The Duke's Passion



834 A legendary creature he was so fond once

Meanwhile, inside the naval warships in the occan, soldiers from the Heart's Kingdom invaded the other ships. Cannon flew everywhere, giving sparks in the dark sky like stars in the night. The cries of war and the clash of metals resounded in the air.

With the Divine Order and Stefan - the king of the Heart's Kingdom - at the helm of this war, they quickly took the upper hand. Their enemies were capable elite knights; they were knights trained to battle in the ocean. Thus, even without any proper leader leading them, they still managed to hold off Stefan's forces. But not enough to stop them from advancing.

Stefan and the Divine Order destroyed multiple warships already whilst inflicting minor casualties. Even though this wasn't the type of war they were used to, they still dominated their enemies until the shore of the Land of Spade was in sight.

However, just as they thought their goals were within their reach, the war took an abrupt pause. Both forces from the Spade and the Heart's Kingdom stopped fighting as the surface they were standing on shook violently. Some lost their balance and fell, sliding as the ship tilted. Others managed to grab onto anything to keep themselves from falling.

Stefan, who was still on the main ship of the Heart's Kingdom, grabbed onto the deck. His eyes snapped open at the bloodcurdling growl that resonated in the air. He still hadn't known what caused the violent tremors and the cause of the splash of water that quickly disguised itself as rain, but his gut feeling already told him whatever it was meant trouble.

"What the hell is that?" Stefan heard a soldier's shaking voice after a moment, making Stefan lift his head.

What Stefan first saw was a gigantic thing wiggling from underneath the water to the sky. It took him a few seconds to realize they were monstrous tentacles that reached past the ship's mast, piercing the dark sky.

His heart instantly pounded against his chest and for a moment, that was all Stefan heard echoing in his cars.

"A Kraken...?" he blurted out under his breath, recalling this famous fable he only heard when he was a child.

Where did he read it again?

"Right..." he whispered as he remembered where he first heard of such a creature. "... from Ameria."

Ameria Grimsbanne.

Ameria was Samael, Lucia, and Dyrroth's biological mother. She was also the Queen of the Heart's Kingdom and the Queen Mother of all the King's children. She was legally every La Crox's mother even if she wasn't the one who birthed them.

Ameria was a good woman even though Stefan barely have memories with her. One particular memory Stefan could remember was when Ameria would enthusiastically tell them stories. For Stefan, it was the reason Samael chose to go around as a vagabond and enjoyed a life full of adventures. Ameria liked adventures, and she always bragged about her journey before settling down.

There was also this book Samael wrote where there was a creature which was a Kraken. Stefan knew that story from cover to cover, as it was one of his favorite books to read. In that story, the Kraken was a powerful creature that reside deep underwater, but it was actually a kind one. Unlike its monstrous appearance and destructive strength, the Kraken was actually a kind soul. The very reason it resided deep in the occan was to not scare anyone.

A piercing scream brought Stefan back to his senses, wincing as he felt like his eardrum would explode at this thin and sharp noise. Many knights covered their cars, but some weren't quick enough to do so. Their cars bled, and those who were near the source of the piercing sound had also shed tears of blood.

The piercing noise lasted for a minute, but it killed many soldiers. Most of those who didn't survive it had bleeding ears and eyes. The worst ones lost their eyes as if it was popped like a balloon.

Another echoing roar followed the piercing scream before one of the gigantic tentacles moved. It instantly split the warship near Stefan's in half.

Boogsh!

Stefan's eyes were dilated, holding his breath. His gaze was fixed on the Kraken and his grip on the railing tightened, knowing this would be a tough battle to overcome. Such a legendary creature... wouldn't just die in a single slash. It had skin as thick as metals and, with its size, it wouldn't be surprising if the warships would get destroyed in a matter of minutes.

This was bad.

"It's coming!!" A knight's shout echoed in the air after another minute as the other tentacle moved again. This time, it was aiming at Stefan's ship.

"We cannot set sail," mumbled Stefan while the people behind him frantically ran around to move the ship. Even though the Kraken's movements were slow, it wasn't slow enough for them to get away.

Stefan calmed himself down, thinking of how to save all his people. They couldn't row their way to the land, it was still too far. If they desert the ship, the Kraken attacked would just attack the ships again and they would have to keep deserting them.

What should they do?

"Attack it..." Stefan clenched his teeth at the only answer he got. "... damn it!"

Attacking it was easy, but then again, if it fought back, they would lose the ships faster. Why? Because this creature's attack was so powerful it could wipe the ship. Fighting without any land to stand on wasn't ideal.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"It seems there's nothing..." Stefan trailed off, turning his head in a particular direction. When his eyes landed on the land in the distance, he caught a familiar figure waving to get his attention. "Claude?"

Claude was just the size of an ant. They were that far from each other. However, seeing that Claude was there, Stefan suddenly had an idea. Claude was making silly and big gestures to relay a message, but none of it made sense to Stefan. Still, he didn't need to understand what Claude

was saying.

"Maxine!!!" Stefan roared, getting this Divine Bearer's attention and all of those who heard his voice. "Take one ship and go straight to the Land of Spade. Will hold this creature off."

"Claude is there. He will assist you!" he added at the top of his lungs, wielding his sword as he called, 'Lancelot. Let's slice this thing up."

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