Dennier wiped the blood off her face and ordered her men to dump the corpses off the ship. They nodded, dragging the bodies of the two Magic Myr guards and employees to the railing of the balcony. She herself picked up the [Warpbox] with careful hands and brought it over to the Scapegoat.

It was a risky play, to be sure. There was absolutely no way she was ferrying those Magic Myr fools on her ship, but she needed to get the [Warpbox] off the Serenity. By agreeing to personally guide the chosen four to her ship—notably, that Jesalt man wasn’t one of them—she’d been able to lower their guard and bring them out to the balcony.

The ambush she’d set in place had worked out exactly as she planned, thankfully. The [Warpbox] didn’t blow, though it had shook alarmingly when an Attack cast too close to it. Now, some of her men were on their way to Magic Myr’s to clear the rest of the guards in a surprise attack.

She ducked inside the Scapegoat’s boarding chamber, where that Vero woman was trussed up and thrown aside. She set the [Warpbox] down gently and breathed out. She hated having this bomb on her ship, but there was nothing to be done about it. If it somehow detonated aboard the Serenity, she and every other poor bastard on the ship was dead.

“Duro,” she said, and her helmsman nodded from where he waited inside, guarding the ship. “Keep an eye on the [Warpbox]. Make sure nothing touches it. I’ll be sending some more men along with Albas to back you up.”

“Roger that, Cap’n.”

She walked back across the gangplank, her mind turning to figuring out this rat problem of hers, when the shortcomm on her belt buzzed.

She ripped it off her belt; the blinking light on the eighth floor setting of the device told her someone on that floor was trying to comm.

She turned the switch and snapped, “What is it?”

“Cap’n!” came a panicked voice. She couldn’t tell who it was. “He’s here, the cardbearer, he’s—”

The voice cut off, followed by the sound of the shortcomm clattering on the ground. Dennier froze.

A new voice came on over the shortcomm. Male and young, likely no older than twenty. Angry. “Are you the captain of these pirates?”

Dennier’s eyes narrowed. “Yes. Are you the rat in my ship?”

“The Serenity is my ship now,” said the stranger. “I’m coming for you next.”

The shortcomm abruptly cut out, the eighth floor light no longer blinking.

Suspended thousands of feet in the air atop a thin gangplank, Captain Dennier trembled. Emotions surged through her.

Rage that this impudent upstart thought he could speak to her in this manner. Thrill at the thought of dealing with him in the old ways: skinning him and splaying him on the hull of the Scapegoat for the [Cloud Buzzards] to eat. Worry that everything was going awry, that she was losing control of the situation.

A flash of light on her face made her turn. The sun had settled up into the horizon. Here, in the domain of Zephyros, the God of Air, she and the sun were on equal footing.

And it was a red sky. A blood day.

Dennier breathed out. Whatever happened, happened. The cards will fall as the gods wished.

But not before she saw the rat dead by her hand.

She snapped into motion, barking off orders into her shortcomm.

—🃁—

“The Serenity is mine now,” Tristan said, clutching the bloodied shortcomm so tight he could hear the metal creaking. “I’m coming for you next.”

He dropped the thing and smashed it under his boot; he had gotten plenty more from absorbing the pirates’ binders.

He was in a room that looked to be where the engineers worked, judging by the various thick textbooks, scribbled-on papers, and general air of chaotic mess that usually accompanied academics.

There had been three more pirates in here guarding the locked door on the far wall. They died quickly, as did the two that ran into the employee sleeping quarters. That brought his total kills to 7 now, not including Heron, and a total of 36 [Adept Perkshards]. Two of the pirates had been [Adept | Intermediate], granting his 8 shards per kill not 4.

He quickly absorbed the two [Binders] of the pirates he killed in, flipped through, and found a few more equipment upgrades.

[Adept/Equipment/Outerwear] — Sky Harpy Shawl: A shawl formed from the feathers of a [Sky Harpy]. Insulated and light, wearing one of these shawls feels like wearing a cloud. [ARMOR: + 40 TO THE TOP SLOT].

[Apprentice/Equipment/Ring] — Bouldergem Ring: A ring fashioned out of the rough-hewn gem of a [Boulder Elemental]. Simple but strong. (ARMOR: + 5 TO ALL EQUIPMENT SLOTS).

He equipped both, the white-blue shawl draping around his shoulders, the gray ring appearing on his index finger. He’d decided already not to strip the dead of their equipment as that would take too long.

Tristan eyed the door to the next room. Judging from his internal map, that would be where the crystals were. From what Sir Barrihald had told him, destroying the lockdown crystals would not affect the flight or safety measures of the ship; those were a part of separate systems.

The [Lockdown Crystals] are strictly composed of Order energy, the gentleman had said as they crept through the catwalks of the Serenity’s hull. The others will have some measure of Air energy.

He was sure there were more pirates on the other side. This entire floor had been crawling with them, and this was the most important room. The pirates he’d faced up to this point had been sloppy and lacking discipline; something told him whoever the pirate captain stationed in the crystal room was better than that.

He needed to be more careful.

Tristan pulled [Haunted Shade] and summoned it to his side. The monster appeared, a floating, black ghost in the vague shape of a person with red, malevolent eyes. He tried to remember what Eila had named it. Oh, right. Polter.

Thoughts of Eila made his heart tense up. A part of him wanted to just barge into the dining room and rescue her, but he knew the best way to help not only her but the whole ship was to finish his plan here.

Tristan commanded Polter to float up through the ceiling of this room and poke its head through the ceiling of the next room.

Polter travelled up, phasing through the ceiling. With Adept Summons, he was able to grasp a clearer image of what the monster saw than the Apprentice ones.

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The shade poked its head through the top of the crystal room. Tristan was able to see a fuzzy birds-eye view of a large metallic space; eight crystals encased in glass containers dominated the center of this room. There were multiple dead people in lab coats piled to the side, and four pirates stood facing the door that opened out into the middle of the room. Two on the right, two on the left, each with a card in their hands and their decks out.

They were ready for him. Likely had been warned by the pirate captain of his approach.

Tristan eyed the bottom of the floor, then hurried over and picked up the body of one of the pirates he’d killed; with his increased physical prowess, he could lift the small, young man with one hand.

He closed his eyes and took a deep, stabilizing breath. I have to be careful. I can’t inadvertently damage the [Engine Crystals], or the shields. That also meant being careful of where he positioned himself, as stray cards from the pirates aimed for him could end up hitting the crystals.

If he failed here, the ship was doomed. He didn’t know what was happening in the dining room or the rest of the Serenity. He didn’t know what was happening with Eila, if she was still all right.

But if he wanted to give her and the other hostages a chance at fighting back, it was here.

—🃁—

Eila screamed as she leapt onto a broad-shouldered pirate’s back. The woman grunted, momentarily distracted from casting her card at a bleeding older man on the floor.

Eila rammed her [Devilfish Spine] into the woman’s head over and over again; her [Metalborn Spike] had broken already, as did the [Tundra Wolf Fang]. This was her last item, other than the [Air Source] which she still held.

She was covered in blood. Some of it was from pirates; the hostages had managed to kill four of them so far. They’d had the presence of mind to absorb their [Binders] and distribute usable items out to the others.

But most of the blood was from passengers. Bodies upon bodies laid out in the dining room.

The pirate’s bandana flashed red, matching the blood streaming down Eila’s forehead. She’d been struck by a stray slice of wind at one point. She wasn’t sure when. Everything was a blur, a cacophony of rage and desperation. The woman snarled and pulled a card from her deck, but the man on the floor rushed forward, tackling her in the legs.

The woman fell, and Eila fell with her. They landed on the floor roughly, and the [Devilfish Spine] slipped away, her hands wet with blood. She scrambled towards it, scrambling on blood. The man roared and started punching the pirate with heavy fists. He was crying.

All around her were pockets of chaos. [Sky Harpies] screeched in the air, swooping down on hostages with their glinting claws. But despite having their decks, the pirates were outmatched in numbers. They also didn’t have the same cardpower or finesse as Captain Dennier did.

Beyond that, not a few of the hostages were experienced cardbearers with combat experience; they were able to dodge some of the Attacks, disrupt their casts, and organize the others. A group of women pulled one of the harpies down and started striking it with their converted items; one woman appeared to just be using her heels.

But most were civilians. As she scrambled towards the [Devilfish Spine] she passed a man sitting in a pool of blood, a younger man’s body draped over his lap. The man looked comatose, staring off at nothing.

She didn’t know if they were doing the right thing. Should they have just submitted to the pirates?

Deep down, she knew that was as good as waiting for their own death. There was no way the pirates were going to let them live, not when they’d shown their faces.

She lunged forward and gripped the item. She turned to help the man just as his chest exploded, the snarling pirate beneath him having casted a card right on his torso.

She pushed him aside and turned to Eila with a crazed expression.

—🃁—

Go.

Tristan opened his eyes and cast [Dark Kunai] at the door, breaking its lock. He heard shouts from the pirates as he ran forward, kicked the door open, and flung the dead pirate’s body into the space just beyond.

Trap cards triggered in a flash of light, as he’d thought. Two [Maelstrom Pockets] layered atop each other exploded in a flurry of sharp winds that brutally eviscerated the corpse. Blood sprayed everywhere, followed by surprised cries.

His cards cut through the blood. [Devourer’s Shriek] flew into the room and popped, unleashing a shrill detonation of Dark-colored sound. Through the door he saw all four pirates had their decks [Stunned], a symbol of a lock on the backs of the cards.

Next, [Mycelium Lancer] formed in the middle of the room and immediately [Enhanced Dashed] to the two pirates on the right, knocking them back.

At the same time, Polter phased through the ceiling and used [Ectoplasm]. The pool of green liquid splashed over the pirates on the left. Dark energy drooped and clung to their decks as [Slow] periodically applied and stacked, making any future casts sluggish.

Tristan cast [Wolf’s Grace]

and burst into the room. He split his mind, manually controlling Funguy while letting Polter auto move.

He cast [Predator’s Mark] on the slowed pirates, tagging them both on the head. They cried out in surprise as he dual-casted a horizontal [Nightmare Cleave] aimed at the two tagged pirates’ heads with his left hand; with his right hand, he threw down a [Slumbering Stalagmites] a little behind the two pirates being forced backwards by Funguy.

[Nightmare Cleave] struck one of the pirates on the head but the other managed to duck in time, dodging it. The struck pirate’s bandana—surprisingly—didn’t shatter from the Attack; the pop from the [Predator’s Mark], however, finished the job and left him exposed.

The [Fear] from [Nightmare Cleave] triggered. The pirate—a woman with long brown curls—snarled in annoyance as the skull symbol of [Fear] joined the lock symbol.

Tristan finished her off with a [Dark Kunai] to the head, dropping her, just as Funguy flew backwards and slammed into the wall beside him. He turned and saw the two pirates had avoided stepping into his Trap by [Air Dashing] to the side, behind the row of crystals. They flung two cards through the gap between crystals, which formed as two [Sky Harpies].

“[Possession]!” Tristan shouted to Polter, as he cast [Mountain’s Embrace] on himself. His monster swooped into one of the Harpies and used its body to attack the other, who screeched in outrage. He commanded Funguy to assist, and the monster charged forward, brandishing his lance.

An [Aerolance] slammed into him from the pirate afflicted by [Slow], but his shield absorbed it. Tristan growled and targeted that one. He’d cast some sort of Support card, as the [Slows] on his deck was replaced by Air energy surrounding his deck.

He ran towards the hiding pirates, who used the crystals as buffers as they flung Attacks at him.

Tristan let himself get hit by one of their [Whirling Gusts]. It broke his shield, triggering {Shatter Stun}. Earth energy lit up the deck of the pirate in the middle of the three, locking it. Tristan [Shadow Stepped] up into the air, dodging the two other Attacks flying his way, and used his second charge over the crystals.

He appeared in the air behind the pirates, who sharply turned around. He twisted and cast [Predator’s Mark], tagging the [Stunned] one on the head, but the other two scrambled out of the way before he cast more.

He landed on the ground and cast [Dark Kunai] at the tagged pirate.

The combo blew apart his bandana, leaving him exposed. Before Tristan could finish him off, the two pirates to either side engaged him. One cast [Whirling Gust], which blew him backwards into a [Maelstrom Pocket] that had been set behind him.

The Trap burst, a barrage of razor-ship wind slices cutting all across his equipment. His whole body flashed red, his boots shattering, as he was sent barrelling to the ceiling. He fell down with a grunt, then rolled out of the way of an [Aerolance]. Behind the crystals, he felt Funguy and Polter successfully take out the second Harpy, and the two Summons engaged with the remaining monster back in control of its own body.

The pirates regrouped with their backs to the crystals; clearly, they’d realized that he wasn’t about to recklessly attack in fear of damaging them.

I need to finish this now.