Pristine wasn’t the word one would typically use to describe a leviathan, but Rai felt like it was probably the best word he could come up with right now.

If Rai was being honest with himself, he’d admit to the monster’s surprising beauty. He even felt a slight admiration for it outside of its appearance, but Rai couldn’t quite explain it.

The leviathan’s shell-like carapace reflected the crystal lights of the massive cavern in a way that made its body shimmer like a rainbow. Its beady eyes darted around the area that it had just emerged from.

Clearly, it wasn’t very happy. Though, Rai had no idea why that would be the case.

Weren’t leviathans supposed to be bigger?

Rai’s intrusive thought made him question whether this was even an adult leviathan in the first place. From all he’d heard from adventurers in Acies, leviathans were supposed to be massive. But this one was just big.

“Rai! You snapped me out of it, just to fall into a trance yourself!” Sin yelled.

Huh?

*SMASH*

The ground beside Rai and Sin was stabbed by a massive tentacle that sprouted from the leviathan’s side. Rocks and dirt flew into the air as it dislodged itself from where it had stabbed the floor.

Rai finally snapped out of it.

“Shit! What the fuck do we do?!”

“It looks like a young leviathan, since it’s nowhere near as big as the ones on the surface... but how’d it get down here?”

“I don’t think we have time to ask questions like that... look, the others are already moving!”

Rai and Sin looked over to where their friends were once standing.

They’d all begun attacking the leviathan. Except for Hiron. Hiron watched, with intrigue plastered across his face.

Tullian had already summoned his stag-like ethereal bow and began shooting magic arrows at the sea monster.

Feris shot a concentrated beam of fire at the leviathan, but it was futile. The beam didn’t do much actual damage, and didn’t even leave behind a scorch mark. He scoffed.

Maya was stumped. She couldn’t do much since most of her techniques were short-ranged and designed to fight smaller creatures.

Lina and Amy were buffing Tullian and keeping the group shielded but their efforts were in vain.

In the end, however, it didn’t matter. They weren’t doing any damage at all.

Rai noticed something about the leviathan’s shell during the others’ attacks. In fact, it was Feris’s beam that highlighted the way the shell worked. It’s not exactly absorbing any damage, but repelling it... so... that means we can’t damage its shell just by hitting it. We have to properly aim where we strike!

Rai’s thoughts were cut off by the leviathan seemingly getting angrier.

Multiple tentacles sprouted from the monster’s sides. They were all already swinging at the group.

Rai noticed the realisation quickly set in on all of their faces.

Flow State.

The world slowed down. Rai allowed his brain to adjust to the pace he was viewing the world, and used the time he’d afforded himself wisely.

How many tentacles are there? 1, 2... 7. Luckily they’re not covered by that massive shell the damn thing’s got over the rest of its body so Ghost can cut through easily.

Let’s do this.

The tentacles shot.

*BOOM*

Thunder struck.

Blood spurted out of the chopped ends of the tentacles while they flailed around wildly. The mist caused by the emergence of the leviathan had become tinted by its blood.

*SKRRAAAAA*

*Thud*

The sliced ends of the tentacles flopped to the ground as the leviathan roared in pain.

Even though those aren’t its main body parts, it still feels pain from losing them?...

Rai landed on the other side of the group. He quickly glanced at them to make sure they were okay.

Maya and Feris tried to figure out some way to be useful.

Lina and Amy were shaken up, but they were getting over it quickly.

Tullian continued to stare at the leviathan.

The fuck is he doing now?!

“Rai! Are you okay?!” Sin called out in a voice laced by her mana.

“I’m fine! C’mon, let’s kill this thing!”

A smirk crept onto Sin’s face.

“Alright!”

Rai zipped back to Sin’s side.

“You ready?” He asked her.

Sin drew her daggers from her mother’s ring.

They glistened a bright red through the bloody mist that they were now standing in.

“With you by my side? I’m always ready.” Sin said.

Rai shot her a quick smile.

The leviathan was still reeling from the pain of losing 7 of its tentacles to Rai.

“Oh! I know what you should name your clone technique!” Rai said excitedly.

Sin stared at him deadpan.

“You think NOW’S the time to mention it?!?!”

*Pfft*

“Bahahaha! Gosh look at your face!” Rai smiled, “I’m glad you’re back to normal.”

“Yeah yeah thank you Mr. Rai, do you happen to want a kiss?”

“Isn’t the answer to that always ‘yes’?”

“Well, let’s kill this thing and then you’ll get one.”

“That’s... kinda torturous.”

“Too fucking bad.”

“You really are back to normal, huh.” Rai said with disappointed frown.

“Yes I am. Now, please stop fawning over me and figure out a way to kill the fucking leviathan. It’s in pain now but I don’t think it’ll stay like that forever...”

“What, can’t you figure out a way?” Rai asked.

“...”

“...”

“We’ve never fought side by side before...” Sin muttered.

“Yeah... well I guess we’ll just try it and see what happens.”

“Pretty nonchalant attitude coming from someone who’s never seen a leviathan before.”

“Hah! I don’t even know what that word means.”

“That’s... not something to be proud of.”

“And what, you’ve seen a leviathan before?”

“... Well... not exactly...”

“That’s what I thought. Now, let’s actually come up with a strat-”

*KKKKRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!*

Sin sighed.

“Great, now look at that. You took too long to come up with something and gave it time to recover.” She said.

“That’s not my fault! We should work together on figuring out how to kill it...”

“Fine... I’ll... just use both Domains and help you from afar.”

“Eh? You’re fine with using the Queen’s domain now?”

“... The damage is already done, so there’s no point in holding back.”

“Well... maybe you won’t have to worry about that. Look, they’re in shock.”

Sin and Rai looked over at the group, some of whom were immobilised by their failure. The only ones still trying were Feris, Lina, and Maya. Hiron stood motionless, not doing anything. That was more of what Rai expected from him.

Both Tullian and Amy were frozen in place.

“Maybe we should snap them out of it and get their help as well...” Sin said.

“... I know that you’re right... but Tullian fucked up. I can put it aside for now, but...”

“... First, we have to survive.” Sin said, cutting Rai off. “We’ll have time to talk about it afterwards, right? So let’s do that.”

“... Alright. You’re right. I have a plan, but... can you hold the leviathan back while I snap them out of it?”

Sin nodded.

She watched as Rai zoomed over to the group. Sin noticed that Rai trusted her so much that he didn’t even question her ability to do as he asked. She also noticed something else.

He’s... not let go of Stormflow once this entire time... I hope he isn’t too tired after this...

Oh shit!

Sin dodged to the side. She’d narrowly avoided a tentacle stabbing from the leviathan. It quickly retracted itself back up into the air, leaving a hold in the ground beside her.

Sinful Domain!

Sin tried to ignite the leviathan.

Which didn’t do much. Its shell seemed to repel the flames.

If I can’t burn it, then I’ll freeze it for as long as I can! It’s just to buy time, then we’ll all fight it together... Sin might’ve been upset, but she knew that she couldn’t tell the others about the forbidden technique no matter what. If it was a matter of life and death for her friends, then she would choose to have them live, even if some of them hated her for it.

Sin applied ice magic to the outside of the leviathan’s body through her Sinful Domain. At first, the moisture on the leviathan’s body began to freeze over. It got to the point where its movements were even slowing down. Then, the leviathan completely froze. Sin breathed a sigh of relief.

The ice was holding, for now.

This better be enough Rai! Hurry up!

Rai had little time. He had to get the others all on the same page before the leviathan broke through Sin’s magic. He knew that sorting out the problem from before wasn’t possible in this short of a time frame, but he could try to get them to fight at least.

Rai ran in front of them all and got their attention.

“Hey! I’ve got a plan to fight that thing!” He shouted.

“You do?!” Maya questioned. “Alright, if you got a plan then I’m in. Tell me what to do.”

“I don’t like listening to you much, lightning freak, but if you got a plan then I’m fucking in!” Feris growled.

“And me! Me too!” Lina said as she raised her arm. “I... will fight!”

Rai smiled at them. “Good. Then go over to Sin and help her hold the leviathan in place for now!”

The three of them nodded, before running over to Sin. Lina’s affinity with ice would help Sin out a lot here, Rai thought. He turned to Hiron.

“Hiron, you in?”

“... Fine.”

Hiron stomped over to Sin, and actually started to help her too, which was much more than Rai could’ve expected.

“It’s... not gonna work...” Amy muttered.

“Huh?! You’re telling me you’re just gonna give up then? Is that it?”

“...”

Tullian’s vision drifted to Rai. He had little fight left in him now. His best arrows had simply bounced off of the leviathan’s carapace and dissolved into nothing.

Amy was the same. She was getting crushed by the weight of the fact that their combined efforts to damage the leviathan were completely useless. Even with her buffs, Tullian couldn’t cause it any damage.

“Look, forget that you couldn’t do anything by yourselves! We need to fight as a team, so put aside your differences for the moment and come help!”

“...”

They’re trapped in their own minds...

I don’t need to fight alongside people that’ll hold me back.

“Fine... then go hide.”

Amy and Tullian looked at Rai when he said that. Their eyes betrayed their sadness, but they still didn’t react.

“I don’t need anyone holding us back. We’re gonna kill this thing, and we’re gonna do it together. If you won’t help, then fuck off and go hide somewhere else.”

They didn’t react.

“Hey! Are you gonna wake the fuck up or not?! Tullian aren’t you supposed to be good at fighting under this kinda pressure? Amy, I’ve seen you fight, and you’re never like this! If you’re sorry about how you acted with Sin then go apologise and we’ll figure it all out later!”

*Crack*

*SHATTER!*

*REEEEEEEEEEE!*

“RAI WE NEED YOU NOW!” Sin yelled.

Lina had created a shield to block them all from the leviathan’s tentacle whip lashes. They’d all begun freezing the leviathan over again. Maya was there... mostly for moral support.

The shield is holding strong and they’re freezing it to buy me more time. Good. I’ll use it wisely.

“Rai...” Amy said.

Rai looked at her.

He saw a hint of conviction in Amy’s eyes.

“I still think Sindyl should’ve realised that she can’t treat us like her pawns! We’re equals in ou-”

Rai put a hand up to stop her.

“I don’t care about that right now Amy. I already said that we’ll sort it out later. Will you fight or not?”

Amy looked down. Her expression shifted between anger, irritation, and trepidation.

She looked back up at Rai with a sense of frustration, but there was also a sort of resolution in her expression.

“I’ll fight.”

“Great. That’s all I needed to hear. Go to the others and help.”

Amy nodded, then ran quickly to the group.

Phew... Okay, that leaves one. And it’s an important one for the plan...

“Tullian.”

Tullian looked through the translucent icy barrier that Lina had made. He looked at Sin casting her ice spell through it.

“I regret pushing it that far, but Amy’s right. Our lives aren’t her playthings! We shouldn’t have to hope that she won’t accidentally hurt us... or worse.”

“I see your point. But that’s something that I can’t answer. All I can say is that if I were in Sin’s shoes... I wouldn’t tell you even if it killed me.”

Tullian stared at Rai. He didn’t look angry, but he looked very surprised. Tullian respected Rai a lot, and if he was saying something like this... it made him think.

“... I see.” Tullian muttered.

“Will you fight?”

“... I will.”

*BOOM*

Rai dragged Tullian to the others using Stormflow.

“We’re all here now.” Rai said.

Tullian looked at Sin. She focused on the spell, but she also didn’t shy away from Tullian. The tension between them was palpable.

Rai internally groaned. This is our reality right now... get used to it Rai.

“We’ll sort it out later. Okay?” Rai said to Tullian, breaking the silence.

“Fine with me.” Tullian said.

“You said you got a plan Rai?” Maya asked.

The leviathan broke free of Sin’s ice tomb earlier, but now she was pushing herself to keep it contained for these last few seconds alongside Lina, Hiron, and Feris. They all struggled with it, but they helped her hold the spell while Rai explained his plan.

“Yeah. Sin, you’re gonna fight up front with me and we’re gonna attack from opposite sides. Lina and Amy, the two of you will look to support me and Sin up front, or whoever you can around you. Maya and Feris, you’re going to defend Lina and Amy from any tentacle attacks, while Tullian will continue shooting arrows at it-”

“Rai... I can’t damage it. You must’ve seen me try before...”

“Yeah, but I saw you trying to shoot arrows blindly without thinking, so this time you’re going to aim somewhere specifically.”

Tullian looked at Rai expectantly.

“Where?” He asked.

“Its eyes.”

A look of realisation hit Tullian’s face as he accepted the strategy.

“The wildcard is Hiron.” Rai said.

“Eh?! I’m a wild...card? Wh...at’s that supposed to m-ean? You calling me cr-azy, freak?” Hiron struggled to speak as he was helping to hold the spell.

“Exactly. Do what you want. Fight it however you want.”

“Tch! F-ine.”

*Snap*

*KRAAAAK!*

“Rai, it’s breaking free!!” Sin screamed.

“It’s fine. We’re ready now!”

Rai stood in front of the group, ready to lead their assault on the leviathan.

He aimed Ghost up at the monster.

The second glacial prison that they’d trapped it in broke apart. Ice spread everywhere, with big chunks of it falling and sinking in the waters surrounding the beast.

Rai grinned. This is exciting! Multiple battles in a day, and it’s against these insanely strong monsters!

Lightning crackled around him. Stray bolts arced into the ground, causing scorch marks to remain where they’d struck.

Rai imbued Ghost with fire. Its cracks glowed bright with the fury of Rai’s flames.

*SHKREEEEEEEEEEE!*

The leviathan roared with enough power to crack the ground around it. Rai knew... it was ready to fight.

So was he.

Let’s go.