CHAPTER 33 - SAILOR DUO
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The prisons were silent, Polyvoro’s ship at times seemed entirely devoid of any possible sound, but in that moment of said tranquility, in which pirates could enjoy a moment of peace, the unexpected happened: from Kain and Monomia’s cell came a loud thud, and suddenly, all the bars that had kept them inside the cell were destroyed, leaving a cloud of dust that menacingly revealed the two Narwhals, ready to escape.
«"Ready to leave?"» Kain announced with motivation, looking at Monomia. «"Yes, sir."»
«"I tried to escape several times before you arrived, but I never succeeded. I’m confident that as a team we can handle these pirates, then we’ll deal with the big boss, understood?"» Monomia turned toward him, and with an approving look and a quick smile, agreed to Kain's plan. «"Sure."»
Suddenly, from the surface, a huge platoon of pirates started to march down to investigate the source of the strange noise.
«"What the hell... Prisoners! They’re escaping!"» one of the pirates shouted as he saw Kain and Monomia outside their cell. The two turned toward the group of pirates who had by then drawn their swords, ready to deal with the rebels.
«"We won’t get out of here without a bit of blood, you know that, right?"» Monomia said, locking eyes on the pirates, with Kain beside him.
«"Of course, I know, idiot! I noticed, I’ve been on this ship longer than you... So don’t act all smart. Now, enough talk and useless discussions, let’s have some fun."»
«"Kill the prisoners! Don’t let them escape!"» The horde of pirates rushed at the two, who were prepared for the response. Kain made the second move, charging a punch, he threw himself into the horde coming at him like a train.
«"This time, I’m getting out of here, you damn pirates!"» With a well-charged punch, he hit all the pirates heading toward him, knocking them in the opposite direction from where they were aiming to go. Then, immediately after, he set to work dealing with them manually. Monomia, behind him, also took care of the pirates. «"Ugh!"» he grunted automatically, dodging a pirate’s sword, and with a quick move, tripped him, making him fall to the ground and, with sudden force and aggression, striking the poor pirate’s face with his knee.
«"There are too many of them, Kain."»
«"Doesn’t matter, are you hurt?"» Kain asked, in the middle of the fight, dodging around four swords clashing with each other as they tried to skewer the fugitive prisoner.
«"No... not yet, but they keep showing up, how many of them are there?!"»
«"Must be the whole crew..."» After uttering those words, he dodged two swords that simultaneously lunged at him, ducking, and taking advantage of the confusion of the two pirates around him at that moment, with a well-aimed blow to their two nether regions, he knocked them both down. Immediately after, he grabbed one of the pirates' swords, tossing the other toward Monomia, who caught it quickly before returning to a personal duel with one of the pirates. The pirate delivered a strong blow that Monomia blocked with the sword he had just gained, then, after locking the swordsman in place, he landed a hook to his liver, dropping him to the floor in pain.
After a few minutes of battle, not many pirates remained, but they fought on fiercely and without surrender, hoping to stop the prisoners. That mass of pirates had been torn apart; no longer fighting as a horde, but each like a lone knight trying to kill a target, often hitting themselves. Despite the chaos, Kain and Monomia seemed quite organized, and they didn’t let themselves get distracted or quickly worn out, despite the large number of warriors trying to assault them. Finally, with everyone knocked to the ground, the two could take a moment of rest. With a deep breath, Kain could finally continue.
«"Damn... There were really a lot of them, huh?"»
«"We handled them well. Are you ready to escape?"» Monomia was scarily motivated, completely different from before. What Kain had said to him echoed in his mind...
“Wipe your tears Monomia, sailors don’t cry, they fight. And get up, I can’t stand people who give up. It’s never the end of the journey.”
It was never the end of the journey, no matter the situation, no matter the obstacles they would have to face, no matter the circumstances, one should never give up on their journey.
Suddenly, before Kain could give further instructions, they noticed something.
«"D-damned sailors... we’ll k-kill both of you!"»
Slowly but inevitably, all the pirates who had been knocked down were getting back up, ready for battle.
«"Kain... Th-they’re... they’re getting back up."» Kain suddenly stepped back, until he had all the pirates, now ready to rise again, in front of him. A sort of dark aura seemed to surround Kain’s figure at that moment, and with a face full of serious determination, he began to speak to Monomia, who was confused by Kain’s actions.
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«"Monomia, I’ll handle them now."»
«"Wh-what are you planning to do?!"»
«"There’s a reason I always say I could beat Carpos. That bastard doesn’t know I’m stronger than him, or at least, that I know tactics that would destroy him, I’m just physically weaker."»
Monomia watched him, even more confused. «"What are you rambling about?!"»
«"Monomia! Do you think Carpos is stronger than me?!"»
«"What the... what kind of question is that? This is not the time for such things!"»
“Shut up and answer!” Kain exclaimed, now in position. «"C-Carpos, I think... but... why?!"», refusing to continue explaining the reasons for his questions, Kain decided to move directly to action.
«"Monomia, move aside! I’m going to take care of all of them at once, now that they’re on the ground, move, quickly!"»
Monomia, following Kain’s orders, stepped behind him, curious to see what he could do. The pirates, meanwhile, had finally risen, recovering from the beatings they had received, ready to fight again. They picked up their weapons, but before they could take a step, Kain unleashed his final attack.
«“Monomia! Behold what I’ve learned during my time in this prison! And then you tell me if that sardine Carpos is stronger than me! I’ve been preparing for this moment for a long time!”»
Suddenly, now in position and ready to strike, Kain’s cheeks swelled, as did his horn, his nose, and his mouth. Despite his mouth being full of water or whatever substance had just filled his face, he managed to mutter one final sentence to the poor pirates, moments before their tragic fate.
«“Die, Fishmongers!”»
Uttering those fateful words, like a tsunami, Kain sprayed an immense amount of pressurized water toward the sailors. From every pore on his face, the horn, the mouth, the nostrils, and even the gills, streams of water shot out and merged into a huge wave that blasted directly at the pirates, flooding the entire prison area and hitting every single pirate in front of them, who, upon impact with the water, could do nothing but groan in pain.
Monomia watched in astonishment at that pure display of skill, something he had never seen before, and after a few seconds, he could see the results.
When the wave ended, Kain dropped to his knees to recover, coughing heavily from the exhausting attack. Monomia looked at the bodies of the pirates, now completely shredded by the water, as if the water had a thousand blades or tons of sharks ready to devour them. Their bodies lay on the ground, lifeless, full of cuts. After recovering, Kain got up with difficulty.
«"How the hell did you do that...?"» Monomia asked in surprise.
«"Water Blast Range. It’s a technique I learned when I was younger, they used it in a different way to cut metal. But I never practiced it until I had time here. Since I didn’t know what else to do, I set my mind to learning it, thinking it would help me get out of here. All this time I’ve been practicing it on a small scale, spraying like a little fountain in my cell. But..."» Monomia shifted his gaze to the bodies of the pirates. «"It’s the first time I’ve tried it on such a... large scale."»
«"You caused a huge mess... and you killed them all, but... it was a really cool move!"» Monomia was excited.
«"You have to teach it to me. Absolutely! Carpos never told me anything about this, you have to tell me! How do you do it?! Come on!"» A blow to the head hit Monomia, as Kain, in a rage, turned to him.
«"Focus on escaping from here first! Got it?! And don’t make too many requests, you sound like a child!"»
The two, now together and finally free from the number of pirates they had to face, began making their way through the ship's lower chambers until they inevitably reached the surface of the ship, emerging directly under the shadow of the main mast. Finally, after so much time, they could see the light again.
The sun shone intensely in the sky, its brilliant light kissing the earth with heat and intensity. There wasn’t a single cloud to obscure its power. Shadows were sharp and precise, cast with clarity by every object, while the ground warmed under its embrace. The air vibrated with heat, making the landscape ripple with an atmosphere of calm and serenity. The objects on the ground seemed to dance under its burning majesty, as nature bowed to its greatness.
But it wasn’t the time to get caught up in the strength of the sun, and despite it being a strange experience to suddenly observe it again, especially for Kain, who had been left in those cold cells for months, there was no time to linger—they needed to escape.
«"Kain..."» Monomia said to Kain, who was busy staring at the sky.
«"The pirates... they’re not here."» Kain quickly turned after hearing what Monomia had said.
«"You... you’re right!"» The ship was completely empty, devoid of any crew members. The two of them, thinking it over, arrived at one conclusion.
«"That’s why there were so many pirates down there. It was the entire crew."»
«"So all that’s left is... the capt-"» Before Monomia could finish his sentence, a mysterious figure appeared behind them, ready to introduce himself.
«"Captain Polyvoro. Yes, it’s me. The captain of this crew, the crew of Polyvoro. Though I should call it a crew of losers, apparently."»
The two turned around and quickly stepped back, so as not to be too close to the captain.
«"Polyvoro..."» Kain said, his voice full of hatred.
«"Kain, damn you. I knew I should have put you down. I can’t believe they gave you a cellmate. What idiots, what were they thinking?"»
«"It doesn’t matter about the others, your entire crew is dead, all of them!"»
«"Hah! Do you think that intimidates me, Kain? I already know, I expected those amateurs to die like that. Fighting a prisoner, what a disappointment. I needed a stronger crew."»
Monomia, despite them talking about their enemies, couldn’t help but feel offended.
«"A stronger crew?! You don’t care about your crew?! What kind of person are you?!"»
«"Don’t give me a lecture, kid. I know what I’m doing, so don’t try to judge me, understood? Now, let’s move on to the more important things at this moment—do you really think I’m going to let you escape from this ship? After all the trouble you’ve caused me? Especially you, Kain—do you think I’m going to let you go?"»
«"We didn’t come out expecting you wouldn’t try to stop us, so trust me, we’re ready to beat you down."» Polyvoro, hearing what Kain said, broke into a smile.
«"What are you smiling at?"» Kain said, furious.
«"I’m certainly not going to let you fight me first. I want to give you a bit of happiness before I crush you like insects. You haven’t killed all of my crew, after all. I’ve got one last warrior to throw at you, so you can show me what you’re really capable of."»