I read the report from Berna and sighed. The war was technically over because there was no one to assume power and continue after the imprisonment of Hagon Je'wrha. My soldiers had ruthlessly culled the last pockets of resistance, and it seemed that Elisabeth had made a hell of an impression on the people of Tuvarin. Oh, we played dirty here and there, but I wasn't going to complain. After all, it was the victory that mattered, and we were going to write the history books anyway. I was a pragmatist and I was far from being delusional.

"I'm a little bit conflicted, Theon..." Aoi finished reading her copy of the same report I had in my hands, but she wasn't happy.

"Why so?"

"You twisted and manipulated the facts to better suit your purpose." Her face was sad, but her cheeks burned crimson. When she spoke again, her voice was full of shame. "It was honorless, Theon..."

"Honor is a commodity paid in the blood of the soldiers and the innocent alike, Aoi." I smiled softly. I cherished her straightforward nature, pure heart, and honesty, but I knew my craft far too well. "I will gladly bear the shame and stigma of an honorless man if that means I can save even one more person."

"But..."

"Stand in the ashes of a trillion dead souls and ask the ghosts if honour matters..." I said while I peered deep into her blue eyes. "The silence is your answer."

"How can I argue with something like that?" She sadly shook her head. "*sigh* I hope you know what you are doing."

"The Gods of Berna, along with their faithful servants, ruled their country through the fear and pain of their slaves, creating the illusion that their citizens were the chosen race." I shrugged. "I rule by law, order, and hope. I rule by my actions, which speak louder than any words. However, I know that I'm not perfect or even someone you could freely call the good guy."

"Well... At least you are a nice guy." She finally smiled gently.

"Don't worry. I have my own set of rules and a concept of honour I abide by." I grinned at her. "Besides, I have you and your sister Queens to stop me if I ever go too far."

"I won't hesitate to chime in if necessary," Aoi warned me with a wink. "What will happen now that there is no one to surrender in Berna?"

"A mop-up operation..." I pointed towards the tactical map. "Janet is making fairly quick progress in the north while Elisabeth allows Pyonta to finish the job in Tulva. The Princess should return to Xariinta with the Guardsmen soon and begin rebuilding the country. Of course, she will do what she believes is right, and I won't going to tell her what she should or shouldn't do. Admittedly, she has much more work to do than I did after dealing with Cridia, but it is nothing she can't accomplish."

"Are you sure?" Aoi looked at me with concern. "I know you asked the Eternals to aid her..." She tilted her head slightly and focused on a sudden thought that crossed her mind. "You won't be recalling the Legions for now, and you plan to strengthen her forces with the ships of the Royal Navy... The way Twirll and Jester act..." She gave me an incredulous gaze and squinted her eyes inquisitively. "Wait a second! Even the fact that she and Raphael are a couple will work to her advantage."

"Well, I certainly wasn't helping her with that last one." I shrugged. "But yes. I engineered the most favourable circumstances for her long-lasting success... Don't look at me like that. All tricks allowed during the war!"

Hestia teleported right in front of me. "Theon! We have a problem!"

I sighed, there goes my hopes of a free evening...

•••

Edward looked out towards the west, using his spyglass. It was one of the items they had received from Avalon without any problems. Surprisingly, it wasn't considered magitech despite its clearly miraculous workings. His fleet was scattered across the border, and they were doing absolutely and unquestionably honest work for the first time in their lives. While that work entailed mainly staring in a generally western direction, it still counted. Surprisingly, his crews were fine with that assignment, which only indicated how tired they were. He put down the instrument and sluggishly rubbed his weary eyes.

"Blackbeard!"

"Eh?" He groaned something incoherent in return.

"Boss, the boys were wondering what's next." His quartermaster approached him. "Most of them think that you made a good deal with the Arcadians, but there are some who scoff at that."

"What about you?"

"Hah... Fair question, Captain..." The large Orc leaned on the ship's railing and stared directly down from it. "I'm tired, Boss... I know I can tell you that without worrying. The problem is that I was a pirate all my life, and somewhere along the way, I became a quartermaster. I have saved myself a nice stash of cash in hopes I could one day retire..."

"You mean you drunk yourself dead before the Bernans caught you?" the Captain laughed dryly, but the Orc just smiled flatly.

"Well, that was the plan..." He shrugged and scratched his bald head. "However... If I'm not somehow horribly wrong, being a privateer means we have safe harbour, right, Boss?"

"Pretty much."

"So do you think I could... Like, open the tavern?"

"Sure, Jim. I think it would be great for you." Edward smiled at his friend. "As long as you abide by the laws of Arcadia... We were pardoned for our past crimes as long as we stay loyal to the King."

"Uhum... Then I have nothing to complain about, Boss. But some boys don't like it."

"Do you think they will wait until the end of this mission?"

"Yeah..." The Orc waved off with his hand. "They are lost but not stupid. We are all so tired that most of them treat this mission as a vacation. We have run from the Holy Navy for too long and haven't had a moment to rest. But in a few more weeks?"

"Nah... This will last maybe a few more days, then the Princess should return with her armies, and I will call a general assembly."

"What's your plan?"

"I will give them an honest choice, Jim. I'll even give them ships if necessary. No hard feelings. But the next time we see each other, it might be across the length of a cannon." Blackbeard sighed. "But I'm tired as well, Jim..."

"But you still have your Elven beauty, Boss..." The Quartermaster grinned.

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"Pffff... I don't know." Edward Teach sighed heavily. "We live in different worlds, Jim..."

"Oh, damn, Ed..." The old Quartermaster took out the flask of Arcadian rum and offered it to the Captain. "It finally got you, you poor bastard?"

"I'm fucked, Jim..." Blackbeard took a hearty sip and let out a sigh. "Good stuff."

"Just tell her. She will walk you down the plank or reciprocate the feeling." The Orc slammed his hand at Blackbeard's back and chuckled, but the Captain didn't even budge.

"Jim..." Blackbeard's voice was suddenly concerned.

"I'm serious, Boss..." The Quartermaster nodded with conviction and took a sip of alcohol himself.

"Jim!"

"Yes, Boss?"

"Monsters!" The Captain pointed towards the highland terrain down below.

"Oh, fuck..." Jim turned around and stared at where Blackbeard pointed. "Fuck, fuck, fuck... It's a stampede!"

"ALL HANDS ON DECK!" Edward bellowed while the Quartermaster started blowing his whistle.

The ship's bell joined the commotion instantly, and most of the crew started towards the monsters. The large mob slowly approaching the border was like a dark, pulsating tide. It swallowed the land in its wake, leaving only mud and rubble behind. The pirates commented on the sight to each other with uncertainty, but their Captain was fairly confident. Edward called to three Eagles of Avalon, who were perching on the main mast.

"All right... Time to actually get some help. You two, inform the ships of my fleet that I need them here immediately." The two Eagles nodded, and after a short dive, they flapped their massive wings and headed north and south, respectively. "You must fly to Avalon and inform the King!"

The last Eagle nodded and flew towards the south as well. However, the pirates heard three booms. All three eagles were hit by something flying way too fast to see and plummeted to the ground. They hit the rocky soil below so hard that everyone on board saw the dust clouds. That meant their messengers were dead, and they were truly alone.

"Well... Fuck." Blackbeard sighed.

"What now?" the first mate asked, looking at the horde. We can shoot them."

"It's not a bad idea." Edward patted his beard. "All right, boys! We are going to shoot them as we move north! With some luck, those bastards below will take it personally and start chasing us. Ideally, we will find our ships and see if we can piss off those monster bastards even more. Then we have to run that mob into one of the Legions and see how they like it!"

"Solid plan, Boss." The first mate grinned. "I like the part where we just take pot-shots at those shitheads."

"Cannons ready!" someone yelled.

"Lowering altitude!" the Helmsman cried. "Ready!"

"Fire!" All the cannons in portside spewed their contents towards the monsters below.

"Hahaha! Confirmed hits!" the first mate laughed. "But we did shit, need more!"

"Fire at will!" Blackbeard shrugged and walked towards the helmsman as Queen Anne's Revenge shook violently. "The fuck was that?!"

"Fire spells! Those bastards have Salamanders!" Jim yelled with a slightly offended tone.

"Oh, shit..." A slight panic spread among his subordinates, and when another violent hit reached their hull, the pirates looked at their captain in unison. "BOSS?!"

"Climb! Climb!" Edward turned towards the Helmsman.

"No need for your wisdom, Captain! Already doing it after they got us the first time!" the Helmsman huffed. "It's not helping though!"

"What should we do?" someone asked with growing panic.

"Run?" someone else suggested. "That usually works!"

"But we are already running!" Jim grabbed the railings to avoid falling once another explosion shook the hull.

"Pray?" Yet another suggested, and all the crew gave him incredulously flat stares.

"No, wait..." Blackbeard pointed his finger towards the sky in a thoughtful gesture.

Everyone stared at him in shock and silence as the menacing pirate dropped to his knees and put his hands together in prayer. The crew's jaws dropped collectively when their Captain closed his eyes and purposely lowered his head.

"Oh, Goddess-Queen Hestia! Your humble servants and the privateers in service to your husband, King Theon Avalon, beg for your help!" Blackbeard prayed amid their stunned silence, interrupted only by the sound of explosions that grazed his ship. "A huge horde of monsters is heading towards the lands of Arcadia. We can't face them alone, and we can only ask for your divine intervention!" He suddenly stuttered and asked quietly. "Ummmm... What do you say at the end of a prayer?"

"I don't know, Boss! I wasn't serious!" The pirate who suggested praying was again at the centre of attention.

"Uhum..." Edward slowly nodded but again closed his eyes and pressed his hands together harder. "Pretty please, help us!" He stood up and looked around. "What? It was worth a shot..."

The crew was taken aback by what they had just witnessed, and it took them a good while and another hit to their ship to snap them from the shock. However, before anyone could comment on their boss's odd behaviour, an inconceivably large magic circle manifested on the starboard, catching the pirates’ blank stares. It took almost five minutes for it to do whatever it was meant to do, but at least the monsters below stopped throwing their spells at them. A sudden and bright flash consumed the nearby area, hurting the sight of the pirates. All the pirates started screaming in pain and rubbing their eyes; some even rolled on the deck, pressing their hands to their faces.

"What the fuck?!" The starboard observer was the first one to stop crying in pain. "There's something!"

"We're kinda blind here, so stop being cryptic... No, wait, I'm better..." The Captain slowly wobbled towards the starboard, fighting with the large black spots dancing in front of his eyes. "That fucking hurt..."

A blood-curdling roar stirred all primal fears within him before he reached the other side of the ship. Judging by the terrified gasps of his crew, he wasn't alone. Blackbeard stopped in his tracks when a colossal dragon flew so close to his ship that it almost grazed her sails. However, Edward was enveloped in soft, healing light and instantaneously felt better. He wanted to smile, but his smile paled as he noticed terrifyingly powerful monsters standing on his deck. A beautiful woman led them, but a single smile from her made all the men onboard realise they were fucked. She was a Vampire...

"Aurora?" The Vampire turn her head towards the Lamia.

"I healed them all. Nothing serious." Aurora smiled cutely.

"Captain Teach! My name is Morrigan of Avalon. I was sent here by our King." A wave of relief washed the deck once the pirates realised they were not going to die immediately. "It was a smart idea to pray to our Queen."

"I'm shocked it worked..." The pirate who suggested praying was pale and stupified. He muttered to himself, unaware that the other pirates were patting and praising him on the back. "That never worked before..."

"I'm glad you are here, ummm Morrigan? Lady Morrigan? Argh! No matter! But even with your help, we must face a vast tide of monsters!" Edward quickly came to his senses and pointed towards the horde.

"Oh, hahaha, we are not alone..." She chuckled, amused, and after putting her slender arm over Blackbeard's shoulder, she effortlessly pulled him all the way to the starboard.

On the ground below was the entire Legion. Large crimson banners with a large gold ‘IX’ waved proudly in the wind. He smiled, more confident now, and turned his head towards the helmsman.

"We are going down! Position us behind friendly lines! We are going to cover them and provide artillery fire!"

"Aye, aye, Boss!"

The pirates looked in stunned shock towards the monster horde that tried to fight off the Storm Eagles and the Dragon that had carved large bruises in their ranks with his fire breath. The sight was so absurd that they refused to believe it. The Legion set up their own cannons and began firing towards the enemy, slowing down their previously unstoppable advance. The battle line of the Arcadian soldiers below seemed so thin and small in comparison to the vastness of the enemy ranks, but they stood defiantly in the face of death. However, the monsters were attacked by other monsters. Blackbeard opened his spyglass and observed the giant Fenrirs and Deathweaving Spiders shredding through their much weaker opponents. Whatever had reached the shield wall of the Ninth Legion was mercilessly cut down without the Arcadians taking a single step back. Morrigan cackled with a peal of mesmerising laughter.

"Loyal Privateers of our King, help has arrived!"