The Pirate Empress
The blazing sun beat down mercilessly upon the vast open sea. Emerald waters sparkled so brightly they stung the eyes, carrying the fresh, briny scent of the ocean. Several ships sailed across the rolling waves. Seven vessels traveling together in formation presented a truly magnificent sight.
These were mid-sized ships, each requiring a crew of fifteen to twenty sailors at most, so their combined presence carried impressive weight. The lead vessel at the center of the fleet stood out from the others with its lavish decorations. A golden mermaid statue adorned its prow, and the hull was trimmed in red gold so opulent it seemed almost a shame to sail it at all.
This extravagantly decorated ship belonged to the pirate captain.
“Today we’re going to give those worm bastards and octopus scum a proper thrashing they won’t soon forget! Do you understand me, you lot?!”
The captain’s voice was slender yet powerful, cutting through the sound of the ship slicing through waves as she issued orders to her crew. Her subordinates, brimming with faith in their leader, raised their weapons high and roared in response.
“Uwooo!!”
The pirate captain of this fleet was, quite boldly, a woman.
At that moment, one of her subordinates who had been staying near the empress on the deck spoke up.
“Lady Selena. We’ll soon be entering their territory.”
The woman known as Selena. She was the captain of this pirate fleet—and their hope.
“Prepare the crew.”
Her voice rang with solemn determination as she issued the command, then turned her gaze toward the endless horizon.
‘How long must we keep fighting like this?’
She had her worries. More than anything, she simply wanted to rest. She loved the water, enjoyed surrendering herself to the rolling waves, and found the sea breeze refreshing as she sailed. That was why she continued her work. Yet the endless battles were wearing her down.
What exactly were she and her pirate fleet fighting against?
KUAAAAA!
Its identity revealed itself at once.
It shattered the orderly flow of the fleet that had been cutting cleanly through the waves. The cause was its enormous size. Even the pirates who had calmly prepared themselves couldn’t help but fall into panic.
“It’s a Leviathan!”
“Helmsman, don’t let go of the wheel!”
“Everyone to the port cannons!”
It was a scene that could only be described as utter chaos. The Pirate Empress Selena had no choice but to step forward herself.
Bwooooooo!
Selena blew the horn hanging from her neck, drawing everyone’s attention.
“Stay calm! Fire all cannons on my signal! Load!”
“Loading!!”
Selena’s command was effective. The Leviathan thrashed wildly, trying to drive out the ships that had invaded its domain. Strictly speaking, it was indeed a sea monster, but in another sense, it was nothing more than an oversized eel-like fish. A giant—one could even say an absurdly giant—sea eel might be the most accurate description.
It was a predator of tremendous size that devoured every fish in its territory, yet when faced with ships it could not eat, it could only churn up waves with its struggles. Selena and her pirates, well aware of this fact, overcame the waves with superb steering and attacked the beast with their ship cannons.
“Cannon one loaded!”
“Cannon two loaded!”
The shouts of completion continued. Soon, every cannon was ready.
Confirming this, Selena opened her throat and spoke.
“Fire.”
Though she had spoken softly, the order reached every ship maintaining the fleet formation.
Boom!Boom!Booom!
Explosive shells erupted from the loaded cannons. The sight of them firing in unison toward a single Leviathan was truly spectacular. The shells struck the creature one after another, beginning with the first cannon fired.
KUOOOO!
Hit by the bursting explosive shells, chunks of its flesh were torn away. The beast fled in terror. It was, quite literally, all size and no combat sense—just a simple aquatic creature.
“Pursue.”
Selena spoke quietly as she watched the fleeing Leviathan.
Whoosh!
A subordinate beside her immediately fired a green flare into the sky. The ships that understood the signal quickly prepared something else.
The Leviathan, still twisting its body to avoid the explosive shells, had not yet fully submerged. The pirates did not miss the opening and launched their prepared weapon.
Bang!
Something shot through the pure white smoke and embedded itself in the Leviathan’s flesh.
Thwack!
It was a harpoon designed for sea monsters. The tip was sharp, and once it dug into flesh, internal mechanisms would expand to anchor it firmly so it could not be pulled free.
Now the Leviathan would find escape difficult.
KUUUUU!
But the creature didn’t realize this and continued thrashing desperately. The violent movements caused the ship to shake violently due to the harpoon’s line, yet Selena remained composed.
“Prepare depth charges.”
Since the beast had fled into the depths, this was the appropriate countermeasure.
“Depth charges loaded!!”
The one shouting the order was not Selena—who needed to preserve her voice—but the subordinate beside her. There were no further commands. They would finish loading before the creature dove any deeper and fire immediately.
After all, depth charges were not meant to score direct hits.
Shrrrrrrk!Ting!
The awaited moment had arrived. Rather than being fired, the depth charges were closer to being dropped.
Splash!
The depth charges poured down in unison. Watching this, Selena sat down in the seat prepared on the deck.
A few seconds later—
Boom!Gugugugung!
The depth charges that had sunk into the sea detonated one after another. The aftermath was tremendous.
Splaaash!
A massive pillar of water shot upward, and the ships rocked so violently they nearly capsized. The Leviathan had probably felt safe once it reached the deep sea. At least until it saw the fuses of the depth charges still burning as they slowly sank.
Depth charges were underwater bombs that detonated once they reached near the seabed. Their power was enough to shake an entire region. They were the perfect weapon against a Leviathan that instinctively fled to the deepest waters when it sensed danger.
When the waves grew so fierce from the depth charges’ aftermath that they threatened to swallow the ships, each vessel in the fleet cut their harpoon lines. Using superb steering, they dodged the waves and regrouped.
At that moment, someone shouted.
“It’s floating! It’s dead!”
And just as if it had been waiting for the fleet, the Leviathan’s corpse rose to the surface. Its body was so enormous it dwarfed the combined size of six ships.
“That’s enough for today. We’re returning. These dwarf-made ship cannons really are excellent.”
Selena offered her impressions, then rested her chin on her hand while leaning back in her chair. The subordinate beside her answered and sent the return signal.
“Understood.”
Piiiuuu!Bang!
It was a blue flare. Upon seeing the return signal, the other ships fired harpoons once more into the Leviathan’s corpse to secure it for towing.
“We’re heading back!”
The subordinates aboard Selena’s ship celebrated their successful voyage. Their mood was already as festive as if they had been drinking heavily. In fact, they were literally drinking on deck.
Selena chided them, saying it was still too early.
“Tell those idiots to take it easy. The route back passes through the Kraken’s territory.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The subordinate who always stayed by her side descended to the deck where the others were and scolded their lax behavior. Selena had not yet let down her guard. After all, things often went wrong precisely when they seemed to be going well, and they had been attacked by Krakens before. Moreover, they were currently towing a Leviathan corpse. There was no way it wouldn’t draw the Kraken’s attention.
“Please, let us pass safely.”
But the gods did not answer her earnest prayer.
Splaaaaash!
At this rate, it was almost as if the Kraken had been lying in wait. A giant octopus leg rose from the water along their path, so perfectly timed it was suspicious.
“K-Kraken!!”
The Kraken was a sea monster resembling an octopus. In truth, it might be some kind of enormous creature like the Leviathan, but its difficulty to defeat was on another level. The Leviathan was huge but stupid. The Kraken, however, was clever. And it was enormous as well. Each of its legs was the size of an entire ship—there was no room for argument. And there were eight of them.
What made the creature even more cunning was that it refused to show its face. That was its weakness, so it couldn’t be helped, but they couldn’t simply keep shooting at its legs forever. Facing such a troublesome opponent right after defeating a Leviathan was far from ideal.
But what could they do? They had already encountered it.
“Our ship will take two legs. Tell the other ships to handle one each. I will not permit any sinkings.”
Selena was dead serious. In truth, Selena’s pirate fleet had mainly fought Leviathans rather than Krakens. Therefore, while they understood the theory of fighting Krakens, they were not particularly familiar with it. Not long ago, they had even lost subordinates to a Kraken ambush. No matter how careful they were, lives would inevitably be at risk. That was the law of the sea.
However, laws could be defied. By something greater than law itself.
“Between leg four and leg five.”
Selena immediately gave the order to the helmsman. The ship surged forward at maximum speed toward the gap between the Kraken’s fourth and fifth legs. Then, the crew members with the loudest voices aboard the ship shouted.
“Individual combat!! The captain is taking two legs!”
It didn’t end with just one shout.
“Individual combat!! The captain is taking two legs!”
Hearing the call from Selena’s ship, the other vessels relayed the order to their neighbors. Finally, once every ship had received its orders, they sailed toward the legs they were responsible for. The pirate fleet’s formation had completely collapsed, but Selena paid it no mind. What demanded her immediate attention were the two towering Kraken legs rising on either side of her ship. She trusted that the others would handle their own tasks well.
“Load all side ship cannons with explosive shells!!”
At Selena’s command, the crew guarding the deck loaded the dark explosive shells into every dwarf-made ship cannon.
Shwoooo!Crunch!
In the meantime, one of the Kraken’s legs targeting the ship slammed into the stern.
“Hold on tight! If you fall, you’re dead meat!”
Selena also avoided the shaking with her exceptional sense of balance. But there was a problem.
“This time it’s the port side!!”
The helmsman shouted. They had been dodging the Kraken’s legs fairly well, but when two legs attacked in succession or when it struck the ship directly from underwater, evasion became extremely difficult. It was no exaggeration to say the Kraken was clever—its attacks were ferocious. A ship fighting against waves and water resistance could not magically dodge an attack that had already reached it.
“Captain! We’ll need your help with this next attack!”
The helmsman made the proper call and spoke to Selena. In response, she drew the scimitar slung across her back. Also known as a saber, it was a type of curved blade whose edge allowed for sharp, slicing cuts.
Holding the scimitar with its striking red decorations, Selena began to dance.
“O sea, o sky, o wind. I, who have received the blessing of water—the source of all life—call upon you. Protect me and my comrades, and repay our faith.”
She danced with her blade and sang. The lyrics were in a language no one had ever heard before. As she did, the waves that had been surging in time with her scimitar grew calm.
Could the sea truly become this quiet? It was as if it had held its breath for a moment just to listen to her song. The water had transformed into a tranquil lake where not even a single fish jumped. The expressions of her subordinates grew incomparably relaxed. This was because Selena was exerting her power to block the Kraken’s legs.
“O sea, o sky, o wind, follow me. I shall embrace the light of the blazing sun and surrender myself to the surging waves.”
The once-calm sea began to churn violently at the sound of Selena’s beautiful voice. The Kraken’s leg had paused, seemingly confused by the sudden stillness, but it resumed its attack on the ship as the waves began to rage once more.
The creature’s leg, covered in suckers, came crashing down toward the ship’s deck.
“Roar and surge.”
Swoosh!
The moment Selena swung her scimitar at the leg, the wave surged sharply and sliced the limb nearly in half.
Uwaaaaaang!
Only then did the creature’s scream reach them.
“Switch to indiscriminate bombardment!”
Finishing her song, Selena immediately issued new orders. The subordinates who had been mesmerized by her enchanting song and dance quickly came to their senses and struggled back to their positions.
Thud.
Exhausted from overexerting herself, Selena sat back down in her seat. And what she saw was a barrage of explosive shells raining down on the half-severed fourth leg and the still-intact fifth leg.
Booom! Boooom!
Someone had once said that explosions were art. Watching the powerful explosive shells blast apart the giant creature’s leg and slowly scorch its flesh, Selena finally felt relieved.
‘We survived today as well.’