Phoenix Phire

Nix leaped from the back of Fey, he was aiming for the top of the leviathan's head but it reared back from the drake's flames causing him to fall short of the target, stabbing the silver sword and his emerald flame blade deep into the neck of the serpent.

"Nix!" Ronnie shouted from the deck of the Phoenix, her bow strumming constantly as she sent shot after shot into the beast. She glanced at her combat log, 32 scorched earth poison counters, "keep hitting it. The counters are doing damage."

Nix hung by his blades as the Leviathan reared back.

[Aura Ignition]

He plunged a tentacle into the beast and used it to scamper around to its back. He clamped all of his strands around the leviathan and continued to hack away at it with both swords. The beast was becoming frantic as the scorched earth counters from hundreds of attacks began to take a toll. "Keep it up!"

Ronnie caught the movement out of the corner of her eye, "Water Mages Nix!"

[Kraken's Strength: Reflection]

One of the water mages was tossed off his manta, half of his body crushed. The second mage followed up on the attack and a moment later a water orb the size of a horse slammed into Nix, tossing him into the air directly and at the Leviathan's maw.

Nix tried to shield himself, holding his blades out in front of himself to ward off the attack, but it never came. Instead, he plunged toward the sea, a swooping Fey just managed to get under him before quickly banking away. Nix glanced back, his jaw-dropping in surprise.

The entire inside of the Leviathan's mouth was encased in a ball of ice. A young girl wearing a white robe stood casually in the air. She waved her hands once and a half dozen ice shards shaped like spears plunged into the serpent's face.

Fey gained altitude and dived once again toward their target. "Who is that Nix?"

Nix stood on her shoulders, anchoring himself with his emerald strands. "That's Shi, the Ice Spirit of the Cyphix Temple."

[Balefire]

A white stream of fire struck the creature through one eye and continued out the back of its head. An exhausted Nix collapsed to one knee as Fey charged toward it and blasted it in the face with another round of flames. He downed a bottle of mana potion, his head clearing instantly.

The Leviathon gave out a deafening roar of pain and thrashed in the seas as it ceased fighting and struggled to escape.

"F*ck!" Ronnie cursed as the huge serpent came down on the stern of the Phoenix, half the ship instantly disappeared, including Captain Delphi. She sprinted for the rail as the spasming Leviathon continued its death roll. She dived cleanly in the water, almost immediately she found herself surrounded by Mina and her team. They had let go when the leviathan had been mortally wounded.

"Are you okay Ronnie?" Mina assigned two Vila to protect her since her golem had sunk to the bottom of the sea.

/Allied Sea Command: Jun Li: Nix! Get out of there now!

Nix was already flying back toward shore, shadowing the Leviathon as it finally collapsed, sending seawater spraying high into the air. Nix landed Fey on the beast and quickly jumped off.

[You have slain a legendary creature]

[Beast Slayer title has been updated 3/6]

[The inferno Guild has received 75 thousand Sea Farer faction points]

[Do you wish to skin the Leviathan?]

"Yes!"

[1 Titanic Leviathan skin has been added to your inventory]

[Do you wish to process the Leviathan meat?]

"Yes. Good thing I restocked."

[All of your available cans have been filled, 1800 cans of Leviathan meat]

/Inferno: Nix: You okay Ronnie?

/Inferno: Ronnie: Better than okay, I just received the Beast Slayer title.

/Inferno: Nix: Everyone who damaged it probably did. F*ck... we lost the Phoenix.

Nix noticed the loot icon, so he activated it.

You've Received the Thief Ring.

You've Received the Assassin's cloak.

You've Received the Leviathan Armor.

You've Received the Ice Seed.

"I now consider us even Nix." The young girl who had saved him from the jaws of death floated casually in the air, her long white hair swayed as if it were in the water.

Nix bowed low. "Thank you, Shi. It dropped an ice item. Perhaps it is something you can use?"

Shi moved closer and examined the item he held out. "An Ice Seed?" Shi sighed heavily, "I just removed our debt and now I incur another?"

Nix shook his head, "this is your earned bounty from helping with the Leviathan. I'm not doing you a favor here."

Shi accepted the Seed. "I'm going home. I shall help you again sometime if I'm able."

Nix nodded, "of course. Let me know if I can help you also."

/Allied Sea Command: Jun Li: Nix, bring Ronnie and get back to Shae.

/Allied Sea Command: Nix: I'm on my way, Junie.

Ronnie swam toward the Phoenix, its bow still partly out of the water. She pulled herself out of the water and stepped onto the wreckage.

"I thought you were going to protect my ship!"

Ronnie frowned at Nix. "This isn't my fault!" She held her head in both hands, the destruction caused by the Leviathan was passed any sort of salvaging.

Nix hopped off of Fey's back when she landed on the only section of the Phoenix still above water.

Ronnie shrieked at them, "Are you trying to sink us?" Wilo was hovering next to her, the Air Lord's tiny eyes still watched the Serpent.

/Allied Sea Command: Jun Li: Nix? What are you guys doing? The sea battle is all but lost.

/Allied Sea Command: Nix: Waiting, no worries Junie, we'll be there.

Nix stood on the broken bow of the Phoenix, he could still feel the last remnants of power within her. It was his ship, so of course, he knew what she could do. A glanced told him that the four Dreadnoughts in the middle of the Terran Fleet were moving toward them. "Where the f*ck do you get a Leviathan?"

Ronnie moved beside him and gripped his hand tightly. "What's the play here boss?"

Nix glanced at the vertical irises. They gave the already beautiful girl a certain degree of exoticism that wasn't there before. "We are going to send those Dreadnoughts off properly."

"I did well though. Right" Ronnie's full lips were curved in a smile.

Nix shook his hand loose from hers and patted her on the head. "Very impressive princess. Now get on Fey please."

He moved forward to the figurehead and placed his hand on the Phoenix that was still above water. He smiled and targeted the Dreadnoughts. "Here's a lesson for you bitches."

[Red Lady]

The beautifully carved figurehead moved slightly before it started expanding rapidly. Nix jumped onto Fey's back and escaped just as the beautiful red Phoenix took to the air.

Ronnie clung to his back, normally the drake wouldn't have been able to carry two but with the armor Nix had made, her strength was more than up to the task. "What is that Nix?"

Nix watched as the bird glided easily across the small space to the Dreadnoughts. "That's a Phoenix."

The ancient cry of the fire predator filled the air as the flames around her increased in brightness and heat. She glided over the decks of the Dreadnoughts, setting them on fire. She seemed invulnerable to attack as their crews onboard fired on her. She landed nimbly on the first ship, setting it ablaze before moving on to the next. When she took to the air a minute later, all four ships were raging with flame.

Nix thought she would self-destruct, but instead, she ascended easily into the clouds before disappearing in a flash of red. "Chalk up four Dreadnoughts to the Phoenix. Captain Delphi will love that."

Fey climbed steadily and headed toward the Fire Palace.

/Allied Sea Command: Jun Li: All ships... We are close to the limit on fleet loss. Let's stretch it out as much as possible.

Shae and Severance were standing together in the courtyard of the Fire Palace when Fey landed. Fajii and Chael were down a level just inside the Scorched Earth Temple archway.

"Nice to see you again, Palace Lord." Severance bowed slightly, her tone was much more respectful than the last time they had met.

"Thank you for coming, Lord Severance." Nix returned the bow politely before glancing around the palace grounds. "The city has stone walls, perhaps we should have done something similar."

"That's not necessary Nix." Fajii's soft voice spoke from the landing as she made her way up the steps. Lamia Acolytes were following behind her, two hundred of them in all.

"Can you do something about our defenses?" Nix noted how confident the Aquarion seemed, she nodded her head in greeting to the two Salamanders.

"As the Scorched Earth Temple Mage, I can set up a proper defensive wall." Fajii knelt on one knee and placed both hands on the ground. The power around her started to gather, causing the ground to shake and rumble. Rock barries started shooting out from the Earth, they were flaming, smoking barriers nearly twenty feet in height. In succession, they rose up on the perimeter, over the course of a few minutes a wall of scorched earth formed around the Fire Palace grounds.

Nix whistled, it was ugly but very effective. He could feel the heat radiating off the walls. "The sea battle will be lost in the next twenty minutes, more than enough time to gear up. Have the Acolytes line up please."