Chapter 142: Unpleasant Reunions (Patreon)

Coop’s brisk footsteps crunched as he stepped through shattered glass and dismembered seaweed leaves. The bridge of the cruise ship had clearly seen some fighting, but the center of the conflict had shifted entirely to the bow before Coop arrived. The seaweed had ambushed the ship while it drifted through the deep ocean, surprising the passengers and getting a firm hold on the vessel before they had a chance to prevent it. That left the Empire’s refugees fighting a losing battle where they were outmatched and outmaneuvered by the Unchosen crab.

Coop hurried, climbing through the broken windows of the ship’s bridge, outside, to the ledge overlooking the bow of the ship. As soon as he was clear of the threshold, he planted his foot, already winding up as he burst into the open air, and hissed with effort as he squeezed his abs, twisted his hips, and rotated his shoulders, generating power from his legs all the way through his body. He launched his opening salvo, heaving it almost straight up with gusto. The heavy spear flew into the night sky while his follow through took him all the way to the edge of the narrow space.

He was nearly at the top of the cruise ship, in the relative center, above and behind the battle between the strangers that had arrived with the ship and the lashing blades of seaweed. They were doing their best to stand up to the grasping vines, but it only took a quick glance to realize they were severely outclassed. The passengers of the ship wouldn’t be able to extricate themselves from the clinging seaweed with how slowly they fought back. The ship had lost all of its momentum long before Coop arrived, so it had no chance of breaking through.

The groups of fighters tried to work together, but a handful of humans with inadequate levels and limited combat experience struggled against just one or two seaweed blades. If the seaweed was specifically out for blood, they would have been slaughtered, but other than incidental strikes, it only continued to seek purchase on the ship. They fought to dislodge it more than anything else, hacking at rooted leaves with poor quality weapons or depleting their mana with weak spells that only occasionally dealt visible damage if they struck at all.

Coop had well over ten thousand repetitions with high arcing throws after hunting the Primal Kites on the Ghost Reef sandbars, so it wasn’t a problem to immediately judge the distance and get underneath the toss. There was no chance he would miss a target that was 200 feet wide, stationary as the ship was, with the combatants at an impasse. The fact the crab was in a position that would prevent any collateral damage, hanging off the side, was icing on the cake.

The spear shot into the night sky, disappearing as it rose through the wispy clouds among the twinkling stars. The only evidence of the missile’s passing were the rings it formed in the clouds as the backdraft punched through, but no one was looking up at the moment.

Coop wasn’t worried about dealing the minimum amount of damage necessary to defeat a regular, level 20 Primal Kite in order to keep his grind time efficient, so he had really launched his weapon. Maybe he underestimated his own Strength a bit, because it would be a while before the heavy spear came back down, judging by its momentum. It was the first time had a full send on a heavy spear throw, so even he was a bit surprised by the result. In the meantime, he started hopping down ledges, holding only his shield, planning on making his arrival known.

A blade of seaweed, almost as wide as he was tall, tried to snatch his legs while he dropped, but Coop twisted his torso and batted it away with the edge of his round shield. His Strength was enough to redirect the leaf, if not outright destroy it.

“On your left!” He called out before he landed among the first group of random people fighting on the uppermost open air balcony. The scattered debris of destroyed lounge chairs joined several gaping holes from where seaweed had bored through surfaces. Only one of the combatants had the awareness to even turn at Coop’s warning, but Coop landed in time. He bashed the tip of another blade of seaweed away from the group’s unprotected blindspot on their left flank as it arose from beneath the terraced balcony.

“There are rescue boats at the back of the ship. You can evacuate.” Coop announced in the temporary lull he had created as the fighters turned to him in surprise. Then, he managed to sever a few seaweed blades that were pulled taut against the ship, despite the edge of his shield not being particularly sharp, clearing out their balcony so they would at least be somewhat free to move around. He only spent a few more seconds before he moved down to the next level.

“Who the hell was that? Did he only have a shield?” He heard someone question over the shouts and clamor of fighting on the levels below, but Coop was already among the next group.

As he went from balcony to balcony, spreading the message that help had arrived and providing some relief to the struggling volunteer fighters, he left them slightly stunned at how easily he countered the seaweed blades. They slowly started to regroup, getting a chance to organize against the onslaught of unthinking vine-like attacks, thanks to his efforts. They were still engaged with more blades of seaweed, but their morale clearly jumped when Coop provided even a small amount of aid, turning the tide of what was a clearly losing battle in saving the ship to a temporary stalemate. The knowledge that evacuation was possible definitely helped.

Coop thought the ship was completely compromised by the crab’s assault. The back left of the ship was lifted up into the air while the front was pressed all the way down to the surface of the ocean. The way the hull groaned against its own weight made Coop nervous, anticipating a catastrophic failure, but he was at least confident in his own ability to simply mistjump out of the potential wreck. He doubted there was a captain that would be willing to go down with the ship in this case, but Coop would prefer to avoid swimming in potentially dangerous waters if possible.

When he reached the main deck, each group of the overwhelmed fighters above him had snagged a foothold against the seaweed and had mostly clear routes to escape back through the ship when they were ready. Most of them stuck around for a short time before getting a better look at the state of the ship and deciding it was time to evacuate.

It was only the last group, engaging with the crab itself, that continued to struggle the most. Coop ignored them for the moment, briefly searching the bow for something that he believed would be useful, given the crab’s location.

His search only took another few seconds before he found what he was looking for. There was a solid sliding deck hatch underneath a secure housing, embedded near the center of the forecastle deck, separate from the publicly accessible bow railing. Coop hummed as he assessed the damage. The windlass chamber had several leaves of seaweed wrapped around the portion that bulged from the interior, but it was a formidable structure as it needed to hold the hydraulic winch for a pair of 20 ton anchors, one for each side of the ship. Coop leapt forward and started bashing through the seaweed with his shield, waiting for his spear to land before he considered summoning a bladed weapon to make the job quicker.

When a blade of seaweed snared his free arm, pulling him off-balance, he paused his excavation to brace himself, gritting his teeth and flexing his entangled arm as he smashed his shield against the entangling leaf until he was free again. He was strong enough to withstand an individual leaf of seaweed just by physically resisting.

Coop spared a glance for the small group doing their best to dislodge the crab from the side of the bow. They were mostly targeting the overgrown claw that anchored the crab’s body to the ship. Slashing flames met the wet crab’s carapace, causing some steam but no obvious harm while wrist blades and a thick short sword clanged against the tip of the claw, lighting up the area with sparks, but failing to impair the grip.

The next time a blade of seaweed targeted Coop, he didn’t cease his digging. He just cast Legacy of the Mists and a phantasmal shieldbearer appeared on his flank, shield held forward, catching the tip of the oversized leaf with a comfortable stance that made it seem like the ghost had been jousting with seaweed strikes forever. Coop concentrated on doing two things at once: dislodging seaweed while using Legacy to protect himself and avoid interruption.

It wasn’t much longer before the crab was suddenly blasted from above with a crack and a crunch that was so loud, it must have been heard by the Tempest Fleet. The spear returned from its arcing trip into the sky with vigor. It was moving exceptionally fast as gravity returned his weapon. Notably, his throw had been wide right of dead center, but the crab was so large it was still struck, which worked in his favor.

The heavy spear smashed through heaps of seaweed that rose above the crab, creating a tunnel through the tangled layers, practically vaporizing the ones struck with its tip, before it collided with the carapace with so much force the crab basically disappeared into the water. One moment it was there, clawing onto the deck, and the next its body was gone with a splash that swamped the ship, bowling over the group that were doing their best to prevent it from climbing aboard, sending them against the inner railing that separated the trench, where Coop was, from the bow. The ship itself partially righted itself and Coop barely kept his balance, hanging onto the edge of the windlass chamber in the middle of the bow with sea water splashing over him.

The enormous black-tipped claw hung from where it had pinched onto the corner of the hull and the gunwale, but it had been cleanly severed from the rest of the crab’s now missing body. The pincers didn’t release even after the crab was gone.

For a second, Coop thought the straightforward job was done, and he’d have to start the more difficult part in dealing with the humans. Frowning, he hesitated as the ship’s bow was pulled even further into the water, rather than returning to level, sending waves up to his knees and the crab fighters sliding closer to the edge, shouting in dismay, while the back of the ship rose even higher in the air than it had been before. The ship creaked dangerously and the last of the grouped volunteer fighters fled from the balconies to avoid falling down to the bow.

Coop realized the seaweed was still present, gripping the ship desperately, pulled taut as the crab refused to give up on its quarry. Coop summoned his sword and cut his way through the rest of the seaweed blocking his path to the anchor windlass.

Once he was inside, with water cascading past him, deeper into the ship, he simply smashed the heavy duty machinery, having no idea what any of it did. His efforts were first rewarded with loud clanging as enormous chains shifted inside their lockers and lost their grips. The banging sounds gradually increased in frequency as the massive anchors pulled and the links broke free. Coop had to back out, avoiding the smoke, steam, and eventual friction fire of the uncontrolled fall of both anchors. Coop clenched his jaw as the clanging of the massive high-strength steel drowned out any other sounds.

One of the anchors, or maybe just the chain, must have connected with the submerged crab and its entangling seaweed, because all at once, the seaweed that had woven itself into the structure of the ship snapped like a series of frayed ropes. The broken bases were pulled into the water fast enough to tear strips of steel from the ship as they went.

The ship, now released of its heavy burden on the front, broke. The rear crashed into the water like a melting glacier calving, sending enormous plumes of water in all directions, and the bow tore clean off, separating from the keel that remained with the rest of the ship. The front rolled, sending Coop and the three fighters that had engaged the crab, into the water, underneath the bow.

Coop scanned for more seaweed submerged in the water, but found none. He dismissed his weapons, perfectly comfortable with swimming with his weightless armor, but he grabbed the heavy tower shield that had immediately started sinking near him, dragging one of the fighters along with it. The shield had long creased blemishes in the center, where it had been folded and warped, then pounded back into its original shape with some manual effort.

He swam with the man in tow, until they rounded the edge of the bow, and returned to the surface. Coop had to get around the gigantic dismembered claw before he could climb onto the edge himself.

The front piece of the ship hadn’t sunk yet. It merely rolled in the water after the burden on one side was released and it lost the stability of the rest of the ship to secure it. The other two combatants had already pulled themselves onto the red painted hull beneath the broken spine where the keel was previously attached, drenched, and at least partially in shock, using the crab claw as leverage to avoid sliding back in.

Coop tossed his burden up beyond them, like he was a wet sack, and hauled himself out of the water. He climbed to his feet, carefully balancing along a ridge on the hull, summoned his war fork, and pointed the weapon at the trio as they splayed themselves out on the slippery surface, doing their best to catch their breath between violent hacks.

“Alright guys.” Coop tried getting their attention. Only one was alert enough to turn his head as he tried to breathe.

“What, exactly, are you doing here?” Coop asked the clearheaded one, not even remotely taxed after a single spear throw, some seaweed cutting, and a little dip in the warm water. Presence of Mind confirmed his targets as they coughed sea water out of their lungs, exhausted, and appearing lucky to be alive.

[Human (Level 52)]

[Flame Knight (Body)]

[Chosen of the Endless Empire]

[Ember (Challenger)]

-

[Human (Level 48)]

[Blade Tyrant (Strength)]

[Chosen of the Endless Empire]

[Slashing (Challenger)]

-

[Human (Level 51)]

[Secutor (Strength)]

[Chosen of the Endless Empire]

[(Challenger)]

The Flame Knight was the only one to react, raising his hands as he sat up, surrendering, and not for the first time, as he stared at the end of Coop’s weapon and understood that Coop wasn’t happy to see them. “Wait, wait. Hobbs sent us!” He sputtered.

“I don’t know who that is.” Coop pointed out, confident that he would remember such a name and wondering if this was some kind of ploy. He was trying to decide what to do with these guys. He’d already spared them once, but he didn’t think he should give them another chance after they appeared to have been sniffing around his settlement.

“Jackson Hobbs!” The Flame Knight shared a full name, but Coop’s expression didn’t change. “Subcommander Jackson?” The man kept trying, but without any recognition on Coop’s end, he continued anyway. “He told us to give you a message if we found you, said you would help.”

“I don’t owe anyone in Empress City anything.” Coop declared, keeping his weapon ready. He’d retrieved Charlie’s family and neighbors, extended the invitation to others, and already brought the takers to Ghost Reef. By now, they were as tied to his settlement as he was. Ghost Reef’s doors were open, but he didn’t see himself obligated to retrieve the unwilling.

As he stared the trio down, with the Flame Knight the only one sufficiently recovered to speak, a loud grinding sound overwhelmed them, followed by the whooshing of air and water being forced through gaps, and thick steel groaning. The back of the ship began to submerge, shooting spouts of water into the air.

“Oh my god!” The Flame Knight despaired as he kneeled and faced the rest of the ship. “All the people!”

The ship spluttered as air escaped passages before sinking into the depths, broken end first. The enormous propeller was last, but even after the ship’s bulk was under, the water churned as air rushed to the surface.

The Flame Knight twisted toward Coop. “You’ve gotta help them!”

Coop waved the prongs of his war fork back toward the chaotic water and the Flame Knight looked back. The Tempest Fleet was lighting up the ocean on the other side of the churn, pushing away the darkness. Thick clouds slowly rotated above them as some kind of pressure system, created by Charlie, forced the white capped waves of the open sea to be as still as glass around the ships. They looked like a sculpture of boats resting on a smooth table.

Four orange colored lifeboats, as large as the corvettes, were present, tied to the sailing ships, and all three of the fishing trawlers, left by the envoy of Chakyum, had joined Kayla’s pirates to load people up. Only a handful of the modern sailboats had survived, but even they were loaded up, including the catamaran that Coop had escaped on once before. The pirate ships were clearly packed to the brim. There were only about a dozen people in the water, being pulled out as the latest arrivals, those who were fighting the seaweed to the end, had jumped hundreds of feet into the water when the ship took its last gasp. Coop thought it was a good thing they were enhanced by mana, or that would have been a hard fall to survive.

The Flame Knight joined the other two, laying back on the hull of the bow, exhaling in relief.

Coop stepped forward, and prodded him with the blades of the war fork. “You better start explaining.”