16 Stab i

"KYAHAHAHAHAAHA! Fullmont! I bet you never thought the day would come where all of us got together!" A heavy voice sounded out through the sky.

"All of you?" Fullmont raised a brow.

"Correct! For it is I! Red-Beard!" Shiro blinked as he looked at the man who really did have a red beard.

"And I! Black-Beard!" He turned his head to see a guy with a black beard

"And I! Yellow-Beard!"

"Blue-Beard!"

"Neck-Beard!"

"Tentacle-Beard!"

"Rainbow-Beard!"

Many other pirate captains with beards announced themselves from their own ships.

"Oi, you don't have a beard!" Shiro pointed out

"You brat! I'm Lip-Beard!" the man retorted

"THAT'S JUST A MUSTACHE!"

"And I am No-Beard!" this time a woman actually announced herself.

"And I is Prepubescent-Beard!" A toddler announced as he actually had a beard on him.

"So, you lot think you can take down the Vilmark do ya?" Fullmont spoke as three golden eyes manifested above him. A powerful pressure seemed to drown the skies as the other Captains released their own eyes in response.

Shiro felt himself buckle down as the ungodly pressure forced him to the ground. He clenched his teeth as he tried to resist it with all his power. However in an instant, all the pressure disappeared. Shiro looked up to the sound of footsteps approaching the front of the deck where Fullmont stood at.

"You guys might want to consider trying another time, since I'm here." Miya stood infront of Fullmont as 6 golden eyes flared out above her. The power from her eyes completely invalidated the combined pressure of all the other Pirate Captains.

"Oh but you see this Captain Beard, came here just for you. Sword Empress!" A larger ship bursted through the dark clouds as Shiro saw the sight of a man who's entire face was literally just a beard.

"Oh? Are you sure you aren't overestimating yourself?" She smirked at his dramatic entrance.

"Aye. If I were alone, then there would be no chance of defeating you." The Beard-faced Captain admitted with his arms behind his back.

"However, each Captain here has the same ironclad level 100 skill that boosts all fellow pirates here. Since we've all come together, you can imagine how serious we are about making this your grave." From within his dark beard, his eyes could be seen glowing straight towards her.

Miya Sushi's confident expression didn't change as she placed her hands on the handle of her swords. "Then why don't you show me your resolve before I cut you down." Her eyes flashed menacing light as the pirates expressions hardened

*BOOM*

However, it wasn't any of these powerhouses who made the first move. Instead, on the deck of one of the pirate ships. A cold explosion startled everyone as the entire ship started to freeze over. The cry of a dragon sounded out as the Sword Empress smiled at the sight of Shiro assaulting a Captain completely out of his level.

"EXPERIENCE!!" was his battle-cry

∞

Shiro POV

Okay, perhaps I didn't think this through. But dear gods that was fun! I think to myself as I pointed my blade straight at the tentacle-bearded Captain.

"PREPARE YOURSELF CUZ I AM BOUT TO WRECK YOUR SHIT!" I shouted despite being outclassed. I've noticed that the pirates that I froze over seemed to be breaking out of the ice. I'm guessing that thing they were talking about earlier about buffing their fellow pirates wasn't a bluff. These guys are pretty tough, if I didn't have Fafnir's armor then I would be dead right now.

"Kill the brat before he damages the ship any further!" I've noticed that while there are barriers to protect the ships from ranged attacks, it doesn't stop people from straight up jumping right through them.

I created two clones but they immediately shattered when the damn tentacle beard bastard used one of those floating eyes again! Seriously, the fuck is that anyway!? It's honestly supressing me, but I think Miya offset the pressure so it's not as bad as before.

Dodging magic blasts and kicking pirates overboard, I notice that I'm starting to get surrounded here. I don't want to waste too much energy on just this ship, but I might have to. Before I could use up more energy, someone seemed to have dropped right onto the group of pirates as the sheer weight of their armor crushed them to the next floor.

Besides the mouth, his plate armor completely covered his body. I can't even see his eyes through the slits of his helmet. The newcomer seemed to gesture to me for a moment but I didn't understand until.

[Translation: I will hold them off here, find the core of the ship.] the System translated the sign language as my eyes lit up in understanding.

"Alright! Take care of yourself!" I shouted as I ran off into the ship in search of the core.

∞

"Stop him!" The Captain shouted at his men as he was too pre-occupied assisting the other Captains in the main assault.

The armored figure stood in front of the mob of pirates that attempted to go around him. With a single stomp, the pirates seemed to have lost their balance as the force of the stomp was enough to shake the entire ship.

The pirates found that they wouldn't be able to chase after Shiro without going through the armored knight.

∞

Shiro POV

I will be the first to admit, that I am completely lost. Where the hell would the power core of a ship be located at? I've been running through this ship for at least 5 minutes now and all I've found are storage rooms, living quarters and the occasional restroom. I wonder if they dump their waste from the ship into the sea, that sounds gross.

Reaching what I believe to be the bottom of the ship, I look up to see something unexpected.

"System, how the hell am I gonna destroy that?!" I asked as the power core was literally composed of a floating sphere with runes spinning within it. It gave off a massive amount of energy from where i'm standing, I'm honestly unsure if I can destroy it.

[Stab it] I rolled my eyes at that response.

"How the hell am I going to stab it? I'm pretty sure this is a super ball of power that wouldn't give a damn about the amount of times I smacked it."

[Master Shiro, while it's true that in normal cases. A person wouldn't be able to simply 'stab' it, however you have a god ranked weapon that is literally 100% made of divinity. If the power source had a physical wall to block it, then you might have problems. But that is completely energy based.] the System clarified. So basically, I can completely shit on anything if it's pure energy is what he's saying.

I took another look at the ball of pure power with an insane grin on my face.

∞

Tentacle-Beard was focused on the barrier of the Vilmark, the original plan was for Captain Beard to hold off the Sword Empress as the rest of the captains focused on the barrier. Technically speaking, a barrier of this size would consume an abundant amount of power and if it were to be strained to a certain point. It might just affect the ship's main power.

It was already an agreed upon strategy as even with all of them together, they wouldn't be able to defeat Fullmont and the Sword Empress in a head on fight. Especially that damn Sword Empress, however they could definitely drown her in the chaos tides.

*BOOM!*

"WHAT!?" the Tentacle-Bearded Captain panicked as he turned his head to find his ship completely wrecked from the inside. He couldn't understand what happened as he fell down towards the sea.

The armored man and the surrounding pirates also started falling towards the sea as the sound of an ice dragon's cry rang out through the air. Shiro rode the serpentine ice dragon as he grabbed his armored ally.

"Oh shit!" He nearly slipped as the dude's armor was insanely heavy.

{Translation: My thanks] the system translated the sign language again.

"YOU DAMN BRAT!!!!!" Tentacle-Beard opened his mouth as a corrosive beam shot straight through his dragon before he was finally eaten by a corrupted beast.

"Good thing I don't need the full dragon." Shiro sighed in relief as the beam literally split his dragon in two. However he just needed to control the ice that they were riding on.

"TENTACLE-BEARD IS DOWN!" One of the other Captains shouted out as they noticed what happened.

"What now!?" It was hard enough fighting against the Sword Empress before, now they were weakened after losing one of their main buffers.

Captain Beard seemed to scowl behind his beard. He looked over to the Sword Empress who stood on one of her spirit swords as her fighting spirit never dropped.

"Congratulations Sword Empress, it seems you get to live today." Captain Beard spoke as he ordered the retreat. "RETREAT!"

"Oh? You really are underestimating me if you're willing to turn your back to me." Miya's eyes seemed to flash as a sword hymn echoed through the skies.

Those present could feel a shiver of death crawl up their spines as in merely an instant. 7 out of the 11 remaining ships were split in three.

"Holy shit." Shiro whispered at the sight.