Yu Chen hit the ground hard, but he rolled to his feet in an instant, scrambling to dodge the incoming blow.

  Thankfully it never arrived.

  Sun Yuan had seen the tentacle at the same time he had, letting out a startled gasp from behind before flooding qi into the wheel beneath his hands. A familiar force billowed out around the ship, forming into a brilliant wave of iridescent light that intercepted the blow before it could land. The tentacle battered against the shield, but it didn’t so much as flicker beneath the attack. But the Lady wasn't done. A few hexagonal shapes sprang into being against the inside of the shield, hovering there for a brief moment before spinning in place and locking together in a sudden flurry of motion. They multiplied rapidly, and before long they covered it completely, reinforcing the hazy shield.

  The tentacle continued slapping against the empowered shield, but the only thing it accomplished was causing one of the masts to occasionally flicker for a brief moment. The ship also seemed to be far better at channeling spiritual energy than it had been before, and it was even more efficient. Yu Chen felt as though the thing could beat against the shield all day and never break in.

  Whatever was within the water seemed to agree. A second tentacle rose from the river, joining the first. A third, and then a fourth followed, encircling the ship. Yu Chen grimaced, a shiver running down his spine at the sight of the horror he’d only half-seen before, lurking in the darkness of the river below. The creature’s bulbous skin was a dark, inky-black that glistened under the harsh light of the midday sun. It was thick and fleshy, the underside facing Yu Chen lined with massive suction cups dripping with river water.

  He only had a split second to stare at them before they whistled through the air, joining the first to slam against the shields in a wild, rhythmic beat. Thankfully Yu Chen felt no mad scrabble in his mind at the sight. The otherworldly runes scrawled into its flesh had glowed in the depths of the river, but beneath the bright sun of day they’d practically disappeared from sight. Not that it seemed to have affected the beast any. Every blow landed with the full force it had below.

  “Serbo!” Yu Chen called out, wheeling around to look for the barbarian. The man nodded, sprinting towards the forecastle, where the ballista was already rising to the deck. They’d fought together enough times by now that everyone knew what to do. Sun Yuan had activated it, and a moment later the hull slid back, revealing the cannon ports in the side of the ship.

  Serbo leapt aboard the ballista while it was still in motion, spinning it around and taking aim at one of the tentacles. He yelled something unintelligible before firing. The world went white. Yu Chen’s world flashed for the briefest of moments as a bolt of lightning cut across the sky, blasting a hole in one of the tentacles and sending a wave of viscera raining through the air. The blow had pierced through it entirely, leaving an empty hole as large around as a man’s waist. The wounded tentacle writhed in pain, waving around wildly in the air as the other three slammed down in fury. The beast was enraged, beating at them with all its might, but the shield held firm against the onslaught.

  Yu Chen blinked, shocked at the effectiveness of the weapon, but Serbo let out a wild howl, before unleashing hell. He began firing without letting up, sending blinding bolts of jagged lightning streaking through the space between them. The sudden attack left the tentacle riddled with holes and leaking purple blood from a dozen wounds.

  It appeared the beast had enough. A keening warble rose up from beneath the waves as the water began frothing ominously. A shadow formed as the tentacles sank beneath the surface, gradually growing larger as something shifted in the waters below. Then it breached, and Yu Chen felt his stomach sink as a single malevolent eye rolled open, staring directly at him. It was frightfully familiar, a monstrous thing he thought he’d never see again.

  Serbo au Serbo didn’t hesitate before firing again.

  The world flashed white once more, but the expected roar of pain never followed. Yu Chen blinked, raising a hand to rub the stars out of his vision. His hand never quite made it, frozen midair as his eyes widened in disbelief. A massive wall of water had risen up between them, so thick the light could hardly permeate it, but there was enough to show the silhouette of the monster still lurking within the depths.

  Serbo frowned at the sight, biting his lip in frustration. He continued firing, but the bolts of lightning couldn’t penetrate the depths of the wave. The attacks struck with force, gouging holes in the wall of water, but the elemental energy inevitably took the path of least resistance, skittering across the surface instead.

  He let out a low curse in that guttural language of his, but Yu Chen paid him no mind, turning towards Sun Yuan.

  “Spin the ship,” he yelled, motioning with his finger. The boy gave him a curt nod, spinning the wheel beneath his hand as he brought the cannons along the side to bear on the wall of water.

  He was just in time as the silhouette shot through the wave, rapidly growing in their vision until it broke free of the surface. Yellow droplets of water were flung through the air as it spiraled through the sky above the river, revealing its true form to the light of day.

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  It was a terrible, loathsome thing… but beautiful, in the way of things that were truly strange. Yu Chen felt something shudder inside him at the sight, knowing he was seeing something few men ever did. A true wonder of the Yellow River. The colossal squid was so massive it beggared belief, and it radiated a palpable sense of danger with its one ruined eye and viciously hooked beak. Its inky flesh, rubbery and covered in the scars of battle, was an advantageous adaptation for a beast that hunted in the depths, but it appeared starkly alien against a backdrop of glimmering beams of sunlight.

  Yu Chen took a step back as that hooked beak opened, although whether it intended to shout in challenge or do something more sinister still, he would never know.

  Because that was the moment Xue Lan fired the cannons, unleashing a thunderous roar that filled the air and sent the boat rocking backwards. A dozen and a half projectile of pure energy flew forward, among them a few familiar attacks Yu Chen recognized. Others he didn’t, such as the lances of concentrated qi that licked out, biting deep into the beast’s flesh as though honed to a razor’s edge. There were spectral orbs of dark energy as well that cackled as they cut through the air, although beneath it there was something that sounded suspiciously close to the wail of lost spirits.

  The old attacks were even more impressive than before. The searing projectiles they’d started with now unfurled in the air, blossoming into flowers of spiraling flames, while the shards of glacial energy were now cold enough to freeze the river as they flew over it. Each attack was a manifestation of raw, condensed power that was shaped to a deadly form.

  Whatever sound the beast had been about to make cut off into a howl of pain as the attacks detonated against it in an explosion of tumultuous energy. That howl rose until it culminated into a crescendo loud enough to pierce Yu Chen’s eardrums. He was prepared for it this time, having long since plugged his inner ears with a stopper of condensed qi. It was a technique he’d learned a long time ago from the small book of tricks he’d picked up back in the sect. It was commonly used among more powerful cultivators, but Yu Chen had never had reason to try it before.

  Eventually the keening warble came to a stop. They held their breath, watching as the smoke cleared to reveal the shredded form of the colossal squid. It was a sorry sight. One tentacle was missing completely, its wounded end dripping purple blood to mix into the water below. Another, previously riddled by holes, now hung on by a thread. The beast had used them to block its body, but the spaces it couldn’t protect were covered in gaping wounds large enough for Yu Chen to crawl in.

  But that terrible eye was still there, as bright as ever and full of a malevolence that had deepened into outright hate.

  Xue Lan screamed back at it, tears running down her face as she yelled obscenities towards the beast. It screeched back, and she yelled in rage, unleashing the cannons once more. The heavy artillery barked, but the squid was prepared this time, quickly shooting out of the way of the oncoming barrage.

  “Follow it!” She screamed towards Sun Yuan as her hair flew around her wildly. The boy obliged her, spinning the wheel in an attempt to remain aside the beast. It moved too fast, dodging any attempt to line it up with the cannons, so Serbo joined the fray, sending more bolts of lightning streaking through the sky above. His aim was uncanny, but the beast was cunning as it swam through the air, avoiding the attacks using trickery and the occasional burst of power.

  Serbo didn’t give up however, continuing to fire without concern for the energy he was burning, and though the beast continued dodging eventually one of the bolts landed true. The squid stuttered for the barest half second, unable to move as lightning raced through its veins, paralyzing it. That was enough time for Serbo au Serbo to land two more clean shots, wounding the beast further.

  The creature finally shook free with a mad roar, dashing away from them as it let out a howl of frustration that reverberated across the river. The water was sent dancing across the top of the waves and Yu Chen’s teeth rattled, but no one paid that any mind as the squid’s aura suddenly spiked. It hung above them in the sky, its fleshy form swelling even further before it sucked in, squirting out a wave of inky blackness that fell over them, shrouding the river in a nearly tangible darkness.

  Yu Chen’s heart leapt as he was plunged back into a darkness he’d only recently escaped, but he calmed himself, waiting patiently as Sun Yuan sent a surge of power racing through the ship, lighting up the spiritual lanterns hanging at the front and back and within the rigging. The light flared to life, but it was quickly stifled, barely strong enough to penetrate the blackness that pressed down from all sides. It was as though that darkness was a living thing that raged against the light, refusing to allow it to spread as far as it rightfully should. Instead, it was forced into an imperfect sphere, one that wasn’t allowed to extend more than a few feet beyond the edge of the shield.

  His thoughts were interrupted as a tentacle, glowing with an eldritch light erupted out of the darkness to smash down upon them. Then another blow came and another, each one sending the ship bobbing through the waves. Yu Chen couldn’t track them, couldn’t make heads nor tails of where the beast lurked in the dark. It was as though the squid had disappeared, and they were fighting the darkness itself, transformed into an incomprehensible being with an endless number of arms.

  They came from every side, appearing and disappearing in a wave of unrelenting force before Serbo had time to draw a bead. Then the water appeared, first falling against the shield like a gentle rain, growing into a howling storm that transitioned into a veritable flood. Battering rams of dark water interspersed with the tentacles that beat at them. The monster pulled at the river below them, drawing up tendrils of water that it threaded through the inky blackness, forging itself the simulacrum of a false domain.

  Something caught Yu Chen’s eye. A swirl in the darkness as something moved, pressing forward and resolving into the shape of a single malevolent eye. Yu Chen met the eye as it glared down at them. Then the eye flashed, something strange happening as it impressed itself upon not only him, but the world around them. He groaned, clapping his hand as it forced an unwelcome thought into his mind, a Concept he’d never thought of before. Water-darkness. It was home, it was all the world, not two distinct things but one immutable truth that it felt in its bones. Yu Chen let out a gasp, feeling reality itself shudder around him as it almost, but not quite, bent to the Concept being forced upon it.

  “Fire!” Yu Chen yelled, his heart racing as panic crept into his voice.

  The Lady was more than a match for this monster, but who knew what would happen if it stepped into the next stage.