The artillery duel between the "Queen Anne's Revenge" and the "Golden Hind" relentlessly closed the distance until it escalated into a furious boarding battle.
"Emiya! Cover us from the bow!" commanded Ritsuka.
Emiya charged forward without a word. Knocking aside flying cannonballs with precise shots from his bow, he closed the distance until he spotted a silhouette at the enemy ship's bow.
"Master, there's a Servant at the enemy's bow. Judging by the looks of it…" he grimaced with displeasure. "Tsk, a Lancer."
Emiya's face twisted into a sour expression. At the same time, Hector, standing at the bow of the "Queen Anne's Revenge," looked completely relaxed, casually slinging his spear over his shoulder.
"Oh… looks like the other side got reinforcements. So, an Archer-class Servant?"
Stroking his short beard, he studied the archer, and upon noticing an arrow flying towards him, lazily deflected it with a swing of his spear.
"He deflected it? But he should have still taken damage."
Emiya's words were just: even if his attack, comparable to a missile impact, was deflected, without skills like "Arrow Defense," it would be wiser to avoid such blows.
"Well, here I am with this role again. Ah, White Witch, what a task you've given me…" Hector, who had indeed felt a significant recoil, sighed in dismay. But at that moment, the ships drew alongside, and the real slaughter began.
"That arrow was quite painful. Actually, my creed is to get away in time, but orders are orders."
As the ships' bows aligned, Hector and Emiya froze, staring at each other.
"With Lancers… I'm no stranger to this. Gods, I was already happy you weren't in blue, but it's still a Lancer in the end? What irony of fate."
Emiya also clicked his tongue, lamenting his "luck," and projected black and white blades into his hands.
"An Archer engaging in close combat with swords? Well, that's hardly news. But coming out with blades against a spear… Aren't you underestimating me a bit too much?"
"I've heard that before too. But this isn't underestimation, it's more like a desperate attempt to give it my all!"
Emiya attacked first.
A short swing, two lightning-fast strikes – and both were blocked by the spear's shaft. Following that was a series of three lunges from both sides.
Sparks flew, and the air filled with the screech of metal. The exchange of blows grew fiercer.
Emiya parried Hector's sharp thrusts with his daggers, not allowing his opponent to land a single scratch. As soon as the initiative shifted to Emiya, Hector masterfully deflected the attacks with his spear, dodging with agile body movements.
"What are you gawking at?! Mouths open?!" Drake roared at her men, mesmerized by the Servants' duel. "We're in this too! Board them!"
The sailors of the "Golden Hind," snapping out of their stupor, drew cutlasses and pistols, leaping onto Teach's ship.
"You brats, protect the Goddess!" Drake commanded Ritsuka and Mash, then drew her own pistols and charged into the thick of the fight.
"One! Two! Three! Daitōn! Three!" Deadpool yelled meanwhile, firing in all directions and pressing Teach, who turned out to be quite a tough nut to crack.
"Four! Five! Sixth! Sense!!"
Even in the chaos of the general melee, these two managed to conduct a personal duel: sometimes they showered each other with lead, sometimes they clashed in a clinch, striking sparks from their blades.
"Dyu-hu-hu! Francis-grandma herself has jumped onto my ship! This isn't just an honor, it's super lucky! Though, I must admit, that girl with the shield and the Goddess lady are far more appetizing to me!"
"When you bare your teeth in battle, you look exactly like my buddy. But your face is an insult to my Spidey!"
Breaking the distance with a couple of sword strikes, Wade fired five bullets in rapid succession. Teach, however, managed to deflect them all, while simultaneously moving in for a counter-swing.
"What the hell?! He talks like a disgusting pervert, but fights like a god!"
"Uhyo-o-ot?! What, colleague-kun, are your batteries already dead? Dyu-hu-hu-hu, but I'm like 'Duracell,' – working and working! All for my great dream of young maidens! That's my perpetual motion machine!"
"If you're 'Duracell,' then I'm a vibranium battery!"
The fight reached a stalemate. Teach demonstrated truly devilish resilience – befitting his ship, which remained afloat despite direct hits from the "Golden Hind's" cannons.
"[Uh… guys? I'm detecting multiple powerful mana signals, they're approaching you…]"
Romani's voice from the terminal cut through the din of battle, and at the same moment, a sound resembling the roar of a giant horn echoed from the depths of the sea.
"Senpai… Did you hear that?"
"Oh god. I have a bad feeling about this…"
Ritsuka instantly recalled the events he had tried so hard to forget. The day they first arrived in Okeanos and encountered the ghost fleet.
"That sound… Everyone return to the ship immediately!"
As the eerie roar repeated, spreading over the waves, Drake hurried to recall her men.
"Uh oh. Looks like His Majesty decided to show up in person. My condolences, Archer. You guys are in big trouble. If I were you, I'd be making tracks."
Hector, who had been fighting on the front lines, threw this at Emiya, then raised his spear and hastily retreated.
"Master, that sound…"
Emiya, sensing something was wrong, stepped towards Ritsuka, but was interrupted by a frantic scream.
"KRAKEN!"
One of Teach's sailors, spotting writhing tentacles emerging from the water, screamed in primal terror.
"Davy Jones' messenger?! A Kraken?!"
"What? This giant appetizer for beer?!"
Teach and Deadpool, who had been ready to tear each other's throats out, recoiled in fear as a colossal tentacle shot up over the deck.
"Every man for himself!"
The deck instantly turned into hell. Enemies and allies mingled in a single surge, trying to get away from the slimy appendages.
The Kraken acted with lightning speed: its tentacles, like living whips, wrapped around the ship and snatched unfortunate sailors. As soon as the suckers touched flesh, life was literally sucked out of the people – their bodies turned to water and dripped onto the planks.
"Damn, what luck! Second time this week! This is just a curse, Wade Wilson!"
Deadpool, slicing through the tentacles reaching for him, leaped onto the "Golden Hind" and desperately hacked at the monster's limbs as it tried to ensnare Drake's ship.
"Hee-hee! Are Lily-chan and zombie-oyaji here too?!"
Teach, watching his sailors dissolve one by one into water, felt something intuitively. The wild expression on his face was gone – now it was deathly pale.
"Uhyo-o-ot?! I'm about to… be violated by tentacles!"
Soon, Teach was captured. Caught in the Kraken's coils, he stared with wide eyes at two ships that appeared in the distance, like ghosts.
"Little sister! Over there, ships…!"
Drake, noticing the appearance of the vessels, couldn't hide her astonishment either.
One of the ships that rose from the depths was the "Flying Dutchman." The second was a galley, apparently from ancient times.
"Doctor Romani, do you see? There's a galley…"
"[Hmm… if the calculation results are correct, then the galley next to the 'Flying Dutchman' is… the 'Argo'!]"
Romani's head began to ache. It was the legendary ship that carried the famous heroes of Greek myths. A ship bearing the heroic spirits of the Argonauts from the legends of the "Iliad." And that meant…
"■■■■■■■…!!"
Along with a familiar furious roar, three figures appeared on the "Argo's" deck.
A little girl in snow-white robes with a staff in her hands.
A middle-aged man in the attire of a Greek aristocrat with long golden hair. His eyes were filled with arrogance and vanity.
And finally, a colossal giant – a man whom Ritsuka, Mash, and especially Deadpool would never forget.
Dark skin, distorted, unnatural muscles, and a ferocious visage – the mere sight of him was enough to make Deadpool feel sick.
"Oh god, fat Thor! This guy again?!"
Then Deadpool shifted his gaze to the "Flying Dutchman" and cursed in annoyance:
"Ah, damn it. These guys again…"
With the appearance of the "Argo" and the "Flying Dutchman," the atmosphere on the battlefield froze.
Soon, the zombie pirate Davy Jones shouted, his bloodshot eyes gleaming, "Captain of that ship, come out! That Red Pants guy I have a contract with!!"
Everyone on the "Golden Hind" simultaneously stared at Deadpool. Caught while attempting to escape, Deadpool was dragged by rough hands to the very bulwark.
"You! How dare you break our agreement and escape! And with that incompetent Jack, too!"
"Well, first of all, I didn't exactly want to escape myself, your lackey just offered me a deal. How could I refuse? I'm just a small fry. How about you try this chimichanga with sardines, and we can discuss everything…"
"Enough!"
Enraged by the pathetic excuses, Davy Jones intended to take his head right there. Deadpool, feigning mortal terror, fell to his knees and stammered, clasping his hands pleadingly:
"Wait! You yourself said – contract! But this contract doesn't apply to me anymore!"
"Shut up! Deadpool Red Pants, you are the captain of that ship! The contract is still in effect…"
Deadpool pointed at Teach, entangled in the Kraken's tentacles. Davy Jones, looking stunned, shifted his gaze from one to the other.
"After you dragged me away, this guy became the captain. And since I'm no longer the captain, there's no reason for me to stay with you. The contract clearly states: 'captain of that ship.' Meaning, not me, do you understand the logic?"
Davy Jones trembled with rage, confronted with such ironclad reasoning.
There was nothing to argue against, and killing him in a fit of anger (even if it were possible) would violate the laws of the underworld. No matter how cruel this zombie pirate was, he was bound by the rules of the other world, and thus had to redirect his anger elsewhere.
"U… uhyo-o-ot?!"
That direction became Edward Teach. After all, he was the one who escaped, disregarding the price of the deal, so he should pay by rights.
"Everything has returned to its original state. Traitor! Did you really think you could live after betraying me and the White Witch!"
Teach trembled before Davy Jones' threat. Even one who sold his soul to the devil and was a symbol of terror to his enemies, in his mortal hour, turned out to be just an ordinary human.
"I… I'll give you the Saber-face figure set from 'Fate/Grand Order'!"
"No need!"
"Then… a guaranteed five-star Servant summon ticket…"
"I don't need it!"
"Then! A thousand Saint Quartz…!"
"I'll take it!!"
All eyes turned towards the unexpected shout, which belonged not to Davy Jones at all. The hero of the moment turned out to be Fujimaru Ritsuka.
"Huh? Oops. Hmm-hmm. Never mind, forget it. Continue."
The atmosphere heated up again.
"Are you afraid to die, Captain Edward Teach?"
"Uhyo-o-ot?! I can't die yet, I haven't recorded this season's late-night anime… A-a-ak!!"
The Kraken's tentacles squeezed Teach tighter, and his soul, desperately resisting, began to be absorbed by the monster.
"I still haven't read so many doujinshi! I have to go to Comiket! Aaaah! So many regrets in my life!"
Teach's soul was swallowed, and his body crumbled into sparks of light, as if returning to the Throne of Heroes. At that moment, from the folds of his cloak, a familiar item fell into Davy Jones' hands.
"This is the Holy Grail!"
"So Blackbeard had it all this time?!"
"That's why he was so strong?"
Ritsuka and the others stared at the artifact in amazement. It was not the true Drake Grail, but the Lion's Grail. It was thanks to this that Teach's ship remained unharmed even under heavy fire.
"Take it. And finish this quickly. World incineration or salvation – time is running out. If we delay, the wall between life and death, destruction and restoration will collapse."
Throwing these mysterious words to the snow-white girl, Davy Jones turned his ship around. Then he looked at Drake's vessel and roared,
"Kraken! The feast begins! Devour them all!"
***
Read the story months ahead of the public release — early chapters are available on my Patreon: Granulan