Chapter 310

Payjin gazed blankly at the scene unfolding in the cavern.

‘What is that?’

A crimson wave spread out in a circular pattern, engulfing the area.

“Ugh!”

Even the strongest pirate couldn’t withstand the wave and collapsed to the ground.

Rumble!

The cave ceiling shook, and pieces of barnacles fell.

‘This is absurd.’

She was a mage, and she understood the corruption better than ordinary people.

‘That is… a mental wave! That’s not a power a human can wield!’

Duke Valencius stood at the center of the cavern, exhaling roughly.

“Whew.”

He trembled slightly as he shook his large hand, beads of sweat soaking his white hair and scaly cheeks.

At the same time, he wore a satisfied grin, as if he had just finished a delightful meal, puffing his chest in a pleased manner.

Watching him dust off his dirtied uniform relaxed the tension completely.

“Ugh!”

“What was that just now?”

“Everyone, get up! It’s not over yet!”

The pirates, rolling on the ground, slowly began to rise.

They gripped the weapons they had dropped during the chaos, exposing their teeth once more.

“No, it’s over. You will pay for the atrocities you have committed until now.”

Valencius shook his head leisurely.

The Black Tear, which had been glowing orange, was now hanging limply, and black scales clung to his waist.

Payjin quickly understood the basis of his confidence.

“You’re talking nonsense!”

As one of the captain-level pirates charged in with a spear, flames engulfed his body.

Whoosh!

Without any warning, flames erupted from beneath his skin.

“Ahhh!”

The pirate knelt on the ground like an actor in a play, and Valencius scoffed at him.

“You said it was nonsense? Are you starting to find this amusing now?”

Payjin felt as if she were having a nightmare.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

All the pirates affected by Valencius’s mental wave burst into flames.

“Ahhh!”

“Water, water!”

“It won’t go out!”

They desperately clawed at their bodies in agony, some crawling into puddles of water.

However, the flames did not extinguish even in the water, and the pirate who jumped in became the rare protagonist experiencing the dual fates of drowning and burning.

“To die by drowning while also being burned! You’ll have a lot to say to your friends in hell!”

Valencius kicked the behinds of the crawling pirates with his boot.

“Bwahahaha!”

Laughing like a madman for a moment, he drew his sword, once again adopting a serious expression as he swiftly beheaded the pirates one by one.

Swoosh!

Watching heads rolling on the ground, he muttered,

“Wait for me at the edge of hell. When that day comes for me, angels will take my hand and lead me to heaven. I hope to witness that spectacle.”

Payjin stuck out her tongue at this madness, while a pirate admiral shouted through his pain.

“You will surely fall into hell yourself!”

Valencius scoffed at him.

“I’m the emperor’s twin in life and a saint’s benefactor in death. Why would I fall into hell? Since I’ve built dozens of churches with the money I donated, I rightfully belong in heaven.”

The pirate admiral stuck out his tongue, and Valencius theatrically spread his arms wide.

“Today, I shall embody both the virtue of mercy and the virtue of charity. Relieving your suffering is mercy, and returning your wealth to the church counts as charity.”

The pirate admiral glared at Valencius until the end, and Valencius granted him a swift death in turn.

“You should be grateful to me. Cariosa might have tried to starve you to death. Perhaps she even used you as bait to hunt the Undersea People.”

Swoosh.

The admiral’s head rolled on the ground, and he soon cast a glance at Payjin.

Swoosh

His eyes pierced through Payjin, making her unconsciously take a step back.

‘I’m going to die.’

But her legs refused to move from the spot.

Clack, clack, clack, clack!

Valencius approached, his footsteps echoing.

Payjin’s face turned ashen as she sank to the ground.

At that moment, Aquila sprang up from a puddle behind Valencius.

Splash!

Water droplets flew in every direction from the wide-brimmed hat.

“Payjin-!”

Swoosh!

The wind blade, born from the magic sword Typhoon, howled fiercely and descended in a flash.

It was a strike strong enough to sever a bandit’s neck.

However, Valencius had been smiling since the moment he rose.

“Got you.”

* * *

I knew Aquila would be keeping an eye on me.

A Sword Expert could hold their breath for over twenty minutes, and with the thugs swarming to distract me, preparing for a counterstrike was only natural.

The best time to hunt a carnivorous animal is when it thinks it’s the one hunting.

I had just burned dozens of pirates to death, and now my remaining enemies were only a handful of mages who were nowhere near the level of the Academy students in the capital, putting me in an objectively advantageous position.

An ordinary person would have been caught off guard at this point, helpless against Aquila’s attack.

But I had been on guard against him since earlier, and he appeared exactly when I was expecting him.

Whoosh!

I kicked forcefully with my left foot, leaping into the air, spinning to the right, and striking Aquila’s chest with my right heel.

Whoosh!

It was the kick Lady Trentia had used against me in our duel.

Boom!

The ice magic tool on the sole of my shoe collided with his chest armor, and the recoil sent Aquila’s body tilting backward.

I smiled in victory, applying more pressure to pin Aquila down.

I caught a glimpse of his face twisting in pain, and his blue uniform rose, obscuring his expression.

Crash!

He crashed down at the edge of the puddle.

“Gack!”

Crack!

Thick cracks shattered the stone floor, and Aquila’s legs sank into the water.

If both of us ended up in the water, he would have the advantage.

He was holding a small coral whistle in his mouth, a magic tool known as “The Mermaid’s Kiss,” which would allow him to breathe underwater.

Before my return, Justianus had used this to infiltrate the capital via the canals.

As long as Aquila had that, fighting him underwater would lead to certain defeat.

But there was no reason for me to go into the water.

I could walk on the surface now.

Splash!

I confidently stood on the water’s surface, looking down at him as he leaned against the edge of the puddle.

His hair hung down under the broad brim of his hat, wet seawater flowed down his cheeks like tears, and he wore a bewildered expression.

“I’ve been deceived again. Just like a lowly deck slave.”

I raised the Black Tear as viciously as I could.

Aquila’s eyes bulged with fury.

“Valencius!”

Even in that moment, he did not let go of the magic sword Typhoon and attempted to swing it at me.

But I had faced this kind of attack from Sword Master Ensis before.

“I’d rather break my own head than be hit twice!”

I bent back just in time to evade, and the translucent wind blade barely grazed the tip of my nose.

Slash!

I swung the Black Tear and severed his arm.

Red droplets of blood splattered, and the magic sword Typhoon flew through the air.

As I extended my left hand to grab the handle of Typhoon, I swung the Black Tear again, cutting the leather strap attached to “The Mermaid’s Kiss.”

“Ahhh!”

Aquila screamed, realizing a beat too late as he looked at his severed arm, while I seized “The Mermaid’s Kiss.”

“You know nothing of satisfaction.”

“Ugh… Ugh!”

He groaned while glaring at me.

His dark-rimmed eyes felt just like mine.

“Claiming to be the Pirate King, yet you’ve never managed a territory nor fought a large-scale land battle, and know nothing of diplomacy or administration.”

“How dare you call me a slave….”

“The reason you ended up like this is that you had ambitions that exceeded your abilities. You are the most unfortunate type—one who brings misfortune not only to themselves but also to those around them.”

“If I had been born in the imperial court….”

“Simply dressing well and speaking grandly doesn’t make someone noble. You know that? If you had led your fleet to the imperial port during your loyalty oath and surrendered, you could have become an admiral of the imperial court.”

“…!”

If I hadn’t known satisfaction, I would have been beheaded by Jeilliris long ago.

If Matheos hadn’t known satisfaction, he would have been struck by a meteor while talking about a Holy Empire.

If Jeilliris hadn’t known satisfaction, she would have waged war like before my return.

If she knows about satisfaction, how dare you?

“We love those with ambition, but we disdain those who act recklessly. You should have made use of your pirate experience to serve as a mercenary under a great lord or teamed up with the Eastern Kingdom to work on reclaiming the Nayt Archipelago. You should have chosen either of those options years ago.”

“!”

“But you didn’t. That is why you are going to die here by my hand.”

Aquila put his healthy left hand inside his robe.

He probably intended to pull out a dagger.

Crack!

I stomped on his chest plate and pushed him into the water.

* * *

Bubbling!

He wore a look of panic and relief beneath the surface.

Thanks to the Sword Expert’s vitality, his arm had already stopped bleeding.

He likely thought he could escape if he went underwater.

“Do you think I would let you go like that?”

This was not death but execution, and executions must be symbolic.

Earlier, I had used strength enough to evaporate what I thought was a puddle, but knowing it was the sea now changed my approach.

I ignited flames with intent.

Whoosh!

Crimson flames blazed around me, and I directed all that heat into the water.

Huff!

Steam immediately began to rise, and he appeared quite alarmed as his eyes widened.

Aquila started to swim towards another puddle.

However, the heat spread more swiftly.

Whoosh!

Steam surged violently, and every puddle in the cavern began to bubble as Aquila slowly sank.

“…Foolish man.”

Though the amount of water I had boiled was substantial, it was just a drop in the ocean, cooling to a mildly warm temperature shortly after.

Perhaps drawn by the smell of blood or the warmth of the water, large and small sharks began to swarm beneath my feet.

“A king is not something one does; it is something one becomes.”

Caring for subjects, defending territory, and establishing laws will lead you to be hailed as a king, even if you do so unwillingly.

Starting as a deck slave and building such a massive force, he was no incompetent, evil man.

I don’t like villains, but a duke and a precarious world need capable individuals.

So the one who caused his downfall was not Cariosa or me, but himself, who didn’t even realize how strong he had become.

I turned away from the sinking Aquila and looked at the pirate mages stiffening in one corner of the cave.

Some were trembling, others bowed their heads, and one was glaring intensely at me.

His eyes were bloodshot and his hands shook.

I had received that kind of gaze thousands of times before.

Fear and anger were waging a fierce battle in his heart.

“I’ve seen you before. Didn’t we meet at the third city wall a few hours ago?”

The one casting curses at me was an alluring beauty with red hair and brown skin.

“Were you my lover?”

She nodded, completely dazed.

Her voice was weak as she spoke.

“I’ve lost both the one I love and the one who loved me.”

“Both were my doing. But you might want to treat me with a bit more courtesy. I am a duke, after all.”

“There’s no need to remind me of that. No, it’s fine.”

I arrogantly raised my chin.

“If you want, I can give you a chance for revenge.”

Her gaze flickered with anger for a moment before it completely crumbled.

“I surrender. In the name of Admiral Payjin, I will open the fortress gates. I… want to be done with this.”

“I don’t have the authority to deal with someone who surrenders on this land. For now, return to the fortress and raise a white flag. You’re a precious mage, and with luck, you might survive.”

Payjin forced a bitter smile.

“Do you think I’d expect that?”

I countered with a sardonic grin.

“Since you don’t, that’s exactly how it will turn out. All of you pirates are destined for a terrible end.”

* * *

Leaving Payjin behind, I returned to Cariosa.

“Keyeeee!”

“I’ll make it with squid!”

She was currently tearing a guardian octopus in half.

Swinging the magic sword Typhoon to send out wind blades, she shouted.

“Valencius! You came just in time! Arrest that bastard!”

“That bastard?”

“The one who’s a Blue Robe Priest or something! Grab him!”

As the western knights engaged in a battle with the Undersea People, a figure in a blue-vine-patterned robe was rushing up from above the fortress.

“Got it. I’ll go right now!”

I stomped the ground, and Cariosa shouted from my back.

“What about Aquila?”

“I cooked him alive!”