I did everything I could, but my best wasn’t enough. I couldn’t react in time. It happened so fast that Ahmya was already in front of me, and Captain Israel shielded me from the dagger. Usually, the small blade wouldn’t be enough to kill an adult person.But it did. We were not up against a hoodlum, a small fry, or an unknown enemy. We were dealing with Captain Blackbeard, the scariest enemy of the ocean… and of the world.The dagger pierced right near Captain Israel’s heart. I was no doctor. I couldn’t tell if she would live for another day or not, given Captain Israel was profusely bleeding out. And, within a second, the battle was over. Ahmya decided to retract her dagger and slid back away from our range. She didn’t follow up a second attack. And if Captain Blackbeard did, I would’ve already left this world without even saying goodbye to my sister… But, at the end of the day, Ahmya let me live. Even though she didn’t say it, Captain Blackbeard wanted me alive. Maybe it was becau
Behind us was an army of soldiers dispatched from the fleet of ships. They rallied across the barren town, since the people living from the Horizon camp had already fled to safety. When the soldiers arrived, they quickly drew their torches and burnt every cabin and rice field. Nothing survived. Fortunately, all the survivors had already followed Azure and the others as they made it out to safety. But the soldiers hadn’t given up. They continued to pursue Captain Israel’s people as soon as they found some clues and footprints. These soldiers from the Kingdom rode horses and vehicles as their mode of transportation, while bringing with them hounds that could track their scents. They were faster than our friendly pirates who were travelling on foot. I didn’t know why these soldiers from the Kingdom had visited our place, but it seemed Captain Blackbeard was the perpetrator of this madness. But I couldn’t tell, considering she got out before taking out some knights of the Kingdom. And
“Do not walk the same path I had strolled… Do not kill anyone. Promise me that, Arata… Promise me….”Those were the final words spoken by Captain Israel. According to everyone and Captain Israel herself, she was a past murderer who worked between two worlds: The Kingdom and the pirates. She was the former Captain of the pirate community and co-founder of the group. But when she met Ahmya, things took a quick turn.Everywhere they went, corpses followed the two Captains.Taking lives was like a normal occurrence to them, so Captain Israel had enough and broke off ties with Captain Blackbeard. Hence, she was now here, the leader of the Horizon camp and labelled as the beacon of hope.In the end, Captain Blackbeard had the last laugh and killed her. But even in her last words, Captain Israel forced me a promise… a vow I needed to comply.“Do not kill.” It was a horrible pledge, especially when it would involve my sister. There was nothing I could do but see for myself if I could do it. A
The soldiers finally appeared near the cliff where I could see them but it was difficult to see me. Even though that army already had a hunch, they still had a long way to reach where I stood. I didn’t have any time to prepare an engrande burial for Captain Israel. So instead, I used my strength to dig up a hole and buried Captain Israel from that bland flooring. The odd-looking rock served as a tombstone, and the ones written on it were in Kanji - a language only I knew. In this case, only Captain Blackbeard and I knew exactly where she was located. Not that it mattered anyway. Regardless of language I used, Captain Israel’s body could be dug up by anyone who would stumble upon the gravestone. “You have the right to remain silent and refuse to answer questions! If you give up the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a Kingdom court of law!” “My name is Cyrus Hall, and I am the Leading Commander of this army. Surrender now and face judgment
“The name’s Arata Kazuto, and my fight isn’t with you guys. As much as I want to scramble with you, I need to help the others.”I hurriedly escaped and looked like a coward in the eyes of the Kingdom. But I didn’t care what they had thought about me. The only important thing to me was my sister and the rest of the pirate squad trying to leave this island alive. If I could get to them without killing these soldiers and losing anyone, that would be great. But a wish was called a “wish” for a reason. Since my body was enhanced compared to any other average adventurer or soldier, I swiftly got out of the place and left the soldiers there. From above, the soldiers from the Kingdom brought heavy armoured fighting vehicles carrying guns and magic. Those were tanks. And beside those tanks were motorcycles and buggies just like from a recent action movie. It was lit. Unfortunately, these soldiers were my enemies, and I had to fight them later on.I was expecting my enemies to use magical bro
In the heat of the battle, I searched for my sister if she was safe and sound. While I was at it, I knocked over a few more soldiers who were wandering around and harassing the people. I used the wind wall and my fire magic to push the knights around while carefully evading the innocent pirates on my side. It was a tedious extraction. But as soon as I got the hang of it, my skills were enough to send a few enemies away. The one that gave me a bit of a problem was the tanks. They were built with materials that gave off massive defense against magical and physical attacks. Although my strikes worked against them, it took these armoured vehicles a few hits before they could fall down. The soldiers also kept up a fight, especially the mages. They moved as a unit. As the army progressed and launched their attacks, the defensive party was already on standby. Dozens of shields were waiting for me. But when I returned the favour and blasted them with my spells, those armour panels and shield
“You have the right to remain silent and refuse to answer questions! If you give up the right to remain silent, anything you-...”“You say can and will be used against you in a court of law. Yeah, yeah. I get it. The Miranda Rights. I know where it came from. You people from the Kingdom have a law firm that protects the rights of the people. And let me guess, your symbol is a woman wearing a blindfold and holding a scale? A balanced one,” I said, and completed the man’s sentence. “Why do you guys always say these things, but it eventually ends up in a life and death battle? I’m getting tired of it, actually.”Both Azure’s, Francoise’s, and the soldier’s eyes widened in surprise the moment I knew what the knight was about to say. Moreover, I completed it. It was as if I knew the law of the Kingdom despite living most of my life here aboard the ship and with the pirates.Fortunately, Azure and Francoise didn’t mind it. Even though it seemed I belonged to the Kingdom, it didn’t mean I wa
It all happened so fast, but it happened. Everything was real. In front of me was Francoise’s dead body with her eyes wide open. I respected the dead, so I went close to her and covered her eyes, while thinking of a place to bury her. Fortunately, I already had one in mind. I planned on inhuming her beside the tomb of Captain Israel. Francoise had saved hundreds of people and liberated all of them throughout her experience with Captain Israel and the rest of the pirates. It was natural to put her beside her Captain, hoping Francoise to have a peaceful journey to the afterlife.But I couldn’t do just that… Not right now. There was still an army of soldiers in front of me, and Grayson and his little brother Cyrus had stepped out of the line. Despite what had happened, Grayson came to his brother and slapped his right cheek. Cyrus didn’t dodge or block his older brother’s strike. The little brother took what Grayson did, but his eyes were widened in surprise. Cyrus was not expecting to