Frederick Stephman was the quartermaster of the Kraken Blood pirates and a close friend of the notorious pirate Silas Draven, known for his violence and cruel methods, a lunatic with a bounty of £5,000 on his head. Frederick was no different; he enjoyed the benefits of being friends with someone like that: the drink, the women, the treasure; he enjoyed each of those things regardless of how bloody or depraved their origin was.
Just like tonight.
"Hehehe, let's see, who should I play with today?"
Silas Draves had recently gotten involved in the lucrative business of human trafficking; it was quite easy, they just had to not ask what they would be used for or who they would be delivered to—a very suspicious deal, but for enough money that was a minor problem.
Frederick had made a significant contribution to the capture of this group, so his captain had given him permission to test some of the "merchandise"; however, he warned him to be careful not to break or mistreat them too much, as the price would drop as a result.
"That young girl from Intis didn't look bad at all; I could give her a try, hahaha."
The young girl he was referring to was no more than 17 years old; she had been kidnapped along with other people while traveling on a sailboat bound for Pritz Harbor. Her father had tried to protect her but was killed by a shot courtesy of Frederick himself.
"Yes, the expression she made that time was quite charming, hahaha, I've made up my mind."
Excitement filled his heart as he quickened his pace toward the warehouse, went down the stairs, and soon arrived at the doors. Without hesitation, he spread his arms and opened it, revealing the cages filled with people of all ages and ethnicities, who, upon hearing that the doors would open, shuddered and watched in fear as Frederick entered.
He scanned the different cages until his eyes rested on a charming young girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, who, realizing that Frederick was looking at her with clearly malicious intentions, began to tremble and tried to move as far away as she could; unfortunately, the bars of the cage prevented her from moving more than a few inches.
Seeing the young woman trembling like a helpless rabbit, the smile on Frederick's face widened even more; he enjoyed the feeling of power and superiority it gave him. Slowly and deliberately, he began to walk toward the young woman, only to increase her torment.
"N-no..."
The young girl could do nothing but tremble and shake her head as tears began to stream from her eyes. The other prisoners watched this scene helplessly; some looked at Frederick with undisguised hatred, while others did not dare to look, turning away so as not to witness what was about to happen.
When he was a few steps away from the young girl, Frederick began to speak with a cruel smile on his face.
"Hello, sweetheart, do you remem-?"
But just as he was about to remind the young woman that he was the one who had killed her father, his words stuck in his throat. A thin red line appeared on his neck, from which large amounts of blood began to flow.
"Ghukg!"
Frederik fell to his knees and tried to stop the blood with his hands; however, it continued to flow, suffocating him and depriving him of oxygen. As he desperately tried to stop the bleeding, he saw a pair of boots beside him, a presence he hadn't even noticed was there. He slowly looked up, and what he saw left him paralyzed.
A figure that could only be described as a demon seemed to blend into the shadows; it watched him bleed to death with an expressionless face while holding a strange, large, completely black sword, from which a crimson liquid dripped down its blade.
Finally, Frederick fell dead, fear, confusion, and outrage etched on his eyes, reflecting the figure of the demon that had killed him before he even realized it.
***
Lewis looked at the corpse of the pirate he had just killed and couldn't help but tighten his grip on the hilt of his odachi. Although the mask allowed him to remain calm in most situations, he couldn't help but feel a strong emotional reaction to what he had done; he suspected that if it weren't for the mask, he would most likely have collapsed on the spot.
'It's okay; he was a pirate, human trash. There was no doubt what he planned to do to that girl.'
Little by little, he justified his actions; upon learning that the pirates were involved in human trafficking, he had already considered killing them all; he believed that with his strength and ability to hide in the shadows, as long as he was careful, he would be able to do so without any problems. But he, who had never killed another human being, hesitated to act. With the murlocs, it wasn't so difficult; he had unconsciously seen them more as "sources of exp" than as actual living creatures; that, coupled with their monstrous appearances more akin to mutant fish, made it much easier for him to adapt.
'Yes... these guys can't be considered human after all they've done, they're worse than murlocs; at least they mostly act on instinct.'
After guiding his thoughts in the right direction with the help of the mask's calming effects, Lewis quickly regained his composure; soon he could also feel the familiar current energizing his body, but this time it was much weaker.
'Indeed, worse than a murloc.'
He couldn't help but satirize in his mind.
"Thank you..."
His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden sobbing voice; he turned to look at the young girl whom the pirate had been approaching to perform unspeakable acts. Her head was bowed and tears were streaming uncontrollably down her face; her hands clenched tightly against her chest, wrinkling her clothes as she muttered over and over between sobs.
"Thank you... thank you..."
Lewis stood motionless, his gaze sweeping over the other cages where the other prisoners were locked up. Most of them shuddered when his gaze fell on them; the fear was clear in their eyes as they looked at the "demon" who had suddenly appeared, but deep down, in the depths of their eyes, there was another emotion reflected.
Hope.
"..."
Without saying a word, Lewis turned and walked to the warehouse exit, blending into the shadows cast by the crimson moon. The dark warehouse fell silent, except for the young girl's sobs, which had not ceased, and her constant murmurs.
"Thank you..."
***
Bayam The City of Generosity, at the headquarters of the Royal Navy of Loen.
"Are you saying that a pirate ship was intercepted trying to enter the port directly?"
A gray-haired officer with a receding hairline was taken aback by the news he had been given by his subordinate, a man in his early middle age with visible wrinkles at the corners of his eyes.
"Yes, sir, that seems to be the case."
"What kind of fool would try that? Is it one of the Five Pirate Admirals?"
The officer asked; the only way he could see it making sense for a pirate ship to dare to enter the port directly was if it belonged to one of the infamous and powerful Pirate Admirals. His subordinate replied as he carefully read the report that had been given to him by the port police, who had intercepted the ship.
"No, sir, the ship belonged to the infamous Kraken's Blood; its captain is the notorious Silas Draven, a pirate with a bounty of £5,000. We have tried to capture them in the past, but they managed to escape in every encounter.
"Silas Draven, eh? That deranged bastard, so he finally went mad? Or did the weight of his actions finally catch up with him, and he turned himself in voluntarily?"
The man in his early middle age continued to look at the report before stopping and frowning deeply, then in a somewhat vague tone he informed the officer.
"Sir, it says here that... all the pirates on the ship were dead when they arrived, including Silas Draves. All were found in their beds except for one, who was found in the warehouse. All had clean cuts across their throats, and all had expressions of deep terror on their faces."
Upon hearing the report, the officer looked surprised before saying incredulously,
"They all died? Including Silas Draves? Are you sure it wasn't some kind of internal fight?"
"No, it says here that investigations showed that everyone was asleep when it happened. Also, there were several people locked in cages on the ship. Apparently, they were in the middle of a human trafficking operation. When questioned, they all said that the person responsible was a demon carrying a strange curved sword. They said that he was responsible for murdering the pirate we found in the warehouse and that he melted into the shadows, becoming invisible."
The more the officer listened, the more incredulous his expression became. In all his years of service, he had heard all kinds of stories and was aware of the hidden side of this world, but he had never heard anything like this before.
"Is there anything else?"
He asked his subordinate, who began to review the report before stopping at one of the pages. His expression became slightly strange, and he hesitated to speak.
"One of the victims, Leila Franett, daughter of a minor baron of the Republic of Intis, gave a different description of the alleged demon."
The man with deep wrinkles at the corners of his eyes spoke but then paused, reading the report carefully, as if to confirm that what was written there was correct. The officer grew more anxious and said in an impatient tone.
"Well? What did she say?"
"She said... she said he was a heroic demon knight."
The room fell into sudden silence.