"Sail for Lionheart?"

At first, the crew became slightly panicked.

They all saw what had happened to Lionheart. The man’s ship was falling victim to the purple storm, and it looked like there was no hope for him.

Even the man’s own allies saw this and decided to abandon him.

Then, Stanislava presented herself to the crew. Her skill, Calming Presence, had been activated.

Immediately, everyone became much calmer. What made them feel fearful before no longer had the same effect on them.

They acknowledged the danger, but were able to think about things from the correct perspective.

Dawn, who was currently in the crow’s nest, roared from above.

"You heard the captain... Sail for Lionheart!"

In the next few moments, the Armageddon broke away from the fleet and headed towards Captain Lionheart’s ship with great speed. Soon, they were dragged into the winds behind him, violently being pulled towards the towering wall of water.

They managed to avoid being struck by purple lightning, but that was only because the strikes seemed to be more focused on Lionheart and his crew.

As the Redflowers sailed after Lionheart, they soon watched as the man’s ship was pulled through the wall of water.

Some of the Redflowers suspected that this meant the captain would give orders to stop the chase. They looked over at him expectantly.

When they saw his face was serious and his eyes were set on the wall, they knew that this wasn’t the case.

In other words, there was no change in plans.

The Armageddon sailed through the wall of water, allowing itself to be dragged by the storm through it. They were heading towards one of the routes to the Third Ocean that was certainly not safe.

After a short journey, they emerged from the other side.

Roseus immediately looked ahead and examined the situation in front of him.

What he saw struck him silent.

They were sailing through a stormy sea, with Captain Lionheart close by his side. The man had managed to slow down his ship now that the storm winds were no longer targeting him.

The water was still green, and once again they were surrounded by two giant walls of water on either side of them, which seemed to continue down an endless path.

The water itself crashed violently with waves. Bouncing across these waves were numerous figures. Most of them were humanoid in form, and many of their bodies were attached to one another by chains.

Roseus recognised them as the same Chained creatures that he had battled before, just varying in shape and size. However, these creatures were no longer alive.

As they crashed into the hulls of the two ships, they did not react. They had long since died and now allowed their lifeless bodies to be carried by the currents. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

As for the culprit behind these deaths, it appeared across the waters from them, drifting atop the waves.

It was a ship. A sloop, to be precise.

It would look formidable on the water, if not for the fact that the ship was incorporeal and not made from physical matter. Its entire design was a translucent purple shade that constantly sparked with purple lightning bolts around the vessel. Despite sailing through such treacherous waters, it remained entirely unbothered.

Most importantly, there was a figure standing atop the ship.

It was a naked male with snow-white skin. He wore nothing but garments wrapped around his groin and held a thin, single-edged sword in his hand, pointing it up towards the grey clouds above. His hair was black and flowed behind him like silk, reaching his feet.

Even from across the water, Roseus could sense the immense energy coming off the man. It seemed to strike not only his physical body, but also something deep inside him.

At the same time, he heard a voice ring through his soul.

[It’s him... Susanoo!]

Rai’zac had spoken directly to his priest.

This was the vessel of the sea god preventing Rai’zac from ever spreading his domain into the Third Ocean. This was the vessel of the sea god who had caused this entire storm, dragging Lionheart into this route and leading to Roseus following. This was the vessel of the sea god whose prophet had been slain by Priest Roseus.

And now, he was enraged.

HUM!

Purple light shot up from the point of Susanoo’s blade, travelling into the skies at blinding speed. Once there, it seemed to merge with one of the clouds, turning it purple.

The cloud charged for a moment, swelling up.

Then, it released a bolt.

Crash!

Roseus only saw the great flash of light, which was followed by a powerful vibration throughout the ship.

Once the light faded away, he relaxed his body and looked around.

The ship, or something on the ship, had definitely been struck, yet everything looked unharmed.

He continued looking around.

Then, his eyes landed on the crow’s nest where Dawn was sitting.

The woman had slumped unconscious!

Roseus was immediately alarmed as he realised that the bolt had struck her, the pirate who was at the highest point of the ship and closest to the clouds.

Dawn!

He was about to rush over to her until he heard Rai’zac’s voice in his ear.

[Don’t be foolish, Priest. Use the opening she’s created for you!]

Roseus stopped in his tracks.

"Opening?" he questioned aloud, before glancing back towards Susanoo’s small ship.

He had expected to see the sea god with his sword raised towards the skies again, preparing to unleash another bolt.

Instead, he was leaning on the railing of his ship, visibly hurt.

He’s hurt? Why is he hurt?

...

Wait, it was Dawn!

Roseus immediately put two and two together, figuring out what was going on.

Dawn had used the powers of her worshipped god, Lunarti.

[Reflected Fate]

Force a target to experience a reflection of their own actions. A significant portion of the damage or conditions they inflict on you returns to them.

Just like that, his thoughts on the entire battle had shifted.