I stepped into the moonlight of the upper deck, wind curling around my raptor feathers, lunar rays shining off of my crystal spiral tyrant armor. The sea had quieted after the battle, but tension still lingered—two pirate lords now bound in the hold, Felicity resting with a satisfied gleam, and the crew moving like ghosts, stunned at what they'd just witnessed. I turned toward Faeluxe, who stood near the rail. Her ever-pure ribbon fluttered like silver flame behind her, and though her face was passive, her eyes still shimmered with adrenaline.
I studied her a moment, then asked: "Can you summon your ship?" Faeluxe lifted her chin, pride curling into her smirk like a dagger's edge. "…Yes. I command the Star bite." Her voice gained a melodic reverence, almost ceremonial. "An enchanted cloud-clipper. Gilded hull. Phoenix-wood sails that catch flame-light instead of wind. She answers only to me—keyed to my Intent and qi signature. They built her in the floating shipyards of Aurelion Sky, with glasswork from the High Nymphs of Caletheri." I gave a low whistle, "She sounds fast."
"Fast enough to outpace dragons. And stubborn enough to spit in the face of a storm." Felicity giggled behind me, "I like her already." Faeluxe raised a hand, and a mote of teal light danced at her palm. "She'll find us before dawn." I nodded, mind already turning. With the Star bite under my influence—and three pirate lords under control—the tides of the sea were shifting. "Good," I said. "We've got places to go and people to see."
The stars above us rippled slightly, as if something vast stirred in the deep beyond. I stepped back from the rail and into the privacy of the captain's quarters, the storm lamps swaying slightly with the motion of the sea. Felicity followed behind, silent but curious. On the desk lay a number of treasures—looted tokens, soul fragments, and the strange organic scroll they'd taken from the mimic.
But my focus went to the two most important relics. I reached to my belt and unclipped the barnacle eye Compass. It pulsed faintly in my hand—a crusted, ancient thing with a kelp-slick lens at its center, ringed by chitin and silver barnacles. I breathed deep, letting my intent stir through my body like the coming of tide.
"Alright," I murmured, "show me where to go."
I pushed Intent into the compass. The barnacle eye twitched then snapped open. A ghostly, spiraling map unfurled midair, spinning with subtle rotation like a living shell fractal. The compass needle jittered wildly, then stilled—pointing dead west over the sea, past even the Western Gyre. At the same time, I unfurled the Map of the Untamed Continent—the one that Dante had granted me from the Delta Inheritance. As my Intent touched it, the ancient cartographic paper flared to life.
The borders that had once been vague now glowed with eerie clarity. A red pulse appeared in the lower southeast quadrant of the map—my current location. Smoke lines of ley-qi began to spread from that point, calculating possible sailing routes.
Felicity leaned over my armored crystal shoulder, eyes shining. "That's it… that's where the Beast Vein Continent lies."
"The last continent," I said softly. "Unclaimed. Uncivilized. Untouched." Except by monsters. Titans. Things from before even spirit-kissed time. The barnacle eye compass pulsed again—this time not just pointing but drawing me forward with a whale song-like hum in the back of my mind. A psychic whisper. A beckoning. I traced the glowing path on the map with my fingertip, a line curving through island chains and into the fog beyond the known sea.
The horizon was still dark, a thin silver bruise of dawn just beginning to show behind the clouds, when the green wind came. It howled across the surface of the sea, shimmering with flecks of emerald qi. The waters around the Crimson Typhoon rippled outward like the sea itself had inhaled. From above—cutting through mist and morning stars—The Star bite descended.
She sailed on wind, not waves—her hull gilded with phoenix-wood, her sails was a glowing massive glowing tree. The prow was shaped like a leaping falcon-fish, and her lanterns burned seafoam-green. As she coasted down and kissed the sea's surface beside the Typhoon, her deck crews sprang to action—rigging lines, locking stabilizers, and offering a final salute to the vessel below.
I stepped up to the rail, just as Faeluxe floated down with the practiced grace of a high-caste duelist. Her elite retainers—three uniquely dressed warriors, each bearing the tattoos and weapons of old pirate clans—stood behind her, already aboard. "Their loyal," Faeluxe said simply. "As am I… now." I gave her a nod. Then turned to Felicity.
"Bring them up."
She grinned. Her arms shimmered into slick red tendrils that slithered through the deck's cracks and down into the brig. A few seconds later, Snake Man and Hammerhead emerged—dazed, bound in chi-laced tendrils, and slightly pale. Felicity guided them with gentle, unnerving precision. The mimic chest waddled up behind them, its stubby legs making faint squelching noises. It hiccupped once and burped up a silver coin. I stepped aboard the Star bite. Felicity joined me, followed by the two newly seeded Pirate Lords, the mimic slurping in last.
I turned one final time to look back at Captain Riggs, who stood tall on the Typhoon's upper deck, arms folded with tobacco pipe glowing, wind tugging at his cloak. "Give my best to Misses Riggs, Captain!" I called out, raising a hand. Riggs gave a two-finger salute and a wide grin. "Don't die, boy!" With that, the Star bite began to lift.
Water streamed off her hull as the glyph-stitched sails flared to full glow. Her enchanted core hummed to life, and the ship broke free of gravity like a gull leaving the tide. She soared into the sky—the wind at her back, destiny ahead—rising toward the Beast Vein Continent. The clouds opened before them, streaked with rising sun fire.
Behind us, the Crimson Typhoon faded into sea and mist. Before us, the last wild continent awaited. And the true journey was just beginning.
"Set a course," I muttered. "The Beast Vein Continent calls."