Chapter 83: Once Again, Damn You Rassus!

Lady Darcey snapped. She knew what Ned meant. "How sure are ye, kid?" she said. Brushing scattered pieces of woods off her shoulder and dust on her flustered face.

"One way to find out," Ned replied. Even though his wound was a scratch, it was deep. Thick fresh blood flowed out his weary arm.

"Lady Baba, mend the lad's wound," Captain Darcey said. Gesturing an old lady pirate tending the other's wounds. "Lad, this better be work. If not, me crews gonna die as well."

The Captain stood and walked the timbered deck. Edges were plastered with iron that ran at the bottom, and outside the surface of the ship. Acting like a shield altogether with their barrier. She checked the deck. Woods scattered everywhere, barrels, nets, lined the surface randomly, making a mess which limits the movements of the crew. Not far from her, the quarter deck was awkwardly mangled. Setting fire that ran and will eat the Lobby if not tolerated. "Someone, take off that fire!" she ordered.

Limping near the edge of the ship, she looked behind her shoulder. "Lad, prepare the coffin, me gonna buy some time," she said. Returning her gaze at the front, her eyes twinkled not by excitement but by a fiery of hate inside her. She gripped her blade, pulled, and breathe in deep. This time, she could feel the weight. The weight she could use to device different angles to attack her enemies. She became focused. She also knew they would kill Sisi even if they hand the coffin. So why not save Sisi and hand the coffin. Now she knew what Ned meant. A Trojan horse, it was.

As the Redcap Wing circled the sky, waiting for its mater's plea. Their leader gestured. The flying monster hovered two more circles before it went to the Scourge warship and rested its angry talon onto one of the masts. "I changed my mind," he said. Pointing his finger to one of his crew. "Get me the chains."

The crew, treaded the wooden floor, making sure to run as to how their Captain wished them to move, if not by chance then the crew would slack off by a mere inch. Their Captain would call them into his cabin and punished them according to their mistakes - it could be either they walk the plank and be food for the sea creatures, or moan and wished that they'd rather be food for the sea creatures. Either way, their captain made sure they won't like it.

"Now, pirates, listen," he said. Poking a finger towards the Cuttlewitch Lobby's crew. He grinned. "Any of you who wish to leave must leave now. This is not a proposal. This came out of my goodwill—"

Before he could finish his speech, two lady crew dashed to untie the knot that binding the raft. Lady Darcey wasn't baffled at all. These two ladies were new recruits, she even wondered how they survived.

The two dashed without meeting lady Darcey's eyes. They rode the jagged raft before it fell and splashed at the bottom. The raft then sailed meters and meters away before it was bombarded by a series of iron arrows imbued with magic. An arrow that was made sure to kill.

"Ha!" The scourge leader laughed. Jerking like an idiot with his dark inked figure. "Those idiots really thought I'm letting them leave. Alive!"

Lady Darcey could only bit his lips. She tasted blood. "Make it happen, lad," she glared back at Ned before she invoked a spell that enveloped her right limb with a series of terra magic. She jumped, aiming herself towards the warship. She then threw the blade on her left and the moment it made contact on the iron deck of the ship, the blade exploded. Rocks in a form of spear spread randomly, hitting and killing the Scourge's crew, unaware of the situation.

"This will do for now," Lady Baba said. Her wrinkled face shows how they were related to her age. She could barely reach Ned with her short limbs the same as her short legs. Ned knelt to stop the awkwardness of the situation.

Lady Baba used a series of magic, fire magic, and wind magic with an added effect of water magic, to force Ned's wound to heal at a rapid rate.

Ned nodded to thank Lady Baba's healing magic. Seeing how the old lay exhausted, Ned flicks his wrist to give her a bowl of soup. Their bowl of soup. Still steaming hot.

Lady Baba smiled and sipped the steaming soup. "Think we're even, lad," Lady Baba said feeling the soup through her mouth. "Help the others," she added.

Turning his head towards the booming and metal clanking. He saw Lady Darcey taking the Scourge's crew by herself. Better hurry. She won't hold for—

Ned was right.

With a tremendous boom and rumble. Ned spun his head as his vision was obscured with the dust. The impact resounded, deafening, that the smoke reached their ship.

The Redcap Wing forced its way against the Scourge crew to get its target—Lady Darcey.

As the dust settled, blood littered the deck. While lady Darcey holding her own against the talon of the Grade A summoned beast. Her terra imbued arm made a cracking sound as the talon forced its way to mutilate the captain.

She will die. Ned thought. "Captain!" he cried and raced near the ship's edge. "Your rook! tell your tamed to ground, here!"

Ned's voice echoed the sea. The wind helped it traveled faster to reach lady Darcey's swearing ears. Although confused, she commanded her tamed beasts to land near Ned.

The Redcap's force outwitted Lady Darcey, forcing her and throwing her. She spun midair only to be caught by the sail of the warship. Sliding and falling on the deck.

She knelt, she could hear the crew's footsteps running towards her. With her remaining Mana, she stood and cried. Her magic surrounded her figure, uneven stones circling her. Acting like a barrier that kept on revolving. But, her plan wasn't to use it like that. She cried once more, and blood leaked out her ears and eyes, commanding the magic circumscribing her. With a shout, the rocks shot out randomly. Hitting. Beating. Stabbing the attacking crew. Aside from the flesh, only blood remained. She knelt once again and collapsed. With her magic, she lost quite an amount of Mana.

With the Redcap's red eyes, it flapped its ragged wings, hovered, and glided to attack the lady pirate.

With the rook on his side. Ned bit his fingers. Blood leaked. He could feel the pain. But it was nothing compared to what he was feeling. Exhausted, almost like dying, hungry but full, pale like a dead corpse. But his blood remained the same; crimson, fresh, and pure mana mixed.

He fed the rook with his blood. The rook was an evolved form. But wasn't the final form. It felt confused, but her master commanded her. Its eyes were saying 'you look like a shit human. And feeding me with your shit?'

With a thoughtful expression, the rook fed on Ned's blood.

Its eyes, obsidian, and silver on the other side turned to haze. Its body, black-feathered with a streak of white fine line that ran from its head to its tail turned monstrous. According to its size, the rook must be around decades old. To be able to reach this age means it got quite a satisfying life. Satisfying life, which, until now, it never felt what real pain was.

It grew bigger. With a cracking and repulsing sound, its body grew an inch every second passed. The rook felt what pain was. Pain couldn't endure. The rook rolled, its feather fell one after the other only to be able to grow back again in a blink of an eye. The new feather wasn't ordinary either. Black steel sprouted, fine and heavier than the blade the pirate was using. Its talon turned dark and smooth. Smooth that even the beam of the high noon sun reflected and made an eye-blinding light.

Its body turned massive. It crooked and stretched. After the forced Evolution ended. It stood menacingly. It looked at Ned, its silver eye - gone. What remained was all black. Its white line of feathers; gone. What remained was pure blackness. Its body was now doubled or tripled to its original size. It was almost the same as the size of four adult humans lined together.

"Help your Master," Ned said.

The rook nodded. For the first time. The rook could clearly understand Ned. Maybe wasn't just Ned, but other humans as well. It spans its wing. And bolted in the sky. Then propelled itself towards the Redcap Wing.

"Now it will tilt the balance," said Ned. "But to win, I need Anita."

The surrounding turned silent after the evolved rook flew. The remaining crew gaped open their mouths. They could never comprehend what the lad had done to the tamed beast to make it evolved to its strongest form. They were surprised and hair stood behind their neck. As if they were seeing the work of a master tamer.

Ned's vision blurred. He reached the door, where the prisoners held captive and collapsed.

[Ned.]

ICE chimed in Ned's thought.

[It wasn't your Mana that lacking. Not your energy either.]

[Everything is stable.]

In Ned's HUD, the 3d holographic representation of his body was displayed blue. From his head down. Everything was stable. But his heartbeat showed a random spike. Sometimes flat, sometimes stable, but most of the time, the spike was above the normal range.

[But. There is one that until a while ago I wasn't able to comprehend.]

"What was it?" Ned muttered. With his mind on vortex, he could only crawl to the dark cage.

[Your Core.]

With ICE'S response. Ned closed his eyes, cut the reality around him. Everything went silent. The sound of the waves. The uneasy breeze of the winds. The clamoring crew. The metals clanging. The beasts fighting in the sky. Gone.

Ned stood in a pool of nothingness inside his thought. He was standing naked. Across him was the core. His core. Or Rassus' core. The core was transparent. It was like a crystal ball. Clear that Ned could see the other side of his hands when he tried to grab it. There, he saw a faint flame inside the Core. A flame that wasn't warm or hot. Ned could only feel malice, cold, and the urge to devour. With the feeling attacking his very emotions. Ned recalled something which made him swallow an air.

Sinister, a skill innate to Devourers, that forces them to be constantly hungry. Keep devouring to maintain the sinister level to low! Ned cried on his thoughts. He jerked his head and said. "Once again, damn you Rassus!"