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The leap that carried the fate of all did not disappoint them!
The sailor’s keen observation and perfect timing were matched by the bright moonlight and temporary calm of the waves. Heaven and earth stood with the sailor as he deftly leaped to the side of the whale-hunting Sea Demon.
Most crucially, the Sea Demon had its back to him, its naked back resembling the flesh awaiting slaughter on a cutting board under the ghastly moonlight.
Even fate stood with the sailor!
He raised his knife, the blade gleaming silver, and without hesitation, he thrust it forcefully towards the Sea Demon’s chest as it began to turn its head!
All eyes were fixed on this moment. They clenched their teeth, hearts pounding, waiting for the final outcome.
Success or failure, survival or death!
With a thud!
The Sea Demon’s tough hide only parted enough to show a bloody scratch when the knife came down. Although the sailor’s heart sank, he did not give up and prepared to swing a second blow!
However, he needed first to secure his footing; he had previously relied on the momentum from stepping on the railing to make his strike, but now, he needed something to brace his feet against to deliver the second blow.
Without hesitation, his legs hooked around the Sea Demon’s belly like claws.
They coiled around the Sea Demon like gnarled branches on an old tree, holding it tightly in place.
Once secure, the sailor again raised his knife and swung anew. Following the initial cut, this stroke went deeper, almost revealing bone!
He readied for a third blow! The sailor was sure, if this strike landed, it would pierce the Sea Demon’s heart!
Just as he was about to succeed, the Sea Demon, which had been passive until now, seized control of a wave as it felt its struggles to escape the human’s grip were futile. It ceased its struggle and instead manipulated the water.
In its haste, the Sea Demon could not complete the Trident’s Transmutation, so it altered its approach and transformed the water into a jet, targeting the human’s wrist instead.
The force was light, merely deflecting the sailor’s wrist slightly.
But this slight change instantly overturned the battle.
Because the sailor was soaked, even with the knife’s enclosed handle, it became very slippery in his drenched palm. Now, with a column of water surging at him.
The knife slipped from his grasp and sunk into the sea with startling speed.
The sailor’s breath hitched.
He was well aware, without his weapon, he could not harm the Sea Demon!
And the moment the Sea Demon broke free was imminent; his fate seemed sealed.
The eyes of everyone aboard the ship dimmed, none having anticipated such a turn at the final moment. A small detail had reversed the outcome, revealing that the whale-hunting Sea Demon’s intelligence was no less than that of humans.
A grating and crazed laughter emanated from the mouth of the whale-hunting Sea Demon.
The sailor’s legs were numb; without a weapon, he knew death wasn’t far off.
He looked up at the sky, his eyes glazed.
“Wife, daughter… I’m sorry, I can’t keep my promise…”
As despair engulfed the sailor, his pupils suddenly dilated at the sight of another light shining from the sky!
And this time, he saw it more clearly!
It was indeed the dream-like Moonlight Ship hovering in the night sky, just as he had told the old navigator.
“It’s not a dream?” the sailor murmured softly.
While the sailor was lost in thought, a white shadow suddenly darted across the Moonlight Ship, extending quickly like a serpent.
And its destination was the sailor!
The sailor was stunned for a moment. Not until the white shadow stretched from the high-flying Moonlight Ship to his vicinity did he realize that this so-called white shadow was more like a tendril of white tentacles.
It is worth mentioning that this white tentacle was incredibly long, stretching at least a hundred meters from the sea surface to the high sky.
Moreover, the white tentacle appeared not to be solid but more like ethereal mist.
As the sailor wondered what this white tentacle was, it suddenly inverted.
Before he could react, a familiar and crisp sound rang beside him, amidst the gasps of the crew behind on the ship.
A silver flash fell from the sky!
The sailor instinctively caught the glint of falling silver!
He looked at the object in his hand, astonished—
A knife!
It was the knife he had lost!
With the curved knife in grip, the sailor no longer pondered why the blade fell from the sky or what the white tentacle was—all his thoughts centered on the knife in his hand.
“I have not lost; victory is mine!” The sailor cried out his wife and daughter’s names, his eyes sparkling with tenacity as he swung his knife with unstoppable force!
Right into the chest of the whale-hunting Sea Demon!
Blood splattered, and the heart shattered!