Roseus wasn’t given any time to witness the effect that his bullet had on Nammon because, as soon as it left the barrel, the entire revolver exploded.

A searing pain shot through the entirety of his hand and even ran up the length of his arm. It felt like he had dipped it in molten lava.

He looked down at the limb. It had become a mess of blood and gore.

"Agh!!" Roseus screamed in pure agony. These screams could surely be heard throughout the entire ocean.

He almost lost consciousness... almost. If not for the sight he saw when he looked up from his hand, he most certainly would have.

The Monochrome .38 Special had gone through the crack in Nammon’s shell and was doing vicious damage to the beast’s body.

Its insides were spiralling so viciously that the creature’s head began to cave in on itself. It was as though a god’s hand was grabbing hold of him and gently twisting him. Great sounds of shell cracking could be heard, and a profuse amount of blood spilled everywhere, turning the Translucent Sea golden.

Nammon cried a fierce cry that damaged Roseus’ ears. Then, it tried to swim away. Its speed was much slower than before, as it was clearly severely damaged.

"No you don’t!" Roseus spat through gritted teeth, ignoring the pain in his left hand.

Afterwards, he raised his right hand and pointed up to the skies.

He could never let this creature escape, not when it was so weak. If he let it escape, then he would only be hunted later on in his journey.

The Sea God of Avarice would not leave him alone, so he had to take its life.

Roseus channelled Rai’zac’s powers through his priesthood and called forth a lightning strike greater than all others that had come before it.

The bolt descended from the skies and crashed into Nammon’s form, completely shattering the beast’s shell. Broken shell pieces fell into the water, revealing pink flesh beneath that had been grotesquely spiralled in numerous places. Bits of brain could be seen fusing with the rest of the worm’s body, showing the true damage that had been done to it.

Nammon slowed to a halt, no longer able to swim with its shell shattered. Golden blood leaked from all of its wounds and orifices, and soon, the creature breathed its last breath. Its body floated atop the ocean, slowly leaking its contents into the water.

Roseus collapsed forwards, falling face-first into the water. Even the coldness didn’t wake him up. It was as though there was no hope for him.

He felt himself sinking into the ocean, yet at the same time, the water seemed to speak out to him.

[You have defeated: Nammon’s Vessel]

[Apex Soul Absorbed]

[The Ocean Beckons You...]

[Rank increased: Rookie → Deckhand]

...

On the Armageddon...

As the Redflowers and Lionheart pirates boarded the commander’s ship, Zaliah stayed behind with Lavender, as neither of them were much use in battle.

Instead, Zaliah was explaining to the religious young lady how her ceremonies worked and the importance she could have in a battle if she stayed far away.

As she was explaining this, she noticed a sudden change in one of her ceremonies. It was begging her to fill it with more power through sacrifices or other ritual forms.

Her eyes went wide. This could only mean one thing.

"Captain is in trouble. A lot of trouble," she said, staring out into the seas where the Sea God of Avarice had previously been creating chaos.

Lavender did the same, staring out into the sea. "Is he alive?" she asked.

"I’m not too sure. In fact, I’m not even sure if the sea god still lives. The battlefield has become awfully quiet. Even the whirlpools are fading away." 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

...

On the HMS Whitehand Destroyer...

The Destroyer looked like a battlefield. A hundred corpses belonging to both Templars and Navy sailors littered the deck, as well as numerous treasures which had yet to be claimed.

Yet, the combat was not over.

Commander Chestnut stood in the centre of the deck, larger than any man Dawn had ever seen before. She watched from the circle whilst Bonnflammé and Lionheart circled the man in a 2v1.

Commander Chestnut once had a few men that could have evened these odds, but they had since been slain by men like Blodwen and Bonnflammé’s right-hand woman, Geneviève. Side by side, the fight was unfair.

Navy sailors were powerful, but in this battle, there was too much going against them.

First, they had never expected to be outnumbered in the first place. Commander Chestnut had managed to adapt, attempting to split the pirate ships up whilst waiting for reinforcements.

Unfortunately, this plan was instantly put to waste as one of the enemies possessed a power that managed to take out one of the enemy captains in a moment. Not to mention, the Third-Mate of the Templars, Lionheart, was far more powerful than he had expected.

Since Commander Chestnut had already killed the Second-Mate of the Templars, he had expected the Third-Mate to be much weaker. This was a misjudgement on his part, as Lionheart had taken down a captain in hand-to-hand combat.

With aid from reinforcements and that monster, the Navy had managed to take down one of the pirate ships as well as their captain. They had expected to stall Bonnflammé temporarily, but the First-Mate had surprised them, leaving his ally to die in order to pursue the commander.

And his final hope, which was the sea god who was supposedly working with Executive Officer Aeros. For some reason, this sea god had not arrived. Something must have stopped him, as well as the Navy Warship that carried Aeros.

With that, Commander Chestnut, who was a man with long brown hair and a long beard, stood on his deck outnumbered and outmanoeuvred.

He knew that this battle was lost. He wished to jump into the ocean to avoid his fate with the pirates, but as a religious man, he did not wish to become a sea monster.

So, Chestnut did not bother. Instead, he held up his hands and surrendered.

"I won’t fight. All I ask is that you have a believer of the God of Healing bless my body after I’m dead," he said, which made all of his remaining allies around him lose all hope.

Captain Bonnflammé, First-Mate of the Templars, slowly walked over to the commander. In his hand was a revolver blue as the sky, with white etchings on its design.

Without hesitation, he lifted the revolver and pressed the barrel to the commander’s temple.

His finger rested on the trigger.

"May the God of Knowledge forgive you."

With that, a bullet made from water penetrated the commander’s head, causing it to explode. Blood mixed with water splashed against the deck and Bonnflammé’s tanned face, which he didn’t bother wiping away.

Instead, he lifted his gun and fired the rest of his rounds into the air.

This was a sign that the battle was over.

This was a sign that the battle had been won.