383 - The Demon Shark
The deck of the Silent Mermaid instantly became the brutal force of the industrial era carriers of violence.
Bell, Moby, and Ned braced themselves against the railing. Their heavy grenade launchers were quickly booming loudly. These weren't standard firearms. They launched concentrated source of explosion. Grenades that were enchanted with high-pressure alchemical steam.
Each shot left a trail of white vapor in the air. And when the projectiles landed on the shark, they exploded deafeningly. Impacted the shark's body with the force of a small cannon.
Don was at the bow. Holding a big steamrune hand cannon. He funneled his internal flame into the weapon’s ignition chamber. Engulfing the cannonball with flame energy.
As he pulled the trigger, a ball of compressed fire power over metallic round erupted from the barrel. Striking the shark's side. And blooming into a massive explosion of orange and red.
The monster roared. Its blood was staining the sea. A thick, black red ichor.
The shark didn't stop charging though. It tried to strike the side of the Silent Mermaid with its massive head. But, a shimmering blue dome of energy hummed into existence. Blocking the collision.
The ship groaned. Its activated forcefield absorbed the brunt of the impact.
"My turn..." Baroness Artheim said. She stepped to the edge of the deck and raised her scepter. "Let's see how it handles these birds."
Fifty sparks of pure, white lightning appeared out of nowhere. Transforming into mid-sized lighting birds. These birds soared to the sky and dived down from above. Striking the Demon Shark directly on many parts of its body.
Leon followed suit. He didn't use finesse. He simply took a deep breath, then open his mouth to the direction of the shark. A thick, jagged crack of lightning energy burst out of his mouth. Crashing again the demon shark's gigantic body. It was his recently acquired... [Lightning Breath]
"It's tough." Reina noted.
She was standing beside Jack. Lifting both her guns, Comet and Meteor, and shooting repeatedly. Targeting the creature's eyes. BANG! BANG! BA!NG! BANG!
"It’s not just a monstrous beast, Dear." She said with a deep frown as her bullets accurately struck but were unable to penetrate the creature's eyes. "It's truly like a demon. Even its eyes weren't its weak points."
"Then we hit it harder." Jack said.
He drew several evocation spellcards. And then, he decisively activated them. The [Shieldbreaker Strike] struck the monster's head. Followed by the [Soul Breaking Scream], [Wind Blade], and [Sacred Slash]. All were targeting the same point.
The Demon Shark recoiled. Thrashing wildly. Its massive tail slapping the water with catastrophic force. Sending waves that threatened to capsize the Silent Mermaid.
But, the Silent Mermaid wasn't a regular ship. And, Argust's navigation skill wasn't a regular navigation ability. It had already been greatly enhanced by his [Water Control] power.
He easily steered the ghost-ship to surf against the waves. With the precision of one who had commanded the ocean itself.
Jack didn't stop assaulting the Demon Shark as the ship was maneuvering against the waves. He unleashed more spellcards. This time, the curse types of spellcards...
[Bleeding Curse], [Nightmare Curse], [Itch Curse], [Madness Curse], [Blindness Curse], and [Starvation Curse] struck the monstrous shark one after another. They didn't actually work that well against the beast, but they still showed some impacts.
Jack wasn't the only one who kept attacking. The other crew members never stopped attacking either. Bullets, explosions, and destructive spells kept hitting the shark.
However, the Demon Shark was incredibly resilient. Despite the barrage of steamrune grenades, bullets, and lightning spells, it continued to ram the ship. Its sheer power cracked the ship's forcefield shield. Threatening to capsize even the magically stabilized Silent Mermaid.
Jack immediately used his domain spellcards to enhance the forcefield power. [Azure Moon Field], [Clear Mind Field], and [Sanctuary Field] were activated consecutively. Repairing and enhancing the Silent Mermaid's forcefield.
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In the control cabin, Argust also sacrificed some stockpiled monster cores to stabilize the ship's defense.
Back on the deck, Jack unleashed more spellcards. Including the [Forceful Trout Morph] and even the [Wererat Transformation]. Both spells were attempting to transform the demonic shark...
They worked, partially. The monster shrank drastically whenever one of those two cards hit it. But before the transformation was completed, the creature's sized bounced back it its original.
However, whenever the creature was in its mid transformation, the crew's attacks managed to penetrate its defense. Significantly injuring its body.
Unfortunately, Jack only possessed two transformation spellcards. And they had too long cooldown to be used again.
The battle raged for twenty minutes. The sea was a chaotic mess of foam, fire, and blood.
Suddenly, the spatial rift behind the monster began to collapse. The vacuum of the closing portal created a massive suction force. Dragging the wreckage of the Sacred Destination ship into its flickering black hole.
The rift snapped shut with a sound like a thunderclap. Leaving the ocean eerily silent for a few seconds.
Then, the shark monster shrieked. Emitting a sound that shook the air violently. It sensed its home-gate was disappearing.
It charged toward the Silent Mermaid in furious speed. The forcefield shimmered wildly as the shark’s teeth snapped at the hull.
The impact sent a shockwave through the ship. Yet the enforced energy field absorbed it. Scattering the force across the phantom parts of the ship.
Jack felt the forcefield was significantly damaged. A reminder that the ghost-ship was not invulnerable, merely resilient.
He gritted his teeth and took out his steamrune shotgun. And then, he pulled a collapsible, half-a-meter-long rune etched barrel from his [Spatial Belt]. A specialized extension he designed for long ranged, high-pressure discharge.
He threaded it onto the shotgun's muzzle with a series of metallic clicks. Next, he snapped a brass spyglass device onto the top rail of the gun. Locking the magnifying lenses into place.
He calibrated the gun quickly and took out several specific shells from his spatial belt. Those were his 'Runic Shield-Piercer' slugs.
He shouldered the weapon. The shotgun was now a much longer sniper rifle. The runic lines on its frame glowed and emitted steam as power built up in the pressure chambers.
He turned the dial to its extreme mode. One thing he didn't really like to do. He hadn't solved the drawback of the extreme mode of his gun... the massive damage any shot would cause to the gun itself.
Jack sighed. He would have to rebuild the gun afterward. Again...
He pulled the trigger.
KA-BOOM!
The kickback was immense. Several times more powerful than the regular shotgun mode. It drove him half a step backward despite his supernatural strength.
A burst of super destructive bullet erupted from the long barrel. The special slug tore through the air. Breaking the sound barrier several times with a crack that rivaled a devastating lightning strike.
The bullet struck the monster right in one of its six eyes. This time, the eye shattered. Broken into pieces. Like a glass window struck by a thrown stone.
The Demon Shark emitted a discordant, ear-piercing screech. One that vibrated through the air and shook the heart of everyone in the Silent Mermaid. However, the ship crew were tough, battle-hardened characters. They quickly recovered...
"Continue the attack!" Jack roared his command.
Leon, already clad in his draconic armor, jumped out of the ship. Draconic wings burst out of his back as he opened his mouth and released his [Lightning Breath] once more.
Countless spiral lightning bolts struck the shark monster's injured head. Causing the beast to convulse. A geyser of black water exploded from its mouth.
A wail swept across the sea. More a psychic scream than an audible sound. The Demon Shark surged forward in a desperate burst of speed.
Water cascaded over the Silent Mermaid’s hull. The sea foam splintered upon impact. The ship's enhanced forcefield burst outward in a wave of radiant barrier that pushed against the creature. Momentarily holding it at bay.
Jack noticed that the power of the forcefield was significantly spent though. It would not last much longer.
"Full power assault!" Jack shouted. His eyes blazing with determination.
He pulled the trigger of his sniper-mode steamrune shotgun. Again, in extreme mode. KA-BOOM!
Another burst of super destructive bullet erupted from the now smoking long barrel. The bullet struck another one of the the Demon Shark's eyes. Once again, the eye shattered like a piece of glass.
However, the weapon in Jack's hand was severely damaged. He couldn't afford to use too many shots in extreme mode.
The two extreme-mode shots severely injured the monster though. It was emitting another heart shaking psychic screech.
Baroness Artheim, now blanketed by energy shield from her activated talisman, wasn't affected though. She concentrated. Coalescing three massive lightning birds above the ship.
The three birds crackled with heavy electricity. Three miniature lightning storms were ready to be unleashed. She pointed her scepter toward the Demon Shark.
The three lightning bird dove from the sky in great speed. They struck the creature squarely at its head. KA-BOOM! A cascade of blinding explosive light erupted. Temporarily blinding the predator.
The shark convulsed and thrashed around in pain. Causing great waves that threatened to sink the ship. But again, Argust steered the ship clear without much trouble.
The Demon Shark gave one last, hateful look at the Silent Mermaid. It thrashed its massive tail once more. Sending a final wave of chaotic sea water toward the ship, before diving deep into the dark water.
"Is it dead?" Chloe asked. Clutching Sparkle tightly.
"No!" Jack said. His eyes were fixed on the dark depths. "It's wounded, and it's fleeing. That thing is too dangerous to leave roaming these waters. If it encounters a merchant vessel or a coastal village, it'll be a massacre."
He turned to Rune. "Rune, can you track it?"