Chapter 64 - End of the Struggle (2)

The panther was having the time of its life. Its claws tore and gored several pirates, each of whom had the talent to cultivate. It was a pity their meat did not feel as savory and tender, as their cultivation was too weak, but the panther had them all to itself. Most of all, they were alive. Most animals preferred their prey alive rather than dead. Humans would consider the act barbaric, as they were incapable of eating most animal flesh raw.

"My little brother will avenge us both. You're stronger than us, but he will kill you in the end. He's a smart pirate!" Garret said as he backed against the wall, his hands and butt on the floor.

"You pirates thought to destroy us by flanking? How simplistic. You call that intelligence? Not only that, he's too busy saving his own ship with half of his crew. The other half? I permitted my panther to partake of them as an all-you-can-eat buffet. No one can help you now. If he were truly heartless and determined for vengeance, he would have destroyed this ship with mana cannons and picked off the survivors as they swam for shore. If he were truly smart, he would have sent his men after our own lifeboats and used them as hostages. That is using your head. You're both fools," Lance mocked.

"Then kill me! I ain't going to beg for my life like a coward! I died a free man! Free from the empire!" Garret roared, Lance's eyes narrowing.

"Now we're getting somewhere," Lance said as his lava chains disappeared and he grabbed the collar of the pirate. A black and silver chest appeared in his left hand. "Now, tell me where you got this from and what's inside it. Also, is this empire you speak of part of the southern continent?"

"Laddy, you have no idea of the true power moving behind the scenes. Tell me, have you ever heard about the Elemental Sovereign of Lightning?" Garret asked.

"Of course I know of the Elemental Sovereign of Lightning. Lightning is one of my five elements," Lance answered, letting the pirate go as he picked up the great sword and pointed it at him. "What's an Elemental Sovereign got to do with this empire you spoke of? Is this chest a part of it? I'm not going to lie. I aim to kill every pirate that came from both ships. If you tell me, I'll let you live. Talk, or I'll torture you—mind, body, and soul—until you cry and beg to tell me. Tell me I'm lying."

"A monster like you, why would you lie to someone like me? What's inside that chest is one of five things the empire desperately needs. That empire is Malikutas, the Black Sun Empire. Your life, my life—none of that matters. They'll do anything they want to reach their goal," Garret said, beginning to talk about a particular empire in the southern continent.

"They're fleeing beneath the deck! Kill them all! Those with rifles, assist that panther and snipe those pirates on the lifeboats. If you're a poor shot, aim for the lifeboats. They're a bigger target!" the captain roared as the battle dragged on outside the cabin.

"I don't hear screaming, and Lance is not out here. Did something go wrong?" Lingqi asked.

"No. I sense two spirit energies within the cabin. He'll be alright. No screaming might not necessarily be a bad thing. After all, it means less bloodshed. Let's focus on killing the pirates so fewer sailors and volunteer fighters die doing so," Mei answered, stabbing a pirate in the heart.

"You five salvage some wood from our sinking ship. A ship does not sink in seconds. You two ladies, please assist them. With your cultivation, I'll need one of you to lead the charge below while the other helps retrieve our supplies below deck," the captain requested.

"I'll lead the charge. My cultivation is higher. You go get the supplies," Mei nodded, with Lingqi dashing to the sinking merchant ship. The panther returned to the ship, its fur, teeth, and claws covered with blood not of its own. It didn't take a magical beast or a beast tamer to see the smug smile on the panther. Save for the humans, the panther was clearly having fun and enjoying the battle.

"Master," the panther said mentally as it dipped its head.

"We have a situation. We are not going on the island. We'll assault the other pirate ship undergoing repairs," Lance said as he got on the merchant ship, and a school of bone ships appeared on the surface, making a small path to the other ship. "We need to leave now. They'll be too busy making repairs. Kill the weaklings first. Let my bone-armored sea wolf deal with the captain. That little captain is only at the middle stage of the Element Adept Tier. Go."

"Yes, master," the panther said and sprinted across the bone fish, a sea wolf covered in bone armor racing after it.

"Mei! Lingqi! We're leaving. Head to the third pirate ship! We'll sink it before they send further reinforcements," Lance called.

"Mei's below deck. I'll get her," Lingqi said as she appeared on deck with some crates of fruit. She set the crate aside and went below deck as Lance went on ahead toward the last pirate ship.

Lance ignored the screams, putting the pirates out of their misery with a quick lava lash to the neck. They were decapitated and died before their bodies registered the pain fast enough to scream. He stared silently at whom he supposed was the captain, tilting his head as the sea wolf snapped the man's neck and absorbed some of his blood. With a wave of his hand, the sea wolf returned to his storage ring, and he closed his eyes, using his practitioner control over the water element.

Blood was water, and ocean water contained the diluted blood of countless ocean creatures. Letting his spirit sense flow, he detected the spirit energy within the bodies of the pirates and willed them off the ship. The panther stared in wonder as even tiny drops of blood levitated in midair before going overboard. The panther felt amused as it drank some of the floating drops and streams of blood before they tipped overboard.

"Thank you for your help. You saved many lives today. Both of you," the captain said, bowing his head respectfully as Mei and Lingqi returned to the deck. "Perhaps, with the pirates dead, our journey will—"

"Captain! There are demons ashore! They're... killing the passengers who got off the ship," a sailor cried, his face pale with fear.

"Demons? You're joking. That island is... part of the Mad Demon Chain!" the captain gasped, taking out a magic telescope. "It's true! There are demons. Actual demons. Could this island have fallen completely to the demons? It was a mistake to assume this island had a human fortress still standing. We must make haste to shore!"

"We'll never make it, Gabriel! They'll be dead before we cast the first lifeboat onto the ocean," the first mate said.

"No. We are responsible for their safety. We must—" Gabriel began before the first mate grabbed his shoulder and shook him.

"Gabriel! Cousin! We cannot save them. We cannot save them! You risk the lives of those on this pirate ship if you do!" the man cried as a sailor rushed to them.

"Captain, the pirate captain of this ship was found in the captain's quarters. His, his..." the sailor began but could not continue.

"Speak, man. By the gods, speak!" the captain roared.

"Captain, the man's heart was carved out, yet he still lives. I—I don't dare investigate such sorcery. He's all chained up, though," the sailor said.

"I know that magic. That's necromancy. The heart is carved out, but the person still lives. It is through a dark blood magic that the heart is covered and preserved with mana. So long as the heart beats, the man cannot die and serves with absolute obedience to whoever possesses the heart," the first mate said. "I saw it back in the southern continent. That's how the slave masters control the gladiator slaves in the arena."

"Blood magic?" Mei gasped, while Lingqi shrugged.

"What?" Lingqi said as everyone turned to look at her. "Hey, certain types of blood magic are tolerated to control war prisoners, high-profile prisoners, and slaves. It's quite common in the eastern continent."

"That's... true," Gabriel nodded, noticing Lance wave his hand as he checked the third ship with his telescope. "It seems the third ship is no longer a threat. The supreme expert over there must have single-handedly killed them all with his magical beast and sea wolf. Oi, lad, bring the pirate captain here."

A little later, the sailor returned with the pirate captain and said, "Here he is, captain."

"Why chase us to the extent of even entering the waters of the Mad Demon Chain?" Gabriel asked.

"I ain't saying nothing. Filthy government dog," Garret said, spitting at the man's shoes. "I gave my information, and the boy let me live. Should have accepted death. Bastard actually used slave magic and carved out my own heart. I can't escape, hurt you people, or commit suicide. Mind you, I ain't going to kill myself. I'd rather die on the seas fighting than take my own life like a coward."

"Do pirates have cells in this ship?" Gabriel asked.

"Yes, captain. There are a few cells. Quite a few slaves too. They were all women. They... had lost all life in their eyes. They've been raped so many times they begged us to kill them rather than live on with such shame. Some were even impregnated. It was horrible. We killed them and tossed them overboard with the pirates," a sailor reported.

"You did the right thing. That island is overrun with demons, and we'll catch disease from the corpses. It is unfortunate that even our brothers had to be tossed overboard. Men, we'll never sail this route after this," Gabriel sighed sadly.

"Do we take both ships?" his first mate asked.

"No. We'll take apart some of one ship to repair the other. Take some men and sail to that other ship. Begin taking it apart and sorting the supplies there as we sail over. This ship has less damage toward the bottom of the hull. We can replace the mast of this ship with the other one. Salvage the flag from our merchant ship. Once we reach port, we'll repaint this ship and stay beached until it's fully repaired. Honest sailors can't keep using a pirate ship," the captain said, the others silently touching their right chest with their left hands as they saluted the dead passengers on the beach.

"No matter how great the plan, lots of people still die," Mei sighed sadly as the sailors cleaned the ship and set sail for the other ship.