidled up next to Karl and muttered:
"Guess you just earned yourself a city."
Elric extended a hand.
"Karl… if you would allow it, I'd like to invite you to Solmere as a guest of honor.The King will want to hear this tale from your own lips."
The sun began to sink beneath the horizon.Karl and Molvar's vessel, now sailing alongside Solmere's warships, headed toward land. Their sails caught the amber light, casting golden reflections across the calm waves.
On the deck, Karl stood still as a statue. Wind tugged at his cloak and hair, but his gaze remained fixed ahead — not at the city, but beyond it, as if peering into futures yet unwritten.
Molvar leaned casually against the railing, muttering:
"Figures. We always end up dealing with royalty somehow.I just wanted to eat a damn fruit tart."
Karl chuckled under his breath, but said nothing. His thoughts drifted far beyond.
Before them, the silhouette of Solmere emerged from the mist — towering ivory walls, gold-tipped watchtowers, and silver banners fluttering in the fading light.
A new chapter was waiting.