287 - Another Demon?
"Argust!" Jack called into the ship's internal communication device. "Drop the cloak! Let them see the nightmare."
"Deactivating the cloak now, Captain!" Argust's replied. Filled with a grim sort of glee.
The Silent Mermaid shuddered as the mystical invisibility shield dissipated. To the pirates on the Dragon Queen, it must have looked like a demon had materialized out of nowhere.
One moment there was nothing but the dark ocean. The next, an eerie, blazing ghost ship appeared next to them. Its silently screaming mermaid figurehead and its tattered sails somehow produced a terrifying effect. Especially when mixed with its hull's rotting timber, purple flames, and misty cover.
A frantic shout went up from the Dragon Queen. A bell began to clang. The sound seemed desperate against the calm voices of the waves. Pirates scrambled across the deck. Many of them were tripped over their own feet as they tried to reach their cannons.
"Fire at will!" Jack ordered. His voice sounded like a low growl that carried across the deck.
The night exploded.
The women opened fire first. The rifles made loud explosive sounds. Steam belched from the rifle barrels. Briefly obscuring the deck. Bullets streaked in extreme speed. Aimed at the pirates on the Dragon Queen's deck.
This time, the result was much better than the previous time they used the rifles. Most of the bullets hit their target. Pirates manning the Dragon Queen's cannons were picked off before they could even prime the fuses.
Even Serene and Autumn, usually the gentlest members of the crew, fired with cold, mechanical precision. Almost every pull of the trigger meant one less pirate.
Then came the heavy hitters.
Leon, Don, Barnaby, and the three guards took aim at the Dragon Queen's masts and main deck. The grenade launchers roared. Spitting out shells that glowed with a volatile orange light.
The first volley hit the midsection of the pirate frigate. A massive explosion of alchemical fire tore through the wood. Sending splinters the size of spears flying in every direction. The Dragon Queen lurched violently to the port side.
"Again!" Jack commanded.
Don Donson, the cook, laughed as he humped a fresh drum of shells into his launcher.
"Soup's served, you bastards!" He shouted as he fired. His shell arched perfectly into the Dragon Queen's rigging. Hitting the target with explosive sound.
The main mast, already weakened by age and poor maintenance, groaned and snapped. Collapsing into a tangled mess of canvas and rope that trapped the pirates beneath.
The Dragon Queen was a chaotic hell-scape. Fire spread with unnatural speed. Fueled by the alchemical agents in the shells.
Jack watched through his [Eyes of Judgement] as the pirate ship's structural integrity plummeted. He saw Khezam Gillbuster emerge onto the quarterdeck. Screaming orders that no one could hear over the roar of the flames and the screams of the dying.
The next volley of grenades hit the deck and the secondary mast.
BOOM!
A massive pillar of fire erupted from the pirate ship. The explosive substances inside the grenades didn't just explode. They scattered and got ignited. Stuck to the wood and the rigging. The black sails of the Dragon Queen caught fire instantly. Turning into towers of flame.
"Reload!" Jack calmly commanded.
The pirates tried to fire back. A few of them scrambled to their cannons. But the Silent Mermaid was too fast. And its crew was now decently precise. Every time a pirate reached for a cannon, a rifle shot from the crew members took them down.
Another volley of grenades hit the Dragon Queen. This time, they targeted the waterline. The explosions were muffled by the sea. But the effect was devastating.
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Huge holes were punched into the hull. The dark frigate began to groan. A sound of dying metal and timber.
"They're trying to launch lifeboats!" Chloe pointed out.
"Sink them!" Jack said coldly. He didn't feel a shred of remorse. These men had spent their lives ruining others. Now, the bill was due.
The steamrune rifles barked again. The ropes holding the lifeboats were severed by precise shots. Dropping the boats unevenly into the water where they capsized. Any pirate who made it into the water was met with a hail of fire.
The Dragon Queen was in even worse chaos. The fire had reached the galley and the rum stores. A massive secondary explosion rocked the ship. Lifting the stern out of the water.
Jack watched through his [Eyes of Judgement].
Khezam Gillbuster was still alive. Clinging to a broken mast. His eyes were wide with a terror that surpassed anything he had ever inflicted on his victims.
He looked at the Silent Mermaid. At the shadowy, illusion-blanketed figures of her crew members standing on the deck. And he seemed to realize that this wasn't a battle. It was an extermination.
"Finish it!" Jack ordered.
The final volley was a coordinated strike. All grenade launchers aimed for the sinister captain. Six grenades hit the target simultaneously.
The resulting explosion of the clashing grenades was blinding. A sphere of white and orange light consumed the center of the Dragon Queen. The ship didn't just sink. It disintegrated. Debris rained down into the ocean for hundreds of yards.
It was unexpected even for Jack, who designed the grenades and the launchers. He didn't expect that six overlaid explosions would be that... devastating. It was definitely much stronger than his predicted six-fold destruction.
The shockwave even hit the Silent Mermaid. But the ship's mystical force-shield absorbed the weakened impact without any problem.
When the smoke cleared, there was nothing left but burning wood floating on the surface. And the sound of hissing steam. The Dragon Queen was gone.
However, the water didn't settle. Instead of the chaotic splashing of sinking debris, a rhythmic pulsing began. A massive shadow moved beneath the surface. Far larger than any shark. It was long, sinuous, and glowing with an unhealthy, oily light.
"Prepare for combat!" Jack barked.
The sea erupted. It wasn't an explosion of fire this time. But a geyser of black brine. Out of the wreckage rose a nightmare.
It had the upper torso of a man, well... if that man were the size of a lighthouse. And covered in grey scales. Its lower half was a massive, serpentine tail. One that whipped through the waves. Tossing aside charred planks of the Dragon Queen like they were toothpicks.
Jack noticed that the face of the creature was a distorted version of Captain Khezam Gillbuster. But its roaring mouth revealed rows of needle-like teeth. And there were four additional eyes had opened on its forehead.
Jack's [Eyes of Judgement] flickered. The system interface hovered in his vision. Contrastive against the night sky.
[Name: Glorious Gillbuster]
[Affiliation: Outer Demon Race]
[Karma: Very Evil]
[Power Level: Very High]
[Species: Glorious Sea Demon]
[Current Status: Perfect Health]
[Specialty: Demonic Power, Lesser Water Control]
[Personality: Destructive]
Jack spat colorful swear words. "Outer Demon Race? Again?"
He remembered Tideless Island. He remembered Count Bellcroft. The transformation was identical. Though this Glorious Gillbuster was much bigger in size than the previous Glorious Bellcroft. Did this Khezam Gillbuster have any connection to the count?
Wait! The Dragon Queen's affiliation was the 'Glorious Pirates'. Were they similar to the 'Order of Glory' that Count Bellcroft belonged to? Was it a plague of divinity gone wrong? Or perhaps, they were worshippers of outer demons? Ones who would be taken over when they died?
'No matter!' Jack snapped back to the current crisis. 'Dealing with the demon was the main concern now.'
"Argust! Hard to starboard! Keep us out of its reach!" He commanded through the internal communication system.
"Understood, Captain!" Argust's voice immediately responded. The Silent Mermaid groaned as it turned forcefully.
Jack glanced at Rune. The small fairy hovered near his shoulder. Her body pulsed with a frantic, deep crimson glow. It was a warning. Things were bad.
"Everyone, fire!" Jack leveled his sniper rifle. "Aim for the weak points! Empty your bullets!"
The ship crew members immediately controlled themselves. Most of them were experienced transcendent combatants.
They aimed their grenade launchers and rifles. Explosive gunfire soon filled the air. Grenade launchers sent arcs of explosives toward the towering naga. Rifles spat explosive bullets at the same target.
The rounds hit. Explosions blossomed against the demon's chest and face. Black blood sprayed into the ocean. Hissing as it touched the salt water.
For a moment, it looked like they were winning. Then, the wounds closed. The flesh knit back together in seconds. The grey scales re-grew even harder than before.
The monster roared. A sound that didn't resemble human's voice at all. It was a vibration that shook the marrow in Jack's bones.
"It's regenerating." Chloe Chase screamed from her position. "Normal projectiles won't be enough!"
The demon lunged. Its massive clawed hand struck the side of the Silent Mermaid. The impact was like a truck hitting a wall.
The mystical force-shield Jack had installed flared to life. A translucent barrier of energy shimmered into existence. It held. But a web of cracks spread across the barrier.
The ship shook heavily. Throwing Autumn, Mirella, and Don across the deck.
"The shield won't take another hit like that." Jack said. He sounded calm. But his mind was racing. He reached into his [Spatial Belt]. Drawing a spellcard...
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