The heavy, oppressive gravity radiating from King Ariston hung over the mossy basalt ledge like an physical weight. The massive waterfall roared on, a thunderous white curtain plunging into the turquoise depths below, but its sound seemed muffled under the sheer pressure of the King's sovereign presence. The golden morning light struck the wet rocks, casting long, sharp shadows that bled toward the edge of the canyon.
Ariston stood barehanded, his simple grey linen tunic fluttering slightly in the cold, moisture-laden breeze. His dark, piercing eyes didn't stray from the towering pirate captain.
"So, Max," Ariston said, his deep voice carrying a gravelly, resonant tone that vibrated through the stones beneath Kairo's knees. "Done torturing your enemies... and now you want to torture our citizens as well?"
Max stared at the unarmed king, his single bloodshot eye widening before his scarred features twisted into a dark, feral grin. He adjusted his stance, his crude oak-and-iron peg leg grinding hard into the emerald moss. The pungent smell of stale rum and salt water seemed to intensify, clashing with the crisp mountain air.
"Well, well, look who it is," Max rumbled, a guttural chuckle rattling in his massive chest. "My old friend. I would like nothing more than to have a fierce, full-blooded battle right here. You are the only one in all these lands who could have ever matched my raw strength."
Akio, still standing defensively near Kairo with his jaw slightly slack, looked between the two legendary figures. The sheer scale of their history filled the small stone ledge. "Is that... is that really true, Your Highness?" Akio asked, his voice cracking slightly under the pressure.
Ariston didn't break eye contact with Max, but his rigid jaw softened just a fraction as he spoke to the boy. "Hey... you can call me Ariston. You can drop the formal titles. You are my son's loyal friend." He took a slow breath, the muscles in his bare forearms tightening. "And yeah... he is right. He is one of the strongest opponents I have ever faced in my life. He entered our perimeter without anyone getting to know what had just happened. A true ghost of the tides."
Max let out a booming laugh, his single hand resting on the hilt of his polished cutlass. "Well, intruding happens to be one of our special abilities, Ariston. Though I have to admit, getting through those mountain brick-folds of yours was... kinda irritating."
Ariston's gaze drifted downward, finally taking in the horrific sight of Max's missing right arm and the crude wooden peg strapped to his thigh. The King's eyes narrowed, a rare flash of genuine shock rippling across his weathered face. "So... who was it?" Ariston asked, his voice dropping into a low, dangerous register. "Who was that greatest enemy? The one who did this to you?"
"Well," Max spat, his grin vanishing into a mask of pure, unadulterated hatred as he looked toward the dark cavern behind them. "The enemy who took my right arm... he is hiding inside this very land you have conquered. And let me tell you, old friend... he is gonna make your people go completely crazy if he stays here for long."
Ariston stood utterly still, the revelation striking the ledge like a silent lightning bolt. A force capable of dismantling Max the Great... hiding within our borders? The thought sent a cold ripple through the King's disciplined mind, but his outward posture remained an immovable wall of stone.
"Wait... what?" Ariston said, his voice tightening. "You must be joking, Max. How could anyone cut off your right hand? How did he do that?" He shook his head, his fingers curling into massive, bare fists. "But still... I can't let my guard down. Even though you look broken and weak right now, I know you are not."
Ariston glanced briefly at Kairo, who was still kneeling on the damp moss, before looking back at the pirate captain. A strange, calm certainty filled the King's eyes. "Yield this foolish raid, Max. My son... he can make you a completely new arm and leg. His mastery over the earth and medicine can restore what you lost."
Max blinked, his single eye staring at Ariston before he erupted into a wild, echoing roar of laughter that caused the mountain birds to scatter from the cliffs. "Intimidating me, huh?! Uhh... I love enemies like you, Ariston! You are truly one of the best friends I have ever had!"
Max's laughter died down, his gaze turning incredibly sharp, almost analytical. "And I think... I think you are not lying to me. But if you try to use that weird, shifting power of yours right now, your reserves are gonna go very low. That's the drawback of your specific strength, isn't it?"
Sensing their captain's shifting mood, the dozen cloaked pirate guards suddenly surged forward, their cutlasses raised, circling Ariston and cutting off his path to the boys. The scent of rusted iron and wet cloaks filled the space between them.
"Hey!" Max's voice boomed across the ledge, stopping his own men instantly. "My fellow companions... don't do that. You still have a chance to escape my anger, my wrath... but you won't survive for a single second if you point those weapons at him. Because if you force his hand, we will both kill you."
The pirate soldiers stood entirely stiff, the cold wind whipping their cloaks against their legs. They looked at the barehanded King, then at the terrifying authority of their crippled captain. Without a single word, demonstrating a sign of absolute, total trust in Max's judgment, they threw their heavy cutlasses onto the stones, the blades clattering loudly against the basalt.
Ariston watched the weapons fall, his chest rising and falling in a slow, rhythmic pattern. "So... I think whoever did that to you, Max... he might be either too strong in his battle intelligence, or he might just be too smart to have taken that arm off from you without a direct clash."
Max sighed, the heavy weight of his memories clouding his single eye. "Yeah... he has terrifying strength in both ways. And honestly, Ariston... I think you already know exactly who he is. But I don't want to focus on him right now. I want to focus on his friend's incredibly annoying companion."
Kairo, his mind racing as he pieced together the fragments of the stranger from last night, the watch, and this new hidden threat, forced himself up from the moss. He looked directly at Max. "What is his name? Can you tell me?"
Max turned his head slowly, his low-brimmed gangster hat casting a deep shadow over his nose. "He has no name. No one does. If he gives you a name, he is just a fake one."
Max's gaze drifted away from Kairo, his eye landing squarely on Akio, who was standing perfectly still. Max's lip curled into a mocking sneer. "No wonder the people in the town call you a monster, kid... because you look exactly like him. But I saw all your abilities when you ran through that wall. You just have his little presence... but you are nowhere near him. And it is making me laugh out loud that these pathetic townspeople are actually mistaking that great, terrifying master for someone as weak and pathetic as you."
Ariston stepped into the gap between Max and the boys, his towering frame shielding them from the pirate's mocking words. "That's not so nice, Max," the King said, his voice flat and cold.
Without turning around, Ariston spoke sharply over his shoulder. "Kids... make another tunnel. Right now. Get out of here."
The King's eyes never left Max's scarred face. "Because this man... he is a total monster. The enemies of other ships feared him so much that even the strongest pirate captains completely gave up their territories and their seas when he simply asked for them. He is the only one of his era who is still alive. Every other enemy who wasn't as smart as him died a cruel, unimaginable death... and I can't even explain those cruel deaths to you, because you kids are just too weak to hear it."
Yeah, Kairo thought, his teeth clenching as he stood behind his father, his analytical mind reconstructing the dark history of the man before them. I can hear that. I can see the truth of it.
Kairo remembered the old records of the outer waters. Whenever Max the Great entered an enemy's territory, the opposing kings would instantly surrender, ready to throw away their children, their wealth, their lands—everything that was dear to them—simply because they didn't want to face the horrific, cruel deaths Max inflicted on those who resisted. He was a calamity of the tides. He had looted so much gold from the fallen empires of the West that if he were to ever unleash his hoard into the markets, gold itself would completely lose its value. Or, if he wished, he could forcefully make its value skyrocket simply by slaughtering every citizen who held a coin.
Max listened to the King's description of his legacy, his chest expanding as he took a deep, satisfied breath of the cold mountain air. He tipped the brim of his dark hat up just a fraction, a sinister, grateful smile breaking through his coarse beard.
"My, my," Max murmured, his gravelly voice dripping with dark amusement. "Thanks for the compliment, Ariston."
Kairo caught Akio's eye, his fingers already beginning to twitch as he secretly gathered the mana back into his palms, the ground beneath their boots beginning to hum once more as the storm between the two old giants prepared to break
The pressure hanging over the misty ledge shattered as a new presence settled into the canyon. The thunderous roar of the waterfall seemed to dim, its heavy spray swirling in the morning light like suspended glass.
King Ariston did not turn his head, though his massive shoulders relaxed by a single fraction. "Impressive," the King rumbled, his bare chest rising and falling against the cool breeze. "So you have already arrived."
Kairo's breath caught in his throat as a tall, sharp figure emerged from the shadow of the cliff face, his footsteps entirely silent against the wet moss. He wore a tailored dark suit—an anomaly of fine, dark wool in a land dominated by linen and leather—and carried a silver-topped cane tucked loosely under one arm. The scent of faint clove, parchment, and crushed pine followed him.
"No way," Kairo whispered, his analytical mind struggling to reconcile the crisp, modern attire with the primitive stone around them. "Is that..."
"Yeah," Akio murmured beside him, his voice laced with rare reverence. "He is Daichi's father. The chief detective of this land, a genius tactician, and the head of the royal investigation division."
The man adjusted his dark cuffs, his razor-sharp gaze sweeping over the scene—from the disarmed pirate soldiers to the broken form of the sea captain—before settling on Kairo.
"My name is Rhydian Vale," the man said, his voice smooth, refined, and completely immune to the chaotic energy of the canyon. He offered a concise, formal nod toward the prince. "We met briefly when you first won the border war alongside your father."
Max turned his single bloodshot eye toward Rhydian, his scarred face twisting into a complex expression of reluctant respect and dark amusement. "Yeah... this kid has a lot of potential," Max grunted, leaning his weight onto his wooden peg leg. "Even though he is adopted, he will never exceed his father's legacy in terms of raw, unbridled strength. But who knows? You might have your own weird, convoluted way to climb up."
Max tipped his hat, his grin broadening. "Well then... see you later."
Before the final word could even fade into the canyon mist, King Ariston struck.
The King's bare fist cut through the air like a cannon shot, a sonic pop cracking across the ledge as his blow drove straight toward Max's jaw. But the iron fist met only empty air and swirling water vapor.
In a fraction of a heartbeat, Max the Great—the terrifying captain of the seven seas—vanished into thin air. The dozen heavily armed pirate guards surrounding him disappeared in the exact same instant, leaving behind only the clattering cutlasses they had dropped on the basalt stone.
Rhydian Vale didn't so much as flinch. He casually stepped forward, his leather shoes clicking against the slick rock, and looked down at a small, crude ragdoll lying in the wet moss where Max had stood a moment prior.
"Hmm," Rhydian murmured, his cane gently prodding the cloth doll. "Is he truly looking for the hidden enemy of this land? I think we should greet him properly instead." Rhydian raised his voice slightly, looking up into the empty air above the turquoise pool. "And you are listening right here... am I right?"
A raspy, static-laced cackle suddenly erupted directly from the ragdoll's mouth.
"Aye!" Max's voice echoed through the tiny cloth figure, metallic and distorted by distance. "You think I am dumb, Vale?! I won't come back down there! I will do what I need to do on my own terms, get out of here, and finally retire as a captain! My sons aren't even interested in navigating those waters anymore anyway... the monsters in the deep ocean are getting bigger by the day. I honestly wonder how anything even lives in that sea now."
The doll let out one last dry huff of air. "Well then... it was very nice to see you, legendary myth Ariston of Harmony. It was my honor. Let's meet again... and try to kill each other another day!"
The ragdoll went completely silent, its threadbare seams slumping into the moss.
Rhydian Vale let out a long, slow exhale, a faint trail of white mist curling from his lips. "Uhh... well. That went surprisingly well."
"BUT. He is not a kind guy.... If we are not in our guard."
"HE WILL FINISH US"
" I WOnder what will he do next"