Noah placed both his hands on Su's small hands before gently closing them into a ball before softly pushing them back towards her.

"Put them away, don't let anyone know you have them. Your parents will look after you, I've got to go now" Noah gave her a quick gentle smile as he squeezed her shoulder reassuringly.

"Okay"

The small girl gave him a determined nod as she clutched her parent's crystals to her chest.

"Pinky swear that you won't tell anybody about them," Su demanded.

"I pinky swear" Noah locked his pinky finger together with Su before letting go.

Noah patted her shoulder as he picked up the axe from resting on the floor as he stood back up. He braced himself as he went through the stairwell door, pulling it closed behind him.

Mister Kim was slumped unmoving against the wall of the ferry. Beside him, there was a large gaping hole where the tentacle had torn through the boat as it crashed down.

Somehow the ferry was still afloat in its current state. The air was thick with black smoke. Everywhere Noah looked, he could see the devastation. Nowhere on the boat was left untouched.

The burning tentacle had retreated back into the water, which was still ablaze. The ocean's surface had become unnaturally calm. Noah could hear crying and coughing from all areas of the boat.

As he rushed towards the incapacitated Mister Kim, his [Battle Instinct] ability activated. He reflexively threw himself backward as a glowing yellow tentacle erupted through the deck where he had been standing a moment before.

How can it see me through all this smoke and flames, even through the deck of the ferry?

The ferry deck began to slope backward as the boat's bow was lifted into the air and the sea monster's dragged the ferry backward. Noah looked over his shoulder to see the maw of a titanic octopus emerging from the water as he began to slide in its direction.

He instinctively grabbed onto the railing to stop his descent. A moment later, an unresponsive Mister Kim tumbled past him. He cursed silently before throwing himself recklessly after his limp form.

Noah activated his [Six Spirit Arms] ability, which he used to grip hold of Mister Kim before reaching out with another ethereal spirit-hand to once again grab the railing.

Mister Kim let out a groan of pain as he was jolted by the sudden stop. He could see the monster's eyes staring hatefully at them through the thick black smoke. They were dangling only meters above the creature's slavering jaws as it waited patiently for its meal to come to it.

A survivor screamed as they fell into the water, drawing the monster's attention away from the pair dangling helplessly from the rails, giving Noah a chance to examine Mister Kim's injuries now that he was confident that he was still alive. Mister Kim's body was thoroughly battered. Beneath the soot and blood, Noah could see his entire body was bruised black and blue.

"Well, here goes nothing."

Noah muttered to himself as he withdrew his final [Grade 1 Potion of Healing] from his ring before forcing open the unconscious Mister Kim's mouth to then pour it in.

Mister Kim began coughing and spluttering as faint green light began to flow outwards from his core underneath the surface of his skin until it covered all corners of his body. Shortly after the green light faded, Mister Kim began to show signs of regaining consciousness.

"What…? Why am I still alive" Mister Kim hesitantly asked as he grabbed at his face.

"We may not be for much longer if you keep moving, don't freak out when you look down," Noah replied.

"AH!" Mister Kim flailed as he saw the sea monster below them staring ominously with black eyes containing radiant yellow light within their depths.

"Stop moving!" Noah commanded.

"Sorry, Noah. I didn't expect to see the creature up close," Mister Kim apologized.

"I don't mean to alarm you, but I think we're getting closer," Noah responded dryly.

The ferry was slowly being drawn into the burning ocean by the gigantic creature tugging the boat towards itself. More survivors had fallen into the fiery water, they were ignored by the creature as it focused its attention onto the pair of them. Staring hatefully at the cause of all its pain.

Some of the survivors were lucky enough to escape the water's flames to climb back onto the ferry. One brave survivor had left the fire entrapment entirely and was now swimming towards the shore away from the ferry's destruction to try his luck back on land.

"It knows us," Mister Kim remarked.

"Well it should, we're the only ones who could injure it. Now, what do we do to get out of this, any ideas?"

"I didn't expect to survive this long, I only wished to keep Su safe. Where is she?"

"I left her in the stairwell before coming back for you. So she's safe for now until that monster completely submerges the boat."

"Perhaps this is how it is supposed to be," Mister Kim let out a sigh.

"You may be right, I think our luck has run out."

The railing they were hanging from was beginning to peel from the deck as a result of the damage it had suffered. The ferry had become almost vertical as it was lifted out of the burning water.

Noah let out a heavy sigh before closing his eyes, not wanting to see the hungry monster waiting below them.

As they resigned themselves to their fate, there was a roar from the boat's engine deep inside the damaged hull as a wave of orange light washed through the boat before it miraculously sprang to life.

『AHHHHHHH!』

The sea monster's scream once again rang out inside their minds, but this time far more intense than any before it, causing Noah to open his eyes to look down in disbelief. The Ferry's propeller had begun spinning. It was currently slashing into the creature's exposed face, tearing it to shreds.