Chapter 64

There are two large ports on the Island of Sicilia.

The largest being the Western Port, and a slightly smaller Eastern Port.

In the Western Port, there are the warships of the Benessa Navy and the White Shark Pirate Crew.

Additionally, some of the Frantz Kingdom’s warships are also present.

In the Eastern Port, the Blue Shark Pirate Crew and some of the Frantz Kingdom Navy’s warships that couldn’t fit in the Western Port are docked.

The reason the Frantz Kingdom’s warships are divided like this is that ships from other factions are at least medium-sized warships, yet many of their own ships are small warships.

To put it in modern terms, it’s like having a parking lot exclusively for compact cars.

After leaving their base, the Blue Shark Pirates barely made it to the Eastern Port.

Having arrived ahead of others, they hastily began boarding their ships.

“Uh… how many are left?”

“As of now, about 570 out of 1000 pirates remain here. There’s no way to confirm if the others are dead or alive.”

“Ugh…”

A significant loss, with nearly half of his subordinates gone.

However, Blue Queen was in no position to dwell on that right now.

If they lingered here, they risked losing not just half, but all of her crew.

Thinking about the enemies that were still hot on their heels, they needed to get out of there as quickly as possible.

At the same time, Blue Queen earnestly wished

that the Pirate King had headed west instead of east.

She could deal with the others, but the Pirate King was a whole different story.

A monster capable of sinking warships with a single punch.

No matter how much of a Grade 9 Advanced Warrior Blue Queen was, she had no way to handle a Grade 12 monstrosity.

“Don’t worry too much, this Eastern Port is small, and the main force, the Benessa Navy, is in the west, so of course they’ll go that way.”

“With the big fish over there, there’s no way they’d come here, right? You can rest easy.”

“Uh… yeah… It is highly likely. Since the Benessa navy is drawing attention, there’s no reason for them to come this way.”

Even thinking to herself that the Pirate King wouldn’t come this way, Blue Queen felt a bit relieved and focused on preparing for departure.

As the pirate ships of the Blue Shark began to unfurl their sails and leave the port,

At that moment, Blue Queen and the pirates finally spotted the Frantz Kingdom Navy, which had just arrived late.

Seemingly chased by the Pirate King’s crew, the Frantz troops were making their way to the ships in a disheveled and hurried state.

Despite the dire situation, seeing them in such distress strangely lifted Blue Queen’s mood.

“Haha, serves them right. Those filthy navy pests. They dared to mess with us; they deserve to die a hundred or a thousand times.”

“I agree. Now they’ll likely fend off the Pirate King’s subordinates for us.”

“You know, it’s true what they say — even shit can be useful at times.”

“Hahaha… I can’t argue with that.”

As they delightfully watched the slaughter of the meat shields before them, the pirate ships of the Blue Shark began to drift further away from the dock.

Then, suddenly—

– Whoosh!

“…Huh?”

– Ka-boom!!!

With a flash of light, a warship of the Frantz Kingdom was utterly destroyed.

The faces of Blue Queen and her subordinates, who were joyfully observing the situation, quickly turned serious.

“What… what is happening?”

“C-can it be…”

– Greeeeek!!!

The horrifying sound of the ship sinking in a single blow began to wash away the hope in their hearts.

Only one person in this vast sea could pull off something like that…

“Damn it!!!!”

“Damn! No wonder I’ve been having such terrible luck lately!”

The Pirate King, who should have gone west, had appeared right before their eyes.

As the reality hit Blue Queen that she was the loser in this dangerous game of hot potato, her expression froze in fear.

The Pirate King and his crew quickly dispatched the Frantz Navy, which was supposed to act as the meat shield.

Then their attention turned to Blue Queen and her remaining subordinates, who still hadn’t escaped far.

*

Enemies scattering like locusts.

Seeing the panicked troops scattering everywhere, I immediately set my direction to the west.

After all, this was an island.

Surrounded by the sea, there was no way to escape except towards the ports.

Among the two ports, I chose the Eastern one.

Regardless of which way I went, the order wouldn’t change, but the reason for choosing east was simple.

At this point, there were more enemies on this side.

Even though the size of the western port was larger, just before I began to pursue the enemies, a report came in.

That there weren’t many ships at the Western Port relative to its size.

Thus, intending to target the bigger problem first, I arrived here.

Before my eyes, I caught sight of the Blue Queen’s pirate crew, which had just started to flee.

“They are escaping.”

“Seems like they are surprisingly fast; I didn’t expect them to get that far in such a short time…”

“Still, they are just trapped rats. Please give your orders, Pirate King.”

At this distance, catching up should be easy. I then looked at my subordinate pirates and gave the order.

“Wipe them all out. But I’ll take care of Blue Queen myself. Don’t make the foolish mistake of poking a weary shark.”

“Understood!”

As soon as the command was given, the pirates immediately began to move.

I also gathered magical power at my feet and forcefully kicked off the ground.

– Bang!!!

Leaping into the night sky.

For a moment, the enemies on the pirate ship appeared as mere dots, but

at this instant, my gaze was completely focused on one among them.

The pirate woman, who was looking up at me with a frozen expression.

Blue Queen.

– Thud!!

“Gah!”

“Ugh!…”

As I landed on the deck where she stood, a brief groan escaped her lips.

Then my gaze turned to the frightened pirates staring at me…

More precisely, it settled on Blue Queen, whose face had gone pale as her name suggested.

“It’s been a while; how have you been, Blue Shark?”

“Ezra… Drake…”

“I heard you tried to catch me by teaming up with various people? I at least showed you some mercy once… what a regrettable turn of events.”

“…Ugh.”

Blue Queen frowned.

Seeing that, I began to gather magical power in both hands.

Then—

– Click!

The pirates aiming their guns at me.

However, Blue Queen spoke with a determined voice.

“Stop. Lower your weapons this instant.”

“B-but…”

“Captain!”

“Either way, I’m responsible for starting this. Taking responsibility is also my duty.”

As she pushed her subordinates aside, Blue Queen slowly walked forward.

Her hands, clad in gauntlets, began to swirl with blue magical energy.

And then—

“Vice-Captain, handle the rear for me.”

“C-captain!”

In an unexpectedly calm voice, she addressed her crew.

While it felt like determination radiated from her, I had no intentions of sparing her a second thought.

She was someone who had discarded the mercy I’d offered her.

At the moment she gave up a second chance, the only pity I could show was—

“Prepare yourself! I’ll take your head off!!!”

– Whack!!!

A clean death — the only mercy she would receive.

That was all.

“Captain!!!”

With a single blow, Blue Queen’s head flew off.

Despite being a Grade 9 Advanced Warrior, her demise was shockingly swift.

Considering she was already worn out from the earlier battle, it was to be expected, but…

Then—

“How dare you… kill the captain!”

“Never… never will I forgive you!”

The Blue Shark pirates immediately expressed their rage upon witnessing their captain’s death.

At this moment, if they had knelt and surrendered, there would have still been a chance for them to live.

However, it seemed they had no intention of doing so now.

A display of how highly regarded Blue Queen was as a leader among her crew.

“Attack all of you!”

And her high regard would ultimately present her subordinates with the gift of death.

*

“Damn! What the hell is that?!”

Commander Pierre and his subordinates barely arrived at the forest near the port.

However, despite the numerous warships before them, they couldn’t even think about boarding.

From this elevated area, the scene was vividly clear.

It was the sight of dozens of pirate ships lying in ambush on the outskirts of the port.

Those preparing to turn the departing ships into fish food.

Although Pierre was of lowly rank and skill, he understood well that if he stepped out thoughtlessly to board now, he’d certainly meet his end.

“Uh… what should we do, Commander?”

“Let’s just wait for now. If any opportunity arises, we’ll head out…”

“It seems like the chances of that happening are slim…”

“Uh… be quiet! If it comes, it’ll come. Just wait quietly.”

Despite his subordinates’ worried words, Pierre used the little authority he had to suppress their concerns.

However, even he had to acknowledge the situation.

Unless some sort of divine favor came down, there was no way for them to escape in this scenario.

‘But… still, I’m a lucky guy! Um… surely, a way will present itself… some way to overcome this crisis…’

As Commander Pierre nervously concealed himself in the bushes, suddenly, he spotted a group of people approaching.