A line of Awakened and Ascended covered the ship on left and right, with me standing in the middle of the ship.
One of the captains decided, after seeing my prowess in battle, that I would stay at the back of the fighting, supporting from afar, as well as teleporting anyone in danger to myself.
I didn't mind it, this was even better.
Less of my abilities would be shown, and the impact I would have on the battle would not lessen.
Could I finish the fight in minutes by myself? Yeah, yeah I could.
A few transcendent arrows would knock the Tyrant out of commission.
But that's the problem isn't it? Transcendent arrows, wielded by a mere Awakened. It, without a doubt, raise suspicion amongst the higher-ups.
And then I would be at square one once again, running from people like Morgan, and undoubtedly more individuals sent from the government.
Which would then weaken the forces in Antarctica, which in turn, would result in more casualties.
My train of thought screeched to a halt once I was forced to warp a person back to me, their bloodied yet living form collapsing onto their stomach in front of me.
I gazed at the figure for a moment, then focused on the battle more intensely.
I raised a hand for one of the few healers to grab the figure.
He wouldn't survive without one, that's for sure.
A middle-aged woman quickly ran up to the injured man, starting to cut into the clothing right beside me.
It seemed there was no time to transfer the patient elsewhere.
A frown appeared on my face, I needed to be quicker, and less distracted.
A giant tail raised into the sky, forming a shadow across half of the ship.
I raised my head in amazement, then quickly started warping people backwards, the injured in multiple smaller warps.
I warped myself and the ascended captain away last, only when he gave permission.
As soon as we appeared in front of the others, he shouted out:
"BRACE FOR IMPAC-!"
He was cut off mid-shout as the ship's front, where all of us just were, rocketed into the water, the tail of the ship rising upward.
Everyone dropped to the ground, either willingly or not.
Eyes widened in shock and horror, screams of panic sounding out through the ship.
I stared upwards, at the now again rising tail, my own eyes filling with horror.
This was about to be very, very bad!
I focused, crouching down to gather any balance I could from the swaying and tilting battleship.
I gathered all of the soul essence I could, then forced my will upon it!
My breath caught, it felt as if I was drowning in blood!
My fingers started shaking, and the dagger fell to the ground, my fingers no longer able to sustain even it's measly weight.
Yet I didn't falter, didn't give up.
Even, as the wind grew stronger, signaling the falling tail, that would no doubt be the ship's downfall, I didn't lose focus.
At once, all of the tremendous amount of energy I had gathered was released, focused by my will.
The ship vanished from existence, appearing a hundred or so meters away, swaying gently on the massive waves.
I coughed and collapsed, my eyelids closing.
I heard shouts and screams, and a voice close by. Sadly, I couldn't quite pick up any of the words spoken.
***
"So you are telling me." The gruff voice of a man paused, taking in an audible breath.
"That your battleship ran into what seemed to be a Fallen Tyrant."
The man paused, waiting for confirmation.
"Yes, sir."
A younger male voice replied, his tone as serious as he could muster.
"All on board nearly died, but were saved, as well as the battleship by a single Awakened's ability."
"Presumably, I have yet to confirm this, as you well know sir, the boy has yet to awaken from the undoubtedly draining ability, especially on such a scale."
There was a long sigh from the gruff-sounding voice, then a pause filled with tension.
"You shall keep an eye on him, do not let him wander off alone once you reach Antarctica, you shall also send me daily reports on him."
The man ordered.
"But sir-!"
He was immediately cut off, the other man's tone now almost forceful.
"That's an order!"
And the call ended just like that.
The younger man collapsed into his chair, dragging a hand across his face, then through his dark hair.
"This will be a pain in the ass."
***
I lay against the giant left wing of Mirage, using it as a pillow.
I wasn't really doing much, just waiting until I woke up once again.
Hopefully, it will be soon, it has been six or so hours now.
Hopefully, the others had dealt with the Tyrant or managed to outrun it.
And if so, hopefully we wouldn't run into anything as crazy as that later in this journey.
I was kind of only expecting to fight in the nightmare trial and after it, not long before reaching it.
Although, it was quite useful killing creatures, to increase the progress bars on my memories.
Speaking of which, the dagger and armor memories required around four hundred more kills or so. And the bow a lot more, close to six hundred.
Hopefully, I will increase their ranks while being in Antarctica.
***
"So you are saying." A female voice rang out, tone filled with seriousness and lacking all other emotion.
"That this second nightmare seed is already taken?"
A young male, Sunless, nodded slowly, his eyes not leaving the woman's own.
"But we arranged for this gate a few days ago. What changed?"
Sunless raised a hand, clenching it into a fist and coughing lightly into it.
"This gate was promised to an individual long before you even knew of it, Lady Morgan."
He replied calmly.
Yet inside, he was panicking. He couldn't summon [Weaver's mask] to lie or his identity as Mongrel would be displayed in full.
But there was a much bigger problem. Apex was already on his way here, and if the gate were taken he might actually just go home.
Which in itself wasn't that much of a problem, actually, the boy would be safer.
The problem was that this was Morgan, the literal hunting dog chasing Apex.
"And who is this individual you speak of? I'm sure I could bargain with him for the gate, or these Awakened" She waved her hand in the group of Awakened standing behind Morgan. "Could perhaps join forces with the person in question."
Sunny's blood froze over, eyes widening.
'DAMNATION!'
***
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