"And don't call me Dark Lord, this is not the right time to take my mantle. Just call me Lord Lucifer" hovering in the mid-air, Michael ordered Maxine.
"Yes, Lord Lucifer '' he didn't fly directly to the Silent Reaper but stared at the shivering pirates on the deck. Packard's legs kept trembling, all of his senses were overwhelmed by pure fear.
"Are they loyal to you or Corey?"
"I give you my word Lord Lucifer, they are loyal to me, no one else" without a second thought, Maxine vouched for the pirates.
"Except him I presume" he glanced at Packard. As expected, Maxine nodded because Packard was not a pirate serving her but another pirate captain who served Corey.
"Kill him"
"As you wish, Lord Lucifer"
"No...no….Don't kill me...Don't"
Maxine's gaze sent a chill running through Packard's spine. He started to shiver frantically while walking backward. He kept walking until he tripped on a piece of wood.
"You should be proud to give your life to Lord Lucifer Packard. Accept your death with dignity"
The pirates surrounded Packard, restricting him from retreating any further.
Michael calmly watched the scene without interfering. He wanted to compare Maxine with the native citizens of the Southern Continent.
"Look, something's going over there"
"Who is that fatty?"
"Shhh, do you want the captain to get more pissed off at us?"
"Why isn't the captain making any moves? And where is the Dark Queen?"
Michael's crew began to chit-chat looking down at Maxine's ship. They were afraid of Michael noticing them as they still haven't cleaned the ship yet. Still, they couldn't stop themselves from watching the entertainment.
"I hope you shitheads are sightseeing after cleaning the ship spotless" the Silent Reaper crew felt a chill when they suddenly heard Dark Queen's voice coming from behind. They slowly turned back to see her floating in the air above the captain's cabin.
"Heya worms, how's it going?" Shorty came out of the captain's cabin with a bucket in his hand. He had no idea Gaya was floating above his head,
"I have a great idea, we should keep the door open, submerge into the sea and emerge again. Tada! captain's cabin cleaned" Shorty laughed. The other pirates rolled their eyeballs up to signal Shorty yet their efforts were in vain.
"Great fucking idea, remind me to drown you next time to make you stink less"
"What the?" Shorty's eyes went wide as he slowly turned back to see her floating in the air.
"Hee" he let out an embarrassed smile.
"NOOOOOOO!"
Boom!
Suddenly a screaming noise reverberated in the area followed by a loud booming sound. Gaya moved forward while the pirates turned back again.
"What happened here?" the white head asked, looking at the broken poles as well as the broken wooden pieces lying on the ship's deck before them. Along with the destroyed objects, they noticed a headless body lying in a pool of blood.
"Who is she?' Gaya saw a chubby woman standing in front of the headless body, wiping the blood off of her fist with her shirt. Maxine's pirates were too focused on Packard's body as they almost failed to notice Gaya floating beside Michael.
"A descendent of the order"
Gaya was genuinely surprised after hearing Michael's words. She scanned the plump woman from top to bottom,
"Did she have anything to prove herself?"
Instead of explaining, he showed Gaya the medallion. With a single glance at the coin, she recognized the symbol.
"Trust me, she's loyal"
"Why did she kill him?" the silver head looked at the headless body with pity in its eyes. The other two heads however remained indifferent.
"Because you should always kill your enemies, no mercy"
After killing Packard with a single punch, she turned back to see another figure in black armor floating in the sky. She could tell the person is a female but unlike Lucifer, Maxine was unable to see her face as she wore a mask. Regardless of the mask, Maxine could feel the woman's gaze on her. Maxine's instincts told her that this person is just as powerful and dangerous as Lord Lucifer himself.
Her father and his ancestors only told her about the Dark Lord but not a single word about this woman.
"Tell your people to come to Gisel kingdom, we'll go there in my ship"
Considering the damage Maxine's ship took from the initial battle between her and Michael, he knew they can't keep up with the Silent Reaper or the other two ships. Therefore, he ordered Maxine to get aboard his ship.
"You heard Lord Lucifer, fix the ship and move your asses to Gisel"
"Yes...yes captain!"
The next moment, Gaya flicked her wrist as Maxine felt her body become lighter. She was taken aback by surprise looking at her feet moving up from the ground.
"I'm flying," she mumbled. In a few seconds, she reached high enough in the air where the pirates looked smaller. When she landed on Michael's ship, Maxine saw the crew gawking at her curiously, especially a short guy with a bucket.
"Captain, we just need a couple of more hours to clean your cabin" Gibson came to his side drenched in water and soapy bubbles. His white shirt turned brown thanks to the mess he cleaned in lower decks.
"Lord Lucifer, is this THE Silent Reaper? the cursed ship?"
"Yes and not cursed anymore" yet again the Dark Lord made her heart skip a beat. The Silent Reaper was a legend known only for a few people. They all thought the curse was unbreakable yet here she was standing on the Silent Reaper with the Dark Lord. Her devotion towards the Dark Lord reached a new peak. She only wished her father was here to meet the Dark Lord.
While they were on the deck, Michael saw Heinberg stepping out of the lower deck. He made his way towards Michael.
"Good, you're here. Follow me"
Gaya, Heinberg, and Maxine followed him behind into the captain's cabin while Shorty preyed that the captain doesn't get mad at him for doing a half-assed job of cleaning the cabin.
When Michael entered the cabin, it wasn't as stinky as before and the cabin looked somewhat cleaner. Ignoring the room's hygiene for a moment, Michael walked towards the oak table in the center.
"Heinberg tell me about Gisel"
************************************
According to Heinberg, the kingdom of Gisel was a huge country with a population of almost 25,000 including races other than humans. Bordered between a marsh to the North, a wild sea to the South, a mountain range to the East, and a marsh to the West, the kingdom of Gisel was mainly living off wood-crafting, weaponsmithing, and wine brewing.
Gisel itself was mainly covered in mountains and has a warm climate, which has led to a freely spread population, despite the number of people, which meant most of them lived in small villages and islands.
The Kingdom's landscape was delicate; green, open fields, sapphire lakes, and mellow rivers were just a sliver of the magnificence Gisel has to offer, which was why the country is cherished among foreigners.
Heinberg told them that the citizens of Gisel, mainly the nobles, were selfish towards foreigners and tended to welcome them with irritation. Apparently, they were thinking foreigners could inhibit the country's well being.
Gisel had moderate laws and law enforcement, which was fairly normal. The people were troubled due to the undead island and they had been asking the senate to do something permanent.
Gisel's army contained 3,000 soldiers including cavalry armed with bombs, shields, and swords. The infantry was also armed with various types of bombs such as smoke bombs, flash bombs. Other than the cavalry and infantry, Heinberg mentioned that the kingdom has two elite units, archers and spartans. The archers were equipped with various types of arrows as well as different types of bows for different types of situations. This piqued Gaya's curiosity. She wanted to see what kind of bow they were using.
The spartans on the other hand were highly trained killing machines, according to Heinberg. The kingdom only had 250 spartans and they would only enter the battlefield as the last resort.
The ranks were also filled with many other regiments, including allied soldiers, as well as slave soldiers, including various charging units, units of war animals, several defensive units, and many medical units.
"What about the naval army? How many warships do they have?"
"10 warships"
"Only ten?" Michael was confused.
"Lord Lucifer, this is because of the agreement between the senates and the pirate lords" seeing Michael's confused look, Maxine explained,
"The agreement is a short one, to be honest. If a kingdom built more than ten warships, the pirate lords view it as a sign of provocation and sent their fleet to plunder their cities until the kingdom submits"
"So you're saying the pirate lords can take over any kingdom with its naval power?" Gaya asked,
"No, unless a kingdom gives a reason such as building more than ten warships, the pirate lords don't interfere with a kingdom's business. That's why the kingdoms in the Southern continent leave the pirates alone so they will do the same in return. The merchant ships and some poor bastards are just fish food to keep the shark away from their borders. Besides, some kingdoms have armies powerful enough to take on a pirate lord.No one likes war so there wasn't one in many decades"
They all agreed with Maxine although Michael could tell the peace between the kingdoms and the pirates was a delicate one.
"There will be one soon," Gaya shrugged, playing with the hydra in her hand.