Nearly half of Zunesha's body was missing.
The seawater pushed the corpse back and forth.
It soon lost its balance and toppled over.
After a violent upheaval, all that remained above the sea was a gray expanse resembling a small island.
Zunesha was so enormous that even the sea could not conceal its incomplete corpse.
The minks stared at Zunesha's corpse, utterly stunned.
The light drained from Cat Viper's and Inuarashi's eyes.
Then a mink child suddenly burst into tears.
His crying opened the floodgates for everyone else.
In the blink of an eye, sobs rang out all around.
That had been their home.
They had lived on Zunesha's back ever since they were born.
Even the minks themselves could not tell whether they were mourning Zunesha or grieving out of fear for their own fate.
Randall looked at Zunesha and considered the matter. Leaving such an enormous corpse here would definitely threaten the ocean's environment.
So he landed on Zunesha's corpse.
With a thought, a short length of blade emerged from his right palm.
The blade was translucent, like black-and-red crystal.
Yet it exuded a savage menace.
Those two contradictory qualities did not clash, however. Instead, they seemed to complement each other.
Randall dropped to one knee and stabbed the blade downward.
The stone-hard skin was pierced as easily as butter.
The next instant, the Seven-Star Sword's blade began to glow.
It felt like the gleam in a gourmet's eyes upon discovering a delicacy they had never tasted before.
Then, like an emotionless pump, the Seven-Star Sword began drawing an endless stream of pure life force from Zunesha's corpse.
In turn, Zunesha's corpse rapidly withered and shriveled, spreading outward from the Seven-Star Sword.
Five minutes passed, then ten.
The part above the water had shriveled completely.
The sight sent