Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 329: The Sailor’s Duel

Having prepared the Spellcasting Materials in advance, Shard and Miss Princess continued forward.

As the terrible sickly green light became clearer, the end of the staircase finally appeared below. The next level of the ship’s hold had no rooms; it was mostly open space, probably originally used for storing goods and leisure.

Rotten wooden crates and burlap sacks were piled around, revealing the goldware and jewels inside. Pearls, human bones, and various gemstones were scattered on the floor, both beautiful and evil. Skulls hung from the ceiling of the deck swinging back and forth with the motion of the ship, the green ghostly light within them providing illumination, while human skeletons dressed in splendid armor stood against the walls.

The air on this deck was even more humid, and in the middle of the ship’s hold, cluttered with jewels and silt, there stood a long table entwined with seaweed.

Greenish pirate Undead were gathered around the table, some playing cards, others drinking and causing a ruckus. Despite having turned into Undead, their bodily deformities were still evident. While most looked human, bizarre traits of various sea creatures were unnaturally stitched onto their limbs, mostly those of fish.

In contrast to this horrific scene, the tableware on the table was inexplicably filled with food that a normal human could accept. A whole roasted chicken surrounded by green vegetables sat on a platter; purple grapes were laid out in strings on a silver bowl, reflecting a strange luster under the light of the skulls; steam rose from a fragrant fish soup sprinkled with spices, the fish head peeking out from a purely gold soup bowl, its eyes seemingly watching Shard and Miss Princess at the staircase.

As their figures were illuminated by the firelight within the hanging skulls, all the sailor Undead in the ship’s hold turned to look at them. Shard distinctly felt their surprise, probably not expecting to see humans covered in such bizarre rifts.

However, they didn’t rush over to try and tear Shard and Miss Princess apart; instead, they maintained an eerie calm.

Silence fell, the swinging skull lights casting strange shifting shadows at the entrance of the staircase. Only the occasional sound of a fish tail flapping in the soup bowl could be heard, mixing with the fishy smell, the briny sea air, the rot of corpses, and the mustiness of wood, all assaulting Shard, making him swallow his saliva and then feel even hungrier.

He hadn’t smelled the deliciousness of the food on the long table in the ship’s hold, but just a glance was enough to redouble his already strong appetite.

Thump, thump, thump~

The silence was broken by the sound of fingers drumming on the tabletop, and Shard looked up to see the only person among the Evil Spirits who seemed to be still alive.

The man was in his forties, with a large beard, wearing a resplendent deep blue dress outfit adorned with more than ten different medals on his chest. His sleeves were rolled up, both hands on the tabletop, though his right seemed to be missing the little finger, aside from that, the other nine fingers were filled with gold rings. A black tricorn hat, embroidered with a skull in white thread, sat on his head.

His face had the features of a human male, but it displayed an ugliness Shard had never seen before. His upper body, dressed in clothes, looked to be wrapped in a membranous layer, yet it appeared also to be a transparent scale.

This was probably the captain of the "Fishbone Pirate Ship," his eyes squinting at Shard, his fingers drumming unusually hard on the tabletop. If the first three taps were to make everything in the room pay attention to him, then the subsequent dozen or so forceful taps were definitely intended to intimidate Shard.

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But Shard, so hungry he could eat from the air, didn’t care why the other was tapping on the table. The hollow feeling in his stomach made him feel that even if there were a whole steamed elephant in front of him, he could eat it all.

He simply found the middle-aged man, ferocious in countenance but banging the table, ludicrous. Trying to intimidate with such a method was just a silly manifestation of rude people worshiping primal power.

"So two people together? You are the seventh and eighth people to come before me in the last hundred years."

He finally spoke, his eyes turbid yet distinctly expressive like bulging fish eyes, scrutinizing Shard under the eerie green light, then his ring-laden fingers once again slammed on the tabletop:

"Man, would you be willing to come aboard?"

"Not willing."

Shard immediately shook his head, standing in front of Miss Princess, carefully watching the Evil Spirits in the ship’s hold. Just as he expected, after reaching the lowest deck, the Female Sorcerer’s power was indeed greatly diminished due to the presence of the Power of the Evil God.

"Not willing? Alright, the rule of the sea, if you want to stay here and talk to me, win against one person. You can go together, anyone who wins will do."

His hoarse voice was exceptionally fierce, a cruel expression appearing on the captain’s face, and after speaking, he suddenly pointed to his left.

One tall one-eyed pirate with one leg propped on a stool and arm-wrestling with a companion stood up. The Undead was about as tall as Shard, but his arms were as thick as Shard’s thighs.

"Ptui~"

It rudely spat to the side, its right hand reaching to its waist, then somehow drew a curved sword embedded with a ruby from nowhere.

This wasn’t an accessory of the spirit but a real existing curved sword. As the weapon appeared, what was barely a conscious spirit completely turned into an Evil Spirit. The sickly green light radiating around it made it rush towards Shard like a burst of light.

The appearance of the Evil Spirit brought not only mental pressure and cold winds as if piercing the soul, but the soul-sensitive Shard saw more in that green glow. He saw countless mermaid-like beings, tiny as ants, swimming inside the pockmarked spirit.

"Silvermoon!"

He pointed forward, but this time, what should have been an overwhelmingly oppressive force against Evil Spirits was only a glint of rice-sized light.

"Damn, the ship’s hold is suppressing Silvermoon."

Without time to think further, Shard, who was already at a disadvantage, extended his right hand forward in a grasping motion. A two-handed sword of holy silver materialized in his hand, while the curved blade of the Evil Spirit Sailor was already cleaving towards him.

Clang~

Their weapons collided, and the blade in Shard’s hand immediately shattered. He stumbled back two steps and was steadied by Miss Princess who was standing at the hatch, preventing him from tumbling down the last step.

"Their power is much greater than mine, but they haven’t gained a complete advantage!"

Engulfed in a chilling wind, the Evil Spirit roared and charged at Shard again, but at that moment, another Moonlight Greatsword appeared in the void in front of him.

"Blade of Chaotic Time!"

At the same time, Shard vanished from his spot and reappeared behind the Evil Spirit. As the opponent shattered the greatsword in front with his curved blade, Shard, from behind, thrust his two-handed sword with precision, piercing through the Evil Spirit’s body.

With a powerful stir, the holy silver-glowing greatsword tore a massive hole in the body of the Evil Spirit. However, the Evil Spirit did not dissipate. Instead, amid the ghastly green glow, a swarm of mermaids, resembling ants, swiftly healed the wound on its body.

"This is not a mere Evil Spirit!"

The curved blade swung backwards, forcing Shard to retreat without his weapon. But this time, the brutal Sailor did not continue the pursuit, indicating that Shard’s attack was not entirely ineffective.

Hisses from the spectating Evil Spirit Sailors filled the air, their uproarious noises making Shard’s fight with the sailor feel like a game for their amusement.

Shard planted his feet firmly on the deck, squinting at his opponent. Although he had little experience in fighting alone, he could roughly gauge that his adversary was on par with a Magician wielding a Relic of the Third or Four Rings.

Of course, if he hadn’t been immune to the mental effects of this particular Evil Spirit, his opponent might well be considered akin to a Seventh Ring Inner Ring Sorcerer.

"What are you planning to do?"

She whispered softly beside his ear.

"Quite simple, Her Highness the Princess played it very convincingly."

Ding ding ding~

The captain banged on the table with his fingers forcefully again, urging them not to stop.

The relentless sounds seemed designed to provoke an outburst of wrath. The nine rings on the captain’s hand weren’t just for show.

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Hearing the captain’s urging, the Evil Spirit Sailor, skilled with the blade in the ghastly green light, skilfully twirled his curved sword, then once again cleaved it towards Shard in front of him.

Shard narrowed his eyes, choosing not to block the direct strike this time because the next moment, a naturally colored arrow pierced through the back of the Evil Spirit Sailor’s head.

Miss Princess, who hadn’t participated in the fight up to that point, stood by as the archer slowly faded away. The Evil Spirit, now turned towards the young girl with a massive hole in its head, lunged, but Shard had already pounced, plunging his fingers into the cracks of the Evil Spirit’s head.

Normally, Spiritual Bodies can’t be touched directly, but because of the "Soul Echo" Arcane Technique, his hand made contact inside the Evil Spirit’s skull. Then, at his fingertips, a glow as small as a grain of rice lit up—this faint light melted the Evil Spirit Sailor’s head, having a greater effect than the earlier sword strike.

As the Evil Spirit’s head melted, Shard reached for its body. But just then, the pirate captain sitting at the long table suddenly spoke:

"Wait!"

He squinted at Shard, who hesitated and, seeing Miss Princess shake her head slightly, asked:

"Does this count as my victory?"

"You’ve won."

"Good."

He released his grip, and the disembodied sailor immediately dissipated into a cold, dark mist. As the mist exploded, it reformed next to the table, its head slowly regenerating on its shoulders. As soon as its mouth reappeared, it immediately spat out, obviously very reluctant to accept its defeat.

Seeing the weak humans win with such "despicable" methods, murmurs of unrest started among the sailors at the table.

But Shard didn’t care. The captain was restraining those Evil Spirits, and even on this ship, there were rules to follow. It hunted souls for the Evil God, but bound by the True God’s influence, no entity could act recklessly in the material world—even hunting had to abide by rules.