In just a dozen seconds.
The wind speed increased dramatically. The gale was like a roaring beast, sweeping across the sea surface with astonishing power, whipping up layer upon layer of massive waves. They pounced on the ship one after another, slamming into the hull and making deafening sounds.
Lightning flashed frequently within the dark clouds. Every flash illuminated this sea area ruled by wind and rain, followed by a thunderous boom echoing across the entire ocean.
In such an environment, even Blackbeard, driving his Noble Phantasm ship, had to furl the sails to prevent being beaten into the sea by the waves.
But Drake did the opposite.
"Lads! Hoist the sails for me, prepare to run!"
Amidst the lightning, thunder, wind, and rain, Drake grinned and shouted to her crew members, completely ignoring the rainwater flowing into her mouth.
"Oh——!"
The group of pirates laughed loudly just like Drake, as if mocking the mighty force of nature.
"Truly a bunch of lunatics..."
Mary muttered a complaint silently, then decisively jumped off the Golden Wild Hunt, landing on Blackbeard's ship.
This was already the second time.
Under this kind of storm, instead of furling the sails, they unfurled them. Mary still couldn't figure out how these guys' brains were wired.
Wouldn't the ship capsize doing this?
It's not impossible for the whole ship to disintegrate.
Under the pincer attack of gales and huge waves, the Golden Wild Hunt sometimes drifted on the sea surface, sometimes soared into the air, like a hell-level roller coaster. The ordinary pirates on the ship could basically only clutch tightly onto anything secure to prevent being thrown off.
The entire ship constantly groaned, sounding as if it could no longer support itself. Especially the sails catching the gale and the masts securing them—they were creaking loudly. One ballooned out like a sphere, while the other bent in the direction of the wind, looking as if it would snap the next second.
In this environment, the clumsy Berserker Eric, who hadn't figured out the situation, was the first to lose his footing.
With terrified eyes, he fell into the water.
Hector, seeing his side had all fled, also lost the will to fight.
"Will you go down yourself, or should I give you a ride?"
Takumi tried hard to maintain his balance, looking coldly at Hector.
"Ah haha, no need to trouble you; I'll go down right now."
Standing on the side of the ship, Hector, whose situation wasn't much better, laughed awkwardly.
Even he could hardly maintain combat effectiveness in this environment. Rather than continue to tangle, it was better to quit while ahead.
Moreover...
This ship actually shows signs of flying, right? It definitely does!!
Not wanting to experience flying in this way, Hector didn't hesitate. Pushing off with both feet, he leaped down from the ship.
Seeing all enemies had left, Drake also breathed a sigh of relief.
She was actually quite afraid someone would continue to fight recklessly regardless of their life.
But after relaxing, the anger of being suppressed for so long surfaced.
"Hey~! Just you wait, damn beard! Next time we meet, I will definitely twist your head off and hang it at the very front of the Golden Wild Hunt!!"
Drake cupped her left hand like a trumpet, shouting loudly at Blackbeard below.
Although it was unclear if the opponent could hear under this storm, the task of talking trash was solidly completed.
"Bo-Boss! Our ship is flying again!!"
A pirate felt the weightlessness and immediately shouted in panic.
"Don't shout! It's not like our ship hasn't flown before!"
Drake was still grinning and laughing excitedly.
"No, Boss! If this goes on, our ship might disintegrate in mid-air!"
Another pirate looked at the creaking hull with fear and trembling, shivering all over.
"Ah? But even if you say that, this storm isn't under my control anymore!"
Drake's expression froze.
She just wanted a storm that could allow a quick getaway, and preferably fly once more. Who knew this cup could summon a storm of this level?
Actually, it wasn't just the storm's problem now, but the result of multiple factors combined.
First, the enhancement of Runes was time-limited. Especially since Takumi activated group buffs through the Runes spread all over the ship, it shortened the Runes' duration even more.
So the current Golden Wild Hunt probably only had the faint enhancement of the Holy Grail left.
Second, the battle just now took place on the Golden Wild Hunt. A bunch of Servants fought on the ship; the fact that they didn't directly wreck the ship was already a testament to its quality.
Under the weight of multiple debuffs, the current Golden Wild Hunt was estimated to be not much stronger than a normal ship of the same size.
Seeing the Golden Wild Hunt slowly leaving the sea surface under the gale, soaring precariously towards the sky.
With this appearance, if nothing was done, it would likely disintegrate in a dozen seconds.
Just then.
A layer of faint golden light suddenly covered the entire ship, quieting the creaking vessel.
Seeing this familiar light, the group of pirates coincidentally looked in Takumi's direction.
They saw him planting the flag on the deck, leaning on the flag with one hand, and hugging the mast tightly with the other.
The Holy Flag in his hand emitted golden light, flying freely like a swimming fish in the storm, shining brightly.
Takumi, having disengaged from the battle with Hector, ignored the fatigue of his body and brain after only catching his breath slightly. He activated his Noble Phantasm again to include the entire ship under its protection.
"Mimi..."
The group of pirates looked tearfully at Takumi, who was still doing all the heavy lifting.
'Even if you look at me like this, I won't be relaxed supporting this defense...'
Takumi felt the magical energy draining from his body, keeping a straight face.
Although he had skills to recover magical energy at any time, the recovered amount compared to the consumption was simply a drop in the bucket.
Moreover, he had fought Hector for so long before; his remaining magical energy wasn't much to begin with.
Plus, using a Noble Phantasm didn't just consume magical energy but also mental strength. Takumi, who had used [Escapist] and his Noble Phantasm an unknown number of times in one battle, could be said to be putting his life on the line again.
"This damn old hag actually used this method to escape again... Simply too foul!!"
Watching the warship that had flown into the sky, Blackbeard bit his handkerchief, his face green with envy.
If he wanted to make his ship fly, he really might not be able to. The ship's structural integrity was definitely enough, but his ship was much larger than Drake's.
If the sails were hoisted, not only would flying be difficult, but the force the masts bore would increase geometrically.
Although it might not disintegrate in mid-air, whether the masts could hold up was hard to say.
Blackbeard suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
"Teacher! Our Teacher! By the way, your Noble Phantasm should be able to shoot down their ship, right?"
Blackbeard looked at Hector with shining eyes.
Hector, who had just swum up from the sea with difficulty and was wringing water from his clothes, paused his movements.
Then he hugged his spear tightly, unable to help complaining:
"Captain, are you sober?"
"My Noble Phantasm can indeed hit them, but it is a throwing-type Noble Phantasm. Are you sure I can retrieve the Noble Phantasm after throwing it?"
Saying this, Hector pointed to the waves outside that occasionally rolled up several meters high.
"Ah haha, just kidding, just kidding..."
Being stared at by Hector with a look reserved for fools, Blackbeard realized how stupid his idea was.
But then again!
"—Teacher, do you really not intend to reconsider?"
Blackbeard rubbed his hands, looking at Hector expectantly.
"No way, even using honorifics won't work~."
Hector retracted his Noble Phantasm, retorting with a fake smile using Blackbeard's tone.
It could be seen that this great hero of Troy was also a master of sarcasm.
...
"We, we seem to be fl—ying high—er and high—er—!"
Under the gale pouring into their mouths, the pirates' words were broken and intermittent.
"And—this time is much high—er than last time—!"
The wind whistled in their ears; only pirates close to each other could hear each other clearly.
However, in this situation, basically no one spoke. Everyone hugged everything around them tightly, afraid of being thrown off the ship.
Also because the wind was strong and the altitude was too high, most people closed their eyes, praying silently in their hearts.
Hearts pounded wildly, and weightlessness eroded their whole bodies.
Between trembling with closed eyes and the chaotic storm environment, time seemed to stretch out endlessly.
Almost no one knew how long passed.
Finally.
When the pirates' consciousness was about to blur, the Golden Wild Hunt broke through the area where the storm was located and returned to the sunlight.
Everyone could open their eyes.
Like a roller coaster reaching the highest point of the track, the Golden Wild Hunt, losing the thrust of the storm, traced a not-so-graceful arc in the air, then fell straight down.
"Wah ah ah ah, we are going to fall down—!"
The pirates looked down and screamed immediately.
Coincidentally, the landing point of the Golden Wild Hunt was exactly an island.
Falling down like this, the Golden Wild Hunt would probably end up as a total wreckage with everyone dead.
At that time, it would be hard to say if they could even find the body parts!
Feeling like he was about to die from exhaustion, Takumi looked at the approaching island, his eyes dead.
'Actually increasing the difficulty for me...'
No choice, have to use this—
"Command Spell!"
With a thought, the Command Spell split into two parts. One part enhanced the Noble Phantasm, increasing its power.
The other part added some reserves to Takumi's almost dry magical energy.
Then...
[The Unwavering Heart]!
The Holy Flag instantly shone brightly. The Noble Phantasm unfolded fully, the light blooming far heavier than before.
Moreover, this time it not only covered the entire Golden Wild Hunt but also wrapped everyone on the ship within it.
Seconds later.
BOOM——!!
Under a patch of golden light, the Golden Wild Hunt "landed safely."