Bonnflammé, who was a man with tanned skin and orange hair braided into two long rows, looked with confusion towards the back of his ship.

He was currently focused on charging towards Commander Chestnut in hopes of bringing the man down before the reinforcements arrived. After all, dealing with a Commander and a Sea God at the same time was a feat that was far above his capabilities.

When this random bolt of lightning struck his ship, he was momentarily taken out of his thoughts.

First, this was because his ship had a buff that allowed it to avoid natural weather that might cause it harm. For this lightning to strike meant that it was either harmless or unnatural.

When the bolt faded away, a man stood where it had struck. He seemed incredibly tired and almost fell to his knees, but managed to keep himself up by stabbing his golden sword into the deck.

Red hair?

Bonnflammé had already known that during this battle, they might be accompanied by allies. However, he had no idea who they might be, as it was Lionheart who was in charge of forming these alliances.

From the fact that this man did not attack any of his men, Bonnflammé suspected that he was an ally, or at least not an enemy.

The captain of that ship? I hardly paid attention to them before, as they seemed insignificant. Why is he here?

Suddenly, Bonnflammé noticed the red-haired man raising his sword into the air as though he was directing his rage towards the heavens.

The blade suddenly glowed brighter before it erupted with a bolt of thunder that rose into the skies impossibly.

Bonnflammé’s eyes widened as he looked up at the clouds. The bolt merged with the clouds, turning them black, before they spat the bolt back down into a spot far away.

This all happened in a split second.

A vicious cry followed from somewhere in the distance that Bonnflammé couldn’t see, so he snapped his fingers.

A spark of small flames suddenly formed before flying into the sky like a bird.

Once it was high enough, Bonnflammé’s vision was placed inside the flames, giving him a bird’s-eye view of the battlefield.

He saw the target of the lightning.

It was Treasure-Eater Nammon, Sea God of Avarice?

His first thought was: Who was the man who dared enrage this god? Of course, he was aware that the captain was the son of the great pirate Redeye, but why was he so confident? On the seas, having a powerful family member meant nothing. What truly carried you was your might and bravado, which could not be inherited from your parents.

Does he just hate his life?

After one lightning bolt crashed into Nammon, another followed shortly afterwards.

The crack that had previously formed in the golden worm’s body was suddenly opened even wider. It seemed that through his battle with Onoes, Nammon had been weakened to a point where this red-haired captain’s strikes were very effective.

That, or he was simply incredibly strong.

Bonnflammé doubted that. As a Depthblessed, the fifth rank of the sailor system, he could sense that the red-haired man was only a rookie who was on the verge of becoming a deckhand. He couldn’t have been that powerful.

As he turned his thoughts back to the man, he noticed that he had already disappeared from the ship.

He scanned the battlefield with his flaming eye and saw him standing on the rubble of Captain Onoes’ ship. The man had somehow teleported into one of the bolts of thunder to close the distance between himself and the Treasure-Eater, who was now bleeding golden blood profusely from the crack.

Bonnflammé returned his vision to his body and chuckled. He found the red-haired man amusing, but he was almost certain that he would die.

No time to focus on that now.

Ahead of him was the great Destroyer where his prey, Commander Chestnut, was waiting for him.

Bonnflammé had a battle of his own to focus on.

...

Roseus stood on a floating part of the ship which had broken apart. The ship belonged to Onoes. Around him, he could feel the presence of treasures and human corpses drifting through the ocean and sinking into its depths.

He couldn’t focus on them, though. His eye was on the Golden Worm circling him. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Nammon swam with great speed, creating waves around him. He made gruesome noises as he swam and spoke directly to Roseus, trying to strike fear into him.

But Roseus knew this was an act. Nammon was not as confident as he made himself out to be...

He was broken. Roseus could see clearly that a giant crack had formed in the worm’s body, which left a trail of golden blood following behind wherever he swam.

Still, he knew that this was a Sea God. He could not underestimate it.

As Roseus stood on the floating piece of ship, he still held the Greycloud Longsword in his hand in a weak grip. He had not used its last lightning spark, as he knew it would cause the weapon to break. Instead, the last strike that attacked Rai’zac had come from his powers to control the storm.

This had drained him immensely. Even Zaliah’s ceremony circle couldn’t do anything to help him.

If he used another spark, he believed he would pass out, and if he tried to wield the blade, he knew it wouldn’t be efficient.

He contemplated putting on his father’s hat in hopes of attracting sea monsters, but decided against it. Surely Nammon could defeat whatever was attracted.

He also considered using the Ring of Unfavourability, but knew that wasn’t wise either. The Sea God would not be afraid of the purple rain, and the negative effects were not worth it.

So, as Roseus watched the golden worm swimming towards him, ready to put an end to the battle, he drew his revolver and aimed.

Bang! Bang!

Two shots were fired in rapid succession. They clanked off the golden worm’s shell harmlessly.

Bang! Bang!

Another two shots. The first missed, but the second managed to enter the crack in Nammon’s shell. Suddenly, more of the golden blood spilled, as the Sea God’s insides started spiralling viciously.

This was the effect of the Monochrome .38 Special!

Bang!

The final normal bullet in the cylinder was fired, landing in the gap once again. More blood spilled, followed by more of Nammon’s cries.

Still, it wasn’t enough, and the Sea God was only seconds away from devouring Roseus.

He had to come to a swift decision then. One that he was sure he would probably regret.

The positive effects and negative effect of the Monochrome Bullet flashed through his mind.

[Positive Effect I ~ When loaded into a revolver cylinder, all other bullets are granted a unique effect that causes flesh to spiral grotesquely.]

[Positive Effect II ~ When fired from a revolver, the Monochrome .38 Special’s primary effect receives a 500% increase in potency.]

[Negative Effect I ~ When fired from a revolver, the Monochrome .38 Special destroys the weapon, creating a great explosion.]

Roseus took in a deep breath and closed one eye as he aimed.

Then, with a steady grip, he pulled the trigger.