The sea monster's second attack was even faster than its first.
Its enormous tail swept in from the side, raising a wall of water dozens of feet high. The entire ship was like a fallen leaf amid the waves.
Lumine reacted at once. She drew the Sword of Descension with one hand, Anemo surging along its blade, and leaped from the deck to slash at the incoming tail.
The sword struck the scales in a shower of sparks, forcibly deflecting the monster's tail. It grazed the side of the ship and plunged into the sea, raising a huge wave that sent the vessel lurching violently to one side.
"Ah! I'm going to fall!"
Paimon shouted, clinging to the mast.
Lumine landed on the deck, and the planks beneath her feet creaked with a muffled groan.
She looked up at the monster's enormous head rising from the sea. Its crimson vertical pupils were fixed on her, and a low hiss came from its mouth.
"It's after you."
Ronava's voice came from behind her, still calm, as though she paid the monster no mind.
Lumine didn't look back, but her fingers tightened around her sword for a moment.
The sea monster attacked a third time. It opened its mouth, and a dark red light gathered deep in its blue-black throat. A scorching smell spread through the air, and the waves around it began to boil.
"It... it's going to use its breath attack!"
Paimon screamed.
Lumine gripped the Sword of Descension with both hands, Anemo and Geo flowing along its blade at the same time. Fine cracks spread across the deck beneath her feet.
"Scatter!"
A dark red pillar of light erupted from the monster's mouth, hurtling straight toward the ship with a blast of searing air.
Lumine charged into the beam. The instant her sword met the breath attack, white mist exploded over the sea, and the shock wave pushed the ship dozens of feet away.
Lin En steadied himself and watched Lumine's back as she held out against the beam. Her feet had plowed two deep grooves into the deck, but she hadn't retreated an inch.
The breath attack lasted several breaths before finally weakening. Lumine seized the opening and stabbed the monster's lower jaw. Anemo exploded in the wound, blasting an entire section of scales away.
The sea monster let out a deafening howl and whipped its head around, flinging Lumine away. She somersaulted twice in the air and landed steadily on the mast's crossbeam.
"Not bad."
Ronava offered her assessment.
Lin En had already summoned Anemo, and air currents gathered beneath his feet. As he hesitated over whether to go help, Ronava reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Let's watch a little longer."
The sea monster was injured, but its attacks had lost none of their ferocity. Its vertical pupils turned blood red, and its entire body rose out of the sea. Only then did Lin En get a clear look at it: its serpentine body had coiled into a complete circle around the passenger ship, like a moving island.
"Looks like someone's controlling it."
Ronava suddenly spoke.
Lin En was taken aback.
"What?"
"Look at its neck."
Lin En followed Ronava's gaze. Beneath a ring of scales around the monster's neck, he could just make out the glint of metal. It wasn't a naturally grown carapace, but an implanted mechanical structure engraved with indistinct runes.
"A creation of Celestia. Could it have sensed Paimon? Or... me? Is that why it's so violent?"
Ronava's voice turned cold as she explained to Lin En that it was a pseudo-demon god created by that lunatic Rhinedottir of Celestia, a masterpiece made by reviving a demon god's remains. But once Rhinedottir had finished it, she had left it entirely to its own devices. Ronava hadn't expected to run into it here today.
Lumine had evidently seen the device too, and her first thought was to destroy it.
The sea monster's coiled body began to tighten. The hull let out an awful creaking as it was squeezed, planks began to break, and seawater poured through the cracks.
"How far can you attack from now?"
Ronava asked.
Lin En froze for a moment, then understood what she meant. He took a deep breath, and Anemo gathered in his palm as a rapidly spinning cyclone. It was the move he had practiced most over the past seven days.
"That's enough."
Ronava nodded slightly and raised a hand. Black energy gathered into a point in her palm, but this time, instead of attacking directly, she pressed the energy into her spear.
The spear she had obtained from Istaroth appeared out of thin air in her hand. Golden runes lit up on its tip, entwined with a black aura of death.
"Strike the device on its neck with everything you have."
Lin En didn't hesitate. He leaped into the air, Anemo bursting beneath his feet and propelling him high into the sky.
The sea monster's vertical pupils immediately locked onto him, and it opened its mouth to unleash another breath attack.
Lin En twisted in midair, Anemo carrying him dozens of feet sideways to avoid the searing pillar of light.
He rushed above the monster's neck, concentrating the cyclone to its limit. A wind blade took shape in his palm, and he slashed fiercely at the metal device.
The wind blade cut between the scales, sending sparks flying. A crack split open in the metal device, revealing intricate gears and runes inside.
The sea monster roared in pain, its entire body thrashing violently. But the instant it whipped its head around, Ronava moved.
She became a silver blur, her spear piercing the air and streaking across the sky. Its tip plunged precisely into the crack Lin En had opened.
Black energy poured from the spear tip, filling the entire device.
The sea monster's roar cut off abruptly.
Its body stiffened for a moment. Then, starting at its neck, its blue-black scales peeled away one by one, exposing the white skeleton beneath.
The runes on the skeleton dimmed, and the enormous body began to crack and fall apart. Like a tower of blocks with its core pulled out, it collapsed with a thunderous crash.
The waves churned, sweeping the fragments down to the seabed.
Ronava landed back on the deck and retrieved her spear, her expression unchanged.
Lumine jumped down from the mast and landed in front of her, a complicated look in her eyes.
"Why did you intervene?"
"It was in my way, and that sea monster was Rhinedottir's creation. I don't like the monsters she creates, so I intervened."
Lumine put away the Dull Blade, her tone softening a little.
"Looks like you're going to Inazuma too."
Ronava didn't answer, merely looking toward the bow. The sailors were desperately patching the cracks the sea monster had made, but the ship had already taken on quite a bit of water, and its speed had noticeably decreased.
"At this rate, the ship will sink before it gets there."
Lin En walked over and spoke anxiously.
Looking at Inazuma ahead, where some outlines were already visible, Ronava spoke.
"Let's go. Leave this to her."
She pointed at Lumine. Lin En hadn't expected Ronava to want to leave right away.
"What about the ship, then?"
"Let it sink."
Ronava picked Lin En up, startling him. Once he realized what had happened, his face turned red.
"W-why are you carrying me?"
"It's faster to fly."
"We can't leave, this ship..."
Before he could finish, Ronava flew swiftly toward Inazuma Island. Feeling Ronava's body heat, Lin En blushed even harder. He quickly shook his head, shaking the bad thoughts out of his mind.
On the ship...
"Damn Ronava, she actually ran off on her own."
Paimon stamped her foot in anger, while Lumine quickly calmed down.
"Let's go help the crew."
The two quickly went belowdecks. Strangely, the large holes that had been smashed through the hull had all been filled in with black barriers, leaving the sailors utterly baffled.