Round Twelve: Boarding Battle

Laughter mixed with the roar of the waves surged toward them. The humid air made those already drenched feel as if an indescribable dampness enveloped their entire bodies. The shock from those sounds momentarily surpassed even that of the raging whirlpool.
“What is this?” Forty-seven temporarily abandoned the idea of smashing the Hermit Crab into pieces and observed with interest the black tide rising against the current from the abyssal mist.
“Olydra. The ancient Prince of Water Elements, the dark princess who commands countless evil aquatic creatures…” Chloe answered his question on Moriel’s behalf. “I never thought such a powerful being could be summoned to the Main Material Realm. It seems we really can’t underestimate them.”
Now, a tornado-like column of water had formed at the bottom of the whirlpool, drawing in and swirling black seawater around it. Bitter, salty water splashed outward like fragments falling from a sculpture, shaping a huge yet enchanting human figure.
“Olydra! I have called you—now you must serve me!” Orlando stood at the bow. Both the Hermit Crab and the Migratory Bird were rotating above Olydra, supported by the black tide brought by the Water Element Princess, temporarily stopping their downward slide. He didn’t seem to care if Olydra might get angry at his presumption and decide to capsize the Hermit Crab. “I ask you now to take us out of this whirlpool and drag that other ship into the deep sea to destroy it completely!”
“Idiot!” Olydra suddenly turned to face the Hermit Crab, which was drifting toward her along the whirlpool. This movement caused her multi-layered, seawater-formed dress to unfurl, creating waves that spread throughout the entire whirlpool, flipping the Hermit Crab onto its side, where it could tip over at any moment under the force of the spinning water.
The Water Element Princess swam up effortlessly. Moving in the raging whirlpool seemed as simple as stepping up a few stairs. Olydra tilted her head slightly, staring with her deep green eyes at Orlando, who dared to give her orders. Compared to her size, the flat Hermit Crab was little more than a table in front of an ordinary person, and Orlando and the other Shirek believers on it were even less noticeable. “You order me?”
Olydra’s voice became clearer, though it still carried the howl of the waves. “You dry little wretch, daring to give orders to me?”
Orlando was completely soaked by the moisture from the Water Element Princess’s breath. He had been inside the enclosed cockpit of the Hermit Crab earlier and was still dry. “Water Element Princess! I meant no offense!”

His face was unnaturally pale, but his eyes, with almost no white, reflected Olydra’s face like a mirror—strangely enough, despite the vast expanse of seawater surrounding the Water Element Princess being churned up as if by tens of thousands of squids spraying ink, her face and body were essentially made entirely of clear, transparent waves, free of any impurities, with gusts of waves constantly flying and splashing to form her hair like a waterfall.

“I speak to you in the name of the glorious Shirek!” Orlando shouted through the mist. “As his faithful servant, I ask for your help on his behalf! This is your agreement with the Eternal Dark Day!”

“I’m not Shirek’s servant!” Olydra raised her hand, and a tall wall of water immediately formed between her wide sleeves and the surface of the vortex, engulfing the Hermit Crab in the suddenly appearing giant waves. “I’m going to teach you a lesson, you dry boy!”

“It seems those guys have angered Olydra…” Chloe, who was watching from the Migratory Bird on the other side of the vortex, turned to Moriel and said this just as she saw Moriel’s expression turn extremely ugly—

“No… be careful!” Before Moriel could react, Olydra attacked them. The giant vortex became wildly violent under the Water Element Princess’s movements, its speed soaring, instantly pulling the Migratory Bird down into the abyss and swallowing it in the black waves pressing in from all sides.

Olydra looked satisfied at her masterpiece of destruction. Then she lifted the Hermit Crab, and under its control, a slightly smaller, vortex-wall-parallel rotating cavity opened up in the vortex, like a deep passage. “Get lost, you dry boy! Don’t let me see you again!”

Olydra sent the Hermit Crab toward that unknown water route, then scanned the entire vortex around her. “Since I’ve come this far, why not move this lovely vortex to a place with more people to play around in…”

The Water Element Princess suddenly turned aside. The Migratory Bird broke through the waves. It flew out of the abyss’s maw—truly flew, carrying a large amount of black water, skimming past Olydra and rushing into the still-unclosed vortex passage behind the Hermit Crab.

Olydra ignored what happened to the Migratory Bird and turned to gaze into the depths of the vortex.

The giant Forty-Seven followed, breaking through the water, its roaring sound momentarily overpowering even the vortex’s shrieks. By the time it reached the Water Element Princess’s head, it had transformed into a ferocious steel dragon.

“I knew… I underestimated you, you dry boy!” Olydra waved her sleeve, causing the waves to surge high, and she rose higher along the vortex—no, the entire vortex rose higher as well.

Forty-Seven flapped its iron wings, stirring up a storm. “Don’t be arrogant, little girl… come to daddy.”

Where is this place?

The calm, waveless waters were lifeless, with only the ripples caused by the suddenly appearing Hermit Crab spreading outward into the misty haze.

Simon shook his head, trying to shake off the dizziness caused by the swirling currents. Now he could barely make out the bow of the ship; everything beyond that was just a blur. The portholes in the cockpit were smeared with oily seawater, looking extremely unpleasant. Suddenly, Simon yanked the rudder wheel hard, spinning it like a windmill, just to avoid a sharp rock that suddenly emerged from the fog.

Damn, don’t the reefs in the stormy sea get eroded by the waves? Simon glared at the monstrous rocks skimming past the side of the ship, cursing inwardly. Intuitively, he felt this place was extremely strange, and he had a vague sense that his years of sailing experience seemed useless here.

“Hey, where the hell are we?” The first mate walked into the cockpit with a grim expression, his steps unsteady as he continued to bandage the wound on his wrist. It was rare to see a first mate speak to the captain in such a tone: “Figure it out quickly!”

Damn it… It’s not me who summoned those monsters! Simon really wanted to turn around and kick that bastard, probably raised by his stepmother, into the sea, but he gritted his teeth and instead looked at the compass fixed next to the rudder wheel—it was spinning wildly, clearly malfunctioning, whether due to the vibrations from the currents or something else.

Orlando also entered the cockpit: “Find a way to get out of here. All we need now is…”

With a loud crash, the Hermit Crab shuddered violently, and a large splash of water erupted beside the ship.

Simon was the first to react: “Damn! Someone’s attacking! Get ready to fight!”

“Aim properly! Have you all lost your courage because of the giant whirlpool, or have you also gone blind?” Rol had already torn off his tattered shirt, his small eyes wide as he stared at the Hermit Crab, which appeared and disappeared in the thick fog not far away. The advantage of being on the open deck became evident now: “Fire another shot!”

It made sense to strike first. Unlike the battered Migratory Bird, although the Hermit Crab had also suffered damage in the abyssal whirlpool, its overall structure remained intact. If Hryek’s followers discovered they had followed them here and then attacked—almost certainly—they would have no chance, whether in a distant attack or a close combat, since the Migratory Bird had already lost all its masts.

Fortunately, the ship’s catapults were still functional. Although gunpowder, a deadly weapon that hadn’t been fully phased out even in the Interstellar Era from the world of 47, wasn’t widely used, these unique ship-mounted catapults had an astonishing range and power. The second projectile flew in a parabola toward the Hermit Crab, its angle adjusted slightly thanks to the previous shot. Morriel clearly saw the spherical stone hit one side of the Hermit Crab, sending wood splinters flying instantly.

Cheers erupted on the Migratory Bird. Although the sailors couldn’t see as clearly as Morriel, they knew the shot had hit perfectly.

“Great!” The second mate, who was standing behind the catapult with a cloth tied over his head because of a wound on his head from the whirlpool, punched the air triumphantly: “I told you! As sailors, the guys on that ship over there are absolutely terrible!”

Indeed, after being attacked it failed to turn in time to respond, allowing it to be easily hit—Crab Ship was truly sluggish.
“How did these guys suddenly perk up?” Chloe couldn’t help much. No matter how skilled she was with swords, she couldn’t swim across the water. Standing beside Moriel, she watched the surviving sailors on Bird Ship running around, their faces filled with excitement: “Hey! Do you think you can escape the Great Vortex and ignore the God of Murder? Those are Sherek cultists blessed by the Dark Sun! Better find a way to escape before the ship sinks!”
These provocative words angered the sailors. A bearded man with his chest exposed even turned around and waved a fist at Chloe: “What’s there to fear? We’ve already escaped such a terrifying Great Vortex—what’s more scary? Tracking that ship these days has caused us so much trouble. We have to teach them a lesson!”
Chloe smiled at Moriel: “Simple-minded folks—though usually, simple-minded people are full of energy. Speaking of which, your steel servant is really special! When it turned into that form and threw Bird Ship into the abyss of the vortex, I thought it was some monster summoned by the other side, not part of the material world.”
Yes. Simple-minded folks. Moriel looked at Crab Ship, which had already turned around in the mist and was heading toward them, feeling strangely uneasy… Was I thinking too much?
Crab Ship also attacked Bird Ship, but they clearly lacked experience, not even understanding the range and usage of the ship’s crossbows. The arrows they shot were erratic and posed no threat. Yet the Sherek cultists chose to use the ship’s weapons instead of priestly spells, seemingly because summoning the Water Element Princess had cost them dearly.
Bird Ship steadily fired its third shot—a bundle of burning tar. The sailors had to work hard to pull this substance, soaked in water, out of the damaged hold. Fortunately, the oilcloth covering it was very tight, and a flame was successfully ignited. Though the tar bundle was blocked by the protective spells cast by the Sherek priests, it still burst above Crab Ship, setting half of its hull and the surrounding waters ablaze.
“Extinguish the fire! Extinguish it! Hurry over there!” The initial plan to sink Bird Ship with long-range bombardment without bloodshed had completely failed. Simon was furious. He felt like a paralyzed patient who understood everything but couldn’t do anything. Being defeated by a ship that was barely capable of moving was an unprecedented humiliation for him: “Get ready for boarding combat! You’re not strong enough to fight hand-to-hand, are you?”
Crab Ship rushed forward through Bird Ship’s gunfire in almost windless waters. If it weren’t for the Sherek priests on board blocking much of Moriel’s magical attacks, her fireballs and barrage of missiles might have sunk the ship.
Watching Crab Ship, covered in smoke, charge forward, Moriel lowered her hand and turned to Chloe: “Shouldn’t you lock the door and keep the dogs in?”

Indeed, in close combat, Hyrick’s followers held a decisive advantage—before the two ships even came close, the Dark Guards and Assassins, blessed by the priests with spells such as “Bull’s Strength,” “Corrupted Weapons,” and “Coordinated Assault,” leaped forward with their weapons, knocking down several sailors in an instant.
“Who’s there? Who’s there?” The Shadow Wolf, who had disappeared somewhere since the storm began, suddenly appeared, standing on the deck and looking around. His gaze grew confused when he saw his comrades: “Who are you? You look so familiar!”
An Hyrick Assassin charging toward them also froze for a moment. Holding a long sword in one hand and a dagger in the other, both weapons emitting dark light, he easily severed the second officer of the Dove Ship’s cutlass. But due to the Shadow Wolf’s interference, he couldn’t pursue further: “How did you get here…?”
His face split open. Chloé rushed over like a bird, tapped lightly on the Shadow Wolf’s shoulder, drew her sword, and leaped over the assassin’s body—fluid and effortless.
Warm blood sprayed onto the Shadow Wolf’s face, stunning him for a moment before his eyes turned wildly frenzied.
“Woof!”
A needle-thin sword shot out from his sleeve, piercing a heavily armored warrior who had noticed Chloé and was about to turn to chase her. Even while at sea, this Hyrick follower hadn’t taken off his bulky black armor, revealing his obsession with self-protection. Yet no matter how careful he was, he couldn’t avoid looking around, and the Shadow Wolf’s sword pierced his right eye, went straight into his brain, and twisted violently. The nearly eight-foot-tall warrior staggered backward, one eye a bloody hole, the other rolled upward, revealing nothing but a pale, bruising surface. Blocked by the ship’s railing, his upper body fell backward, and he plunged into the sea with a splash.
The battle raged on. The Hermit Crab Ship had already collided with the Dove Ship, pushing it further into the mist. On the dark waters, a few shallow ripples formed, as if something was moving—but neither side fighting paid attention.