Pirate Kingship
Chapter 95 - 94 The End, Is Also The Beginning

Chapter 95: Chapter 94 The End, Is Also The Beginning

A nautical mile away, Byron turned pale after casting the Nation-Destroying Nail and sat down directly on the back of the Man-Eater Shark.

Violet, who had been supporting Byron, also knelt beside him so he could lean on her more steadily.

Yet, she didn’t feel like she was taking care of a fellow ally suffering the same afflictions; instead, she sincerely felt that Byron, three years her junior, was shielding her from the storm.

And he truly was!

Clutching his hand, which had grown somewhat cold after his consecutive bursts of power in the storm, she couldn’t help but express her concern, "Is this a Sacred Relic passed down by the Lancaster family? Does using it exact a great toll?"

Of course, those Sacred Relics did have side effects. Some were serious, others mild.

Usually, the user had to bear the corresponding Mandate of Heaven or, in other words, the associated historical responsibility.

For example, the historical responsibility of the "Holy Relic - The World’s First Matchlock Gun": it completely changed the nature of warfare that had existed for thousands of years and led to the revolution of firearms. For their entire lives, users could no longer wield swords or other close-combat cold weapons, or else they would surely die by the sword.

The side effect of Iron Anchor Bay’s "Charles Wealth Ranking" was much milder; it was merely a craving for money and fame, a desire to strive towards the wealthy individuals on the list.

Byron glanced at the detailed record that appeared on the Sailing Logbook, shook his head vigorously, and replied with a smile, "No, there are no side effects. On the contrary, I feel extremely good right now."

The historical responsibility the Nation-Destroying Nail demanded was for its user to engage in the grand cause of destroying a kingdom and taking its place.

To the law-abiding citizen, this item would likely make them live in constant dread for the rest of their lives.

But for Byron, it wasn’t just a price to pay; it was simply his calling!

"Retreat, let’s quickly pull back to Iron Anchor Bay. We shouldn’t stay at sea any longer. If it were just about sinking a single ship, the Nation-Destroying Nail wouldn’t deserve to be called a Level 1 Holy Relic."

Byron grasped Violet’s hand, stepped on the nine-meter-long Man-Eater Shark beneath him, and rushed back to Iron Anchor Bay as if he were fleeing for his life.

「...」

While the lower gun deck crew reported the ship’s condition and requested support from the captain and the Transcendents, the command issued by Fleet Commander Norwich was, "Lower the lifeboats, officers first. Have the nearest Warship, the St. Lawrence, move in to aid."

The blood of the York Family was supremely noble, and he held no obsession like the Bay Citizens Pirates to sink with his ship.

Most importantly, although his only son was killed in front of him, he was still young and could have more children!

I also know of a ritual within the Bloodthirsty Cult that grants eternal life—the Crimson Holy Grail, a ceremony for brewing the Blood of Immortality! If I obtain such a treasure, what is a son who can only live a mere few decades?

As one of the few members of the York Family who practiced Black Sorcery and had deep contact with that foreign cult, his perspective was broader and his ambitions greater.

Never mind a son; even the position of King is incomparable to immortality. How could he die here for nothing, unlike those lowly sailors?

For an ordinary officer to abandon an expensive Warship was a grave offense, but it mattered not to York.

"By your command, Commander!"

The loyal sailors, upon hearing the order, immediately uncovered the canvas over the lifeboats. The lifeboats were well protected and had not been filled with the downpouring rain.

From the already severely tilted port side (using the starboard side would hit the ship’s side below), they lowered the lifeboat.

The highest-ranking officials—the commander, captain, noble officers, and their servants—boarded the lifeboat, which could only accommodate about a dozen people, using the foot cleats on either side. Sailors from the Warship turned the pulleys to lower them bit by bit to the sea surface.

Nearby Warships began to converge to assist after receiving the signal.

Regardless of a Warship’s class, the lifeboats it carried were limited to just a few, enough for only dozens of people. Within the limited space of those lifeboats, even that small area was often used to house poultry, leaving no possibility of accommodating more people for escape.

What about the ordinary sailors? Perhaps an empty wine barrel was their best option. If they were lucky enough to make it through the waves and reach other Warships, they might just save their own lives.

May the creator bless them.

But while they thought of leaving, the "new master" of the Warship wouldn’t agree.

Innumerable tentacles that squeezed out from the bowels of the ship quickly engulfed every sailor they encountered. Different from before, when it only took the souls of its prey from the Dream Realm, now their flesh and blood also dissolved, becoming part of itself.

As the Touch of the Kraken grew larger, a layer of dream-like, vast white mist also emerged. This Second Grade Warship seemed to enter the Dream Realm, becoming faint and indistinct.

The distant cries of the remaining crew sounded distorted.

"Help—!"

"God, I have seen a god! Man came from the sea, and will return to the sea one day. Please let me merge with you."

"I would rather die than become a monster."

Some, facing something beyond their comprehension, had their minds crumble and jumped into the sea in tears. Others believed they had seen a True God, devoutly kneeling to become part of this entity. Still others, in their despair, chose to end their own lives...

But no matter their attitudes, it was all the same to the Touch of the Kraken, which showed no additional response.

And so, amid such chaos and madness, the water flowed ever more violently from the gun deck down into the hold, slamming against the ship’s port side with relentless force, dragging the Warship downwind until it capsized completely.

The tall masts and yards of the Warship first pressed the rearmost small boat beneath them into the water and then themselves toppled, crashing down into the water like a collapsing mountain.

A large wave swept over, and the wooden vessel, which had a fairly good resistance to sinking and should have been able to float for quite a while, suddenly vanished from the sea surface, as if it had never existed.

"Row quickly, row quickly! Head back immediately after getting aboard the St. Lawrence!"

The unsettled Norwich knew that an unbeatable monster had been released. How to clean up the mess was a matter for the future; right now, the most important thing was how to escape. He hurriedly grabbed an oar as well and rowed fervently with the rowers.

Just as they were about to approach the Third-Rate Warship nearest to them.

TOOT TOOT TOOT...

A flute sound all too familiar to them suddenly came from beneath the other ship.

Under the chilling gaze of old Norwich, a dreamlike fog erupted from the side of the Third-Rate Warship, and countless terrifyingly large tentacles danced, dragging the entire Warship into another world beneath the waters.

When he blankly looked towards the next Warship, as expected, just as if the long-dead great judge had picked up the flute and blown it once again, the sound of the flute produced by the Shepherd Flute echoed once more.

The third Warship also vanished from the surface of the sea.

Then, without the need for a command from the Fleet Commander himself, the remaining dozens of Warships in the entire fleet, no longer caring about the raging storm around them, dispersed in all directions and fled toward the nearest Eternal Night Peninsula.

As a species that had left the sea millions of years ago, only land could truly offer them a sense of security.

And on their flight, eerie flute sounds intermittently rang out from beneath the Warships, then they too disappeared into the mist without a trace.

As they moved further away, just when old Norwich thought the out-of-control Touch of the Kraken had been diverted by a larger target, he suddenly heard the TOOT TOOT of the flute, sounding right beneath his feet.

"HISS—!"

Looking down, he saw within the reflection on the sea’s surface an indescribable being covered in tentacles, wrapping around a Shepherd Flute, playing the all too familiar flute sounds with a mouthpiece grown on a tentacle.

With the sound of the flute, a flood-like surge of knowledge from the Touch of the Kraken also penetrated incessantly into his brain. The most repeated message was: "Break faith, and you shall be punished!"

Effect of the Second-Level Relic - Pied Piper’s Shepherd Flute: Produces a hypnotic siren song for all those of unsound mind.

So what happens when the Shepherd Flute is played by a being that is itself of unsound mind, or has no human concept of right and wrong to speak of?

Transcendents all knew that Cursed Objects were associated with large-scale casualties and leaned towards the negative, while Sacred Relics embodied significant history or heroic deeds, tending towards the positive.

This Shepherd Flute, which both alleviated a rat plague and doomed a city’s children, lay somewhere in between.

One represents sin, the other punishment, embodying its most fundamental historical mission: "Break faith, and you shall be punished!"

The price paid by the great judge in the past was that he had to judge a deceiver every seven days.

Now, the Shepherd Flute, having fallen into the hands of the Touch of the Kraken, which lacked human concepts of good and evil, had even been assimilated as part of it. This historical mission naturally became the fundamental guideline for its hunting thereafter.

It prioritized chasing after all beings in the sea guilty of treachery, breaking promises, ingratitude... and the like.

As it happened, the Strait Fleet was not only marked by the Black Mass Ceremony, it was also the largest group of oath-breaking rebels in the North Sea.

The Kingdom of Hightens was an island nation; its Army belonged to the various local Lords, which provided them with ample security. However, the most powerful Navy, meant to combat foreign foes, was mainly funded and assembled by the King. In name it was his personal private force, its loyalty was not to the nation, but to the King himself, and it even bore the prefix "Royal."

The Army was not much of a concern, but every single naval soldier who joined the York Family’s rebellion abandoned their oath of allegiance made at the time of enlistment. Serving the former regime and accepting its pay, then rebelling against it constituted the original sin of treachery and betrayal!

It was as if they had a double-layer buff.

"No—!"

Amid the screams of Norwich and the noble officers aboard, the small boat also disappeared from the sea’s surface the moment the fog arose. The two powerful Third Order Transcendents had no chance to resist.

Byron, who had already fled back to Iron Anchor Bay, stood at the bow of the Golden Deer, watching it all unfold before him.

As the one-time holder of the Nation-Destroying Nail, Byron also received the final outcome and intelligence about the Touch of the Kraken.

He took a deep breath and said, "While not perfect, the Iron Anchor Bay defense battle has finally come to an end. Some of the Strait Fleet might escape, but not many will survive. And from now on, any Navy under York that enters the North Sea will have to watch out for an elusive and invincible enemy. The freedom of fleet movement will be limited, and the Navy Department’s proposal to recruit foreign aid and incorporate Privateer Ships will likely soon be placed on the agenda, won’t it? I look forward to our next collaboration!"

This Holy Relic was just a one-time item, but the consequences of this battle will trigger a series of repercussions.

A single nail led to the downfall of the Strait Fleet.

But how is the downfall of the Strait Fleet not yet another nail for York at this time?

Under the chain of reactions, this great battle at Iron Anchor Bay might mark the end, but also the start of another systemic collapse.