The storm did not stop when the lightning struck him.
It grew worse.
Kael lay on the shattered remains of the deck, seawater crashing over his body as thunder roared above. His vision blurred, ears ringing, lungs burning from salt and smoke.
But the pain in his chest…
That was different.
It wasn't normal pain.
It was heat.
A burning symbol beneath his skin pulsed like a living heart.
He forced his eyes open.
The pirate ship was sinking.
Men screamed as the mast snapped in half. Cannon fire echoed from the distance — another ship, its black sails cutting through the rain like a predator closing in.
The skull insignia glowed faintly under flashes of lightning.
They weren't here to capture.
They were here to erase.
Kael tried to stand but collapsed to one knee.
Then—
The symbol on his chest flared bright blue.
The ocean around him went silent.
Not calm.
Silent.
As if the sea itself was holding its breath.
"What… is this…?" he whispered.
A voice answered.
Not from the sky.
Not from the ship.
From within him.
"Bearer detected."
His heartbeat stopped.
"Relic of the Abyss… activated."
The sea exploded upward.
Water spiraled around him, rising in a towering vortex. Pirates nearby stared in horror as the waves curved unnaturally, bending toward Kael as if obeying him.
A bullet fired toward his head—
The water froze mid-air.
The metal dropped harmlessly into the sea.
Kael stared at his trembling hand.
The ocean moved when he moved.
His fear turned into something else.
Understanding.
The enemy ship drew closer.
A massive figure stood at its front — a man in a dark captain's coat, silver hair slicked back, eyes cold and calculating.
"Impossible," the captain muttered. "The Abyss Mark vanished a century ago."
Kael didn't know what that meant.
But his body did.
Power surged through his veins like lightning made liquid.
The vortex around him condensed.
Then shot forward.
A wave like a blade sliced across the enemy ship's hull.
Wood shattered.
Men screamed.
The captain's eyes narrowed.
"So it chose you," he murmured.
The vortex faded.
Kael collapsed, breath ragged.
The mark dimmed, but it did not disappear.
The storm slowly began to calm.
Burning debris floated around him.
His ship was gone.
The enemy ship was crippled but not destroyed.
Through blurred vision, he saw the silver-haired captain staring directly at him.
Not with anger.
With interest.
"Find him," the captain ordered quietly.
Kael fell into the sea.
Darkness swallowed him.
But the water did not feel cold.
It felt…
Alive.
And it carried him away.