The second ship sank.
He turned toward the third.
But the gunners on this vessel had clearly learned something.
They did not fire blindly. They waited until Bullet entered optimal range, then loosed six special shells at once.
The shells burst in midair and unfolded into massive nets.
Six huge fishing nets swept in from different directions, all closing on Bullet. The cords were as thick as a man's wrist, clearly crafted for one purpose: to bring down giant sea beasts.
"We got him!"
The captain on that ship shouted in excitement.
Bullet watched the closing nets, a trace of mockery flickering in his scarlet pupils.
He did not dodge. He let the nets fall over his entire body.
On the surface of his dragon form, Black Scale Armament surged to full power.
Dark gold lines flowed like molten lava beneath his scales, radiating intense heat.
The special nets that could hold a Sea King began to melt and snap the moment they touched the black scales.
High heat and raging energy tore them apart at the root.
Two seconds later, all six nets had crumbled into drifting ash.
Bullet opened his jaws.
This time, he unleashed an air cannon compressed to the absolute limit.
Boom.
The invisible shockwave struck the hull. The entire ship shuddered as if smashed by an unseen giant hammer and blew apart with a deafening crack.
Third ship, shattered.
From the start of the battle until now, not even ten seconds had passed, and three enemy vessels were already out of the fight.
Karl's fleet finally grasped how bad the situation really was.
"Spread out! Open the distance! Do not let it get close!"
Karl roared, fury and panic tangled in his voice.
"Ith! Marleen! Go stop it!"
On the flagship, the scholar Ith pushed his gold rimmed glasses up his nose and snapped his book shut.
His body began to change in a grotesque way.
It was as if countless worms were writhing under his skin. His frame bulged and shrank, expanding one moment and contracting the next.
Bloodblade Marleen drew two of the curved blades at her waist, leaving the other four hanging. She licked her lips, a bloodthirsty gleam flashing in her eyes.
"Finally, I get to stretch a little."
The two leapt from the flagship. A blob of tar-like substance formed under Ith's feet out of thin air, bearing his weight as it carried him forward.
Marleen skimmed lightly across the sea surface, each tap of her toes sending her flying more than ten meters. She had clearly mastered a technique very similar to Moonwalk.
Bullet noticed them closing in.
But he did not turn around. He simply continued his drive toward the fourth enemy ship.
The captain of this vessel was a clever one. He ordered the ship to pull back at full speed while giving the command for all gunners to fire at will, hoping to use a wall of shells to keep the Black Dragon at bay.
Shells burst all around Bullet, shockwaves hammering his body over and over.
He only made slight adjustments to his flight path, batting away pieces of shrapnel that came too close with his wings and tail.
When the distance shrank to a hundred meters, Bullet suddenly accelerated.
This time he was far faster than before, leaving afterimages hanging in the air.
The gunners on the ship did not even have time to react. One moment they were tracking him with their sights. The next, the Black Dragon was already above the prow.
His claws reached down and seized the figurehead.
Then Bullet did something that left everyone staring.
He beat his wings, every muscle in his body tensing, and heaved.
The hundred meter warship tore free of the sea.
He lifted the entire thing.
"No... no way!"
The captain's scream cut off as if strangled.
The ship rose a hundred meters into the air, the hull creaking and groaning under the impossible pressure of those claws. Pirates tumbled across the tilting deck like ants, sliding off and plunging into the sea below.
Bullet opened his claws.
The warship fell, keel up, and slammed into the ocean.
The impact force blew the hull apart in an instant. Planks and shattered beams fanned out in every direction.
Fourth ship, sunk.
Only after all this did Bullet turn.
He looked toward Ith and Marleen, who had closed to within three hundred meters.
He hovered in the air, wings beating slowly, his scarlet vertical pupils locked onto the pair of them.
...
On the Oro Jackson, everything had gone silent.
The crew stared at the dragon that had crushed four enemy vessels alone, at the way he hovered in the sky over their foes, at the golden edge the morning light painted on his black scales.
No one spoke.
Roger stood at the bow with his arms folded, the corners of his mouth split in a wide grin beneath his mustache.
There was no surprise in his eyes, only that "so it really is like this" understanding, and a deep, wordless satisfaction.
"Do you see it, Rayleigh?" Roger said softly, his voice barely reaching the first mate beside him.
Rayleigh was silent for a moment, then nodded.
"He is climbing toward the summit at a speed we cannot even imagine."
"And..."
Roger's smile grew more complex.
"He is starting to learn why he wants to climb."
...
Out on the water, Bullet faced two of the Four Heavenly Kings alone.
Nineteen enemy ships still ringed the area, but their guns had fallen quiet.
The gunners were so shaken by what they had just seen that they had forgotten to fire.
Karl was raging on the flagship, stomping and roaring, but the ascetic Arohan still stood with eyes closed, as if none of this had anything to do with him.
Bullet felt the torrent of energy surging through his body, the solid weight of Black Scale Armament, the strengthening that came from devouring four warships.
Bullet let out a low roar, heavy and restrained.
The battle was only beginning, and he would leave nothing behind.
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