Scene: Somewhere in Brevia | Rocky Cliffs Near the Shoreline]
The sun was just beginning to tilt westward.
The winds screamed over the cliffs. The sea roared below.
And a tiny ball — almost weightless— spun high above them. So high it was nearly a speck in the clouds.
Katrina (shouting):
> "Catch it, Ashen! Or die trying!"
Ashen's boots scraped against the gravel as he sprinted.
His eyes squinted.
His lungs burned.
But he ran.
Because that was the fifth hour.
And he hadn't caught a single damn ball yet.
Ashen (panting, to himself):
> "What kind of serial catcher does she want me to be…? I haven't caught one. Not one."
The ball curved downward like a comet.
Ashen skidded into a slide, arms outstretched.
Too slow.
Too short.
The ball landed fifteen feet away with a humiliating thunk.
Katrina (coldly):
> "Again."
---
[Scene: Western Sea | Ryven's Main Ship — Deck]
Waves slapped against the iron hull.
A lone pirate stared through dusty binoculars, his hands trembling slightly.
Pirate Scout:
> "Our forward ship's moving."
> "Maybe they survived? Maybe they're coming back to regroup?"
A silence behind him.
Then a voice.
Ryven (flat):
> "No."
He stepped forward, coat billowing, a storm gathering in his eyes.
Ryven:
> "It's not our men."
> "It's them."
---
[Scene: Somewhere In The West Sea]
Wind coiled around the masts.
Arjun crouched atop the crow's nest of Ryven's captured ship, bow slung, eyes locked on the horizon.
Solis stood on the Guild's ship, arms folded.
Solis:
> "Now that Arjun has a high position on their ship…"
> "We'll board Ryven's forward vessel. Using their own ship against them."
Kael (pouting):
> "Why not just use our own ship?"
Solis (smirking):
> "Because gramps would be overjoyed if we keep this ship unscathed."
He turned to Eron, who stood quietly at the rail.
Solis:
> "Eron, stay behind. Guard this ship."
Eron raised an eyebrow.
Eron (half-skeptical):
> "Wait… didn't you just call their forward ship a wreck?"
> "How are you planning to sail in a wreck?"
Solis didn't even blink.
Solis (flat):
> "Any enemy ship is a wreck… to me."
Kael (grinning):
> "It's sailable, Eron. Don't worry. We didn't do that much damage."
---
[Scene: Ryven's Main Ship | Deck]
The two Ryven's ships drifted closer.
Wind howled.
Then — THUD. THUD. THUD.
Three figures landed from above.
Right in the middle of the deck.
Mana exploded outward.
Like a blast of sunlight condensed into three human shapes.
Rhask. Kael. Solis.
The crew staggered.
Half of them dropped their weapons just from instinct.
Still—twelve men surged forward, blades raised, roars echoing.
Bad choice.
Rhask cracked his knuckles. He didn't need a weapon.
He blurred forward — four punches.
Four skulls cracked. Four bodies dropped like sacks of sand.
Kael spun, twisting mid-air — his legs lashed out like blades.
Two kicks to the temple. A rising knee. A finishing heel drop.
Four down.
Solis? He didn't even unsheathe fully.
A half-draw flash of silver.
Slice.
Four collapsed — silent, shocked, unmoving.
---
Ryven (roaring):
> "STOP! Don't engage them!"
But it was too late.
Twelve were down in a breath.
Then—
CLINK. THUNK. STEP.
A heavy boot.
A long shadow.
The silver-haired man behind Ryven spoke.
Voice cold. Measured.
Silver-Hair:
> "Leave them to us."
The crew parted.
Now only five stood in front of Whisper's Light.
Ryven. Silver-Hair. And three more elites.
Kael without warning—blur.
A streak of motion.
Kael's boot slammed into Ryven's chest.
BOOM.
Ryven was sent flying — thirty-five meters across the deck and into open air.
He didn't crash.
He didn't sink.
He landed—on the surface of the sea—perfectly upright.
Ryven (gritting teeth):
> "Tch. Caught me off guard."
Solis (nodding):
> "Nice work, Kael."
And then he jumped — blade drawn, twin swords gleaming.
Toward the sea. Toward Ryven.
But the moment Solis left—
The four under Ryven leapt in to stop him.
Too late.
Rhask and Kael stepped forward.
Kael:
> "Where do you think you're going?"
---
[Scene: Above — Arjun's POV | Crow's Nest]
Arjun watched all the chaos.
He raised his bow. An arrow glimmered.
Arjun (thinking):
> "I could end it now by killing Ryven."
He exhaled.
Arjun (to himself):
> "…Nah. Solis wouldn't forgive me."
He lowered the arrow.
---
[Scene: Sea Level — Just Above the Water]
Solis walked toward Ryven on the water's surface.
Each step was silent. Blades in both hands.
No fear.
Only war.
Behind him, from the deck of the ship, Rhask unslung a massive blade.
It crashed into the deck with a metallic clang.
Rhask (grinning):
> "Kael, only four of them look like a challenge."
> "The rest?"
> "Just extras."