Now, it truly was a Death Ship.
My kraken had released the sleds pulling my troops across the ocean floor and was now swimming along under the ship. Shadowing the vessel, the sea monster was ready to wrap its arms around the ship and pull it under the water as soon as I gave the command. I would have to jump into the kraken’s consciousness and control it myself for this, because even with the ship now strengthened with my Death magic, the kraken’s tremendous strength could easily crush the ship to splinters.
To counteract this and to give myself a little leeway, I injected a dose of Tree magic into the ship’s timbers. This gave them the bendy flexibility of a living tree and made them a lot harder to snap and splinter. They would now be able to bend a great deal before breaking.
With the ship prepared, it was time to go under.
I gave Rami-Xayon a slight slap on her cheek, but her head just flopped around. She was still out cold, and there would be no giant reverse tornado. That couldn’t be helped now; we had to go under. I unwrapped the kusarigama chain from around the mast, freeing both of us, then I slung Rami-Xayon over my shoulder and made a dash for the stairs that led down to the interior of the ship. Just as a gigantic wave broke over the deck, I dived down the stairs.
Down below, Layna was finishing strapping herself to one of the wooden pillars with spider silk, after she’d used it to strap everyone else to pillars and posts. She was looking utterly drained and exhausted after having had to produce so much spider silk in such a short space of time. But when she saw me, she smiled proudly, for she’d done it. Everyone was secure and nobody would get flung around the room and battered to a bloody pulp by a tornado raging in here.
Except now I wasn’t even sure that there would be a tornado.
I used the kusarigama chain to lash myself and Rami-Xayon to a post.
“We’re all ready, Lord Vance!” Rollar yelled. “Bring on the tornado!”
“There’s a little problem with the whole tornado thing,” I said. “but don’t worry, I’ll figure something out. For now, everyone, hold your breath!”
“What?!” Isu shouted. “You’re sending us under the ocean with no air supply?!”
“Nobody’s drowning in here.” I gritted my teeth with determination. “Not on my watch. Get ready, we’re going under in three... two... one!”
In the blink of an eye, I was seeing the world through the enormous eyes of the kraken. I felt the press of the ocean all around my massive form. Up above, a storm was raging with crazed fury, but down here below the waves, all was calm and serene. A hundred yards above me was the Death ship.
I now had to control my many limbs with both strength and finesse, like a mighty warrior handling a delicate sparrow’s egg.
I shot my kraken limbs up, and they burst out of the rolling waves like a hundred angry sea serpents, writhing and eager. I grabbed the ship, wrapping my tentacles around it. My suckers gripped the shiny black timber, then I pulled down while I swam into the black depths below. The ship creaked and groaned, and I could feel that even with the additional strength and flexibility provided by the Death and Tree magic, the structure of the vessel was taking immense strain. But still I pulled, exerting powerful pressure, just enough to drag it under the waves, but not quite enough to break it.
And then the ship was underwater. I dragged it down just deep enough that it was below the vicious turbulence of the humongous waves. This part of the plan completed, I jumped back into my own body, allowing the kraken to move autonomously.
Back inside the ship, the scene was one of chaos. Water was gushing into the ship, filling up the interior with alarming rapidity. The whole interior would be completely filled with water in half a minute, I guessed, or perhaps less. Rami-Xayon was still unconscious.
I had to take care of this situation myself.
I was able to create small tornadoes with the Wind magic of my kusarigama, but even if I enhanced them with all the Death magic of my undead army, they wouldn’t be big enough to fill the interior with air.
However, I had another idea, one that was prompted by my romantic liaisons with Yumo-Rezu the previous night. Divine power was present in the bodily fluids of gods and goddesses, and I had the Dragon Sword, which was capable of wielding any form of magic, so therefore it stood to reason that I should be able to use the Dragon Sword to commandeer Rami-Xayon’s mastery over Wind magic, and create a huge tornado myself. And, I remembered, the Blood God’s servants had been fanatical about wanting to sacrifice a goddess to gain the power that was in her blood. I was sure this would work. The only question was whether I could get it done in time.
I reached over and dragged the razor-sharp edge of the Dragon Sword across Rami-Xayon’s arm, opening up a shallow cut from which blood oozed. I then nicked my palm with the blade’s edge and put my bleeding palm onto her open cut.
Immediately, a surge of immense power electrified the entirety of my being. It was like the previous night with Yumo-Rezu, but far more overwhelming, so much so that I almost blacked out with the intensity of it all. My blood felt as if it was boiling in my veins, my muscles like lightning were being blasted through them, and my mind as if it could see the entire universe at once.
The feeling was beyond intoxicating,
