Maria sprinted at full speed. Her legs felt like they were about to give out at any moment, and she barely had any time to draw in breath. Despite being unable to speak, her lungs begged for even a second of mercy, and yet she did not grant their wishes.
“—Gah… aghh…” grunting, she made her way through the dark, thick forest laid out between the estate and the public port. The city of Flarenorice was a bit to the west, and she was headed towards the northwest. She didn’t know if it was a blessing or a curse that she didn’t have to go through the main city, but she had no time for complaining now.
“—Why?! Why?!” she gasped, swallowing hard afterwards. Her words asked the question, but she herself knew the answer. It was the most logical thing to do. Had she been faced with a similar situation, she would have done the same.
If he were to turn himself in, then the navy would have no reason to search the island for anyone else. This would allow her to escape freely into the seas, with no military force to hunt her down. Many would see it as a selfless act.
“You selfish…! Selfish…!”
The blades of the leaves scratched every inch of her skin. Not wearing her long coat, she was utterly exposed.
“What am I… going to do… when I catch… up…”
“Anyways…?!”
By her estimate, she was approximately ten minutes away from her destination. The downward slope helped her in gaining speedy momentum, but helped little in terms of navigation. Had she been trained in magic, she would have easily been able to blast herself above the treelines.
Different mental factors troubled her mind. Fin’s sacrifice, her outburst towards him on the roof, and the fact that Yuna was nowhere to be seen. As she took a slight right turn, she saw in the distance a silhouette lit with an orange light from behind.
Adjusting her balance and body weight, she slowed down as quickly as possible, her body closing in closer to the still silhouette. A moment ago, she had no clue who it might have been, but those obnoxious, drill hairs could only belong to one person.
Skidding to a halt, Maria took this momentary downtime to catch her breath. Then, frantically, she called out, “Yuna! Where’s Fin?!”
Yuna stood still with her arms crossed, leering at Maria. She was wearing her best dress, similar to what she had worn when they first visited her house. Based on clothing alone, they were leagues apart from each other. While one wore hastily put-together sportswear, Yuna stood tall in absolute elegance.
“Miss Lemonia, what do you think you’re doing?”
Maria straightened her back, still confused. “Fin’s been taken, no, Tan told me he surrendered to the navy! We need to hurry up and help him out!”
Before she could take another step forward, Yuna cleared her throat. “I will do no such thing.”
“Huh?” Maria’s eyes narrowed, trying to make sense of the confusion.
“I said, I will do no such thing.”
“You may have not been aware, but I heard your entire conversation on the roof.”
“This is your one-way ticket to freedom.”
“You complained about how he was selfish. Well, now he’s finally put on a single act of sacrifice for your sake.”
“If you were to go past me and save him, then his sacrifice will be all for naught.”
Maria furrowed her brows, reaching for the pistol placed in her back pocket. “Yuna, this isn’t the time.”
A sigh left Yuna’s delicate lips. “No, if anything, this is precisely the time.”
“Disrespecting someone’s sacrifice is something I cannot allow.”
“Since when?” Maria fired back.
“Since now.”
“Besides, I made a promise to him on the first night.”
Maria was the first to erupt into fighting words. “You and your stupid first-night talk. Are you so deprived of affection that you have to keep referencing one event?”
“Miss Lemonia, your attempts at provoking me won’t work now.”
“Step. Aside. Yuna. I won’t ask again.”
“If you truly cared for Finny, then you wouldn’t interfere with his wishes. If you do, you’ll be no better than the person that you yelled at.”
“You made your decision when you blew up at him.”
“Wow. I’m actually surprised. I thought you liked him? I kinda assumed you’d keep him around after I left, because then you’ll have no rival,” Maria shot again.
Yuna cocked her head. “I thought childhood friends were supposed to treat each other better. If this is your way of treating someone with love, then your hatred must truly be repulsive.”
“Yuna. They’re going to kill him. He has a high bounty.”
“That was his choice. He asked me to keep you at bay, and I will respect his final wishes.”
Gritting her teeth, an itching sensation crawled to her trigger finger. She hadn’t drawn her weapon yet, but the moment she did so, it would flag an all-out war.
The last time they battled, Maria barely made it out alive due to her opponent’s sheer magical strength.
If she drew the battle out, then she would instantly lose. The only path to victory was to secure a one-hit kill. Pirates were easy to take down. Simply shooting them in the head would forfeit their life, but mages were a completely different story.
Being able to conjure any element, they constantly kept their most vital organs on guard. What’s worse, being in a hurry, Maria had only packed three bullets for her pistol. She had confidence in hand-to-hand combat, but that meant nothing before a magic user.
“We’re doing this?” Maria confirmed one more time, her stance unwavering.
“All we need to do is turn back and go back home. If you let this go, then I’ll even forgive your insurmountable amount of debt.”
“I will not let you taint his sacrifice for the sake of your own selfishness.”
“After all, that’s what you hate the most, right?”
Those words were the flare to trigger the fight. Kicking her legs, Maria sprinted around Yuna with her pistol drawn. She motioned like she was about to fire, but didn’t pull the trigger. The bluff was enough for Yuna to cast an ice spell to protect herself, before shattering it immediately for clarity.
Using that momentary distraction, Maria tried to sprint past Yuna, but was promptly stopped by three fireballs hissing past her, burning down the trees in her path. Sure, she could run around it, but that meant spending more time than she had.
If she turned her back again, then there was no doubt one of Yuna’s spells would hit. In order to get to Fin as quickly as possible, she needed to face the mage head-on. Snapping her body around, Maria pretended to fire another shot.
Again, Yuna erected an ice barrier. Using that temporary blind spot, she held her breath, closed one eye for better view, and took aim toward where her opponent’s foot would be. The moment the ice barrier shattered, she took her shot.
Smoke and gunpowder puffed out of the barrel, and the metal sphere inside sped toward its target with indescribable speed. It was an inanimate object, but Yuna could see clearly the gun smirking early at its apparent victory.
This was Maria’s ace in the hole. Her greatest treasure. The pistol covered in gold, responsible for a hundred deaths in the past: the Miss Fortune.
Magic was powerful, but to cast a powerful elemental defensive spell twice in a span of a second was next to impossible.
She didn’t even need to kill Yuna, she just needed her distracted enough to get past her. As the bullet traveled, the mage froze at the sight of its impending doom. She had no way to counter it. Her magical energy, no matter how skilled, did not have time to process another visualization and cast.
Hitching her breath, Yuna kicked backwards, tossing a familiar paper cat into the air. But something was different this time. E-CAT, which was often a loud, annoying creature, was completely silent and motionless. Maria had never seen the creature in such a dead state, and questioned its purpose.
Even if it were to come alive, it wouldn’t be nearly as powerful to stop her. Right?
“ECATHUS!!!” Yuna shouted out just as the bullet pierced through her skin and bones, flying out the other side of her right leg. She screeched in pain, immediately falling to her knees the moment the pain started settling within her brain.
Before Maria could even turn, the ground shook violently and uncontrollably. The trees bent like flimsy sticks, some falling and rolling down the natural slope. Smaller rocks jolted up and down, while the bigger ones shattered in two. It was as if the mountain itself was roaring out a fierce battle cry.
A golden orb shone above Yuna’s head, forcing Maria to cover her eyes. Upon gaining her vision back, she was met with a sight she never in a hundred years would have expected. She should have known a mage as powerful as Yuna would possess such a familiar. It was all too strange for a noble to keep around a paper cat that caused nothing but trouble.
But if it was a defense mechanism hidden as a nuisance, then nobody would bat an eye.
“▅▂▃▃▄▄▅▅ ! ! !”
Like being born from the golden orb, large, tower-like legs emerged from within. Then, within a fraction of a second, the creature landed in front of its master, eager to protect her from any further harm. Its maw was already twisted in anger, setting its sights on the disrespectful pirate.
Ecathus, the King of the Jungle. Yuna Yuzu’s greatest treasure.
“Shoot… I might actually die here.” a sweat dripped down Maria’s temple, as a creature three times her size seemed ready to leap at her at any moment.
Currently, she possessed two more shots, but if she wanted to save Fin in any capacity, she needed to spare at least one for the upcoming battle. Meaning, she could only use one shot against the beast.
An on-head attack would get easily deflected. She needed to find a way to take it down by maximizing her damage output, and the only way to achieve that was to get as close to the beast as possible.
Steadying her breath, she locked eyes with the king, ready to react at any moment. Yuna, who had managed to stabilize herself with magic, stood up, blood still dripping down her leg. In a way, Maria couldn’t help but feel impressed at the mage for having that much resilience.
“Last chance, Miss Lemonia.”
“Respect Finny’s decision. Let him be.”
She shouted across the battlefield, heavy puffs sliding in between each word.
“I’m done talking,” Maria mumbled to herself.
Clicking her tongue, Yuna commanded her loyal beast, “Ecathus, neutralize her.”
The distance between them was a mere fifty feet. With the amount of magical energy the beast was exuding, and its size, it would take only a second for it to catch up to Maria, and another to close its jaws with her inside. Its fangs were jagged like knives, and if one were to land on her, she would not have enough strength to even crawl to where Fin was.
A loud roar that shook the ground was all the warning it gave before shooting toward the pirate. Faced with such a dire situation, there was only one thing to do. Her mind blanked, removing all unnecessary thought. Right now, she needed to awaken her most primal instincts to survive.
As the leaping beast was about to land its claws on Maria, she sprinted forward, shocking the spectating Yuna. Was she crazy? Any normal person would go for a dodge, so why was she going TOWARDS the beast?
Using Ecathus’ large size as an advantage, she slid on the muddy floor. The beast’s claw coming from above was too fast for her to dodge fully, as its sharp blade-like nails tore through her skin.
“—GAHHH!!!” Blood gushed out uncontrollably from the two claw marks on the pirate’s arm. But now was not the time to falter. There was no time to focus on the pain. If she did, the next strike would surely injure her beyond repair.
Kicking her feet, she forced her nimble body to exit its nearest vicinity by slipping underneath the beast’s armpit.
The final step was adjusting her balance. Shifting her body weight, she got back on her feet as quickly as possible. By the time the beast realized that the pirate had entered its flank, it was almost all too late.
Its arm had just slammed against the ground. Due to its sheer size and weight, there was no time to react anymore. Maria, on the other hand, held the pistol’s barrel tightly against the monster’s head. There was no space to miss, and one shot was all she needed.
There was a slight mental hesitation, as she was about to destroy her friend’s most precious treasure. Yuna had killed E-CAT various times in its paper form, but there was no telling what was about to happen to Ecathus.
She understood how much this creature meant to Yuna after hearing about her past. This was the only thing the noble had that resembled a family. If there were any other way, she would rather just incapacitate it. But no matter how much her mind calculated each outcome, this was the best one for success.
Right now, she had more pressing matters.
All the monster could do was watch in horror as the pirate, who was staring daggers at its target, pulled the trigger. The metallic sphere inside the device shot forward, as did smoke and gunpowder. The Miss Fortune may have felled many men, but a magical beast was a first.
Upon making contact, the monster exploded in magical energy, painting the entire sleeping forest dark blue for a split second. Yuna watched as sprinkles of mana rained down from the skies.
Standing victorious was Maria Lemonia, Captain of the Lime Pirates.
Just as Maria was about to continue her rescue mission, Yuna’s voice called out to her from behind, making her stop momentarily.
“What now?!” she urgently shouted.
Limping in defeat, Yuna walked closer to Maria with a pained look on her face. Placing a hand on her shoulder, she fell to her knees, forcing Maria to catch her halfway. The noble was sweating profusely, with no signs of stopping. The sheer exertion of magical energy, plus her injury, weakened her greatly.
With heavy breaths, she forced out her last words, as her consciousness slowly started to fade away.
“Before… you go…”
“I need to tell you… what we talked about… that night…”
“Can’t we talk about it later?!”
Yuna gripped Maria’s jacket, shaking her head while swallowing hard. “He still… has… time…”
“You… need… to… hear…”
Pulling Maria closer, she whispered into the pirate’s ear. As the words settled in, her eyes widened, smiling from ear to ear. Maria wanted nothing more than to ask if what Yuna had said was true, but deep down in her heart, she knew it was.
“CAPTAIN LEMONIA!” Tan shouted in the distance, making his way down the slope from the estate as well. Yuna’s eyes started to slowly close, fading into a world of sweet dreams, ready to embrace her.
Placing her down on the ground, Maria started sprinting towards the public port. A few seconds later, Tan stopped in his tracks, getting on his knees to treat Yuna’s injuries. With a weakened voice, she smiled, touching the first mate’s face.
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t keep your captain’s promise.”
As her arm limped to the ground, Tan caught it halfway. Lifting her nimble body back up, he started his trek back to the estate. Carrying the noble up the dark hills, he mumbled to himself, “I hope you know what you’re doing, Captain.”