Mark of the Multiversal Pretender

'Why am I still here? Just to suffer?' Under the bow, Leo can be seen laying on the ground with reddened eyes.

He has been awake for the past 3 days.

At first, everything was fine and all, that is until the ship finally entered the Dark Sea, where the ship is constantly shaking to the point that Leo can't sleep.

Hence, why he's in this current state today. Though it also has positive outcomes such as finally learning how to balance himself properly, which should be a good training in Kung Fu.

Thankfully, it seems like his suffering will end soon as he hears the loud voice of the captain from above.

'I guess we're almost there to this Ahtohallan, or close to our deaths.' Leo said with sarcasm, the fact that he knows that so many people will die has been a huge burden to him these past few days.

Imagine letting so many people die instead of saving them just to complete his quest to become stronger.

Leo might not be a good person who acts like a hero in a cape but this haunts him and leaves a bad taste in his mouth.

He could do something but decided to become selfish.

*Rumble!

Suddenly, the entire ship started to rumble, as if an earthquake was happening not on land but in the sea.

A seaquake!

'So this is it, huh?' Leo grinned, to be honest, these past few days, he has been thinking of how he would save the two royalties and he finally made a plan.

During these days, he has secretly and quietly emptied two boxes full of gold and jewelry, by transferring them to boxes that aren't that full.

These two empty boxes would then serve as boats for the King, Queen and also him, hence why there are two boxes.

How will he implement this?

He guessed and assumed that the ship sunk because of a hole on the ship, letting the water increase weight of the ship by flooding in.

During that time, the two fully closed empty boxes would be thrown through the hole that was made, letting it float back on the surface.

With that plan in mind, Leo simply waited until a hole was made on the ship, and then he would throw both boxes out.

Once that was done, he would walk to the dock and grab both the King and Queen before jumping into the sea just as the ship was about to sink where Leo would bring them to the box boats.

To be honest, this is a very good plan and has a good chance of success, as long as there's no unknown variables popping up, disrupting his plan.

*Rumble!*

*Boom!*

As Leo expected, a huge part of the hull exploded all of the sudden which is probably due to intense waves of the sea.

Water soon started flooding in slowly increasing the weight of the ship, Leo can even see the treasure boxes getting flooded through the large hole, giving him a sting of pain in the heart.

If only he could have those treasures for himself!

Unfortunately, there's no point crying over spilled milk, so Leo could only climb back up to the deck, only to be met with panicked and defeated expressions of the sailors and knights, who looked like they were about to give up.

Although Leo's appearance shocked them, the thought of dying overrides their minds and their expressions returned to fear and despair.

Even Leo who was expecting a small fight between the knights was stunned to see this.

In the face of death, they have already abandoned everything in their lives, including their duty to protect the King and Queen.

'Fortunately, there's me.' Leo sighed in his mind before searching for the King and Queen.

*Boom!*

Suddenly, the Mast of the ship broke and fell exactly where Leo is standing.

What a coincidence.

Thankfully, Leo dodged and avoided it, letting the huge mast destroy the bow of the ship, suddenly hearing a scream.

"Ahh!"

'Huh, they must be in their room or something.' Leo said to himself before rushing towards the stairs that leads under the bow of the ship.

There are two parts inside the ship, one is the storage room and the other is a room that Leo only discovered now to be the room of the King and Queen.

"We have no other way, Iduna. This is goodbye." Arriving at the door, Leo heard the voice of the King.

From the looks of it, they're about to say their last words.

"Agnarr, I'm afraid. I'm afraid of Elsa and Anna. Specially Elsa. I am sure that Ahtohallan is the source of her magic."

"We keep going, for Elsa." Peeking through the door, Leo saw that the husband and wife were about to share their last kiss only to be interrupted by none other than Leo himself!

"Let's go!" Without waiting for them to respond under their shocked eyes, Leo grabbed both of them easily as if they were a pair of sacks before rushing back to the bow.

"What is the meaning of this? Who are you?" Finally, King Agnarr recovered and quickly asked him in suspicion and wariness.

"I'm.....Leo."

Without adding anything more, Leo continued his march towards the edge of the ship.

"What are you doing? What are you doing, no!!" Bracing himself, King Agnarr and Queen Iduna closed their eyes, expecting to feel wetness and drown to death.

"You have disturbed my job, human. Bring them back to the ship." Opening their eyes, they were stunned to see a huge horse made of nothing but water itself.

As if this wasn't enough, it even spoke in front of their faces!

Compared to Iduna and Agnarr, Leo was the most shocked one.

'What the fuck is this Boss-level shit! I thought I was just doing a beginner mission, Genesis!' Leo was panicking and cursing his dear system for giving him such an impossible mission.

[Leo, the horse in front of you should be a good practice for you, right? And besides, trust in yourself just as I trust you.]

'Genesis, if you weren't with me all this time, I'd thought that Master Oogway has somehow found his way to possess you. Please stop dropping those wise lines with me.' Leo monotonously reacted to Genesis's sudden wise persona.

[Just defeat the horse, Leo. There will be bountiful rewards for you.]

Hearing Genesis's words, Leo could only sigh in defeat before gently dropping both Agnarr and Iduna.

"Stay here, your royal highnesses. A treasure has just appeared in front of me." With those words being said, Leo put up a stance in front of the wet horse in front of him.

"You....just made a horrible mistake. As you are obstructing the fate of someone's destiny, I shall eliminate you." Before Leo could respond to the wet horse's words, the latter threw a water jet towards him that came from his head.

*Fwooosh!*

Being thrown across the deck, Leo noticed that the raging sea had somehow calmed down, letting the ship float back in balance again.

'So this horse is the one causing all of this and even killing Elsa's parents? Is there a part two of Frozen? How come I haven't heard about it.' Leo said to his mind while watching as the horse continued his assault towards him.

*Fwooosh!*

Rushing towards him, the horse collided his head with Leo's chest, breaking the railing that he's been leaning on, before falling towards the sea.

*Crack!*

*Pssshh!*

Looking down at the dark sea, Leo finally realized why they call this sea, The Dark Sea, it's so dark underneath the waters, which is much darker than usual.

Before Leo could further amuse himself in his thoughts, the wet horse surprisingly didn't stop and was about to ram his head again to Leo's chest.

'Fuck this. I can't defeat this horse with just my body.' Leo cursed before looking at his inventory.

[Rare Item - One time use of Panther Habit for 10 minutes.]

Seeing this in his inventory, Leo knew he was right that it would be handy someday.

Mentally pressing on the icon of the Panther Habit, Leo's body flashed in violet just before the Horse rammed his head on him.

*Dung!*

Much to the wet horse's shock, the target that he's been playing like a ragdoll all this time suddenly became so sturdy and unable to be moved.

Looking at his target, the wet horse's eyes widened in surprise upon seeing the unfamiliar figure clad in black and purple lines, looking very menacing.

"That was some kinetic energy that I absorbed, how about a taste of your own medicine?" As the Water Spirit was confused about his words, Leo's palms slowly glowed in purple, purple wave-like lines travelling throughout his entire body before focusing on his palms.

Thankfully, as a Black Panther, his instincts already tells him how to use the Panther Habit like the original Black Panther.

Before the Water Spirit could react, Leo slammed his palms against each other.

"...."

*BOOM!*

There was silence first before the sudden blow that not only threw Leo back away, but also the Water Spirit who suddenly exploded into water pieces.

Leo looked at this in shock, not expecting that the kinetic energy that he absorbed turned out to be this much, which suddenly made him shudder.

'That horse is definitely aiming for the kill earlier!' Leo cursed the Horse Spirit that he just fought.

***

"It stopped? The chaotic sea stopped?" Standing in front of the broken railings where Leo fell, Iduna and Agnarr wondered what happened to the two of them.

It happened so fast that they can't comprehend what just happen.

*Splash!*

Suddenly, someone rose from the waters. Wearing an all black suit with purple lines flowing across his body.

'Who is that?' This was everyone's thoughts including the earlier despaired sailors and knights.

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[Next Chapter: Ch. 23 - The Great Pretender might be a spirit?