Chapter 244
Chapter 244
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 244
Chapter Title: Master
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Master.
Like stars in the night sky or grains of sand on the beach, it was the supreme realm granted only to a select few among the countless martial artists.
Even if it was the lowest of the low, barely crossing the threshold, simply reaching that realm warranted praise.
That was how exalted the Master realm was—a position deserving of respect anywhere on the continent.
Which was exactly why I could never tolerate the Archipelago pirates.
They possessed such formidable power. They could live lives worthy of anyone's admiration.
Yet why squander that strength on something as petty as piracy and bullying the weak?
Splat!
"Guhk!"
Artis's head snapped back from my punch.
I felt it in my hand.
Red petals bloomed from his shattered nose, scattering into the air.
But Artis was a Master—a mid-level one at that.
Unyielding, he made the two cutlasses in his hands slither like snakes from upper left and lower right, aiming for both my shoulders.
Thud!
I pinned his elbows with both hands to halt the cutlasses, then lifted my leg and drove my heel into his solar plexus.
Crack!
"Kuh-heok!"
A savage sound echoed from his ribs as Artis's body carved a furrow in the ground, sliding back.
"Don't... underestimate me, you damn brat!!"
Zip-zip-zip!
Artis quickly regained his stance, his cutlasses flashing like lightning toward every vital point on my body.
Even after I'd wrecked his elbow joints before kicking his solar plexus, the thrusts were precise, as if measured with a ruler.
If he'd fought with full power like this from the start, forgoing any thought of escape, I wouldn't have gained the upper hand so easily.
But it was too late.
'Fights are about momentum and judgment.'
Bad judgment always comes with a price.
I blocked, struck, and dodged the deadly thrusts probing every direction, closing the distance one step at a time.
"Th... this!"
Frustrated by my evasions, perhaps?
The blade that had been thrusting at my body suddenly changed course, lunging for my throat in a surprise attack just like before.
Clap!
I clapped my palms together to catch the cutlass blade, then twisted and snapped it.
Snap!
With a dull sound, the silvery sharp blade shattered. I snatched the airborne fragment and stabbed it into Artis's shoulder.
Pfshk!
"!"
Undeterred by the agony in his shoulder, Artis swung his remaining cutlass at my waist.
Shiiiing!
Just before the blade touched me, I clamped it between my knee and elbow.
Snap!
Even the last cutlass broke.
Defenseless.
Both hands empty of weapons, one shoulder impaled by a blade fragment.
Artis had no means left to resist me.
Boom!
"Keuk!"
A waist-snapping kick burst blood vessels in Artis's mouth.
"Now it's time to pay for your actions."
You'd better brace yourself.
I have plenty of grudges against you.
As Jemi approached the Kybele Pirates' hideout, her mouth grew parched.
Of course, with the surrounding forest ablaze, the heated air surely played a part.
But that wasn't all.
Even if the forest were utterly fire-free, the emotion churning inside her would be no different.
'I'm scared.'
The massive man who had saved her, Miron, was undoubtedly strong.
He'd subdued and repelled those terrifying Kybele pirates in an instant.
One glimpse reveals the whole. If even Miron trusted and followed him so completely, the man he called his lord must be strong too.
But Olga and Artis were different. Unlike the brutish regular crewmen, they were "true" powerhouses—true Masters hailed as continent-spanning elites.
Since being captured by the Kybele Pirates, Jemi had seen them lose wars but never a single fight.
To her, the Master realm was like an impenetrable fortress wall.
A colossal barrier she could claw at forever without escape.
A cage that wouldn't shatter no matter how desperately she wished for rescue.
In her mind, Artis had become the inescapable tyrant of that cage.
Thump, thump!
She couldn't suppress her heart racing faster with fear as she neared Artis's location.
Still, she pressed on, gritting her teeth.
Even if the man Miron called master was dead, he had tried to save her.
The least she could do was witness his final moments with her own eyes.
Whoosh!
The forest blazed like midday from the inferno.
The scorching heat overwhelmed Jemi, young as she was, but she had no time to feel it.
Deep in the woods lay a sight she never imagined.
In the distant corner.
Before a collapsed man gasping ragged breaths sat a massive lump of charcoal.
Burned beyond recognition—not just who, but even if it was human.
Yet Jemi knew its identity without effort.
She had imagined their deaths countless times in every gruesome form.
Even reduced to ashes, she couldn't mistake it.
First Mate Olga.
That charcoal was Olga's corpse.
"You... damn brat!!"
As Jemi stared blankly at Olga's body, the voice of the man she'd fled even in nightmares pierced her ears.
She'd thought him sly and inescapable, always finding a way out.
Now he looked pathetic, like a frightened pup barking.
Snap!
The merciless blade that stole Sam and the children's lives snapped between two palms.
The broken shard pierced Artis's shoulder instead.
It looked agonizing just to watch, but the fearsome man didn't falter, swinging his other cutlass for his opponent's life.
As if anticipating it, the opponent clamped the blade with knee and elbow, neutralizing the cutlass once more.
And then.
And then.
And then.
With no attacks left, Artis began taking a merciless beating.
"Ah... ah."
Thud!
Jemi's legs gave out unknowingly, and startled Miron reached to support her, but she refused.
What she needed now wasn't aid, but to miss not a single moment of the scene before her.
Thud-thud-thud!
It doesn't stop.
Those fists and feet brutally pounding and shattering Artis's body.
That savagely beautiful motion, ruthless yet paradoxically graceful.
As Artis crumbled, the invisible cage imprisoning Jemi began to crack too.
Crack!
A fissure split the lightless cage, and salvation's glow poured in.
She recalled Miron's "irrational" choice at the cave mouth, saving them when others wouldn't.
-Never... give up. Someday, a hero will come save us. Got it?
Sam's final words, urging her not to lose hope even with a hole in his throat.
"Ah... aahhh."
I see.
You were right, Sam.
Just like you said, they really exist on this continent, in this world.
I think I've found him.
'My hero.'
Gong!
With a final strike like a golden bell tolling, Artis collapsed unconscious.
"Whew..."
I steadied my breathing.
The legendary admiral Vidal Croit's great victory and Artis's constant thoughts of flight made this win relatively straightforward.
'I underestimated the Archipelago too much.'
Using a mid-level Sword Master as bait pirate captain to probe Vidal Croit's movements.
'The Four Spirits are still out there.'
The massive pirates supporting Archipelago Pirate King Balak.
Each wielded influence on the seas rivaling nobility serving a king.
Rumors said their might matched the Holy Empire's four marquises—far from easy foes.
'Need to prepare more thoroughly... Hm?'
Then, Jeremiah—standing beside Miron—sprinted toward me.
She dropped to her knees before me and shouted.
"Please take us in!"
"...Huh?"
This was the outcome I wanted.
...But so suddenly?
Time flows equally for all. Whether resting leisurely in dark night for deep sleep, or fighting desperately through to dawn.
Night ends, and the sun rises again.
Whoosh!
Olivia Navy's galleons sliced the sea with white foam, greeting the slowly rising eastern sun.
They'd barely rested, managing the horde of captured pirates from yesterday's battle—or massacre.
Yet none wore grim faces.
Adrenaline surged; their eyes brimmed with vitality.
The reason was obvious.
-We won.
That triumphant emotion filled every gaze.
Yes.
Not against scavenging pirates near the southern continent, but the Kybele Pirates dispatched from the Archipelago main island—a great victory.
Without aid from Baron Jerome or anyone in the lord's castle.
True, the flagship's escaping captain and remnants were caught by the baron himself, but they'd smashed most of the pirate galleons.
Yesterday's dazzling achievements erased their fatigue.
"The soldiers' morale is sky-high."
"All thanks to the baron capturing Captain Artis, right?"
Snort!
"You really think that? Or just false modesty?"
"False modesty."
"What? Hahaha!"
Delo's relaxed banter drew laughter from me.
My good mood spread; Delo glanced at the troops with mock sternness.
"Getting drunk on such a minor win. Still a long way from shedding their greenhorn skins."
"They earned a celebration against Archipelago main island pirates. Oh, right—a soldier spotted the flagship escape traces?"
Using the flagship as bait for Artis and survivors. Delo's urgent message let me pursue immediately, or we'd have lost them.
I thought it Delo's hunch, but learning it was a young navy private's merit shocked me.
"Yes. A greenhorn named Jason. Said something felt off, so he scanned the flagship with his spyglass."
"Ho, staying cool amid victory fever. Impressive."
"Planning to promote him back in Olivia. Kid's ice-cold sharp."
Talent worthy of Delo's personal notice.
'Talent's everywhere.'
Countless potentials wither unrecognized.
Never even given a chance to shine.
Uncover and nurture those I missed in my past life. That's how to win wars.
In that regard, Ivarella was unstoppable.
She boldly promoted talent regardless of lowly birth.
Perhaps the continent falling to her was inevitable.
But.
Grip!
Gazing at the jubilant navy, I clutched the ship's railing.
'That doesn't mean I'll hand you the continent on a platter.'
Every bold step of hers demands blood.
If that blood flows from those I must protect.
Inevitability or not, I'll block it all.
That's why I returned to the past.
Flap-flap!
Gulls soared over the massive main island, like land itself.
All intel passed through the intel hall, but the gull with a red letter on its leg bypassed it for deeper into the island.
Sea King's Palace.
The great abode of this southern sea's master.
Flap!
The vigorous gull landed delicately on the shoulder of the man at the palace's heart.
Rustle!
Reading the note, the man's tight lips parted into a guffaw.
"Hahahahahaha!"
Startled, the gull flapped away outside, but Balak ignored it.
This thrill.
His heart racing excitedly after fifteen long years.
"The Kybele Pirates utterly crushed..."
Despite the blow to Archipelago pirate prestige, Balak savored the letter anew with satisfaction.
"Heh! Perfect kindling, it seems."
Not enough yet. To trim fat, sharpen dull teeth, revive a broken spirit—this was just the start.
"This'll be fun."
Leaning back, Balak pondered the next kindling candidates.