Chapter 169
Crunch!
The sword that fell from the sky split the thing in half.
With a sizzle, a nauseating smell of burning flesh wafted through the air.
But there was no way that was enough to finish it.
'There were still three sets of fingers I hadn't even seen yet.'
Keeping a wary eye on the remaining fingers whose identities I still didn't know, I stayed tense and focused on the enemy.
Sure enough, even split in half, it pushed itself up with the dagger crackling with black lightning.
[To think you'd make me use this.... The second finger.]
I could see a chunk of the lightning embedded in the dagger vanish.
Instinctively, I realized that the transcendental power it wielded came from that lightning.
And it seemed to be consumable.
At this rate, I felt like I could win just by stalling for time.
But then, the next moment.
"...!"
Its body knitted itself back together.
The sword that had fallen from the ceiling rose back up again.
Prototype One turned transparent and drifted away from the High Priest.
The giant sand blade returned to my body as well.
It was as if time itself had been rewound.
No, it really was turning back time.
My body was forcibly moved. Back to the position I had just been in.
Right in front of my nose were two thin tentacles.
The ninth and tenth fingers, which destroy everything on contact.
I hurriedly moved my body and dodged the attack.
"...Fine. Let's see how long you can hold out."
After creating some distance, I stabbed my staff into the ground.
Domination spread through the marble temple.
The next moment, the entire temple began to tremble.
Rumble!
The ceiling caved in on top of it.
At the same time, I ripped out the temple's thick pillars.
I held out my hand, and the massive stakes flew at my command.
It was an attack of overwhelming mass.
Bang! Kaboom!
The sound of the temple collapsing filled the ruined city.
[Did I not tell you it was meaningless?]
It swung its tentacled arm.
A gale of force erupted.
The large stones flying through the air shattered into pieces.
Now that I looked closely, it seemed to have quite a bit of brute strength, too.
I hadn't expected it to work anyway. This was a feint as well.
"Sandworm."
The ground surged upward.
A gigantic brown train swept through the exact spot where the High Priest had been.
But it was still completely unharmed.
[The third finger.]
The Sandworm's body swelled after swallowing the High Priest.
Then the Sandworm burst like a balloon.
[The Sandworm's summoning has been canceled.]
[It cannot be resummoned for 24 hours.]
The High Priest appeared, wrapped in a bundle of tentacles.
It didn't seem to have come away completely unscathed; its priestly robes were torn in several places, and blood was flowing.
[Truly, the drain is far too great.... To make up for it, I will definitely use you as a living sacrifice.]
"I wish you'd teach me how to make sacrifices, too. I've lost a lot more than you have."
As for the Sandworm, that was one thing, but I had no idea what to do about Teach and the crew.
Of course, as a last resort, I still had the option of rewinding time....
[Arrogant fool, let's see if you can still act so high and mighty once your power is sealed. Close the door, fifth finger.]
The largest tentacle I had seen yet appeared.
The semi-transparent tentacle enveloped both of us.
There was no pain.
But the effect was far more serious than that.
Right after, I realized I couldn't use my skills.
Not even Weathering or Mirage. I couldn't even turn my body into sand.
The two thin tentacles that had been chasing me nonstop from earlier slowly closed in.
Items wouldn't activate either.
"Damn it...!"
I dashed out with nothing but my bare body.
Fortunately, the strength stat's bonus still seemed to be in effect.
My sprint speed was still high.
All of this must be an effect that applied while I was within the tentacle's range.
I needed to get outside it first.
[As if I'd let you.]
This time, the High Priest moved its own body directly.
The High Priest slid forward with the dagger in hand.
"Kkh!"
I grabbed its arm with both of mine.
The disgusting, squishy feel of tentacles.
I kicked out to break away from it.
Thud!
It was as hard as striking a wall. It didn't budge an inch.
Impossible, considering my strength stat.
[Useless.]
In the meantime, another tentacle crawled out from its body.
It was an utterly revolting sight.
Should I rewind time or return home this time?
I could feel the moment of my final decision approaching.
But then, right after that.
[What is this!]
"Huh?"
Bang! Kaboom!
Suddenly, a powerful impact shook both of us.
At the same time, I felt strength return to my body.
"Die!"
An explosion of adrenaline.
My reaction was faster than ever before.
I immediately formed a holy sand blade and slashed the High Priest in a long, sweeping cut.
A deep wound was carved into it, its cut surface bubbling and seething.
It spat out black blood.
[What is this.... All of a sudden...!]
I was just as baffled.
I looked around.
I saw a crack appear on one side of the semi-transparent tentacle.
It seemed to have been shattered by the impact just now.
But an external impact? From where, exactly?
Bang! Boom!
Then, the ground rumbled once more.
Something black flew in, slammed into the tentacle wall, and exploded.
It was a cannonball.
Wait, a cannonball?
I looked up.
Suddenly, the surroundings grew dark.
A massive shadow fell over me.
"...How?"
Cutting through the billowing dust, a huge hull emerged.
Torn sails, dangling planks.
The familiar old ghost ship was flying through the sky.
"Kwahahaha! You see all kinds of crazy things in life!"
And a familiar voice, too.
On the deck, I could see a man standing with one foot on the railing.
His face was obscured by the backlight, so I couldn't make it out clearly....
No doubt about it. It was Teach.
The same guy who had just exploded into a pool of blood in front of me, along with the crew, was now standing there perfectly fine.
"You... were alive? How?"
I gaped, dumbfounded.
The scene was so unreal that bewilderment came before relief.
Even as a hollow laugh escaped me from sheer disbelief, relief spread through my chest.
That much was certain.
The revived Teach said,
"Captain, you survived even after your head got cut off, didn't you?"
"How is that the same as this?"
"Well, I suppose reviving after your whole torso explodes is more impressive than just growing your head back."
Teach grinned.
After that, the other crew members came flooding out and cheered.
"Captain! We've come to help!"
"Let's slice up that octopus bastard right now!"
"Fire the cannons first!"
Every single crew member was fine.
Not a single limb was missing, as if the horrific massacre from moments ago had been a lie.
But there was one problem.
The fact that the pirates' bodies, Teach included, were perfectly intact was all too obvious.
"Why is everyone naked!"
The sight of dozens of naked men shouting on the deck.
It was such a horrific visual that I felt like my eyes were rotting.
At least their important parts were covered with cloth, so I didn't have to see any dangling bits.
Teach scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"Couldn’t be helped, sir. My clothes got torn to shreds along with my body."
"No, doesn't the ship have any clothes?"
"I'm kind of poor...."
"If we'd had time to go ashore and buy clothes...."
"Then this is all the captain's fault!"
The crew chatted on as if nothing were wrong.
I asked them what had happened.
"What the hell happened?"
"I just woke up and found myself on the ship. Come to think of it, do you remember what the original captain said when we first got this ship?"
"...?"
"He said something about it being cursed, didn't he? I think that's what he meant. After dying once, I can feel my soul is strongly linked to the ship."
"No way. So you're saying you won't die from now on?"
"Probably? As long as the ship itself isn't completely destroyed, I think that's how it'll be."
"My God...."
Only then did I realize what had happened.
This ship was a ghost ship.
The crew had become bound to it forever.
I still didn't know whether that was a blessing or a curse. But for now, it was fortunate.
"If we'd known this would happen, we would've fought a lot harder."
"You guys are insane, seriously...."
I let out a dry laugh.
But along with the relief, I felt the heavy pressure that had been weighing on my chest disappear.
"What happened to the barrier? That was why the ship couldn't come in, wasn't it?"
"I don't know why, but the hole got bigger? Water's pouring in over there right now."
"What? Then we'd better finish this fast."
For some reason, the barrier separating the sea and the city had apparently been breached as well.
If water was pouring in, we had to finish the battle before that happened.
Then I heard the High Priest's voice, filled with fury.
[Y-you worthless worm of a pirate, you're still getting in my way to the very end…!]
It had been hit head-on by a cannonball and was half-buried in the temple floor.
The High Priest limped as it crawled out.
[Very well, I'll sink you along with that ship. The fourth…]
"Fire!"
Boom!
A huge cannonball slammed into its head.
Its body reeled.
"Keep suppressing it!"
"Yes, sir!"
[Grr...!]
Bang! Kaboom!
The High Priest was frantically trying to block the relentless barrage.
Using that opening, I prepared my final attack.
I focused my mind and gathered grains of sand into a hundred divine bullets.
I could feel all the faith I'd gathered in my body up to now draining away in one huge lump.
At my will, the sand bullets scattered in all directions, then formed a hemisphere centered on the High Priest.
Clap!
The moment I clapped my hands, the bullets began darting around at insane speed.
Bullets that changed direction at random along the way, impossible to predict.
Managing a hundred of them at once made my head ache.
But the same was true for the High Priest.
No, it was even worse for the High Priest. It couldn't afford to miss even one of them.
I could see the black pupils in its torn eyes spinning wildly.
[No way…!]
It began batting away the bullets one by one with the tentacles it had already summoned.
Its reflexes and visual acuity were superhuman.
[What…!]
Then its body suddenly froze.
Its body began to shrivel rapidly from the toes up.
The High Priest lost strength in its legs and buckled at the knees.
Then I saw it.
A fist-sized sand spirit holding what looked like a toothpick.
"Prototype One, return."
The spirit's body grew larger. So did the white toothpick it was holding.
The High Priest knew what it was. It had seen it several times back when it lived as a parrot.
A vicious weapon that stole the moisture from whatever it touched.
[Y-you coward...!!!]
The thing sprawled on the floor and shouted.
I had no intention of answering anymore.
I extended my palm toward it.
At the same time, the remaining bullets pierced its body countless times.