Siren's Kiss

62: Linked

As they surfaced, a distant sound echoed around them—loud, angry, violent.

They gazed across the water just as the serpentine head, crowned with jagged spines, emerged. Its massive, slick scales shimmered under the dim, stormy sky. Cold, glowing eyes surveyed the area with a calculating gaze. Something seemed to catch its attention, and its head shifted toward the small figure swimming steadily ahead.

It was Ciel. The siren moved without fear, undeterred by the creature thrashing its sinewy tail through the waves, stirring a tempest in its wake. As the leviathan fully emerged, a deep, reverberating roar shattered the air, sending ripples towards the approaching siren prince—a harbinger of destruction roused from its slumber.

Drake's eyes narrowed as he watched from afar, Hawk, Purity, and Rowan standing behind him. "Oi!" Hawk shouted. "We're just going to stand here? You're really letting Ciel swim straight at that thing?"

As much as Drake wanted to shout Ciel's name, he held back. Ciel had asked him to trust him—trust the god who had chosen him as its champion. Inside, Drake was already unraveling. The creature was a hundred times Ciel's size, and there was no way he could defeat it, unless...

"Drake!" Purity cried out, unable to bear it any longer.

"Hold yer position!" Drake snapped, his voice firm.

Ciel pressed forward, swimming against the tide, battling the currents trying to pull him off course. His heart pounded in his chest, but he knew that to defeat this beast, he had to trust the Phoenix God and fully embrace who he was.

Ciel hovered just above the surface, his ethereal beauty a striking contrast to the monstrous leviathan looming before him. The creature released a guttural roar, and though Ciel's face remained serene, a fierce determination twisted his expression. Then, he opened his mouth—and sang.

The sound that escaped him was eerie, a haunting melody that reverberated across the waters. The ocean responded to his call, bubbling violently as Ciel began to transform.

"You've done well," came a voice he hadn't heard in what felt like an eternity. "Now trust your instincts. Believe in who you truly are."

"I trust you," Ciel whispered. "Now, show me why you chose me as your champion."

Ciel's delicate form began to warp, his once graceful tail splitting and twisting into massive, writhing tentacles that stretched deep into the dark waters below. His arms elongated, darkening as they transformed into powerful sinewy appendages lined with jagged suckers. In an instant, his once-beautiful face contorted into something ancient and fearsome, eyes glowing with an abyssal hunger. The siren was gone, replaced by a creature of raw, terrifying power.

Drake, along with Hawk, Purity, and Rowan, could barely comprehend what they were witnessing. Ciel—he had been the legendary Azure Kraken all along! The tales of the mysterious beast sinking ships and slaughtering the inhabitants of the Seven Seas now seemed like nothing but twisted rumors.

With a deafening screech, Ciel surged toward the leviathan, his countless limbs coiling tightly around the sea monster, unleashing his raw, primal power against the beast's ancient might.

The sea heaved in violent swells as the Azure Kraken and the Leviathan collided, a storm of water and fury raging beneath the darkened sky. Though both creatures were massive, the Leviathan still loomed larger, appearing even more fearsome.

"Damnation!" Drake cursed, his breath ragged as he paced back and forth, his mind a storm of confusion. He had forgotten the eyes of Hawk, Purity, and Rowan were on him.