The pirate lord was likely expecting Eri to run away. When the youth instead charged towards him, there was a microsecond of surprise when the distance between them was closed too quickly.

  The first punch came wide as a result. Eri slipped under it, turning with the blow. As Rann’s arm hit empty air, his balance faltered. In that instant, Eri stepped in close, his hands catching the pirate’s outstretched wrist with one hand before redirecting it with the other. The man’s momentum caused him to stumble, skidding half a step.

  Before he could turn around or regain his balance, Eri tossed an explosive mine straight for the back of Rann’s head before leaping away. The detonation shook the deck.

  Rann fell forward, dazed, though he was back on his feet in half a second. Eri didn’t let up, throwing another hand grenade right as the admiral tried to stand. This time, the pirate managed to raise a guard, but rather than another stunning shockwave, the grenade detonated in a thick spray of foul chemicals instead. Rann cursed as the slimy and viscous liquid splashed over the tiny slits on his face plate, rendering him blind and unable to breathe.

  “You little shit, I’ll—” Rann tried to shout. There was no time for him to finish before yet another bomb rolled at his feet.

  The incendiary device detonated, triggering a chain reaction with the oily substance. No mere viscous oil was this that Eri deployed earlier, used merely to blind his opponent.

  The substance was concentrated Caustic Oil, brewed under Eri’s precise hand. And it was far more flammable and deadly than its regular counterpart.

  Hellfire exploded in Rann’s face as the Caustic Oil lit up in howling purple flames. Infernal smoke filled the tiny space within his ‘helmet’. Unholy heat seared the admiral’s nose and lungs as he tried to breathe.

  Rann screamed, in equal parts rage and agony. He charged forth, his movement made erratic and deadly by berserker hate.

  A single hit would mean death in his current state, yet Eri forced a practised calm to veil his mind from panic. He had done this before in his youth: him, a smaller and lighter fighter, against a much stronger and heavier opponent.

  Elen had sparred with him frequently, knowing the value of unarmed combat used against a physically superior opponent. She made sure he understood the principles of misdirection and grapples, to use his opponent’s mass against them.

  He would not insult her teachings by dying here.

  Eri redirected the blow, never meeting the Chosen’s strength head-on. A shoulder bump here, a guiding palm there. Each precise push and deflection turned Rann’s massive and unstoppable weight against him. The man was fast despite his cumbersome crystal armour, but it was a speed more associated with a rampaging bull than an agile fighter like Eri.

  The crystal was too heavy for Rann to change his momentum quickly, even with his Sapphire-Core strength. Combined with his blindness, that made it possible for Eri to dodge and manoeuvre against him.

  The admiral’s movements were growing slow. Even Chosens needed to breathe, and deprived of oxygen, Rann must be becoming dazed.

  But it was not enough to push the man over the edge. Eri needed one more card to play.

  This is really going to suck for me later, Eri cursed internally as he injected the most potent stimulants he had ever crafted — ones that would be instantly fatal even to Chosens of the lesser Metal Ranks. But if I’m still alive to suffer for it, that’s worth the trade.

  Eri’s eyes dilated. Pain vanished instantly, replaced by a searing, unnatural energy. His Core was forced into operation, brutally squeezed by dark medicine to spit out even an ounce more mana.

  Sucking in a breath, Eri forced his lungs to respond to his command.

  Ancient magic pooled from his Core.

  [Sky Giant Arts, Third Form: The Titan’s Funereal Gales]

  As Eri exhaled, the air around him shaped into invisible gales of gorging winds. They howled in the voice of mourning titans before rushing towards the admiral.

  The winds had no problem seeping into the narrow gaps of the pirate’s burning face-plate. The indestructible crystal armour was of no protection against the wind, and the pirate screamed as the razor gales ripped at his eyes and face.

  The Sky Giant Artes took their toll. Eri stumbled, his mind a haze and his body convulsing from overexertion. Still, pain was a distant memory, caged by his drugs, and so Eri pushed his failing body to keep moving.

  When the admiral made another desperate charge, Eri leapt up his flank, hooked a leg around his neck and spun with his entire body weight. The heavy admiral lost his footing again as he was shoved straight into a wall. The ship shook with a solid thud as the impact sent the deck lurching.

  Rann finally had enough of being blinded and unable to breathe.

  “Sod this!” he cursed. His crystalline armour hummed, mana thrumming.

  The entirety of it shattered instantly. The burning face mask fell away as dust, finally allowing Rann to breathe.

  But it also left the admiral’s flesh exposed.

  Eri had been waiting for that moment. Pulling forth every ounce of available mana, he pushed his speed to its limits, a poisoned dagger in hand.

  Admiral Rann wasn’t a fool. He knew Eri had planned for this. The ventilation slits were the only weakness in his entire armour. Once Eri restricted his ability to breathe through them, he would be forced to remove the crystalline Arte.

  The pirate roared as he summoned his might. In the microsecond as Eri closed the distance, the youth realised he had made a slight miscalculation.

  Freed of his heavy crystal armour, Rann was made vulnerable, but he was also a lot faster.

  Fast enough to react to Eri’s attack.

  They clashed against each other. Rann’s blinding fists punched aside Eri’s dagger before it could stab itself in his neck. The next punch came faster than thought. Before Eri could even blink, he was sent flying.

  He might have blacked out for a second. The next thing he knew, he was slumped against the side of the ship’s hull. Warm liquid pooled around his form. There was a disgusting, wet squelching sound.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Eri blinked painfully. He looked down.

  The entirety of his left arm, as well as a good chunk of his upper left chest, was gone.

  That’s what I get for underestimating a Sapphire Core, Eri thought as he coughed weakly. Blood was pouring from his wounds. He was minutes from death.

  Eri looked up as footsteps approached. “Persistent pest… I’m almost impressed. How did you know?”

  The youth studied Rann’s stormy expression for a moment. He considered remaining quiet out of spite, but that would be a mistake. Rann might kill him the moment he got bored. Eri needed to buy time.

  So he started talking.

  “The Marquis Andrealphus was an arrogant peacock, but their crystal scales are a bane in any fight,” Eri explained, grimacing as his mind started to slow at the massive blood loss he was suffering. “Virtually indestructible unless one employed spatial magic or some clever bit of arcane manipulation. However, the Demonic Arte has a key weakness. You probably already know it, seeing as you had killed the Marquis. Supposedly.”

  Rann said nothing. There was a flicker of emotion that passed in his eyes that Eri couldn’t discern. Eri found it curious, but decided not to risk commenting on it.

  “The arcana of Andrealpus is complex,” Eri continued. His vision was becoming hazy, his voice weak. “They mould their mana as an entire crystalline set rather than plates. In other words, their magic does not allow you to remove only a segment of the crystal armour. It’s either on or off completely.”

  That meant Rann could not have simply dematerialised the burning faceplate and then rematerialised it once he could breathe. The Arte was also extremely mana-intensive to activate — though much less so to maintain — and thus repeated activation in a battle was highly ill-advised.

  “How the hell could you possibly know this? Who are you?” Rann demanded.

  “There is only one thing that bothers me,” Eri hummed weakly, not answering the question. “The crystals of Andrealphus could only materialise as a Demonic Arte. Yet you, a human, could use it. And not only that… I sensed no corruption from you, even when it was active. Not an ounce. It is very… peculiar…”

  “... I’ve changed my mind. I’m going to keep you alive,” Rann decided with a burning gaze. “All of this is too strange. Your strength, your ship, and the things you know… No Silver Core could do what you just did. You’ll make a fine present for Lord Drake. She likes her toys interesting.”

  “That’s a nice idea.” Eri smiled. “But how are you going to do that after I kill you?”

  “I know your trick now. It won't work twice. Besides, you can barely stand.”

  “I don’t need to. My job is done.”

  Rann frowned at his words. Eri’s eyes dipped meaningfully, and Rann followed his gaze.

  Marred upon his hand — right where his knuckles had punched aside Eri’s daggers earlier — was a minuscule, insignificant cut.

  For some reason, the wound had not healed yet. Rann was not worried, however. “Is this supposed to impress me? Look at you. Fucking half dead, and for what? A baby scratch? A drop of blood?”

  “Something like that,” Eri muttered, eyes closing in fatigue and blood loss. “I think I have kept you talking long enough now.”

  “What are you…”

  Rann tried to take a step forward. His legs would not respond.

  He suddenly collapsed to his knees, his body numb. The pirate gasped. “What… What did you do?!”

  “Basilisk venom. It’s a simple trick, but quite effective.” Eri’s quiet murmurings left the Admiral pale. “I always did like those little rooster demons. Loud bastards, but they gave some cheer to my castle with their violent bloodlettings.”

  “You lie. Those fuckers live in the far East. There’s no way you…” Rann cut himself off when he noticed the cut on his hand stiffening. Grey matter spread from the wound, infecting the arm.

  He was turning into stone.

  But the rate of it was slow. Rann could barely move, his limbs horrifically stiff and agonised. However, his body was fighting the poison. Sweat dripped down his forehead as he struggled not to fall over. “This… This won’t be enough to kill me!”

  “It won’t.” Eri’s open acknowledgement surprised the pirate. “The wound is too shallow. Against a Gold or even a Ruby Core, it might be enough. But you have a Sapphire-Core constitution, so even a deadly venom like the Basilisk can’t kill you in such minuscule amounts. But it’s enough to leave you paralysed for several minutes.”

  Rann hacked out a laugh. “So what? Once I’m free, I can still just smash your head in. Assuming you aren’t already dead by then. No one is coming to help you.”

  “That is, strictly speaking, not true.” Eri’s voice was barely above a whisper. “I always had a walker following me in my shadows.”

  A second of silence passed. Then two.

  Eri sighed. “That’s your cue to come out, Cedric.”

  The shadows rippled. From the darkness, a figure emerged.

  Haggred, skinny, and tired-looking, the once-assassin of the Duskcrowns looked at Eri. “You knew?”

  Eri nodded. “Is Kalisa with you?”

  “The hell? How did you— You know what, never mind. I don’t care,” Cedric groaned. “Yeah, the Fox devil is with me.”

  A pair of furry ears poked out of the shadows. Kalisa’s face emerged. “How rude! I’m far too nice to be called a devil.”

  The pair fully emerged from the shadows. Kalisa immediately moved to tend to Eri’s wounds, while Cedric manifested a shadow dagger in his lone remaining hand.

  Rann looked nervous, though he relaxed once he sensed their Cores. “A Silver wretch and a Coreless beast. Do you have a habit of keeping useless pets?”

  The admiral flexed his mana. Though it likely took significant effort, his crystal armour once more manifested around him. Cedric grimaced.

  “Can’t break through that with these, Boss,” the Shadowalker said, lifting his misty daggers. “Should I get your knights?”

  “They can’t break through either,” Eri said. “And our good admiral here is not entirely defenceless. Even in this state, he’s dangerous.”

  “More gas and fire, then?” Kalisa hummed happily as she mended him. “He still needs to breathe.”

  “He can hold his breath, especially if all he has to do is stay there and recover. Once the venom runs its course, there’s nothing stopping him from killing us all.” Though his words were grim, Eri’s tone was calm. “I have a better proposition.”

  “Nothing you do will work, you shit,” Rann growled, though a hint of trepidation showed in his voice.

  “Brief as our time was, I think you know me well enough by now to know that’s not true,” Eri hummed. “One last chance. Are you going to surrender?”

  “Go fuck yourself,” Rann laughed.

  Eri nodded. He then turned to Cedric. “I want you to take him somewhere with your Shadowalker Artes. It’s not far. Five hundred metres Southwest of our current location.”

  “Um, where do you want me to drop him?” Cedric asked nervously. “There’s no land there.”

  Eri smiled. “Exactly.”

  Rann flinched. “You fucking wouldn’t.”

  “The area here is a subduction zone,” Eri explained, ignoring Rann’s rising horror. “Just a mere hundred metres from the imperial island fortress, the seabed sinks rapidly into a trench.”

  Eri looked at Rann. “I’m sure you already know this, as a pirate, that most mundane human bodies cannot survive past a hundred metres of water depth. They would usually blackout or die well before that. A Chosen is, of course, far more durable. Stories regularly tell of Jewelled Cores fighting aquatic demons even at depths of five hundred metres, far past even mundane sea animals or plants to survive. With your Sapphire Core constitution and crystal scales, you might even survive twice that depth.”

  Rann was trying to move. “W-wait, hold on!”

  Eri ignored him. “The trench formed here drops to a thousand meters deep within a few dozen meters of our location. A few hundred metres out, it drops to two thousand. Given the weight of your crystal armour and your current paralysis, I don’t think you are in a position to swim or float. So, still think you can survive that?”

  Rann charged at him.

  Poisoned as he was, he was far too sluggish to make it in time before Cedric materialised before him.

  Shadows envelop them both. Rann managed one last scream of rage before he disappeared.

  Eri sighed. He finally allowed himself to relax.

  “Boo. I wanted to dissect his body,” Kalisa pouted.

  “Cedric can recover it later. I don’t think his shadow form is affected by oceanic pressures,” Eri murmured tiredly. He closed his eyes. “There’s something I want to check with his corpse as well. But for now…”

  It was off to sleep for him. Overhead, Eri heard warhorns as Imperial forces arrived.

  It was over. The battle was won.