Abyssal Awakening

Chapter 554 Darrow The Pirate King

"What the f*ck???" Alice blinked her eyes.

She felt as though she was suddenly transported into a dream realm as the chaos around her unfolded.

Lorien had expected this kind of fight so rather than four ships, he had actually brought a fleet of ten!

Cannons whistled through the sky, crashing into the barriers of enemy ships, rocking them back and forth while the crew screamed in defiance.

They scrambled to fire their own cannon shots back while Lorien screamed out orders frantically.

Opposing them was a grand fleet of more than 15 ships, each more majestic than the last.

And to make matters worse, raging storm roared from above. Dark clouds, lightning and a barrage of rain crashed against the barriers.

"STAND TALL! Are we going to let these b*stards take us down?!?! FIRE THE NEXT WAVE!" Lorien roared, slamming his hand down and creating a wave of crimson energy to block the next strikes.

"YES CAPTAIN!!!" The entire crew roared out in unison.

Even though they may be members of the Underground, they held unwavering faith in their captain. Despite the dangers, he was here with them, commanding them.

This gave the crew a boost of confidence as they reloaded the next shots.

While this was happening, Alice stood by the railings and observed the enemy.

'They're holding back.' She concluded as Alyss agreed with her analysis.

They could be firing cannons back at a much faster rate but rather than eliminating them, it's more like they want to tire Lorien's crew out. To circle them like a group of sharks, waiting for the right time to strike.

Moreover, Alice couldn't see a single sign of Minerva's phantom fleet nor could she see her ship.

This wasn't Minerva's fleet. They were too efficient and capable for that to be the case.

The crew moved as one, all of them part of a well oiled machine that fired back cannon balls in rhythmic unison.

On the other hand, Minerva's crew was in a similar state to Lorien's. They all scrambled to fire cannons as soon as possible, lacking the rhythm and calm of their current enemy.

With this in mind, Alice had a suspicion that this might be the crew of Darrow the Pirate King instead of Minerva.

Giving Lorien a glance, Alice could tell that he was worried about that as well.

Even though he tried to hide his nervousness, it was clear to Alice.

Right now, she was acting as his trump card. The moment she is ordered to make a move, they would've run out of tricks to play. Therefore, she had to keep watching until the right time.

###

"They're holding out pretty well." Darrow observed the situation from his own ship which wasn't part of the attacking fleet.

"They'll fold soon if they don't do anything. Lorien seemed to have given them a boost in confidence but their retaliation is still weak." Virn shook his head.

They were expending too much stamina for a simple task. While it might not seem a lot in isolation, repeated motions with poor efficiency will tire them out much faster.

That wasn't the only thing either, as they begin to run out of stamina, chances of injuries increase. Once someone gets injured, their shooting efficiency drops even more.

Their retaliation is simply the last ounce of energy of a dying animal. A show of desperation rather than power.

By the side, Minerva watched the situation unfold with a sparkle of excitement in her eyes.

While she may argue with Darrow a lot, he was still her idol. She was simply upset at the fact that Darrow sat by idly and did nothing while things were happening in the city. If he had decided to move, the criminals wouldn't even dare to raise their heads.

"Minerva, you mentioned that you made a contract with this… Calista right? Has she made a move yet?" Darrow asked with a side glance.

He wasn't familiar with Calista's power. All he knew was that the girl could fire off a huge torrent of energy by the beach.

"She hasn't yet, it seems like Lorien is keeping her as a trump card. She's by the third ship, observing from the railings." Minerva pulled out a telescope.

"He probably doesn't want to tire her out before the Phantom Fleet makes an appearance." She concluded.

Tapping his chin, Darrow contemplated in silence as a smile appeared on his face.

"Let's give her a reason to come to our ship. Minerva, send out your fleet." He ordered as Minerva nodded her head.

Jogging over to the main deck, she took a deep breath as Sigils began to light up across her body. From these Sigils, tentacle markings stretched from one to the other, turning into an array across her body as luminescent blue energy burst out from Minerva's body.

The seas around her began to bubble.

*BANG!!!

Bursting out from the depths, the Phantom Fleet made its presence known.

###

"PHANTOM FLEET SIGHTED!" A crew member shouted down from the crow's nest.

Hearing this, Lorien didn't hesitate to look at Alice who had already begun making her preparations to rush over.

In this situation where the real fleet was besieging them, he couldn't allow the Phantom Fleet to interrupt.

"Yo~ Captain~ What should I do if Darrow is there too?" Alice asked, massaging his neck.

Furrowing his brows, Lorien looked up at Calista who didn't seem to be worried.

"I'll double everything I've paid you if you can also deal with Darrow."

Minerva's Phantom Fleet was one thing but Darrow? If Darrow summons his fleet then they might as well start writing their last will and testament. In the situation where Darrow joins the fight then all he could do was pray that Calista was strong enough to keep him occupied as well.

"Double huh? Sure, I can work with that." Alice shrugged.

However, she was snickering on the inside as he wouldn't even be able to pay her later. Right now, she was essentially here to watch everything from the front row seats. Lorien hadn't even realized that she had long defected from his side.

Giving her body one last stretch, Alice mapped out the route in her mind.

The distance between them was quite far so she'll have to be a bit more careful with how she plans on jumping to the other side.

"Lorien, care to fire erm… two cannon balls for me? Make the second delayed." Alice asked as Lorien nodded.

Giving out the orders, the first cannon fired but Alice didn't move.

It was only when the second was fired that she finally jumped.

*BANG!!!

Rocking the ship with her jump, Alice held onto her tricorn hat so it didn't fall off. After all, it would be quite a waste to lose something she had recently bought.

Once she began to lose height, she narrowed her eyes and tapped her foot against the cannon, kicking it into the water but giving herself an extra boost to her jump.

Watching this happen, Lorien blinked his eyes as he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

She was using the cannon balls as a platform!!!

How much strength did she have in order to propel herself again???

Regardless, after jumping off the second cannonball, Alice was directly above the ships and saw Minerva summoning the fleet.

"Hallo~ I've come to play again." Alice greeted with a grin.

Looking up, Minerva couldn't help but roll her eyes.

Just as Alice was about to land on the surface of the deck, a fist appeared in her view as her pupil constricted in surprise.

'When?'

Alice didn't perceive anyone approaching her let alone throwing out a punch.

But now that the first was mere inches away from her face, Alice had to react.

Bending her body back, she launched a kick against the arm.

"!!!"

*BANG!!!

Crashing against the ground, Alice flipped back and landed on her feet.

There was a frown on her face as Darrow stood unmoving with his fist out in the open.

When she kicked against the arm, it felt as though she was kicking a brick wall. Tough as well and it refused to budge.

Darrow had a head of short wild dark brown hair, a pair of crimson eyes and a stubble. There were scars on his chin and chest.

He wore a loose white shirt that revealed his trained body, golden necklaces, a pair of dark green pants with red sashes around his waist and leather boots.

Hanging off his shoulders was a large red coat with golden tassels, buttons and other accessories.

"A little rude don't you think? I'm here to say hi to a friend after all." Alice narrowed her gaze.

Just the wind pressure from that punch alone was almost enough to dispel her disguise.

"Minerva's in her rebellious age. As her father's friend, I have to make sure she's hanging around the right crowd of people." Darrow grinned while scratching his chin.

He was rather impressed by her reaction speed considering his surprise attack.

Red and black lightning crackled along his arm as it converged into a single cutlass. Pulling his arm back, he revealed a grin before unleashing an upwards cleave!

*BANG!!!!

"!!!"

Before Alice could even react, a diagonal cut appeared across her chest as she immediately brought out a vial and crushed it in her hands. As the mirror jester's disguise wore off, she used her blood to hide her appearance.

However, cold sweat rolled down her face as she glared at Darrow who stood in a relaxed position in front of her.

'This is bad twinnie.' Alice admitted with a twitching smile.

She knew that his punch was testing her so it wasn't as fast as it could've been.

But that slash? It breached her two layer defence before she could even react. If he wanted to, he could've probably cut her in half with that attack.

Outside of Lords, Darrow the Pirate King might possibly be the strongest opponent she has seen to date.