The gigantic and merciless waves of the Los Aganath ocean, one the 5 only oceans in this world and also one of the regions called the 'Beds of the God's beasts, slammed on the huge wooden ship relentlessly which left the ones onboard without an ounce of sleep in the heavy rain.
This ocean was notoriously infamous for being near impossible to get across and was also one of the only ways to enter the empire of Tejas. Not because there weren't any other paths to enter the land, but because of its ongoing war with the Kingdom of Engl.
The skies above raged with thunder as if the gods themselves were screaming in wrath at the ship for even trying to enter the forbidden waters.
Clouds covered the sky, not even a single sunbeam could penetrate through the thick and dense cover of those gray masses of thunderous veil.
"LOWERS THE SAILS!!!" Leonard, the ship's captain's command was heard clearly by everyone even through the loud raging noises of the waves and constant static noise of the rain.
"ROGER!" Two voices of both Zolka and Sephaies overlapped as they replied at exactly the same moment as one another.
Sephaies was dressed in a white shirt covered with a brown old jute cloak that covered his head and body, essentially acting as a raincoat which although did not grant him absolute protection from the downpour, saved majority of his clothes which prevented them from becoming extremely wet and sticking to his skin, restricting movements.
His white hair and vibrant face drenched with rain, eyes red from the rain water and the sea's salty splashes that reached at heights above the ship's deck and breaths coming out in sharp gasps.
Zolka was also dressed in a way similar to Seph. White frilly shirt and baddy black pants with a leather belt, from which his beloved sword hung sheathed.
He was faring no better than Seph, his own long black hairs were a comical mess. They stuck to face's skin and even entered his mouth. But when compared to Seph, he did make a crucial mistake of not wearing the cloak, leaving his struggling to coordinate his movements properly due to the clothes obstructing the movements of his limbs.
This did not meant that he was doing worse than he usually does, in fact he was able to move with almost jarring smoothness. Almost as if he had experienced this before.
The ship was being ragdolled by the billows. Having a proper footing on the deck's was so excruciatingly difficult and brutal that most of the crew members had already fallen off the ship into the void like body of water.
A huge wave rattled the left flank of the ship, so much so that this was the closest the ship was getting to completely toppling over.
The deck was now almost totally perpendicular.
"GAH—!" "Kr!" "SAVE M—!"
Many of the ordinary ones who were in charge of managing the sails, lost balance and met the bone chilling water of the Los Aganath.
The ones who fell were ordinary men, complete amateurs that Leonard had taken under his wing, likely due to pity of their powerlessness.
The ones who fell were ordinary.
But, Zolka and Sephaies were anything but ordinary.
Almost as if ignoring the nearly perpendicular and slippery wet wooden floor, both of them shot forward with blinding speed and grabbed hold of the network of ropes on either side of the main masts.
As the both of them continued their work, Leonard on the other hand was at the quarterdeck, looking at the sea with a sense of anxiety and...fear.
Both of which were highly out of character for someone as strict yet prideful as him.
His drenched blond hair was slicked back by him to prevent it from tampering with his vision.
His clothes were not spared by rain too.
His hand gripped the wooden railings as he looked down at the surface of the sea that resembled terrifying hills of shadows. The dark environment did not help any better.
The only way anyone aboard was able to even remotely observe their surroundings was because of the gigantic ball of fire that Leonard had been maintaining as soon as the sun had left them stranded, although it...gave off their position to it.
Truthfully speaking, even without the fire that thing would've been able to pinpoint their location with minimal effort. After all, this was it's territory.
The possibility of escaping that thing coupled with the possibility of confronting him stacked the odds against them.
His eyes felt heavy. It has been 5 days since they had last slept.
Bringing up the thumb of his right hand to his lips, he bit down on it with enough force to break his nail and draw out blood. It was his method of coping with situations where lady luck had abandoned him to fate. Not healthy but manageable for him.
What was to be done?
At one side was the Leviathan.
And at other side was Azrael.
And currently over here were the monstrous waves.
What was to be done?
What had to be done?
Why had he even made the decision to come here?
His greedy with let to the fall of his entire crew. He had lost numerous of them already.
"It's coming, eh."
A familiar voice reached Leonard's ear, causing him to let out an annoying "Tsk".
"Scram, I've got no time." Leon pinched the bridge of his nose between his eyes not even bothering to look at the presence of the annoying existence currently beside him, looking in the same direction as Leon.
"C'mon. It's obvious we're not even gonna get across here so better go out with a talk right?" The person spoke in a voice so confident of his own view, it was almost like he didn't even think anyone can object to what he's saying.
The blond captain finally looked towards the person who had been a constant pain in the ass ever since he had boarded this ship.
The person was a tall and fairly muscular figure with long white hair that braided at the ends. Bangs covered his entire forehead, only allowing slight glimpses of the skin under the covering of hair. His blue eyes looked at Leonard with amusement, failing miserably to hide his excitement from showing. No. He wasn't trying at all. If he did, it wouldn't be him.
"..." Leon's gaze did not carry even a single miniscule hint of emotion except annoyance.
"?" The white haired man's sapphire blue eyes met Leon's brown ones with confusion. "As much as I enjoy you not berating me at this moment, I surely do not enjoy being stared at so intensely by another man."
The white haired figure was Agna. Just Agna. He had boarded the ship at the Pearlbaton port of Nastrick a few months ago from the present time. As assumed by the crew, he was just a simple noble who wanted to enter Tejas.
Not only was his appearance charming to an over-exaggerated extent, he was also accompanied by the strongest party the Falcon's guild had to offer as his personal bodyguards.
Without replying to Agna with anything, Leonard looked back at the stormy sea.
He had been on the ship ever since he was a toddler, so this level of wobbling was something he was very well accustomed to.
Although looking back at the man beside him, it was extremely strange and to a certain extent eerie how he wasn't getting wet by the heavy rain at all. But it wasn't really the best moment to think about it.
Agna also turned his gaze towards the ocean floor. It was a beautiful sight to behold.
At any moment the ship could be overthrown and everyone would perish an agonizing death sinking into the depths of this seemingly bottomless abyss. The possibility of such a danger enthralled his heart. Anticipation and excitement bubbling inside of him like magma, threatening to come out at any unspecified moment.
To witness the deaths of all the ones present on this would be a very sad sight to witness for him as he had talked to almost everyone present here.
To top it off, they were also being chased by the demi-beast.
The Leviathan.
A creature that is not a Demon king only for the reason of it being primarily aquatic.
To be on the run from such a grotesque and terror inducing being would be enough to make someone's blood run cold from horror.
Yet, it made him even more excited.
Bearing witness to this absurdity in a front row seat was not something anyone can expect or even have the guts to see even once in the entirety of their lifespan.
This would make an unforgettable memory without a doubt.
"Keh! Hehe!" He stiffled his giggle by grabbing his mouth.
All of this would make for an amazing fuel wouldn't it?