"Wha?!"
All of us turned to the side of the ship and saw a tall muscular woman standing on the railings.
Her hair was as pale as spider's silk, eyes as golden as a dwarven coin. She was wearing a clothing of glimmering dark fish scales which was so pressed against her body as if it was her second skin.
"Tsamudran!"
Maran shouted while drawing his two broadswords from his back.
The captain and his men quickly drew their swords and began crowding around the silver-haired woman.
"The younglings! Don't forget the younglings, you fools!"
Jerinthal screamed from the floor, agonizing over the bloodied stumps on his arms.
They all turned back to us.
Since the mage's hands were torn off, his spell on the children had disappeared.
I just finally noticed the youngest girl holding her hands up toward the Streaker's crews.
[Maha Varuna]
She chanted.
A pillar of water burst forth from her palms and butchered a dozen men standing in front of us into unrecognizable pieces of flesh. A huge sail mast was torn down by the attack.
The two other children rushed forward and started breaking jaws and snapping throats of the rest of the men with their bare hands.
As Jerinthal said, none of the swords managed to inflict any wound on the Tsamudran. It was like striking steel, or really tough rubber.
The men from below the deck started climbing up the ramp.
Seeing them, the youngest girl waved her hands. Some of the water spilled from her previous magic assault hovered back to her and they transformed into spear-like shapes.
She flicked her wrists toward the men and the water spears darted to the crews and punctured through their bodies.
Maran and the captain tried to intercept the children, but the Tsamudran woman leaped off from the railings, landing in front of the two sailors and blocked their charge.
The muscular woman reclaimed her golden trident she threw earlier and battled against the two veteran captains.
I had seen the captain in many battles before. And I had heard the tales of Maran skirmishing against imperial army and other pirates.
But the two looked like novice deckhands when they were up against the Tsamudran.
She parried their swords like they were mere twigs.
Multiple times she managed to outmaneuver the two captains and reached their blind spots.
There were moments when I could see her killing them. But she seemed to choose not to.
It was hard to think otherwise given the smile on her face.
And it was then that I realized something.
She was the woman I saw a month ago.
"That's enough playing, Sarlein!"
The eldest girl said to the woman from across the ship.
She and the boy had massacred the rest of the Streaker's crew.
"As you wish, my lady Fandina."
The woman said with a slight nod.
She took a good grip of her golden trident and swept it across.
The weapon sliced through the captain's and Maran's swords like hot knife through butter.
With her opponents unarmed, the Tsamudran woman continued to thrust her trident and speared the two men at once through their heads.
I never had seen men killed so effortlessly.
This Sarlein woman then made her way to the eldest girl, Fandina, and the boy.
The two were standing over Jerinthal who was still in pain from his wounds.
"Is this the criminal?"
Sarlein asked.
Fandina nodded.
"Yes. He was the one who imprisoned and kidnapped Wallack, Morivia, and I."
Sarlein replied her with another nod and stared at Jerinthal.
"Imprisoning and kidnapping Tsamudran High Blood are punishable by death without trial. Although you are not of the heirs, may the Great Mother still embraces you."
Jerinthal could only watch with bulging eyes as Sarlein raised her trident and plunged it into his heart.
The woman then turned her eyes to me, unfazed by the slaughter she just performed.
"How about him?"
The youngest girl suddenly stood in front of me and raised her hand toward the woman.
"This human saved us, Sarlein! You shall not harm him!"
Sarlein raised her eyebrows.
"He saved you? I believe we have a lot of catching up to do."
"Yes. But let's continue talking underwater. I love sneaking up to the surface. But we've been breathing air for too long that I don't like it anymore."
The boy said.
Fandina nodded to him and turned to the youngest girl.
"Morivia. Sink this ship, please."
"Of course, sister."
The small girl said while raising her hands toward the hull.
Sink the ship? Would they really do that?
[Maha Varuna]
Morivia chanted and another stream of water burst forth from her palms, piercing below deck and splitting the ship in half.
"Hey, wait!"
I said before I fell under the ship's debris, plunged to the depths of the ocean, and lost my consciousness.
When I opened my eyes again, I was lying on a sandy beach in some shore I did not know about.
The Tsamudran were standing by my side, watching over the cage where the children were imprisoned in.
"It was really well planned."
Sarlein said while eyeing the magic artifact.
Wallack, the boy as I figured, nodded to her.
"Gerion said the High Bloods of the Lauthan Clan were planning to infiltrate into our stronghold and kidnap us. So we agreed to go with him to this island where he said we would be safe."
"That was when those pirates showed up along with that mage. Since Gerion was with us, we thought we had nothing to worry about. But then he left us."
Fandina added.
Morivia, the youngest girl, reached for the Tsamudran woman's hand.
"Did Gerion really betrayed us, Sarlein?"
"I'm afraid he did, Lady Morivia. The reason I came to search for you was because we discovered Gerion was a Lauthan spy. I'm sorry that I could not stop his plot and prevent you from being kidnapped."
"It's fine, Sarlein. I knew you would come for us."
"I wanted to save you much earlier. But I did not know how many mages there was on board, nor how to break you free from your prison. I was afraid they had a hold on your lives since you did not try to escape. I could not dare to risk a rescue and only endangering you further."
Fandina and Wallack tapped Sarlein on her shoulders.
"You did the best you could, Sarlein. You're the only one who knew where we were. You could not afford to go back for reinforcement without losing track of us first."
"And you could only get yourself killed if there was a stronger mage on that ship."
Sarlein quickly went to her knees.
"I don't deserve your grace, young mistress, young master!"
Morivia then noticed me waking up and walked to me.
"I believe we also owe this human our gratitude."
Fandina and Wallack nodded with a smile.
"You've achieved great honor by rescuing three High Bloods."
Fandina said to me.
"The Tsamudran, especially of the Matair Clan, knows how to repay their debts."
Wallack said while bringing me up to my feet.
"Sarlein, give him his prepared reward."
Morivia said to the Tsamudran woman.
"As you wish, my lady."
Sarlein said.
She unbuckled a bracelet from her wrist and handed it to me.
It was made of pearls, gold, diamond, and other colorful crystals I did not know the name for. They were carved in very peculiar shapes.
"This is called the Serpent's Cycle. Given by the High Blood to the bravest of their warriors."
Sarlein said.
I just noticed the woman had nine more of such bracelet hanging on both of her forearms.
The Tsamudran continued.
"Normally you would be given three bracelets since you saved three High Bloods. But you're also a human who used to serve the criminals who kidnapped the same High Bloods. Even if you did not, it is against tradition and even taboo to reward human with a Serpent's Cycle in the first place."
"Nonetheless, you saved us."
Fandina stepped in.
"Sarlein would never find her opening to help us if you did not free us from the cage first."
Wallack said.
Morivia walked up to me and pointed northward, beyond the shore and to the expanding land.
"As promised, we've brought you safely to dry ground. You are standing on what you called the Dunia continent. You will find a human town if you keep walking east along this beach."
Sarlein took up her trident attached on the sand and addressed the children.
"We need to get going. Your father and mother are preparing the Matair Clan for war against the Lauthan. They would wish you to be back safe and sound before the first skirmish."
They all nodded to her.
Fandina and Wallack began to carry the magic artifact with them. Morivia was holding the bracelet.
Seeing me eyeing the cage, Sarlein spoke to me.
"We can't let you keep the magic artifact. We need it as evidence against the Lauthan."
The children frowned at the cage.
"To think the humans had such an awful thing."
Morivia said.
"Moreover, those pirates had this cage ready when Gerion left us on that island."
Wallack said.
"So it is true that the humans have managed to spread their influence into the Tsamudra Empire."
Fandina said.
Without sparing another glance at me, the children ran to the sea and disappeared under the waves.
Sarlein made another nod toward me.
"Farewell, sailor. You acted courageously today. Your bravery deserves to be honored for generations."
I watched the last Tsamudran vanish into the ocean beyond me.
I could barely understand what they were saying since I was still recovering from the fact that I met with water-breathing people and that I just betrayed a mage, a pirate captain, and my captain and the entire ship's crew, killing them all in the process.
It was hard to digest whatever the Tsamudran just said to me after Streaker was destroyed.
But I knew one fact for sure.
I did the right thing.