Chapter 126

As the sea of thousands of soldiers surged like a tide.

Observing the overwhelmingly large enemy compared to our side, Napoleona quickly issued a command.

“Prepare to retreat. We’ve already gained enough, so let’s get out of here.”

“Yes, Admiral!”

Following her orders, Janglan began the retreat process immediately.

At that moment…

“Ad… Admiral! Napoleona-sama!”

Myura rode in urgently alongside the soldiers.

Seeing his grave expression, Napoleona felt a sense of foreboding and asked, “What is it?”

“Th-they… the enemy… among the enemies…”

“…? Why are you acting like that? I already know the enemies are coming.”

“That’s not it! The enemies… among the enemies…!!!”

“!!”

At that moment, an intensely chilling sensation struck suddenly.

Napoleona, along with the Frantz Army, turned their gaze toward the approaching enemies.

And then…

“…Retreat… now… right now, retreat!”

“Y-yes!”

“Understood!”

*

It is said that one Grade 10 Grand Warrior possesses the power equivalent to thousands of troops.

Of course, it’s hard to make a direct comparison in a situation with firearms and cannons, but the fact that they were like living disasters to ordinary soldiers who had just started rampaging on the battlefield remained unchanged.

And at this moment…

Starting with Auriel… the pirates here were sensing it.

The enemies drawing near…

The Grade 10 Black Warriors they had just barely managed to defeat moments ago, now transformed into snails…

And just within eyesight, there were more than ten of them.

“D-does that even make sense?…”

“It doesn’t seem like it…”

“I thought it was a long shot when there were two of them, but… are these things really mass-produced?”

Typically, there would be only a few Grade 10 Warriors, even in a reasonably sized kingdom.

The situation where they were stamping them out as if they were being printed was delivering a blow of nearly hopeless shock to them.

“Wh-what do we do?”

“…Run.”

“Y-yes?”

“Run immediately! To where Ambasha is, we must withdraw with that child!”

No matter how one thought about it, facing those things at this point was akin to committing suicide.

Thus, following Franklin’s orders, the pirates dashed towards Ambasha with all their might.

Hoping earnestly that those things currently seemed relatively calm and would not charge towards them…

At that moment.

“Ah… Ambas…!?”

“Ah, big sister!”

As they passed through the bushes, they began to spot Ambasha and Zebby.

Relief washed over Franklin and the cooking team as they found her seemingly unharmed.

However…

“Huh?”

“What… what is that?”

That little brat lying unconscious next to her…

Duke Ocleang.

Upon discovering him, they momentarily forgot the current urgency.

They couldn’t help but wear genuinely pleased expressions.

“Looks like our little sister has caught quite the big fish.”

“Yeah, indeed. What a gigantic catch.”

Magellan and Elkana smiled broadly.

Even in their exhausted state, the two happily gathered up Duke Ocleang and began to move.

Once again… feeling relieved that the horde of Grade 10 monsters was not moving aggressively…

*

A wildly raging storm of magical power.

At the center, that man…

The Pirate King swung his fist, filled with magical power, toward her—Chancellor Senel.

“!”

-Kwakwakwang!!

A sword saturated with blood-red energy.

It tried to block the attack, but the Pirate King’s punch pierced through Senel’s energy surge, striking her abdomen directly.

“Guh!!!”

With an enormous shock, Senel was sent flying back.

The force, not just simple energy but highly dense and compressed, hit Senel hard, even for someone of Grade 12 status like her.

“Hah… hahah…”

Senel let out a small laugh.

At the same time, wiping the blood from her lips, she spoke.

“Indeed… not bad at all. It’s been a long time since someone so persistent challenged me.”

With a deep smile, Senel responded.

However, the Pirate King spoke coolly.

“…Enough with the games, Chancellor Senel.”

“Hmm?”

“Did you think I wouldn’t know? Your powers aren’t just this. Trying to deceive me with mere acidic energy?”

“…Heh…”

Senel let out a light chuckle.

Then, she gazed at the Pirate King in front of her, announcing, “Though it may look like this, I’ve been around for quite a while… I’ve seen many humans who appeared different than they really are. You might look like Grade 12 on the surface… but the reality could just be an empty shell, right?”

With sharp eyes, Senel spoke.

In response, the Pirate King slightly raised his brow, then a deep smile crept onto his face.

“…Haha… I really don’t need to match you in every regard…”

“…What?”

“There is something to say, so what’s the conclusion? Do you find me satisfactory?”

“Ahaha…”

Senel began to genuinely laugh as a response to that remark.

Then, from her body…

A vastly different magical power began to seep out.

A deep, dark red magical power.

Resembling blood, it slowly began to wrap around Senel’s entire body.

“I’m satisfied… in that sense, I’ll fight you seriously for the first time in a while.”

With those words, magical circles began appearing all over her body.

For the Pirate King, this was a scene he had never truly witnessed before, yet…

Simultaneously, it was an incredibly familiar sight.

‘Is it coming…?’

Senel’s eyes began to emit a terrifying red glow.

Then, the magic pouring from her body coiled around her like a cocoon.

Slowly, enveloped in the red magical power, Senel began to take form.

Her flowing body, paired with a long neck,

Enormous limbs.

And…

A gigantic pair of wings sprouted from her back.

Upon seeing that figure, the Pirate King instinctively thought of one being.

A dragon…

To be precise… a grotesque entity with an entire body colored red and looking as if half of it had melted, possessing two heads that looked like a dragon and a snail mixed together.

Easily measuring about 30 meters long,

It was impossible to consider it as the same being who had looked so enchanting moments before, a true monster.

However,

The Pirate King felt no fresh sensation from it.

‘What to say… it’s exactly as I expected. It doesn’t appear to have changed much from the original work…’

Though a relatively novel(?) transformation, the Pirate King Ezra Drake had seen it numerous times through the original work.

No matter how unique the appearance, it could be a bit stale to someone who had grown accustomed to it.

-“…Oh? You’re not surprised at all even seeing this form? Thus… the Pirate King indeed has quite a bit of courage.”

“Well… it’s not exactly about courage or anything… Anyway…”

With those words, the Pirate King began to unleash his magical power.

As intense as it ever had been, witnessing his deeply potent magical energy expel forth,

The draconic figure of Senel began to prepare for a charge.

And…

-“Krawwww!!!”

With a frenzied roar, the red dragon charged forward.

Even with its massive form of dozens of meters, its speed was astonishingly swift, enough to evoke mind-boggling terror as if an entire building was swooping down on them.

Yet…

“Hah!!!”

-Kwakwakwang!!!

The Pirate King launched a decisive punch at that massive monster.

That strike hit directly towards one of Senel’s heads attacking him.

However,

“!”

-“Krawwww!!!”

Even with considerable magical power infused into the attack, Senel remained undeterred, continuing her assault.

“Guh!”

The Pirate King was flung back, swept away by the massive body.

-Pak!

Yet, during the process, he kicked off the ground and soared back towards Chancellor Senel with remarkable speed.

And.

-Tak!

-“!!”

“Hah!!!!”

-“Kraaaaa!!!”

Seizing her neck, the Pirate King hurled the gigantic body of Senel directly to the ground.

-Kwakwakwang!!

With an enormous sound, a cloud of dust swirled up.

At that moment.

“Chit…”

-Pak!!

Even in the situation of being slammed into the ground, one of her heads lunged at him.

And…

“! No way…”

-Kuworooooo!!!

Senel unleashed her Acidic Breath toward the Pirate King.

That single strike, capable of corroding everything it touched, created a large hole in the ground where they were engaged in battle.

-“…Did I burn it away?”

He muttered under his breath unconsciously, filled with doubt.

But…

-“Gahhhhhh!!!!”

He was struck with intensely agonizing pain in his abdomen.

At that moment, noticing the figure approaching her again, swinging a punch toward her, Senel instinctively grimaced.