Chapter 231
Yan clutched his tingling arm and looked ahead.
Aquinas’s fiery red hair was whipping through the air.
“To use Bahamut’s sword technique in front of me…”
He seemed more enraged by Yan’s display of ‘oppression’ than by the sinking of the Sky Fortress.
Yan recalled what his father had told him.
The leader of the revolutionary army, Aquinas, was the emperor’s test subject for a very long time.
Having been imprisoned and subjected to various biological experiments for nearly a thousand years, it was no wonder he harbored such hatred.
At that moment,
Boom!
A tremendous roar accompanied by a massive vibration was felt beneath his feet.
It meant the bottom of the Sky Fortress had reached the ground.
Simultaneously,
Swish!
Yan sensed four presences piercing through his aura from afar.
They were familiar forces, not enemies.
The beams of light that entered the fortress quickly reached where Yan stood.
The sources of the light were the Pirate Empress, Theo, Merriott, and Argon.
“Huh? Father?”
Yan blinked and called out to Argon.
His father, who should have been resting due to previous injuries, was here.
Argon frowned at Yan.
“You wretch! If it weren’t for Lord Momon, what would have happened!”
Yan flinched at his father’s sharp rebuke.
He had been wondering why there was nothing unusual despite the Sky Fortress’s fall.
‘So, Momon helped.’
Yan’s lips curled up.
Momon, who always grumbled, had done something so grand.
“But did you experience any strange phenomena when you came in?”
“You mean the trial?”
“How do you know it’s a trial, Father?”
“Lord Momon told me.”
Momon had assured that since Yan had just passed the trial, if Aquinas hadn’t taken any special measures, the trial would no longer prevent external intrusions.
He also mentioned that the barrier of the Celestial Gate, which isolated the inside from the outside, would have lost its power due to the energy consumed by the trial.
As Momon said, they were able to enter the fortress without much resistance.
“Indeed, his random knowledge is impressive.”
Yan chuckled and shrugged.
The Pirate Empress stepped forward and asked Aquinas.
“With this level of power, why not surrender? It seems this fortress you trusted so much is no longer functioning properly.”
As she said, the five people gathered here were superhumans capable of overturning the empire.
Especially the Pirate Empress herself, who was a top-tier superhuman, comparable to the Duke of the West.
Aquinas sneered at the Pirate Empress’s suggestion.
“Seeing the woman who was betrayed by her subordinates acting so high and mighty is truly laughable.”
“…What?”
As Aquinas touched her reverse scale, the Pirate Empress’s face turned fierce.
Rumble!
A massive aura emanated from her.
The Pirate Empress gritted her teeth with a savage smile.
“Honestly, I was worried about what to do if you surrendered. I couldn’t tolerate you using human souls for such vile acts.”
With those words, the Pirate Empress’s form seemed to stretch, and she swung her curved sword at Aquinas.
The sword, which initially shot straight, suddenly began to undergo countless transformations.
Sea King’s Twelve Techniques – Wave (波浪)
The skill that made her the Empress of the Sea.
Like a raging wave crashing in, the Pirate Empress’s sword strikes began to surge towards Aquinas.
Even those watching from afar couldn’t imagine blocking her fierce onslaught.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
The curved sword made a terrifying sound as it cut through the air.
At that moment,
“Duck!!”
Yan, watching from behind, shouted urgently.
The Pirate Empress instinctively ducked at Yan’s command.
Whoosh!
A massive spire suddenly brushed past her.
The sensation was reminiscent of a giant ballista, making the Pirate Empress’s hair stand on end.
And Aquinas, who had taken her ‘Wave’ head-on, smiled slightly.
At that moment, Aquinas’s body turned into a blur of light.
“I’ll start with you.”
He appeared right behind the Pirate Empress.
His movement was so fast that even she, who had reached the second rank, couldn’t perceive it.
Aquinas swung his sword with a cold expression.
The longsword in his hand was about to cleave the Pirate Empress’s unguarded shoulder.
“Haaaah!”
Merriott, who had been watching from afar, kicked off the ground and flew towards Aquinas and the Pirate Empress.
Fwoosh!
Merriott, engulfed in flames, charged at Aquinas.
“Damn it.”
Aquinas’s form turned into a blur of light again, this time moving to the middle of the air.
As he disappeared, Merriott quickly suppressed his mana.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
Though he extinguished the flames, the momentum remained, causing him to tumble across the ground with the Pirate Empress.
“Move aside?”
The Pirate Empress glared and spoke, and Merriott chuckled dryly.
“I should have just let you die.”
“Who said I was going to die.”
Swish.
The Pirate Empress stood up and glared at Aquinas.
‘That teleportation… it’s troublesome.’
She didn’t know how he moved like that, but it was clear his speed was incredible.
Faster than the swing of a sword.
Breaking through such high-speed movement wouldn’t be easy.
The Pirate Empress glanced at Yan, who was observing the situation from afar.
He, too, was glaring at Aquinas with a determined expression, seemingly sharing her thoughts.
Smirk.
The Pirate Empress’s lips curled up.
Then she sent a telepathic message to Yan.
* * *
The Pirate Empress’s intuition was spot on.
Yan had been fixated on Aquinas, trying to decipher the secret behind his rapid movements, knowing it was the key to their battle.
‘If only Momon were here, he would have known.’
Momon knew everything about the Sky Fortress and the Celestial Beings.
However, after safely landing the Sky Fortress with minimal damage, Momon had reverted to his skeletal form and remained silent.
Yan understood why.
‘He must be in a state of rest.’
Momon had exhausted all his mana, even the energy needed to stay conscious, and was now in a comatose state, gathering mana.
Yan shook off his thoughts and focused on Aquinas.
He needed to uncover the secret of Aquinas’s movement technique.
At that moment,
I’ll force him to use his movement technique as much as possible. If you notice anything, shout it out!
The Pirate Empress’s telepathic message made Yan’s eyes widen.
And then,
“Let’s see who wins, you or me!”
The Pirate Empress began converting part of her life force into mana, unleashing an explosive aura.
The ground around her shook as if an earthquake had struck, and waves, seemingly from nowhere, began to rise around her.
Yan and the others watched in awe.
“That’s…!”
“Is she really going all out?”
“…Impressive.”
The Pirate Empress slammed her curved sword into the ground and shouted.
Domain Expansion.
“Sea King’s Descent!”
Water surged from the ground, enveloping her body.
Soon, the Pirate Empress emerged, exuding the majesty of a sea king.
A white aura gathered above her head.
Her hair turned a deep blue.
Her eyepatch fell away, revealing a blue pupil.
And streams of water draped over her shoulders like a royal mantle.
She radiated the power of an absolute ruler.
Yan, seeing his father react to this power, spoke.
“Father, it’s best if you don’t intervene.”
Argon was struggling to control his boiling blood, his mana fluctuating.
Owen and Theo had told Yan that his father was once as strong as the Pirate Empress.
But now, most of his power had been taken by Aquinas.
If he intervened recklessly, he might not even leave a trace behind.
Argon nodded at Yan’s caution.
“I’m not that clueless, son.”
* * *
Aquinas frowned at the sight of the Pirate Empress and waved his hand.
The structure of the Sky Fortress began to transform according to his gestures.
The spire that had flown towards her head earlier must have moved in the same way.
This time, two buildings on either side shot towards the Pirate Empress at high speed.
The ground and roads closed in rapidly, and the speed was incredible.
If she didn’t dodge, she would be crushed like dried fish between the buildings.
But the Pirate Empress chose not to evade.
She drew the curved sword she had planted in the ground.
As she did, a tremendous jet of water shot up from where she pulled it out.
The water wrapped around her entire body and the curved sword.
Meanwhile, the buildings rushing in from both sides collided around her.
Boom!
A tremendous roar erupted, and the onlookers gasped.
Even the Pirate Empress couldn’t be expected to emerge unscathed from such an impact.
At that moment,
Boom!
Another roar followed, and the buildings that had collided and stopped exploded.
From within, the Pirate Empress emerged unscathed.
She smiled at Aquinas, who was frowning at her.
“Once is enough to fall for such tricks.”
Her form stretched out like when she had charged earlier.
But this time,
Thud! Thud!
Her speed was overwhelmingly faster than before.
Aquinas waved his hand as the Pirate Empress flew towards him, creating a sonic boom.
This time, the buildings below began to rise.
The buildings, rising as if they were liquid, seemed ready to pierce the Pirate Empress’s body.
“Foolish tricks!”
Slash!
Crash!
The Pirate Empress swung her curved sword, and the buildings sank back down.
To exert such pressure with just air pressure!
Yan watched in awe.
The saying that a superhuman who could deploy a domain was like a god within their domain felt more real than ever.
While Yan was marveling, the Pirate Empress finally reached close range to Aquinas.
“Let’s see if you can block this too!”
The Pirate Empress slashed diagonally at Aquinas with her curved sword.
The force was so strong that
Crash! Crash! Crash!
The buildings and statues behind Aquinas were all split or shattered.
“Tsk.”
Aquinas clicked his tongue and began to turn into a blur of light again.
Rip!
His chest was split open by the Pirate Empress’s strike, but no blood spilled as it should have.
The Pirate Empress quickly turned and swung her curved sword again.
Aquinas, who was turning from light back into flesh, turned into light once more and scattered.
The Pirate Empress gritted her teeth at the gap she couldn’t close, even with her domain deployed.
But one person was different.
Smirk.
Yan’s lips curled up.
“I’ve found it.”
He had discovered the secret of Aquinas’s movement technique that even the Pirate Empress couldn’t catch with her domain.