In the command room of Iris's ketch, silence reigned as the crew replayed the footage. A caravel swallowed whole by a colossal megalodon, gone in a single, horrifying bite.
The helmsmen stared at the screen as though the sea itself had turned traitor.
"What… What is that?!" one of them whispered.
"You never said anything about a monster like that being part of your organization." Iris's eyes narrowed, then snapped toward Cooper. Fury burned in her gaze.
Cooper, pale and wide-eyed, shook his head. "I don't even know who she is! I have the records of every member under us, she's not on the list!"
"So what then? Did Dr. Moriarty conjure her out of thin air?" Iris's lip curled. She didn't wait for an answer. Her cape snapped as she turned sharply for the door. "Enough. I'll deal with her myself. Relay my orders, the orcs are to erect a barrier around the ship. If there's so much as a scratch on this ketch, I'll skin them alive."
The command crew shrank under her words, rushing to comply.
Side by side, Iris and Cooper emerged onto the upper deck. The sea breeze struck them, heavy with smoke and the iron stench of blood.
Their eyes rose skyward.
Above the shattered remains of the caravel, where corpses still bobbed in crimson foam, stood a lone figure suspended in the air. Her cape rippled in the wind, raven-black eyes glimmering like pits of the void.
"Have you come to surrender?" Illya asked, voice calm, almost gentle. Yet it carried across the sea like a decree, daring them to defy her.
"Who are you?" Cooper asked bluntly, his voice steadier than his expression. "How can we negotiate without even knowing who stands before us?"
"That is of no concern in this negotiation," Illya replied, her tone even, cutting through the air like a blade. "However, if you must know—I am Illya, first daughter of Dr. Moriarty. The man you betrayed."
"What…?" The color drained from Cooper's face. His eyes swam with disbelief, his thoughts scrambling to piece together what he'd just heard.
BOOM!
A massive sphere of fire erupted against Illya, engulfing her in a roaring explosion. Smoke boiled outward, blotting her form from view.
"Negotiations were over the moment you killed my crew!" Iris's voice rang out as she hurled herself into the smoke, her fist blazing with molten heat, the air around her warping with the force of her charge.
But before her blow could land—
"It seems you've mistaken something…"
The voice came not from ahead, but behind. Iris froze mid-flight, her body abruptly bound by crystalline chains of diamond that lashed out from Cooper's hands.
The man stood rooted on the deck below, his eyes glowing faintly with a green shimmer.
"I never said I would fight her," Cooper said coldly. "And if her words are true… If she really is the daughter of the young master—then I would strongly advise you to stay out of this."
For a moment silence lingered. Then—
"…So you are a traitor as well," Iris hissed. Her voice trembled with fury, and the heat pouring from her body intensified, scorching the air itself.
The diamond chains shuddered, then began to liquefy, dripping molten shards as her fiery aura threatened to consume everything around her.
"Moon," Cooper called, his voice steady.
A broad diamond shield bloomed before him, refracting the scorching waves of heat rolling off Iris. The surface cracked and hissed under the strain, but it held.
"Rex."
Another command, and a flaming bat materialized from thin air. Its wings beat furiously as it soared over the surrounding caravels, spewing globes of fire down upon their rocket launchers.
Explosions burst across the decks—sharp, violent thunderclaps that scattered pirates in all directions. Men were flung across the planks, screaming, but the blasts crippled weapons more than flesh.
Their armaments lay in smoldering ruin, while most of the crew remained battered but alive.
"Don't make this worse," Cooper pressed, his voice cutting through the chaos. "Listen to me. If you harm his daughter, you'll never get what you want. This can still end without blood. Leave now while you still can."
But the heat only grew worse. Iris's fury had no intention of cooling.
"Pick a bloody side, you moron!" Iris screamed, her voice cracking with fury as a miniature sun began to swell above her right hand.
Its searing light bathed the deck in gold, forcing even the hardened pirates to shield their eyes.
But before she could hurl it, a crushing impact slammed into her back. She gasped, flung helplessly forward—then the world went cold. The sea swallowed her whole.
Bubbles streamed around her as Iris twisted in the dark water, her eyes blazing with fury.
Something immense pinned her down—a monstrous armadillo-shaped beast, its plated body pressing with relentless force, dragging her deeper and deeper into the abyss.
She thrashed, struggling to break free, but its weight was suffocating.
"I gave you a chance," Illya's voice carried, calm yet merciless, as her nanobot form knitted itself back into her humanoid shape above the waves. "Don't blame me for using the hard way."
Below, steam hissed violently from Iris's lips as she exhaled pure heat. The water around her boiled and warped, bubbles bursting like gunfire.
With a furious scream, she thrust out her palm, unleashing a concentrated beam of fire that tore through the sea, surging straight toward Illya.
The beam tore through the water like a lance of molten fury—too fast for Illya to dodge. If it struck her, the damage to her nanobots would be catastrophic, crippling her for far longer than she could afford.
Defense, too, was out of the question; the fire's intensity would burn through any barrier she could form.
"I suppose this is why Father warned me not to talk during battle," Illya muttered under her breath, her tone sharp with self-reproach.
Her right arm split apart, shifting and reforming into a sleek cannon. At the very last instant, it ignited—firing a concentrated beam of raw mana that met Iris's fire head-on.
The collision was thunderous. Water churned violently, exploding into columns of steam as the two beams clashed. The force pressed Illya back, her body trembling under the strain, before she caught herself and steadied her stance.
It was a gamble. She had never tested this energy cannon before, not in combat or under pressure. Using it here, in the heart of a battle, was reckless at best. But cornered with no other options, Illya had chosen risk over ruin.
The pirates had barely clambered back onto their caravels when the sea lit up.
A blinding flash consumed the horizon, followed by a thunderous explosion that tossed ships like toys. Masts snapped, sails tore, and pirates screamed as they were hurled across the decks.
"Axel!" Cooper's voice cut through the chaos.
From the air above the fleet, an enormous ape-like hand of pure white ice materialized, its fingers curling with crushing strength.
With its arrival came a hailstorm that pelted down in sheets, freezing spray striking the sea.
The sudden cold pressed against the suffocating heat rising from beneath the water, forming a fragile shield against Iris's burning wrath.
But even the storm faltered. The heat was monstrous, relentless, it warped the air and hissed through the ice, causing the wooden hulls of caravels to creak and drip as tar and planks began to soften, threatening to give way.
"Rex, Moon... Withdraw!" Cooper ordered sharply. His green-glinting eyes narrowed as another portal tore open beside him. "Axel, manifest twenty-five percent!"
From the rift, a second ape-like arm of ice forced its way into the world, shattering the air with a booming crack. The storm redoubled its fury, hailstones swelling to the size of fists, winds shrieking as they churned across the sea.
For the first time, the inferno's dominance wavered. The waters roared as boiling currents met sudden frost, a battlefield of extremes almost canceling each other out.
"What the hell are those orcs doing?" Cooper grunted, sweat beading down his temple as the green glint in his eyes flickered. His reserves of mana were dwindling fast.
Then—
BOOM!
Another eruption tore through the ocean, waves thrashing as a blazing figure shot upward, rising from the sea like a newborn sun. Iris, her body wreathed in fire, glowing brighter than ever, ascended into the sky, a burning goddess against the storm.
The waters below split as a colossal megalodon burst free, its monstrous jaws yawning wide as it lunged for her silhouette in the air.
But before the beast could clamp its teeth shut, one of Axel's massive ice-forged fists came crashing down. The impact thundered through the battlefield, the megalodon's massive body slammed aside like driftwood, sent hurtling back into the sea.
SPLASH!
A wall of water surged high into the air before collapsing in violent waves.
"Why are you still flying there like an idiot?!" Cooper roared, his voice cracking with frustration. "Get back to the ship, we need to move!"
Gritting her teeth, Iris swooped back down, her fiery glow dimming as exhaustion showed on her face. One of her shoulders was charred black, flesh still smoking from Illya's earlier assault.
"What the hell are you even trying to do, Cooper?" Landing hard on the deck, she spat.
The ships turned, creaking as the helmsmen frantically steered them away from the lurking megalodon.
Cooper exhaled, his voice lower now, steadier. "I have a promise to fulfill. One that has nothing to do with the young master. Until it's done, I can't let any of you die."
"Don't worry, you'll get what you want. I'm a man of my word. But hear me, Iris, do not harm the young master… or anyone tied to him. I won't warn you again." His emerald-lit eyes met hers, unwavering.
A long silence followed, broken only by the creak of wood and the hiss of seawater dripping from the scorched deck.
Finally, Iris let out a sharp breath, her molten glare dimming into reluctant curiosity.
"You're a strange man, Cooper…" she muttered, following him back into the ketch.