The commotion above grew louder. The sound of running feet on the deck increased, and the shouts became clearer. Curious, Ard summoned his Ace Garuda and sent him out through the round window glass of the prison below, where they were all pretending to be held.

After that, he sat back down cross-legged next to Eva and closed his eyes. Everything Ace saw appeared clearly in his head. It turned out the fighting above was quite serious and widespread. The Ateras Kingdom forces were clearly putting up a fierce resistance against Vahn's pirate crew.

It seemed that the kingdom's forces had deliberately taken this unusual route through dangerous waters so they could sneak into the Orthus Empire's territory undetected and in secret. This was proven by the fact that many of the soldiers were wearing heavy, protective armor clearly meant for fighting on land, not at sea.

There were also piles of wood and ropes visible on the deck, which seemed intended for building siege towers. Vahn's crew continued to board the enemy ship and fought fiercely, pushing the Ateras Kingdom forces back. On the deck of the Ateras Kingdom galleon, many casualties were visible from both sides. Although, if counted precisely, there were probably still more Ateras Kingdom soldiers falling than pirate crew.

Ard, who saw everything through Ace's vision, opened his eyes. He immediately told his friends everything. Of course, their faces looked shocked and unsure what to do. Then Eva suddenly stood up.

"Where are you going?" Ard asked.

"To help. I can sink that ship in an instant... come on, Ard," Eva replied.

"Sit down, Eva. Don't be reckless. Don't forget your status as the Orthus Imperial Princess," Mirea said seriously.

"Mirea's right. You should sit down. If you go out there, the Ateras Kingdom forces will get fired up just by seeing you, even with your hair black, and it could actually cause Vahn's crew to lose," Ard added.

"But should we just sit here?" Eva asked.

"Just trust Big Brother Vahn. To be honest, I'm really worried, but I realize that if I go out there, I'll just mess things up," Claudia answered, hugging her knees. It was obvious she was genuinely worried.

"I can't just sit still. Vahn has helped me, and I have to help him. Come on, Ard, if it's the two of us, that ship is nothing," Eva said, turning to look at Ard, bending down and pulling Ard's hand, who remained seated, looking up at Eva.

Suddenly, the seasick Beatrice stood up. She walked in front of Eva and smack, she slapped Eva, although not hard, making Eva turn her head to the side and hold her cheek. Of course, everyone who saw it was shocked and stunned, especially Rosalind, who was too late to stop her.

"Sit down, Eva! Don't make things worse, and if something happens to you, all of us will be in trouble and sad. I know you're strong, but what if your power ends up endangering everyone?" Beatrice said.

Eva stared in stunned silence at Beatrice, who was standing swaying and pale-faced in front of her. Then Eva sat back down next to Ard without saying anything and bowed her head. Beatrice immediately smiled and put her hands on her hips with her chin raised slightly, but right after that, because the ship kept swaying, urgh, she instantly returned to her bucket, crouching and vomiting. Rosalind immediately knelt down next to Beatrice and massaged the back of her neck.

"Oh, Princess, don't push yourself! You're just making things difficult," Rosalind said, panicking.

"Uuuh... I hate the sea... I truly hate the sea," Beatrice muttered before vomiting again, and then tears streamed down her face.

"Yes, yes... next time we'll take the land route," Alicia said.

"Yep, hang in there," Milia added.

"Hahaha... come on, Beatrice, you can hold on," Geoffrey teased.

"That's right, be patient. As soon as the atmosphere calms down again, I'll make you another potion," Ainsley said, adjusting his glasses.

"Keep using the balm, don't stop," Mirea said.

"Yeah, is there still plenty?" Patricia asked.

Irwin looked at the balm next to Rosalind and picked it up, then opened it and inspected it.

"Still plenty, safe," Irwin said, giving a thumbs-up and looking at the others.

"Grr... can you all be quiet... I'm... vomiting... again... urgh," Beatrice vomited once more.

Thanks to Beatrice, the atmosphere calmed down again because they all started laughing again as before. Meanwhile, Ard closed his eyes and continued to monitor the situation above using Ace's vision. The battle was nearly at its climax. Vahn's pirate crew had largely occupied the Ateras Kingdom galleon. Vahn had boarded the enemy ship and was killing many enemy soldiers and crew, laughing all the while. Many enemy soldiers wearing heavy armor were also seen plunging into the sea, surely not to resurface. Ard opened his eyes again, then looked at Eva next to him.

"We've pretty much won. Vahn is already on the enemy ship. Let's just wait a little longer," Ard said.

"Alright," Eva replied briefly, looking at Ard.

"Still want to go out?" Ard asked.

"No... I have to admit, that spoiled princess was right this time. If I went out, I would just cause trouble," Eva replied, embarrassed to admit it.

"Hmm... yep, true. If you went out, Vahn might not have won. You're still the same as before... act first, think later," Ard said.

"Don't tease me, that's why I need you, right?" Eva countered.

"Hehe, true," Ard replied proudly.

They continued to wait quietly and relaxed. Ard kept monitoring the progress of the battle above and closed his eyes. He saw Vahn capture the commodore of the Ateras Kingdom ship, then declare his victory. But suddenly, Vahn looked up, saw Ace, winked, and raised his bloody hand, giving a thumbs-up with a smile. Seeing Vahn look at his garuda, Ard immediately opened his eyes, then he shared the news with the others.

Everyone immediately felt greatly relieved. Ard saw that his friends had actually been tense but were covering it up by appearing calm. Ard turned to see Beatrice sleeping on Rosalind's shoulder. Rosalind nodded back at Ard. Eva, who was sitting next to Ard, finally relaxed and leaned against him.

"Thank God they won," Eva said.

"Yeah, but I'm still keeping watch, just in case," Ard added.

"I know. I feel calm now," Eva said.

Ard closed his eyes again. Vahn's crew began moving treasures from the enemy ship onto their own. They also started carrying the bodies of the pirates killed in the fighting back to their ship to be buried later when they made landfall.

Vahn brought the enemy ship's commodore back to his ship, tied up. Ard continued to monitor the process while leaning against the bars and yawning, then he opened his eyes for a moment and was shocked to see all his friends asleep, including Eva right next to him.

"Whoa, everyone's asleep. They really were all tense, huh? The minute the tension vanished, they crashed out," Ard thought to himself, smiling.

Suddenly, he felt the ship shake violently. He immediately closed his eyes; instantly, his eyes widened as he saw gigantic tentacles emerge from the sea and start wrapping around the Ateras Kingdom galleon. Ard immediately stood up, opened the bars of the brig, and ran out.

"No... no... a Kraken. Perfect timing for it to show up," Ard thought to himself.

He immediately climbed up and opened the hatch. The ship was rocking even more, making Ard slightly lose his balance, but he still tried to climb the stairs to the deck. When he reached the deck, he saw the pirates returning to the ship he was on—which was still messy and covered in fallen bodies—and saw stacks of wooden boxes and treasure chests on the deck.

Then his eyes darted toward the tentacles emerging around the enemy ship.

Vahn looked busy directing his crew to separate the ships and detach the wooden boarding bridge they had used to cross to the enemy ship. Suddenly, a tentacle emerged from the other side of the enemy ship, right next to the pirate ship where Vahn was standing. Ard immediately pulled Exgrandal from his dimensional storage. As the tentacle swung down toward Vahn,

"Vahn, look out!" Ard yelled.

Vahn turned around, then looked up. He saw the massive tentacle descending toward him. He immediately raised his sword. But suddenly, a black, crescent-shaped beam of light sliced through the Kraken's tentacle. It fell onto the ship's deck, where it still writhed, sweeping several pirates who were nearby.

Seeing the black crescent light just now, Vahn looked at Ard from a distance, who gave him a thumbs-up, while between them, the crew struggled to subdue the severed Kraken tentacle. Then, the other tentacles began to coil around the enemy ship, tearing it apart and pulling it into the ocean.

Vahn used this opportunity to immediately leave the area, ordering his crew to unfurl the sails. Vahn ran straight past Ard and motioned for him toward the helm, where he immediately took the wheel. After the ship sped up, Vahn and Ard turned to look behind them to confirm the situation was safe.

They were still watching the foamy water on the ocean. Then, both of them took a deep breath, relieved, and looked at each other before finally high-fiving.

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