The battle continues. New members appear...

Suddenly you hear loud screams. If you were not now **** to vigilantly monitor the thrusts of the blades of your opponents, then you could see that a small group of armed sailors was running from the interior of the ship. These sailors make war cries. One of your acquaintances is running with this group of sailors.

This is Franz.

Reinforcements immediately rush into the battle. Franz is unarmed, but that doesn't stop him. He utters some mysterious words that cannot be heard in the noise of the struggle. His body begins to rapidly change: due to the rapid growth of muscles, fabric clothing tears and falls onto the deck like garbage; the body more than doubles in size and is covered with hair; large sharp claws grow on his fingers; the face undergoes painful transformations and the appearance of a terrible wolf-like muzzle of some wild beast.

There is no longer a familiar man named Franz on the battlefield.

There is a creature.

A large wolf-like monster that walks on two hind legs and is more than twice the size of a normal human.

After this, the monster jumps towards three pirates who are trying to surround you.

Several blades strike Franz's body, which is covered with gray fur. The wounds these blades inflicted could stop any ordinary person.

However, the wolf-like monster only lets out a furious roar. You see with fear the shine of his black eyes, which reflect only animal rage and the desire to devour enemies.

You then see the massive body of this monster rush forward. Powerful attacking swings of the arms. Long and sharp claws pierce the bodies of two pirates. These claws are larger than your dagger. The body of the first pirate falls down like a limp puppet. Due to the impact of the claws, in place of his throat there is now some kind of mixture of blood, meat and bones...

The body of the second pirate was thrown three meters to the left... His body flies over the side of the ship and falls into the water... But you managed to notice that there is no hand in this body: Franz's claws was completely cut through the bone, tendons and meat... The hand is lying on the deck somewhere nearby with you…

The third pirate tries to retreat and cover itself with a buckler shield. He even manages to take a couple of steps back. After this, the claws of the wolf-like monster cut the buckler shield into two parts. The wolf-like monster then lunges at this pirate. The jaws close on the throat. Large fangs tear meat and crush bones.

Powerful leap! The pirate's head flies upward, being separated from the body... The wolf-like monster furiously continues to destroy the bloody meat with its fangs...

You see conflicting feelings engulfing your mind: “Franz is saving me... But what he has become is just... It’s terrible... Will he be able to maintain control over his “abilities?” And what will be the reaction of the ship’s captain to Franz’s “abilities?”

Meanwhile, the battle continues.

You see how the pirates retreat under the pressure of Franz. Several more bloody pirate bodies fall onto the deck. Moreover, it would be more accurate to say not “bodies”, but “pieces of bodies”

The pirate leader comes out to meet the wolf-like monster and engages him in battle. It would seem that this pirate has no chance. After all, he has no armor. His unprotected body would be easy prey for Franz's claws.

But, contrary to expectations, the pirate leader deftly dodges from the swift blows and bites of wolf-like monster. Moreover, you noticed that a bluish glow is formed from the blade of the two-handed ax with which this pirate fights. If you look closely, you will notice that Franz’s movement has become slower.

The blade of this axe hits the target a couple of times. Unlike ordinary weapons, the wolf-like monster's body seems to be thrown back with each hit. The monster lets out a roar that conveys hatred and pain. He makes a series of claw strikes. One blow reaches its target: the pirate leader's left shoulder is stained with blood.

However, this pirate does not panic. You hear him shouting something in a language unknown to you. Then he starts to retreat. Other pirates reacted to this. For some reason, the pirates drag several wounded sailors onto their ships.

Franz tries to pursue the pirates. He manages to gnaw the throat of another pirate who was armed with a spear. However, blows from a large two-handed ax with a bluish blade **** the wolf-like monster to stay away.

Soon the pirates return to their two small ships. The pirate captain again shouted a command in an incomprehensible language. Arrows are flying.

But this time these are not ordinary arrows.

These are arrows with pieces of oiled tow. Burning arrows.

The dromon lights up in several places.

Franz lets out a furious roar again and tries to move away from the fire.

Meanwhile, the pirates remove the grappling hooks from the dromon's side. The two pirate ships then sail away and soon disappear into the fog.

You hear Captain Gregor shout rudely: “Extinguish the ship, you stupid bastards! And remove the corpses from the deck!”

You look around. The deck is littered with corpses, bloody pieces of bodies. The groans of the wounded. There are abandoned weapons lying around here and there. A dozen fiery arrows pierced the deck. And the fire slowly spreads.

The remaining sailors begin to run around the deck and put out fires.

You hear a painful howl and roar. Some terrible mixture of beast sounds. You look towards the source of these sounds and you see Franz. His body slowly and painfully undergoes reverse metamorphosis. Reduction in size. Transformation of skin and bone tissue.

A minute later you see the naked body of a black-haired human man lying on the deck.

You come closer and you see that there is a chopped wound on Franz’s right side. And he also has a wound on his left arm just below the shoulder. These wounds look serious and don't look like they will heal quickly.

Franz looks into your eyes and says, coughing slightly: “This fucking axe... Cggghh... Enchanted weapon made of silvered lunar steel... The material itself is dangerous for me... Cough... And also the enchantment... An unpleasant combination... Therefore, it will not heal as quickly as usual...”

You are standing in front of Franz and you don’t know what to say.

The events that took place had a stunning impact on your consciousness.

You feel the pain in your own wounds, which is becoming more and more painful.

You fall to your knees. You feel nauseous from the stench of the corpses that litter the deck.

As if from somewhere far away you hear the words of one of the sailors: “Shall we take these two passengers to their cabin, captain?”

After this, your vision becomes dark and you fall into the abyss of oblivion.