The Saintess stomped on her foot like had stepped on some hot coal, shouting curses as she did. I didn’t have time to think. I saw Gennady’s Annihilation cannon lying on the ground just ahead of me. That was the only thing we could use to defeat her.
I leapt for it, and Lilith’s head snapped towards me. She swore as she reached for me. "You’re not going—"
She was faster than me, of course. She’d have reached me if not for Braz who rushed the Saintess. He didn’t even bring a weapon with him. Instead, he tackled her and wrestled her with his bare hands, holding her back for just the moment I needed.
By the time I even came into contact with the weapon, Lilith had already kicked him away after pulling her spear off of him. She turned to face me just in time to see me aiming it at her.
"Wha—"
The Greater mana crystal shattered.
I used all of my strength to shove all the mana inside of the weapon at once. I didn’t know if it was going to work, but I had to try. Gennady had said that he rigged all his weapons so you could destabilize a mana crystal and it wouldn’t blow up in your face… most of the time. And the weapon wasn’t working anyways. So I pushed all of the mana out of the crystal, and somehow, it worked.
A blinding beam of dark energy came out, larger than the barrel of the gun that held it.
The black streak of light seemed to absorb the light from its surroundings, yet it had an ethereal white glow surrounding it at all times. It emitted no sound, a deadly silent laser that shot out with almost no warning. It engulfed the Saintess before she could even react, blasting her against the bulwark, annihilating the wood of the ship as though it were nothing, before cutting across the ocean water without leaving a single splash in the wave.
A blood curdling scream came from Lilith as the Annihilation spell-turned-weapon blasted her further and further away from the ship, until I couldn’t hear her screams anymore. And still, the laser continued pouring out of the cannon. For a minute. Then two.
And finally, after five minutes passed of me holding the weapon up and pointing it away from the ship, the beam slowly dissipated. The black laser disappeared.
I ran up to the edge of the ship, casting my gaze at the empty waters. And the clear ocean showing no signs of life. Saintess Lilith was gone. She was swept away by the blast, brought into oblivion.
Gennady limped up from behind me, rubbing at his arm. It was broken. The Saintess didn’t hold back from hurting anyone except for me. And even then I was pretty sure I had broken a few ribs and sprained my wrist from the fight.
But still, we had won.
I breathed in relief knowing that we had come out victorious.
The Dwarf peeked his head over the edge of the ship, investigating the watery terrain with me. "Well, you blasted her to Hell, didn’t ya?"
I didn’t say anything. I simply nodded.
"Right," he said, glancing at the broken mana crystal in his weapon. He shook his head, before turning back to the empty ocean. "Annihilation is supposed to be a Tier 6 spell. But that had to be Tier 7 at least. You could’ve gotten yourself killed, y’know?"
Again, I said nothing. Instead, I just sighed and dropped the Annihilation cannon, letting the mana crystal pieces fall onto the ground devoid of color and power. I leaned my head on the intact part of the wooden bulwark, just resting.
Gennady didn’t seem to notice my exhaustion. He continued with his questions. "So, think she’s dead?"
"No," I replied instantly.
"But she was blasted by a Tier 7 spell—"
"No body, no proof." I pushed myself up and turned around. "That’s the rule." Perhaps I was being paranoid, but that was simply how it worked. Not like Gennady understood it or anything.
"...what?"
Chapter 37: Allies and Enemies
"Thank you," I whispered under my breath as I covered Braz’s eyes once and for all.
Apparently, he had lived a terrible life before Ginah had saved him. But he regretted the things he had done in the past. And for a moment, I had judged him for it— I had tried to condemn him for his sins.
But he had only been kind to me. He had always been so laid back. But when I saw him drinking himself to sleep every night, I knew he always had regrets. He condemned himself for what he had done, so why did I have to do that when I knew nothing of what he truly did?
What I did know about Braz was the man I had interacted with. The one who saved my life. So I thanked him as he was laid to rest.
I cast my gaze around the deck of the ship. There were so many bodies covered in cloth. So many people who fought for me, a kid that kept secrets from them. A kid that lied to them. But still, a kid that fought alongside them.
And I could only offer them my gratitude for what they did for me, and nothing else. They died for me— for the promise of a better life. All I could do now was keep my promise to those that were still alive. They had trusted me enough to see this through, I had to see my end through now.
I strode along the deck as I watched everyone pay their final respects
