The Otherworld Inventor's Detonation

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The smoke still lingered in the air like a thick shroud, clinging to the sails and painting the sky red. The Scarlet Colossus, pride of the central pirates, burned like a bonfire in the sky. The explosion at the stern had ripped open a massive hole, though the ship kept moving forward, its cannons still firing. A predator king unwilling to admit defeat.

Rei struggled to his feet, chest burning, hair sticky with sweat and smoke. Blood stained his lip—he wasn’t sure if it was his or someone else’s. But as he saw the pirates panic, many of them still fallen, he knew it was his moment. He didn’t even bother looking for Malbrine.

With a quick motion, he fumbled at his belt. Hidden in one of the pockets, overlooked by Malbrine’s search, was a small iron blade. Clenching it between his teeth, he knelt and slid it against the ropes binding Ettor, Nessus, and Leonoris. One by one, the fibers snapped.

“Free!” Nessus croaked, barely a whisper.

Rei hurried to gather his belongings, scattered across the floor by Malbrine. Meanwhile, Ettor rose at once, seizing his katana. Nessus reclaimed his bow with a shaky grin, while Leonoris, trembling, closed her eyes and murmured a prayer that lit her hands with protective light.

“Rei! Are you hurt?”

Rei grabbed one of Leonoris’s hands, avoiding an embrace they couldn’t afford.

“We have to escape. This ship is done for.”

“That explosion—was that your doing?” Ettor couldn’t believe it.

“I told you I had a few plans!”

“Son of a—”

Out of the smoke, Malbrine’s silhouette appeared like a phantom, barely ten paces away. His pistol was already raised.

“Watch out!”

As the furious pirate fired, Ettor conjured a small flash of light and flung it forward. The bullet collided with the flash, veering upward, while the burst shot off in the opposite direction.

What… was that? Rei was stunned. That was amazing.

He quickly aimed his weapon but missed—his hands still unsteady, his shots useless without the spell. Malbrine ducked behind a crate.

“Move!” Rei barked, urging the others to do the same.

From the main deck, the pirates roared in rage. The smoldering hole at the stern revealed compartments ablaze within. The entire ship tilted, groaning like a drunken giant.

“Keep firing!” Malbrine bellowed, his bloodstained jacket clinging to him, saber in hand. The smoke gave him a demonic aspect, as if birthed from the burning wood itself. “I want to see that city fall!”

A chorus of cannon fire thundered. Luminas shook in the distance, but it no longer trembled alone—the galleon itself cracked and split with each blast, as though fate itself demanded payment.

The pirates charged.

Ettor intercepted them first. His katana gleamed with the cold bite of steel, cutting three down in a single sweep. Nessus loosed arrows from behind, fast and precise. Leonoris dodged bullets, returning bursts of light. And Rei, pistol in hand and one last flash grenade at his side, dropped those who tried to flank them. The very deck burned beneath their feet, and when Malbrine descended the staircase, saber blazing and eyes like embers, hell itself seemed unleashed.

“You!” He pointed at Ettor, laughing like a wolf. “Always so serious. Do you really think your blade can stop me?”

Ettor stepped forward, fearless despite the blood leaking from his side.

“Don’t underestimate me, scum.”

Their clash was brutal. Katana against saber, spark against spark. Ettor’s strikes were swift, precise, but Malbrine moved with demonic reflexes. His shadowed spins defied nature, like a dance on the edge of reality itself. A downward blow nearly split Ettor’s blade. Another twist forced him to his knees, nearly defeated.

“Ettor!” Nessus shouted, loosing an arrow.

It struck the saber, deflecting the deadly swing aimed at Ettor’s neck. Malbrine snarled, turning on the archer.

“Brat!”

“What’s wrong? Too much for you, big guy?” Nessus forced a grin, though his hands trembled with fear he refused to admit.

Malbrine advanced, but Leonoris stepped in, conjuring a blazing wall of fire from the deck. The saber slammed against the flames, losing momentum, searing the pirate’s hands.

“You shall not pass…” she growled.

“You—”

Malbrine staggered back, startled for an instant, when something whistled through the smoke. A shard of metal sliced the air, grazing his cheek. A thin line of blood marked his skin as his stunned gaze found Rei, steady, weapon still aimed.

“Try me again, bastard.”

Fury twisted Malbrine’s face. The four now stood before him in a line. Ettor. Nessus. Leonoris. And Rei.

Kounaria no longer knew fear.

“Idiots!” Malbrine’s laugh was hoarse, forced. “Do you really think this is over? Even if you live today, we’ll crush you. You’re rats crawling in the dirt, daring to defy the gods of sea and sky. You haven’t seen anything yet. And you won’t. Luminas will burn to—”

A metallic roar cut him off. From the stern erupted a sudden blast, shaking the floor beneath their feet. A fireball burst from the hole left by the bomb, as barrels of aether and powder exploded within.

The galleon’s timbers cracked, its sails ignited, the mainmast tilted. Even the pirates began to quake with terror.

“Captain, the ship won’t hold!” one cried.

“Shut up and fight!” Malbrine roared.

But it was no use. Rei knew it before anyone else.

There’s no time left.

He pulled one last flash grenade.

“Let’s go!”

He hurled it to the center of the deck. A white blast blinded Malbrine and his crew, leaving them disoriented. Ettor lunged, knocking aside the nearest foes, buying them precious seconds.

“Run!” Rei commanded.

They dashed for where their small boat was anchored. The stern burned around them, threatening to consume everything.

“Couldn’t you pick a better spot for that blast?” Nessus asked wryly, shoving aside a desperate pirate.

“Obviously not! I did the best I could!” Rei snapped, eyes darting forward. To the right, the stern was a blazing ruin. But to the left, their modest fishing boat still clung to the hull. “Around the fire, go!”

They pressed on—until Leonoris’s cloak snagged on a broken plank, holding her fast.

“Ah!” She tugged desperately at the fabric. “Please, let go!”

“Leonoris!” Rei stopped, running back for her.

Pirates closed in, blocking every escape.

“Kill them!” Malbrine, still standing, bellowed. “Then take us back to sea!”

Rei and Leonoris were trapped against the railing, the fiery sea raging below. Smoke seared their lungs. Rei coughed hard.

Pirates left. Pirates right. Fire ahead. And behind them, a fall no one could survive.

No way out.

“Rei…” Leonoris’s voice broke, terror freezing her. She felt her life flash in an instant.

The inventor felt it too—the fear—but knew he had to act. How? Against so many? Against Malbrine himself?

Then he saw it. Just to the left. Ettor had made it aboard their boat, and Nessus was already there. The latter raised a hand, signaling.

Rei understood.

You’re insane, Malakh.

Malbrine advanced, saber high.

“It’s over, boy. We’ll return, but you two won’t. Farewell, Kashiwa Rei.”

Rei seized Leonoris’s hand. His eyes met hers, pleading for trust. She stared back, wide-eyed, trembling but willing.

“You’re right,” Rei said. “It’s over. Farewell, Malbrine.”

Rei yanked Leonoris’s wrist, stepped back, and leapt into the void with her.