"Well, you are stronger than I had expected. I will give you that." The silver armoured man said as he took a good look at the man who hovered in the air before him.
The silver armoured man then swept his gaze towards the few heads that had rolled near his feet with an obvious sense of disgust. One of his subordinates hurriedly flicked his hand and cast a sphere of liquid towards the heads and melted them in a matter of seconds.
The liquid made sizzling sounds as it tried to corrode the floorboards of the deck but a faint radiance flickered into existence and neutralised its effects.
When he noticed this radiance, the eyes of David Washer widened in surprise. It was this very radiance that had neutralised the earlier two impacts that he had directed towards the side of the ship.
"Just surrender. Anything you do is futile. And," The silver armoured man traced his eyes to the back of David Washer and curled up in ridicule, "Those subordinates of yours that valiantly followed you. Where are they now?"
David Washer instantly raged as his eyes seemed to seep out flames of anger. All the 20 of his subordinates that had followed him were instantly pulverised by the formless force. It seemed that the silver armoured man had deliberately toned down the intensity of his attack towards him to spare his life for the time being. Even then, it submerged him deep into the river water.
Blood seeped out from his nose and ears while the entirety of his body creaked in protest when he moved. Moreover, the pressure of the surrounding river water further worsened his injuries. The presence of the various minerals in the river water created intense burning sensations across all his wounded areas, especially the rotting stump of his left arm.
David Washer gritted his teeth and engaged the dozens of soldiers that had pounced on him. But clearly, his might surpassed those of the ordinary soldiers. After a couple of exchanges, he managed to kill the aggressors and directed another punch towards the sides of the ship as he activated his ability.
The ship rocked at his punch but when he inspected the impact area on a closer level, he discovered that his full-powered punch failed to make even a dent on its surface. The faint radiance that flickered on its surface instantly dispersed the force of his punch.
On noticing that his attack failed to do any damage to the hull of the ship, David Washer picked up the heads of the severed soldiers and flew up, to confront the silver armoured man.
On hearing his taunt, David Washer displayed an enraged expression on his face while his mind was actually in peace. His exterior showed that he hadn't expected the death of his subordinates in such a manner but in contrast, he had already resolved for the death of everyone he knew.
'I only need to hold their attention on me until the two children have escaped out of these quarantined waters.' David Washer thought when a faint breeze brushed past him, carrying within it a stench of blood. Turning back, the man got the fright of his life when he saw the figure of a woman who stood behind him from god knows when.
"This guy was somewhat interesting to fight with." The woman said to the silver armoured man as she descended on the deck and stood beside him. She then threw the figure of a man that was clearly beaten to the point of death.
"Stephen…" His eyes slightly moistened at the sight of his right-hand man that was now naught but a mere corpse.
"Take him inside and perform a memory search on him. We still have to find the bodies of the 7th Prince and the 9th Princess." The woman waved her hands when a row of soldiers dressed in black armour walked forward and picked up Stephen's corpse.
Each of the soldiers were donned in black coloured armour while sporting silver stars on their chest that ranged from 2 stars to three stars.
The woman, on the other hand, was donned in black armour with a huge golden star that shone with blinding lustre on her chest.
The woman had bright violet coloured eyelids and violet coloured hair that was braided to suit her long angular face. She had a sharp jawline and plump lips that further accentuated her beauty. She also had a voluptuous figure that her armour barely managed to contain.
"Grekas Toenil, will you stop playing and finish your job? We still have to search for the prince and the princess." The woman turned to the silver armoured man in displeasure.
The man addressed as Grekas Toenil didn't spare so much as a glance at her and continued to stare at David Washer, as if nothing in this world could sway his fun.
"Calymark Flinchear, right? The last time I knew, I wasn't part of your family. So, can you, like, sip some tea or something?" Grekas Toenil said as he waved his hand.
In response to his actions, the surrounding river water dispersed to the sides while the Pirate ship belonging to David Washer was lifted to the skies. It seemed that lifting such a huge Pirate ship was child's play to him.
"It is heavier than I expected. How much of my kingdom's wealth have you stolen?" Grekas Toenil muttered while unable to conceal the glint in his eyes.
David Washer snorted as he rushed towards the silver armoured man as a torrent of his energy rushed into the gauntlet in his right hand.
"Guh," The moment he had approached an arm's distance to the silver armoured man, David Washer realised that he could no longer move forward. A formless force held his body in place that completely negated the force generated by his flying Skill.
"Is this the gauntlet that houses the Divine Might Skill? I must say, this is one fine skill. Even I am surprised by the power it could generate from a level 3 warrior." Grekas Toenil commented as he took a step forward and placed a ring in his right hand.
The moment his right hand caressed the gauntlet, a glimmer of light flashed across the ring for an instant before the arm of David Washer was severed into two.
"Guh," David Washer gritted his teeth in pain as he saw Grekas Toenil pick up his severed arm and give it to one of his subordinates. He then severed the two earrings on his ears in the same manner and threw them in disgust.
He inspected the two earrings and the Gauntlet and mentally counted 'Three'. After that, his body opted a relaxed posture and looked ready to have some fun.
"Melt his arm and store the gauntlet. I'll hand it to our Inscription Tower later to research the skill imbued within it." Grekas Toenil said and waved his hand once again towards David Washer.
The formless force lifted him towards the sky and made him free fall towards the river. Just the fall alone made his bladder go weak when his body plunged into the river water, the ensuing impact damaging his internals. Just when he had gone deep enough to gaze at the bottom of the ship, he was once again lifted towards the surface.
"He has lost too much blood. Heal his right arm and rotting left." Grekas Toenil commanded one of his subordinates who was draped in a robe that covered her from head to toe. She nodded and sent a blast of white light towards David Washer that immediately stopped his bleeding. The face of David Washer regained some rosiness upon the action of the healing energy that coursed through his body.
Just when his wounds had closed, Grekas Toenil lifted him to the sky once again and made him plunge into the river below. He repeated the action several times and once again brought David Washer closer to him, until he was within arm's reach.
It was at this time that one of his subordinates that had inspected the pirate ship whispered into his ears.
"I see. So, tell me; where have you hid the corpses of the Prince and the Princess?"
"…"
"What…?" Grekas Toenil brought David Washer even closer as he leaned his ear towards the man. David Washer was so weak that even the sound that leaked out of his mouth was fainter than the flowing wind.
"..The..two..royals..are.."
"The two Royal are..?" Grekas Toenil repeated as he concentrated his ears to make out each and every syllable uttered by the pirate.
"..are..in…are…"
"Are in where? Speak, damn it." Grekas Toenil punched David Washer's face in anger as his subordinate sent another wave of healing energy into his body, quickly offsetting the damage.
David Washer coughed a few more times and vomited out some of the river water he had swallowed, "..are..in..my…ass.."
David Washer laughed as the remainder of his energy gushed into the ring pierced into his tongue. He opened his mouth as a dense green coloured smoke gushed out and quickly covered the entire ship.
"Useless," Grekas Toenil shouted as a formless force instantly pushed the green smoke towards the ground. Like a sponge that was flattened into a paper, the green smoke condensed into liquid and formed a thin layer on the surface of the deck.
"Corrosive Gnant?" Grekas Toenil observed the green liquid that began to corrode their boots. A flash spread throughout it and turned it into plain water. Grekas Toenil turned his head to the side and saw Calymark Flinchear place her hand on the floor of the deck with an obvious sign of displeasure.
"I never knew you Toenils were such rookies. Even if he can only control three jewellery, that doesn't mean he cannot attach a few extras on his body as a disguise. Can't believe you fell for the oldest trick that even kids know these days." Calymark Flinchear mocked, disdain present in her eyes.
David Washer acted shocked that his trump card had been neutralised in such a swift manner but he was laughing on the inside. A small stone in his stomach began to glow with a faint lustre and develop cracks all across its surface. His time to depart had come.
