Chapter 325 - People And Scum

Soon the anti-boarding effort slowed down and eventually, the first pirate managed to board the ship, before Darius could yell anything Mercury appeared in front of the pirate and punched out with a lightning-fast jab that instantly shattered the pirate's jaw and carved in his skull, Mercury grabbed his now lifeless body with his outstretched hand and used it as a shield to block the incoming arrows as he retreated back and stood next to Julia and Marie, then he threw the lifeless corpse on the deck before he cracked his neck and yelled at the sailors to boost morale

"They're just pirates! Scum of the seas! You are elite sailors, you have trained for this! SHOW THEM NO MERCY!"

""""""OOOHHH!!!""""""

As the sailors' morale was boosted they yelled out and fought harder than before, Darius nodded approvingly before he went back to giving commands Mercury soon darted around the ship instantly killing any boarding pirate, soon his aluminum gauntlets were covered in blood and gore, still his eyes were cold as the thought clutter gradually clouded his mind, this slowed down his movements gradually as he soon began chanting

"---Immortal, Immortal, Immortal, Immortal, Immortal, Immortal, Immortal, Immortal, Immortal, Immortal, Immortal, Immortal, Immortal, Immortal, Immortal, Immortal, Immortal, Immortal, Immortal, Immortal, Immortal, Immortal, Immortal, Immortal, Immortal, Immortal---"

His kills gradually tuned laxer and even more brutal too, this resulted in the pirates gradually gaining a foothold on the navy ship, Darius narrowed his eyes and soon ordered with a booming voice

"DRIVE THEM INTO THE SEA!"

""""""OOOHHH!!!""""""

It soon turned into a full-on melee as the sailors gradually were being pushed back, the situation seemed increasingly dire, soon a big pirate boarded the navy ship and yelled

"Go get 'em boys!"

Mercury showed a smile and after fighting a bit he managed to stop his own chanting before he yelled

"Priority target!"

Then from above, something swapped down with insane speed, it passed just like a lightning bolt, it seemed like an illusion, only its effect was clear, the big pirate took himself to the throat before he coughed up blood and his eyes rolled back in his skull before he fell to the ground, next to Mercury the culprit appeared, it was the metal bird, one of its very thin and very sharp wings had small droplets of blood rolling off it, with that blow the tide of the battle changed quickly as the pirates lost their leader and soon the pirates were beaten back to their own ship that then tired for a hasty retreat, only to be shelled to pieces and sunk of course, after the last of the pirates were beaten into submission Mercury sat down on the deck at once as he breathed heavily, next to him Marie and Julia also sat down and leaned against him as they caught their breaths, Darius walked over as he laughed proudly, when he stopped laughing he looked at the metal bird that were sitting on Mercury's shoulder and spoke

"That toy came in very handy"

Mercury showed a calm smile

"Yeah, it did… Though I know what you're going to say, there's only one of these and it stays with me"

Darius laughed before he spoke reassuringly

"Don't worry Mercury, I am not that greedy"

Mercury nodded and was about to say a word of thanks when he heard a scream from below deck, Darius heard it too and quickly yelled with his booming voice

"SECURE THE LOWER DECK AT ONCE!"

Mercury quickly got on his feet and kicked off the deck as he rushed forwards, within 2 seconds he reached an entrance to below deck, within another 4 seconds he had reached Max's room and ran through the open door, the inside of the room was a mess and a very dead pirate laid on the floor, it looked like his body had exploded from the inside in multiple places, Mercury scanned the room and soon found Max hurdled in a corner of the room, covering his eyes, he walked over and picked him up in his embrace and hugged him tight as he spoke

"Thank the heavens that you're safe!"

Max was trembling and remained silent as he covered his eyes... 

A few hours passed and Marie eventually managed to lul Max asleep, she stood in the door opening and showed a smile at Mercury as she spoke

"I'll stay with him tonight"

Mercury nodded before he gave Marie a quick kiss, then she closed the door, Mercury sighed before he walked back to his own cabin where he found Julie sitting on the small bed inside, he showed a smile as he walked in and sat down beside her, for a bit the none of them talked until Julia broke the silence and spoke

"You know it's not your fault"

"Yeah…"

"But you're still frustrated that it happened?"

"Yeah… That I am"

Julie showed a smile and took his hand, Mercury also showed a slight smile before he asked

"What are you so happy about?"

Julia thought for a moment before she answered coyly

"My choice in men?"

Mercury's smiled widened slightly before he swore

"This won't happen again"

"I know"

The next morning Mercury visited Max's room, he brought breakfast for both Max and Marie, when he opened the door he found the two of them sleeping on the bed, curled up together, Mercury showed a smile before he knocked on the doorframe a few times before he walked into the cabin, closing the door after himself in the now dark room he lit up the mana powered light that soon emitted a soft light inside the room which seemed to slowly stir Marie and Max that soon woke up, Marie rubbed her eyes before she let out a cute yawn and looked over at Mercury as she greeted him

"Good morning Mercury"

Mercury looked over at Max that covered his eyes as soon as he woke up and sighed before he sat down on the edge of the bed and stroked Max's head as he spoke

"Good morning Max"

Max trembled slightly before he spoke

"I-I killed him…"

"Yeah, that you did… I am proud Max"

"Eh..?"

Max clearly wasn't expecting Mercury to praise him and quickly removed his hands from his eyes and looked up, his eyes were still covered by his long hair though so Mercury was unable to see them, still, he could feel his gaze as Max asked

"You're not mad, dad?"

"Nah, I am proud that you stood up for yourself… Listen here Max in this world there are two types of people, there are normal people and then there's scum… Scum steal from, kill and torment normal people, they deserve nothing but death, so of course, I am proud that you killed some scum pirate"

Marie was slightly taken aback by what Mercury was saying and really wanted to comment on it but remained silent, Max looked very relieved before he quickly hugged Mercury as he cried out

"I thought you would hate me, dad!"

Mercury showed a smile and stroked Max on his back as he spoke

"Don't worry, I'll never hate you"

After shooting Max that fell asleep again Mercury left the cabin along with Marie that seemed a little unhappy as she spoke

"People and scum huh…"

Mercury showed a smile as he stroked the side of her cheek as he spoke

"You're kind Marie, don't ever change…"

"Geez… You and your smooth-talking Mercury…"

"What can I say? I am a smooth operator"

Time passed like always and soon the time on the ship came to an end as they reached the capital island of Juliantia which carried the same name as the country, Mercury heard from Darius that it also was the name of the first queen and her ship which she used to unite the island sea which brought about the mighty naval force of modern-day Juliantia, the island was about 22 square kilometers so it would take about one day of travel to reach the capital city that lay in the center of the island, the group were under heavy escort which they linked up with as soon as they left the ship, this escort force was led by a knight that was about Julia's age named William, the two seemed to have grown up together and they chatted merrily until Julia introduced Mercury

"---Oh right, this is Mercury, my boyfriend"

"...What?"

His handsome face soon distorted as he looked at Mercury, though only for a moment before it quickly remained calm as he spoke or rather laughed

"Ahahahahaha! Princess, you have always been such a joker… Though I'll prefer if you didn't joke about this subject, it's a matter of national pride after all"

Julia pouted before she asked

"What's so bad about Mercury?"

William showed a superficial smile as he asked

"What titles does he have? What land does he own? What armies does he command? Which lineage is he from? This is something you have to consider before you chose a partner princess"