~ Chapter 5: Pirates are not mermiads? ~
[Alseus’ point of view]
When someone told me about pirates, I only thought about a bunch of pseudo-mermaids who stole treasures from passing boats, whose sailors they mesmerized with their song magic. They were annoying at best, but far from what I would call a reason to panic. All you had to do to counter them was to put in some earplugs and then have a mallet at hand. Smack them in the head the moment they tried to jump on board and then they fell back into the sea with a funny splosh!
As for what they looked like, they had the typical upper body of a humanoid being and the bottom of a scaly fish. They had a magic core located above their navel and usually had either long fish whiskers or horns.
Many suspected that given their level of intelligence, they had their own underwater civilization. As far as I knew, nobody ever bothered to find out. It was like looking for a boot-loving imp in a pile of regular imps. Now, the reason why they were called pseudo-mermaids was because of the fact that they only mimicked the singing skills of the true mermaids, but they were far from it. By comparison, the true mermaids had the ability to fully transform into aquatic creatures and for the most part lived on the surface in Port Cities. They looked like a mix between elves and humans with strange ears, flat and crested, behind which functional gills were hidden.
When it comes to power, the true mermaids were far more powerful than those pseudo-wannabes. The latter were pests at best for any veteran sailor. This was why, when I heard we were being attacked by pirates, I was expecting these foolish creatures to fail miserably in trying to get onto this tall yacht. It was honestly hilarious to even presume they could do anything except put on a comedy show, let alone drive everyone into a state of panic.
Yet here we were, everyone was acting like a bunch of headless cockatrices! Even my parents pulled me to their side and made room for the sailors and bodyguards of the nobles to stand before them. Personally, I was just confused…
Are they really that dangerous? I wondered.
“Everyone, please calm down! We’ll have everything under control in a moment!” the captain announced through the murmurs of the crowd.
“Mom, why is everyone panicking about the pirates? Can’t you just smack them with a mallet back in the sea?” I asked innocently.
Mother showed me a wry smile and patted my head without replying, just like she always did when I asked about something serious that popped on my cartoon show.
Master, maybe these pirates are not the same as the wannabe mermaids you are thinking about? Kleya chipped in.
Of course they are wannabe mermaids! I mean, they swim at sea with skulls and bones as their flag and spend most of their lives trying to prey on honest sailors, right? I replied.
Master, that is correct on this part, but what do you think they look like? she asked, but this conversation was getting weird, so I just sent her a mental image from my past life.
The pirate in question was a male, with a human-like face with tentacles as facial hair, fins on his back as well as webbed hands. Most times, instead of speaking normally, they just yelled ‘Yargh!’ because of all the water in their lungs. To me, they sounded like drowning seagulls. They also never wore anything remotely similar to clothes. For accessories, they wore the bones of their prey, which were usually humans and fish because demons were far too powerful for them to hunt down.
I was quite proud of my depiction of them, but Kleya said something COMPLETELY unexpected.
Master, I praise you for your very rich imagination, but that’s not a pirate. Actually, it doesn’t fit the description of anything that can be called a mermaid... maybe a mutated fish, but definitely not a mermaid.
Huh? I just blinked a few times like a fool until the ship suddenly shook from the force of a powerful impact.
“The pirates are boarding us!” someone shouted.
“How?” I wondered because I could NOT for the life of me imagine my ‘pirates’ being able to reach the high decks of this ship with ease. They had flippers, did they not? What did they do? Toss each other on board with some sort of underwater catapult?!
“They’re on the top decks! Nobody leave the room and don’t open the doors!” shouted a sailor.
“Everyone! Move to the lower decks and lock yourselves in your rooms!” shouted another sailor.
What the?! I thought when I heard that.
Why did we not move before?! And why now?! And… that was probably the dumbest thing to ever shout in a room full of people on the edge.
The premonition of chaos unfolded as panic set in among the mortals around me. Everyone was now rushing for the exits leading to the lower decks, probably intending on barricading themselves in their own rooms.
In the middle of it all, I got separated from my family.
“ALSEUS!” mother shouted after me, but was pushed back by the mob, while I was pushed in the opposite direction.
Thanks to my… compact size and my [Kasarak] spell, I acted more like that annoying piece of furniture you tended to bump your little toe against. To be honest, I felt a bit giddy inside because I was witnessing the full glory of everyone going into a panic mode and moving about like a bunch of headless chickens. Kleya also helped in gently nudging people to the side with her shadow magic.
BANG! CLANG! CRASH!
They blew up the doors leading to the outer decks.
Several sailors and some of the guests were pushed back because of the shockwave, while rubble and debris flew past them, injuring some of the guests. A single piece flew towards me, but Kleya acted right away. Her demonic tail moved up from my shadow, blocking the path of the metal piece. It bounced off and stabbed itself into the ceiling.
“Huh?!” I looked back, where my parents were, and among all the rubble and dirt that was flying around, the big door that led to the lower deck was now closed shut.
Master... Kleya’s voice made me realize that I may have done an ‘oopsie’.
Instead of standing there like a mumbling rock golem, I should have run off after my parents and act like the child I was. However, now I was probably stuck in the worst-case scenario. I wasn’t worried about my life, but mother was sure to give me a terrible scolding after this. I could probably kiss my sweets goodbye for an entire week!
“Sigh... Let’s just get out of here.” I said dejectedly and just when I was about to move, someone entered the room.
It was a rugged man who smelled worse than my father’s unwashed socks which mom picked up only with a ten-foot pole. His clothes were ragged, he had missing teeth, and his whole skin appeared to have been scorched by someone or something. When I looked at him, I was reminded of those individuals the hero often encountered on his journey, what were they called? Ah, yes! Bandits! The expendable story meat shields that the main characters needed to beat into a bloody pulp in order to increase their experience!
“A little ol’ boy lost from his mommy and pappy? Well, I’m sure you’ll be a good nipple sucker and wait until our boss puts a handsome ransom price on yo head!” he said as he approached me.
“Why are you alone?” I asked him, uncertain why they would have caused all that racket only to send in a single man.
Do they not move in groups like a bunch of penguins?! I thought.
The man smirked and replied “We knew ya rich folk will go below deck, so we fooled ya into thinking we’d be comin’ from the topside.” he replied.
“Ah, I see now! So, you are alone, correct?” I asked, just to verify.
“Yes. Why be that a matter that interest yous?” he asked in a broken version of the language I was speaking that made my ears hurt.
“Oh, I just don’t want anyone to know about Kleya yet.” I replied with a smile.
I’m lucky that I’m the only one left behind, too! I giggled to myself.
“Kleya? Who she? Where she? What she?” he looked around trying to spot someone, but there was no other human left here, after all, she was already in his shadow.
“She’s a demoness I summoned.” I replied nonchalantly.
“A what?” he blinked surprised and then I pointed behind him.
At that moment, Kleya materialized behind him and with her big two-handed sword ready to slice him in half. The demoness was waiting for the moment when the man turned around to look at her in all her horror. The fear, confusion, and despair reflected in his eyes were what fed Kleya, who then sliced him in half without the slightest hesitation.
Blood gushed out, spraying all over the place, but not on me or her, a magical barrier protected us from the mess. It was a simple energy emission that did not require a spell or scroll.
“Now then. Let’s go and see what other volunteers for slaughter practice we can find!” I declared with a cheer as I walked past the dead man’s body.
“Yes, master~!” she replied with a cheer.
I guess, summoning Kleya at this point in time was just a stroke of good luck. Although, I had to admit, if I didn’t have her with me, I would have probably used some other ways of attacking this pirate. Maybe I would have charged up an attack that would have burned through the core of his chest or maybe I would have slowly turned him into a zombie, starting with his hands and feet, letting them kill him as I continued turning the rest of his body into a walking corpse. There were a lot of delicious ways of torturing and killing individuals who were not worth even the dust on the ground in the eyes of modern society.
Was I a murderer? What a foolish question... I was a Demon King, my killing was an art!
“Kleya, hide in the shadows and see if what that man said was the truth.” I ordered her.
“Yes, master!” she replied and then dived into my shadow.
A moment later, I received a telepathic message from her.
Master, just as the man said, most of the pirates are focused on reaching below the decks. Right now, there are several of them trying to get inside the room where your parents are hiding. Your father is currently preparing to fight them off. I would not bet on his chances. Kleya reported to me as I made my way towards the cabin area.
The door that blocked my way was unlocked with a simple use of the [Telkarazarak] spell. I had no need to blow up the door when I could simply pull the lever from the other side.
“Kill those pirates, but make sure nobody sees you. Oh, and share your sight with me. I want to watch~!” I ordered.
As you wish, master! she obeyed.
Kleya appeared behind the pirate farthest to the back and slit his throat with her claws. She then silently summoned multiple dark spears and sent them flying towards the next four. One spear in the neck, to silence their groans, one in the heart, and another pair in the back of their legs, to make them slump back on the floor. All of them died without muttering a single word. Only three pirates were left. They were messing with the door, struggling to lockpick it. None of them noticed the demonic presence behind them.
The time came for the grand finale of this show. She cast a single shadow blade and with a single swipe, she sent them all to the afterlife. Their blood washed the floor, the walls, and the ceiling like fresh paint on a canvas. It was a true work of art, and it was quite obvious that she did it in order to impress me. Truthfully speaking, I liked her elegance and style, but she needed work. She missed a spot.
With my family safe, I began to look around the ship to see if there was anything interesting happening. I did not really feel a threat from these so-called pirates, but I did not understand why they attacked us either. Maybe instead of going through dark forests and abandoned paths, these bandits accidentally arrived on the sea? If it was about plundering the ship, there were indeed a lot of nobles and valuables on board, but there were also a lot of mages and warriors. It made the effort of going against that military force a bit redundant in my opinion. True, they were all hiding now because they prioritized the safety of their respective clients over a direct confrontation with all cards on the table, but there were always those who did not care in the slightest about exchanging blows with the pirates. The sounds of their fights could be heard from a distance.
“I wonder what happened to that little girl?” I said as I took a corner.
“Huh?” the foolish sound of the pirate who faced me was his last.
Before he could shout or pull the trigger on his gun, Kleya’s sword popped out from the left wall and separated his head from his body. The ball of hair, blood, and flesh rolled on the ground as the rest of this meat puppet slumped on the floor. The idea of converting this pile of organic mass into a flesh golem did pop in my mind, but those things were slow and heavy, essentially useless in these tight corridors.
“What girl, Master?” she asked as she peeked out of the shadows.
“She looks like this.” I closed my eyes and sent her the image of the little girl who got scared of me while I was in the middle of my summoning ritual.
She wore a simple yellow dress with white frills at the edges. The material did not appear expensive and there was no fancy embroidery or valuable accessories, making me believe that her social status was probably not that high. I was suspecting she was either a commoner whose parents won a raffle or the daughter of a sailor. Her violet eyes were a bit uncommon among humans, but maybe she had a non-human ancestry? Her hair was a bright blonde, definitely not dyed as others did. As for age, she appeared to be my age? Maybe she was also 4 years old, since she was no taller than me.
“I will look for her immediately, Master.” Kleya said and then vanished into the shadows.
Instead of waiting for her here, I continued to make my way down the corridor. There were clear signs of battle everywhere, which told me that once the pirates boarded this yacht, those with the power to fight did not hesitate at all to retaliate. From the far away sounds, it appeared as though the battles were still ongoing. I could guess from these scorch marks, slashes and holes that Mages, Knights, Soldiers, and Adventurers, whether nobles or commoners, had all joined the battle against the pirates.
The passengers who were hiding inside their rooms most likely did not know what was happening outside their doors, so they could only tremble in fear and hope that the matter would soon be resolved peacefully. On another note, I was wondering why it was so easy to board this yacht? I mean, when thinking about it, this was a royal cruise, so the security had to be pretty tight. Did the Knights hit the old ale barrel too much and got drunk? Or maybe the Mages failed in their spells that should have scanned the nearby areas for possible enemies?
However they managed to get on board, it did not matter to me; what mattered was the fact that I now had a bunch of new flesh toys to play with. Just thinking about how I was going to rip apart these humans made me all giddy on the inside! The best part was that I could do so legally, without worrying about any repercussions! I just had to make sure nobody saw me using magic or calling out Kleya… simple, right?
Master... that little girl is in trouble. Kleya told me.
“What sort of trouble?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
There are five pirates who have cornered her in one of the passenger rooms. She must have gotten separated from her parents when the chaos ensued. Speaking of which, I also happened to hear a couple of the humans talking with the pirates, explaining to them where to find the royal family and how to disable the security doors. They appear to be traitors. she explained.
“Good job! Now, take me to the girl!” I ordered and Kleya immediately obeyed by creating a shadow portal in front of me.
Although I knew that throughout the ship there were probably others in more perilous situations, I was not a hero who went around saving everyone left and right. I was a Demon King. I was selfish and arrogant! My amusement and interest took priority over everything else! Actually, why would I even want to save them in the first place? With the exception of the fact that things might get annoying if the pirates won, I didn’t see a reason.
“Demon Kings don’t save people.” I muttered as I stepped through the shadow portal.
But aren’t you saving a frightened little girl now? Kleya questioned me.
No, she’s just... erm... fluff! Yes, I’m just saving a useless fluffy thing! I replied quickly.
Hm~?
She was judging me; I could swear that she was judging me! Well, this mattered not! Although, why did she even care in the first place?!
Shaking my head to get rid of these weird thoughts, I appeared on the other side, where the little girl I saw earlier was trembling and holding a kitchen knife to defend herself against five big brutes armed with guns and smelling worse than my father’s dirty socks. I swear, those things turned the laundry basket into a biohazard zone!
“Get ze little girl’s knife away!” said one of them.
“S-Stay back! Stay back!” she cried out.
“Youz be a goodz little ranzom puppet!” said another in a broken accent, which I couldn’t identify as belonging to any specific country.
It felt as if these monkeys that stank like dirty socks had a language of their own.
“Ni’one wu’ll com’ t’save you.” another declared.
The little girl was barely holding her tears back. She was terrified and trembling from head to toe because she knew that if these brutes caught her, then it wouldn’t be a pretty end for her.
Once again, looking at her shabby outfit made me think that maybe she was not part of the high nobility and just some poor commoner’s daughter who got caught in the middle of the crossfire. In other words, even if she were to witness my power, there was nothing to worry about. No one would believe her and no one would go looking around if she ended up becoming an annoying piece that had to be disposed of.
In other words, as a mighty and terrifying Demon King, I had nothing to fear from a scared and trembling little girl! Wait, that sounded a bit wrong…
Well, all things considered, this also meant that she had a big fat zero value as a hostage for the pirates. The life of a slave or even death was what awaited her.
I appeared from the shadow portal a few steps behind the brutish pirates, and Kleya was behind me, holding her mighty sword in one hand, looking at the mortals in front of her like they were all a bunch of useless insects, which they were, no offense.
Thus, when the little girl turned her gaze towards me, we locked eyes and I could feel her desperately pleading for my help. What was strange though was that I felt something pull at my heartstrings. Why was it that such an insignificant little soul could have such an impact over someone like me? It was NOT logical, especially since I did NOT see her as either a useful tool or a family member!
What do you make of this emotion, Kleya? I asked the demoness, just to make sure I wasn’t cursed by accident.
Hm, doesn’t that just mean you are attracted to her as a potential companion? she asked.
“Impossible!” I muttered and my voice caught the attention of the pirates.
“Huh? Who are you?” the man to the far left asked when he saw me.
“Another noble, but who that behind him? She ain’t lookin’ like an easy kill.” another commented.
“Sigh...” I narrowed my eyes at these brutish oafs and then spread my arms wide open.
I did not want that little girl to cling to me, so I decided to scare her.
From the tips of my fingers, black lightning was released as I began to cast two spells belonging to the Darkness element. The first one was called [Demonic Howl] or [Darkness Howl], which created a powerful magic sound wave that interfered at a physical and magical level with the opponent, making them lose focus and even stunning them in some cases. The second spell was called [Fiendish Blades] and conjured up at least two or more curved blades made of magic energy of the darkness element.
With my most evil and demonic smile, I looked at these five fools whom I saw as being responsible for this whole mess of me feeling that strange thing for this weird little girl.
To add a bit of spice to this, I decided to use a chant as well, just to make them feel more fear towards me. It was just a bunch of words strung around to make it sound cool and terrifying.
“Unholy creatures of the night, heed my call and fall down from your blighted heavens into this mortal world! Seek out my enemies and rip them apart, shred them to pieces and let your victorious howls pierce the holy heavens and your fiendish blades slash their angelic wings!”
“What the?” one of them said and took a step back.
The air surged with immense Magic Energy, but that was just for show. I was going to pull it back or use it to feed the gluttonous demoness behind me once these five were dead. Those two spells weren’t that cost-demanding.
A second later, a howl that pierced right into your heart like a mad beast wishing to shred it to pieces was released from the shadows around us. The howl might have been a bit too powerful because it felt like it was going to be heard for miles and miles.
Now that I remember, [Demonic Howl] is a spell used for raising the morale of demons on a battlefield and causing the enemy to freeze up. I thought.
Well, it did its job, all five of them were now trembling and pissing themselves. Unfortunately for them, the moment when I released [Fiendish Blades], their lives were forfeit.
From within the shadows, black shadowy blades popped out like the claws of a monster and rushed towards them. Without Holy Armor of some sort, those blades slashed through their flesh like a knife would through butter. First their legs were cut, then their arms, then their torso was sliced in half, and lastly their heads were split down the middle all the way to the neck so that not even a zombie could rise from their remains.
It took no more than a couple of seconds, but by the time this spell was over, all of them without exception were left as a pile of gore on the floor, lifeless and sliced up into pieces.
With this, the little girl should be scared stiff. I thought, but then... someone hugged me.
Looking down, I saw the little girl crying her eyes out as she pressed her head against my chest and kept hugging me.
She was strong, but I could not understand what was happening. I mean, didn’t I just use a terrible magic that sliced up people into easy to transport meat parts? Why was she hugging me? Why was she doing this? What just happened?
The gears in my mind ground to a halt and before I was able to pull back my Magic Energy, the glutton behind me jumped at it with sparkling eyes. In a single breath, she gulped down all of it, returning this whole place to normal... well, minus the bloody remains.
“Burp! Pardon me.” Kleya said with a smile as she covered her mouth with the tip of her fingers.
I narrowed my eyes at her, but I couldn’t move yet. The little girl’s grasp was a bit... strong?
“Can’t... breathe... Please... let... go.” I managed to say.