Jack watched as Rune hovered in front of him. Her translucent, energy wings fluttered rapidly. And her small, mechanical body pulsed with a series of quick, rhythmic glows.
Her vibrant blue light shifted into a deep, searching indigo. Finally, it ended up with an arrow shaped glow that was pointing like a compass needle toward the northwest.
"Got the trail." Jack said. His voice was flat, carrying no hesitation. "Rune! Move to the control cabin. Guide Argust!'
He then spoke to the ship's internal communication system. "Argust! Northwest. Rune will come and show the direction. Let's hunt it down."
"Understood, Captain." Argust's voice replied quickly.
The ghost ship responded instantly. Its tattered sails caught the unnatural wind as it surged forward. Cutting through the turbulent waves with eerie silence.
Chasing the Demon Shark wasn't easy. The creature was unnaturally fast underwater. And it moved quite haphazardly.
For two days, the Silent Mermaid followed the faint trail left by the wounded beast. Rune remained at the control cabin. Acting as a inexhaustible living radar. Guiding any of the crew who took turn as they were assigned to be the navigators.
Her body flickered in shades of violet. Projecting a glowing arrow that signaled the direction the creature moved.
The weather did them no favors. The sky had turned dark these two days. And the sea swelled with heavy, rolling waves. Ones that would have capsized lesser vessels.
But the Silent Mermaid was no ordinary ship. Its rotten-looking wood absorbed the worst of the impacts easily. Gliding over the crests of the waves with unnatural stability.
During the chase, Jack kept himself busy. He manufactured and enhanced a great number of ammunitions for the steamrune weapons he had provided for the crew. Turning them into explosive armor-piercing projectiles.
On the afternoon of the second day, they finally managed to catch up with the beast...
That day, the crew could smell the scent of fresh blood and burning timber drifted across the wind.
The Silent Mermaid's invisible cloaking energy was active. And soon, as Moby kept the ship moving ahead, they could see the problem. The sea was a chaotic mess of white foam, red blood, and splintered wood.
A single, three-masted frigate was wallowing badly in the water. Its mainmast had been snapped in half like a dry twig. And its hull was gouged with massive bite marks that could only belong to one creature.
Through his steamrune binoculars, Jack observed the scene. He could see the flags flying from the ruined rigging.
They were showing an unmistakable picture. A golden, chained shackle over the dark blue background. The mark of the Gold Tamer Guild, an infamous slave-trading syndicate active in the Myriad Island Archipelago.
"Slavers..." Jack said. His voice dropped an octave, turning cold and dismissive.
"Gold Tamer Guild, huh? A nasty bunch of slavers." Reina murmured beside him. Her hands rested on the grips of her handguns. "The shark is tearing them apart. They deserve it though."
In the water and on the tilted deck of the heavily damaged frigate, panic reigned. The ship's cannons were wrecked. Men in iron-studded leather armor were screaming. Firing useless bullets from their flintlock guns at the massive dark shadow circling beneath the surface.
Up on the deck, iron cages had been shattered. Bloodied corpses were everywhere. And several dozen shackled captives were clinging to whatever wreckage they could find. Terrified of both the sinking ship and the predator beneath.
The Demon Shark breached the surface. Its jagged, multi-rowed teeth clamped down on the frigate's stern. Shearing through wood and metal with terrifying ease. Screams of agony echoed even stronger across the water.
Jack didn't care about the slavers. But the slaves were another matter. They were innocent. Caught in the crossfire of a battle they weren't invited to.
"The slavers did deserve this." Jack sighed. "But the slaves didn't."
He took out a hand mirror from his [Spatial Belt] and cast his [Mythical Mirror Realm] on it.
"We're intervening." He announced. Then, he turned to Chloe and Leon. Handing the mirror to Chloe. "Chloe! Leon! Activate your wings. Fly over there and get those captives off that ship. Put them into the Mirror Mansion. Unconscious preferably."
"What about the crew?" Leon asked. Dark, draconic armor gradually appeared and covered his whole body.
"Leave them." Jack said flatly. "They've made their choice when they chained other human beings. Whether they get drown or get eaten, that's their business. Don't waste a single second trying to save a slaver."
"Understood, Captain." Chloe replied. Her new shadow valkyrie power was also manifesting gradually.
Dark, wispy wings of solid shadow erupted from her back. Casting a chilly aura onto the deck. Beside her, Sparkle, the lightning kirin cub, let out a small, anxious spark. But, Chloe calmed him with a quick touch.
Leon also grunted in agreement. His eyes flashed with draconic light. And draconic wings burst out from his backs.
"Go!" Jack ordered.
With a sudden burst of speed, Chloe and Leon launched themselves into the air. They flew low over the water. Heading straight for the severely damaged frigate.
On the slaver ship, a group of armed guards saw them approaching and screamed for help. Waving their arms.
Leon ignored them entirely. He landed heavily on the main deck. Right next to a group of chained prisoners. With a single, lightning-infused sweep of fingers, he casually shattered the iron chains holding them down.
As Chloe landed beside him, Leon used low electrical charge to shock the prisoners. Causing them to faint, before grabbing them and throwing them to the mirror in Chloe's hand.
A slaver captain tried to grab his leg, begging to be saved. Leon simply kicked him back into the rising water. He had no mercy for slavers.
Chloe didn't just do nothing. Her shadow appendages shot out like tendrils to shatter the cages and scoop up the terrified slaves. Just like what Leon did, she knocked them out before putting them inside the Mirror Mansion.
Meanwhile, the Demon Shark sensed the new arrivals of Leon and Chloe. It turned its massive, scarred snout toward the two winged figures. Preparing to leap.
"Fire!" Jack roared from the deck of the Silent Mermaid.
The crew instantly unleashed hell. As the invisibility cloak of the eerie ship disappeared, its deck erupted in a symphony of violent explosions. The steamrune weapons the crew held burst out with full power.
Reina, Ned, Serene, and Autumn fired the steamrune rifles in their hand. Multiple armor-piercing bullets landed on the shark's body. Breaking its thick scales and hides. But unable to penetrate deeper.
Barnaby began strumming his purgatory lute. Creating and sending waves of explosive fire across the water through his music. Boiling the sea around the shark.
Argust raised his scaled arm. Natural energy flared as he channeled the power of the sea. Creating localized whirlpools to disrupt the beast's movements.
Seeing that it wasn't that effective, Mirella opened her sketchbook. Summoning a sprite from it... for the first time during a battle.
The sprite, which looked like a chibi-mermaid, instantly jumped to sea. Swimming along the localized whirlpools. Making the water flow of these whirlpools even faster and more... restrictive for the demon shark.
The beast let out a psychic shriek. Attempting to escape from the restraining water flow. But, the crew members didn't make it easy for it to do so.
Don Donson stood at the rail. Wielding a huge, enhanced steamrune hand cannon. As he launched balls of concentrated, explosive cannonball, the kickback threw his thick body backward.
However, the damage caused by the cannonball was serious as it managed to break the Demon Shark's hide and crack its bone.
Aella didn't miss the chance. Her upgraded pistol spat a deadly voidfire blast toward the injury. Harming it even further.
Then... Baroness Artheim stepped forward. Her eyes glowing with pure, destructive energy. She raised the specter in her hand. Summoning her lightning beasts.
Three massive, crackling winged wolves of pure electricity materialized in the air. Above the water. They jumped and dived straight into the shark's open wound.
The beast emitted another psychic shriek of pain. The swirling water around it turned into an electrified, boiling soup.
Despite the heavy damage, the Demon Shark's unnatural regeneration was already at work. Black, tendril-like muscle fibers were desperately trying to knit its torn flesh back together.
Its raging eyes fixed on the Silent Mermaid. And it began to swim toward them at a terrifying speed. Ignoring the barrage of attacks and its injury.
Jack watched the monster approach. He knew that if this creature hit the hull of the Silent Mermaid, the ship's energy forcefield would stop it. But, if it decided to dive and escape into the deep ocean again, they might need a long time to hunt it.
"I'm ending this." Jack said decisively. Casting his [Incarnation Shift], he activated his black rakshasa incarnation.
His skin rapidly darkened to a deep, reddish black. His muscles swelled and his frame expanded into a towering, hulking beast of pure destruction. His hair grew into a thick mane and his eyes burned with a malevolent, crimson fire.
At the same time, a blazing armor materialized over his massive torso. Coated with crackling flames that smelled of ash and brimstone. The [Naraka Armor]. And in his massive hands, a giant, menacing war hammer appeared. The [Judgement Warhammer].
With a roar that shook the deck, Jack leaped from the bow of the Silent Mermaid. He rocketed through the air and crashed directly onto the Demon Shark's broad, scarred back.
The impact was incredibly loud. The shark shrieked once again.
Jack didn't hesitate. He grabbed the monster's fin with one hand and raised his[Judgement Warhammer] high with the other hand. He brought it down with all his monstrous strength. Directly onto the beast's skull.
KA-BOOM!
The sound of explosive impact echoed over the roar of the waves. The shark thrashed violently. Its massive tail whipped the air. Trying to dislodge the fiend on its back.
Jack gripped the monster's fin tightly. At the same time, his other hand repeatedly slammed his war hammer down.
BOOM! BOOM!
Dark red blood sprayed everywhere. Sizzling as it hit the blazing [Naraka Armor]. The shark was losing its mind with pain.
Sensing that it couldn't shake off this attacker on the surface, the beast made a desperate decision. It tilted its massive head downward and dove straight into the depths of the ocean.
The cold ocean water swallowed them both.