"That's a Sea King, also known as the leviathan. Monsters said to rival dragons… never saw one before." Gildarts said, cracking his fingers one by one. He stared upward at the seemingly massive mountain rising before them in the distance. But it wasn't a mountain at all—it was moving, shifting its enormous bulk. The creature looked down upon them with visible anger in its eyes since they had dared to awaken it from its slumber in these deep waters.
The Sea King opened its cavernous mouth, revealing rows upon rows of teeth, each the size of massive trees. It shot downward with terrifying speed, aiming to swallow them whole in a single gulp, treating them like insignificant morsels.
Sinbad squatted low, his small legs coiling like springs as he built up strength in his muscles. Then he launched himself forward explosively while simultaneously pulling his fist backward, chambering it for maximum impact.
Gildarts followed suit, launching himself from the boat as well. But seeing the two humans actually daring to attack it directly, the Sea King's massive eyes narrowed with rage. In a display of shocking agility for something so massive, it moved its head to the side, dodging their incoming attacks. This caught both Sinbad and Gildarts completely off guard—they hadn't expected something that large to be so nimble.
Before either of them could react or adjust their trajectory mid-air, a massive tail shot out from beneath the sea surface. Water cascaded off its scales as it came rocketing towards them like a living battering ram.
"Hammer Fist!" Sinbad grinned, twisting his body and punching the incoming tail with everything he had. Instantly, the force of the impact sent him rocketing backwards through the air, his small body flying like a cannonball. Meanwhile, the tail itself was knocked backwards from the collision, the Sea King feeling the impact.
Sinbad wasted absolutely no time in recovery. While still airborne and flying backwards, he tore off his weighted clothing, the heavy garments falling away towards the water below. Feeling how incredibly light he was now without the restrictive weights, he kicked the air itself using his enhanced strength.
The movement propelled him forward at tremendous speed, his trajectory changing instantly. He caught Gildarts mid-flight, grabbing onto the older mage, and then sent him flying into the sky with another powerful air kick.
Gildarts was shocked for a brief moment by the sudden maneuver, his eyes widening. But his surprise quickly transformed into a grin when he saw Sinbad's plan unfolding. Sinbad, seeing that, grinned and rocketed towards the Sea King at incredible velocity.
Sinbad landed a devastating heavy fist directly against the creature's chin from below, the impact creating a thunderous boom. The blow launched the entire Sea King upward into the heavens, its massive body temporarily airborne.
This positioned it perfectly, where Gildarts was waiting, coming rocketing down from above with his own attack prepared.
"Crushing Evil, Spreading the Truth: Absolute Heaven." Gildarts roared. He channeled the full concentrated power of his crush magic directly into his descending fist. His fist connected with the Sea King's tough hide in a spectacular collision. But Gildarts was shocked when he realized immediately that the Sea King seemed to possess natural immunity to his magic.
The crushing effect that should have obliterated its scales simply didn't activate. The creature was only launched downward by the physical force of the punch itself.
'Such high resistances to magic, I would need to aim for its weak spot.' Gildarts thought rapidly, analyzing the situation.
He mimicked Sinbad's air-kicking movement, stomping on the air itself to change direction. He launched himself after the falling Sea King, pursuing it downward.
The creature roared at him defiantly, opening its jaws to threaten him. But it only got punched with devastating accuracy right in its eye, Gildarts' fist sinking into the vulnerable organ. The Sea King quickly and painfully found out that its magical resistance was nowhere to be found when it came to its eyeball—the soft tissue offered no protection.
"Let's finish this." Sinbad laughed, watching the falling Sea King rocketing towards him from above, descending rapidly. He pulled his fist back as far as it would go, chambering all his power.
He instantly kicked the air repeatedly in rapid succession, quickly building tremendous speed with each kick. Before long, he reached his absolute peak velocity, moving so fast that the air friction around his fist ignited. His entire hand exploded into roaring flames from the sheer speed and heat generated.
"Flaming Hammer Fist!" Sinbad roared as his flaming fist slammed with cataclysmic force into the skull of the sea king. The impact point glowed white-hot for a split second. The supposedly impenetrable scales on the Sea King's head cracked audibly and then shattered completely, fragments flying in all directions.
The Sea King's pupils disappeared entirely, rolling back as consciousness fled. At far greater speed than it had been falling before, the Sea King's massive body slammed into the sea surface below with apocalyptic force, creating an impact that displaced unimaginable amounts of water. Massive waves rose up from the collision point, towering walls of water capable of completely swallowing small islands whole.
But to both his and Gildart's shock and disbelief, the Sea King quickly awakened from its knocked-out state. With boiling rage radiating from its every movement, it unleashed a devastating counterattack. The creature sent a massive jet of high-pressure water shooting directly at Sinbad, the stream cutting through the air like a blade.
Sinbad wanted to avoid the attack and tried to move his body out of the way, but he was simply too slow to react in time. As soon as the water washed over him completely, drenching his entire body, all of his strength disappeared instantly. The effect was immediate and absolute. After all, the fundamental weakness of any devil fruit user was water—it drained them of all their power and left them helpless.
Sinbad weakly fell towards the sea below, his body limp and unresponsive. His tongue hung out limply as he was completely powerless at the moment, unable to even move his fingers. But Gildarts reacted with lightning speed, catching the boy before he could hit the water.
Although confused and concerned about what was suddenly wrong with Sinbad and why he'd become so weak, Gildarts didn't hesitate. He used his strength to send Sinbad rocketing up into the air high above, throwing him with such tremendous force and velocity that the wind resistance dried Sinbad's body completely. The water evaporated from his skin and clothes, allowing him to gradually regain his strength as the devil fruit's weakness faded.
"If one punch can't do it, then a thousand!" Sinbad grinned wildly, his strength fully restored now. He kicked the air beneath him, creating a deafening sonic boom that echoed across the air. Sinbad rocketed towards the Sea King below at incredible speed, his trajectory straight and true. This time, both of his small fists exploded into brilliant flames from the sheer speed he was moving at, the air friction igniting them.
The Sea King reacted to the threat, its massive body shifting. It rocketed upward slightly in the water and shot another concentrated stream of water at him, trying to weaken him again with the same tactic. But Sinbad was ready this time.
He moved quickly, dodging the attack completely while kicking the air to change direction. He pushed himself past his physical limits, his muscles screaming in protest. Using the spray and mist from the water attack as cover, he disappeared completely from the Sea King's line of sight.
The confused Sea King looked around frantically, its enormous eyes scanning the area for the small threat. It couldn't locate him anywhere in the sky or on the water's surface. But then it finally found him—Sinbad had positioned himself directly at its heart, hovering in the perfect striking position.
"Flaming Hammer Fist Shower!" Sinbad roared while punching forward with everything he had. He didn't punch just once, not twice, not even three times in succession. But so many times in rapid succession that his hands completely disappeared from view, replaced with the afterimage of hundreds of flaming fists existing simultaneously mid-air. The punches blurred together into a continuous barrage.
The sheer overwhelming number of fists bombarded the Sea King's body relentlessly, each impact adding to the cumulative damage. The creature was sent rocketing upward into the sky from the force, its massive body lifted entirely out of the water.
But Sinbad wasn't finished yet. He kicked the air repeatedly, making absolutely sure to follow the ascending creature and maintain his assault. He ignored his arms completely, which were rapidly going numb from the sheer speed and repetition of his punching. The muscles were tearing, and his bones ached, but he didn't stop.
He only finally stopped his relentless barrage when he couldn't feel his fists anymore at all, the numbness spreading up to his elbows. This forced him to kick the air one final time, propelling himself away and avoiding the Sea King's massive falling form.
The creature came plummeting towards the sea far below, unconscious and defeated. It hit the water with such catastrophic force that the impact created even more massive waves, towering walls of water capable of completely swallowing small islands in their path. The ocean itself seemed to recoil from the collision.
"We did it!" Sinbad cheered enthusiastically while managing to land on top of the floating Sea King's massive body, using it as a platform. Gildarts also landed nearby on the creature's back, grinning widely at their victory. The two gave each other a celebratory high five… well, more accurately a low five since Sinbad couldn't move or raise his hands at all at the moment, his arms hanging uselessly at his sides.
Anyways, this battle and victory set a world record that would be talked about for years. This was the quickest a 10-year job had ever been finished in recorded history, completed in mere hours rather than the weeks or months such missions typically required.
So that's how Sinbad became not just the first ever 3-year-old to successfully complete a 10-year job—an achievement that should have been impossible—but also broke the standing record for the sheer speed it took to finish one. The guild officials could barely believe it when they verified the completion. He also officially became Fairy Tail's strongest mage, surpassing even Gildarts in raw power.