I Refused To Be Reincarnated
Chapter 502: The Crimson Tempest’s Fall

Chapter 502: The Crimson Tempest’s Fall

BAM

CRACK

The moment he landed on the deck with the trembling crew members he had rescued from certain drowning, the hull split in a cacophony of broken wood in the middle.

Dark water splashed like a furious beast reclaiming its territory against an invader and engulfed the once proud pirate ship.

As it pulled the heavy mast into its abyssal belly, he broke the dreary sounds with a forceful command.

"Give up on the ship and rush to the barque!"

Simultaneously, he gripped a sail, shredded it, and charged at Flintwaters.

Despite the man’s livid face and haunting mumbles about his ship’s destruction, he urgently dragged him by the shoulder into the barque.

"Get your shit together! We don’t know what we’ll encounter or how far we are from the Tide Caller’s city. I know the Crimson Tempest had a special place in your heart, but we don’t have time to mourn it."

Flintwaters shook under his palm as his words echoed. Yet, he noticed tears roll down the man’s cheeks.

"What do you know? The Crimson Tempest is an ancient relic I found at sixteen! I’m thirty-six this year. I’ve been with it for two decades! It’s more than a ship. It’s my first crew member and the one that allowed me to discover the sea and dream of becoming a pirate."

Flintwaters gripped his coat’s collar with shaky fists. But he knew the man’s anger was only a deception to hide his deep sadness.

The surrounding crew members lowered their heads, hiding their faces with the help of the darkness as the mood turned somber.

Feeling the loss press on everyone’s shoulders, he steeled his heart, gripped Flintwaters’ hands firmly, and peered into the man’s ocean-blue eyes.

"We have no way back and are in the middle of nowhere. Your feelings don’t and will only lead to your crew’s death. So, wake up and prepare for the worst!"

He knew his words were harsh, but the situation called for it, and tenderness would waste time they didn’t have.

Turning his back on the depressed man, he pushed himself through the crew.

Lights condensed as his dark blade of adaptation glinted in its crystalline spear form in his hand.

Without wasting time, he planted it in the middle of the barque and attached the fabric he had scavenged from the sail to it.

Then, he tried to channel his mana and frowned in displeasure.

’The damages are too extensive.’

He clicked his tongue, feeling the core brighten in his chest, but the mana scatter in the air instead of travelling the star metal ore’s pseudo-mana circuits.

’Shit. I’ll have to use my real circuits now. I hope we’re not too far from the city.’

Worry gnawed at his heart in the tense silence before he sighed and outstretched his hand.

A gale of moderate power blew into the sail the next moment, pushing the embarkation forward into this world of darkness and uncertainty.

The sound of the sinking ship still echoed behind, a reminder that even arcanists couldn’t fight against nature’s wrath.

’I have to become an archmage. Only then will I be safe and able to protect everyone.’

A steely glint flashed in his eyes for a second before they enlarged in horror at the spectacle they fed him.

"AHH!"

"Draw your weapons! A sea beast is attacking!"

The crew’s panicked yells pierced his eardrums as he summoned his macuahuitl to fend off the tentacles clamping the boat and inching on the poor pirates.

Before he could, Flintwaters drew his blade and sliced at it with all his strength instead of cowering.

He saw the man’s anger and grief painted on his face and felt his desire to vent the unfair loss of his ship. Yet, he also knew mere humans couldn’t fight against magical beasts.

As expected, the tier two saber rebounded on the tentacle’s flesh like a toy.

The impact sent a tremor through Flintwaters’ hands, loosening his fingers around the pommel. In a silver hue, the pirate’s weapon flew off his hand and disappeared into the dark waters with a splash.

"Behind me!"

He roared, gripping his blade and dashing to save the ignorant fool.

Whistling winds filled his ears as his blade cleaved the air like paper and struck the flesh that threatened to drag the crew to their doom.

SKREECH

Scarlet blood drizzled on the barque’s deck as the wounded tentacle trashed against the rail, splinters flying everywhere.

Yet, his eyes narrowed in worry.

An ominous feeling gripped his heart as the noise of crushed wood registered.

Meanwhile, faced with the life-threatening danger, Flintwaters finally recovered, only to sweat in terror and for his blood to drain from his face.

"We’re done for. I-It’s the Kraken!"

Before the words could register, his instinct kicked in, prickling his soul and roaring in his ears that death furiously knocked on his door.

Without hesitation, he seized as many men as possible and encased them in wind spheres connected to his hands by ethereal chains.

Then, he did the unthinkable.

He plunged into the water, dragging everyone in his mad escape.

SHATTER

The barque exploded into rains of dust and splinters the next second as colossal tentacles emerged and rained hell on it to punish the fool who dared to wound it.

Yet, Adam had already left.

Despite the distance and his mad swimming, he felt the water tremor under each of the creature’s blows, shoving a terrible realisation into his mind.

’It’s a tier seven or eight beast! Probably the one those mad see lovers tamed fifteen thousand years ago!’

A shudder rocked his soul as he focused on swimming forward without looking back.

Deep down, he knew the simple sight of the most powerful beast he had ever seen would paralyse him. Therefore, mana danced around his limbs and encased them into a veil of solid water to increase his propelling momentum. With each arm swing, he crossed dozens of meters.

But he couldn’t feel safe, not with the risk of having a terror chasing behind them.