An Understated Dominance Novel (Dahlia & Dustin) by Marina Vittori updated 2025-26 - An Understated Dominance Chapter 2633

Chapter 2633

The instant the giant claw came crashing down, Kyle’s remaining hand shot out and seized the winch chain.

His empty left sleeve whipped in the wind, veins bulging along his right arm as he wrapped the iron links—thick as a man’s wrist—around his waist and wrenched the listing ship back half an inch.

“Form the iron chain formation!” His roar rattled the deck.

Ten hardened soldiers sprinted over, driving the chain’s hook deep into the ship’s side pillar.

The claw slammed into the chain with the force of a collapsing cliff. Kyle’s knees buckled, his boots carving two deep trenches into the deck. The coppery taste of blood surged into his mouth—he swallowed it down.

“This thing can split metal and stone…” His one-eyed focus locked on the chain’s spreading cracks. In a surge of raw strength, he yanked it sideways.

The claw missed the mast by inches and tore a ten-foot hole through the deck. Wood splinters and seawater exploded upward. Three men, too slow to escape, were swept screaming into the depths.

The beast’s fury flared. Its other claw swept across the deck in a blur of barbed death.

Kyle’s pupils contracted. His fingers tore open the gunpowder pouch at his waist. “Ignite!”

The fuse hissed. He hurled the pouch at the claw with all the strength left in his arm.

A blast ripped through the air. Dark green ichor sprayed out, leaving scorched pits along the carapace.

The monster’s strike raked the ship’s flank, carrying a reeking wind laced with a corrosive white mist. Wherever it touched, the deck wood rotted in seconds.

“Its weak point’s the plastron!” Kyle bellowed, pointing to the pale underbelly rising above the waves. “Ten men—hook its legs!”

Hooks on long spears shot from the rail, biting into the joints of the crab-like legs. Sparks flew where steel met shell. The barbs snagged, locking around the shafts.

The beast thrashed. The soldiers were yanked from the deck, screaming, their cries cut off as they hit the sea.

“Rockets! Burn its eyes!” Kyle slung the heavy bow from his back, nocking three flaming bolts.

The string sang. Fire streaked toward the bulbous eyes—only to be swept into ash by a single claw. Sparks rained back, igniting the deck canvas. Thick smoke blinded the crew.

Then, without warning, the monster sank low, its barnacled back rolling with the waves.

“Hold fast! It’s going to capsize us!” Kyle’s warning came a heartbeat before the sea erupted.

The creature churned the water with its eight legs, hurling the Jingtao like a toy. The hull groaned under the strain, timbers cracking like bones.

Its claws climbed the tilted deck, snapping shut on a bronze cannon and crushing it into twisted scrap.

A soldier with a shattered leg flung himself forward, clutching explosives. “For the crew!” he roared, lighting the fuse just before the claw came down. The blast tore several barbs away, but the armored shell held.

Kyle’s ears rang. Amid the chaos, his gaze locked on a thin crack at the plastron’s edge—a glimpse of soft pink flesh, rising and falling with breath.

“Armor-piercing spike—now!”

A guard hurled him a foot-long spike of blue-tempered iron. Kyle clamped it between his teeth, seized the broken mast, and vaulted upward.

He twisted in midair, slipping past the sweeping claw, and landed hard on the barnacled carapace. The spikes tore through his boot soles, blood soaking the shell beneath his feet.

“Beast—this ends now.”

He tied his ring-handled knife to the spike, the steel flashing with cold light.

The creature bucked violently. Kyle’s grip tore his palms raw, but he clung to the gap in the armor.

As the plastron parted again, he drove the knife in, burying it half an inch. Dark green blood sprayed his face.

“Now!” He rammed the spike deep into the exposed flesh.

The monster’s scream split the air. Its bulk rolled across the waves, flinging Kyle into the ship’s rail. Blood burst from his mouth, painting the scar on his chest.

But the spike stayed lodged, sinking deeper as the beast writhed. The pale flesh turned inside out, the blood now bright red—the color of its heart.

The claws slowed. The deck’s shaking eased.

Kyle staggered upright, leaning on the shattered blade. The crab—larger than the Jingtao itself—twitched once, its eyes glazing over, legs slapping the water weakly before it rolled onto its side. The plastron was smeared crimson.

Silence fell, broken only by the sea against the hull.

Kyle’s one arm trembled. The wound wasn’t fatal, but the beast had lost half its strength.

“General! You’re bleeding!” Guards rushed to him, staring in horror at the deep, bone-revealing gashes across his back. Blood dripped steadily from his empty sleeve onto the deck.