The seas of the Southern Hemisphere had grown restless. Ever since the Gate had opened off the coast of South America, entire currents had shifted. Naval meteorologists spoke in clipped tones of “abnormal gravitational stress,” while fishermen from Chile and Argentina described the ocean as “breathing like a beast.” It was in this unnerving setting that the combined fleets of Earth gathered, their keels slicing through the swelling waters, their radars fixed on the pulsating maw of the Gate.

Dyug, silver hair blowing like a storm flag, stood upon the prow of his vessel—an Elven flagship of obsidian wood and living enchantments. Behind him, Mary’s Royal Knights maintained formation, their Sun-blades sheathed in firelight, their shields gleaming like second suns against the deep gray of the storm. The two stood as unlikely anchors in the chaos: a disgraced prince clawing back honor and a common-born knight elevated beyond all expectation.

The world had already changed since the last clash. Nuclear fire had destroyed the great Leviathans that first emerged from the Gate, vaporizing monsters large enough to blot out destroyers in their shadows. Yet that triumph had been hollow. The Gate itself remained undamaged, its luminous vortex humming with untouched malice. Where one brood of beasts had fallen, another would soon rise. Both elves and humans knew it.

POV 1: THE HUMAN RESPONSE

On the bridge of USS Theodore Roosevelt, Admiral Henry Wallace studied satellite feeds with a hard expression. His staff bustled around him—communications officers relaying encrypted messages, tactical planners adjusting overlays, analysts running probability models. Every pair of eyes carried fatigue, yet none looked away from the screens.

“The Leviathans are confirmed neutralized, sir,” one lieutenant reported, her voice steadier than her trembling hands. “But the Gate’s structure… not even scorched. Radiation fallout minimal due to ocean detonation.”

Wallace nodded grimly. “Which means we threw fire at a stone wall. And the wall’s still standing.”

A strategist leaned closer. “Sir, signals intercepts suggest the Elves are reinforcing their fleet around the Gate. Their vessels aren’t retreating—they’re… waiting.”

“Waiting for what?” Wallace muttered, though deep down he already knew. The Gate pulsed again on the display, a heartbeat of alien energy. Something else was coming.

POV 2: DYUG’S REFLECTION

Aboard his flagship, Dyug gripped the railing and let the storm’s spray soak his armor. The battle had brought him glory, yes, but also revelation. Humanity’s nuclear fire had obliterated the Leviathans where Elven spells and blades had faltered. For the first time since Forestia’s fleets had crossed the void, he felt the cold edge of humility.

Mary approached, her steps sure despite the deck’s pitch. “You’re quiet, my prince.”

“Do you not feel it, Mary?” Dyug’s eyes stayed fixed on the swirling Gate. “The humans command fire hot enough to kill gods, yet the Gate mocks even that. What kind of trial has the Goddess Luna laid before us?”

Mary studied him for a moment, her bronze hair damp, her expression firm. “Trials are not punishments, Dyug. They are choices. You wished to prove yourself worthy of your mother’s gaze… but perhaps this is larger than proving anything. Perhaps it is about survival itself.”

He turned to her then, and for a heartbeat the proud prince looked more like a weary soldier. “And if survival means standing beside the very mortals we sought to conquer?”

Mary’s lips curved faintly. “Then perhaps the Goddess intends us to learn what pride blinds us to.”

POV 3: THE SEA AWAKENS

At first, the waters near the Gate merely rippled. Then the ripples became waves, the waves surges, and soon the entire horizon heaved as if the ocean itself had become lungs drawing breath. From the Gate’s surface, arcs of lightning split into the storm clouds, searing the sky violet.

“Contact!” cried both human sonar operators and elven scryers in eerie unison.

On radar screens, new signatures emerged. On the surface of the water, dark shapes moved—dozens at first, then hundreds. These were not Leviathans; they were something more insidious. Sleek, serpentine forms that darted through the waves like living torpedoes. Their scales gleamed like polished obsidian, their jaws bristled with crystalline teeth.

“Gate-spawned Hydras,” an Elven High Mage gasped. “Smaller than the Leviathans but bred in swarms.”

The humans had another word: “sea serpents.”

POV 4: CLASH OF FLEETS

The first wave struck suddenly. Hydras erupted from beneath the destroyer Arleigh Burke, ramming its hull with bone-crushing force. Depth charges detonated in retaliation, but the creatures twisted around the blasts with impossible agility. One serpent leapt onto the deck, its coils crushing sailors like tin figures before a rain of bullets tore it apart.

Elven ships fared little better. A squadron of Sun Knights clashed with Hydras that slithered up their living hulls, blades flashing as fire met scale. But for every beast slain, two more burst forth from the waves.

Admiral Wallace barked orders, his voice iron amid chaos. “Form kill-boxes! Net them with crossfire—coordinated, damn it! Do not let them encircle us!”

Meanwhile, Dyug raised his silver-etched spear. Lunar magic surged from him like a tidal wave, illuminating the storm-dark sky in argent brilliance. “By Luna’s light, begone!” He hurled the spell into the sea, vaporizing a swath of serpents in steam.

Mary and her Knights followed, shields locked, flames arcing into the water. They fought shoulder to shoulder with human Marines who had boarded the Elven flagship for joint defense. For the first time, blades of steel and spells of flame worked in tandem—an awkward but potent alliance.

POV 5: THE COST OF UNITY

Hours passed, though time blurred into the rhythm of battle. Hulls cracked, decks burned, and the storm howled like a beast. Yet somehow, the allied forces held the line. Each Hydra slain weakened the Gate’s glow ever so slightly, as if their destruction siphoned away some of its energy.

But the cost was staggering. The destroyer Kaga

was split in two by a serpent three times its size, dragging hundreds of sailors into the abyss. An Elven cruiser of blackwood sank in flames, its crew singing prayers as the sea claimed them. Even Mary’s own unit lost knights, their flames snuffed out one by one.

On the Roosevelt’s bridge, Admiral Wallace clenched his fists. “We’re bleeding ships too fast. If this keeps up—”

Then something shifted. For the first time since the Gate’s opening, the vortex itself wavered. Its glow dimmed, just slightly, but enough for every watching eye to see.

“The Hydras are tied to it!” shouted an elven mage, his voice ragged. “Destroy them all, and the Gate weakens!”

POV 6: A CHOICE OF FIRE

Dyug heard it too, and his mind raced. The humans had already proven their nuclear weapons could scour the seas clean, but firing another so close risked annihilating both fleets alike. The Goddess’s magic burned within him, urging a different path.

He looked to Mary. “If we combine our strength—my Lunar Magic and your Sun Knights’ fire—it might be enough to collapse the swarm without the humans’ firestorms.”

Mary hesitated. “It could kill you, Dyug. You’ve already drained yourself.”

“Better to die proving I was more than a failed son,” Dyug replied softly, “than to live and watch the world drown.”

Before Mary could stop him, he raised his spear high. Lunar light coiled skyward, mingling with the storm’s lightning. Mary cursed under her breath but lifted her own blade, rallying her Knights. Together they formed a circle around him, flames spiraling upward into his silver radiance.

POV 7: COLLAPSE

The ocean screamed. That was the only way to describe it—as if the sea itself cried out when Dyug unleashed the combined spell. A column of silver and gold fire blasted from ship to sky, splitting the storm clouds open and hurling Hydras into ash. The Gate shrieked, its glow flickering violently as though in pain.

On the Roosevelt, technicians shielded their eyes from the radiance. “Energy spike off the charts! The Gate’s destabilizing!”

One by one, the Hydras dissolved into steam, their bodies reduced to nothing by the holy conflagration. The allied fleets erupted in cheers as the swarm collapsed.

But when the light faded, Dyug himself collapsed to his knees, his spear clattering to the deck. His armor steamed, his hair hung limp, and his eyes fluttered shut. Mary caught him before he struck the ground, her hands trembling despite her iron composure.

“Dyug!” she cried, shaking him. His pulse was faint but present. He had given nearly everything, and yet the Gate—though weakened—still pulsed faintly on the horizon.

FINAL POV: AFTERMATH

When the last echoes of battle faded, silence hung over the ruined seas. Wrecks smoldered, waves rolled over corpses, and the surviving ships limped into loose formation. Human and elf alike tended to wounds, buried their dead, and stared with weary eyes toward the still-glowing Gate.

Admiral Wallace leaned against the Roosevelt’s chart table, exhaustion etched into every line of his face. “We’ve bloodied it. But it’s still there.”

Mary stood at Dyug’s side aboard the flagship, her Knights forming a silent guard around their fallen prince. She looked across the water at the human fleet and then back at the Gate.

“The Goddess tests us yet,” she whispered. “And this storm is far from over.”