Chapter 261
Chapter 261
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 261
Chapter Title: Deadly Venom and Shooting Star
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Mimi and Nene hovered in midair.
Clunk! Pssshhh!
As Saladin's finger twitched, Mimi's torso split open, unleashing a barrage of metal shards and hidden weapons that filled the space in front of Pardal.
Pardal's scythe had yet to fully retrieve the chain coiled around the mast.
'He can't spin the scythe to block like before—not now!'
"Hmph!"
Kiririk! Clank, clank!
"What...?!"
In a flash, Pardal connected only the rear section, forming a short baton.
He then spun it at blinding speed.
Tingtingtingtingting!
The hidden weapons scattered in all directions amid a sound like roasting beans.
In that moment, as Saladin dropped onto the deck, Pardal swiftly kicked him in the gut with his free leg.
Thwack!
"Guh!"
The unprepared kick sent Saladin spewing blood as he flew back toward the Iron Maiden pirates' ship encircling them.
Boom!
Pirate gear and debris flew everywhere, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Urgh..."
Damn it. He'd finally felt victory within reach, striking every pose imaginable. But this bastard's raw power was filthy strong.
'Even poisoned by Martin's toxin bullets, and he still has this much fight left.'
Damn pirate scum. Had they hogged every rare elixir in the sea?
Thud!
Pardal, having fully retrieved his chain, landed gracefully on the deck of the ship where Saladin had crashed.
Whoosh!
"Hoo... Damn, I'm pissed. Thought you had something since you kept yapping so arrogantly, but this is all you've got?"
His outer shirt torn away, Pardal's upper body pulsed with veins expanding and contracting like snakes slithering beneath his skin.
Saladin's eyes gleamed at the sight.
'...It's working!'
He still exuded insane power, but inside, Pardal's sturdy aura walls were surely crumbling before the poison.
Saladin slowly wiped the blood from his mouth and staggered to his feet.
"Oh yeah? Why don't you just stare at that hideous body of yours then?"
"Tch! Think you've won with this pathetic poison? It won't take me down."
But contrary to his words, the poison prodding his insides irritated Pardal to no end.
Pardal shook his head and glanced back.
"See those ships approaching? Those are my real crew—they follow my orders to the letter. Repeat after me: you're dead. No escape for you now."
Pardal's eyes glinted menacingly.
"Look forward to it. I'll peel your flesh strip by strip, salt it, and dry it under the sun. Right up until your worthless life snuffs out. I'll make you regret your choices until your dying breath."
A chilling threat that made the hairs on his neck stand on end.
"Oh no, I'm so scared."
Whoosh!
Saladin played along with Pardal's threat as he helped the fallen Mimi and Nene to their feet, reorganizing his formation.
In the meantime, he'd secretly used his threads to load a needle into Mimi's forehead launcher, pretending nothing was amiss.
'This ends it.'
The poison needle, crafted alongside Martin's toxin bullets from his poison essence. This ultimate hidden weapon would fell even a commander.
After all, that's what it was made for.
Splash!
While Pardal and Saladin traded barbs, the Buccaneer pirates' ships surrounded the vessel where they faced off.
A far grander force than the divided Iron Maiden galleons.
Saladin, alone amid that horde, seemed almost pitiable.
Splash! Splash! Thud!
Water-slick boots hit the deck, sending up small sprays.
"Well now, Captain. What the hell is that?"
Vice Captain Norland grimaced at the grotesque veins and wounds bulging on Pardal's body.
"Shut it. Just keep the perimeter tight."
Clank!
Pardal raised his scythe threateningly.
"This one's mine. Anyone interferes, they die on the spot."
Norland shrugged at Pardal's fierce warning and signaled his crew.
The pirates promptly retreated to the ship's edges.
"Do whatever. But finish quick. We gotta patch you up and shove those seal bastards back."
Twirl!
Norland turned away like the other sailors, clearing the area. In that instant, his cloak blocked Pardal and Saladin's line of sight.
'Now!'
Ping!
A faint sound rang out as the poison needle shot from Mimi's forehead like a beam of light. It was a custom launcher Saladin had made.
It would pierce the cloak in a heartbeat and strike Pardal somewhere vital. Then it was over.
'Hurry and end this—fire the signal flare...?!'
Chiririrink! Crack!
Suddenly, a chain scythe erupted from beneath Saladin's feet, smashing the deck and coiling around his leg.
Splurt!
As the chain tightened, a chunk of flesh tore from Saladin's leg, blood gushing forth.
Good thing he'd braced with his Heterogenous Power—any slower by a second, and his leg would've exploded entirely.
"Aaaargh!"
Even so, the excruciating pain tore a scream from Saladin.
For someone who always led with Mimi and Nene up front, this was his first major injury.
"Urgh..."
His knee buckled involuntarily from the agony. Staring at his blood-soaked leg, Saladin tried to grasp the situation.
'H...how?'
Martin's toxin bullets and needle, shaped from poison essence. Their venom surpassed imagination.
Unlike the spread-out toxin bullets for crowds, this needle was hyper-concentrated for slaying commanders.
It had taken down even the Holy Empire's Third Holy Knight Order Captain in seconds—how had Pardal endured and counterattacked?
As questions flooded Saladin's mind, the view behind the fluttering cloak finally came into sight.
"...Guh! Cough! C-Captain..."
"Sorry, Norland. I'll heal you right now."
Norland convulsed, eyes rolled back. Pardal had pulled him in as a shield upon sensing something off.
"Knew it. You'd pull something like that."
"Huff, huff. You trash... using your own man as a shield? Huff... Are you even human?"
Saladin condemned Pardal as blood loss blurred his vision.
"Look who's talking—a sneak attacker."
Hwak!
Pardal handed the convulsing Norland to his sailors for treatment and retrieved his flesh-smeared scythe.
"Figured those unbroken eyes meant trouble. Didn't expect you'd hide a toy like that."
He downplayed it, but Pardal broke into cold sweat seeing Norland foaming at the mouth.
Treatment or not, he knew Norland was done for.
A commander's vice captain, a master-level powerhouse—his life snuffed like a fly.
'This guy's dangerous.'
No time for surrender offers or torture games. If more toys lurked, even he wasn't safe.
"Lost interest. Die already."
Slash!
The chain scythe hurtled forth. With his busted leg, dodging that speed was impossible.
'Damn. Is this it?'
Saladin slowly closed his eyes. His final ace. Would it have changed things?
Regret gnawed at him for hesitating.
'Sorry, Jerome.'
Right then—
Kaboom!
-Roooar!
"?!"
"Aaaargh!"
"Wh-what?! Shit! Why are the fish swarming—guh!!"
The sea monsters lurking silently beneath the Buccaneer ships surged up en masse, assaulting their galleons.
Splash!
The sudden impact rocked the ship; Pardal's scythe veered, slashing Saladin's cheek instead of his neck.
Saladin tumbled powerless into the half-sunken ship and churning waves, plummeting into the sea.
"Saladin!"
A somewhat familiar voice rang in his ears.
"Snap out of it!"
Slap! Slap!
A faint sea scent wafted from the slapping hands.
Saladin opened his eyes to see sea-toned skin and scales dotting the body before him.
"...Pay?"
Yes—the one rousing him was none other than the siren, Pay.
"I didn't send the signal, though."
"Came from the main fleet. Orders to attack the ships surrounding you immediately."
"...Dwayne, that guy."
Didn't believe I'd send it, huh.
'Still, thanks to him, I'm alive.'
"You're safe now. Our kin and the sea monsters will handle those pirates. Head to the rear, Saladin...?!"
A beam of light streaked past Pay as she spoke.
Crack!
-Kieeeek!
The struck sea monster shredded into sashimi instantly.
Chiririrink! Pop!
The chain-wrapped monster burst like a water balloon before it could scream.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Splatters!
Blood and flesh rained from the sky. At the carnage's center stood Northern Spirit Pardal, like a demon from legend.
"Gods, what kind of human...!"
"I'm fine, Pay."
Saladin pushed the stunned Pay aside and climbed onto a shattered plank.
"Nuh-uh! Saladin, no! How do you plan to fight in that state?!"
Pay had watched the entire battle from ambush.
Saladin was exceptional, but no match for that monster.
"It's okay."
Ignoring her concern, he reached into his bosom and pulled out another purple pill.
It resembled the first toxin pill, but oozed far darker, more ominous energy.
Saladin's gaze wavered briefly on the pill, then hardened with resolve.
"Thanks to you drawing attention, I have time to use this."
Crunch!
As he swallowed the chewed pill, a perilous aura began emanating from Saladin's body.
Shing!
Three swords moved with rapid precision.
Their machine-like coordination would fell any foe bewildered.
Yet the middle-aged man with the iron club wore a serene expression, as if watching playful children.
Whoosh!
Unlike the fierce slashes from Beskin and his two knights, his single swing carried boulder-like force, shattering the knights' chilling aura.
"Urgh!"
Bam!
One strike sent all three knights tumbling across the deck.
"Why not surrender? You're no match for me. Give up peacefully, and I'll let you go without pain."
"You mean you'll kill us anyway...!"
Sherrywon retorted incredulously at Drake's absurd offer. Not that surrender was an option.
"Hm? Of course. You didn't crawl this far hoping to live, did you?"
Grrr!
Distracted by Sherrywon's outcry? Drake dragged his club slowly toward him, puzzled.
"The weak obey the strong. Just as I heed the king's command without rebellion."
That was pirate survival. Bow to the unbeatable.
Which made their support baffling from the start.
Why crawl to death when weaker?
"Heh, youth. Reckless bravado like that is dangerous."
Sherrywon tried rising, but Drake's foot was faster.
Crunch!
"Ugh...!"
Pinned in the chest, Sherrywon thrashed but couldn't budge the man.
"Farewell then. Don't worry—your friends will follow soon."
Whoosh!
"Sherrywon! Damn it... urgh!"
Ravins shouted urgently, but Drake's merciless club descended on Sherrywon's head.
Ravins squeezed his eyes shut at the impending horror.
Clang!
But it wasn't a skull-crushing sound—metal scraped metal.
Screech! Screech!
Beskin had interposed his sword before Sherrywon, blocking Drake's club. Icy aura poured from him.
Stage 1 release.
"You said the strong's commands must be obeyed?"
Screech!
As Beskin slowly pushed back the club, Sherrywon scrambled free.
"Yes. Defy the strong, and death awaits. That's the only path to survival."
"Th...that's beastly logic. A true man... must uphold his righteous will."
Blocking the club, Beskin recalled his young lord.
The one who always asserted his will boldly before stronger foes.
That's why he sought change—to become the blade that felled his lord's enemies.
"Beastly logic, eh? Fair enough. Then it's amusing—a knight with noble spirit dying to that beast."
Bam!
"Guh!"
Drake sneered, slamming Beskin's torso.
As blood trailed and Beskin flew back, Drake's mockery deepened.
"Prove it then. Those on thrones are stars in the sky. Defy them and accomplish what, exactly?"
True enough. Throne-holders shone like stars beyond his blade's reach.
But.
"It can reach you."
You, crushed by the Pirate King's terror, not even dreaming of resisting those stars.
Stance!
Beskin assumed position, his two knights following suit.
'Someday, I'll cut down any foe of the Viscount—throned or not.'
A technique honed for slaying commanders like this, destined to fell even sky-stars in the distant future.
Shooting Star unfolded toward Drake.