Chapter 100: The Giant Stake

  The sheer, overwhelming scale of the Abyssal Kraken was absolutely incomprehensible. The massive tentacle that had crushed the cannons was merely one of eight. The creature's colossal, incredibly thick, dark purple body remained submerged, anchoring its terrifying grip directly to the heavy hull of the dead galleon.

  The Leviathan's Rib groaned in absolute mechanical agony, completely tilting violently to starboard as the massive weight of the Kraken began to actively, physically drag the incredibly heavy, iron-reinforced ship entirely downward toward the freezing depths.

  "All hands to the starboard rails!" Captain Thorne screamed, entirely dropping his calm demeanor. "Fire the remaining heavy harpoons! Do not let it wrap the hull completely!"

  The surviving whaling crew scrambled, desperate to save their ship. They manned the remaining heavy iron harpoon cannons, violently firing massive, deeply barbed iron spears directly into the thick, dark purple flesh of the colossal tentacle resting on the deck.

  The massive harpoons struck true, completely burying themselves deep into the blubber.

  The Kraken didn't even completely register the pain. It was entirely too massive. It simply flexed the heavily muscled tentacle.

  SNAP.

  The thick hemp ropes attaching the heavy harpoons to the ship entirely snapped like thin sewing thread. The colossal beast ignored the crew, entirely focusing on slowly, methodically pulling the entire ship completely underwater.

  Lyra engaged her wind Tena, entirely desperately trying to sever the beast's grip. She knew slashing was useless against the thick blubber. She utilized her Elvarian dagger to violently carve a small, shallow gash directly into the thick, rubbery skin of the tentacle.

  Then, utilizing the opening, she drove her heavy Void-Iron stiletto entirely straight down into the wound with a massive, high-velocity thrust, aiming for the deep muscle tissue.

  The heavy, dark needle pierced deep, drawing incredibly thick, black, foul-smelling blood. The massive tentacle twitched violently, but the sheer, massive girth of the appendage rendered her precise, lethal strikes entirely meaningless. She was entirely trying to chop down a massive oak tree with a surgical scalpel.

  "It's too thick!" Lyra yelled over the deafening groan of the failing ship hull, pulling her stiletto free and dodging a massive, thrashing suction cup. "Zeno! We absolutely need to entirely sever this thing before it completely flips the ship!"

  Zeno was standing entirely on the violently slanting deck, struggling to completely maintain his footing in his heavy, blue-steel climbing boots.

  He looked at the colossal tentacle crushing the deck. He entirely understood that he absolutely couldn't simply punch a creature the size of a small mountain into submission. His fists, even with the massive Rock Serpent gauntlets, were entirely too small to completely register as blunt force trauma against that much blubber.

  He didn't panic. He engaged his organically expanding intelligence, rapidly analyzing the massive, chaotic environment around him.

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  He entirely abandoned the starboard rail.

  He engaged his Flowing Step, entirely blurring across the violently tilting deck, running directly uphill. He wasn't retreating; he was seeking a larger weapon.

  Zeno sprinted directly toward the incredibly thick base of the ship's massive, heavily reinforced main mast, towering completely above the galleon.

  If I cannot completely punch the monster, Zeno reasoned smoothly, his amber eyes narrowing with absolute, unyielding focus, I will simply hit it with a very, very big stick.

  Zeno completely dropped his center of gravity incredibly low on the slanting deck. He didn't throw a Heavy Punch at the wood.

  He wrapped his massive, heavily muscled arms completely around the thick, solid trunk of the main mast in a devastating, unbreakable bear hug. He violently slammed the razor-sharp obsidian spikes of his Rock Serpent gauntlets deeply into the ancient wood, perfectly anchoring his grip.

  Zeno channeled an absolute, roaring ocean of brilliant blue Tena directly into his legs and lower back.

  He widened his stance, his heavy blue-steel boots cracking the deck boards beneath him.

  With an absolutely world-shattering, terrifying roar of pure, unadulterated physical exertion, Zeno engaged every single drop of his monstrous Strength stat of 26.

  He didn't break it; he uprooted it.

  CRACK-KRA-KOOM!

  The sheer, overwhelming kinetic force and massive leverage completely shattered the deep, heavily reinforced iron moorings holding the mast to the keel. The massive, incredibly heavy wooden pillar violently splintered at the absolute base, tearing completely free from the deck.

  Zeno didn't let the colossal mast fall safely away.

  Utilizing the violent, heavy slant of the sinking ship to aid his massive momentum, Zeno physically heaved the entirely severed, towering main mast upward, wielding the colossal piece of timber exactly like a giant, unimaginably heavy baseball bat.

  He pivoted flawlessly, aiming the jagged, violently splintered, heavily spiked base of the broken mast directly downward.

  He brought the colossal, makeshift stake crashing violently down, adding all of his massive physical weight and blue Tena to the sheer, crushing gravity of the falling timber.

  The splintered, jagged end of the massive mast struck the dark purple tentacle of the Kraken entirely dead center.

  The sheer, overwhelming combined weight and kinetic force acted as a colossal, entirely unstoppable physical guillotine. The incredibly heavy mast violently punched completely through the thick blubber, severing the massive muscle entirely, and drove itself deeply into the heavy wooden deck beneath, perfectly pinning the severed appendage.

  A massive, terrifying, completely deafening shriek of absolute, agonizing pain echoed from the dark depths of the ocean.

  The incredibly heavy, completely severed tentacle twitched violently on the deck, spraying thick black blood, entirely disconnected from the host.

  The massive Kraken, severely wounded and entirely shocked by the sheer, sudden, completely unexpected structural amputation, immediately, violently released its entire grip on the heavy galleon, rapidly retreating deep back into the freezing trench.

  The Leviathan's Rib groaned violently, completely snapping heavily back to an even keel, sending water crashing across the deck. The massive threat was entirely, miraculously neutralized.

  Zeno slowly let go of the massive, embedded mast.

  He didn't confidently dust his hands off. The sheer, overwhelming exertion of uprooting a galleon's main mast hit his biological system entirely.

  Zeno sat down incredibly heavily right on his backside in the middle of the ruined, bloody deck. He was entirely panting, his chest heaving aggressively, wiping a thick sheen of heavy sweat from his brow with the back of his spiked gauntlet.

  He looked entirely at the massive, severed tentacle, completely as thick as a house, currently twitching weakly on the deck. His amber eyes widened in genuine, profound, exhausted awe.

  "Wow..." Zeno breathed heavily, entirely ignoring the absolutely stunned, completely paralyzed crew and the pale Captain Thorne staring at him. He looked up at Lyra, offering a weak, incredibly tired smile. "Lyra... did you actually see the absolute size of that big arm?! I think we are absolutely going to need a much, much bigger iron pot if we want to cook all of that. But the captain should be incredibly happy. I just saved him a lot of very hard fishing."