Devils possessed an innate premonition of danger, an instinctive gift that let them sense both the source and intensity of any threat.
So the moment killing intent stirred in Silas, the enemy had already sensed it.
Not only that, the ship beneath the Blood Reverend's feet radiated a powerful spirituality, it was nothing less than a vessel of Angel rank!
Devils had always been pragmatic, cold-blooded creatures.
Seeing that this was a fight they could not win, the massive Death Announcer immediately turned about and fled deeper into the island, perhaps hoping to borrow the might of the Divine Abomination to escape the attack aimed at it.
However, its escape failed.
"Splash..."
The seawater churned, rushing beneath the single-masted ship as it surged forward at astonishing speed.
Yet despite that speed, the Death Announcer could not close so much as an inch toward the island.
The mere few dozen meters of distance had become unimaginably vast, as though the island were some illusory thing forever within sight but never within reach.
There was no doubt about it: this stretch of distance had been Distorted!
Antia spread her five lovely fingers, and the rules of space were wantonly rewritten in response.
Trying to run?
Behind it, the Black King had already arrived, bringing the Doe along with it. Silas stood at the bow, his blood-red robe billowing in the sea wind.
Hunter and prey, their positions reversed in an instant.
"Ahahahahahaha!"
A shrill, piercing laugh rang out at once from the Death Announcer.
This time the laughter was stronger than ever before, saturated with utter madness and a terrifying demonic quality, one that could easily rouse and stir up every desire buried in a person's heart.
"Great Death Announcer, I offer you my loyalty!"
Amid the mutterlike, filthy laughter, upon the pitch-black single-masted ship, every pirate under the King of Immortality command shouted in unison, brandishing the weapons in their hands.
Many of their bodies began to twist and warp, showing signs of demonization: some sprouted bat wings, others grew jet-black goat horns atop their heads.
Just as Silas had seen before in his Spirit Channeling, these pirates' true loyalty was not to the King of Immortality Agalito, but rather to the black flagship beneath their very feet!
"Crackle, crackle..."
The entire ship was densely covered in burning, ghostly blue phosphorescent flames, making the Death Announcer look like something out of hell.
The twisted, deformed sailors seemed like devils crawling straight out of that hell, flaunting their malice without restraint as they launched their attack.
Those with wings simply spread them and flew across the sea straight at the two ships; those without wings manned the cannons, hurling volley after volley of burning blue fire.
Seeing that escape was impossible, they launched a counterattack at once!
"Warp!"
A woman with black hair and a black skirt appeared at the bow. She issued the command with imposing authority, and the rules of the world were altered accordingly.
The terrifying Profane Words rising from the abyss had their effect rewritten in an instant; by the time they reached everyone's ears, they had grown faint and blurred, almost impossible to make out.
At the same moment, Silas also made his move.
He drew a card from within his robe. Depicted on it was Roselle, dressed in priestly vestments, driving a galloping chariot.
A Card of Blasphemy: the Red Priest!
"Squelch!"
Gripping the card, Silas turned it around and drove it fiercely straight into his own chest. Blood sprayed outward, and his aura climbed higher with every passing moment.
A crimson phantom drifted out from within him, young, violent, carrying the arrogance of one who would destroy everything and bring doomsday to the world.
"Splash..."
At the same time, on the sea beneath the Black King, a vivid blood-red color spread outward, swiftly enveloping the nearby Doe.
At once, every sailor under Silas's command felt their spirits lift. The joy they already felt at his return transformed into Courage, and they showed no fear even as the devils dove straight down at them!
"Everyone, listen up! Support the captain!"
In Boatswain Walter's heart surged a turbulent emotion, the fear of death long since driven away; all that remained in his heart now was a yearning for glory and victory.
He could feel a strange connection, as though everyone aboard the ship had become one with him, facing together the enemy they had once feared.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Both sides opened fire at the same time, the first round of battle beginning with an exchange of cannon fire.
Every cannonball from the Death Announcer was made of ghostly blue flame, a cursed thing of tremendous destructive power.
What the Doe fired, however, were ordinary cannonballs, which weakened in force the farther they traveled after leaving the muzzle.
But Antia's presence changed everything about the outcome.
The trajectories of the ghostly blue flames, powerful enough to set the entire Doe ablaze, were warped, curving away before ever grazing the hull and plunging harmlessly into the sea.
Meanwhile, the plain cannonballs, ordinary as they were, kept accelerating and accelerating in flight, building up terrifying force, and burst one after another against the hull of the Death Announcer!
At the same time, the demonized pirates had already landed on deck and were locked in close combat with Silas's sailors.
Blades flashed and screams rang out without pause.
The pirates lived up to their reputation as followers of a sovereign of the seas; their combat skill was formidable, and a single one of them could often cut down several sailors at once.
Yet something bizarre kept happening: after falling, those sailors would rise again within seconds, continuing to fight as though nothing had happened.
It was a power of the Hunter Pathway. As their leader, Silas shared out and absorbed the damage taken by the members of his "team"!
Devils that could be wounded, against sailors that would not die: even with the former's combat prowess being so high, the outcome was foreseeable.
They were surrounded by the surging tide of sailors and cut down one by one amid unwilling, anguished screams.
"Ahahahahaha!"
The exploding cannonballs tore apart the bodies of the pirates nearby and left the Death Announcer's deck badly damaged.
It let out a burst of hurried laughter, as though, having been struck and hurt, it were now crying out in furious pain.
The first exchange of cannon fire and boarding combat ended in total victory for Silas's side.
But the battle had only just begun.
Beneath Silas's feet, pitch-black shadow surged and spread, quickly covering his entire body and forming into massive armor that turned him into a small giant nearly two meters tall.
"Keep sailing straight at it."
Red light flickered in the eye sockets of his helmet as he spoke to Antia.
"Alright."
The latter watched his current getup with keen interest, all the while steering the Black King to keep closing in on the Death Announcer.
Looking at the massive black sailing ship before him, Silas raised the black greatsword in his hand high overhead.
A thick, profound, pitch-black aura condensed along the blade's edge.
"Magnify."
Beside him, Antia wrapped her hand around his arm and murmured the blessing softly.
Silas's aura surged higher still, and the blade of flesh and spirit grew sharp beyond measure, sharp enough to cleave anything in two!
An Angel-ranked Magnify!
"Boom!"
He unleashed an earth-shaking slash straight at the Death Announcer.