Suddenly, the pirate felt himself floating. Or rather, he was growing taller? His head began to spin uncontrollably.
Until he started to descend, and saw his body in front of him.
— Why... why is my body over there?
His head landed on the floor, rolling, with a trail of blood following. Then, his body followed shortly after, collapsing.
"Huh?"
Yezekael couldn't take his eyes off the strange scene.
Nym stood behind the body, holding two daggers loosely.
A cut so quick, so clean, that the man killed hadn't even realized he was dead, and the man watching hadn't even realized that anything had happened.
Yezekael's jaw hung.
Nym stared back at him.
But to Yezekael, it felt like he was staring straight through him.
With a nod, Nym continued on his way, walking past as if nothing had happened. The chaos on the ship continued, even as the boat landed on shore.
— The… pinnacle of the blade?
.
Caelum stood in front of the captain of the ship.
"Interesting weapon yer holdin' there. Well, dead men tell no tales. All of y'all slaves gonna have to feed the fish."
He brandished his weapon, a shiny cutlass.
"Something that clean... you've never really had to kill a day in your life, have you? A sheltered pirate. Imagine that-"
"Shut yer trap!"
The angered pirate began his assault.
[Cast: Flashstep]
"And with such basic application of mana,"
Caelum jumped over the moving pirate, landing on his shoulder.
"You'll never win against me. Might as well not use it at all."
He reloaded.
Kchk.
He leaped off the large man's shoulder, soaring into the air. He brought the AHMC to his own shoulder, aiming.
Bsh!
He fired his AHMC rifle, a small bullet of white energy emanating red light firing at the pirate, piercing his shoulder.
— This white and red energy... is it a side effect of absorbing all that energy?
Caelum thought for a moment. But he was brought back to reality, feeling the ship start to shake, hitting the shore.
He aimed at the captain's head.
Bang!
The clean beam of energy shot his head straight off, incapacitating him.
"The efficiency of this weapon is amazing."
Caelum saw turned his head, the shore beginning to enter his field of vision. He grinned, cupping his hands and yelling.
"Yezekael!"
"Right behind you!"
They stepped on top of the railing that surrounded the deck. Yezekael rushed behind Caelum, grabbing him by the waist with one arm.
Fwsh!
He jumped off the boat.
[Cast: Black Flame Wing]
In their descent, black wings of fire manifested at Yezekael's back, flapping intensely.
"When the hell did you learn this?!" Caelum yelled, pleasantly surprised.
"You think I was watching those seagulls just for entertainment this whole time?"
Caelum held on tightly to Yezekael.
From the skies, they could see the beautiful scenery of Sar.
Bright sparkling lakes that reflected the rays of the sun perfectly.
Tall pine trees that seemed to touch the sky.
Mountains that even Yezekael had to adjust to every so often.
"Caelum, your skin is back to normal. And I don't feel any tail on me."
"Must be because the rest of that manabeast's energy has left my body."
"I feel like we should be wary, though. What if that… manabeast appears again? What if we aren't as lucky? I mean, you've already lost one eye."
"Relax. That manabeast type can only manifest within water. We'll be fine if we take advantage of that. We should be focusing on getting a map to the royal capital, and finding the king."
"True."
They flew for a few kilometers until they saw a carriage following a dirt path.
"We're going to have to do some immoral things, Yezekael. We're in a war, so there's no choice."
. .
.
The horse-pulled wagon was constructed of black wood and iron, with a curved roof overhead. Along the sides were intricate designs, embedded with emerald and other luxurious minerals.
"My lady, we'll be arriving in 4 hours or so," the carriage driver said. He wore the attire of a butler, in light brown colors, with the chain of a pocket watch hanging from his pocket.
His mustache was curled above his lips. A halved top hat cast a shadow upon his eyes.
The lady in question sighed loudly and obnoxiously.
Within the carriage, the walls were made out of white quartz, and their were four seats cushioned comfortably.
The inside design screamed royalty, as well.
"4 hours. All to accompany my father in a meeting. This war is incredibly stupid."
The woman was of high class. Her hair was a light blonde and silky, appearing straight. Despite the friendly green color of her iris, her eyes were sharp and unfriendly.
She wore a low nose bridge.
The carriage came to a halt.
Feeling the lack of movement, the young woman, in her late teenage years, felt the need to speak about it.
"What's the stop for? Do you want me to reach the meeting next year?" She exaggerated.
"My lady… There seems to be someone in front of a carriage. Two people, a-"
"Damn it! I'll solve this myself."
She swung the carriage door open, stepping onto the soil with a heavy foot.
"What the hell do you two want?!" she yelled.
In front of her, stood two homeless people. They were clothed in rags, with dirt covering their body from head to two.
One was taller than the other. It appeared like a father-son duo.
The shorter one stepped forward.
"Ma'am… could you please spare us some food? We've been traveling for days, drinking only rainwater to barely sate our thirst. If you don't have any food though, that would be alright."
"… What did you just say?"
She had not been paying attention until the last sentence.
"You… might not have food to give us..?"
"Do you know who I am?"
A vein bulged at her forehead.
"… No?" The taller one answered in his stead.
"The daughter of a duke? Natalia of the Laio family? The most influential family in Sar?!
After each sentence, her aggression grew. She opened her mouth in disbelief, seeing their confused expressions.
"How… insolent. Guards, kill them."