Captain – Chapter 741 – Still Must Face Me

There exists a distant and ancient legend that describes the origins of the Southern Islands pirates—it is the story of one man, a… Pirate King.

Due to the passage of countless years, his surname can no longer be traced.

Even the ancient scholars who once deeply researched and excavated this legend only knew that people of the past called him Golden-Eyed Edward.

Because he possessed a pair of dark golden eyes, like dying embers of molten lava—the eyes of a devil.

According to legend, he was the most ancient pirate, the progenitor of all sea brigands, and he led his followers to miraculously defeat the Ancient Auran Empire.

In the eyes of the present world’s masses, the most important part of this story was that after Edward’s “death,” he buried the wealth accumulated over his lifetime on a solitary island named after the devil, rumored to be reachable only by the fearless and gifted.

They could inherit his legacy, take his place, and become the new Pirate King.

This well-known ancient story, though now seen to contain many inaccuracies, was the very culprit that led Roy step by step into the devil’s trap.

It was also the beginning of a long journey of redemption and revenge.

Until tonight, the young woman has returned to this Devil’s Island. Regardless of victory or defeat…

All history, curses, and legends related to it will come to an end. Thousands of years of time and the fates of countless living beings all converge at this terminus.

“Rumble…”

A bolt of lightning streaked across the dim sky, illuminating the dark, dense forest for an instant, followed by deafening thunder—like a warning from an angered deity whose sacred ground had been disturbed, displaying boundless fury.

Countless raindrops from above struck the dense branches, trickling down the emerald leaves with pattering sounds as they hit the soil, gathering into muddy puddles.

They also struck that graceful figure moving swift as a hunting leopard.

The difference was that this time, the one coming to “pay respects” was no longer that ignorant youth who could only follow the crystal skull, dressed like an ordinary sailor.

But rather a young woman who had witnessed fate itself, broken from her cocoon to near-godhood, her cloak magnificent as an emperor’s.

Following memory and perception, she swept through layers of tree shadows, heading toward that throne.

Neither the complex branches and leaves, nor the heavy curtain of rain, nor the omnipresent, swaying darkness could obscure her vision or dim that blazing sun.

Rеαd οո ΚаtRеаԁіոgСаfe

With her wind-swift running, she clearly saw that the sun was near.

Very near.

Finally, the symphony composed of wind, footsteps, and the crisp sounds of puddles being stepped through came to a halt, because the tree shadows before the young woman…

Suddenly parted, revealing a clear view.

What met her eyes was a spacious clearing, clearly artificial rather than natural, covered entirely with bright, smooth marble. The intricate drainage channels carved like sacred patterns were not filled with rainwater, but with blood-red lava.

Even more shocking was that the lava was not dormant, but boiling and surging.

It painted this secret ground in crimson, as if performing a pilgrimage to the brilliant throne at the center of the clearing, or perhaps sensing the approaching divine battle.

Roy could not possibly be frightened by this scene.

After leaving the dense forest, her form gradually slowed, taking steady, measured steps past the splashing lava toward the throne, her gaze never leaving the figure within.

Wind howled and rain poured, lightning flashed and thunder roared. In this place both sinister and magnificent, two beings flowing with divine blood—the most perfect devils—finally came to their reunion.

They had come to that battle at fate’s end.

Walking to within just over thirty meters of the throne, determining this was the absolute safe distance conveyed by her intuition—any closer would mean stepping into the opponent’s lethal domain—the young woman slowly came to a stop, her gaze meeting the blazing eyes in the shadows.

At that moment, lightning suddenly fell, and the lava that painted indecipherable divine patterns on the clearing blazed brighter.

Thus the black veil of night and shadow dispersed, and the devil with his expressionless face revealed himself.

Everything returned to the beginning. This ancestor and descendant truly met face to face in the same place once more, yet whether in identity, position, or even expression and mood, everything had become completely different.

On the face and in the eyes of the figure on the throne, not a trace of laziness or frivolity could be seen—only undisguised killing intent, the most extreme brutality.

But what was terrifying was that despite displaying such a god of death’s countenance, his words remained gentle and mild, as if the one speaking was an entirely different soul.

“It has indeed been a long time, my dear child. Oh, and that hat.”

“Did you convey my regards to Captain Noah?”

Rеaԁ oո KαtRеαԁіոgСαfе

The familiar, nightmarish voice reached her ears. Roy unconsciously clenched her fists, forcibly driving away the tension in her heart. Even though she had broken free from his control after the ice sea battle, those dark memories would not fade.

It could be said that from her birth, even while in her mother’s womb, he had already controlled her fate like a puppet master, manipulating her for a full eighteen years.

When she learned the truth, that bone-deep coldness and helpless despair she remembered to this day.

Later, it was ignited by the flame that First Mate Isaac had become, burning into the fire of vengeance.

A fire that would surely engulf Devil’s Island tonight.

“What should I call you? The betrayer Jacob, the mysteriously manifested Pirate King, or the devil Edward? You wear too many masks.”

“Though I think for you and me, ‘ancestor’ might be the most fitting address.”

After suppressing her emotions and calming her mind, Roy completely ignored the devil’s conversational lead, instead speaking slowly and clearly, exposing his most important identities one by one.

She knew no Captain Noah.

But from the devil’s specific mention of the tricorn hat she wore and the title “Captain,” the young woman could guess he spoke of the Representative he had pierced through the heart.

That former captain of the Auran Goddess, humanity’s leader.

But Roy understood more clearly that on such a night that would change the era and the world, before that fated battle, this ancestor could not possibly be here to reminisce with her.

Much less use a hat to bring up some unavoidable, touching story.

Every word he spoke must have purpose and aim—it was the most terrifying form of psychological warfare.

In understanding human hearts, Roy considered herself second to none, yet she still had no confidence in matching wits with this pirate progenitor, so she simply chose not to respond to him.

You may speak if you wish, but I won’t care, because I’ve only come to kill you.

That is all.

Faced with the young woman’s sharp words, the devil raised an eyebrow and fell silent for a moment, as if surprised.

Rеаd οn ΚаtRеadіոɡСаfe

After a moment, he smiled again, the curve of his lips utterly devoid of warmth: “Yes, that title sounds much more pleasing than the previous ones.”

“Also, child, though I know your resolve cannot be changed, know that you seek vengeance for yourself and all who hate me and died by my hand.”

“But standing alone before me at this very moment, are you truly… not afraid?”

As he spoke, the devil leaned forward slightly, gazing at the young woman as he asked.

Not mocking, utterly serious, even the smile at the corners of his mouth had completely vanished.

Hearing this, Roy blinked, showing a look of “disbelief” at just the right moment.

“Ancestor, even if the rain is heavy, surely your brain couldn’t get waterlogged with your abilities?”

Faced with the young woman’s response that lacked any respect and could be called cursing, the devil showed no anger, only slowly leaned back while saying: “But child, you must know that throughout history, all my enemies, however great, are no more.”

“Leaders, legends, gods—all have perished, while only I remain immortal.”

“So then, are you truly prepared to face me? Are you really not afraid of death?”

Roy did not answer, only remained silent, but the devil’s faint smile slowly spread.

“Of course you can say you’re not afraid, that you fear nothing.”

“But… why are you trembling?”

Before the brilliant throne, among the blazing lava, the solitary young woman trembled slightly, even her breathing and heartbeat somewhat irregular, as if facing not one person.

But the glory of the old world, an insurmountable mountain—the highest in all history.

Standing alone in endless shadows, she would naturally be afraid, nervous enough to shiver.

But this did not represent submission, did not mean she would yield.

“Afraid? Who isn’t afraid of death?”

After a brief silence, Roy’s clear voice rang out, without any attempt at concealment.

Reαd οn KαtReаⅾіոɡCаfе

When saying these words, she felt no shame, instead she smiled—smiled brilliantly, just like shameless pirates when hearing others curse their villainy.

“I’m someone who’s very afraid of death. For me, there’s nothing shameful about that.”

Courage and fear of death had always coexisted harmoniously in her, never seeming contradictory.

She dared to advance through terrible storms and serpent fangs, yet would also stop before the strait due to the authority and power of that old man from the islands, now eternally at rest.

What of it? Wasn’t that perfectly normal?

The young woman had always been this way, always thought this way. Therefore, though her body trembled slightly, when facing her ancestor’s indifferent question, she still smiled brilliantly with her chin raised slightly.

And while responding, her trembling hands had already settled firmly on her two blades.

Meeting the devil’s terrifying dark golden eyes, she asked with fear and timidity, yet also with courage and pride: “I admit I’m afraid, but… what about you, ancestor?”

“Do you dare honestly say that at this moment, you still have complete confidence in defeating me…”

“That you’re not afraid of losing at all, don’t fear death?”

This time, it was the young woman’s turn to ask questions, but it was the devil who fell silent.

“Perhaps—I’m only saying perhaps—you’ve also had moments of regret and remorse, regretting creating me, regretting that your arrangements on this path were still insufficient.”

“Otherwise, why, despite making so many preparations, why in the end…”

“Must you still face me, face…”

With a sharp “clang,” curved blade and black sword were drawn together.

Roy slowly raised her hands—right arm slanted forward, the gleaming Iskavian curved blade pointing directly at the throne and the devil within; left arm bent to guard before her, that dark blade that seemed to devour all light suspended beside her right arm.

At the same time, she dangerously narrowed her eyes, smiling with wild arrogance as she spoke that line.

“The great Captain Roy.”