Chapter 1083: Assailant’s Wind.
The night had teeth.
Black clouds pressed low against the horizon, broken only by the jagged flashes of lightning that illuminated the steel monsters ahead. The fleet stretched wide across the sea, engines growling like chained beasts, cannons glistening with the hunger of war.
Cain stood at the prow, his cloak thrashing in the storm winds, rain streaking across his face like claws. His blade was unsheathed now, steel glimmering every time lightning split the sky. The sea churned below, restless, alive, answering his pulse with its own.
Susan gripped the railing beside him, pale but defiant, her ribs bound tight, her cigarette extinguished by the storm. "So this is it," she said, raising her voice over the roar. "The part where you make good on your promise and bring gods to their knees."
Cain didn’t look at her. His gaze was locked on the leading ship—the one with the prow carved into a gaping maw. Its lights cut through the storm like the gaze of a predator. His silence was answer enough.
Steve’s voice crackled over the comm, distorted by interference. "Cain, I’m reading weapons hot. They’re ready to turn the sea into fire the second you close in. This isn’t a fight—it’s an execution."
Cain lifted his sword, rainwater streaming down its edge. "Then let’s rewrite the script."
The first barrage came in a thunderous volley. Shells tore through the night, screaming arcs of fire that lit the sea like a second dawn. The vessel lurched violently as Cain and Susan dove aside, shrapnel whistling overhead. Waves exploded into geysers around them, salt and steel raining back down.
Susan pulled herself upright, blood soaking through her bandages. "We’re not going to survive this."
Cain turned, eyes burning with a feral light. "Survival isn’t the point."
Before she could answer, he leapt. One instant he was on the deck, the next he was in the storm, propelled across the gap by sheer will—or something deeper, something older. His cloak flared like wings as his boots slammed onto the enemy’s steel hull. The fleet’s alarms wailed louder, soldiers scrambling on deck, rifles snapping to their shoulders.
Bullets screamed toward him. Cain moved like a shadow unbound by flesh, his blade singing arcs of silver through the rain. Steel split, men fell, gunfire drowned beneath the storm’s fury. Every strike carried not just strength but inevitability, as though the sea itself guided his hand.
From the smaller vessel, Susan shouted hoarsely, "Cain!" She had seized a mounted rifle, firing bursts into the chaos to cover him. Her body was trembling, broken, but her aim was merciless.
The comm hissed again with Steve’s panic. "Cain, they’re rerouting power to the main cannons. If they fire, it’s over. You’ll be swallowed whole!"
Cain drove his blade through the chest of a soldier, wrenching it free as lightning flared above. His voice carried through the storm. "Then we tear out their heart first."
He sprinted across the deck, cutting down everything in his path. Alarms blared louder, red lights spinning, the maw of the flagship glowing brighter as the main cannon charged. The air itself thickened, vibrating with deadly energy.
Susan fired until the rifle clicked empty, then cursed and hurled it aside. She stumbled toward the prow, gripping the comm. "Steve, guide me! What do I hit to buy him time?"
"Starboard engines!" Steve barked. "If you cripple propulsion, the cannon can’t align properly."
She found the smaller vessel’s last missile, her hands shaking as she locked coordinates. "Come on, come on..." The missile launched with a deafening roar, streaking through the storm before slamming into the flagship’s side. Fire erupted, steel bending, the ship shuddering under the impact.
Cain didn’t hesitate. He used the moment, carving his way forward as the deck tilted beneath him. Explosions rocked the hull, smoke mixing with rain, screams vanishing beneath the storm. At last, he reached the core of the beast—the control deck sealed behind layers of armored glass.
The cannon’s glow blazed brighter. Its maw trembled with restrained annihilation.
Cain slammed his blade into the reinforced glass. Once. Twice. Sparks flew, the storm itself seeming to shriek with him. On the third strike, the glass shattered, shards whipping past his face. He stepped inside.
Officers turned in horror, some reaching for sidearms, others frozen in disbelief. Cain’s blade answered them all. Blood painted the walls, mixing with the static glow of the consoles. He cut through to the control systems, sparks bursting as steel severed circuits. The cannon’s charging hum faltered, broke, died.
For a moment, the storm went eerily quiet. The sea’s roar hushed. The fleet’s heart stuttered.
Then the main gun detonated from within.
Cain dove clear as the flagship’s spine split open, fire climbing into the heavens. The explosion tore through steel and sky alike, the monstrous maw ripped apart by its own hunger. Flames reflected on the water, an artificial sunrise in the storm.
Susan’s broken voice carried through the comm, equal parts triumph and exhaustion. "You... you actually did it."
Cain landed hard on the smaller vessel as debris rained into the sea. He rose slowly, rain washing blood from his blade. His expression was unreadable, but his words were steady.
"One ship falls. The war doesn’t."
The horizon still bristled with silhouettes—more engines, more guns, more monsters waiting in the storm.
Susan sank against the railing, too tired to speak. Steve’s voice crackled in, grim. "Cain... if that’s just their opening hand, what the hell’s waiting deeper in the deck?"
Cain tightened his grip on the hilt, eyes fixed on the burning wreckage of the flagship as it sank into the abyss. His cloak whipped in the storm, defiant against the sea’s fury.
"Then we drag them all down. One fortress at a time."
The fleet answered with another volley. And Cain, blade in hand, moved to meet it.
Cain steadied his breath, lightning flashing overhead. The deck trembled beneath him, but his resolve held, unbroken, sharp as the storm.