Who could blame them for cowering though? For before them was a behemoth the size that they had never seen! Its roars cracked stone and its every movement caused a wave of water so high that it eclipsed the vessel to rage towards the weathered crags.

The worst part however, was not the humongous monstrosity, but the whole host of tiny and medium sized Yuda that mobbed the s.h.i.+p almost immediately as soon as it entered the hollow mountain.

The largest of the wave seemed to resemble the snakes that they used as mounts, and this terrified them more than anything else..

With a quick mental slap Roma moved, roaring at the top of her lungs for the crew to act. In her hand she lugged a mace which she immediately put to good use. "Iwa, to ME!" She roared in the loudest voice she could muster as she leapt at the first reptilian aggressor. With a mighty thud she lodged her black spiked mace into the creature's skull, kicking at it with her legs to dislodge before repeating the process.

To her side she could hear a roar of anger as a snake wrapped around the tail end of the long boat. "Muster the ranks! Hold your positions and get us slowly back into the cave!" She roared at the top of her lungs. She would have gone to deal with the other serpent but her current foe made sure to completely tie her in place.

Every hit she dealt seemed to be shrugged off a trail of blood barely coming off the serpent's forehead as it reared back hissing.

A sudden roar sounded as a Yuda was thrown at the one that she was engaged with ramming straight into its bared fangs before pus.h.i.+ng it into the horde that swam at the periphery of the s.h.i.+p.

Shortly after another two Yuda flew out, both plunging into the turbid sea before disappearing from sight. On any other occasion, Roma would have paused to peruse the cause of her immediate relief, but not now. Now she had to deal with the serpent that engaged with over half her crew as the other half futilely shot into the frothing water.

With a roar she lunged, pus.h.i.+ng the wide end of her mace into the corner of the snake's mouth before twisting it out and slamming into its side with all the power she could manage.

The snake reeled back, obviously stunned from the hit, a line of cracked scales remained in the location that she had hit. Its head bobbed back for a second as it tried to shake off the dizzying slam before it turned back down with renewed fury hissing in obvious provocation.

"Martha, aim for the inside of its mouth!" Roma belted out as she ran upto the serpent's maw. With a quick huff she jumped onto the creature's head before locking her metal weapon under its jagged fangs.

"ORAAAAAA!" With a mighty heave she pulled the head backwards as the tw.a.n.g of arrows sounded in the suffocating air. With a bellow of agony the Yuda flopped downwards, its mouth bleeding profusely.

With a low growl she pulled again, breaking off the fangs of the mighty beast. Safe was always better than sorry in her mind, and even if they had taken out the snake they had to make sure that it was sufficiently non lethal.

Finally she shot a glance to the corner of the wave the roar of the water seemed to slow for a second as she marveled at the sight. A tiny rickety boat stood stoically at the centre of what looked to be dozens of typhoons. The large pillars rotated at mind boggling speeds, churning out a steady stream of blood and bits of muscle every second.

The water from that part of the hollow mountain looked particularly malevolent as the majority of the mighty horde of serpent's swarmed towards them.

Suddenly a loud roar sounded as a Yuda flew out of the encirclement, followed closely by a second and then a third.

At the stern of the tiny boat, Roma could finally see a grey haired young man staring out domineeringly. His hands stood at the ready in front of his chest as he ducked under a creature that had made its way through the perilous hurricane.

With a twist of his shoulders he rammed into the snake's lower jaw, before fearlessly plunging his hands into the corner of the snake's maw and yanking up the snake.

His bare hands did what her mace could not, penetrating deep into the sides of the snake's sides. The snake hissed in agony as it rose helplessly into the air before being brutally flung outward.

Behind the man he could see the silhouette of a lean women calmly fingering the hilt of a plain looking sword. Suddenly she moved, ducking under the rampaging man she pulled out her blade, and even through the din, Roma could swear she could hear the squeal of blade as it left its sheathe.

Her hand blurred for a second. In the next her sword once again rested in her sheathe, as if it had been untouched.

With a glance to her back she nodded to the man. The man too nodded before whistling and jumping off the boat. From under the water a blue looking head peeked out. A low menacing growl sounding out as he landed on its head.

The monster zoomed out of the encirclement as it raged into the thick of the never-ending stream. The terrifying storms slowed for a second before a crescendo of roars sounded out. It seemed almost as if the sea kings , as Roma realized they were, were encouraging the figure on.

His previous spot on the head of the boat was taken by the sword wielding women who seemed to prefer a more incisive method of attack. Her sword blurred into action randomly as it sharply cut through the various c.h.i.n.ks in the water around her. Almost as soon as she began the sea kings seemed to become more at ease, their movements became much clearer as they realized that they were being supported from the background.

In the very end of the boat hid a boy and a girl, kneeling as if to make themselves disappear. Over their bodies a boy stood, as if to protect them, his hands at his side as he clutched tightly at a dagger at his side.

Suddenly the onslaught thinned. A gleam of white yowled out as a figure zoomed in and out of focus, as if to border the ferocious circle of sea kings he zoomed around them. It was a man dressed in thin black clothes. In his hands were a thin barely transparent string that he used to great effect.

As he jumped around his strings gleamed and snakes were torn up.

A roar echoed out again as Roma gazed at the ma.s.sive snake at the center of the mountain. For some reason the snake remained in place, its limbs only flailing around as if to swat a fly.

Roma gasped as she caught a shadow in the thicket, neck to neck with the mountainous beast. He seemed to phase in and out of existence as he faced off against the monster.

His silhouette more than just a little terrifying, for it wasn't just his speed that frightened her. It was the fact that he was still alive that seemed to be the biggest testament to his prowess.

At the other end of the room was another group, though they seemed to be in a similar situation to her own s.h.i.+p. A group of Yuda grouped together with many people on their head, as a group of brave fighters fended off the rabid creatures.

The only reason that they seemed to be still alive, seemed to be because of the location that they had chosen. They were tucked away in the bowels of the mountain, rocks surrounding them as measure against being mobbed.

The man that had exited off the boat seemed to be heading in their direction. As the people on the Yuda glanced at him, the people on the head of the farthest serpent seemed to divide out a child in their midst who had been previously kneeling.

The man looked over at the child and words seemed to be shared through their glance alone. Then the boy jumped, an insane trajectory through the air as he landed beside the man as if led there by the hands of a miracle.

Then the duo headed towards the center of the mountain, and Roma could not help but gasp in fear. "What are they doing?!"

********************

I could not help but gulp a breath of fresh air as I avoided a projectile like tail flailing through the air.

I glanced over at the menacing aura of the serpent as its head glowered down at me. Its mouth was bared in an ugly grimace on its wide open maw.

Its teeth was bared in a brutal glower as saliva dripped unhindered from its eyes. An evil fire burned in its eyes as it looked down at me.

Suddenly a mountain like pressure descended, on me and then over the entire mountain. The creature had Conqueror's Haki!!! It was like something out of the world, even my father had never had this level of aura and of this I could be sure.

My aura rose out to clash with it, almost unimpeded it flowed out as my mind cleared. A red colored phantom seemed to gaze down at me from on high as literal fractures roared from the air around me.

The small Yuda that I had seen mobbing the surroundings wailed as one as more than half of them succ.u.mbed to the pressure. Though the sheer intensity of the aura seemed to overwhelm mine in spades, the Yuda's control seemed to be juvenile at best, downing its own sp.a.w.n as the water bubbled higher, now resembling a vat of witches brew.

"Humphf, a king that can't even control his disposition is no king! Merely a bandit on a stolen throne!!" I roared out as for the first time in my life my aura blazed out with full intensity. A black phantom seemed to form off me as I once again glared at it, my observation slowing down the world around me as my armament coated me fully.

This was the final mile I could feel it, and so with a vigor I leapt out my feet meeting the creature's limb as I rose higher, Sonido working at the double to race me forwards.

"Yo!"

And I slipped.