Blood splashed all over the floor and an arm was sent flying, hitting the floor while still bleeding.
“!!!”
Sofia, Bururiba and even Sylvia looked with big eyes at the person that was in front of them who just sacrificed an arm to save her.
“… Ashura, what are you doing here?” → Sylvia
Sylvia asked with a pained voice while looking at his torn arm.
“…”
Ashura said nothing. With a dark face, he crouched down and grabbed his arm then positioned it back where it was supposed to be. The arm reattached to the body and healed in less than five seconds.
“… What do you think you’re doing, Ashura?” → Bururiba
Bururiba asked with cold eyes while emanating a ruthless aura.
“Hmm… This question-” → Ashura
Ashura suddenly takes a step forward and throws a punch at Bururiba’s face with no chi imbued, using only his raw strength.
“-IS SUPPOSED TO BE ASKED BY ME! YOU BASTARD!” → Ashura
“!”
Bururiba hastily used his gun together with his left arm imbued with mana and chi to block the incoming punch.
The punch sent Bururiba flying through three walls then stopping after crashing on the fourth one. Even though he used quite the mana and chi to block the strike, Ashura was still a Semi-God ranked warrior. His physical power alone was on a whole other level.
“Stop right there.” → Sofia
Sofia used her chains and grabbed Ashura’s arm, immobilizing him from moving again.
“You think this will stop me?” → Ashura
Ashura looked with poison at Sofia while his aura grew fiercer and fiercer.
Suddenly, Tian appeared beside the door with big eyes. He heard a loud shout, a gun-fire, and some more noise right after. When he saw what was happening inside, he couldn’t believe his eyes. After feeling Ashura’s rising power, Tian broke out from his daze and shouted at Ashura in urgency.
“Dhavala! What do you think you’re doing?! If you release your powers here, the entire ship will sink together with the slaves Shen gave his life to save!” → Tian
He tried to calm him down desperately. He had to know first what happened, after which he would be able to give a proper response to this chaos.
“Grrr…” → Ashura
Ashura surpassed his aura but his rage was unchanged.
A loud boom was heard and from where Bururiba was sent flying, parts of the ship flew around and a bullet then penetrated Ashura’s forehead, blowing his brain out.
“Gah!” → Ashura
The pain of having his brain regenerate was insupportable, fact that made his rage burn even more uncontrollably.
“Hell with this ship. If the only people that die are Shen’s men, then I can’t give a damn.” → Bururiba
Bururiba then came back with his aura released. His gun was cracked, his left arm was broken and blood was flowing from his mouth. Even so, his face was incredibly cold and almost emotionless.
“…”
Sofia didn’t know what to do at this moment. She wanted to support Bururiba but at the same time, she wanted to stop him from becoming a tyrant.
“GRAAAH!”
“!!”
Ashura then snapped and unleashed his own aura, making the room to crack and the walls to dent outwards. He pulled hard on the chains and because Sofia was taken by surprise, she flew right at Ashura.
“HAH!”
Ashura punched out and wanted to punch Sofia right in the head.
“SOFIA!”
Bururiba and Tian both stared with despair and shock at Sofia who was flying toward Ashura’s monstrous fist.
“…”
Am I, going to die here? → Sofia
Sofia looked at the punch that was coming as if she was looking at death in the eyes. She couldn’t do anything in the air and her chain was already held by Ashura.
No… Not now when I’m finally with my sister! → Sofia
She prepared to cut her own arm but something else made her stop from doing so;
“Ashura, stop!” → Sylvia
Sylvia screamed and used [Bind], a spell that created mana tentacles which bonded the enemy and makes him stop on his track.
“Grrr!”
Ashura stopped right at the last moment and Sofia landed lightly right in front of the fist.
Sweat was flowing down her body and her breath was rough. She just dodged death by less than a second. Right after, an energy ball with the element of frost sent Ashura flying, hitting him right in the stomach.
“GUH!”
He was sent through seven walls and while doing so, he spat out a huge amount of blood. In the end, he stopped at the ninth wall.
“That bastard- huh?” → Ashura
When he wanted to get up, he felt something wet under him. He looked down and saw a pool of blood from under the broken wood and metal.
T-this is not my blood! → Sylvia
Ashura felt his body turn cold and trembled. He reached out to lift a piece of metal under which the blood was flowing out.
“!!!”
What he saw made him freeze in place.
Back in the room, Bururiba held a huge ice bazooka from which mist was still rising.
“You idiot! What are you fanning the flames for?!” → Tian
Tian shouted out while a vein was popping on his forehead for a long time now. He still tried to comprehend why are Bururiba and Ashura are trying to kill each other, but their constant fits of rage only make things more complicated.
Does it have to do with Shen? Is because of his dead people? From the Ship Battle? If so, why is he reacting only now? He had a week for all of this! Is it because he tried to take care of the injured? But Shen also said that he doesn’t need his help, didn’t he?! But wait, Bururiba is the kind which forelooks the details. Right… He’s an idiot… I think I’m starting to understand the main cause now. → Tian
Tian’s brain worked at max capacity and finally got his answer.
Revenge… what a foolish thing to wish from a dead man. → Tian
Tian shook his head and got in front of Bururiba with his hand at the sword.
“Are you betraying your benefactor, Tian?” → Bururiba
Bururiba asked with a cold voice.
“You’re the one betraying us, captain.” → Tian
Tian called Bururiba ‘captain’ for the first and last time, his eyes calm but firm.
“You’re trying to get revenge from a dead man, only making us gain more enemies, enemies that we can’t handle even if we get the help of the entire peninsula.” → Tian
“And how are you so sure?!” → Bururiba
Bururiba lashed out, his rage already reaching beyond reason.
“Because I know that even though Shen is dead, there is another human which brute power even more destructive than Shen, able to destroy a kingdom on his own. Imagine someone with Ashura’s power and Haidao’s cunningness; he’s a monster even more dangerous than Shen himself. The worst part is that he is the sworn brother of Shen who now is dead and whose wife you are threatening. You are bringing destruction upon your own crew at this exact moment, Captain Bururiba.” → Tian
His words were heavy and made Bururiba wake up from his blind rage. He looked at Sylvia who right now stood beside Shen’s bed, protecting his body from any stray dangerous objects, at Sofia who had a pale face, sitting on one knee, and finally at Tian whose eyes were looking at him with blame and resolution of fighting.
“… Sigh... Alright. I understand now.” → Tian
Bururiba, in the end, calmed down and placed his gun back at his belt.
Right when everyone felt like breathing a sigh of relief, a deep and hateful voice resounded.
“Do you think I’ll let you leave after all you’ve done?” → Ashura
Ashura’s hateful voice resounded, making even the air vibrate.
“Ashura, please calm down now-” → Tian
Tian tried to stop Ashura but after seeing what he was holding, his face paled, feeling even more troubles coming their way.
Ashura walked inside the room with heavy steps. In his arms, he was carrying a child whose body has been crushed from the impact. Ashura was bloody all over but that wasn’t his blood, it was the blood of the ones who rested in the neighboring rooms.
Ashura knew that on the other side there aren’t any residents, reason why he was able to send Bururiba flying in that exact direction. But he didn’t wish to destroy more than that because every other room was occupied by the ones whom Shen rescued. Even so, his confidence in blocking a strike cost him the lives of around five people.
Ashura then placed the corpse slowly on the ground, taking his shirt off and covering the corpse.
“Five people.” → Ashura
Ashura’s voice resounded again.
“Because of you, I crushed five people when I was sent flying through the walls. Young and old, males and females. Do you know what I wish at this point?” → Ashura
Ashura looked with cold eyes at Bururiba then his aura exploded and his eyes reddened.
“REVENGE.” → Ashura
“!!!”
Sylvia, Sofia, Tian, and Bururiba shook when they felt Ashura’s monstrous aura. It was as if a God of Death descended and was ready to take someone with him.
”Dhavala! Please calm down!” → Sylvia
Sylvia got up and rushed in front of Ashura.
“No.” → Ashura
His voice firm and unyielding.
“Please excuse my rudeness, miss Sylvia. But this time, I won’t turn a blind eye. His idiocy brought forth death to five innocents who just left that hellish hole over which Bururiba’s supposed to be king.” → Ashura
Ashura said all that while pointing at Bururiba with cold and red eyes.
“I know I can’t fight with you, miss Sylvia, but I know at the same time that you won’t use your powers, in fear that you’ll destroy the ship, am I right?” → Ashura
“Then will you do it?! Will you destroy this ship filled with innocents?!” → Sylvia
Sylvia tried to speak reason with Ashura but he was already in too much rage.
“I’ll just have to punch him out of this ship, right? I can do that much.” → Ashura
“Wait! Bururiba, what are you doing?!” → Tian
Tian spotted Bururiba make some moves from the corner of his eyes. When he looked he was stunned to see him pointing his gun at Sylvia’s head.
“If that bastard were to make even the slightest move, Sylvia’s brains will be sent flying!” → Bururiba
Bururiba shouted with cold sweat. He knew very well he wouldn’t be able to win against Ashura so he could only take Sylvia as the hostage.
“I must point out that I changed the bullet to the spatial one. Space Magic won’t be effective and the fire-power is the same as before, being able to penetrate even through the defenses of a Semi-God!” → Bururiba
This turned from bad to incredibly worse in less than a few seconds, all of this because of a dead man! → Sofia
Sofia couldn’t move, the tension made it impossible.
At this moment, the air was so tense that even breathing proved to be a challenge. The first to make a move would give the signal to action and nobody wished for that.
The nerves stretched more and more and sweat started to fall from the foreheads of everyone. Ashura, in the end, wished to shoot out at Bururiba, when he heard a booming voice.
[Have you all turned insane? Actually fighting between yourselves… How stupid.] → Shen“!”
Shen!
Everyone knew exactly whose voice that was, Bururiba then reacted and shouted out with rage.
“And who’s fault do you think this is?! What took you so long!? You trash of a human!” → Bururiba
[Trash? Quite rich from a child killer.] → ShenShen responded back with a neutral voice.
“You!” → Bururiba
Bururiba’s rage reached sky-high while looking around and trying to pinpoint from where the voice resounded.
Everyone else didn’t know how to feel about this.
What is he doing? He’s only making Bururiba angrier! → Tian
Tian was confused about why Shen reacted so nonchalantly, then his eyes shot out wide open.
And wait! His soul is actually here?! Does that mean he’s going to revive? Isn’t this amazing? → Tian
Before long, he finally became aware that he’ll see how the first dead man revives without the need of a necromancer. He stared at Sylvia and observed how her face was like that of a person in a trance.
… I really can’t tell what she’s thinking… Is she mad? → Tian
Suddenly, Shen’s body started to shine with a golden light and his body healed on its own with incredible speed. Around his head, a crown of light appeared and his body started to levitate.
“!”
Everyone was dumbfounded by the view and stared at his flying body with wide-open eyes.
“H-how is this possible? Is he really immortal?” → Sofia
Sofia asked completely shocked.
“…”
Sylvia looked with big eyes at Shen, having her breath cut.
For the last week, she cried her eyes out and tried to reach Shen’s soul but was to no avail. Mostly, it was because Shen was inside the Hall of Judgment where he couldn’t be contacted. She thought that Shen must’ve already revived in another life, leaving her alone for good this time. She had thoughts of ending her own life but she knew she still had so many things to take care of, being unable to put an end to this living torture.
Shen then opened his eyes and levitated away from the bed. Around him, the golden aura was still present because he just entered the planetary field, his soul didn’t have time to separate from the three spirits, still remaining with their wisdom and some power.
“You finally woke up, you bastard!” → Bururiba
“…”
Shen looked at Bururiba, then at Sylvia, at the deformed corpse of the child and at the destroyed rooms. He felt incredibly irritated but controlled himself. In the end, he sighed and asked;
“Do you wish to see your deceased friends?” → Shen
Shen ignored Bururiba’s hate-filled words and asked with a normal tone.
“What?!”
Everyone was stunned by his words and asked again as if doubting their own hearing.
“Wh-what do you mean? Are you a necromancer or something? How can you make me see them?!” → Bururiba
Bururiba felt his back turn cold. The idea of Shen being a necromancer was not that hard to believe, seeing him playing with death two times already.
“…”
Shen said no more and simply closed his eyes.
Everyone was confused but soon enough, they were able to see blue and red globs of light, flying around inside the room. There were 28 globs in total.
T-they are… Did Shen summon them here? → Sylvia
Sylvia who had the eyes of a Soul Seer was able to identify the souls before everyone else.
A strong cold wind blew inside the room and all the globs materialized in the form of ghosts to be seen by the eyes of the living.
“You all!” → Bururiba
Bururiba looked with teary eyes at the ones in front of him.
“No way…” → Ashura
Ashura looked at five of the souls and muttered dazed.
[Hello captain! How are you?] → NicolasNicolas asked with a wide grin while patting the back of a young human, the one who he fought with until the end. 23 men aligned in front of Bururiba, laughing and smiling together at him.
“You…” → Bururiba
Bururiba’s voice trembled and tears started to fall.
“I miss you guys…” → Bururiba
He covered his eyes and tried to wipe his tears.
[Heh. Don’t cry for us, captain. We are doing fine.]A fairy said with a wide smile while flying around without a care.
[Yeah. We feel so light. It’s like our entire lives we’ve been dragging a mountain with us. Now I feel so relieved.]A beast-man said with a laugh.
[Captain. Please stop mourning us. Your sadness will affect us when we’ll leave high in the sky. What summoned us here were your strong feelings, Sir Shen only showed us the way toward you. Please don’t resent him, captain, the only thing I can’t see inside his soul is the essence of evil, other than that, I can see a huge ego.]The dragoon that was promoted then died, laughed while pointing at Shen with a laughing smile.
“Oy brat. I can send you in the afterlife at any moment now.” → Shen
Shen, who still had the memories of Omisus, answered with some irritation.
[Ahahaha~]All the spirits started laughing, the Dragoon trying to excuse himself in front of Shen with a wide smile on.
Nobody knew how to react, seeing the souls talking so merely made everyone forget for a second about the tragedy that just took place as if all of it was a lie. Only the broken room and the smell of blood was a strong enough proof of what happened.
A little girl approached Ashura and tried to hold his hand. After going through his hand a few times, she finally got the idea of how to materialize her hands better and grabbed it firmly.
“…?”
Ashura looked confused at the little soul, only to remember that the body he carried here had the same clothes as her.
So it was a little girl… → Ashura
Ashura felt his heart ache and he couldn’t look at the little girl in the eyes.
[Mishter Davala]Her playful voice rang in his ears, waking him up from his dark thoughts. Ashura looked toward her and was stunned to see two clean eyes looking at him.
[Mishter Davala. Pleashe don’t hate, only love, yesh?]The little girl pointed with her finger as if trying to lecture Ashura.
Ashura was dazed then his body started to tremble.
No hate? How can I not hate a bastard that killed such a little child? How old is she? Three? Maybe four years? That’s unforgivable! → Ashura
His eyes started to redden slowly when he felt his hand being grabbed by yet another person.
[Sir Ashura. Little Marry is right. Chasing for revenge won’t do us any good. Revenge will only create more pain, which will bring more revenge. Please reconsider.]A young man that was the bigger brother of the little girl said with a smile to Ashura.
[Exactly. This never-ending circle will destroy you all, and for what? For some souls that are already feeling such freedom? Hey now, if you really wish to honor our death, then just pray for our wellbeing and for a good spot up there. Who knows, maybe we’ll even get some beauties?]A young demon laughed and grinned with a sly face.
[Ouch!]Then he got smacked in the head by Nicolas who then reprimanded him with a helpless smile on.
[Come on now, you’re still so thirsty even as a spirit? For the love of all, control yourself.]The souls laughed and played together while the living looked at them with incredulous looks.
“S-so… what you guys are trying to tell me, is that I should forgive Shen?” → Bururiba
Bururiba asked with a confused and depressed face.
W-what should I do? I already caused so much disaster, will he ever forgive me now? → Bururiba
Having his deceased crew visit him and seeing them doing so well, made Bururiba forget about his rage and wish for revenge.
[Don’t fret over the little details. Of course, he’ll forgive you. He’s a nice guy! Aren’t I right, God Shen?]God?!
Everyone looked stupefied, not believing what they just heard.
“This will cost you, damn snotty brat.” → Shen
Shen then retorted, ignoring the title he still didn’t have yet.
“I initially wanted to compensate for your loss with riches and power. But after seeing the disaster you made, be sure to work your ass off for paying what you broke.” → Shen
“W-what do you mean more exactly? Aren’t we, uh, even?” → Bururiba
Sounded ridiculous to say such an immoral thing but from a third person’s point of view, he was somewhat right.
-SNAP-
“Even?” → Shen
A snapping sound just resounded and Shen then made the calmest yet crippiest smile ever. He was incredibly furious and couldn’t feel like letting Bururiba go just like that any longer.
“How is this even, you dumba*s? It is true that some of your men died because of my late intervention, but let’s not forget about the fact that I never really asked for your help and I also rescued your and your crew’s sorry a*sess right from the brink of death when I made your sinking ship float again. Then let’s not forget about the fact that you started to rampage inside my ship, killed 5 innocents, not even warriors but INNOCENTS, one of them being a little girl of not even four years old. Oh, and let’s not forget about the fact that you also tried to kill my wife and even made her kneel. Did I forget something? Oh yes, the fact that because of me you got rid of all the competition, making either you or your lover over there, as the King of Pirates fact that would’ve costed you even more lives and time…Sigh~~….” → Shen
Shen sighed out while massaging his throbbing temples then all his irritation turned into an evil smile and laugh, making Bururiba’s back turn cold.
“Haahhaha~… I expect for you to work as a slave for the next 55 years in the future. You piece of s*it.” → Shen
Shen had his arms crossed and looked with judgmental eyes at Bururiba, not letting him talk back to his authority any longer.
