Chapter 1004: Boiling Point
A heaviness took over the atmosphere, even more dark and pregnant than it had already been before. Just a single volley of this heavy rain had already taken so many lives, it was impossible to imagine a scenario where they could truly survive such an onslaught.
These whales came from the truest depths of the ocean. Their skin was so pale and sickly that it was impossible to conclude that they had ever seen even a drop of sunlight in their lives. But, this was also what gave them impossibly strong bodies.
Not only were their walls of tough, rubbery skin and thick blubber nearly impossible to penetrate, but their bones were used to the high pressure of the ocean"s deep waters. On top of this, their bodies were also suited to dealing with rapid changes in this pressure and had adapted such that they could use this to their advantage. The scariest truth that came from this was the fact that their abilities had nothing to do with the water pillars that came from their blowholes and was rather just a release of this obscene pressure their bodies were prepared to adapt to.
This was the true fearsome nature of the Dimensional Verse. These whales had yet to even display their true lethality and were only taking a breath… And yet, this singular breath had already cost the lives of hundreds.
Right that very moment, a third water pillar shot into the air as the third whale also took its breath.
An apocalyptic disaster fell from the skies. Water droplets as large as half a human"s body fell, keeping their shape and form beneath the globules of snot that came from the whale"s blowhole. Despite the grotesque image, each held a lethal capability of a small grenade, pelting holes even into the tough exterior of the remaining cruise s.h.i.+ps.
"We can"t continue to be pa.s.sive." Joel immediately took command.
It was one thing when they believed there had only been a single whale, but now that there were three they couldn"t continue to sit back and drain Milan of whatever small amount of stamina he had left. If they didn"t charge forward and end this quickly, there was no telling if these whales would take action again.
From experience, Joel knew that Invalids lacked intelligence but living oceanic beasts were no less crafty than humans were. Most of the Invalids had already been dealt with and it was clear at a glance that these three whales were normal beasts. If not for this, they wouldn"t have been patient enough to both evade Leonel"s detection and only attack at this crucial time. They had even staggered their appearances so they would be truly caught off guard.
Without Leonel here, it was a given that Joel would take the helm. Not a single one of them raised a word of protest.
"Arnold, how much do you have left in the tank?"
"However much is needed." Arnold replied plainly, neither his voice nor his expression having s.h.i.+fted a single iota since the very beginning.
"Milan, Drake. You two will be tasked with Raj and Allan"s safety. Raj, you and Allan will need to synergize for this. Just follow everything Allan says and it"ll be fine."
Clearly, Joel and Allan had a tacit understanding about something which didn"t need to be said aloud. Without even communicating, Allan had already sprung into action, his ability kicking into high gear as he gave Raj command after command.
Even though Raj was a jokester, he knew how to follow instructions and he most definitely knew when he needed to be serious.
"Gil and Franco. You two will support the Moon people."
When Joel said this, his gaze turned over to meet Karolus" eyes.
"Can you do it?"
Seeing the confidence in Joel"s gaze, Karolus was taken aback a bit. As far as he was concerned, he felt that Leonel was the leader of this group. What he hadn"t expected was for them to suddenly pull it together in the face of danger as though Leonel wasn"t needed at all.
But, this was exactly what the truth was. Leonel wasn"t needed. These eight had been surviving in the Dimensional Verse without Leonel by their side for years already. They weren"t the same as these Moon youths waiting for Karolus" action.
"I can take one." Karolus nodded.
Joel"s gaze flashed. "Good. Then we"ll take the other two."
Joel didn"t wait for a response as he dashed forward, cutting a path across the water. To his side, Arnold followed, sticking to him like glue.
To the two of them, nothing had changed. Joel was the captain of the defense, the head hunter at the linebacker position. As for Arnold, he was the anchor of the defensive line, the defensive tackle. It was his stability that allowed Joel to run wild.
When they came together, the world would feel their power.
The scene of two youth men streaking through the no man"s land between the three whales and what remained of their coastal defenses was imprinted onto the minds of all that were there. Whether consciously or unconsciously, they came to accept that there was still a chance to survive.
At that moment, the center whale opened its mouth, rows of brownish yellow bristles appearing. They looked absolutely harmless at first before they all turned rigid at once, lighting on fire in unison.
In a sight that was one for the ages, the bristles separated from the whale"s mouth, shooting out like arrows that rose the temperature of the surrounding oceans by dozens of degrees.
Under the astonished gazes of those watching on, and much to their horror, Joel and Arnold were swallowed by this follow of flaming bristles, a huge billow fog of steam rising from the air as the waters reached a boiling point.
At that moment, as the steam rose into the skies above, the slowly dispersing clouds suddenly regained their life, growing more and more powerful. The light drizzle of rain seemed to recover, a heavy precipitation weighing on all their souls once more.