A spiraled spear made of limestone grazed the nerd's glasses.
Thunk!
His eyes widened when he saw the spear pierce straight through a coral and leave a gaping hole.
The fish-man, with a mouth that resembled a piranha, leapt toward the nerd. But that was exactly what he wanted.
Quickly calculating the creature's mass and the force behind its leap, he knew it would work.
As the monster landed on the coral he had been standing on, Simon calmly jumped to the side.
And with a calm smile, he waved.
"Bye bye"
The coral he had just stood on wasn't the thickest, and by attracting the spear to the point where it branched off from the main body, it wasn't hard to weaken the structure enough for the big half-fish to break it.
The creature plummeted down the coral towers, but Simon knew it wouldn't die. They were fish, after all.
Crack!
The sound confirmed what he refused to look at. Just below, dozens of sharp, spiraled towers several meters high were growing. They served perfectly to impale the monster
.
On the other side of the battlefield...
Talon was surrounded, on both sides of the bridge made from that damned massive tower that had been toppled on purpose. Two of those monsters in their twisted fish forms were staring him down.
But his eyes were on the boys on the other side. An even bigger smile spread across his lips.
"Just as I thought. Monsters with the appearance of innocent people... Cunning. But they don't have what it takes to be a tyrant... At least not yet." Talon's conviction about knowing the purpose came from far more than just speculation.
Back at the start, after sealing the pact with the tentacled creature, his bracelet had displayed Path of the Tyrant of the Seas.
It was pretty obvious what destiny had been sealed for him the moment that damn devil saved him.
The amphibious creatures got tired of waiting and jumped with their spears toward the young captain.
His instincts made him duck, and the creatures had to halt their attack or risk impaling each other. And that was the opportunity Talon needed.
In a single motion, their throats were slashed, and two bodies fell below the bridge toward the sea.
"Come on... If you don't show up, they're all going to die... You wouldn't let that happen, right?" the demonic voice of the young captain echoed in his mind. He had been plotting ever since he noticed the movement pattern on his Scan.
A few more minutes and another half-fish man being killed by the twins were needed for what Talon had been waiting for to finally show itself.
Splash!
Raaaaaahhhnnnnn!
The surface of the water broke, and something leapt between Talon and one of the creatures that was still surrounding him.
A massive half-fish.
All these creatures were big, at least 2 meters tall. But the one before him easily broke past 3 meters.
Apparently, it was a female version of the species. She wore two starfish-shaped corals to cover her bust, and a skirt made of bluish algae that matched perfectly with her deep blue shimmering scales.
But what drew Talon's attention the most was the damn weapon in her hand.
The closest thing to a halberd, being used by the creature as a medium-length spear. Its shaft was covered in corals as dark blue as the night sky. Its blade was pale like moonlight, and Talon believed it had been forged from the limestone towers.
But how? Only the devil would know.
A deep hatred showed on the fish-woman's face. Clearly, those males belonged to her. Probably, her species was composed of warrior females, and they were both her infantry soldiers and sexual partners.
"Sorry for ruining your late-night fuck, sweetheart, but I think you won't be needing that anymore since you're going to die here."
There it was. That sadistic grin of someone who had been in control all along.
This whole battle had been a well-set ambush, but the young captain had turned the game the moment he stopped the ship.
During the entire battle, someone had been missing. Someone with extraordinary aim and strength enough to move the cannons silently.
Talon was sure the old retired marine had understood this was the plan.
The sound of a fuse burning echoed in Talon's ears, and the fish-woman leader sensed the danger too late.
BOOOOOOM!
BOOOOOOM!
Two cannon shots sent the battlefield into complete silence. Right in front of Talon, the leader's body was being shredded and burned. The synthetic force threw her far, back into the sea, but not before the young captain stole her blade.
"Well, looting your weapon wasn't my goal. But I appreciate the sponsorship."
What followed was a massacre.
It didn't take long for the males to follow their female leader's fate.
Talon stared at the green water and arrived just in time to see dozens of sharp teeth devouring the fallen creatures.
A swarm of living coral shaped like sharks was shredding the monsters like it was nothing. Even their weapons were being eaten.
"Captain?" the old man and the whole crew were already back inside the galleon, and Talon gave the sea one last glance before jumping on deck and barking his orders.
"Use only one powder barrel! Don't waste it, Simon!" Talon could've done that earlier, but he would've missed the perfect opportunity to find out what those creatures were and trap them in their own ambush.
Soon, Simon's calculated explosion brought down and shattered most of the obstacle, opening the way for the galleon to pass.
"What were those creatures in the sea, Captain?" one of the twins asked, terrified.
"Good thing you told us not to go into the sea, those corals would've devoured us." the other twin added.
"I have no idea, but if I had to guess, boys... Those were the reason this place is called the Sea of Coral Sharks. A damn race of sharks that fused their skin with the environment. Or the corals came to life... And that's going to be a serious problem."