Chapter 145 - Mutiny on Actaea - A Storm Arrives!
Twilight, 16th Day
Narrow Sea
Actaea glided over the uncharacteristically calm sea, shining golden under the vanishing might of the distant sun.
The wind had turned to a cool, light breeze, dancing with the black Jolly Roger of the White Serpent Pirates. However, it felt like the wind could go out anyti like the sudden extinguishing of a candle fla. The sky was a clear sheet of dark blue and gray, darkening as the ship kept closing on the east, and one star was already twinkling just over the horizon to the southeast, heralding a starlit night.
Kai's predictions were late by one entire day to co true.
The pursuers must have caught up to them by this ti yesterday, according to what Kai had told g. Yet, there was no sign of them in any direction.
Was it a good sign or a bad one? Or did it have another aning? Kai did not know. He was too busy with other things to even consider those questions.
First of those things was the Prophecy. It was the blurriest Blood Prophecy they had so far.
Waves crashing against the ship, the color of the sea — a deep red, and loud, hissing sounds. A roaring thunder and a chill that could freeze the bones topped this strange picture. Soone was shouting, bellowing out their lungs, and a thrashing of a blue tail.
g did not know if that tail had belonged to Golduck-Kai or not, as she had failed to comprehend the size differences in the blood world accurately. The prophecy had ended with a bang that jolted her brains out of the trance, her HP bar flashing red, warning of impending death. One thing was obvious to them, despite the nonsensical scenes.
They would face a near-death threat before reaching the Pentos.
The nature of the second thing was more realistic but equally bloody.
Actaea had just tasted blood for the first ti.
When Kai had stolen the ship from the harbor, he had taken the captain hostage using the longsword stolen from so guard. The crew had retaliated, what with him being not old enough to be called a proper man and his pretty face. Kai had proved himself as bold and rciless by breaking limbs and snapping bones as the crew of Black Betha had been talking about him for the last week. The Abnormality Limiter Bar had dropped as low as 40% then.
Nevertheless, Kai had never used the strength that one couldn't expect from a trained knight.
As he continued to use that strength, his Abnormality Limiter gradually returned to the max, stating that the crew had finally accepted the fact he indeed had skills and abilities suited to soone more than just a seaman.
That's what Kai, Petyr, and g had planned; to present Kai as so runaway lordling, and an heir to a fallen Noble House, to the crew, and not only a nobody ship's boy shadowed by grueso tales.
Why the trouble?
I need the crew, Kai had reasoned, speaking to g and Petyr. I knew sothing about sailing, and now I know it better. But I have no clue or confidence in sailing a ship across the narrow sea. No true knowledge of navigation, as I was too busy getting the Ability, and I have no way to man the ship by myself. So, yes. I need the crew and n who know how to handle them, too.
So, even after presenting himself as a rciless, but still honorable boy, Kai had killed no one and had instead focused on lighting the harbor afire and sailing the cog into the sea as soon as possible.
The ship demanded blood, though. It seed to have taken a liking to the Captain and his na, Red. His dark thoughts and darker intentions must have influenced it besides, for not even two days had passed, and the crew carried out a mutiny.
Or they tried to, at least.
g had been keeping a close eye on all the whispers and actions outside the captain's cabin, as Kai had spent his last day lying on the bed, his headache becoming worse. He had been saving his strength for the enemy to co, and the wait had pained him more, the anticipation turning into faint anxiety.
It was then that g had told him that the entire crew was planning to run down the captain's cabin and attack him. They had even stopped manning the ship. Now he couldn't have had that, could he? Kai's anger had been already bubbling up because of the fear that his Kill Count might not get completed before reaching Pentos, and hearing the report, it exploded.
They had attacked him the mont he went out.
These sean weren't trained for battle, but they knew how to defend themselves against pirates of the narrow sea, using the oddest collection of weapons. Kai had slithered through them, cutting off limbs and throats, and letting a few blows fall on him for the sake of the Abnormality Limiter. When he was done, out of 20, only 12 had survived, including the ex-captain and the mate.
Now, he was standing on the deck strewed with limbless, bleeding, and dying sean. No. They were already dead. The rest were still distancing themselves away from him as if he were so unholy creature. His Abnormality Limiter was flicking between 30 to 50%, and only when he panted and his knees shook vividly did the black bar rise again at a constant rate.
Kai held himself up, using the longsword as a stick, blood trailing down on its edge as if the sword itself was bleeding, and eyed all the survivors. Wounds, scratches, and bruises, if not deep cuts, had covered all of them, running over them like sweat. It wasn't hard to guess that they were not dead because Kai had intentionally spared their lives.
Kai pushed himself up, his brain trying to burst out of his eyes; such intense was his headache.
No sign of this pain ca up on his face, though. He took a deep breath and lifted the sword, pointing at the captain. "You..." He fired the word like a bullet, and the entire crew gasped. "Co..."
Not speaking isn't enough, Kai thought, noticing a sudden, but slight, drop in the Abnormality Limiter. I must take more drastic actions to keep the crew in check. We still have miles to cross, and God knows I can't afford to lose a single seaman now.
The ex-captain, a middle-aged dragonseed from Dragonstone, dragged his way to Kai and fell to his knees. "My... my lord," he stuttered, "you can speak?! Spare , my lord. Spare . I have children. It was the mate, my lord. The mate, yes. One of those fucking ironn. You must have heard about their infamous raids and ill deeds. The entire lot of them sll fishy. Fucking squids! He riled us against you, I swear."
The rest of the crew nodded and buzzed in agreent, distancing themselves from the bare, hairy-chested, long-bearded, swarthy male nad Andrik. He had thick arms, and Kai had found him the fiercest, dauntless sailor. At one glance, the mate couldn't have looked any less like a seaman, with his height of almost 7 ft.
But Kai had seen the mate giving commands, and based on that, he could tell that Andrik was a proper sailor, alright.
Andrik, the mate, had co at him with an enormous battle-ax during the battle a few monts ago, Kai rembered.
With one large swing, Andrik had thrown Kai off the floor, sending him flying towards the ship's hull, his breath leaving him with two huge bloody coughs on the impact. Later, the big man then had followed with agility unlike that of any common seaman. The agility that could have only developed from battles and slaughters.
Kai's surprise had been intense. Andrik hadn't shown rcy to that surprise, following with large swings, one after another, and lashing with kicks and backhanded blows, now and then. And when he had charged at him, Andrik's shoulder had felt like a massive boulder being thrown at him. Unstoppable. Unavoidable.
If he hadn't used Slither Steps at the right ti, his cover would have blown up.
For the first ti, Kai had t an in-world, non-magical Character who had outmatched him in not only strength but also stamina.
Kai had to use all his murderous instincts to maneuver himself, giving the giant man shallow cuts and tiring him out. He had decided against killing this man, as the mate was the most experienced among the sean, and if he were to reach Pentos, then he would need Andrik with his head over his shoulders.
Kai did all this while still defending himself from the occasional unlucky sailors who were trying to have a go at him.
The fight with Andrik had squeezed every drop of patience out of Kai, to the extent that he had started to wonder if he could ever win against the towering man without using Titan's buff, his Advance Abilities, or Items. There is sothing odd about him, Kai had thought, finally using Telekinesis to extend his longsword's reach. It was Kai's last, and the most shocking dance that had settled the mutiny for all the good it had done the crew.
Now, Andrik was missing the pinky finger in his right hand.
Even that bloody stump, dozens of cuts, and a scar running down from his left eye to chin failed to swat away the fierce look in the mate's eyes, however. Kai had held back his attack, otherwise, it would have butchered that left eye as well. Now that he looked at Andrik again, he wondered why this Andrik hadn't put more struggle at the harbor.
It was then the mate stepped forward.
"He lies, boy," Andrik said, spitting at the ex-captain. "We Ironborn pay the iron price, and that was my reason to join him. It was all his filthy Targaryen hybrid blood behind the mutiny. Now the coward is playing a turncoat? Heh!"
Kai stared into the mate's eyes. Willful and proud. This was a genuine man of the sea who had breathed the salt before, unlike the rest of the crew who had known nothing but a relatively peaceful life. But he didn't need anyone to tell anything to him. He hadn't made the ex-captain co to him without reason.
Kai wanted the man to be less than 3 ters away from him. Because that was the limit of his Emotions Manipulation. Now that he could sense the emotions of the ex-captain, he tasted his fear, and the happiness mixed with the utter horror of death.
Andrik was telling the truth about the kneeled ex-captain, if not about anything else.
I guess I can afford one more kill, Kai thought casually, contradicting his previous reasoning, and lifted the sword. The thrill of killing had beco an epheral panacea for his headache. Kill. He must kill. And with this kill, he would plant the deepest fear into the crew's hearts, making sure no mutiny would ever happen again.
A bright bloody, silver arc fell swiftly, separating the stunned ex-captain's head in one smooth stroke.
The surrounding pressure fell along with the sword.
The light breeze halted into a stunned silence and then followed by a powerful gust that made the headless body fall, drenching the ship with thick, dark blood. The head rolled away from Kai, stopping at Andrik's feet, who kicked it away and then nodded at Kai.
Kai snatched his gaze away from the mate, slowly looking to his right, and saw dark cumulonimbus clouds rising higher and higher, galloping towards them.
It was an enemy Kai dreaded facing the most in the sea.
A storm was coming.
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