"Operation successful. Moving to phase two."
Raymond's words were soft yet resolute as he stared down upon the dark seawater, basked in gray fog.
His navy hair, streaked with gray, blew gently in the stormy wind as he looked downward at the radio transponder.
As he heard the sound of the device clicking off, he stared somberly into the distance, unsure of why someone from a rich noble family was working under him.
It made him sick that such an individual would be allowed to join the Order, even after the sudden loss of the lower three ranks.
Arianna, Sylvia, and even Adam had all but been confirmed dead in the aftermath of Sea Fallen.
Reports had been brought by the boss's strange new form, one that resembled a monster from the depths of hell.
The two girls who had been as close as sisters had met their end at the hand of Lepaie Quinn, the master of the Sea of Dreams.
At the time, he had waited for another document related to his protégé, Adam, yet, whether it be a stroke of luck or a bait cast into the vast sea, he received nothing.
Assuming the worst, he moved on, his only connection to the 'new' version of the Order fading away with Adam's disappearance.
However, now, under a direct command from the boss, he was to lead the unsealing effort, awakening an ancient being far beyond humanity's control.
Blinking away the pensive thoughts, he felt a strange disturbance in the barrier he had placed around the city, one that betrayed a certain presence.
And as the strongest of the Seven Head Order, only second to the boss himself, he knew with absolute certainty that he had arrived.
"I have nearly forgotten what it felt like."
Raymond whispered under his breath, sitting down along the pier, as he gazed in the direction of the Abyss.
"The thrill of a battle."
…
Young Akari Ayaka sat pale-faced in her chair as she nervously observed the intimidating man ahead of her, one who held such strength that he could obliterate her in a moment.
After she had mentioned Aaron's mission, he had paused, frozen in place as if in deep thought.
Meredith had eyed him strangely before rambling on again about how the Grimstall family had seemed nice when she had met them.
It didn't matter, though, as the only voice of authority within the room was silent, pondering something beyond the realm of possibility.
The heavy quiet continued for minutes, tension building in the air before the man finally stood, eye twitching slightly.
Opening his mouth, his voice was deep, condescending, and powerful.
"My presence has come to be known. They have arrived here for the seal."
This wasn't the tone he used to talk to his grandmother; this was the tone of a Sea King, and not just any, but one called the second greatest in history.
His sudden change in posture, mood, and even aura alerted both women that the situation had taken a dire turn.
The mention of the Order sent a chill down his grandmother's back as she remembered the years spent in war, bloodshed soaking cities for kilometers.
Nodding her head somberly, Meredith patted the man's back, a strange green mist billowing out of his belt.
Without a moment's delay, the nicely knit sweater vanished, replaced with a thick leather jacket strapped to the brim with weaponry.
Revealing the man's chest, his chiseled figure was visible in full, deep gashes that pulsed a sickly crimson appeared near his pectoral muscles.
Akari nearly gasped at the instantaneous change, yet managed to hold herself back, a grim look falling over her face.
Vaelmyr's eyes landed on the girl, a streak of sadness spreading across his face as he realized something grave.
"Bring this to Camilla Buckley immediately."
Out of his coat pocket, he pulled out a small, neatly rolled scroll of paper, which was tightly bound with an elegant knot.
"Take any vessel from the harbor regardless of whether it's a theft or not. You are capable enough to do this."
He paused again, noticing the look of confusion befalling the girl's expression.
"Do not worry. Nobody innocent will grace the depths of hell today. You are leaving to bring this message to her and nowhere else. Do you understand?"
Akari's heart raced as adrenaline coursed through her body, the calmness of the man's words being contrasted by the sheer absurdity of them.
However, disregarding her fears and cowardice, she nodded slowly, warranting a pleased grin from the Sea King.
In an instant, the smile disappeared from his lips, and he uttered the last words he would speak to the pink-haired girl that day.
"Brace for impact."
Akari could only blink, concerned at what his words meant before the world shattered, her body dissolving into constructs beyond human comprehension.
Her physical form was gone, her soul moving through time and space like a kite led around by the King.
There was no thought, no feeling, not even a sound as reality itself stretched and turned, spitting the girl out into a pile of crates.
Groaning lightly, the pink-haired girl reached for her back, pain coursing through her body as she tried to stand.
Slipping open her eyelids, the world spun, colors dancing and vibrations gaining new light.
Resisting the urge to vomit, the girl propped herself against the wooden boxes to regain stability, breathing heavily until she felt well enough to inspect her surroundings.
Slowly, with much effort, she realized she was sitting atop the deck of a massive vessel, one with a charred base.
Its masts hung high into the sky with an ethereal green flame billowing with the screams of the damned.
In every sense of the word, this ship that she sat on encompassed the name granted to the most incredible vessels in the world.
Ghostship.
And as she basked in the madness of her entire body reforming quickly, she now had to grasp the concept that she, a fifteen-year-old girl, was sitting aboard a vessel of immeasurable strength.
I should have gone straight back after the mission…
…
Cold water sloshed against the cave's interior as three figures emerged from it, surrounded by a massive air bubble, clothing dry, bodies warm.
The first to speak was the silver-haired man with golden eyes, Stein Brevmore, previous owner of the Belvedere Casino.
With an insane, psychopathic smile, he shouted at the top of his lungs, enthusiasm clear across his face.
"How fantastic! A cave of wonders and death!"
While the man frolicked around like a child, the actual child, Esme Blair, could only shake her head in disapproval as she clutched her book close to her chest.
Sunset was near, with the rising of the moon signaling the grand start of the dangerous mission that would risk their lives.
Her original staff had been shattered, much to the disappointment of the sentimental girl who had treasured it like a mother her child.
Yet now, under the authority of the Devourer of Worlds, Nidhogg, and the devil who inhabited the Horned Man's body, she had gained something far stronger.
A staff forged from star-metal, an alloy so mana-rich that it could power the entire city of Sea Fallen for decades.
After a recovery mission near the Bay of Thorn, they had taken a meteorite from the laboratory belonging to the King of those parts, and forged her new weapon in a two-month timespan.
Now, as she stood in the cave's entrance, the mana inside the staff reacted to her own, illuminating the chamber with blinding ferocity.
The last of the three who had arrived was Raymond Filch, his appearance as serious as always, a low frown tugging at his lips.
Esme spoke to him quietly, pointing to an area close ahead with winding tubes that stretched for kilometers under the island.
"This way. He is waiting~"
There was no need to elaborate further; the idea of this mysterious god-like terror that had once dominated the World Between seeped into the two men's minds as they followed the child.
Each of them had their own opinions of the creature's return, neither positive, yet Stein knew that this was the way to achieve his dream.
He would plunge this world into undying chaos that would ripple across all of space-time, even affecting the beings that lurked in the Abyss.
On the other hand, Raymond believed that messing with powers beyond even the control of the Kings was a mistake, a single error dooming hundreds of realities to death.
However, even with these doubts in mind, they continued slowly behind the white-haired girl, never losing sight of her for even an instant.
For they had just entered the most elaborate trap in the world, one designed by ancient builders who had long died out.
In the years that had followed the imprisonment of a certain man, the Dimension of Waves had been tossed into turmoil.
Monsters that rivaled the gods tore through dimensional barriers, landing on this solitary ocean filled with an ocean together.
The Ten Great Ones, reduced to five in the modern day, three sealed and two awake, once roamed the sea.
Ancient humans fought endlessly against them to no use until the Ghostships emerged.
It was said in a textbook burned in the fires of Nautilus that when the full power of the world was united, only then could one hope to fight one of these beasts.
This rumor, of course, was not false.
Yet, centuries ago, at the birth of civilization, humanity had imprisoned those who held them hostage.
It was the highest accomplishment among the humans, a miracle only recorded by a fragment of the First King's diary.
This entry only mentioned the combined coalition of three Ghostships, unknown wielders, and unknown powers, yet equal to that of a Great One.
The greatest man in history was stumped by the past that made him an outlier.