Their footsteps echoed quickly down the halls of the Belfast.
Yuuto walked in front.
"Belfast, report."
Belfast walked half a step behind him, her expression calm.
"Damage: none."
Her voice steady and professional.
Yamato followed from behind.
"Who attacked us? Marines or pirates?"
"From the flag and hull design, most likely pirates," Belfast replied.
Kuroneko bit her lip, anxious.
Miku looked tense but tried to keep pace.
Lady Avalon followed them at the rear.
Yuuto kept walking without slowing.
"What type of ship?"
"Brigantine," Belfast answered.
They reached the upper deck.
The night sea wind hit their faces. In the distance, the silhouette of a brigantine sailed—black and ragged—cutting across Belfast's course.
BOOM—!!
BOOM—!!
BOOM—!!
Three cannons fired at once. Sparks flew across the enemy ship's deck.
But before the shots reached Belfast—
Fwuoosh—
Yuuto's wind caught all three, diverted their trajectories into the sky and
BRAASH—!!
They fell into the sea.
Miku and Kuroneko froze.
Yuuto exhaled.
"This was the plan."
Everyone turned to him at once. Yuuto pointed at them one by one.
"We're boarding them directly."
"Kuroneko, Miku, and Sensei—stay on the ship."
Kuroneko immediately protested,
"W-why?! We can just fire from here with Belfast's cannons!!"
Lady Avalon patted her shoulder lightly, calming her.
"We need their intel and supplies," Lady Avalon said with a thin smile.
"Sinking the ship too fast gives us nothing. Besides, pirate ships like that are probably valuable."
Yuuto nodded in agreement.
Then he looked at Yamato.
"Yamato and I will board their ship. Belfast—do not fire any cannons. We need their ship intact."
Belfast bowed elegantly.
"Yes, Sir."
Yamato rolled his shoulders, ready to fight.
"All right. Hold on, Yuuto."
Yuuto grabbed Yamato's hand.
Kuroneko panicked.
"Wait, you two are just going to—"
Yamato activated his teleportation.
"I'll leave the ship's protection to you," Yuuto said.
Whoos—
Yuuto and Yamato vanished in a flash of blue light.
They were gone from Belfast's deck.
The night wind fell quiet again.
Kuroneko hugged herself.
"Uuuhh… this is really starting, huh…"
Miku clenched her fists, praying for their safety.
Lady Avalon only smiled, as if waiting for an interesting show.
Belfast stood tall like a silver guardian, her eyes fixed on the brigantine.
---
Chaos reigned aboard the pirate ship.
"Keep firing!" the pirate captain shouted, pounding the rail in anger.
"Captain, the cannon shots are missing again!" a crewman yelled, bracing from return fire.
"Yeah I know, you idiot! Am I blind?!" the captain roared, spitting on the deck.
"Damn… why do we keep missing?!"
He glared toward the larger ship that hadn't moved far.
"At first I thought it was a reef… but it's a ship, a ship without sails," he muttered, growing angrier.
"Keep firing! Shoot on my command!"
Before the next order could be given—
Whoos—
Two figures appeared in the middle of the deck, as if they had materialized from the air itself.
"Captain!! Enemies have boarded!!!" a crewman screamed.
The captain turned quickly—his eyes widened in shock.
In the center—
Yamato, standing firm with her massive kanabo, and Yuuto, wearing Arthur's armor with a black sword at his waist, gold hair whipped by the sea wind.
They stood back to back, calm, not a hint of nervousness.
The crew fell back in unison.
"W-who are you?! How did you get on board?!" the captain bellowed.
Yuuto stepped forward a little, his tone cold. "Enough. No small talk. Who's your captain?"
Yamato squinted for a moment.
"Maybe him, Yuuto… from how he speaks."
Yuuto stared at the man without blinking.
"Are you the captain of this ship?"
"Yes! Why?! Don't mess with the Night Pirates! We already slaughtered many—"
BOOM!!
In an instant, Yuuto was right in front of him. The pommel of the Gravity Blade struck the captain's solar plexus.
The captain lifted slightly before collapsing, unconscious.
"Ca-captaain!!!" the crew screamed in panic.
Yuuto stood upright again, looking at the remaining crew with cold eyes.
"Yamato, handle the stern crew. I'll take the bow. Don't damage the ship."
"All right, Captain!" Yamato replied.
Yuuto's eyebrows flicked at the word.
"I'll open—"
Whoosh—!!
Yamato vanished from his spot, moving so fast only a gust remained.
BOOM!!
A section of the ship sounded like it had been smashed.
Yuuto closed his eyes for a moment.
"…hope he didn't damage it too much."
He opened his eyes.
About twenty crewmen now surrounded him in a circle.
Yuuto loosened his fingers, touching his sword.
'This… is my first battle.'
A crewman pointed and shouted at Yuuto,
"What the hell are you?! Attacking us for no reason!?"
Yuuto slowly drew the black sword.
"Reason? You disturbed my fun time. That's why I'm going to butcher you now."
"Don't act tough, kid! Even if your friend is strong, you lot—"
The sentence was cut off.
Yuuto kicked the deck and leapt so fast only wind remained.
His blade came down from above like a dark lightning strike.
The crewman tried to defend—
KRAK!!
The sword snapped him in half. His body sliced obliquely from shoulder to hip.
Blood sprayed onto the deck.
Yuuto flicked his sword.
The blood fell like drops of black ink.
He lifted his face, looking at the remaining crew with utterly merciless eyes.
"Next."
That single word made the whole crew tremble in unison.
The nineteen of them froze, staring at their comrade's split body.
Their faces drained.
"D-don't be afraid!!" one crewman—either the bravest or the most panicked—shouted.
"WE OVERWHELM HIM WITH NUMBERS!!"
"AAAAAA!!"
All the remaining crew charged at Yuuto together, swinging crude swords and spears.
Yuuto didn't move. He just exhaled softly.
As the nineteen weapons came down—
CLANG—!!
Yuuto crouched slightly, raised the Gravity Blade above his head, and stopped the entire attack at once.
Sparks flew.
The pressure of nineteen people pressed from every direction… yet the black sword didn't budge.
Yuuto looked up.
"Is that all?"
His voice flat.
The crew watched in shock as their attack stalled entirely.
Yuuto drew a breath.
Then—
WHAAAM!!
He swept the blade across, using the back of the sword.
A shockwave of air slammed into the crew.
The nineteen were flung like ragdolls, crashing into the ship's walls, masts, and railings with force.
Yuuto leapt forward before they could get up—smacking the backs of his sword into stomachs, chests, shoulders, and legs one by one.
DUP! THUD! BANG! BAM!
At last the nineteen lay unconscious. Some had broken arms, others didn't move at all.
Yuuto stood among them. Blood dripped from his blade. His breathing was heavy, ragged.
His hands trembled slightly.
A little while later…
BAM!
Yamato reappeared on the forward deck, carrying her great club on her shoulder.
"Yuuto! I'm done. How—"
Yamato fell silent.
She saw Yuuto just standing there.
Yuuto panted; his armor stained with blood, Gravity Blade dripping crimson. His eyes looked empty.
"Hey… are you okay?" Yamato's voice lowered, worried.
Yuuto turned slowly.
"Oh, Yamato… perfect timing." He forced a smile.
"These… nineteen crew I knocked out. I accidentally cut off a few arms."
Yamato didn't smile. She stepped closer and lowered her club.
"Yuuto. That's not what I asked. I asked… are YOU okay?"
Yuuto stopped. His fake smile faded.
He looked at his hands—they were shaking.
"Oh… you mean me." Yuuto forced another smile. "I'm fine."
"Yuuto."
Yamato gripped his shoulders, looking into his eyes up close.
"Be honest. Are you really okay?"
Silence. The sea wind blew.
Yuuto finally spoke, his voice trembling.
"Sorry… I thought this would be easy. It turned out to be pretty hard."
He bowed his head.
"I planned on wiping them all out but… just killing one person already made me like this."
"This is the first time I killed a human… I… I'll have difficulty getting used to this…"
His voice broke.
Yamato watched him a long time, then exhaled.
"Yuuto… everyone has their 'first time'. You just experienced yours in this fight."
Yamato patted his shoulder gently.
"You don't have to get used to it. Don't force yourself into being a killing machine. Just… adapt."
There was a pause. Yamato looked at him more gently.
"As for killing… it's not something easy to accept, especially for someone like you."
Yuuto closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Thank you, Yamato."