Styxian Understrata

Guoguo transformed into a miniature whirlwind of chaos atop Liu's head. The pudgy creature's squeaks pierced the tension like daggers, its beady eyes gleaming with mischief as it performed an obscene jig on his scalp.

Silence descended—thick, disbelieving silence.

"Vulgar beast!" Princess Aviere's contempt dripped like poison, though her gaze betrayed primal fury. Sunlight gilded her tresses into molten gold, igniting Liu's perverse urge to shear them clean.

The Banilux warrior's knuckles cracked audibly, rust flakes from his anchor mingling with seawater to paint crimson streaks across the deck. Liu met the titan's glare unflinching. Where moments prior had lounged a slouching buffoon now stood a predator—eyes sharpening from indolent haze to blade's edge.

Xu and Ning Yu exchanged glances. This transformation—swifter than ink bleeding through parchment—recast their assumptions. Could the oaf truly harbor draconic might?

"Land-walkers!" Aviere's voice sliced through stalemate. "The sea's patience ebbs. Decide!"

Her coral-rouged lips twisted cruelly. "Surrender the pig and his harlot, or—"

"You vowed to spare us!" Hailun's tail lashed like scarlet lightning.

"One steed's mercy," the princess purred. "Never said we'd refuse gifts."

Liu edged before Hailun, fingers brushing a mooring stone's rough edge. "Petty tide-wench," he muttered.

Guoguo chose this moment to arch its back. A golden arc of urine arced through salt-tinged air, splattering the Banilux's tattooed scalp.

Chaos detonated.

The warrior's roar shook seabirds from their migration. His anchor became a meteor—rusted hooks screaming through air until panda harpoons intercepted in spark-showering collision. The deck trembled; Hailun's knees buckled at witnessing Banilux strength matched by twenty warriors.

Liu seized the moment.

"Mercy, oh leviathan lord!" He prostrated himself at the titan's waterlogged boots, tears glistening with Oscar-worthy sincerity. "My ninety-year mother! Eight starving babes!"

Hailun's heart shattered. Sacred祭祀pride warred with revulsion as Guoguo mimicked its master's groveling.

"Behind you!" Liu's shriek split the farce. Every seaborne head swiveled toward empty horizons—save one.

Crunch.

The mooring stone exploded across Banilux's nose in crimson spray. Cartilage collapsed like stepped-on eggshells. Liu's follow-up backhand sent three tons of marine muscle toppling backward with comedic grace.

Gasps harmonized with waves.

Princess Aviere's mouth formed a perfect 'O.' Harpoons slipped from numb fingers. Even Ning Yu's porcelain composure cracked, her shell-clad shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter.

"Treacherous swine!" The resurfaced Banilux howled, anchor raised for ship-splitting vengeance.

Xu's jade ring flared. Twin bronze colossi erupted from the deep—patinaed giants bearing alchemical runes that shimmered like drowned constellations. Their collision with the anchor peeled paint from masts, the concussion wave flattening crewmen like wheat.

As the Banilux struggled in their implacable grip, Aviere's bravado faltered. "D-drown them! Sink this—"

"斋殆金人 care not for tides," Xu intoned. The golems' descent became a funeral march, dragging shrieking warrior and thrashing leviathan into lightless depths.

Silence returned, broken only by Guoguo's triumphant squeal.

Princess Aviere's retreating snarl carried across leagues: "This insult will drown continents!"

Xu avoided all eyes, particularly Liu's blood-flecked grin. "We... must discuss your... departure."

Hailun's tail rose in defiant arc. "We'll walk through Hades' gates before—"

Liu silenced her with raised hand. His gaze locked onto Xu's rings—twin serpents coiled around thumbs—as whispers of destiny curled through salt-stiffened air.