The ship, unlike NeverLight's, had the privilege of moving in all directions. Besides the crew, who acted as though they'd seen the most precious treasures of their lives and were eagerly on the verge of attacking, what truly stood out was the ship's aura.

Which was unfortunate, because subtlety clearly wasn't invited.

None of the lightning bolts was a challenge for them, due to the black crystal embedded on the ship, which seemingly absorbed every direct attack. But still, the storm didn't leave them unscathed.

The ship wasn't a threat. Neither were their spears nor blades. But they'd chosen the worst possible time, everyone was already busy. Their presence was a nuisance. An aggressively inconvenient one.

White trembled on her feet.

Jihriel, as the leader, his crew refused to see him sweat, merely issuing orders from time to time. The two most likely to take these pirates seriously? One was pumping out water, the other vomiting their guts out to stay alive.

The responsibility seemed to fall to Halo by default, no one else cared. But before he could summon his clones to handle it, Omega spoke up and headed toward the approaching ship.

Halo felt briefly robbed of the chance to solve this problem the lazy way.

"Huuu, I will handle this."

She took the most visible position on the deck. It only took a few words from her for Halo to know he should focus on his task instead.

Which was Omega's polite way of saying "don't interfere."

Her True Ability, Looks of Change, allowed her to charm anyone with her looks. Once under her charm, she could command them to do anything as she pleased, but the same outfit wouldn't work on the same person more than three times.

But at the moment, that was hardly the problem since it was the pirates' first time seeing her. First impressions were brutal things when it came to her.

Within moments, the entire crew of the ship froze, but there was a problem. Most hadn't reached the deck yet, and her ability had barely affected them. Problems, apparently, liked repeating themselves.

But in the heat of the moment, something else seized their attention. A massive gust of wind began swirling in a tornado-like vortex.

At first, everyone thought it was just another sea tornado forming, but nothing about this seemed normal. The storm sparked and crackled, as if trying to ignite fire in the middle of a tempest. The sea was clearly feeling creative.

They soon realized this wasn't the sea at all. It was White.

She looked miserable.

Her high ponytail had come loose, blood leaked from her eyes, nose, and mouth, and she struggled to breathe, each breath coming in heavy, labored chunks. But clearly, she wanted to prove something.

Omega panicked. Even Jihriel tried to stop her. But it was too late. The timing had never been kind to them.

The pirates scrambled to turn the wheel, but unfortunately for them, the tornado erupted at that moment. In an instant, it obliterated the entire ship.

White dropped to the floor. Whatever order they'd maintained was shattered.

Halo watched Omega, Brave, and Lyra rush to her. She was deathly pale, eyes gone deep crimson. Even with water constantly splashing over them, the blood couldn't be washed away entirely.

Despite White's condition, Omega still scolded her. But she was alive. That's what mattered.

Scolding, it seemed, was also a sign of relief.

Halo understood her desperation. White's Flaw had gotten her captured before, and worse, it made her act childish most of the time. Her inability to control her True Ability was no exception either.

Back when White had gone through her last Purpose as a Knight alongside Delilah, she'd been the one taking care of her.

Even though Omega had assumed most of those duties since, White clearly felt indebted. Now that her actions had resulted in Delilah's capture, she wanted to prove she'd do whatever it took to save her.

'But wasn't controlling the tornado too much?'

Halo shrugged it off and attended to Hazard's orders.

Omega sent White to her room to rest, but that left them shorthanded. The work just got twice as difficult. The storm wasted no time celebrating.

White had been mitigating the lightning strikes, waves, and storms. Now they understood just how much she'd been struggling.

The ship pitched more violently than before, forcing them to grab for handholds constantly. Lightning bolts struck everywhere, at any moment, keeping them in constant motion, trying to avoid the strikes.

Standing still was suddenly an ambitious goal among them.

Before long, everyone was exhausted. They'd been tired before, but now there was no relief.

Halo even wished the ship would just collapse into the sea, at least then they'd only have to worry about drowning, not everything else. It felt like a reasonable trade.

But even so, they had to push through. This was the smallest sea among the seven. Their sleepless nights were bound to pay off in no time.

***

Sometime later…

The ship maintained its brutal routine for days. How many? None of them had time to count. They survived on soggy bread and watered-down milk.

Halo didn't mind, he'd lost his sense of taste anyway. At least it went down smoothly. Misery, at least, was efficient.

White was stable now. Still unconscious, but her breathing had improved, coming easier and cleaner than before.

Her absence was felt keenly when a tornado struck. Though it passed miles from the ship, the resulting waves and wind left them with more work than they could handle in their current state.

Now, even as they worked, all they could do was hope the next sea came soon. Halo especially needed to sleep until he couldn't sleep anymore. Or forget what sleep was supposed to feel like.

The Golden Son had created this sea. None of them knew who he was or if he'd survived the thousands of years.

But if he had? Halo would gladly make the bastard sail his own damned creation. Preferably without a crystal.

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