SWNOVELXO Chapter 184: Chapter 184
The rhythmic THOOM... THOOM... of Zunesha's steps wasn't just felt through the water anymore; it hammered against the hulls of the Lost Coil assault skiffs, a deep, unsettling drumbeat shaking the brass fittings and making teeth rattle. Commander Mangala stood ramrod straight on the lead vessel, the Abyssal Resolve, knuckles white on the railing forged from salvaged dreadnought plating. His amber eyes, narrowed to slits, scanned the impossible wall of rock, wood, and cascading water that filled the horizon – a moving continent blotting out the sky.
"Ananta's fangs..." breathed Jal, the rookie, craning his snake-neck back until it threatened to kink. "It's... it's bigger than Sankhara Deep!"
"Size doesn't matter if it brings the World Government down on us," Vasuki growled from the adjacent skiff, his own neck coiled tight as a spring, twin Vipera Whips already uncoiled and twitching like live wires at his sides. The mist rolling off Zunesha's flanks mingled with Sankhara's own fog banks, creating a swirling, damp shroud.
Kavi, hunched over a steaming console built into the Resolve's deck, his blue eyes flickering with Pentagon Circle energy, muttered constant adjustments. "Currents shifting... pressure building around the forelimbs... perfect instability, Commander. The Maw's echo is strong here."
Galit Varuna, sketching frantic vectors on his volcanic glass slate beside his father, suddenly jabbed a finger upwards. "Commander! Look! High up, near those ridge lines – unnatural angles! Straight edges! That's not natural!" His emerald eyes burned with intense focus.
Mangala's gaze snapped upwards, piercing the mist and distance. There. Faint, geometric shadows against the colossal flank. Structures. His jaw tightened, the scar across his collarbone seeming to pulse. "Vasuki!" His voice cut through the drumbeat and the roar of churning water.
"Sir?" Vasuki responded instantly, his snake-neck snapping to attention.
"Change of plan," Mangala declared, the 'Iron Tide' resolve hardening his voice to tempered steel. "There are structures someone built on that beast. Someone steers it. We stop the pilots, we stop the beast. Target those structures. Boarding action. NOW."
Vasuki's eyes widened fractionally, but he gave a sharp nod. "Understood! Lost Coil! Prepare for Abyssal Current Riding! Target the upper flanks! Signal the Pentagons!"
A series of sharp whistles echoed across the small fleet. Warriors on sleek, kelp-fiber sleds – shaped like elongated serpent heads – braced themselves, gripping handholds carved from whale bone. On the distant Steam-Fog Citadels of Sankhara Deep, unseen technicians responded to Kavi's relayed coordinates. Deep within the volcanic heart of the crescent island, the ancient Pentagon Circles flared with intense blue light. Geothermal energy surged through brass conduits sunk deep into the seabed, channeling raw power into the turbulent waters churned by Zunesha's world-shaking strides.
The sea boiled.
Not with heat, but with violent, focused chaos. Around Zunesha's massive forelegs, where the titanic limbs plunged into the depths, the water suddenly heaved upwards. Not random geysers, but controlled, spiraling vortexes of incredible force – whirlpools born not of nature, but of ancient technology mimicking the wrath of their fallen guardian, Charybdis. The water roared, a sound like a thousand waterfalls crashing into a chasm.
"RIDE THE TIDE!" Mangala bellowed, his voice somehow cutting through the maelstrom.
With practiced, desperate grace, the Lost Coil warriors angled their kelp sleds. Visha and Vritra moved as one, their sleds hitting the base of a rising waterspout simultaneously. The force was immense, like being shot from a cannon made of ocean. Salt spray stung their eyes, soaked their fur, and threatened to tear the breath from their lungs. Their sleds, hydrodynamic miracles woven from storm kelp and reinforced with volcanic glass spines, bit into the roaring column of water, shooting upwards at a dizzying angle.
"Hold!" Vritra screamed, her voice lost in the roar but her sister seeing the command in the set of her jaw. Visha mirrored her, muscles straining against the g-force, her Vipera Net Whip coiled tight.
Below, Mangala watched his warriors become specks rocketing up the sides of the watery skyscrapers, the mist and spray swallowing them. Jal, pale but determined, followed Vasuki into another spout. Silas, muttering old salvager prayers through gritted teeth, vanished into a third. Galit Varuna, his neck knotting briefly in concentration, calculated the optimal trajectory for his squad before plunging his sled into the surge.
Higher and higher they soared, carried by the Pentagon-forged currents. The sheer scale of Zunesha's flank rushed past – moss-covered stone older than history, gnarled roots thicker than Sankharan cliff dwellings, waterfalls leaping from unseen heights above. The smell was overwhelming: wet earth, ancient wood, deep sea brine, and the raw, mineral tang of living rock.
Vasuki's sled crested the top of the waterspout just as it began to dissipate. Below him wasn't open sea, but a terrifying drop onto what looked like a vast, mossy plain studded with towering, ancient trees – Zou's Whale Forest. He didn't hesitate. With a grunt of effort, he kicked free of the sled, his coiled neck snapping forward for balance as he sailed through the air. His Vipera Whip lashed out, not to strike, but to anchor. The segmented blade wrapped around a thick, gnarled root protruding from the stone flank.
THWACK! The impact jarred his bones. He swung, slamming boots-first against the moss-slick stone. He scrambled for purchase, digging claws into the vegetation. Around him, other warriors landed with similar jarring thuds or rolls: Visha and Vritra landing in perfect unison nearby, their sleds shattering against the roots; Silas hooking his grappling fang into a crevice with a metallic clang; Jal tumbling but finding his feet, whip ready.
Galit Varuna landed lightly, already muttering, "Elevation confirmed... minimal resistance sighted... flank secure..." His green eyes scanned the dense, shadowed forest looming above them, his slate forgotten for the moment, replaced by the live tactical map unfolding before him.
Mangala, still on the Resolve far below but linked via crackling comms, heard the reports filter in – successful landings, positions secured. His gaze remained fixed on the distant ridge lines, on the unnatural structures Galit had spotted. The drumbeat of Zunesha's steps continued, shaking the sea. They were aboard the impossible beast. Now, they had to find its pilots. The hunt within the living island had begun. "Lost Coil," he commanded, his voice a low growl over the comms, "Move inland. Find the helm. Neutralize the pilots. By any means. Kavi, maintain the mists. Veil us." The colossal flank of their target stretched above his warriors, a world unto itself, hiding its secrets within its ancient, moss-draped bones.
*****
The descent into the Whale Tree's roots felt like plunging into the belly of a living god. The air grew thick with the scent of petrified sap and deep earth, the walls shifting from carved wood to fused rock veined with luminous blue channels that pulsed with Zunesha's footsteps. Inuarashi led the way, his claws scraping stone, the stench of Charybdis' gore still clinging to Wanda and Raizo like a grim badge. Shishilian followed, spear held low, his eyes wide as the tunnel opened into impossible vastness.
They stepped into the Chamber of Celestial Sap.
Inuarashi froze mid-stride, a low "Gara..." escaping his muzzle like a prayer. Shishilian's breath hitched, his knuckles whitening on his spear. Before them stretched the heart of the astrolabe – a cavernous dome where roots became architecture. Seven rivers of liquid light snaked across a volcanic glass floor, converging on a central pool where a crystalline orb hovered above mercury-bright sap. Massive bronze rings, etched with star maps, groaned as they turned overhead, driven by gears half-hidden in petrified root walls. The air hummed with ancient power, tasting of wet stone and hot brass.
Near the glowing East Blue current channel, a tense huddle broke the chamber's solemnity. Marya leaned over a worktable, her Heart Pirates jacket stark against the ethereal glow, fingers tracing a schematics slate. Beside her, Jelly wobbled anxiously, his azure body quivering like disturbed gelatin. "Maybe we can squishy-stretch it with some sparkle-dust?" the jellyfish-man blurted, forming a tiny, wobbly hammer with one hand. "Bloop! More metal, less metal-y!"
Ikkaku, grease smudging her cheek, slammed a wrench down. "No! If the star-metal isn't pure, the resonance fails! You want Zunesha walking sideways into a storm? The backlash could crack the central pivot!" She gestured frantically at a complex gear assembly Master Forgepaw's team was painstakingly reassembling – a gear with a glaring, star-shaped gap.
Pedro, arms crossed, his fur still singed from the Electro blast, cut in. "And doing nothing guarantees we walk straight into that light-eating abyss. Consequences are coming either way, Ikkaku. Choose the path that might let us steer."
Inuarashi's voice cracked like a whip, shattering the debate. "Enough! Update! Gara!" He strode forward, Shishilian at his shoulder, both momentarily forgetting the chamber's majesty in the face of crisis.
Pedro turned, opening his mouth—
A shrill, wailing alarm erupted. It wasn't mechanical; it was the sound of the chamber itself – a discordant chime from the crystal lenses overhead, echoed by a sudden, frantic swirling in the liquid light channels.
Bepo yelped, stumbling back from the central hologram projection. "Aye! Captain'd know what to— I mean! Look! So many dots! Everywhere!" The stylized map of the world shimmered. The pulsing golden node marking Zunesha was now encircled by dozens of angry crimson specks swarming inward from the surrounding sea, converging with terrifying speed.
Marya, Pedro, Wanda, and Raizo lunged for the hologram, boots splashing through the shallow light-channels. Pedro's curse was raw. "By the roots…"
Inuarashi shouldered between them. "What is it? Gara!"
Pedro stabbed a finger at the crimson swarm. "Boarders. Or worse. Coming up Zunesha's flanks. Fast."
Wanda's ears flattened. "Where are they breaching?"
Raizo's face was grim behind his mask. "Doesn't matter. They're surrounding us. Encircling the entire beast."
Marya didn't hesitate. Her voice, calm but edged with cold steel, cut through the alarm. "Heart Pirates! Stop repairs. Except Ikkaku. You stay. Fix this." She fixed the mechanic with a golden stare that brooked no argument. "Everyone else, with me. Now."
Inuarashi snarled, his hackles rising. "Aye! Shishilian! Mobilize the Musketeers! Pedro, rally the Guardians! Every warrior to the walls! Man your stations! GARA!" He turned, already moving back towards the entrance, cloak billowing.
Chaos erupted. Shachi and Penguin snatched up tool belts, swapping wrenches for cutlasses. Jean Bart hefted a massive crowbar like a club. Uni and Clione scrambled after Hakugan, who was already sketching a defensive grid on his forearm with charcoal. Carrot bounced on her toes, Electro flickering between her fingers. Atlas cracked his neck, a feral grin spreading beneath the scar on his cheek. "About time," he muttered, hefting his chui.
Jelly wobbled after Marya, morphing his hand into a wobbly sword. "I'll protec— whoops!" He tripped over his own gelatinous feet, splattering sticky blue goo on the volcanic glass.
Marya didn't slow, but a flicker of something – exasperation? Amusement? – touched her stoic features as she stepped over him. Only Ikkaku and Master Forgepaw's elderly Mink team remained, the old craftsman already barking orders to his apprentices, their paws flying over the star-metal components as the alarm screamed and the bronze rings groaned overhead. The chamber of cosmic guidance was abandoned to the clang of tools and the desperate hope that Ikkaku could weave a miracle from broken gears while war scaled the living mountain outside. The liquid light rivers churned violently, reflecting the crimson swarm tightening around Zunesha's holographic image like a noose.
The damp air of the Whale Forest tore at their lungs as the defenders raced through gnarled roots and moss-slick stones. The deep groan of Zunesha's steps was now underscored by the frantic, discordant clanging of the Warning Bell echoing from the Rightflank Fortress.
"To the flanks! Defend Zou! GARA!" Inuarashi's roar cut through the din, his sword already drawn, cloak streaming behind him. Shishilian echoed the command, barking orders to the Musketeers fanning out. Pedro and Wanda rallied the Guardians, their fur bristling with static anticipation. Carrot bounded ahead, Atlas at her shoulder, his rust-red fur streaked with grime, eyes locked forward. Marya moved like a wrath beside Bepo, her boots silent on the loam, Eternal Eclipse loose in its sheath. Jelly wobbled erratically beside her, trying to form a shield arm and accidentally creating a giant, wobbly spoon. "Bloop! Wrong shape!"
They burst into a wider clearing near the edge of the forest, where the ancient trees gave way to the sheer drop of Zunesha's flank. And there they were.
Silhouetted against the churning sea mist were figures unlike any the Minks had faced. Tall, impossibly so, with necks coiled like serpents ready to strike, clad in dark, scaled armor that seemed to drink the dim light. Their eyes glowed with eerie yellow or green intensity.
"Holy icebergs! Look at those necks!" Penguin yelled, skidding to a halt, cutlasses raised.
"Snake-Neck Tribe?" Shachi guessed, eyes wide.
"Close enough," Marya stated, her voice cool and carrying over the sudden tension. She didn't draw her blade yet, golden eyes scanning the intruders with detached curiosity. "Hold your ground!"
The Lost Coil recoiled with equal shock. "Furred warriors?" Vritra hissed, her Coral Trishula sparking.
"Beasts riding the beast?" Visha added, her Vipera Net Whip coiling.
"Doesn't matter what they are!" Commander Mangala's voice, deep and resonant as a tidal surge, cut through his warriors' surprise. He stood at the forefront, twin Vipera Whips – "Harmony's Bite" – uncoiled and shimmering darkly. "They stand between us and the helm! Neutralize them!"
Chaos erupted.
"Twin Serpent Current!" Visha and Vritra moved as one, their Nola Kin mounts lunging forward. Carrot met them with a burst of Electro-enhanced speed, her staff clashing against Vritra's trident in a shower of sparks. Pedro intercepted Visha, his own blade a whirlwind against her net whip.
Kavi, the Depthseeker, hung back, his blue eyes flaring as he raised his Tidal Trishula. A disorienting sonic pulse rippled outwards. Uni cried out, clutching his head, his polearm wavering. Hakuga roared, planting his halberd and weathering the wave, while Clione spun his staff defensively.
Silas, muttering curses, fired venomous grappling hooks from the shadows. One snagged Jean Bart's massive shoulder. The giant Heart Pirate snarled, yanking hard, pulling the wiry salvager off his feet and slamming him into a thick root with a sickening thud.
Jal, the rookie, charged Atlas, his standard Vipera Whip lashing out. "For Sankhara!" Atlas met him with a contemptuous grin, Stormclaw swinging in a brutal arc. The chui met the whip, the Seastone core emitting a localized pulse that made Jal's weapon sputter. "Run faster, kid," Atlas taunted, "I'll make it quick!" Jal's eyes widened in fear and fury.
Galit Varuna, his neck knotting as he assessed the chaos, spotted Atlas. "Reckless brute," he muttered, sketching a quick line on his slate. He darted forward, his longer, thinner Vipera Whips lashing not to strike Atlas, but to tangle around Jal's ankle. With a sharp yank using his neck and body, he pulled the rookie clear of Atlas's follow-up smash that cratered the ground where Jal stood. "Focus, Jal! Watch his patterns!" Galit barked, his whips already creating a distracting flurry of strikes aimed at Atlas's eyes. "Try hitting me, red fury!"
Inuarashi locked onto Vasuki. The Lost Coil commander's neck was curved tight, his telescoping Vipera Whip a blur. "Out of my way, beast!" Vasuki hissed, the sound unnervingly serpentine.
"Try and move me, long-neck! GARA!" Inuarashi met the whip-strike with his sword, the force jarring both warriors. They became a whirlwind of steel and segmented bone, Inuarashi's grounded strength against Vasuki's deceptive reach and whip-crack angles.
And at the center, the leaders found each other.
Commander Mangala moved with the inevitability of the tide, his amber eyes fixed on Marya. His presence radiated heavy, oppressive pressure – potent Armament Haki that made the fur on nearby Minks stand on end. His twin whips, "Harmony's Bite," weaved intricate, geometric patterns in the air, humming with contained power and venom.
Marya didn't flinch. She drew Eternal Eclipse slowly. The obsidian blade seemed to deepen the shadows around it, the crimson runes along its length glowing faintly. She settled into a low stance, golden eyes meeting Mangala's amber gaze. There was no fear, only a cool, analytical assessment. He saw the Heart Pirate insignia on her jacket, the guarded intensity. She saw the ancient scars, the weight of command, the deadly grace in his coiled neck.
"You steer this creature towards our doom," Mangala stated, his voice low but carrying. "Stand down, or be swept aside."
"Zunesha walks its own path," Marya replied, her tone flat. "You trespass."
"Karmic debt demands action," Mangala countered. His whips snapped forward, not directly at her, but in complex spirals designed to ensnare and cripple.
Marya flowed. Her form blurred, dissolving at the edges into swirling grey mist. The whips passed through empty air. She rematerialized five paces to the left, Eclipse already arcing in a silent, Haki-imbued slash aimed not at Mangala, but at the whips themselves. The obsidian edge met the sea-serpent vertebrae and star-metal alloy with a shriek of sundering force and a spray of dark sparks.
Mangala's eyes widened fractionally. Intangibility? He retracted the whips fluidly, coiling his neck lower, reassessing. This woman was no mere pilot.
Around them, the battle raged. Bepo executed a perfect spinning kick, sending a Lost Coil warrior sprawling into a thicket. "S-sorry!" he yelped, even as he blocked a Vipera strike with his forearm. Penguin and Shachi fought back-to-back, their cutlasses a frantic barrier against the lashing whips. Jal, spurred by Galit's tactics, was learning, dodging Atlas's heavy blows with growing desperation. Carrot's Electro crackled against Vritra's trident. Pedro and Vasuki traded furious blows, the air singing with steel. Kavi prepared another sonic pulse, his eyes fixed on the chaotic melee.
The Whale Forest echoed with the clash of steel on steel, the crackle of Electro, the hiss of whips, guttural roars, pained cries, and Jelly's occasional panicked "Bloop!" as he tried to trap a foe only to accidentally bounce a Musketeer into a tree.
Commander Mangala shifted his stance, the heavy pressure around him intensifying. His whips began to glow faintly with deep violet Haki. "Impressive evasion," he acknowledged, his voice like grinding stone. "But can you weather the Tide?"
Marya raised Eclipse, the blade humming softly as it drank the ambient Haki, the void veins on her arms seeming darker against her skin. Her golden eyes remained fixed, unblinking. "Try me."
The ancient trees trembled. The ground shook with Zunesha's step. Two warriors, one embodying the relentless tide of a hidden nation's fury, the other a vortex of contained void and lethal mist, prepared to unleash forces that could shatter the forest. The outcome hung suspended, a breath before the storm's true fury broke.