Chapter 1442: Watch Out For Ships Below
The Merfolk pirates were still swarming the ship as the ones that were approaching from the front dove deep into the water to get out of sight.
They would undoubtedly try to climb up the ship once they get closer but we should first deal with the ones climbing up the rear of the ship first.
At least... That was what I thought before an explosion of spray suddenly erupted from the side of the ship.
All of us turned to watch an entire galleon rise up from the sea, water spewing out from its portholes and deck as it floated itself on top of the sea.
Several of the deckhands gaped at the ship that was more than twice the size of ours and any hope that this was a friendly ship disappeared when we saw the pirate flag being flown at the top of the mast.
I realised that the Merfolk that had dove down into the waters below were also on board the ship and the ones that had been hit by our spells earlier were also no doubt on board, having already been healed up.
So not only were the Merfolk approaching from the front a diversion... The ones coming from behind were also part of the diversion...
The real threat was the ship that had been sneaking up from us underneath the waves this entire time, the entire vessel using our confusion to get into position.
And as if to prove that point, ropes with hooks were tossed out to grab onto the railings of the ship, pulling us in towards them and preventing us from escaping.
First of all... How the heck do you even submerge an entire ship and move it underwater?! Is that magic?! Or is that some special property of the ship?!
There’s submarine ships in this World?! I didn’t even know that!!
To the second in command’s credit, he doesn’t panic and draws his own sword while yelling out commands.
"Prepare for boarding action!! Repel the boarders!! Shoot them down!! Cut the ropes!!"
The deckhands obeyed despite the overwhelming odds, shooting spell after spell at the galleon that was slowly pulling us closer and closer.
Most of them tried to set the ship alight by using fire spells but the wood remained wet and prevented any fire from burning at all.
Seeing that that was useless, they switched their targets to shoot at the Merfolk on deck instead while others worked on cutting the ropes.
Unfortunately, despite our best efforts to stop it, the Merfolk managed to pull this ship close enough for them to start boarding us.
Several of them swung over on ropes while others simply leapt across the gap, their swords brandished threateningly while spells were being cast from their hands.
Delmare stepped up and swung her rapier in front of her after having gathered her mana to create a whip blade.
The sword sliced through most of the ropes that were hooked on our ship’s railing, freeing us from the galleon.
Unfortunately, we were already close enough that the Merfolk could still swing over onto our ship.
One such Merfolk landed on the railing right in front of me and before he could do anything else, my sword was thrust through his throat, killing him instantly.
I pulled back my sword and watched as his corpse fell backwards to drop into the sea below, right as another one tried to leap towards me from the galleon.
Before he could even close the gap, I shot a [Spark Strike] at him, nailing the pirate in the chest and blasting him back to smash on the side of the galleon, the pirate spasming once before joining his brethren to fall down into the sea.
More of the pirates started jumping over as we continued to defend against them, though for every pirate we cut down, two more would swing over to take their place.
"Mistress!" Lilith called out. "Permission to destroy their ship!"
Err... Well... Sure? Honestly I was thinking that I would drag out the fight a little so my other girls could join in the fight but it doesn’t look like they were waking up at all despite the commotion above them.
I guess I must have worn them out quite a bit from our activities last night.
I gave the succubus a nod and he sprang up into the air, her wings exploding out from her back while she raised her hand up into the air.
A pirate tried to strike at me but paused and looked up at the succubus who was gathering a ball of black lightning in her hands.
That was his mistake as I went ahead to slice his head clean off before kicking his corpse overboard.
Several pirates tried to stop her by shooting spells at her but I wasn’t going to let that happen and flew up to serve as her shield, deflecting away the spells with my own and protecting her from being interrupted.
Lilith continued to charge her magic behind me, creating a giant ball of black lightning which she held above her head, the ball big enough to engulf at least half of the pirate ship if she chose to throw at it.
As though realising what was going on, the remnants of the pirates quickly jumped overboard while the ship itself tried to submerge itself back into the water to escape.
Lilith did not allow it to escape of course, as she tossed the giant black ball at the ship before it could even submerge half of itself.
The ball struck the deck of the ship, consuming the entire deck immediately and letting out an explosion of sparks.
The pirates that were unfortunate enough to be closest to the ball got vaporised almost instantly, the ball swallowing them up in its darkness and breaking their bodies down into atoms and dispersing them.
The others that were at least a distance away ended up getting electrocuted while the others abandoned the ship and leapt off the deck.
Even then, black lightning continued to spark around the ball, striking against the unfortunate pirates and turning their bodies into dust.
The black ball itself continued to sink into the ship and all of us watched with dark fascination as the ship seemed to be consumed by this black ball.
The once intimidating galleon was slowly being split into half by the black ball while its crew were steadily abandoning it to its fate.
I found it a little funny that the pirates didn’t even need a ship to begin with but I guess they must be using it as a mode of transport to save their strength from needing to swim and also as a way to store their loot from their victims.
The ship eventually split into two with an ear piercing crack, both halves crashing into itself right as the black ball exploded, throwing up a giant wave that crashed against the side of the ship, rocking it violently.
Thankfully, no one fell overboard at least.
The scattered debris of the ship was now spread across the surface of the ocean, the remains slowly sinking into a watery grave below.
I spied the Merfolk pirates who were still swimming around the ship, their heads poking out of the water’s surface.
All of them looked up at Lilith and me floating above the merchant ship like some kind of guardian and they seemed to have decided that we were not worth it and dove back down into the sea below, leaving their sinking ship behind.
With the pirate threat neutralised, I returned to the ship with Lilith, both of us landing on the deck without a sound.
As if our return was some kind of trigger, the crew let out a cheer as they celebrated the unexpected victory over the pirates.
We were not without casualties however, since there were a few of the crew that perished during the fight but... At least none of my girls were hurt, which was the most important thing.
I left the crew to celebrate their victory while I went below deck, curious how my girls were still sleeping despite all the noise.
Lilith followed me as well, while Minnera and Delmare remained on deck just in case those Merfolk pirates returned.
I reached the space where my girls and I were occupying as our bedroom and, as I expected, all of them were still fast asleep in a pile on top of the bed.
Remnants of our activities last night were still caked on their skin, marking them as mine.
I gulped audibly at the sight and I could feel a stirring in my loins as I beheld the scene.
What else could I do when I see my girls all wearing my ’marks’ on their bodies?
I was about to turn around to leave them there before I gave in to my base desires and started mounting one of them but...
Lilith suddenly slipped her hand into mine, entwining her fingers with mine.
I looked up at her to see a blushing succubus trying to hide her face as she whispered, "Umm... You can... Do whatever you want with me... Mistress."
...
I indeed went ahead to do whatever I wanted to her after that~
