It seemed as if they were going to pierce the ship to further lock it in place. But with the size of those chains even the captain could tell that the ship wouldn’t be able to handle it.

“THEY’RE GONNA SINK IT!” The captain shouted

“I think not.” Said one of the passengers.

In that instant, the giant chains of ice, evaporated.

———————————

“Looks, like the bait has finally arrived.” Said the captain of the pirate ship.

A tall muscular man with an eye patch, who surprisingly didn’t have a hook for an arm. He wore a hat with the design of a white skull with serpent fangs sowed into it and carried a single sword on his waist.

He had scars all over his body, as marks from the challenges which he had overcome.

“Are ya ready everyone?! Look at the size of that ship! We’re feasting tonight!” Shouted the captain

The crew who heard this then cheered as they raised their weapons. 

“HELL YEAH!!!”

“LET’S TAKE EVERYTHING!”

The captain’s Joy was at his peak, after all. He had something that would give them a huge advantage. It was the main trump card of tonight’s event. The reason everything was flowing so perfectly.

Beside the captain, stood a humanoid ice figure. It’s shape was exactly that of a human female. One which wore a robe, however the presence it gave off felt nothing like it. It gave off a strong and overwhelming presence, one which wouldn’t budge.

“The A-Rank monster, Blizzard Princess.”

‘To think that I could have such a powerful being on my side… Haha… Hahaha… It’s all thanks to this artifact…’ He muttered as he looked at the strange tool in his hand.

A simple white spherical shaped tool which held immense value.

He gave it a few kisses as their ship got closer and closer to their target’s. When suddenly, he noticed six magic circles form around their target’s ship.

“Hey! Careful with the ship, if it sunks that’ll make this whole trip worthless!” Shouted the captain.

Despite doing so, the blizzard princess still activated the spell and ice chains extended out of the circle before quickly making their way towards the ship.

‘SHIT! I Still can’t properly control it-‘

“STOP!” The captain shouted

In that instant, the ice chains evaporated. 

The captain and the rest of the crew let out a sigh of relief as they saw this. 

“Looks like It was able to listen to my command and cancel the spell at the last second…” He muttered, not realizing that had truly happened.

He then looked at the blizzard princess before giving it a smack on the back of it’s head and saying. “Don’t scare me like that… You’ve already done enough by freezing them in the vortex. We can handle the rest. Stand back until I call for you.” Said the captain

The blizzard princess did as it was told and did not move another muscle. It only continued to propel the ship.

———————————

“Wha-What…?!” 

The captain couldn’t believe his eyes. They had been wide opened so he hadn’t missed a single detail. Right before the chains made contact with the ship, a bright golden glow appeared and they evaporated in an instant.

‘That was at least a saint-class spell if we counted all six of those circles and chains together. And yet… they were taken out in a flash!?’ The captain thought to himself in disbelief.

He was confused, very confused, but he didn’t have much time to think about it as the pirates had already arrived. They stopped their ship right beside the captain’s ship and threw over ropes and a bridge which connected both ships together.

‘Shit- They got here sooner than I expected, there are still a few passengers left… What’s taking them so long to go inside the deck!?’ The captain wondered as he looked back.

As he thought this, a loud voice came from the other ship as the rain began to pour more and more heavily.

“YOU ARE UNDER ATTACK BY PIRATES! YOU HAVE TWO OPTIONS! EITHER GIVE US ALL YOUR GOLD AND VALUABLES OR DIE!” 

The captain looked over only to see that it was a tall muscular man with a strange hat who had made the statement. He was already on top of the bridge making his way towards the ship.

‘That’s most likely that captain… The other’s of his crew seem to be waiting on his order to attack… Now’s my chance-!’

The captain who had been hiding his trident. Gripped it tightly before throwing it as hard as he could at the leader of the pirates. Despite his old-age and him having gotten a little rusty, his aim was precise and spot on. 

The trident quickly made it’s way towards the pirate leader’s face. However, right before it could hit him-

*Crackle*

A shield of ice was formed mid-air in front of the pirate, stopping the trident right in it’s tracks.

‘A-Again!? But how?! No ordinary mage would have been able to chant and deploy a spell that fast!’

It was his one and only opportunity, and he missed it. Following that, a humanoid ice figure could be seen standing on top of the pirate’s ship, just behind the bridge.

It was only in that moment, that both the crew and the captain realized how bad their situation was.

“Hahaha… KUHAHAHAHA! YOU FOOL! I HAD GIVEN YOU AN OPPORTUNITY AND YOU DARED TO ATTACK ME! NOW THERE IS ONLY ONE OPTION FOR YOU ALL, DEATH!” The pirate captain shouted.

He was enjoying it. So much that he hadn’t even flinched when the trident stopped inches away from his face.

“PFFT, way to go captain. Your acting skills are still top-notch. Acting as if killing them wasn’t the plan from the beginning.” Said one of the pirates.

The crew captain could do nothing but watch with fear as the pirate then shouted.

“Hahaha… Boys… LET’S HAVE SOME FUN!!!” The captain shouted as he raised his sword.

The moment he did, with a cold look of excitement, all the pirates rushed on board. Using either the ropes of the bridges to get onto the ship.

“D-DON’T LET THEM HURT THE PASSENGERS! FIGHT BACK!” The crew captain shouted as he grabbed one of the weapons from the nearest crew member.

It was the beginning of a fierce Battle. The pirates rushed in like savages and overpowered the crew members through their numbers. The members gave it their best to be able to protect the passengers who were hiding in deck.

But with the way the tide of the battle was going, it would be impossible for any of them to come out alive. The blizzard princess didn’t need to make any moves. It was one sided.

The one who was doing the most damage and taking out most of the pirates was the crew captain. He would manage to take out at least five pirates every minute. His movements completely balanced despite standing on top of the unstable deck. 

No, maybe that was why it was balanced. A former A-Ranker who traveled the seven seas. He was the pillar holding the ship together. 

He boosted the morale of the team, and allowed the to push back with minimal casualties, despite it only being 7 of them. The crew also seemed experienced with fighting so they weren’t going down easily.

Since all the passengers, were inside the deck. They could let loose without worrying about anyone getting hurt. Or at least that’s what they thought. They failed to notice two passengers still sat on the deck. They hadn’t moved an inch.

The leader of the pirates was surprised to see this. They had a total of thirty pirates and yet the numbers were being skimmed down faster than he had expected.

Despite that, he wasn’t afraid. In fact, it was the opposite. 

“MEN! FALL BACK!” He shouted

The pirates having understood, why. Quickly retreated, leaving the crew and the captain confused.

‘W-Wait, he’s not planning to-‘

The pouring drops of rain turned harder and harder as they began to freeze due to the effect’s of the blizzard princess’s spell.

They were all drenched from their sweat and the rain. Such was an unfavorable situation for them. Especially when the other side had an ice mage.

[Frost Genesis] 

In that instant, before any of them could react. All the crew members including the captain. Froze from the bottom up. They couldn’t move a muscle.

‘SHIT!!! WE WERE SO CLOSE!!’ 

*Clap* *Clap* *Clap*

The pirate leader began clapping his hands as he made his way towards the ship captain. He continued to clap as he held tightly onto his sword before slowly raising it over the ship captain’s head.

“That was quite the performance you put up for yer age. Shame it ends now.” Said the leader of the pirate before preparing for a swing.

“WAIT! DON’T KILL HIM!” Shouted one of the crew members.

It was this exact shout which inspired the others.

“WE’LL HAND YOU ALL THE VALUABLES! PLEASE JUST LET HIM GO!”

“HE’S AN OLD MAN ALREADY, LET HIM DIE FROM AGE!”

“THERE’S NOTHING TO GAIN FROM KILLING HIM!”

The crew members began to shout and do their best to convince and stop the pirate. Even if it meant selling their pride and begging, their captain’s life was much more Important than that.

The captain who saw this, grit his teeth before shouting.

“YOU IDIOTS! WORRY ABOUT YOURSELVES!” 

———————— preview

“Serena, what should I do with this guy?” The cloaked person asked as he held on tightly to the pirate’s blade with his finger tips. A masculine voice.

“Do as you wish. I’ll deal with the ice monster.” Said Serena.

Serena raised her arm into the air. Ignoring the shards of ice and drops of rain which would evaporate as they got within inches of her body.

[Scorched Sun.]