"Seriously, I wonder who it was that insisted on becoming a great pirate, dragged us along to snatch a ship, and set sail. Now look, Jialan City has branded us as invaders and there's a warrant out for our arrest."
Houraiji Kyuusyou sighed helplessly, but the next second, she strode forward, grabbed Kiana by the shoulders, and shook her rapidly.
"Wait! There really is a giant narwhal monster ahead of our course! Mei is waiting for your command to decide whether to turn the rudder! This is the first giant monster we've encountered in this world, maybe the thing we're looking for is on it!"
"A monster has appeared?"
Kiana's eyes lit up instantly. She rubbed her nose and then pointed forward with a flourish.
"Hmph, hmph, this young lady has been itching for a fight! Ryn, order Mei to ram it! Boarding operation!"
"I was waiting for you to say that. Now is the time for the Savior to vanquish the Sea Demon, rescue the million people of Jialan City, and restore peace to the world!"
Houraiji Kyuusyou nodded, then turned and ran towards the deck to relay Kiana's orders to Mei and the others.
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On the back of the narwhal that Kiana and her crew were preparing to hunt, there was a beach umbrella and two lounge chairs, essentials for a summer beach outing.
Ryn and Seele were lying on them, enjoying their ice-cold drinks, feeling the sea breeze, and basking in the sun, having a cozy afternoon leisure time.
Suddenly, as Seele turned over, she saw a large ship about forty meters long in the distance.
On the ship's sail was a giant skull, marking it as a pirate vessel. The pirate flag depicted a skull supported by two crossed pistols below it, with a greatsword and a tachi flanking the skull.
Seele looked at this familiar yet fuzzy pattern for a long time, wondering where she had seen it before.
Inside Seele, Dark Seele saw Seele lost in thought, trying to recall where she had seen such a flag, and began to rifle through the memories in the Stigmata Space at an even faster pace.
Finally, she found where she had seen it!
Isn't this the pirate flag from the manga!!
"Stupid Seele, that's a pirate flag! There are pirates coming to attack us!"
"Huh?! Pirates?"
Seele's small mouth fell open in surprise. Hearing Dark Seele's reminder, Seele finally realized that a skull represented pirates!
She quickly turned and shook the sleeping Ryn awake, pointing at the approaching pirate ship and shouting at him.
"Brother Ryn, look! Is that a pirate ship? We've run into pirates!"
Ryn opened his eyes, glanced at the distant pirate ship, and then kicked the narwhal beneath him.
"Increase the distance between us and them. Don't let them get close."
Dark Seele looked at Ryn contemptuously and said with disdain, "What? Are you telling us to run, Ryn? They're already attacking us. This is a provocation. Why don't you let me go and tear them to shreds!"
"It's not running."
Ryn shook his head and pointed at the narwhal under his feet, explaining, "This world has no Honkai, and its civilization is on a normal development path. Seawater can block the spread of Honkai energy, which is why I created this to get around. But once a living being is truly killed with Honkai energy, the exchange of matter and soul will begin, and the Honkai will start to continuously seep into this civilization."
Dark Seele tilted her head and asked doubtfully, "But didn't you also kill that small fish to create this giant whale?"
"A fair point... but it's actually not the same! The narwhal didn't kill its original self. I just used Honkai to change its body composition and confined the Honkai energy within its body so it wouldn't leak out."
*BOOM—*
The sound of cannonballs being fired and exploding near and on the narwhal's body interrupted the conversation between Ryn and Dark Seele.
Ryn shielded Seele behind him, using his cape to block the crashing waves.
Seele's eyes instantly turned blood-red. Dark Seele was no longer just speaking; she chose to take over directly.
"They've already attacked us! My temper can't take this."
Dark Seele took out her scythe and smiled at Ryn.
"My dear Brother Ryn, since you can explain the danger, you must have a solution, right?"
"Mmm..."
"Then I'll leave the consequences to you! As for the counterattack... leave that to me!"
Dark Seele grinned, revealing her pearly white teeth. Then, aiming for the pirate ship's deck, she pushed off from the narwhal's back with a slight force from her feet and leaped into the air.
In the air, Dark Seele was like a dreamlike butterfly, using quantum collapse three consecutive times, flashing with light as she flew onto the pirate ship.
And while Dark Seele was preparing her counterattack, Kiana and Houraiji Kyuusyou on the pirate ship were also ready to strike.
Because the ship's outdated cannons were not enough to fight against such a behemoth, Kiana decided on a boarding operation to slay the narwhal herself.
Although Kiana and Houraiji Kyuusyou couldn't fly, with a maverick like Kiana around...
After some discussion, Kiana and Houraiji Kyuusyou grunted and groaned as they squeezed into a defensive cannon.
Bronya and Mei, at the cannon's base, pushed hard to adjust its direction, aiming it at the narwhal.
Before firing, Mei looked worriedly at Kiana and Houraiji Kyuusyou, whose heads were sticking out of the cannon's mouth.
"Kiana... is this really okay? Won't you get hurt?"
"Don't underestimate your Captain Kaslana! I'm very strong! Mere gunpowder is not enough to hurt me!"
Kiana chuckled, not afraid of getting hurt at all. She knew her own physical constitution very well. Possessing the physical strength of a Kaslana and the bodily control of a Schariac, an outdated gunpowder mechanism like a cannon couldn't hurt her!
Houraiji Kyuusyou gave a wicked smile, revealing a row of white, healthy teeth. She said with utmost confidence:
"My divine body, blessed by the power of the world, was forged and tempered with the stars in the world of dreams.
Furthermore, I later obtained the divine power to rewrite the stars and transform space.
The me of today can be called a true god!
How can the mere gunpowder of mortals possibly harm me!"
"......"
Both Mei and Bronya had beads of awkward sweat rolling down their foreheads.
It really was better when Houraiji Kyuusyou had amnesia and was an obedient, cute girl.
Bronya summoned Project Bunny and, using the flames from its cannon, directly lit the cannon's fuse. Then she said to Houraiji Kyuusyou and Kiana:
"Since everyone is ready and there are no objections, Bronya will now light the fuse and fire!"