Pherdanta and Allora had been hit so hard that they both temporarily lost consciousness. However, they came to seconds later, both more than a little disappointed at having to face such humiliation in front of the boss.
They were supposed to be his top force.
The fact that Replicus had stopped them from being sent flying back tens of kilometers by grabbing ahold of the Null Life Essence in their Granted Armament, only served to make them feel worse.
Pherdanta was especially ticked off.
She used Limited Granted Warp to return to Replicus' side, as did Allora, who gave a heavy breath afterwards, and touched the chest plate of her armour. The blow just now hadn't breached her armour. It simply hit her directly.
She felt her chest pulse in tremendous pain, her heart thrombin intensely.
"Incredible," she said, more awed than terrified.
Pherdanta gave her a harsh look as she wiped away the blood from her mouth.
She looked up at Replicus, who had both cloud and smoke whirling around him.
If not for the ridiculous levels of protection that the Granted Armament gave each of them as Unlimited, she knew for fact that she and the others would have been dead or close to it by now.
"Don't be too hard on yourselves. Not including the Creed just now – which made distance and positioning irrelevant for that bastard's technique, whatever it is – blocking an Incandescent Stager's attack isn't something I expect from you all without using your special traits," Replicus said without turning to them.
His words didn't really make Pherdanta feel better, but she was determined to not let herself be hit again.
"I didn't think even that creepy introvert of yours and Baddan would be fine, boss. Are they that much stronger than us?" Allora said with a smile, expressing sentiments different from Pherdanta's.
She felt the Sky Watcher and the Astute Duke's presence – the former on the inverted deck, and the latter on the bowsprit.
They both seemed fine, and they hadn't been sent flying like the rest.
Replicus merely chuckled to Allora's words.
He was surprised at how carefree she was after that attack, but all the better.
One was going to need a mind-set like that on this assignment.
He didn't know if she could take another blow though.
The old undead man still locked eyes with Replicus. Asides from probably deliberating if a second attack of the previous scale was necessary, he seemed to be wondering what had happened just now.
One of his many, simultaneous blows had landed on the target successfully, but had rebounded with four times the amount of force, hitting him square in the chest and breaking a few ribs!
Because the man's physique was tolerant to even the harshest of blows, he had managed to withstand the attack, and without fear of dying since he was already dead. However, a third of his heart had been crushed.
Even now, his vest was indented, the skin and flesh bruised heavily.
The undead man's brown eyes keenly locked onto the figure with the starry armour.
It was him.
Definitely.
The look behind that helm was too taunting for it to not be him.
Surely, Replicus' sockets had returned to flickering wholesomely, all four in a blue, confident gleam.
'Let's see you try it again...' he thought as a certain skill inscribed in his bone body became engulfed in the light of mana.
However...
"Boss, look!" Allora called Replicus to see.
The Penetrator had been so absorbed by the tension between him and the undead man that he hadn't yet noticed the development from the other Faction leaders' side.
A singular ship had suddenly burst forth, charting a straight course past the hundreds of undead attempting to block its path. It simply knocked into the lot of them, while at times weaving animatedly to dodge the more dangerous attacks from more powerful undead successfully – some that came from above, and others that exploded from under the waters!
This feat was likely possible only due to the bold stroke of white mana around the ship, which seemed to empower its functions and provide a doubly effective defence and some manner of offense.
This was the work of an Incandescent Stager expert, no doubt.
The umbrella-shaped glow over this vessel was still prominent, which barred Replicus' perception.
He had an idea as to who owned this ship though. Two ideas.
He could picture it belonging to the Mad Bishop, or Eaniss.
His best bet was on the former though. That crazy hag was likely to forge a path through danger before anyone else.
The old man in the vest tore his attention from Replicus and gazed at the incoming ship.
His face turned solemn, and the mana bathing his hands turned into an ebony coloured Aura, much like ash!
The ocean became wilder as his furious might raged about with ten times the force.
The skies turned overcast, and a tragic storm was instantly formed.
Replicus shook his head.
"Deck. Now," he said to his subordinates.
An instant later, all of them were on deck, where Baddan had been watching everything from. The Sky Watcher had a slightly bloody mark on his attire, but he look to be mostly fine. Araeyn on the other hand, was entirely unscathed.
Replicus gestured for Pherdanta to steer the ship as he planted his hand on its sleek boards under his grieves.
"Full speed ahead. Don't stop," he ordered as a glow travelled through the ship.
Soon the large vessel stood upright in the air.
"What about Grim?" Allora asked, noticing that the canine Unlimited was not aboard.
"He'll catch up."
The ship's rear spikes lit up and sent the ship blasting forward like an aerial craft from a far, distinct reality!
The dozens of odd attachments to its keel were now pushing against the restricting atmosphere to give the ship a greater edge in flight!
Replicus had applied a skill known simply as [Float] to the ship back when the ocean had rebelled against progress.
[Wealth of Spoils] could extract and grant skills to objects, and he had used the opportunity to give the ship an answer to the precarious situation.
Rushing to the edge of the deck, Replicus was just in time to see the old undead man bolt towards the approaching ship which bounced over the waters as it sped, his movement butchering all logic pertaining to the sea!
The storm clouds above were pulled down as he moved, as were the throngs of lightning they cradled. They smashed against everything, highlighting the undead man's body grimly as he cocked back his fist for an attack that could probably level the Mythical grade vessel he was up against with ease!
However, as Replicus watched, something truly unexpected happened.
...!!!
The Penetrator sockets flashed continously.
"Son of a..."
From the great vessel barrelling forward, a figure darted out of the umbrella-shaped shield to meet the incoming enemy.
It was a pale youth with long, white hair tied into a ponytail, his body adorned in a large, fuzzy coat meant to ward away the cold.
He wore a massive grin as he met the enemy that far outclassed him in multiple respects.
He wasn't afraid.
He was unfazed by the might of his enemy.
This pale man opened his mouth and uttered a few words to his opponent.
...!!!
The Penetrator was alarmed.
He didn't hear what the pale man said to the undead Incandescent Stager in the fraction of time before they met for blows, however, the outlandish effect which bellowed as he spoke was too clear, and too familiar.
'Veneration?!'
Was it truly...?
But that wasn't the thick of it.
A micro moment later, the figure of the undead old man was quickly dragged up by an unseen force, stripped from the ocean surface as a barrier that stood against the great sailing vessel Aurolio had darted from!
Fortune fell for one and misfortune for the other.
The old undead man kept soaring into the sky, and his path just so happened to lead into that of Replicus and his subordinates!
The Penetrator's sockets blazed.
"Sockethole...!" he growled.
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