A streak of deep black light sliced across the sea.
With the power of the "Duke of Entropy" supporting him, Silas's strength had been amplified to an unimaginable degree. Distance was no longer an obstacle.
Though he stood at the bow of his ship and merely swung his blade, its razor-sharp edge crossed the gap between the two vessels in a way that defied all reason, striking the "Death Announcer" directly!
What followed was an astonishing sight.
Behind the enormous single-masted ship, a long rift instantly tore across the sea. An invisible force split the water in two, leaving the smooth, clean face of the cut clearly visible.
"Splash!!"
A few seconds later, the force holding the rift open faded. Seawater crashed back into the gap with a deafening roar, sending towering waves into the air. The sound thundered like a peal of doom!
Spray poured down across the deck of the "Death Announcer."
On the highest deck, the demonized pirates who had been operating the cannons stood frozen in place.
A long gash slowly appeared across their stomachs, spreading from side to side until their twisted, bloated bodies were completely severed in half.
With a series of wet thuds, their warped, swollen forms fell apart and collapsed into a heap on the deck.
Thick, filthy blood spread across the entire deck before thinning as it mixed with the seawater.
The deck beneath the feet of Agalito, the "King of Immortality," was already drenched in blood.
His face had turned deathly pale, and his eyes remained fixed on Silas without blinking. A moment later, his body also split in half and fell.
"Craaack..."
Behind the "King of Immortality," the enormous mast of the "Death Announcer" made a teeth-grating sound as it tore apart.
The thick wooden pole slowly toppled backward. The massive black sail attached to it remained swollen with wind as it fell, slapping flat against the sea and throwing up a huge burst of spray.
With a single strike from the Cull of Spiritual Flesh, Silas had not only dealt the "Death Announcer" a devastating blow, but had also cleaved the "King of Immortality" and most of his crew cleanly in half!
The pirates watching from afar were speechless.
"Terrifying... Is a Blood Reverend really this powerful?!"
Vice Admiral Twilight, Bratov Ivan, murmured in disbelief. "I knew he was formidable, but I never imagined he'd already reached this level..."
The other generals said nothing, but the shock on each of their faces was unmistakable.
Among the smaller pirate crews gathered behind them, Alger had also witnessed everything, though his expression was considerably more complicated.
'Temperance has grown stronger again... Back in Byam, he still couldn't handle the Sea King, but now he can overpower a pirate monarch... And that ship of his looks so much like the King of the Five Seas' flagship. What's going on? There's also something strange about the woman standing beside him...'
The pirates' thoughts raced in every direction, but Silas, the center of everyone's attention, wore a grim expression.
The battle was far from over.
Something was wrong.
Silas frowned slightly.
The "King of Immortality" was far weaker than he had expected.
Even with the boost Antia had given him, which had dramatically increased the cutting power of the Cull of Spiritual Flesh, the resistance offered by the so-called monarch had been far too weak.
Had Silas really killed him that easily?
Just then, Silas heard the sound of flowing liquid.
"Glug... glug..."
Dark red blood began gushing endlessly from the severed base of the "Death Announcer's" mast. It spread across the deck like water from a spring, completely submerging the severed corpses.
"Splash..."
Before long, the sound of splashing filled the air.
The dead crewmen began climbing out of the pool of blood.
Their bodies had already undergone a horrifying transformation. Crimson crystals protruded from their chests, forcibly fastening their shattered bodies back together!
Agalito rose to his feet. His face remained pale, while a crimson light flickered in his eyes like burning coals, filled with a dense, lingering malice that could not be dispelled.
The crewmen were not the only ones who had changed.
The massive black ship itself had transformed as well.
Its two tall, upturned ends began to twist and reshape themselves, curling inward until they resembled a pair of warped goat horns.
Mysterious arcane runes covered their surfaces, each one steeped in corruption and depravity.
The pitch-black hull was now covered in thick fur and gave off the sharp stench of sulfur. Dense black mist spread across the ship.
Through the haze obscuring the deck, countless crimson eyes filled with malice glimmered alongside innumerable flickering blue flames.
Black, filthy, corrupt, and terrifying!
A single glance was enough to distort the mind, awakening the darkest desires buried within the heart and driving a person into madne*ss!
This was no ordinary transformation.
This terrifying presence was the incomplete form of a mythical creature!
Near Black Lake Island, every pirate watching suddenly heard a piercing ring inside their skulls.
Their spirituality surged wildly out of control, straining to break free from the limits of their bodies and merge with their own corrupted desires, turning them into servants of a devil.
At that exact moment, another invisible force spread outward, suppressing the vile urges stirring within their hearts.
When the pirates regained their senses, they discovered that although the Blood Reverend and the King of Immortality were still in the same places, locked in battle and clearly visible, some invisible law now made the two combatants seem impossibly far away.
They felt so distant and completely isolated that the mythical creature's body could no longer exert any meaningful influence over the spectators.
"Heh. That damned Blatherer has finally revealed its true form..."
Antia lowered her hand. The scattered blue flames across the water reflected in her crimson eyes as she spoke softly.
"Blatherer?"
Silas was particularly sensitive to that name.
"Is that the name of Sequence 3 from one of the Devil pathways?"
The angelic woman gave a simple reply.
"That's right. The ship itself contains the extraordinary characteristics of Sequence 3."
"So that's what it is..."
Silas froze for a moment before everything clicked into place.
He could not help recalling what he had seen when he used Spirit Channeling to contact Kircheis, the Slaughterer.
The being Kircheis had sworn loyalty to was not the "King of Immortality," but the "Death Announcer" itself.
The blood-colored crystals embedded in the crewmen's bodies also looked strikingly similar to the crystals that had formed from Kircheis after his death!
In that case, the so-called King of Immortality might be nothing more than a puppet, or perhaps merely a partner.
The "Death Announcer," the ship itself, was the one that truly possessed the greatest power.
In every sense of the title, it was the real "King of Immortality"!
Just as Silas finished putting everything together, the "Death Announcer" made a sound.
It was no longer a shrill, crazed cackle. The voice had become perfectly clear.
And it did not come from the "Death Announcer" alone.
Everyone aboard the ship opened their mouths at the same time, forming a fallen choir from some wicked cult, singing praises to a depraved, twisted, black, and bottomless abyss!
Together, they spoke a single word in ancient hermes:
"Death!"
"BOOM!"
Ripples instantly spread across the surface of the water beneath the hull of the "Death Announcer."
The curse-laden true body of the Blatherer had already surged ahead of them, exploding with a deafening roar beside Silas's ear!