Captain – Chapter 601 – Stubbornness and Conflict

“Fire!”

The girl’s command reached every pirate’s ears.

From top to bottom, inside and out, these desperados who had been suffocated by the specter’s pursuit, who had been tormented by nightmares every night since the fall of that curtain of night, all roared themselves hoarse after a moment of stunned silence.

Even the skeletons opened their jaws wide, letting out silent roars at the specter.

Cannon thunder and gunfire echoed across the sky.

Blazing white firelight illuminated the sea for several miles around like daylight, as countless cannonballs and bullets whistled forth, striking the trapped beast that could barely move an inch.

Then came explosions, and golden blood raining down.

And the giant serpent’s mournful cry.

The “Hydra” did its utmost to lower and twist its heads, but amid that dense barrage of projectiles with barely a gap to be found, no matter how it tried, it could not evade.

More and more scales were damaged, the flowing golden blood and the white flames that ignited it covered every inch of the giant serpent’s body, even the parts hidden underwater could not escape.

Because this was not fire in the true sense, but another form of purification.

Gradually, as the cannons fired repeatedly, the part of the specter exposed above the sea could no longer find a single intact scale, looking like a tattered black cloth riddled with holes everywhere.

Its entire body was wrapped in white flames, nine heads drooping down listlessly, as if it no longer had the strength to cry out in agony, only breathing heavily in low tones.

But despite being severely wounded, even near its end, the specter’s heartbeat remained steady, and in its dimming eyes, mortal emotions like pain and venomous hatred quickly receded, leaving only absolute indifference at the last.

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Though its current predicament was extremely dangerous, to kill it, the heavy cannons on that giant ship would need to thunder at least a dozen more times, requiring time even without pause.

And if it wanted to break free, it had to shatter the great power binding it during this seemingly brief but actually extremely long time for those in the know.

Shatter that girl, just as it had done when facing that curtain of night.

“Creak…”

Bones let out unbearable wails, but the specter continued trembling incessantly—not from fear or anger, but gradually breaking through that invisible barrier.

It no longer evaded the cannon fire, knowing evasion was impossible, so its body stretched out even more, as if trying to burst through something.

During this process, between the giant serpent’s heads and body, or rather in the space it tore open within that invisible prison, wind and rain became violent once again.

The sea roared in fury, raising massive waves that momentarily blocked the giant ship’s firepower.

Though the devil’s great power had not retreated, it was clearly struggling to control that mountain-like creature, with collapse only a matter of time—both person and power collapsing together.

On the side rail of the Goddess Hestia.

The girl who had been looking down somehow raised her face, staring fixedly at the giant serpent, at the emerald sun flickering ominously on its central head.

Although each head of the “Hydra” possessed independent thinking ability and similar power, making it nearly impossible for ordinary people to detect any difference.

But the girl was different, because of the fragmentary memories in her bloodline.

She deduced—no, was certain—that the serpent head in the center of the specter was the main body of its form and consciousness, the true lifeline.

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So their current confrontation also represented the true clash of their wills.

Neither was willing to yield.

“Crack!”

A slight sound of splitting, and the ship’s rail Roy gripped suddenly showed several fine cracks.

The building materials used for the Goddess Hestia, though wooden, were harder and more resilient than most metals. For the captain to squeeze cracks into it now was certainly not due to her great strength, but because the great power within her body…

Was no longer stable, on the verge of losing control.

Time is the strongest force, and has always been fair, especially to nature’s supreme creations.

Therefore, even specters from the old calendar could not possess the power to destroy civilization from birth. Even the most powerful among them, that black dragon, had to slumber under the World Tree for countless years before daring to wage war against the gods.

The “Hydra” was thus, and Roy was the same.

From awakening to confronting the giant serpent, she had less than ten days to grow.

Even though her body had been transformed by her ancestor, born perfect as the ideal “vessel” for bearing magical power, and she had experience wielding great power several times in past years, these alone still could not bridge that chasm.

If standing in her position now were Captain Edward or her father, given the specter’s current predicament, it would have no path but death.

But conversely, the girl could not yet do this.

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The trembling of her body grew more intense, the rail in her grip became increasingly deformed, and as time passed, Roy’s originally brilliant eyes began to flicker and dim.

She was very clear about what the outcome would be if this continued.

Just like when facing Enzo on that burial island, when she advised Caine, this kind of power that could touch eternity possessed terrible toxicity.

Though such “poison” had virtually no effect on her, if she truly persisted stubbornly, continuing to hold on under overload conditions, that toxicity would inevitably grow stronger, until at some moment, it crossed the limit she could endure.

At that time, she might truly perish in both body and soul.

But…

Despite knowing this deeply, thinking of the crew members who had died in the serpent’s jaws in her absence, thinking of the man who had disappeared forever in fire to buy her time, and of her first mate whose fate remained unknown, Roy had no intention of letting go.

Instead, she gripped even tighter, and the specter was pushed back considerably as a result.

For the sake of those who had passed, for the sake of those she loved, she wanted it to pay a terrible price, and that price certainly could not end with mere severe wounds and wails!

Amid the fierce wind and rain, under gunfire and cannon thunder, Roy and the specter faced off indifferently, as if it would never end.

Unless one of them went to hell first.

At this point, on the eve of the end, neither considered anything else, nor had any energy left to think, only persisting, persisting out of sheer stubbornness.

Sometimes, conflicts are just that simple and clear.

Whether they fall upon vendors and buyers in the marketplace, or beings who are both near-divine.

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Her vision began to gradually darken and blur, even those two pairs of emerald suns produced multiple afterimages. Roy felt all perception drifting away, her body becoming colder and colder, as if at any moment it would no longer belong to her.

She knew the limit of toxicity was near, but the monster’s death was equally close. She wanted to drag her opponent into this gamble, because she had never lost a bet.

This time would be the same…

Right?

All sounds were fading away, like sleep approaching.

The light in the girl’s eyes had dimmed almost beyond recognition, her body swaying as if about to fall, causing the pirates who noticed from behind to cry out in alarm and surge forward.

The raven on her shoulder called to him even more anxiously.

But in the end, the pirates stopped, because a slender figure had already arrived first. The raven fell silent, having been glanced at by an annoyed look that found it too noisy.

“Tap.”

A light sound, a gray shadow leaped onto the rail, walking slowly along the moist wood, finally settling beside Roy’s hand. It looked up at her, then sighed like a call, like an elder seeing a child covered in mud from play.

“Meow.”

The next moment, a fluffy cat paw gently pressed against the girl’s hand.

And then everything was peaceful as before.