POV 1: Mary – Tanzanian Trench, Leviathan Temple

The warmth of Dyug’s hand lingered against her shoulder long after he stepped back. In the stillness that followed, the Leviathan’s heartbeat faded to a background rhythm, its slumber deepening. The beast knew now—its bonded one had made her choice.

Mary turned away from Dyug slowly, her robe flowing like liquid moonlight through the suspended ocean.

“We have three days,” she said, voice calm. “Before the next moon rise, before the ocean begins to rise again. That’s when the next pulse will happen. The Leviathan will awaken again, fully. It’s not like before. It’s… accelerating.”

Dyug’s brow furrowed. “Why?”

Mary met his gaze. “Because I’m changing. Because the Leviathan and I are no longer two beings, but one. And it can feel my emotions. My memories. My pain.”

She stepped toward the glowing altar in the center of the platform. Coral-encrusted carvings lined its edges—symbols older than Elven script, older even than the first human civilizations.

“I didn’t mean to merge,” she said. “But I was dying. Alone. Cold. My Royal Knights were gone. The fortress had fallen. Antarctica was bleeding into the sea. And then it found me.”

She touched the altar with reverence.

“I didn’t want power. I wanted vengeance. I wanted a way to burn those who took you from me.”

Dyug’s voice was low. “And now you have that power.”

Mary didn’t look at him. “Yes. But vengeance is hollow when the one you avenge returns.”

They stood in silence.

Then Mary turned and walked past him. “Come. The others are waiting.”

POV 2: Solomon Kane – Submersible Dock

Solomon leaned against the sub’s frame, arms crossed, watching the strange reunion unfold like a stage play written by gods and madmen. His instincts still screamed at him. The trench, the bioluminescence, the way the Leviathan seemed to breathe through the water like a cathedral of flesh—it all stank of ancient horror. The kind that didn’t need to roar to be terrifying.

But Mary…

She looked like she belonged here. That scared him more than anything.

A faint buzz came through his comm.

“Asha here. Status?”

“They’re walking now,” Solomon replied. “Heading into the inner temple. No hostilities. No glowing eyes or tentacles so far.”

A pause.

“Copy,” Asha said. “Keep close. You’re the only one she still responds to outside Dyug.”

Solomon smirked. “Lucky me.”

He followed from a distance, boots echoing softly against coral stone.

POV 3: Asha – INS Vikrant, Command Deck

Asha stood rigid on the bridge, eyes locked on the multi-panel display showing Solomon’s camera feed, live satellite overlays, and sonar pings. The naval blockade was holding steady—an arc of destroyers, frigates, and submarines forming a loose ring around the Tanzanian coast.

“Ma’am,” her aide said. “Chinese drones on our eastern perimeter. No breach, but they’re watching us closely.”

“Let them,” Asha replied coldly. “Everyone wants to know what happens next.”

A slight flicker on the sonar made her pause.

“What’s that spike?”

“Unknown signature,” the tech said. “Deep sea. Could be the Leviathan shifting.”

Asha stared at the screen. “Or something else waking up.”

She activated a secure line. “Get me Sky-Crown.”

POV 4: Dyana – Sky-Crown Orbital Platform

Dyana’s hair was braided back in ceremonial coils, silver ribbons woven through like veins of moonlight. She stood before the main screen as Asha’s message came through.

“This is Dyana.”

“Princess,” Asha said, “we’ve detected irregular pulses beneath the trench. Not the Leviathan—it’s different, have you long ears done something new.”

Dyana frowned. “Could it be another?”

Asha hesitated. “Another what?”

Dyana’s expression darkened. “There were whispers—ancient records on Forestia. Collosal being like  Leviathans weren’t singular. They were weapons of the old gods or highly advanced civilisations. Meant to maintain the balance of oceans or star fields . They hunted each other when the world or the area they guarded grew unstable.”

“You’re saying there’s more than one.”

“I’m saying we might have just woken its rival.”

POV 5: Mary – Inner Temple of the Leviathan

The temple’s core glowed with memory—echoes of battle, flood, and time carved into every stone. Mary knelt beside a massive basin filled with swirling brine. Dyug stood across from her, quiet but alert. Solomon waited near the entrance, just outside the pool of divine silence.

“This is where I made the bond,” Mary said. “It opened itself to me when I was most broken. It offered salvation… or annihilation. I chose salvation.”

Dyug looked around. “Why bring me here?”

Mary stood. “Because if I fall again… you need to know how to sever the bond.”

Solomon straightened. “Hold up. Sever? You want him to kill you?”

Mary didn’t flinch. “If it comes to that.”

“No,” Dyug said immediately. “There must be another way.”

Mary stepped forward and placed her hands on his. “There might be. That’s why I need you here. You’re the only anchor I have left.”

“Then we find that path,” he whispered.

Solomon exhaled slowly. “If we don’t, Earth won’t survive your heartbreak.”

POV 6: Unknown – Abyssal Rift, Indian Ocean

Far beneath the calm waters, deeper than the trench Mary called home, something ancient stirred.

It was not the Leviathan.

Its skin was obsidian, its form serpentine but riddled with blades of bone and black coral. Eyes opened one by one along its length—unblinking, cold.

It had felt the Leviathan’s song. And now it answered.

A sound rolled across the ocean floor. Not a roar, but a chime. A song of hunger.

And it began to rise.

POV 7: Asha – INS Vikrant

“Sirens just triggered across the network,” one of Asha’s crew said. “Seismic movement. Extremely deep.”

“Leviathan?”

“Negative. Origin is three hundred nautical miles south. Deep abyssal rift. This is… bigger.”

Asha didn’t hesitate. “Sound general quarters. Prepare all ASW units. Notify the fleet—priority alpha. And patch me through to Solomon now.”

POV 8: Solomon Kane – Leviathan Temple

His comm buzzed.

“Asha?”

“We’ve got a problem,” she said. “Something’s rising from the south trench. Bigger than Leviathan. And heading straight toward your location.”

Mary’s head snapped around at Solomon’s expression.

“Show me,” she demanded.

Asha patched the sonar feed into Solomon’s display. The shifting mass—a writhing black void beneath the waves—grew closer with every second.

Mary’s eyes went distant. Then wide. Then terrified.

“I know what it is,” she said.

Dyug stepped close. “What?”

She whispered, “The Drowned Crown. The Leviathan’s rival. The one it was made to hold back.”

POV 9: Dyana – Sky-Crown

“Confirm contact,” Dyana ordered. “We’re launching orbital scans.”

Her aide’s fingers flew over the controls. “Mass is larger than expected. Energy readings spiking. We may be looking at a class-omega awakening.”

Dyana inhaled sharply. “Send a message to Forestia. Tell the Queen…”

She hesitated. Then finished.

“…we may need the First Armada.”

POV 10: Mary – Beneath the Sea

The water darkened around them. A low rumble vibrated through the temple walls.

Mary turned to Dyug and Solomon, her robes fluttering as pressure shifted.

“I need time to awaken the Leviathan fully. If we fight now, we die.”

Solomon’s jaw tightened. “Then buy yourself time. We’ll handle the front line.”

Mary looked at Dyug. “Will you fight by his side?”

Dyug gave a solemn nod. “Always.”

Mary raised her hand. The Leviathan stirred, and the temple shook. From the trench’s edge, massive stone gates began to open, revealing the Leviathan’s full form—stretching like a continent under water.

Solomon turned to Dyug.

“Well, Prince, looks like we’re going to war.”

Dyug smiled grimly. “Not a first for me on this planet but I want this one to go a little better than the last one.”