The sea exploded beneath the pirate fleet.
One moment the vice captain floated helplessly between the ships with blood trailing through the water.
The next, the entire ocean underneath him rose upward violently and hurled smaller rescue boats into the air like scraps of wood.
Men screamed, Oars snapped.
One of the pirate boats flipped completely and disappeared beneath the waves before the pirates inside could even surface.
Then the creature emerged.
Not fully from the deep, but its head alone was already larger than all the ships gathered there combined.
Everything froze including the pirates and Tigi’s crew.
Even the ocean itself seemed quieter for a brief moment.
The creature’s skin looked ancient, rough like submerged cliffs covered in scars and pale grooves.
Water poured endlessly from its massive body while rows of eyes slowly opened along the side of its head.
Some were enormous, others small, but every single one carried the same cold, empty stare.
Leviathan.
A monster amongst sea monsters.
Stories about it existed in nearly every port across the world.
Sailors spoke its name quietly when storms became strange or when ships vanished without explanation.
Some claimed it was older than kingdoms.
Others believed it was punishment given form by the sea itself.
But none of the stories came close.
Not even close.
One pirate dropped to his knees immediately.
Another started crying.
Even Cut-Throat Mike lost all color from his face.
Tigi himself stared quietly at the creature despite already knowing it would appear.
This was only the second time in his life seeing Leviathan with his own eyes, and the sight still made his chest tighten.
The timing and season mattered.
Most of all, blood mattered most of all.
At this period of the year, Leviathan became dangerously sensitive to blood in the sea.
Tigi knew the routes well enough to understand where the creature hunted and roughly when it surfaced.
That was why he cut Jack’s ankles before dragging him beneath the ship.
The blood called it.
The pirates simply arrived in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Cut-Throat Mike snapped out of his shock first.
“MOVE THE SHIPS!”
His roar spread panic through the fleet.
Cannons shifted.
Sails turned.
Orders were screamed across decks as the pirate ships tried desperately to scatter away from the bloodstained waters.
Too late.
Leviathan moved.
The ocean folded inward around its body before exploding outward again.
A pirate vessel near the front lifted almost completely from the sea as something enormous slammed into it from below.
Wood shattered instantly.
The ship broke apart down the middle and vanished beneath the waves.
Men were thrown screaming into the water.
Another pirate ship tried turning away, but a massive fin surfaced beside it and ripped across its hull like a blade through cloth.
The vessel tilted violently before capsizing entirely.
Nobody aboard surfaced afterward.
“Captain…” Dren muttered quietly beside Tigi.
Tigi never looked away from the water.
“Steady.
Keep moving.”
The crew immediately obeyed.
Unlike the pirates, Tigi’s ship never turned toward the blood.
The sails stayed angled away from the chaos while the crew rowed hard to create distance.
Behind them, the sea became hell.
Leviathan surged through the pirate fleet with terrifying speed for something so enormous.
Its shadow alone swallowed entire ships beneath darkness before they disappeared under the water.
Cut-Throat Mike screamed furious orders while gripping the rail of his ship hard enough for the wood to crack.
“FIRE EVERYTHING!”
Cannons thundered across the ocean.
Explosions erupted against Leviathan’s hide.
Nothing happened. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
The creature barely reacted.
One glowing eye slowly turned toward the pirate captain’s vessel.
Every pirate onboard froze.
Then Leviathan opened its mouth.
Dren’s face stiffened immediately.
“…Gods.”
Rows upon rows of teeth unfolded from the darkness inside its mouth.
Some curved inward like hooks while others resembled broken pillars.
Water rushed violently between them as the creature lunged forward.
The pirate captain’s ship disappeared entirely.
Not destroyed or broken.
Swallowed.
The surrounding ships tried fleeing in every direction after that.
Some crashed into one another.
Others abandoned their sails entirely.
None escaped.
Tigi finally rested one hand against the helm and exhaled quietly.
“Ragnar,” he called out.
“Aye captain.”
“How far?”
Ragnar narrowed his eyes toward the horizon from the crow’s nest.
“We’ve got distance now.”
“Good.”
Nobody aboard celebrated.
They simply continued sailing while the sounds of destruction slowly faded behind them.
About four hours later, the waters changed.
The waves became calmer.
The air itself felt cleaner somehow.
Then Ragnar’s voice thundered from above again.
“LANDMARK AHEAD!”
Crew members immediately looked forward.
At first, the shapes in the distance looked like mountains rising from the sea.
But mountains did not stand upright.
As the ship drew closer, the truth became clearer.
Statues.
Humongous statues.
Warriors carved from black stone towered above the ocean itself, so massive that clouds drifted around their shoulders.
Each held different weapons.
Spears.
Swords.
Shields.
Axes.
Their armor carried countless engravings while long cloaks of carved stone flowed behind them toward the sea.
Every face looked stern.
Judging.
Dominating.
Even Ragnar looked small beneath them.
One sailor swallowed hard.
“Every damn time…”
Dren laughed nervously.
“Makes you feel tiny, doesn’t it?”
Nobody disagreed.
The statues marked the outer waters of Spartan.
And they carried purpose beyond symbolism.
Tigi knew soldiers lived within them.
Observation towers were hidden inside the structures themselves, allowing Spartan to monitor incoming vessels from miles away.
And these were not checkpoints yet.
Just warnings.
You are entering Spartan.
Behave accordingly.
The sea traffic increased steadily the closer they came.
Merchant ships, military vessels, fishing fleets, transport barges.
Everything moved with structure.
With order.
The first checkpoint finally appeared near sunset.
A massive iron platform floated across the water with Spartan soldiers stationed along every edge.
Their armor gleamed dark silver beneath the fading light while large tower shields rested beside mounted ballistae.
Some soldiers were larger than Ragnar himself.
One stepped forward as Tigi’s ship approached.
“State vessel designation and purpose.”
“Tide Runner,” Tigi answered calmly.
“Merchant transport returning from Felaris.”
The soldier’s sharp eyes moved across the crew.
“You encountered trouble.”
“Pirates.”
“Casualties?”
“Not on our side.”
The Spartan soldier nodded once and signaled forward.
“Proceed.”
The second checkpoint inspected all cargo, weapons, and storage compartments.
The third demanded permits and travel authorization.
The fourth separated crew members individually for questioning.
One Spartan officer sat across from Dren with a blank expression.
“Name.”
“Dren.”
“Occupation.”
“Sailor.”
“Any diseases?”
“Only debt.”
The Spartan officer stared at him silently.
Dren coughed.
“…That was a joke.”
“I know.”
Dren somehow felt more nervous afterward.
The fifth checkpoint questioned Tigi separately from the crew.
The sixth tested everyone aboard for infections, sea sicknesses, parasites, ship fever, Flux contamination, and hygiene-related diseases.
Nobody was spared inspection.
The seventh inspected the ship itself to determine if it was structurally fit for Spartan ports.
The eighth reviewed cargo documentation before stamping approvals onto thick sheets of paper.
At the ninth checkpoint, every crew member was forced to bathe completely naked using salt, vinegar, and crushed lime.
Ragnar stared down at the barrel beside him.
“I survived Leviathan for this.”
One Spartan soldier shrugged.
“Leviathan doesn’t spread infections.”
The tenth checkpoint held them overnight at a guarded tavern near the docks where physicians observed everyone for delayed symptoms or illnesses.
The eleventh checkpoint collected every piece of clothing worn during the voyage and burned them.
And finally, at the twelfth checkpoint, a Spartan officer approached Tigi personally.
“Have you entered Spartan before?”
“Yes.”
“How many times?”
“Four.”
The officer studied him briefly before nodding.
“You know the regulations.”
“I do.”
“Then welcome back to Spartan.”
The massive gates behind the checkpoint slowly opened.
Beyond them stretched the distant shoreline of the empire itself.
Even after all the inspections, all the delays, and all the checkpoints, the sight still stunned the crew every single time.
Spartan.
The empire where power was not hidden.
It was displayed openly for the world to witness.