Time: 8:10 AM — Grey Skies Over the Mawline Sea
Location: Three days east of Corsair's Haven. Fleet fractured. Storm incoming.
The world had split open.
The sea, once obsidian and still, had become a graveyard of shattered hulls and lost names. The Seeker fleet—once a mighty column of iron-bound sails and reinforced decks—now drifted in chaos.
Six ships left. No central command. Only instinct.
On the deck of the Seeker's Resolve, Kai stood at the edge, soaked to the bone, muscles coiled, eyes locked to the horizon. The storm howled around him like a beast denied its prey.
Rin tightened the mooring ropes, his Viatra Eyes narrowing.
Aria moved between stations, lightning bleeding from her hands like breath.
Lila crouched over a wounded boy, her palms glowing with soft Vitalis light, seawater mixing with blood at her knees.
Then—
A low keening echoed across the waves. Not thunder. Not wind. Something else.
Sleek black ships emerged through the haze—silent, long, fast. Crimson serpent banners fluttered like execution warrants.
Rin spoke first.
"…Those aren't pirates."
Kai was already moving.
"Formation Gamma-Four. Aria, you're field commander. Lila, protect the healers. Rin—"
"I know," he said quietly, already unsheathing his twin blades.
"I'll intercept."
They had barely begun to shift when another voice interrupted the sea.
A howl—not human, not beast, something in between.
From the drifting wreckage of the Voyager's Mercy, a single figure skated across the broken water like a phantom riding memory.
No ship.
No sails.
Just him.
Barefoot.
Sword sheathed.
Coat snapping in the gale.
A black warrior with braided hair, a silver streak falling across his temple like a promise.
Allelujah Mason.
He landed on a shattered mast, balancing like a dancer. For a moment, the storm held its breath.
Then he moved.
One unsheathing. One flash.
A hunter ship split clean down the middle—not cracked, not scorched, but cleaved like silk.
On the Resolve, Aria's jaw tightened.
Lila whispered, "…Who the hell is that?"
Rin didn't blink. His Viatra locked on, scanning aura pressure, trajectory, technique pattern.
"…He's not using Muti the way we do."
Kai narrowed his eyes.
"No. He's using something older."
Allelujah flipped midair, landing heel-first on the ship's railing.
He gave them a lazy grin.
"Yo. You kids look like you could use a swordsman."
Rin stepped forward, unamused.
"State your rank."
"Silver Seeker." A roll of the wrist. A gleam of metal. "Dead ship. Dead crew. Still got my blade."
He looked to Kai, who nodded once. That was enough.
Allelujah turned, facing the oncoming hunter fleet.
"Right then. Time for introductions."
Combat Sequence — Formation Gamma-Four
The hunters struck like lightning—no taunts, no theatrics. Just blades, Muti, and murder.
Aria blurred into the sky, activating her Stormbreaker Form. Every punch echoed like thunder.
Lila reinforced the deck with woven water sigils, shielding the wounded behind rippling Vitalis barriers.
Rin vanished between shadows, dual blades cutting in arcs of quiet death.
Kai activated Still Flame Reversal, parrying heavy strikes, each dodge storing momentum until—boom—a Bodhi-infused shockwave flattened a boarding party.
And Allelujah—
Moved like a storm's second thought.
Technique Unleashed: Susanoo Blade Dance
He twirled once, blade extended.
Wind howled in a circle.
Steel shrieked.
Bodies fell.
No wasted step. No follow-through. Just momentum and control, like he wasn't fighting—he was sculpting.
A hunter with stone skin roared and leapt—
Allelujah dipped low.
"Amaterasu Drift."
A single sidestep. No aura. No flash.
Just a slice.
The brute landed, staggered—then dropped. A thin line of smoke curling from his chest.
Duel of Blades
On the starboard deck, Rin met his match—a rogue swordsman from the Dravenmoor Territories, wielding a crescent blade inscribed with Abyssal scripture.
Neither spoke.
They moved.
Silent Edge vs. Abyssal Spiral.
Rin shifted into Form Two: Moonpiercer Waltz, blades dancing like water.
The hunter kept pace… until Rin activated Form Three: Grudge Bloom Severance.
One upward cut.
One downward cleave.
Broken blade. Broken man.
But even as the foe dropped, Rin glanced sideways—to Allelujah, who mirrored his movement with eerie synchronicity.
A challenge unspoken.
The two greatest swordsmen among Bronze and Silver ranks had found each other.
A hunter captain emerged, aura crackling, armor broken, face mad with fury.
"Yield, brats! I'll end this storm myself!"
Allelujah yawned.
Then lifted his katana with one hand.
"Raijin Spiral Breaker."
Lightning struck—
But spiraled around his blade harmlessly, drawn into a helix.
Allelujah stepped forward.
One spinning slash.
The sky cracked.
The captain was gone.
The sea calmed. The final hunter ships fled. Silence took hold again.
Allelujah sheathed his blade.
"Name's Allelujah Mason. Silver Seeker. Ex-crew of the Iron Karma. Guess I'm hitchin' a ride."
Kai nodded. "Welcome aboard."
Lila beamed. "He's so cool!"
Rin muttered, "He's cocky."
Aria's voice was low. "He's dangerous."
But the storm didn't answer.
Only the sea did.
And somewhere deep beneath the waves—far below shattered hulls and bloated corpses—something ancient stirred.
Not Broken Tide.
Not hunters.
Something far worse.
And it had heard the clash of swords.