Aquila’s eyes flickered with the scenery from years past.
“Clean it up by tonight. If you can’t, there won’t be a tomorrow morning.”
“Captain! This one is too weak; should we just raid the next ship and throw him into the sea?”
“Then can I have a little fun with him before tossing him away? It seems quite entertaining to have a pretty boy like him around.”
He gritted his teeth and swung the magic sword “Typhoon.”
“How dare you call me a slave!”
Typhoon was a magic sword with a strange grip made of either bone or metal, from which a blade of wind emerged, vibrating intensely.
“Typhoon! Strike my enemies!”
As he infused mana, the wind blade elongated and lashed out at Valenciaunos like a whip.
Whirrr! Whirrr!
Amidst large and small stone columns that rose up, they were chopped away like vegetables on a cutting board in front of the transparent wind whip.
Creeeak!
Crunch!
Three stone columns simultaneously crumbled, stones and debris flying everywhere, as the Bandit Duke desperately dodged.
However, a sinister smile lingered at the corners of Valenciaunos’s mouth.
“Must have come from a deckhand. Yes, there are those who, having crawled up from the bottom, can’t forget the humiliation and continue to cling to dignity, reputation, and wealth.”
Whirrr!
The wind blade vibrated at high speed, targeting his neck.
“Unaware that what he desired has already been obtained.”
Crash!
He jumped back to evade, the wind blade cutting a line along his shoulder.
Slash!
His white uniform tore open, and red blood dripped profusely.
“!”
Valenciaunos landed awkwardly in mid-air, gritting his teeth in anger as he shouted.
“How dare a lowly slave wound me, the elder brother of the Imperial Family! This sin cannot be atoned for even with your life!”
He personally despised lies, but apart from that, he did not attach great significance to the words he spoke.
He was someone who knew well what diplomatic rhetoric was, saying what needed to be said rather than what he wanted to say.
And now, what he needed to say was something that would turn Aquila’s gaze away.
“I will ensure you walk the plank!”
Aquila glared with his dark-ringed eyes and charged forward.
Swoosh!
Returning to its original length, the magic sword “Storm” was in his right hand, while the dagger “Dark Scale,” freshly drawn from his waist, was in his left.
Dark Scale was a thick, diamond-shaped dagger with a sharp point.
Its power to control water at the point of contact made it very advantageous in shipboard battles.
With just one stab, it could extract all the blood from the opponent’s body.
“Come.”
Valenciaunos raised his weapon and unleashed flames in a frontal assault.
Boom!
Bright yellow flames shot out in a wide fan.
Chiiiiiing!
The joint moisture boiled and evaporated, various seaweeds turned to ash, and steam rose from the puddles on the ground, while the surrounding oxygen burned away, creating a vacuum in an instant.
It was a strike strong enough to burn through Aquila’s body to the bone.
However, the Pirate King showed no sign of panic and infused mana into Typhoon once more.
Vwooom!
The bright light of white mana flared intensely, the blade of Typhoon extending like a whip, splitting the flames in two.
Swoosh!
The overwhelming flames scattered like a sea divided in front of the prophet’s staff.
This was an absolute counter-type relationship that existed since the separation of heaven and earth between wind magic and fire magic.
“How foolish! Duke.”
Aquila strode defiantly forward.
“How dare you-.”
Crash.
Valenciaunos took a step back, colliding against the wall, a look of dismay appearing on his face.
“Pay for your arrogance, relying solely on your bloodline.”
Aquila dashed in, holding the dagger, Dark Scale.
Valenciaunos swung Black Tear to block, but Aquila struck it aside with Typhoon and pressed on.
Clang, then screech!
“I’ve never killed a royal from the bloodline of the beast before.”
He grinned while raising Dark Scale.
“Beg for your life.”
He loved hearing those words.
For that moment, when the opponent’s life depended on his will, it felt as if he had become a god, allowing him to completely forget his past humiliations.
“Ptooey!”
Valenciaunos spat at Aquila’s face.
“… Indeed. How regrettable.”
Aquila aimed for Valenciaunos’s wrist and struck down with Dark Scale.
Clang!
The tough fabric of the uniform was pierced before the needle-like blade, a loud metallic clang resonating.
It wasn’t a sensation typical of piercing human flesh.
“What?”
At that moment, Aquila realized Valenciaunos had no wound on his shoulder.
‘Even the clothes are intact?’
A chill ran down his spine, and a bead of cold sweat trickled down.
Szzzz!
The sound of something slithering like a snake could be heard as white threads sprouted from the sleeves of Valenciaunos’s uniform, wrapping around Dark Scale like tentacles.
“An invisible wind blade, how frightening that magic tool is… Especially given the poor compatibility.”
Valenciaunos spoke with a voice that seemed to be a hundred people at once.
A low, androgynous tone reverberated in the Pirate King’s mind.
In his beast-like shining golden eyes, a vertical pupil appeared, and translucent dark-red scales began to grow on his neck, cheeks, wrists, and other barely noticeable areas of flesh.
Though Valenciaunos’s back touched the wall, it was Aquila who was relentlessly pushed further.
‘I’ve been fooled.’
Aquila clenched his teeth, and without moving his red lips, Valenciaunos spoke.
“You’ve been deceived. Just like a deckhand who heard the promise of being let off the ship!”
His voice was insidious yet captivating, like that of a malevolent dragon.
Vwoooooooo!
Something began to heat up ominously.
Valenciaunos’s right hand cracked like pottery, shining a bright red.
Aquila abandoned Dark Scale and dove straight into the puddle.
“Damn it!”
“Ah, ha ha ha ha!”
Flames erupted, roaring forth.
The smoke swirling in the cave was thick.
‘I can’t breathe. Fire really isn’t suited for narrow spaces.’
Oxygen flared in the cave again, while the Bandit Duke’s mind throbbed with a painful headache.
‘Still, ever since absorbing the power of that steppe warrior, I’ve improved a little. Next time, I’ll have to try to accept changes like Sayah Yan said.’
Valenciaunos anxiously waved his hands to dissipate the smoke, checking the puddle where Aquila had entered.
‘…Gone. Impossible. The rocks are boiling. It’s strange that any water remains at all.’
The puddle was empty, and the floor was obscured by seaweed.
‘Cold. It hasn’t even really heated up.’
He quietly surveyed the chamber and noticed several similar puddles.
Curiosity prompted him to toss a stone into one of the puddles.
Plop.
Ripples formed lightly, and the surrounding puddles stirred slightly.
Watching that, he deduced a few facts.
‘They’re connected. The area beneath isn’t just a small cave. There were quite a few inclines on the way here. This isn’t a puddle; it’s the sea level. He’s hiding somewhere beneath the ocean.’
Tap, tap, tap.
He intentionally made sounds with his boots as he walked.
‘If he’s also a Sword Expert, he could hold his breath for about 20 minutes. That magic sword could stymie my scales as well. He could be looking for an opportunity to grab my back, or he might have already found a way out to the sea.’
Several possibilities flashed through his mind.
‘But it’s still the low tide. It would be far more advantageous for him to leave on the ebb tide.’
And just as a reasonable possibility was about to turn into an unfounded suspicion…
‘He can’t be dead from being swept away by the waves, right? Lost in a cave underwater and drowned? The Pirate King couldn’t possibly die like that… No, drowning is the number one cause of death for knights.’
In the darkness, a cursed beam resembling a shaft of light flew forth.
“Vein of Bubbles!”
It was a terrible curse that made all the blood in one’s body boil, leading to death.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The red curse struck Valenciaunos’s chest.
However, the curse did not seep into his body but scattered like smoke.
“Grr!”
Valenciaunos possessed enough magical resistance to withstand Sererassie’s electric magic.
Now that he had fully summoned the energy of incantations, he boasted a level of defense comparable to that of armor inscribed with incantation circuits.
“Who dares—!”
Instead of pain, he yelled with rage, spotting figures rushing out from between the caves.
“Capture him!”
“Aim for his head!”
“Now’s the chance!”
Skilled pirates and several pirate captains and admirals counterattacked.
“Aim for his head! Head! Head! Head!”
The magic tool ballista and bow fired arrows glowing in various colors.
“Pain is for him, blessings for us!”
Peijin and her sorcerers cast blessings on the pirates and curses on Valenciaunos.
‘Conjunctivitis,’ ‘toothache,’ ‘headache,’ ‘dizziness,’ ‘hallucinations,’ ‘delirium,’ ‘drowsiness,’ ‘hunger,’ and other light curses.
‘Hemorrhage,’ ‘heart rupture,’ ‘vascular necrosis,’ ‘cerebral hemorrhage,’ ‘fainting,’ and other heavy curses.
It was a barrage of curses like the witches praying while holding crosses in front of their communal dwelling.
Szzzz! Szzzz! Szzzz! Szzzz!
Even someone as formidable as Valenciaunos struggled to fend them all off.
“Grr!”
In particular, the water-type spells woven into the magic tool ballista and arrows struck him, causing his body to stiffen as if pricked by needles, and spells related to headaches magnified the side effects of the fiery backlash.
He watched the puddles closely while shooting lances of fire at the pirates.
“Do you think those sea maggots can take me on to the end—!”
It was a melee.
The struggle of the Pirate King Aquila instilled hope among the pirates.
Especially as Valenciaunos engaged in psychological warfare by being cautious about Aquila’s magic sword, Typhoon, and allowed him to come close, this was crucial.
Seeing this, the pirates thought to themselves.
‘He’s a magic swordsman specialized in ranged magic. He’s skilled in swordsmanship too, but he doesn’t know how to combine magic and swordsmanship to close in on the enemy.’
‘He can unleash overwhelming firepower strong enough to pierce three city walls, but it requires long casting and reagents.’
‘Caves and caverns… This isn’t a terrible situation for us. We have a good chance at backstabbing him.’
‘If he’s going to flee, he’ll need a hostage. Perfect, we’re separated from Cariosa.’
With that misunderstanding, a plan was crafted.
‘For now, let’s bombard him with curses and magic tool ballista shots to tie him down as much as we can, and somehow wound him before tossing him into the water.’
‘I know fire magic requires air when first igniting. If we throw him into the water, we’ve got a chance.’
‘Aquila is already waiting in there. He won’t drown. We can absolutely win.’
The pirates who had reached this point were armed with decent weapons and equipped with magic tool weaponry.
“Let’s go!”
“Uwaaaa!”
“Let’s tear him apart together!”
Broad cutlasses, narrow katana, harpoons, axe spears, naval one-handed axes, naval one-handed straight swords…
Countless weapons were hurled at the young duke.
Until that moment, a glimmer of hope remained in their eyes.
“Do you think a noble son of the Imperial Family can handle us, lowly pirates?”
“In a melee, we have the upper hand!”
“We can win!”
Valenciaunos chuckled as he gripped Black Tear and Dark Scale.
“Can you really?”
Szzzaaaak-!
The mana-bladed Black Tear cut through a cutlass, and the magic sword Dark Scale slyly nicked the throat of the pirate who had been wielding that cutlass.
Puhwaaaaa!
‘So this is how it’s done.’
Valenciaunos realized the exact moment to infuse mana into Dark Scale, causing blood to fountain from the pirate’s vein.
“Ugh!”
Siiiiiing!
He slid the harpoon that had pierced his side away with his scales, and with a kick, he struck the pirate between his legs, hitting him with the end of Black Tear’s handle to knock him down.
“I was feeling overwhelmed wondering how I would search through all these caves, but now that you’ve all gathered, thank you!”
Boom!
From point-blank range, lances of fire erupted, sending the charging pirates rolling on the ground.
“Ugh!”
Some fell right into the puddle and sank beneath the sea.
Peijin bit her lip, preparing the curse of ruptured patellas.
“My wrath is always just…!”
In that instant, their eyes met.
The duke with the white hair and golden eyes glared at the red-haired pirate.
“Hmph.”
“Grr!”
Peijin gritted her teeth, trying not to be overwhelmed by the pressure, while Valenciaunos smirked at her as if feeling pity.
At that moment, a thought crossed his mind.
‘Now. Perhaps I can?’
The chaos of battle was spiraling, and to survive such chaos, he naturally extended his consciousness.
Maces aimed for his nape, whips targeted his legs, axe spears dropped toward his shoulders, an estoc approached head-on, and curses flew from afar, all felt vividly.
He reached out with hundreds of hands into all that space.
‘This entire space is mine.’
His habit of using telekinesis with the magic tool “Invisible Hand” had been helpful.
A prickling, stinging heat surged within him.
‘So now you will listen to my words.’
His chest felt like it could burst as he instinctively shouted.
‘I’ve already changed, and now you have to adapt.’
“A, A, A, A—!”
It was as if hundreds of people were speaking simultaneously.
Pabababa!
Red crystals burst forth from Valenciaunos’s hands, piercing his flesh.
“Aaah!”
Simultaneously, a crimson wave spread out in circles from Valenciaunos, radiating across the caves.
It was a perfect mental wave.
