“It’s a success!”
During the time Arthur had dived into the sea, Ru-mion had not relaxed for a single moment, his eyes fixed on the surface. His tension intensified with every passing second until he saw Arthur break the water’s surface with Flame Spirit Kaelin in tow. Only then did the heavy stone in his heart finally drop.
Arthur had rescued Flame Spirit Kaelin. The achievement of this task gave Ru-mion an unprecedented sense of relief. Perhaps he had already begun to dimly grasp a path—a perfect path toward creating an ideal future.
Just keep going like this; keep up the effort.
Ru-mion took another look at the scenery on the sea. Immediately after, he was shoved into an iron cage by the pirates escorting him. The pirate ship carrying him began to move slowly, gradually picking up speed with the goal of catching up to the vessels ahead.
After receiving no response from Arthur, Pengpeng ordered all the pirates to board their ships and attack. One by one, the pirate ships set sail, navigating toward the direction of Arthur and Flame Spirit Kaelin with the intent of capturing them both.
With Flame Spirit Kaelin in his arms, Arthur certainly couldn’t swim fast. He would be overtaken by the pirate ships sooner or later. Furthermore, Flame Spirit Kaelin was unable to use her racial talents, leaving Arthur with nothing left to rely on.
“Faster!” Ru-mion sensed the distance between himself and the Rinne Tenki. The Rinne Tenki was approaching him at an incredible speed, but it wasn’t enough. If the Rinne Tenki did not arrive in time before Arthur was captured and before all the pirate ships left the bay, it would be the worst possible conclusion.
“I-I’m sorry, Father… *sniffle*!” Flame Spirit Kaelin saw all the pirate ships concentrating their movement toward Arthur, forming a surrounding formation.
If Arthur hadn’t come to save her, he wouldn’t be suffering like this. It was all her fault.
“Whether it is punishment or discipline, we will wait until we return to the kingdom. You are my slave girl; stop showing such a weak appearance! That is nothing but a group of scum. I have no reason to fear them!” Arthur stared coldly at the approaching pirate ships. Even at a time like this, he maintained his noble pride. Even with death at his side, he would not bow his head.
“Father… yes!” Flame Spirit Kaelin nodded with a happy smile. Arthur’s words instantly set her heart at ease; it was like an incredible magic.
Now, Arthur Amidale—the Father she had always revered and her favorite Father—was by her side. She had the whole world!
There was nothing to fear. For her Father’s sake, whether she had to offer her life or her soul, Flame Spirit Kaelin wouldn’t feel the slightest bit of fear. In fact, she felt incredibly happy.
Arthur glanced at Kaelin’s smile. Good, she was no longer in a panic. He despised cowardly people and utterly rejected weak emotions.
While Flame Spirit Kaelin had settled down, Arthur could not be at peace. He searched for a countermeasure, but the result was utter helplessness.
His magic tools were completely exhausted, and Flame Spirit Kaelin lacked the strength to fight. Stranded in the middle of the ocean with pirate ships closing in—this was their current peril.
“Kaelin.”
Hearing Arthur call her name, Kaelin looked up in surprise. Arthur only used her name in private when no one else was around, without exception.
Arthur met her gaze with a cold stare. Like a king delivering a final decree, he radiated an unquestionable majesty, saying word for word: “Are you willing to die with me?”
Kaelin heard Arthur’s words clearly. Without a second thought, she wore a shy expression, her cute round face flushed red as if stained by blood. She smiled and nodded, affirming Arthur’s inquiry.
This was a blessing she had never even dared to dream of—to die at the same time as Father. She was truly too happy.
“I am Arthur Amidale, the Second Prince of Amidale. My pride does not allow me to live a disgraced life. Rather than being humiliated by the hands of the enemy, I would rather end it myself.”
Arthur had resolved to die. Since he had already found his own kernel of goodness, he could die whole. This wasn’t so bad. He should have been afraid of death, but he was not a man who clung to life through cowardice.
Only now did he have the courage to kill himself.
Arthur held Kaelin tight. His life had only one final task remaining.
The pirate ships were like messengers of death, constantly closing in, counting down the seconds to his end.
Before being captured by the pirates, Arthur would snap Kaelin’s neck and then bite his own tongue to commit suicide.
The ships were close.
Arthur placed his palm on Kaelin’s slender neck. The sensation was so soft it gave him the illusion that it would break with a gentle snap.
Kaelin leaned her head against Arthur’s chest, a look of ultimate bliss on her face. She felt like the luckiest girl in the world.
Even as extreme pain radiated from her neck and her consciousness began to fade, she still firmly held onto that thought.
Fresh air suddenly rushed into Kaelin’s lungs. Without her realizing it, Arthur had released his grip and was instead holding her tightly in his arms.
“What is… this!”
The first thing Kaelin saw upon waking was a powerful suction dragging her and Arthur backward through the water. The speed was incredible!
“The rising and receding of the tide is a normal phenomenon!” Arthur tried his best to steady his body, but he was still tossed about by the suction, bumping into waves and occasionally being submerged. He could no longer remember how many mouthfuls of salty, bitter seawater he had swallowed.
“This pulling force is absolutely not normal! The sea is receding! The speed is constantly increasing!”
Arthur struggled to find a moment to shout the shocking discovery to Kaelin.
It wasn’t just Arthur; many of the pirates steering the ships noticed the anomaly. The ships were moving much faster than usual. At first, they thought it was divine assistance—a gift of a tailwind. It was only when they saw Arthur and Kaelin being swept further and further away by the current that they realized the speed of the ships had nothing to do with the wind.
“Headwind, level three,” the navigator provided the startling conclusion.
Since it was a headwind, where was the increased speed coming from? Could it be the current…
Once the pirate ships exceeded the speed of any normal voyage, the pirates began to panic. Their ships had moved out of the gap and away from the transport ship. Arthur and Kaelin were also being carried by the current into a distant sea region far from the transport vessel.
“The sea is flowing backward! It’s flowing back! Lord Pengpeng! Disaster has struck!”
As the first drop of rain hit the pirate ship, Pengpeng looked up blankly at the dark, cloud-filled sky. The constant roar of thunder drowned out the panicked reports of his subordinates.
By observing the movement of a subordinate’s mouth through the corner of his eye, Pengpeng read the words.
A tsunami was coming.
“You’ve got to be joking! Get back, quickly! Leader Molly’s emotions have spiraled out of control! Who! Who! Is anyone beside Leader Molly?! Is there anyone to stop her?! Dammit! Dammit! I don’t want to die like this!”
***
On the northern side of the transport ship, amidst the messy ruins, Baia and Kurang were squatting in a triangular shelter formed by a half-collapsed wall and the ground to avoid the rain.
Watching the storm outside, Baia considered staying put, but the situation forced her to move.
“Oh dear, what incredible rain. It would be terrible to get soaked and catch a cold. Do you know where there are any raincoats? I don’t want to work in a downpour.”
“You! You’re clearly just being lazy!”
Kurang, whose body was radiating steam from sweat, couldn’t help but turn and yell. Looking back, his heart was full of tears; as a miserable captive, he was forced into hard labor under the threat of a flintlock. Baia had done nothing but point the gun at his back, so how could she say the word “work” without any shame!
Baia ignored Kurang’s complaints. She watched the scenery outside for a while longer. After confirming the rain showed no signs of weakening, she tore her own clothes and used strips of cloth to wrap the flintlock tightly. At this moment, she wore only a thin set of white undergarments. Large patches of her skin were exposed to the point of being nearly naked, yet there was no sense of seduction; the scars left behind by healed burns ruined the aesthetic of the young girl’s body.
“What do you plan to do now!” Kurang reacted violently to Baia’s actions.
“Naturally, I’m going to activate the Strategic-Class Weapon: Baia’s Peerless and Undefeated Magic Cannon.” Baia continued to wrap the cloth around the flintlock. “I can’t do that staying here. Get ready to rush out with me.”
“Of course, the firearm in my hand has already had basic waterproofing measures applied. Be. Be-have.”
Kurang cursed under his breath a few times before standing up with Baia, rushing into the rain with her without hesitation.
“By the way, that’s a Magic Defense Cannon! What’s with that ridiculous ‘Strategic-Class Weapon: Baia’s Peerless and Undefeated’ name? Are you still a child?!”
“Shut up. I don’t want to swallow more rainwater just to argue with you. All I can say is that giving a name to a weapon is very important for the accuracy bonus!”
“Really?! How come I’ve never heard of such a thing?!”
“It’s fake. Just personal preference and self-hypnosis.”
“You brat!”
“Of course, confidence is essential. Believing that you’ll hit every shot—isn’t that a wonderful thing?”
Baia and Kurang arrived together at a field of steel ruins. The surrounding area was bloodstained, with fragments of steel visible everywhere. The two then reached a massive cannon barrel buried in the rubble.
“Is the charge complete?” Baia asked with her right eye closed, tightening her grip on the flintlock.
“No problem. The charge has reached one hundred percent. Firing once is no issue at all.” Kurang gave a thumbs up, not daring to think of a counterattack at this moment.
“Then what are we waiting for! Fire!”
“Fire where?! We can’t see anything! This storm has covered our line of sight!”
Kurang shouted loudly. He saw Baia standing silently, letting the heavy rain soak her. Her wet, long hair clung to her face, obscuring her expression, though she must have felt quite disappointed.
It was no wonder. She had intended to provide cover for her escaping companions and had set her sights on the main magic cannon, wanting to use its terrifying power to intimidate the pirates and allow her companions to escape.
The storm had derailed her plan. No matter what, she was now in a state where she couldn’t see anything; she couldn’t track her companions, nor could she distinguish the enemy’s movements. Even if the fully charged magic cannon fired, it would likely be in vain. Everything was ready, yet she was helpless. She was truly unfortunate.
Just as Kurang was lamenting the failure of Baia’s plan, he suddenly heard an incredibly firm voice.
“Fire!”
“Wait! Don’t you understand yet! You can’t see anything! The rain has defeated you! You have no target! Wake up!” Kurang felt like a nagging mother. It made sense; Baia was just an immature girl, likely just throwing a tantrum because she was unwilling to give up.
“No, there is one… very obvious target.”
Baia raised her hand, pointing in a certain direction.
“A rare one hundred percent hit rate! Fire the cannon!”