At the far end of the Sea King’s territory.
The sun was rising, casting a golden glow over the vast ocean.
An armada of ships sailed towards the horizon, their sails billowing in the gentle breeze.
There were hundreds of ships boarded by pirates wearing blue-colored outfits with wave patterns embroidered on their sleeves and backs.
It was the fleet of the Sea King!
They weren’t located on Sea King Island because they often guarded the rest of the territory while occasionally visiting other territories if there was any need.
Because of the big auction, Sea King expected there to be many rival pirate crews planning to use the auction as a distraction to secretly enter the territory.
It indeed happened, and it was completely overlooked by the armada, which was a great humiliation to them.
“Clean, you filthy maggots!” A stern-voiced man shouted towards the choreboys, who tried to scrub the deck clean.
The atmosphere was filled with shouts and curses as the choreboys worked tirelessly to remove the grime and dirt. They were the newest members of Sea King’s fleet and had to start all the way from the bottom.
“Faster!” The general of the fleet shouted from the deck. “The captain has called on us ASAP. We already let him down by not noticing the Death King sneaking into the territory.
“Hurry up, or I’ll start using the whip! The time is the essence! Hurry the fuck up!”
…
In the destroyed Haventown.
The Black Heart members backed away from the steaming Mars, whose skin was red and burned. Their hearts beated in nervousness as unease lingered in the air.
Something horrible was about to happen. They all knew it.
“Haaaa…” Mars let out a steamy breath and slowly rose back to his feet. All the accumulated wounds on his body closed down, and he stood tall and strong once again.
It was as if the whole night of fighting didn’t mean anything as he completely healed again.
However, his missing hand didn’t return. Even his regenaration seemed to have its limits.
“Raaaaaah!” Zero, without hesitation, screamed like a possessed demon and lunged at Mars. It was as if the whole ordeal didn’t mean anything to him.
“Zero, don’t!” Ambrose screamed, but his words landed on deaf ears.
“I am…” Mars clenched his hand into a fist.
As Zero neared him, he reeled in his fist and threw a very wide punch that looked like it would be easy to dodge.
“Sun!” Mars screamed and punched Zero across his body. His punch created a massive explosion that sent Zero flying backward.
Zero coughed blood, and his eyes rolled backward into his skull. He was left bruised and burned as he slowly crashed back to the ground. He didn’t move at all.
“This is…” Mars’ hand suddenly started burning with brilliant golden flames, and then he shouted. “Sun!”
He swiped his hand left, and a blinding light burst forth, illuminating the darkened sky.
The rain slowly stopped, and the sun started rising from the horizon.
“So hot…” Loki and Henri backed away from Mars and the flames as they were scorching hot. They felt their eyebrows burning from the intense heat.
Ambrose grabbed his swords tight and used Formlessness to move towards Mars at blistering speed. He ignored the hot flames and cut straight through them.
The black blades approached Mars’ neck.
At that moment, Mars grabbed one of the blades with his bare hand, which was still burning in golden flames, and dodged the other one.
“Tch!” Ambrose clicked his tongue, but then his eyes widened.
The black blade in his hand started cracking, and soon it shattered like glass.
Ambrose couldn’t believe his eyes. The sword that seemed almost omnipotent, able to cut through even the Ghosts of the Wild Hunt, got shattered like it was nothing.
“A mere sword has no place next to the sun.” Mars said and also grabbed the other black blade, then destroyed it with the golden flames.
Ambrose quickly kicked Mars in the chest and used it as a springboard to jump backwards. As he landed back on the ground, he looked at his destroyed Black Swords.
“Shit…” He cursed painfully and put the destroyed swords inside his inventory, then pulled out his two remaining Red Swords.
It was incredibly painful to lose his Black Swords.
“Ambrose, what should we do?” Damian asked beside him. “He is now more powerful than ever, and those flames are incredibly deadly…”
“I don’t know…” Ambrose frowned.
At that moment, he heard a voice inside his mind.
‘Ambrose, give me the poison. I know you went and stole it from those pirates.’
It was Bonney’s voice.
‘Hmm…’ Ambrose frowned and looked around discreetly. ‘Where are you? I thought you died once Haventown got blown to pieces.’
‘Haventown has some underground shelters, such as the one that had the underground fighting tournament. Throw the box of poison in the direction of your ship. I’ll go to pick it up and use it on Mars when the time is right.’
‘All right.’ Ambrose nodded, deciding to trust Bonney with the very deadly and precious treasure.
“Damian, you keep others safe while they use long-range attacks.”
“Okay.” Damian nodded.
Ambrose bent his knees and jumped high in the air, flying higher and higher with Formlessness. He then took out the box, which contained the poison bottle and slave contract, and hurled it far away with incredible strength.
‘This better work…’
…
On other parts of the island, Adam and Tyrannus traded blows, both filled with injuries and exhaustion.
‘He isn’t as strong as me.’ Tyrannus thought while deflecting the sword strikes with his battleaxe. ‘I am only exhausted and injured. I’ll kill him as soon as he drops his guard for a split second!’
Adam kept his eyes peeled on Tyrannus. He had never been this concentrated before. He was ready for any attack that Tyrannus might throw.
“Y’know, unlike the fool over there.” Tyrannus nudged his chin towards Mars and the Black Hearts, who were fighting far away. “I know how to utilize the slave contract in the fight.”
Adam narrowed his eyes.
Tyrannus lifted his arm and snapped his fingers.
At the same time, black smoke covered Adam from head to toe, blocking his sight.
Tyrannus grinned wickedly and smashed his battleaxe at the black smoke.
Adam, inside the smoke, narrowed his eyes and jumped backwards, but the black smoke stopped him from going far enough, as if it were made from solid material.
Then, the battleaxe slashed through the black smoke and cut through Adam’s chest, spraying blood.
“Ugh!” Adam groaned loudly, but luckily for him, the cut wasn’t enormously deep.
At that moment, Adam reappeared behind Tyrannus after the summoning spell ended.
Tyrannus spun the battleaxe around and smashed it across Adam’s head with the blunt side of the blade.
Adam crashed into the ground and tumbled for another dozen meters.
Snap—Tyrannus again snapped his fingers, and Adam reappeared in front of him.
With the battleaxe, he again hit Adam across the face.
Adam flew into the distance with a bruised cheek and soon crashed back to the drought-filled ground. He wiped the blood off his lips and stood up.
In the distance, he saw that Tyrannus was again ready to snap his fingers.
“Hmph…” Adam closed his eyes and took a deep breath. ‘Ambrose, I apologize that I might not be able to help you with Mars. I am selfish person, after all, and for me, only Tyrannus’ death matters.’