Capture and Aftermath

The skeletal spider let out a series of chaotic, piercing noises—cries laced with intense mental corruption, the roar of a monster on the verge of losing control at the brink of mental collapse. Its rage was almost tangible, yet that tangible fury could do nothing to stop this newly awakened ship from setting out on its journey home.

Even grievously wounded, even with his senses in disarray, the "Saint" could feel the ship beneath him accelerating in a certain direction. He could feel the abnormal tremors running through its hull—the steam core had been completely destroyed, yet the ship's propellers were gradually accelerating. Its navigation and control systems were gone, yet the ship itself knew the way home.

The torn hull still floated nearby. Between the shattered sections, ghostly green flames burned silently like a curtain, cutting off the frigid seawater—and cutting off all hope.

This steel behemoth that he had personally blown apart was now sailing toward the holy land in the form of a shattered corpse.

Behind the skeletal spider, strange, pounding heartbeats came from that swollen, horrifying giant brain. Its blood vessels rapidly expanded, contracted, and writhed, while something luminous seemed to be brewing within. A mad, destructive aura suddenly began to rise.

But just as the Annihilation Priest was about to use himself as "material" to create an earth-shattering self-destruction, he suddenly discovered that he had lost control of his body.

An eerie stiffness struck him without warning. Every one of his limbs and eyestalks seemed to turn in an instant into something hard and solid, like stone or ceramic. Then, some irresistible force seemed to descend upon those rigid limbs, pulling them outward and fixing them in place.

Terror spread from the depths of his mind. The "Saint" used every ounce of strength to turn