Forbidden Constellation's Blade-Chapter 168: Battle For Khaz Vordun (3)

Out in the open seas, Fritz had left before everyone had been prepared to deal with the monstrosity.

The open black waters, accompanied by gray skies felt like he wasn’t even in the same world compared to Raias, Gremory, or anything he was used to.

Yet he pressed on, with nothing but his tiny crew and boat, braving the waters. The sea had been restless since he left Khaz Vordun, but it was not until the horizon began to tilt that Fritz understood the scale of it all.

The first jolt came without warning. The hull shuddered beneath him as though struck from below, and the boat veered sharply to the side. A crate slid across the deck and slammed into the railing. The mast groaned under the sudden strain, swaying and bobbing with the waves.

Fritz turned immediately toward the source.

Far in the distance, Khaz Vordun became a silhouette. And between him and the city...the ocean folded upward.

The gigantic serpentine beast, the one Ryn called Leviathan, had risen. It’s massive body was as large as the entire dwarven castle, and that was only from what he could see above the water’s surface.

He tighetend his grip along the railing and steadied himself as another violent surge rolled across his ship, water slamming against his boat that caused various crates to be thrown right off.

Even from this distance, the scale was difficult to comprehend.

The serpent moved forward, displacing the water around it, coalescing until the surrounding waters had built a massive wall so immense that Fritz forgot to breathe.

A tsunami. And it was aimed toward the city...

His hand lifted before the thought fully formed. Wind Essence hovered at his feet, readying to jump right across the vast distance and back onto land. For a single heartbeat, the instinct to turn back gnawed at him.

Shit! I have to get back there!

Ryn was there...Amelia, Jay, and Taylor too.

If the wave fell—

The boat shuddered again, snapping him from the thought. A bit of the water that was displaced managed to find their ship. The vessel nearly tipped, and only by bracing his stance did he keep from being thrown into the sea.

Behind him, the rising wave reached its apex. The wall of water literally blotted out the sky, casting a shadow so immense that it seemed to eclipse the entire city of Khaz Vordun.

Fritz closed his eyes, bracing himself for the massive THUD that would resound from the impact.

Yet, no sound came. He opened his eyes once more...only to see a world of white.

Frost erupted along the base of the ascending tsunami and raced upward with impossible speed. It spread across miles of ocean in a heartbeat, climbing the surface of the wave before crystallizing it midair.

What was supposed to be a falling mountain of water became a gigantic wall of ice hanging over Khaz Vordun.

The Leviathan recoiled from the impact before trying to slam its entire bodyweight into the wall. A gigantic shockwave resounded from it, but the wall didn’t budge.

Fritz hadn’t needed to guess who had done it.

There was only one person whose ice Essence had carried that depth. Only one who would drive his body to its limits without hesitation if it meant buying time for everyone else.

Ryn had quite literally frozen the sea.

I’m already falling behind.

But he couldn’t be discouraged. Fritz knew he had his own part to play in this as well. Yet, the thought had barely settled before the sea groaned once more.

His gaze snapped back toward the frozen wall. The surface around the colossal beast dipped unnaturally as entire sections of sea was sucked upwards, condensed until it formed a massive rotating sphere in the beast’s jaw.

The Leviathan was going to hurl it at the frozen wall.

He couldn’t even focus on that, as the sea around him was changing far more dangerously. The water around him pulled upward, moving toward the massive sphere.

Entire patches of ocean had completely disappeared, replaced with empty spots that were forcibly removed. The boat tipped as it drifted dangerously close to one such patch.

"STARBOARD!" Fritz shouted instinctively, grabbing at the tiller and forcing the vessel into a sharp turn.

For a split second, the boat tilted violently, one side hanging over open nothingness as the surrounding sea fell into the vacuum.

Another hollow opened ahead, larger this time.

Fritz adjusted again, guiding the vessel in a weaving path between unstable patches of draining water. The boat bobbed and twisted, narrowly avoiding one patch as another appeared.

He let out a slow breath of relief as he’d dodged the worst of the pitfalls. Yet, that was a mistake.

As soon as he did, Fritz felt it immediately. The front started tilting forward as water emptied from right underneath them.

"Damn it!"

He abandoned the wheel immediately as the back flew up into the air while the front plunged into the open space.

The sudden angle sent everything sliding. Crates broke loose, barrels tumbling past him as the deck became a tilted ramp.

Fritz didn’t hesitate, dropping low and letting the slope carry him forward. He barely managed to twist his body to the side before a crate slammed right past him.

His two dwarven crewmen were already losing footing, scrambling for anything to grab as the ship descended into free-fall.

Fritz flung his arms out, barely managing to catch them both by the collar before he activated his Blessing.

Rainbow light swirled around his legs, filling them with energy. Using all the force he could muster, he leapt just as the boat had been engulfed entirely.

For a heartbeat, they hung suspended in open air before gravity claimed them again. Cold water rushed up to meet them as they plunged back into the surrounding sea.

The impact stole all of Fritz’s senses except one: the invasive cold.

The shock tore the breath from his lungs before he even had time to hold it. His grip on the dwarves slipped as currents twisted unpredictably around them.

For a moment, he could not tell which way was up. Yet when his eyes opened—

The sea was eerily calm, just...darkness. Endless and heavy darkness, pressing in from every direction. Light from above barely reached this depth.

It was almost as if...the world beyond the surface had already moved on without him.

They’re fighting up there right now. Because you weren’t strong enough to handle both.

He froze the entire sea. Yet, you think you can keep up?

The cold suddenly felt heavier, like hands pressing against his shoulders.

People died because of your indecision, Fritz Calder. You’re going to save no one.

You’re not Ryn...

You never were.

For a single, terrible heartbeat—

He believed it.

"GHAAAH—!"

Fritz tore through the surface, his head barely managing to float just above the water as air filled his lungs. His body started treading water instinctively, managing to keep himself afloat.

"H-Hero!"

The shout came from his left.

A splash followed as one of the dwarves broke through the surface, coughing violently. A second head surfaced moments later.

Fritz twisted in the water and kicked toward them immediately.

"You two alright?" he called, mouth still salty from the water.

"Aye—!" one managed between coughs. "Thought we were done for!"

The other glanced toward the frozen sea, eyes wide as water dripped down from his beard.

"The ship’s gone. What now?"

Fritz stared off into the horizon, toward the location of the beam that pierced through the skies. They were close, but a large stretch of the journey was still ahead.

For a moment, the voice from below tried to return.

You’re not strong enough.

Fritz shut it out.

"You can still make it back to shore," he continued. "Swim along the currents and not against them."

"And you?" one asked immediately.

Fritz’s gaze shifted forward again, toward the unnaturally calm circle of sea where the machine waited in silence.

"I’ll continue the mission."

"Alone?" The dwarf frowned. "How? You’d have to swim all the way there?!"

Fritz inhaled slowly, trying to calm his trembling hands. The cold still clung to his limbs, and somewhere beneath the surface of his thoughts, the whispers had not fully faded.

"I’ll manage," he said.

The dwarf didn’t look convinced.

"This mission doesn’t stop because the ship’s gone," he continued. "I volunteered for it."

"So I’ll see it through to the end."

The sea shifted faintly around them, as if listening.

"You two get back to shore. Follow the current like I said. Don’t fight it."

"And if we can’t find you?" one asked quietly.

Fritz hesitated for a split second before he hardened himself.

"Tell them I made it."

The dwarves blinked.

"If the Captain asks—" he added, voice lowering, "tell him I reached the machine."

Both dwarves stared at him like a madman on a suicide mission, but they decided not to say anything further.

But as soon as all was said and done, a sensation crept up Fritz’s spine as he turned toward the source.

Leviathan had completed it.

Above its massive form, the condensed sphere of ocean hung suspended. With its massive head, the beast whipped it—

And the condensed sphere slammed straight into the frozen ocean wall, shattering it into a million pieces.